The First Era of Hudson Whaling: 1784-1819, Part Two

In 1785, the first ship built in Hudson by Seth Jenkins and Cotton Gelston’s company was appropriately called The Hudson. It weighed 300 tons, and was commanded by Captain Robert Folger. Fifty-nine vessels, consisting of sloops, ships, schooners and brigs, were built in Hudson between 1790 and 1810. Packet voyages carried cargo, which included local farm produce, the most significant of which was lumber. The lumber was used locally for the shipbuilding that occurred in Hudson, but also exported to southern ports of the U.S., as well as the West Indies, the Caribbean, Amsterdam and Liverpool. In addition to lumber, other overseas exports included:

• Fish, including herring, shad and sturgeon;
• Beef, pork, horses and hogs;
• Wheat, corn, beans, walnuts, onions, potatoes, oats and apples;
• Shoes and boots made at the local tanneries, as well as rawhides;
• Candles, soaps, beeswax and oil from the Jenkins and Gelston candle works

Hudson’s boom-time was not limited to maritime trade. Between 1799 and 1806 five turnpikes were established to transport imports and exports to and from Hudson to communities inland. Hudson became the county seat of Columbia County and the demographics of the town now also included lawyers, clerks and other county government employees.

The expanding world economy of the early 1800s lured Hudson shipowners into overextending in the transatlantic trade. Whaling and trading voyages were very profitable until wars in Europe created blockades that affected all maritime trade in Hudson. Ships that defied the blockade were confiscated and a number of Hudson vessels were lost. Profits were reduced and then in 1807 President Jefferson imposed the American Embargo Act on shipping, stopping almost all American ships from leaving port and halting American exports. The embargo weakened Hudson’s mercantile-based economy, many businesses failed, and the city declined rapidly. There were no vessels built in 1808 and only one in 1809.

The War of 1812 further undermined shipbuilding and its related industries, as well as trade in general. A British naval blockade severely restricted American access to international markets. Without the demand for overseas trading voyages, the demand for shipbuilding declined as well. By 1815, Hudson lost its status as a port of entry. By 1819 a financial crisis occurred in the United States and the Bank of Hudson, founded in 1808, failed. Hudson’s first era of whaling had officially ended.

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Additional Resources (links to PDF): 

Port of Hudson Whaling Voyages 1784-1819
Research compiled by Richard Bazelow, from whalinghistory.org and other sources, 2018-2025

The Bee, Hudson, NY. Volume IX, Number 454, November 24, 1818, detailing advertisements for local businesses in Hudson at the end of the first era of whaling in Hudson and indicating the move away from whaling and maritime trade to manufacturing.

Port of Hudson Packet Voyages
Research compiled by Richard Bazelow, from material at Vedder Research Library, 2018-2025