by Carolyn Ravenscroft

The portrait of Capt. Elijah Soule has hung over my desk at the DRHS’ Drew Archival Library for 14 years. Despite being painted by a mediocre unknown artist, Elijah is rather dashing in his navy blue sailor jacket and gold loop earring, ready to issue an order to his crew through a speaking trumpet. His shirt was initially open at the collar, but an odd pink bow was added later – perhaps to mitigate his rakish energy. His death of “Java fever” in Canton, China, at age 36 lends him a tragic and romantic air.[1] Combine the above with the fact that he was raised only a few doors down from my former Duxbury house, and you can see why he was one of my favorite local characters. Imagine my dismay then, when I discovered that Elijah wasn’t all I thought him to be. Lesson learned, you can’t judge a book by its cover or a person by a painting.

Elijah Soule (1798-1834) was born on what is today known as Marshall Street in Duxbury. He was the youngest of William Soule and Priscilla Sampson’s six children. Like two of his brothers, Elijah became a master mariner, a typical occupation for capable Duxbury men during the town’s 19th-century shipbuilding heyday. He probably went to sea as a youth or young man and rose to the rank of captain by his 20s. He was commanding Levi Sampson’s Duxbury-built brig, Arctic, when it was sold to the Baltimore merchant James Phillips in 1827. A letter sent to Soule at the time indicates that he was concerned this sale would end his tenure aboard the Arctic.[2] However, we know that Soule continued working on the vessel. Sadly, we also now know that he was involved in moving numerous enslaved men, women, and children from Maryland to New Orleans, to be sold to the cotton plantations of the Deep South. This transference of enslaved labor between states is often referred to as the “Second Middle Passage.” As the insatiable demand for labor on southern plantations grew, many enslavers from the mid-Atlantic states profited by selling their slaves to the southern market. If a merchant vessel had space, it would take on these forced and unwilling passengers. According to custom house records, the Arctic accounts for 7% of enslaved entering into New Orleans in the 1820s.[3]

Was Elijah Soule and the Arctic alone among Duxbury men or Duxbury-built ships in this endeavor? Obviously not; we know the vessel Gustavus, owned by Nathaniel Winsor Jr, also transferred enslaved to Savannah, GA, at least once. More will undoubtedly come to light with further research.

As for Elijah, in 1833 he took command of the 358-ton Aurelius, newly built by Thatcher Magoun in Medford for Boston merchants John Brown, Isaac Schoefield Jr., and Richard Soule. Richard Soule was Elijah’s cousin, and this kinship likely made him captain. On New Year’s Day, 1834, the Aurelius left Boston for a voyage to Charleston, SC and Liverpool, England. By April, the Aurelius was cleared to leave England, bound for Canton via Batavia (Jakarta). Soule must have picked up his fever in August 1834 at his stop in Batavia, because after arriving in China, he died on September 17th. The ship returned to the US under the command of a new captain named Stoppard, laden with tea, cloth, and lacquerware to be sold in America. 

This summer, Elijah Soule’s portrait will be on display at the King Caesar House for our exhibit East Meets West: Asian Influences in 19th Century American Life. While he will grace the wall of the gallery to highlight Duxbury’s involvement in the China Trade, it is incumbent on us to remember his full career and the North’s complicity in the Southern economy.

[1] Duxbury Vital Records describe Soule’s cause of death as “Java fever.” This term simply means he died of a tropical fever contracted in Java (Indonesia).

[2] Thomas Lamb to Elijah Soule, Feb. 1827, DAL.MSS.090, Drew Archival Library

[3] Schermerhorn, C. (2015). The Business of Slavery and the Rise of American Capitalism, 1815-1860 (p. 58). Yale University Press