Captain Judah Hathaway, born in 1832, began his maritime career in 1849 at the age of 17. He shipped aboard the whaler Hickley under Captain Alan Besse. They sailed around Cape Horn and were at sea for four years. Having worked his way up to first mate, he sailed from Marion on the schooner Admiral Blake.
During the Civil War, New England whaleships and schooners were at the mercy of the Confederate Navy when sailing in southern waters. The Alamaha, out of Marion, commanded by Captain Gray, with Captain Hathaway as first mate, was taken captive by the Confederate ship Alabama. The ship was burned, and those onboard were sent in chains to Fayal in the Azores. Hathaway shipped out once more. This time, as Captain of the William Wilson in 1867. However, the next year he retired from the sea and began a second career as a miller at the perennial mill site downstream from the Eastover Farm area, the current location of The Pines at Hathaway Pond. He also partnered with Isaac Hiller, Hathaway’s daughter’s husband, and Robert Hiller to turn cutover swamp land into cranberry bogs. Hathaway lived out his years in his home at 56 Marion Road.
By Connie Eshbach