Background
Edmund Fanning was born at Stonington, Connecticut, the son of Gilbert and Huldah (Palmer) Fanning and younger brother of Nathaniel Fanning.
Edmund Fanning was born at Stonington, Connecticut, the son of Gilbert and Huldah (Palmer) Fanning and younger brother of Nathaniel Fanning.
After a brief schooling, at the age of fourteen, he shipped as cabin boy on a coaster.
His first experience with the South Seas came in 1792 when he was first mate on a sealing voyage to the South Shetlands. In 1793, a cargo of flour which he was taking to France was seized by the English. Later that year, he received his first command, a West Indian brig. As the nephew of a British general, he twice received special favors when overhauled, and he declined the offer of a commission in the British navy. Ten years later, he also declined the proffered command of a new American frigate. Fanning’s real prominence dates from the cruise of the 93-ton ship Betsey under his command in 1797-98. Setting out from New York with no cargo except a few trinkets for trading he rounded Cape Horn, secured a full load of sealskins near Juan Fernandez, and rescued a missionary in the Marquesas. On June 11, 1798, he discovered the island which still bears his name. During the next four days, he also discovered Washington (New York) and Palmyra islands to the northwest. These three, with others adjacent, have received the general name of Fanning’s Islands. They are about 2, 000 miles due south of Hawaii, just above the equator, and have importance as cable stations, Great Britain owning Fanning’s Island and the United States, Palmyra. Proceeding to Canton, Fanning exchanged his sealskins for a cargo of teas, silks, etc. , which sold for $120, 467 after he had returned to New York around the Cape of Good Hope. The capital outlay for the voyage had been only $7, 867; the owners’ net profit was $53, 118 and Fanning himself received more than $15, 000. This experience convinced him of the possibilities of the South Sea trade, and he devoted the remainder of his life to promoting it. He lived most of the time in New York, occasionally visiting Stonington where he had a shipyard. In 1804, however, Edmund’s brother, Henry Fanning, rediscovered the Crozet Islands with their extensive seal rookeries. A projected exploring expedition in 1812 was abandoned at the declaration of war. Fanning claims that the regular stationing of American warships on the west coast of South America resulted from his protests at his detention in the Volunteer by Chilean officials in 1816. He was agent for the ambitious expedition under Pendleton and Palmer in 1829, in the course of which Palmer Land (Palmer Archipelago) south of Cape Horn was discovered, but the owners lost more than $25, 000. Fanning unsuccessfully petitioned Congress for reimbursement in 1830 and 1833, arguing that the expedition was for the general good of the nation. The publication of his memoirs, Voyages Around the World, etc. (1833), was effective propaganda and doubtless helped to secure the authorization of the official naval South Seas exploration expedition (1838 - 42) led by Lieut. Charles Wilkes. Fanning, doubtless hurt at not having been called upon for advice or participation, petitioned Congress in 1840 for a loan of $150, 000 to undertake a private expedition of his own, but nothing came of his petition. He died at New York the following year, of a broken heart, it is said, four days after the death of his wife. He was survived by a son and daughter, one son having died in infancy.
As agent for a group of New York capitalists, he promoted and acted as agent for more than seventy expeditions to the South Seas, occasionally taking part himself. He saw that valuable China cargoes could be secured in exchange for sealskins, which cost nothing but a few weeks’ labor, or for sandalwood, pearls, tortoise shell, beche-de-mer, etc. , which could be secured from the natives of the islands for a few trinkets. His energetic promotion of exploration arose chiefly from the desire for new fields to exploit, since ruthless slaughter quickly cleaned out the seal rookeries. He studied the charts of early Dutch navigators, experimented with new types of naval architecture, and was a persistent propagandist for both private and official exploration. Some of his expeditions included “scientific gentlemen. ” His main argument was that increased returns in China imports would more than pay for the cost of the expeditions. This was not always the case. A captain and crew sent to the Fiji Islands for sandalwood in 1803 fell victims to the cannibals.
He had risen to mate when he married Sarah Sheffield of Stonington on June 14, 1790.
