Thomas Luce & Company

Thomas Luce & Company was one of the last American whaling companies on the east coast. Based in New Bedford, Massachusetts and founded by an Azorean immigrant, the Thos. Luce company operated thirty-six whaling voyages between 1886 and 1903 into the Atlantic Ocean and Hudson Bay. [cite web
last = Davis
first = Lance Edwin et al
title = In Pursuit of Leviathan: Technology, Institutions, Productivity, and Profits
publisher = University of Chicago Press
date = 1997
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=zXhZHBkczZkC&pg=PA406&dq=%22Thomas+Luce+%26+Co.%22&sig=KgtMfF1zQ2M3NNOh2w1SdxAngHI#PPA405,M1]

Capt. Thomas Luce

The company's founder and owner, Capt. Thomas Luce (1827-1911), was born on the island of Flores in the Azores, to Azorean parents. “Thomas Luce” wasn’t his real name, which has been lost. He emigrated to the United States as a teenager aboard the whaling ship "Brunette", commanded by Capt. Eddy Manter Luce Jr. (1807-1849) [cite web
last = Hatch
first = William Collins
title = A History of the Town of Industry: Franklin County, Maine, from the Earliest
publisher = Knowlington, McLeary & Co.
date = 1893
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=wMYMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=A+History+of+the+Town+of+Industry#PRA1-PA678,M1] of New Bedford and Falmouth, MA. The captain’s only son, Thomas R. Luce (1836-bef 1840), had recently died, and so the captain evidently became a father figure to young Thomas, and gave him his late son’s name to adopt. [cite web
last = White
first = Augusta Francelia Payne
title = The Paynes of Hamilton: A Genealogical and Biographical Record
publisher = Tobias A. Wright
date = 1912
url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=tE1BAAAAMAAJ&dq=The+Paynes+of+Hamilton&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=3lJxoM6DH2&sig=0iba1VTl2qLdUGy96xKDH1hYMSM#PPA123,M1] Although there is some evidence that young Thomas could have first come to the United States on the "Brunette’s" 1840 voyage, it was on a second whaling trip in 1842 that Thomas returned permanently with Capt. Luce to New Bedford. [cite web
last = White
first = Augusta Francelia Payne
title = The Paynes of Hamilton: A Genealogical and Biographical Record
publisher = Tobias A. Wright
date = 1912
url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=tE1BAAAAMAAJ&dq=The+Paynes+of+Hamilton&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=3lJxoM6DH2&sig=0iba1VTl2qLdUGy96xKDH1hYMSM#PPA123,M1] [cite web
last = Deyo
first = Simeon L.
title = History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts
publisher = H. W. Blake & Co
date = 1890
url = http://capecodhistory.us/Deyo/Falmouth.htm] (Interestingly, shortly after the second voyage the "Brunette" was purchased by Samuel Colt of Colt revolver fame, and blown up in a public demonstration of his new invention, an explosive underwater mine.) [cite web
last = Deyo
first = Simeon L.
title = History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts
publisher = H. W. Blake & Co
date = 1890
url = http://capecodhistory.us/Deyo/Falmouth.htm]

As a teenager, Thomas Luce sailed on the ship "Roman" in 1844 to the northwest coast, and in 1849 he joined the gold rush to California, where he was modestly successful in seeking gold. He returned to New Bedford by 1851, became a naturalized citizen, and married Capt. Luce’s daughter, Hannah B. Luce (1832-1879) in 1852. He began a cooperage business in New Bedford, which he ran for decades. [cite web
last = White
first = Augusta Francelia Payne
title = The Paynes of Hamilton: A Genealogical and Biographical Record
publisher = Tobias A. Wright
date = 1912
url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=tE1BAAAAMAAJ&dq=The+Paynes+of+Hamilton&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=3lJxoM6DH2&sig=0iba1VTl2qLdUGy96xKDH1hYMSM#PPA123,M1] In 1880 he married his second wife, Lydia Elizabeth Payne (1839-1911), and shortly afterwards became interested in the whaling business, although he remained a cooper until at least 1890. His daughter Annie Budlong Luce (c.1858-1890) married the man who became the longest serving mayor of New Bedford, Charles Ashley, in 1879.

Luce's Fleet

The Thos. Luce Co. owned between eleven and fourteen whaling ships (sources vary), and was the agent for thirty-six whaling voyages between 1886 and 1903, including expeditions by the schooner "Francis Allyn", schooner "Era", schooner "Mary E. Simmons", schooner "Antarctic", schooner "Clara L. Sparks", bark "George & Mary", schooner "Sarah W. Hunt", schooner "Star King", schooner "Pearl Nelson", schooner "Charles H. Hodgdon", and the bark "Desdemona". [cite web
last = White
first = Augusta Francelia Payne
title = The Paynes of Hamilton: A Genealogical and Biographical Record
publisher = Tobias A. Wright
date = 1912
url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=tE1BAAAAMAAJ&dq=The+Paynes+of+Hamilton&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=3lJxoM6DH2&sig=0iba1VTl2qLdUGy96xKDH1hYMSM#PPA123,M1] George Comer, captain of the "Era", complained about the crews the Luce provided, claiming they were unseasoned and inept. Capt. George Comer also wrote about the aging Luce coming to the wharf to see off each expedition. [cite book |title=An Arctic Whaling Diary: The Journal of Captain George Comer in Hudson Bay |last=Ross |first=William Gillies |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1984 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location= |isbn=]

In 1899, Luce opened a whaling and trading station at the mouth of Wager Bay on Hudson Bay, manned by whaler George Cleveland. Cleveland built a twenty-four by twelve-foot wooden shack and spent two winters there, trading for furs with the local Inuit. [cite web
last = Eber
first = Dorothy
title = When the Whalers Were Up North
publisher = McGill-Queen's University Press
date = 1989
url = http://www.oldtimeislands.org/Cleveland/b-eber-whalers.html]

By 1902 Luce’s business began to be referred to as “Thomas Luce & Son” - evidently referring to his youngest son Charles T. Luce (1864 - ____), who was listed as a New Bedford “shipping merchant” by 1900, and was said to be involved in his father’s business. However, the business did not last long into the new century. The company’s final two voyages were in 1903: the "Mary E. Simmons", and the "Era", which returned to New Bedford in July 1904 and Oct. 1905, respectively. The Luce family sold the "Era" to New York furrier F. N. Monjo during the winter of 1905-6.

Thomas Luce fully retired about 1907, at the age of eighty. During his final years he traveled with his wife extensively in Europe and spent his winters in Florida and California. [cite web
last = White
first = Augusta Francelia Payne
title = The Paynes of Hamilton: A Genealogical and Biographical Record
publisher = Tobias A. Wright
date = 1912
url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=tE1BAAAAMAAJ&dq=The+Paynes+of+Hamilton&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=3lJxoM6DH2&sig=0iba1VTl2qLdUGy96xKDH1hYMSM#PPA123,M1]

References