George Fred Tilton (1861–1932) was an American master mariner, whaler, storyteller, and author who went on his first whaling trip at age 14.

Whaling career

Tilton was born in Chilmark, Massachusetts to George Oliver Tilton and Hannah Sisson. He ran away from home at age 14, stowing himself aboard a New Bedford whaling schooner. By the time that he was discovered, the ship was too far from shore and the captain allowed him to stay. Tilton became a highly accomplished whaler, spending more than forty years at sea hunting whales from the equator to the arctic. In 1898, he was part of a whaling fleet that got caught in an ice pack off

Point Barrow Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow). It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at , south of the North Pole. (The nor ...

, and the fleet decided to send someone to get help out of fear of starvation and death. Tilton filled his pockets with crackers and set out to walk the 3,000 miles to help declaring, "if any one can make the trip, I can." He later wrote:

Any Arctic whaler will tell you that, when a man goes into the Arctic, he is a total stranger to the conditions every year. In thirty-two years that I spent in the Arctic, I have never seen two summers alike as regards to ice.

Post-whaling life

Tilton served four years in the U.S. Navy during World War I. In 1917, he was hired by the

Monjo Company The Monjo Company was a New York City-based fur trading business that obtained furs in the Canadian arctic, Alaska, and the Northwest United States, and sold them wholesale in New York during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was among th ...

to investigate the disappearance of the A. T. Gifford in

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

. He sailed on the schooner Pythian, investigated the accident, and determined that fire was the cause of the sinking. In 1925, Tilton was hired to supervise the overhaul of Charles W. Morgan and to serve as her "captain" when she was opened to the public. The ship was repaired in a sand berth at the

Round Hill (Dartmouth, Massachusetts) Round Hill is a location in Dartmouth, Massachusetts of historical significance. History Original description The first historical description of the hill was by Gabriel Archer, who kept a record of the 1602 expedition of Bartholomew Gosnold fro ...

estate of

Edward Howland Robinson Green Edward Howland Robinson "Ned" Green (August 22, 1868 – June 8, 1936), also known as Colonel Green, was an American businessman, the only son of financier Hetty Green (the "Witch of Wall Street"). In the late 19th century, he became a poli ...

. In 1926, the Morgan opened to the public and had nearly two hundred thousand visitors. Tilton writes in his autobiography
Cap’n George Fred Himself
' (1928): "perhaps we two, the ship and myself, compare pretty favorable ... now that we are not wanted to hunt whales anymore, we are laid up here so that people can get some idea of how the business used to be done. The ship is on exhibition, and I sometimes think I am too." Tilton died in 1932 at age 71, and ''The New York Times'' published his obituary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilton, George Fred American people in whaling People from Dukes County, Massachusetts People from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts People from Chilmark, Massachusetts American military personnel of World War I 1861 births 1932 deaths