The U.S. ship CELESTIAL EMPIRE was built at South Boston by Joatham Stetson, in 1852. 1630 tons; 193 ft x 37 ft 7 in x 29 ft (length x beam x depth of hold). She was owned for many years by the New York firm of Charles H. Parsons & Co; in her later years she was managed by Snow & Burgess, who were listed as her owners when she was lost. Although the CELESTIAL EMPIRE spent most of her career in the Atlantic trade, for which she was built, between 1852 and 1875 she made 5 voyages from various Atlantic ports to San Francisco. Her California voyages were, however, quite slow, the average being 164 days, the shortest 144 days. Capt. Taylor, who had previously commanded the TONAWANDA and HEMISPHERE, was master of the CELESTIAL EMPIRE from 1863 to 1872, when he was succeeded by James H. Stewart, who was in command of the ship when she was abandoned on 20 February 1878, on a voyage from Bremen to New York.

Sources: Frederick C. Matthews, American Merchant Ships, 1850-1900, Series II, Marine Research Society Publications, 23 (Salem, Massachusetts: Marine Research Society, 1931), pp. 59-60; Octavius T. Howe and Frederick G. Matthews, American Clipper Ships, 1833-1858, vol. 1, Marine Research Society Publications, 13 (Salem, Massachusetts: Marine Research Society, 1926), p. 54.

For additional information on history of the CELESTIAL EMPIRE, including pictorial representations, contact the following institutions, in order:

Peabody Essex Museum
East India Square
Salem, MA 01970

The Mariners' Museum
100 Museum Drive
Newport News, VA 23606-3798

(The Fine Art Emporium's World Register of Ship Portraits in Private Collections and in the Art Trade, indicates the existence of an oil painting of the ship, 60 x 90 cm, Liverpool School, attributed to the British artist Duncan Mc Farlane, in an unnamed private collection in the United States.)