Westbrook Historical Society, Inc. ~ Boston Post Road, P.O. Box 148, Westbrook, CT 06498 ~ (860) 399-7473 ~  westbrookhistoricalsocietyct@gmail.com 

Chapter Six

Blue Water Mariners

The clipper ship David Crockett was built at Mystic for service from New York to California and commanded by Captain Joseph W. Spencer of Westbrook.

Captain Elbert Stannard began going to sea in the coastal trade to Atlantic seaboard cities and to the islands in the West Indies. There were Post’s, Bushnell’s, Perry’s and Magna’s among the other Westbrook coastal captains. When that trade faded and the size of vessels increased, Captain Stannard sought commands in other trades. The Stannard’s, Spencer’s and Kelsey’s sailed from New York in packet ships to Europe, to the American cotton ports, to South America, to the Far East and, in clipper ships, to California.

Later in their careers, Captain Stannard and Captain Joseph Spencer both worked as supervisors and builders of large vessels that sailed all over the world. Although known in many foreign ports, both men retired to their farms in Westbrook after distinguished careers.