Silvanus Crosby was born circa 1747. He was living in Nantucket, Connecticut, when he joined the United States sealing voyage (from Nantucket), 1791-1794 (leader Elijah Coffin). Leaving Nantucket on 30 September 1791 in Asia, accompanied by Bartlett Coffin in Alliance, the two vessels sailed to Cape Town, arriving there in January 1792 before sailing to Ile Saint-Paul, where Crosby reported that a sealer from Bengal had taken around 15,000 seal skins. After sailing to Australia to refit the vessels, they sailed west across the Indian Ocean in June, arriving at Mauritius in August. Following a short period of whaling at Madagascar, the vessels returned to Port Louis, Mauritius, to charter a schooner, Hunter, as a tender for Asia .
All three vessels sailed to Iles Kerguelen where they remained for fifteen months from December 1792. In February 1793, Bartlett Coffin died and was buried at Port Washington. Returning to Mauritius, Asia and Alliance caught whales off the south eastern coast of Africa, before Asia sailed to the West Indies, returning to Nantucket some time in 1794.
From the guide to the Silvanus Crosby collection, 1791-1794, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
