Captain William B. Crowell
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Captain William B. Crowell was born in July 1836 on Martha's Vineyard, one of the large islands off the coast of Massachusetts. His parents were Hebron Crowell, a mariner, and Sarah Luce, who was called "Sally". William was likely born in the town of Tisbury, as that is where his parents lived but nearby Edgartown is also possible as that is where his mother was from.
In the 1850 US Census William is living in Tisbury in a nine-person household along with his parents, a younger brother, and two of his sisters and their families. In the 185 MA Census and the 1860 US Census only William and his younger brother Hebron are living with their parents. William has become a master mariner between 1855-1860. His father is working as a pilot bringing ships safely into the harbor.
He married Ellen M. (Vincent) Luce on August 8, 1860 in Edgartown at the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was his first marriage and her second. Her first husband, Elisha Luce, had about a year after their marriage.
Captain Crowell died at the Northern Hospital in Liverpool, England of a fractured thigh caused by tetanus on January 31, 1861. He was initially buried in the Low Hill Cemetery in Liverpool on February 3. A few months later his body was removed and he was brought back home to Martha's Vineyard. He was reinterred in the family lot in South End Cemetery in Vineyard Haven, MA (then called Holmes Hole) on October 30, 1861 nine months after his death.
William and Ellen had a daughter named Grace Williams Crowell who was born on May 4, 1861, three months after her father's death. Sadly she would die on intercranial pressure in 1878 aged only 17. She rests between her father and her grandmother Sally.
Ellen remarried again in 1864. Her third husband, Frederick Vincent, was 20 years older than her. He also died soon after their marriage. I can find no certain records of her after 1865 -- Ellen M. Vincent/Luce/Crowell is an exceedincly common name for women born in the area in the mid-1830s. I hope she found happiness.
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