The Seafaring Hartwells of Salem, Massachusetts

Click either of the links or images below to learn the story of my 4th great-grandfather Daniel Hartwell and his son Joseph Hartwell, who were both merchant seaman from Salem.

Daniel Hartwell (1780-1810)

Daniel Hartwell, reportedly of Conway, Massachusetts, made two epic voyages from Salem. One was a three year sealing voyage beginning in 1802 to the South Pacific, China, and Russia, where he led a mutiny aboard the ship Rachel, and the other beginning in 1809 where he journeyed to the Mediterranean and met his untimely death.

Joseph Hartwell (1809-1849)

Joseph Hartwell, whose father Daniel died when he was less than a year old, made nearly thirty commercial voyages from Salem in the late 1820s thru mid 1840s. He worked his was to become a ship's captain for his last two voyages, and then journeyed to California as a passenger for the Gold Rush in 1849, where he unfortunately died before amassing any kind of fortune.