The Havre Union transatlantic packet line was organized in the 1830s from the joining of the Havre Old Line and the Havre Whitlock Line. In the shipping industry, the term packet ship was used to describe a vessel that featured regularly scheduled service on a specific point-to-point line. Usually, the individual ship operated exclusively for the line.
The first American packet line to sail between an American and European port began operating in 1818. It employed four ships and offered a monthly service between New York and Liverpool, England. In 1822 and 1823, three packet lines were organized between New York and Le Havre, France.
Havre Old Line
The early success of the Liverpool packet lines encouraged the organization of packet service between New York and Le Havre, France. In 1822 Francis Depau established the first packet line to run between those two ports. The first ship sailed September 10, 1822, with Miles R. Burke as its captain. The line came to be known as the Havre Old Line.
Francis Depau was born in France in 1773. In 1789, when he was sixteen years old, he went to Saint-Domingue (today's Haiti) to work at his uncle's merchant house. The slave revolt of 1791 forced Depau to relocate to Charleston, South Carolina, where he established his own merchant house. In 1798, he married Sylvie de Grasse, the youngest daughter of the Comte de Grasse. (de Grasse was the Admiral who commanded the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake.) By 1812 Depau had moved his merchant house to New York City, where he was running a mercantile trading business and a shipping business.
The Havre Old Line stated with two ships, the Stephania and Montano. Francis Depau, Isaac Bell, and Capt. Miles R. Burke were the joint owners of the ships. Within a year the Havre Old Line was operating four ships, the Henry and Lewis being added alongside the first two vessels.
Francis Depau's merchant house handled the line's business. His firm owned warehouse space for the storage of goods. It shipped and received goods on its own accounts. It acted as a commission agent for importing goods from France. The firm also moved general freight (cotton, grain, naval stores) for other enterprises. Finally, the firm handled the growing passenger business.
Only four months after the Havre Old Line inaugurated service to Le Havre, the Havre Second Line was organized (January 1823), and shortly after that, William Whitlock, Jr. began a third line.
Havre Old Line ships
Ships in Service for the Havre Old Line
Havre Whitlock Line
In 1823 William Whitlock, Jr. established the third packet line between New York and Le Havre, France. Whitlock was the son of a sea captain and ship owner and would become an extensive exporter of raw cotton. In the early 1820s, Whitlock was responsible for establishing coastal packet service between Savannah, Georgia and New York City. These ships delivered southern cotton to New York, which was then transshipped to Europe on Atlantic packet ships. Whitlock's business flourished until the beginning of the American Civil War.
Whitlock began his line with one ship, the 306-ton Cadmus. This vessel sailed in a one-ship line for five years. The Cadmus was replaced in 1829 by the Formosa, a new, 450-ton ship which ran alone until 1831. In that year a second ship, the Albany, was added to make a two-ship line. Then a third ship was added in 1833. By the end of 1838 the Whitlock line was operating four ships, the Albany, Poland, Emerald, and Duchesse d'Orleans.
Unlike other American packet lines, Whitlock was the sole owner and operator of his ships. Usually the agents, builders, and captains of the individual ships were part owners of the vessels. Ships, each with a variety of owners, were then controlled and managed by the line in strict conformity with a general plan. William Whitlock, Jr. was unique in that he owned his ships outright and operated them in his own name.
Havre Whitlock Line ships
Ships in Service for the Havre Whitlock Line
Havre Union Line
In the 1830s, Whitlock owned three Havre packets outright, operated them in his own name, but ran them in conjunction with the Havre Old Line. Francis Depau had retired in 1830, and his sons-in-law, Samuel M. Fox and Mortimer Livingston, took over the Havre Old Line. After Depau died in 1836, the mercantile business became "Fox & Livingston."