At the heart of A Whaler at Twilight is the long-lost true story of an American whaler who embarked on a harrowing adventure in the South Pacific in the mid-nineteenth century in search of absolution and redemption. After the death of his parents, young Robert Armstrong lived with a successful uncle―a well-respected Methodist shopkeeper in bustling 1840s Baltimore―and had the opportunity to attend the nation’s first dental school. But Armstrong threw his future away, drinking himself into oblivion. Devoured by guilt and shame, in December 1849 he sold his dental instruments, his watch, and everything he possessed, and signed on for a whaling voyage leaving New Bedford for the South Pacific.
Decades later, Armstrong wrote an autobiographical account based on his travel logs, chronicling his thrilling, gritty experiences during ten years away. His memoirs describe his encounters with other whalers, beachcombers, Peruvian villagers, Pacific islanders, Maori warriors in New Zealand, cannibals on Fiji, and the impacts of American Expansionism. He also recounted his struggles with drink, his quest for God, and his own redemption.
Armstrong’s gripping personal account is bookended by thoroughly researched contextual background compiled by his great-great-grandson, Alexander Brash, who discovered his ancestor’s manuscript among a collection of family mementos. A noted professional conservationist, Brash fills out Armstrong’s intimate and timeless tale by shedding further light on a turbulent historical period, whaling and its impacts, his ancestor’s religious milieu, and the importance of marine conservation today. A Whaler at Twilight is a fascinating dive into both human morality and American history.
Alexander R. Brash was born and raised in New York, NY. An early love for birds evolved into a passion for quantitative community ecology and then a devotion to conservation. Along the way he worked on Great Gull Island, in the American Museum of Natural History, and graduated from Buckley School, Hotchkiss School, Connecticut College, Yale School for the Environment, and worked on a PhD at Rutgers University. After a hurricane wiped out his study site, he took a job with NYC Parks and rose to be the Chief Park Ranger, managing the agency’s uniformed officers, Natural Resource Group, Communications, Historic House Trust, and Special Events. At NYC Parks he initiated the Forever Wild Project, now 47 park preserves covering over 8,700 acres, Project X, the city’s first program to re-introduce extirpated species, and he was a first responder on 9/11. After nearly two decades in New York, he joined the National Parks Conservation Association as the Northeast Regional Director lobbying for our national parks, particularly bringing attention to the system’s urban parks and cultural icons, as well as initiating the effort to establish Katahdin Woods, Stonewall Inn, and Patterson Falls as new National Parks. Alex then spent three years as President of Connecticut Audubon, which he re-invigorated by moving its finances into the black, tripling its endowment, doubling the size of its nature preserves, and re-aligning its educational programs with STEM. Retired in Connecticut, he has been consulting, writing, traveling, birding, and spending time with family. Happily married to Jane, they have two great children, Ian and Emily.
Robert W. Armstrong was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1828, the only child of William and Rebecca Armstrong. After attending the esteemed Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, the world's first dental school, he served for a short while as a dentist in the Midwest and the South. He then spent ten years in the South Pacific as a whaler and a logger before returning to Baltimore and starting a second career as a store clerk. He worked at his uncle’s firm Armstrong, Cator and Co. Soon after, he married Eudocia Muller and together they opened their own successful millinery store on Lexington Street. With Eudocia ultimately managing the store, Robert became more involved in church and community affairs later in his life. Robert and Eudocia had eight children. He died peacefully in 1902 and lies with his family in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
