Everything about Mercator Cooper totally explained
Mercator Cooper (
September 29,
1803 - Spring
1872) was a ship's captain who is credited with the first formal
American visit to
Tokyo and the first formal landing on the mainland
East Antarctica.
Both events occurred while sailing ships out of
Sag Harbor, New York, where he was born.
Visit of the Manhattan to Tokyo
On
November 9,
1843, Cooper left
Sag Harbor aboard the ship
Manhattan looking for whales. On March 14-15, 1845 the
Manhattan picked up 22 Japanese sailors in the southern Japanese islands.
Outside of
Tokyo Bay four of the survivors took a Japanese boat with a message that Cooper wanted to deliver the remainder to the harbor. The Japanese normally wanted to avoid contact with outsiders because of the
Tokugawa Shogunate policy of
Sakoku.
However, on
April 18,
1845, an emissary from the shogun gave the ship permission to proceed -- accompanied by "about three hundred Japanese boats with about 15 men in each took the ship in tow" according to Cooper's log. "They took all our arms out to keep till we left. There were several of the nobility came on board to see the ship. They appeared very friendly."
The Japanese examined his ship and took particular note of
Pyrrhus Concer, a crewman from Southampton who was the only
African American on board, and a
Shinnecock Native American named Eleazar -- the first dark skinned men the Japanese had seen and they wanted to touch their skin.
The Japanese refused payment for provisions and gave them water, 20 sacks of rice, two sacks of wheat, a box of flour, 11 sacks of sweet potatoes, 50 fowl, two cords of wood, radishes and 10 pounds of tea, thanked them for returning their sailors, and told them to never return.
On April 21, the 300 boats towed the
Manhattan 20 miles out to sea.
Cooper took with him a map that charted the islands of Japan that had been found on the disabled Japanese ship. He was to turn the map over to the United States government when the ship returned to Sag Harbor on
October 14,
1846.
Matthew Perry was said to have used the map on his visit with four U.S. warships on
July 8,
1853.
Cooper's home in
Southampton (village), New York is now owned by the Southampton Library. Pyrrhus Concer is buried in the North End Cemetery in Southampton across from Cooper's home.
First visitor to Antarctica
On
January 26,
1853, Cooper was aboard the
Levant looking for seals in Antarctica. He penetrated to land on the
Oates Coast of East Antarctica at
Victoria Land.
At the conclusion of the voyage the Levant was sold in China.
The log book from the voyage is in the Long Island Room of the East Hampton Library in
East Hampton (village), New York.
Cooper died in
Barranquilla,
Colombia, South America. His date of death is sometimes reported as
March 23,
1872 or
April 24,
1872.
References and notes
Further Information
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