Absalom Boston (c. 1785–1855) was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

mariner who was the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

captain to sail a

whaling ship A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

, with an all-black crew, in 1822.

Biography

Absalom Boston was born in

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

, to Seneca Boston, an African-American ex-slave father, and Thankful Micah, a

Wampanoag The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and forme ...

Indian mother. His uncle, a slave named Prince Boston, was part of the crew of a 1770 whaling voyage, but refused to turn over his earnings to his white master. Instead, he went to court and won both his earnings and freedom, making him the first black slave to win his freedom in a U.S. jury trial.

Bill Delahunt William David Delahunt (; July 18, 1941March 30, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing from 1997 to 2011. Delahunt did not ...

, remarks made durin
"The Role of Civil Rights Organizations in History"
February 11, 1997, ''Congressional Record'' Volume 143, U.S. Government Printing Office. Boston spent his early years working in the whaling industry. By the time he reached 20, he acquired enough money to purchase property in Nantucket. Ten years later, he obtained a license to open and operate a public inn. In 1822, Boston became the captain of the ''Industry'', a whaleship manned entirely with an African-American crew. The six-month journey returned with 70 barrels of

whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tear drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities of sperm whales, ...

and the entire crew intact. Boston retired from the sea after the ''Industry'' returned to Nantucket from its historic voyage. He concentrated on becoming a business and community leader, and also ran for public office. Together with fellow captain, Edward Pompey, he led the Nantucket abolitionist movement. He was also a founding trustee of Nantucket's African Baptist Society, and the African Meeting House in Nantucket. In 1845, after his daughter Phebe Ann Boston was barred from attending a public school, he successfully brought a lawsuit against the Nantucket municipal government to integrate the public education system.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boston, Absalom 1780s births Year of birth uncertain 1855 deaths 19th-century African-American businesspeople American people in whaling Sea captains People from Nantucket, Massachusetts 19th-century American businesspeople Wampanoag people African-American abolitionists Abolitionists from Massachusetts Businesspeople from Massachusetts Native American people from Massachusetts 19th-century Native American people