1800s: From Whaling to US Navy Enlistments

I can’t seem to help but think about the variety of opportunity paths that may have spun off from those that ventured into whaling. Although I am not 100% certain, it seems that some of the “Bayenerus” (whalers) found the opportunity to enlist in the United States Navy during the 1800’s.

Perhaps one of the most notable whaling ships frequented the Mariana Islands was the Charles W. Morgan whaling ship. I briefly wrote about the Morgan and the Chamorro men who subsequently became crewmembers.

If you have read beyond my initial article on the Morgan through other sources, you would know that the Morgan’s homeport was New Bedford, Massachusetts, the same city where the majority of where these Chamorro men enlisted in the US Navy.

Unfortunately, during my crosswalk review between the rosters I was not able to match any of the men from the Morgan and the Navy lists. But as you can see, many of the surnames from the Navy enlistments have likely morphed from its origin.

The main key word I searched on that generated this subset of records for these men was birthplace “Guam.” Nothing came up for the other Mariana Islands, which is not surprising since at the time Guam and Rota were the two main islands that the Spaniards contained the Chamorro people.

Click on the sample list below showing the enlistment of Mariano Dela Cruz in 1861. He was 20 years old, had dark eyes, black straight hair, copper color complexion, and was 5’ 4.5” tall.