Joel Root
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Joel Root (1770–1847) was an American sailor. He authored a journal of his around the world voyage while working as
supercargo A supercargo (from Spanish ''sobrecargo'') is a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship. The duties of a supercargo are defined by admiralty law and include managing the cargo owner's trade, selling the merchand ...
on the sealing ship ''Huron''.


Biography

Among Root's earliest American ancestors who settled in Connecticut were Captain William Curtis (1618–1702) from Essex, England, and John Porter (1623–1688) and Mary Stanley (1631–1688) from Kent, England. On his father's side of the family his earliest American ancestors were John Root (1608–1684) from Northamptonshire, England, and Mary Francis Kilbourne (1619–1697) from Cambridge, England. Root's mother, Lucy Curtis Root, died when he was two, and when he was six, his father, Col. Elisha Root (1737–1776), died of
dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
while serving in the Revolutionary War army in West
Chester, Connecticut Chester is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,749 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). The name is a transfer from Chester, in Engl ...
. Joel and his two sisters inherited their father's farm of one hundred twenty acres and the good country house in which they lived. He was then adopted and raised by his paternal grandfather, Jonathan Root (1707–1794), namesake of the
Jonathan Root House The Jonathan Root House is a historic house at 140–142 North Main Street in Southington, Connecticut. Built about 1720, it is believed to be the oldest surviving colonial building in the town. It was listed on the National Register of Histo ...
in
Southington, Connecticut Southington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 43,501. Southington contains the villages of Marion, Milldale, and Plantsville. Geography Southington is situa ...
, now listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.


Journey around the world on the brig ''Huron''

Root sailed out of New Haven harbor in 1802 on the ''Huron'' with Captain David Montthrop (variant spelling Molthrop) in what he expected to be a lucrative adventure trading in seal furs. The port of New Haven was a frequent point of departure for sealing expeditions. The first recorded voyage to sealing grounds along the shores of the southern Pacific Ocean was that of Captain Daniel Greene from New Haven in 1790. Root's memoir, written in 1840, recounts his adventures and misadventures while engaged in sealing operations mostly on islands off the coast of Chile. He gives a "detailed account of efforts to take hair seal skins for the American market and fur seal skins for the Chinese trade, primarily from the islands of Mocha, St. Mary's and Masafuero as a tierra in the
Juan Fernandez Islands ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
." Masafuero was also known as Mas Afuero "further away," or Alexander Selkirk's Island, or the Robinson Crusoe Islands.
Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
based his novel
Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...
on the experiences of
Alexander Selkirk Alexander Selkirk (167613 December 1721) was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island i ...
's survival on the island between 1704 and 1709. Root tells of navigation disagreements with the Captain of the
brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
Huron. He tells how he was cast ashore on the Indian inhabited coast of
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
, and he tells of his imprisonment by the Spanish at
Concepción, Chile Concepción (; originally: ''Concepción de la Madre Santísima de la Luz'', "Conception of the Blessed Mother of Light") is a city and commune in central Chile, and the geographical and demographic core of the Greater Concepción metropolitan a ...
and difficulty with the Spanish government while sealing on the Island of Masafuero. The ''Huron'' made the long voyage home via China and Europe, trading along the way in
Canton, China Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kong ...
,
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, Germany and
St. Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. Root and his party arrived back in the United States at New York, their first home port, on October 26, 1806, four years after their departure. He arrived home in New Haven on October 30, where his wife and seven daughters were in good health, having survived the smallpox epidemic, and were overjoyed to see him. From his travels, he presented gifts of fine fabric for the trousseau of each of his daughters, linens for his wife's linen closet, and China tea cups for each of the girls. His memoir was titled ''A Voyage Around the World 1802–1806''. There is no record of his going to sea again. When Root died at age 76, he was buried at
Grove Street Cemetery Grove Street Cemetery or Grove Street Burial Ground is a cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut, that is surrounded by the Yale University campus. It was organized in 1796 as the New Haven Burying Ground and incorporated in October 1797 to replace the ...
in New Haven.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Joel 1770 births 1847 deaths American sailors Writers from Connecticut People from Southington, Connecticut American memoirists 19th-century American writers 18th-century American writers