Thomas Luce & Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Whaling |
| Founded | 1886 |
| Founder | Thomas Luce |
| Defunct | 1903 |
| Headquarters | New Bedford , United States |
Area served | Atlantic Ocean, Hudson Bay |
Key people | Thomas Luce, Charles T. Luce |
| Products | Whale oil, whaling expeditions |
Thomas Luce & Company stood as one of the final whaling enterprises on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Headquartered in New Bedford, Massachusetts and established by an immigrant from the Azores, this firm undertook a total of thirty-six whaling expeditions between 1886 and 1903, primarily navigating the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Hudson Bay.
Capt. Thomas Luce
The company’s originator, Capt. Thomas Luce (1827–1911), was born on Flores in the Azores. His birth name remains unknown; he arrived in America as a teenager aboard the whaler Brunette, which was under the command of Capt. Eddy Manter Luce Jr. (1807–1849) from New Bedford. Following the death of Capt. Luce’s only son, Thomas was granted his name and became his ward. He permanently relocated to New Bedford alongside Capt. Luce in 1842.
During his youth, Thomas sailed on the Roman in 1844 to the northwest coast and took part in the 1849 California Gold Rush, where he found moderate success before returning to New Bedford by 1851. He became a naturalized citizen, married Hannah B. Luce—the daughter of Capt. Luce—in 1852, and started a cooperage business that he managed for many years. After marrying his second wife, Lydia Elizabeth Payne, in 1880, he entered the whaling sector while continuing his cooperage operations through at least 1890. His daughter Annie Budlong Luce wed Charles Ashley in 1879, who would later become New Bedford’s longest-serving mayor.
Luce's Fleet
Thos. Luce Co. owned between eleven and fourteen whaling vessels and served as agent for thirty-six voyages from 1886 until 1903. Prominent ships included schooners such as Francis Allyn, Era, Mary E. Simmons, Antarctic, Clara L. Sparks, Sarah W. Hunt, Star King, Pearl Nelson, and Charles H. Hodgdon, as well as the barks George & Mary and Desdemona. Captain George Comer of the Era criticized the crews supplied by Luce for their lack of experience but acknowledged Thomas Luce’s hands-on role in overseeing each voyage's departure.
In 1899, Luce broadened his operations by establishing a whaling and trading post at Wager Bay on Hudson Bay, staffed by whaler George Cleveland. Cleveland built a modest wooden station and spent two winters engaging in fur trade with the local Inuit communities.
By 1902, the company operated under the name “Thomas Luce & Son,” likely reflecting involvement from Luce’s youngest son, Charles T. Luce, a shipping merchant based in New Bedford who was active within the firm. Nevertheless, after 1903, the business declined with its final expeditions undertaken by the Mary E. Simmons and Era. The latter returned in 1905 and was subsequently sold during the winter of 1905–06 to F. N. Monjo, a furrier from New York.
Around 1907, at approximately eighty years old, Thomas Luce retired and spent his remaining years traveling across Europe and spending winters in Florida and California.