Members of

Boston Marine Society

Buried In

Ancient Cemetery

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The Boston Marine Society

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“On June 1st 1742 a group of Boston sea captains formed a group called the "The Fellowship Club."   The club's esteemed membership was limited to those who then, or in the past, had commanded vessels. At the time of entry each member paid one dollar into the "box" and was thereafter to pay monthly dues. ​

In times of distress or death, members and their families would be paid according to the nature of the misfortune and the ability of the ‘box.’

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Twelve years later, in 1754, the Fellowship Club received a charter from the Royal Governor which directed the group to "make navigation more safe" and to relieve members and their families in poverty or other "adverse accidents in life."

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For its seal, the Society selected a ship arriving at the lighthouse from a storm, and the sun breaking out of the clouds with the inscription "Marine Society at Boston in New England AD 1754."

In 1809 the Society changed its name officially to the ‘Boston Marine Society.’ It remains the oldest association of its kind in the world.”

The following eleven sea captains from Yarmouth were elected to the prestigious fellowship and are buried in Ancient Cemetery.

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(https://www.bostonmarinesociety.org)

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Joseph H. Bray

William H. Crowell

Albert Dunbar

Reuben Eldridge

Edmund Bray Hamblin

Gorham Howland

Daniel D. Kelley

Nathaniel Matthews

Seth Taylor

Edwin Thacher

Samuel H. Thacher