John D'Wolf

John DeWolf (6 September 1779 - 6 March 1872), also known as John D'Wolf, John D'Wolfe, John DeWolfe, John DeWolf II, Norwest John or Nor'west John, was a sea captain, merchant, and businessman known for his role in the maritime fur trade in the Pacific Northwest, and his influence on the Russian-American Company in Novo-Arkhangelsk (today Sitka, Alaska) in Russian America, and for being an uncle of Herman Melville. Melville was inspired by DeWolf's stories, including an encounter with a large whale that contributed to Melville's Moby-Dick, which Melville describes explicitly in Moby Dick, "Chapter XLV: The Affidavit". "Captain D'Wolf" is also described in the same chapter. John DeWolf was the first American known to have travelled overland across Siberia, and probably the first person ever to circumnavigate the globe by way of crossing Asia overland. Early life John DeWolf was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, the only child of Simon DeWolf and Hannah May, Simon having died in 1779 at age 26. John was part of the prominent DeWolf family of Rhode Island, which had become wealthy through the Atlantic slave trade, starting with DeWolf's grandfather Mark Anthony DeWolf. The DeWolf family had a major influence on Bristol during the early United States era. The family dominated Bristol shipping, slaving, banking, trading, and politics from the late 18th century through the early 19th century. DeWolf lived through the family's mid-19th century shift from maritime commerce to industry in Bristol. DeWolf went to sea at a young age, participating in his family's slave trading business. He wrote that he disliked the slave trade and wished to end his involvement in it by trying his luck in the maritime fur trade, which involved trading with the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast for sea otter furs, which commanded a high price in China. At the same time, about 1800, James DeWolf, the elder patriarch of the DeWolf family and John's uncle, began working to diversify the DeWolf family business, due to increasing restrictions on the slave trade. The maritime fur trade was booming around 1800 and the DeWolf family was well positioned to join in the trade. At least one maritime fur trading expedition was conducted by the DeWolf family from 1801 to 1804.