John M. Cavarly was born in 1834, presumably in New London. His father had been crippled by a fall at sea, but that did not deter Cavarly from going to sea at the age of 14 on a packet ship bound for London in 1848. He made captain by 1859 and sailed clipper ships for private interests. On one such voyage in 1859 to Hawaii from New York, he met and married Annie Bolles, daughter of a well-to-do Hawaiian businessman. In 1863, he lost his ship, the Anglo Saxon, to the Confederate steamer, CSS Florida, off the coast of Ireland. It was upon his return from this loss that John M. Cavarly decided to sail steamers and transition to new naval technology. His first post was as the replacement First Mate on a Pacific Mail Steamship Company steamer his friend captained. He was soon hired by the company and promoted to captain in 1864. In all, he captained twenty-two ships for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company between 1864 and his retirement in 1890. He mainly sailed the Pacific Ocean, mostly the Panama Line, but he sailed the China Line from 1868 to 1870 (and then on two other occasions before his retirement as the need arose) and the Australia Line from 1876 to 1878. Annie Bolles Cavarly died in 1890 and John M. Cavarly delayed his retirement and sailed for three more years after her death. He was made Port Captain in 1863, but finally retired a year later. John M. Cavarly died in 1895. In all, John and Annie Cavarly had five children, three girls and two boys. The author of Annie's captain, Kathryn Hulme, is their second daughter's child. Kathryn Hulme's personal papers, family correspondence, and other research materials for her book are located at the Yale University Library.
From the description of Papers of John M. Cavarly, 1856-1960 (bulk 1856-1896). (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 554772076
