Havre-Union Line (trans-Atlantic packet)

William Whitlock, Jr., of New York, was interested in sailing packet lines from the early twenties and made the first sailing of the Cadmus (ship) (306 tons) in the New York-Havre Whitlock Line in 1823.

He was also one of the pioneers in the New York-Savannah packet line, which commenced weekly sailings between the ports in early 1824. Whitlock, who was unique in being the sole owner and operator of several packet ships, came from a New Jersey family and was the son of a sea captain.

Joseph A. Scoville says that the first business ventures of Whitlock soured him against partnerships and that he played a lone hand. "Even in ship-owning he preferred to hold an undivided interest if he could. If there was a loss, he could stand it, and if a profit, he did not wish to divide it with anybody."

In his early life, Whitlock spent some time in Georgia as a cotton factor, and this experience really got him interested in ships for transporting cotton from Georgia to New York and to markets in continental Europe.

In the thirties, Whitlock owned a few Havre packets outright, operated them in his own name, but ran them for some time in conjunction with James J. Boyd's Havre Second Line and later with the "Fox & Livingston line." Samuel M. Fox and Mortimer Livingston, sons-in-law of Francis Depau, took over the Havre Old Line, which had been founded by Depau in 1822, upon the latter's death early in 1836. Later, the Havre Old Line and the Whitlock Line were joined and operated as the Havre Union Line.[1]