Daniel Owen

"Pursuit of the sperm whale" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1856.

Born in Long Island, New York, Daniel Owen began his maritime career at age 23, spending the next 47 years at sea. He married a woman named Julia, with whom he had a daughter, Abby De Wolf. Though the family lived in Fordham, New York, Owen's final voyages departed from New London, Connecticut.

By the mid-19th century, New London was the third-largest whaling port in the United States, boasting 55 vessels by 1852 (Calkins, 647). Its harbor opened directly onto Long Island Sound, presenting what historian Frances Caulkins described as "a fair open port inviting every passing sail" (Caulkins, 17). It was from this bustling hub that Owen captained his final ship, the Bark Phoenix, a 404-ton wooden whaling vessel.

Owen would enter Sailors' Snug Harbor on March 31, 1868. He would remain at the Harbor for two years and two months, dying on July 23, 1870. Owen’s body was brought to New Haven, Connecticut, where he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Barry, Gerald. The Sailors' Snug Harbor - A History, Fordam University Press, New York, 2000.

Caulkins, Frances. History of New London- From the first survey of the Coast in 1612 to 1860 Published H.D. Utley, New London, 1895

“Christopher Allyn (AM0119) - Ship Phoenix.” Collections & Research, 9 Mar. 2026, research.mysticseaport.org/new-london-whaling-masters/am0119/.

Connors, Anthony. Went to the Devil - A Yankee Whaler in the Slave Trade, U.Mass Press, Amherst, 2019

Daniel Owen Register Page. The Sailors Snug Harbor Records. Stephen B. Luce Library of SUNY Maritime College, 1870, Published Trustees of Sailors Snug Harbor – Digital Archives Suny Maritime College, URI: https://maritimedigitalcollections.com/Detail/objects/7598 .

Naval History and Heritage Command. Phoenix II URI: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/phoenix-ii.html

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Pursuit of the sperm whale" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1856. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/593d0500-c565-012f-61d2-58d385a7bc34