Nathan Gallup Fish (1804-1870) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Capt. Nathan Gallup Fish

Born 7 Sep 1804 in Groton, New London, Connecticut, United States

Ancestors

Son of Sands Fish and Bridget (Gallup) Fish

Brother of Asa Fish, Hannah Fish, Lavinia (Fish) Denison, Simeon Fish, Sands Fish, Charles Fish, Alden Fish and Bridget (Fish) Clift

Husband of Emeline Frances (Miner) Fish — married 9 Jan 1833 [location unknown]

Descendants

Father of Susan Lester Fish, Helen Miner Fish, Simeon Gallup Fish, John Owen Fish, Horace Walworth Fish, Phebe Miner (Fish) Wilbur, Roswell Walter Fish and Infant Fish

Died 1 Aug 1870 at age 65 in Groton, New London, Connecticut, United States

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Profile last modified 5 Feb 2022 | Created 21 Oct 2010

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1 Biography
2 Acknowledgements

Biography

Nathan Gallup Fish, born 7 Sep 1804 at Groton, Connecticut, was the seventh child of Bridget (Gallup) Fish (1768-1842) and Sands Fish (abt.1762-1838). The following are principal accounts of his life:

The Fish Family in England and America (1948) p. 301, 309, no. 1990:^[1] 1990 HON. NATHAN GALLUP8 FISH (Sands7, Nathan6, Nathan5, Samuel4, John3, Alice2, John1), sea captain, merchant, public official and deacon, son of (1885) Dea. Sands and Bridget (Gallup) Fish, was b. at Groton, Conn., Sept. 7, 1804; d. there Aug. 1, 1870. He had a good education for the times, and was possessed of excellent talents; a successful seaman, commanding various vessels both to domestic and foreign ports, and built and fitted a number of vessels, was part owner of a shipyard below the village of Mystic River, Conn. He was also a merchant; repeatedly filled public office, and was state senator as was his brother Asa. He was Deacon of the Groton Baptist Church. He met with heavy losses at sea during the Civil War by Rebel privateers. He m. Emeline Miner (b. 1809; d. Jan. 9, 1871), dau of Dr. John Owen and Elizabeth (A.) Miner.

Children: 2080 Susan Lester9, b. Mar. 29, 1834. 2081 Helen Miner, b. May 17, 1836; d. Feb. 15, 1841. +2082 Simeon Gallup, b. Sept. 16, 1837; d. Oct. 1906; m. Eliza Eldridge. +2083 John O., b. Jan. 10, 1839; d. Mar. 2, 1908; m. Frances Eldridge. +2084 Horace Walworth, b. Oct. 24, 1840. 2085 Roswell Walter, b. June 15, 1845, at Groton; lived at Washington, D. C.; m. Isabel Park, (b. Sept. 24, 1845; d. Mar. 20, 1891), dau. of Ledyard and Fanny (Burrows) Park of Groton, and had: (2085 1/2) Jennie S.10, who m. William Asahiel Kinnon Apr. 6, 1892, at Washington.

Mystic Seaport https://web.archive.org/web/20080531175029/http://www.mysticseaport.org:80/library/manuscripts/coll/coll252/coll252.html#head52153648

Captain Nathan Gallup Fish (1804-1870) was one of Mystic's most successful shipping investors. From 1825 to 1845 he led a seafaring life, eventually commanding the sloop PRUDENCE, schooners CREOLE and HUDSON, and brigs EMELINE and LION. Upon retiring from the sea, he opened a retail business in Mystic, specializing in outfitting and provisioning vessels. He also operated a large coal yard in connection with his store. Within a few years he was able to invest frequently in vessels.

Fish's career as a shipbuilder began in 1853 when he associated with William Ellery Maxson, Simeon Fish (his son), Benjamin F. Hoxie, and Captain William Clift. They operated as Maxson, Fish & Co. In February of 1861, just prior to the outbreak of the war, Benjamin F. Hoxie and Captain William Clift sold their interests in the firm to Nathan G. Fish. This transaction unofficially changed the firm name to Maxson & Fish. However, most sources, including the journals of Nathan G. Fish, still continue to refer to the yard as Maxson, Fish & Co., probably because Simeon Fish continued to hold an interest in the company.

During the Civil War, Maxson, Fish & Co. built fourteen steam vessels, including the gunboat GALENA, launched in 1862. Her designer, the well-known naval architect Samuel Hartt Pook (1827- 1901) of Boston, supervised her construction. In addition, the sloops DAPHNE (1862), JEWELL (1863), ECHO (1864), HEBE (1864), ship CREMORNE (1863), bark SILAS FISH (1864), the half brig HAIL COLUMBIA (1865) were all launched during the war.

The well-known ship SEMINOLE was launched in the fall of 1865. Thereafter, Maxson, Fish & Co. launched four schooners and three more square-rigged vessels: the bark CALEB HALEY (1866) and ships HELICON (1868) and DAUNTLESS (1869). The DAUNTLESS was the last ship-rigged vessel built at Mystic.

Since much of the capital supporting the company, especially after 1860, was provided by N.G. Fish, his business misfortunes, brought on by the general depression in shipping after the Civil War, had a direct impact on the shipyard. With too few orders for new vessels and most of the firm's capital tied up in poor or failed investments in other sailing craft, Maxson, Fish & Co. had run into severe financial difficulty by 1869. In 1870 the death of Nathan G. Fish forced the company into receivership. Their last vessel, the schooner ETIWAN, was launched in the fall of 1870.

N.G. Fish was an exemplary citizen of Mystic. Deeply religious, he was devoted to the Union Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon and trustee for many years. He was a director and later president of the Mystic River Bank. Active in local politics, Fish served several terms in the state legislature as representative and then senator from Groton.

Nathan Gallup Fish and Emeline Frances Miner: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=5f7ab1f5-38e7-48ab-acdb-21bd2cd99d78&tid=890183&pid=-2032327308

He was one of Mystic’s most successful shipping investors. He received an extremely good common-school education, supplemented by some time in attendance at Plainfield Academy. From 1825 to 1845 he led a seafaring life, eventually commanding the sloop Prudence, schooners Creole and Hudson, and brigs Emeline and Lion. Upon retiring from the sea, he opened a retail business in Mystic, specializing in outfitting and provisioning vessels and during his later years owned and ran a Ship Chandlery on Water Street, in Mystic, under the name of N. G. Fish & Co. The Ship Chandlery at the Mystic Seaport Museum is a reconstruction of his store. He also operated a large coal yard in connection with his store. In 1853 a shipyard was established in West Mystic by William E. Maxson, Capt. N.G. Fish, Capt.William Clift, B.F. Hoxie and William Barber under the name of Maxson, Fish and Co. At the outbreak of the Civil War these gentlemen, with the exception of Maxson and Capt. Fish, retired, but the yard continued the active construction of vessels. Among the ships built by Maxson and Fish before the war were the “F.G. Hoxsie,” 1387 tons in 1854 and the “Aspasia,” 632 tons in 1856. These ships are considered “Clippers.” During the war the yard built fourteen steamers, among them, the “Galena,” the first iron-clad in the U.S. Navy, designed by Samuel H. Pook. In 1865 two steamers were sold to a Boston firm, the “Cassandra” for $103,000 and the “Augusta” for $185,000 to be used as freighters on the Boston-New Orleans run.

During the decade of the 1860’s the yard also built five “Half Clippers” or “Down Easters,” among which were the “Seminole,” the “Helicon” and the “Dauntless.” These ships were less extreme than the true Clippers built in the 1850’s, but had greater carrying capacity and a good turn of speed. The “Vicksburg” was another gunboat built in this yard. The “Nightingale” saw service as a naval supply ship in the Gulf of Mexico during the last year of the war and was wrecked at Vera Cruz not long after its close. The “Aphrodite” was another naval supply ship and was lost on Cape Lookout on her second voyage. The ship “B. F. Hoxie,” Captain Crary, burned by the Confederate privateer “Florida” June 16, 1863, was one of the most valuable prizes taken by the Confederates during the war. The ship and freight were valued at $100,000 and the cargo, consisting of logwood, hides, silver ore with silver bars and gold of great value, was the property of English owners. So confident were the ship owners that her English cargo would protect the ship that no insurance was carried, so the property loss was the heaviest that Mystic sustained during the war.

Captain Fish was devoted to the Union Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon and trustee for many years. He was a director and later president of the Mystic River Bank. Active in local politics, Fish served several terms in the state legislature as representative and then senator from Groton. He was a Whig and Republican. Represented Groton in the State Legislature in 1849, ‘50, ‘57, served as State Senator three consecutive terms, 1851-53, was elected judge of probate in 1854, and was railroad commissioner of Connecticut. The Groton Bank was incorporated in 1854, and Mr. Fish was chosen president. At the organization of the Mystic River Bank, in 1851, he was chosen second director, and from Aug. 7, 1860, until his death was its president. The bank became the Mystic River National Bank, Dec. 5, 1864. He was one of the founders of Mystic Academy, and president of the board during its continuance.

The death of Captain N. G. Fish in 1870 caused a suspension of ship building at Old Field and the yard was idle for several years. “A Mystic River Anthology,” Judith A. Hicks, Editor, contains further information on the shipyard: Capt. Fish lived on the “New London Road,” the present route 1, on the corner of West Mystic Avenue. From the same source: The “Galena” was launched at the Maxson and Fish Shipyard on February 14, 1862. She was constructed in 130 days, including the installation of her iron plating which was 2 to 4 inches thick. She was commissioned on Apr. 21, 1862 and was classed as a third rate screwsteamer, 738 tons, with four nine inch Dahlgren guns and two 100 pound Parrott rifles. She had cost the government $247,284.40. On May 15 she attempted, in company with the “Monitor” and 3 small gunboats, to subdue the Confederate battery at Drewry’s Bluff on the James River and open the water route to Richmond, Va. Unfortunately her armor proved insufficient to withstand the fire from the battery and she was forced to withdraw with severe damage, and thirteen killed and eleven wounded. She was subsequently stripped of her armor plate and took a gallant part in Farragut’s Battle at Mobile Bay. She served in the U.S. Navy until 1891. In January 1868 the steamer “Nightingale” was lost at Vera Cruz. The ship “Cremorne” sailed from San Francisco June 1, 1870, and was never heard from. In November 1883 (?) the ship “Dauntless” was lost on the coast of Africa. His (Captain Joseph Warren Holmes) best passage was in the Seminole,” a new ship build by Maxson, Fish & Company, which he made in 96 days (around Cape Horn; the fastest passage on record for a sailing vessel was eighty-nine days and four hours). In this ship he made twenty-two voyages to San Francisco.