Capt. Benjamin Morrell was a sealing captain and explorer. He was Captain of the Wasp (1822-24), the Tartar (1824-26), and Antarctic (1828-31). There is an island among the Sandwich Islands named Morrell, probably named by him. Captain Morrell wrote the book, "Narratives of Four Voyages to the South Sea, North and South Pacific Ocean, Chinese Sea, Ethiopia and Southern Atlantic Ocean, Indian and Antarctic Ocean" (New York: J & J Harper, 1832). This book is supposed to be one of the earliest first-hand records of many of the South Seas islands, and is said to be the source from which Edgar Allen Poe derived his Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. [1]

[1]Ann Lisa Pearson, Morrill/Morrell Families Association Newsletter , 5(2): 209.