author

Zeph. W. (Zephaniah Walter) Pease

1861–1933

A longtime New Bedford newspaper editor and local historian, he wrote with the kind of close-up knowledge that comes from spending decades in one place. His work preserves the people, events, and maritime character of coastal Massachusetts in rich detail.

1 Audiobook

The Catalpa Expedition

The Catalpa Expedition

by Zeph. W. (Zephaniah Walter) Pease

About the author

Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1860 or 1861, Zephaniah Walter Pease is best remembered as both a journalist and a historian of his home city. Sources consistently connect him with The Morning Mercury of New Bedford, where he spent more than fifty years and served as an editor.

Pease devoted much of his writing to the history of southeastern Massachusetts. He is associated with History of New Bedford (published in 1918 under his editorial direction), and he also wrote The Catalpa Expedition and Fifty Years on the Morning Mercury, New Bedford, Mass., 1880–1930. His work is especially valuable for readers interested in New Bedford's civic life, whaling era, and local memory.

He died in 1933. Even from the small record now easily available online, he comes across as a writer deeply rooted in his community—someone who helped turn local history and newspaper life into a lasting written archive.