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~ OLD-TIME SHIPS OF SALEM

SCHOONER BALTICK COMING OUT OF ST. EUSTATIA, NOV. 16, 1765

SECOND EDITION

ESSEX INSTITUTE SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS 1922

Copyricut, 1917, Copyricut, 1922,

by ESSEX INSTITUTE

This book was presented by

10-G-

Ghe Nichols Press Lynn, Mass.

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INTRODUCTION

in the Massachusetts Bay, was a maritime port surpassed in size and importance by

only two or three other seaports along the Atlantic coast which were more advan- tageously located on deep-water harbors and which at the last were developed with the amazing growth of the canal and the railroad. Within a dozen years of the coming of Governor Endecott, vessels from Salem were trading with the West Indies and England and the enterprise and self-reliance of the merchants and shipmasters of this town eventually opened commercial relations with new and distant peoples living upon the shores of all parts of the known world. It has been said with truth that Salem ships traded “ with more different peoples in Asia, Africa, South America and the islands of the sea than the ships of all other American ports put together.”

the year of its settlement in 1628 until the middle of the 19th century, Salem,

The ketches, sloops, barks and other vessels with which the trade was carried on before the Revolution, now have disappeared and only a drawing preserved here and there delineates their type and rig. However, with the greater development of the foreign trade at the close of the 18th century, it became the fashion among the shipmasters to obtain a watercolor depicting the good ship that brought them safely and successfully to the home port. This was especially true of those vessels trading with Europe and along the Med- iterranean, where at Marseilles, Genoa and Trieste were artists who sought the patronage of the Yankee captains. In time many of these drawings by the Roux family, by Corné, Carcini, Camellote, Pelligrini, Ropes and others, gravitated to that unique collection illus- trating the commercial marine which is now preserved in the Peabody Museum, Salem. In 1902 the Asiatic National Bank of Salem conceived the idea of reproducing these ship pictures in color and utilizing them-upon calendars. One ship followed another in unbroken series and in 1910 when the Naumkeag Trust Company succeeded the old-time bank the practice was ~coMnnred “until ata thes present, time'styenty different vessels have been depicted.

In this volume these NiSroa Sustiations have been gathered together with a number of pictures of other Salem ships. The accompanying accounts of trade or misfortune were written by Hon. Robert S. Rantoul or Mr. William O. Chapman, and originally appeared with the calendars. They are here reprinted in a somewhat condensed form.

The history of Salem’s maritime commerce has not yet been written and it is hoped that this contribution may aid in keeping alive an admiration and respect for the enter- prise of her far-sighted old-time merchants and also help to arouse a faith and a deter- mination that American vessels again shall sail the four seas and again be well known in “the farthest port of the rich East.”

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Privateer ship ““America”’ at Marseilles in 1806 ............... Anton Roux, artist 32 Ship “America,” formerly the French frigate “Blonde” .......... M. Corné, artist 10 Schooner “Baltick” leaving St. Eustatia in 1765............................ Title page Ship ‘‘Belisarius”’ leaving Crowninshield’s wharf ................ M. Corné, artist 8 Sing “Bometia,” at heginorin tim IOS ....ccoonncocccesacccoseccansscenagesuces 34 Ships Brookline? leavingssalemifon Manilayim) 1839) 3599) a see see eee 76 Brigne@amalyrianley Msc tesetertatyetiecnte ss tcsiccdlewnc mrarsame uh autiye eed Frederic Roux, artist 58 Siltipomey Caro lian ce evel ee Neyer ene ie Mn mie fies sid ccc rate ecet i eI Raat oi es Ae Pe 64 Brig ‘“‘Cleopatra’s Barge” at Genoa in 1817............../ Antoine Vittaluga, artist 48 Crowinshield’s Wharf, Salem, during the embargo of 1808 ....George Ropes, artist 54 Ship ‘“‘ Eliza Ann,” showing the rescue, in Nov., 1845, of the crew of a Chinese junk 70 Drips lizapamGe iN aay tear yaa vaca eta el LoPanee sre een Stee carmen eae So 86 Frigate “Essex,” built in Salem in 1799.................... Joseph Howard, artist 24 Lawineln On tne Shujy “lame” tm IGO2 ..oos5c0000ccensccanaace George Ropes, artist 38 Shipp anny eae weiner meee ty skeen cua neh ey area opto seaah eee M. Corné, artist 18 Snes ree ra ra es ets tereta asa cise ee Spee eMa i ShetS: Soyo ures ba te ae eR LR recent 80 Slats er cl sanyo seeceeete ree were cremsm ieee a che eect. cot batyeaee sch Seay ora? te cans ty tan ee ee ly Reem raat 12 Slo “Eeorge” Ob Cape AMM oo ooccascececscoogaassv0gcnen Edmund Stone, artist 44 Sinton Gay ears ns vest usean erik cre usa aS Gee mete tai Steve yew atch eee Anton Roux, artist 46 Brig “Grand Turk” saluting Marseilles in 1815 ............... Anton Roux, artist 40 Sin “lelercullas” att Naples tim ISO oo ccecccccccacasevccvcdvcesvccsnccadecucns 36 Sina “Theis.” leawatiag INeypllas tim WOO 2... cavcocsccacanaccongcvcavcscncuuccccusee 72 Bricmeslecandenaentenines omynnasiinie (Ss 0 Senses ie nn Gi. Camellote, artist 52 Shipman ganetyee peste ngayon. neo ea i Avon saphena eta tae M. Corné, artist 28 Brisa Vianyabaulimewatormenkysany alin Caneslaviciieine et) iar nnn ernne 66 Ship ‘‘Monk” at Marseilles in 1806 .-.................. Nicolai Carmelliert, artist 42 Shipee Mount aViernontc tami. acute eames ieee aad eos dived Soe M. Corné, artist 20 Brig “Naiad,” leaving Marseilles for India in 1820............. Anton Roux, artist 84 Bic peace Ke Suances re yee ater ea gin ar athena Rite a sre seieues auth oe Ue st cca cnet tea ROR er 78 Brig “Olinda” leaving Marseilles in 1827 .............. '....Francois Roux, artist 56 Brigantine “Peggy.” Painting on a Liverpool ware pitcher made in 1797........ 14 Brig “‘Phoenix”’ entering Genoa in 1829 ................. Antoine Vittaluga, artist 50 Ship yeetbs uc Om beakaiecte eae cost tare cctener Mesa ch spe sedtye tet) axan era unas Gay ehenaye ue Aten epee ited ta ie 26 Ship omesleavinigeVlarseillessimy S48 ieee eee ee S. Pelligrini, artist 62 Sin “Sie, awl” eatcoaiayy Saillern Ingyelovor win WEVNS 5 con caaaccc0cavaecsc0ccc0nn0be 60 Sy itoy 8S yop ola va Sanaa rin eeic. re reece ick ele cto ace nec reer omen ene es RN aE 66 1B cite Keanee S eo One rte te neers yeoone Utes eu ceistntth pe nawecetn. gf cs aah Shapers usntaseu a oceraeneensise 58 Shippepbhomaseh erkein sh2ay wert eva se pest wi sens tony cae eeasice ste ms eee euceeM oats 68 Ship ‘ Ulysses,” wrecked on Cape Cod in 1802 .................. M. Corné, artist 22 Ship ‘‘ Ulysses” (second of the name) at Marseilles, 1804 ....... Anton Roux, artist 16 Sinisa Onagen wire ease: Mice horses bys mie tem Ravaie ava Wika li mia A nD inn 82 Ship ‘‘ Volusia,” wrecked on Cape Cod in 1802 .................. M. Corné, artist 30

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SHIP BELISARIUS

The good ship “Belisarius,’ painted by Corné, before 1805, as she was leaving Crowninshield’s wharf, — a large merchant- man for her day, — was built by Enos Briggs at his shipyard at Stage Point in the South Fields. She was launched in October, 1794, and cleared in November. She was, on the stocks, a ship of two hundred and nine tons burthen, but was at once enlarged to two hundred and sixty-one and one-half tons. She was pierced for sixteen guns and mount- ed that armament. She measured only ninety-four and one-half feet in length, with a breadth of twenty-five feet, and was so narrow that her depth, — usually one-half the width of a vessel,— must have been much more than half her breadth. So nar- row a craft would seem to have been de- signed for speed rather than tonnage, but she carried most valuable cargoes and paid duties on them, ranging from fifteen to twenty-one thousand dollars. Her great depth should have made her stiffer, like the fin of a racing yacht. She was an early ship to be copper-bottomed, and was launched with all her masts standing.

The speed of the “Belisarius” was com- parable to that of the modern clipper, al- though her build was very different. She often made eight, nine and ten knots under favoring conditions, — at times doing better than ten knots to the hour. She sailed well in light wind, making four or five knots, and it was no rare thing for her to make a run of from two hundred and eighteen to two hun- dred and thirty-eight miles per day. In one instance she logged two hundred and forty- three miles.

The whole Crowninshield connection seems to have been interested, first or last, in the “Belisarius.” They built her, they owned her and they sailed her. The father, George, and the sons, Jacob, Benjamin, Richard and George are all registered, at one time or another, as part owners of the “Belisarius,” and four of them, at various periods, commanded her. Before July,

1809, nobody but a Crowninshield had owned a share in the “Belisarius.” Her voyages to the East were among the earliest and the quickest. But her career was checkered.

She entered this Port from her first voy- age, July 26, 1795, George Crowninshield, Junior, Master, with tea, coffee and indigo for the firm, paying in duties $14,324.00, and again, she entered, September 2, 1796, with the same cargo and captain. In com- mand of Captain Samuel Skerry, Junior, she entered Salem from Sumatra, July 28, 1801, with 320,000 pounds of pepper for the firm, —having sailed November 25, 1800, — sailed again August 30, 1801, and arrived July 12, 1802, with 306,542 pounds of pep- per, and once more arrived, September 20, 1803, with 276,459 pounds.

The record of her speed deserves special notice. October 18, 1796, she was off on her third voyage in command of John Crownin- shield, reaching home, July 26, 1798, from Calcutta and last from the Isle of Bourbon, in seventy-five days. She had been chased, July 16, east of Cape Sable, by a ship and a brig thought to be British cruisers, but she left them far astern. And so on, with vary- ing luck, through thirteen wonderful voy- ages, rounding out a rare career of sixteen years. She cleared from Salem, December 11, 1799, on her sixth voyage, under com- mand of Captain Samuel Skerry, Junior, and sailed ten days later, arriving back, September 11, 1800,—a passage of 104 days from Madras and Tanquebar. She completed her voyage in eight months and nineteen days, notwithstanding she was ly- ing in Madras and Tanquebar more than forty days of that time. The “ Belisarius”’ crossed the line in twenty-three days from Salem, and passed Cape of Good Hope in fifty-five days.

Of her eighth voyage to Sumatra, the Es- sex Register of July 30, 1801, says: ‘Arrived the fast-sailing and well-known Belisarius, Captain Samuel Skerry, Junior, one hundred

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and two days from Bencoolen, having per- formed her voyage in the short time of eight months and three days, as she sailed from Salem, November 25, 1800. In our Bay, the Belisarius was chased by an English Frigate. It is supposed that the Belisarius has made the shortest voyage to the East Indies that was ever made from this country. Her last voyage was eight months, and nine- teen days, the two together having been performed in sixteen months and twenty- two days.”

She escaped the lightnings of the tropics in August, 1802. She had sailed for India, August 11, had carried away in a gale some of her spars, had lost a man killed, and was forced to return. Again she sailed, August 14, and four days out was struck by light- ning at midnight, — all hands on deck tak- ing in sail. One of the hands, Shehane of Salem, was instantly killed. The first offi- cer, Meek, and two seamen were struck senseless and much hurt. The weather was squally with hard rain, —the ship under close-reefed topsails. The bolt descended by the main-top-gallant-mast and down the main-mast into the ’tween-decks, Captain

Skerry and every person on board except the man at the helm being more or less stunned. All the compasses were disabled, both below and on deck, and their polarity destroyed, the north point of one tending to the south- east, and that in others fixed at southwest. Volumes of smoke issued from the hatches and companionway, and for more than an hour the ship appeared to be on fire. Shiv- ering the main-top-mast, the bolt passed out at the ship’s side. But she escaped with great difficulty and made Salem harbor, August 24, 1802.

After successful voyaging in the India trade for eight years more with such seamen as Edward Allen, Robert Peele and George Burchmore for her masters, and with Dudley Leavitt Pickman among her supercargoes, — and after bringing home to her owners wealth so ample as to prompt Doctor Bent- ley to speak of her in his diary as “one of the Richest Ships of our Port” — “the beautiful

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ship Belisarius,” went to pieces in a gale, a total wreck, in the Bay of Tunis, in April, 1810, the crew and cargo saved. So ends

her story.

SHIP AMERICA, STEPHEN WEBB, MASTER

Formerly a French frigate, built about 1795. From the water-color by Corné, now in possession of the Peabody Museum, Salem.

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SHIP FRIENDSHIP

The ship “Friendship” was built for Messrs. Waite and Peirce by Enos Briggs, one of the most noted shipbuilders in Salem, and was launched on May 28, 1797. She was 342 tons measurement and made seven- teen voyages to Batavia, Canton, La Guayra, Cadiz, Leghorn, Madras, London, Hamburg, Archangel and St. Petersburg, paying total duties at the Salem Custom House of $141,394.33. She was finally cap- tured by the British September 4, 1812, while returning from Archangel under com- mand of Capt. Edward Stanley, and was taken to Plymouth, England, where she was condemned December 9, 1812. This ship is probably better known to the present gen- eration than many of the other famous ves- sels of the past on account of the splendid full-rigged model in the Peabody Museum in Salem. This model was made by Thomas Russell, the ship’s carpenter, for Capt. Wil- liam Story’s young son William, and is a wonderful piece of work.

The journals of the captains and the ship’s logs are full of interesting entries showing the many-sided natures of the men who went down to the sea in ships in those stirring times, and it is difficult to make a selection where there is so much material to choose from. Capt. Israel Williams on her first voyage to Batavia described a successful ex- periment he made for distilling fresh water from sea water by means of a crude still which he constructed from the cook’s boiler, a gun barrel and a beef cask. As he de- scribed it, ““Some little reflection on the value of fresh water at sea induced me to make some experiments for the produce of fresh water from salt and I have found very much to my satisfaction that with little trouble it will yield good fresh water.” He also described meeting the English brig “Diligence,” Capt. Menly, “who treated us with the politeness of a gentleman.” And again, while on a voyage to Leghorn in 1805, he described an attack by eight French gun- boat privateers in which he was obliged by

force of numbers to heave to and permit an examination. While in Leghorn, July 22, 1805, this entry was made: ‘This and the three preceding days we were visited by officers of distinction and by a Prince of Blood, from different parts of Italy, prin- cipally from Bologna and Milan.”

The next year the “Friendship” cleared from Salem on March 4, still in command of Capt. Williams, and arrived home again No- vember 15, a voyage of a little more than eight months, during which she visited Ma- dras, Bourbon, Isle of France and three ports in Indian, and brought back a valuable car- go of pepper, indigo, tea, coffee, etc.

To show the constant strain that the offi- cers and men must have been under during the exciting times leading up to the War of 1812, the following extracts from Capt. Wil- liams’ journal will be of interest: “At half- past twelve saw a sail in the western quarter who quickly bore away and spread a cloud of sail after us. She came up with us very fast. As she drew near I perceived she was a very long, low schooner, which left me no doubt of her being a privateer, which her near approach confirmed. We therefore got all ready for action. Having the advantage of the wind, he came near enough to see that we could give him a sweet fraternal embrace, but prudently he declined it, and hauled off and left us to pursue the course which we had not altered. At 4 p.m. saw a Brig to windward who bore away after us and came up fast. She came near enough to see our apparent force, which made him keep his distance also.”

The following extracts are worthy of more than passing mention, as they show the char- acter of the captains of those days, and apply equally as well to the men, for it was, of course, from that material that captains were made:

“Let go our anchor in Cadiz Bay. In passing the point of Rotta met a French privateer, who with his consort came out with an intention of saluting us, but on com-

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ing near us they altered their minds, but not without trying to intimidate us, and al- though they took us at a non plus, still we showed them that we were not to be bullied. We immediately luffed, took up foresail, in Top Gallant sails, knocked out the Tomp- ions, primed the guns, and bore away and passed the first within pistol shot, but we were so unfriendly as not to change a word

together. So ends a prosperous passage, thank God!”

Capt. Edward Stanley, on a voyage to Archangel, which proved to be the good ship’s last one, made the following entries:

“May 22. From 9 p.m. to the last of these twenty-four hours had to shift the course to accommodate the ice with a birth. I should think that this body of ice must ex- tend at least 500 or 600 miles; in fact, it is impossible to say how far it doth ex- tend.

“May 23. At 6p. m. lost sight of the ice. It must be certainly of very great extent. I have no doubt but that it came from the Pole. The weather has been very cold, everything on board is frozen, even to the pumps. The log line stiff as soon as hauled in. The poor ink must go and see the cook, both pretty much of the same color. Oh! happy West Indian with your glorious sun!”

Capt. Stanley after his capture by the British and his detention at Plymouth, Eng- land, wrote home to friends, and in all of these letters shows his fidelity to his country and to his owners. He wrote: ‘“ My situa- tion at present is very disagreeable, if I should abandon (which by the way I have no thought of doing) I well know it would not please my worthy employers, whom I hope in God never to offend. At present there are chances for me to get home every day, but if the English declare war — God only knows when I shall see you.”

BRIGANTINE PEGGY

From a pitcher of Liverpocl ware made in 1797 and now in possessicn of Mrs. M. P. Whipple

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SHIP ULYSSES

The “‘Ulysses”’ was a ship of three hun- dred and forty tons’ burden, carrying twen- ty-five men or more, and built at Haverhill, in 1798, for William Gray, Jr., of Salem. Her dimensions were: length, 10014 feet; breadth, 28 feet; depth, 13 feet 1014 inches. Mr. Gray, born at Lynn in 1760, came early to Salem, and entered the counting-room of Richard Derby. With Captain Josiah Orne for partner, he was despatching ships to Canton as early as May, 1790.

The ship ‘‘ Ulysses” had an uneventful career, and her voyages seem to have been of average success. Captain Orne was the first master to tread her quarter-deck, bring- ing her round from Haverhill to Salem in June, 1798. She cleared, Orne, master, for Batavia, June 25, and arrived home July 10, 1799, paying in duties thirteen thousand dollars. On August 17, 1799, she was com- missioned as a private-armed vessel, com- manded by William Mugford, Archelaus Rea being second and Nathaniel Osgood third in command. She carried 11 guns and 28 men, and cleared for India on the same date.

The next entry made of this ship in the Salem Custom House was on April 3, 1801, William Mugford, master, from Lisbon, hav- ing on board a cargo of 697,309 Ibs. of salt and some Lisbon wine, consigned to William Gray, Jr. She entered, on a voyage from St. Petersburg, October 29, 1801, William Mugford, master, with a cargo of hemp, cor- dage and candles, consigned to William Gray, Jr., William Mugford and John Kil- ham, paying a duty of $8,774.96. We find her sailing from Beverly for the Isle of France in February, 1802, William Mugford in command. On this voyage she took Let- ters of Marque signed by President Jefferson and his Secretary of State, Madison, and countersigned “Joseph Hiller, Collector, William Pickman, Naval officer.” These interesting papers are on deposit with the East India Marine Society, together with the invoice of what was described as ‘“‘an assorted cargo,” consisting of “Iron, Cor-

dage, Gin, Gin Cases, Cheese, Butter, Beef, Pork, Lard, Flour, Bacon, Fish, Soap, Can- dles, Nails, Wares, Dry Goods, Rum, To- bacco, Hats, Saddlery, Salt, Naval Stores.”

She had not been six years off the stocks when she made herself and her captain known to the whole seafaring world. She left Salem for Marseilles, January 2, 1804, and, three days out, encountered a terrific gale. She was sailing at eight and nine knots, when a “large sea” struck her astern and tore clean away the whole rudder and the stern-post at the water’s edge, besides splitting her canvas and straining her seams. The “Ulysses” at once broached to with her mainmast sprung, and in this helpless con- dition she lay for three weeks of most tem- pestuous weather, exposed to the fury of wind and sea. Captain Mugford, nothing daunted at the appalling situation, proceed- ed at once to carry into effect a plan entirely his own. So complete was his success that he was able to make sail within twenty days, and, without further disaster, entered Marseilles, flag at peak, on the twenty-third of March.

The false rudder was constructed on deck, of lengths measuring fourteen feet, cut from a spare topmast and from four studding-sail booms, sufficiently squared to fit firmly to- gether, and braced with small ropes. The rudder was secured on its sides with bolts and wooden cleats. It was four feet wide, fore and aft, and was attached, by eight or ten eye-bolts, to a false stern-post twenty feet long, also hewn on deck from the same top-mast, an equal number of eye-bolts be- ing fixed in the false stern-post at intervals corresponding with those of the rudder. Through these pairs of eye-bolts sections of iron crowbars were dropped, and they served as pintals or gudgeons on which the false rudder swung.

The old iron tiller of the ship, about six feet long, passed through the upper part of the body of the rudder, and from this on each side ropes were passed over the ship’s

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quarters to a spare topmast running out over the rails near the mizzen chains, and having a block at each end. Through these blocks the tiller-ropes were rove and at- tached to the windlass, and the ship then steered in the usual manner by the wheel. The rig was, on a large scale, like the yoke and tiller-ropes which control the rudder of a racing-scull or a man-of-war’s gig. The old gudgeons still remaining on the stern- post, it was necessary to cut mortices in the false stern post to receive them, and these were found of essential service in keeping the whole machine fixed in its proper bearings.

Before going overboard the apparatus was weighted at the bottom with a six-pounder gun, to hold it in an upright position until it could be firmly secured, when the cannon was released and hauled on deck. There

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were several large straps fastened in the false stern-post, from which hawsers were passed, and the new stern-post, carrying with it the new rudder, was secured to the ship’s stern with these hawsers made fast at several points on her quarters.

At Marseilles the French made drawings of the invention, and foreign ship-masters in port took care to furnish themselves with complete models of it. The actual appliance was exposed at Gray’s wharf on the return of the “Ulysses” to Salem, and there exam- ined and admired by this seafaring com- munity.

The “Ulysses” arrived home August 9, 1804, and paid in duties $15,814.19. Once after this she cleared for India, September 10, 1804, with brandy, gin and specie, but her later career cannot be traced at this port.

SHIP FANNY, WILLIAM GRAY, OWNER From the copy of the painting by M. Corné, 1801, now in the possessicn of the Peabody Museum,

Salem.

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SHIP MOUNT VERNON

The ship “Mount Vernon” was built at the eastern end of Derby Street, Salem, in 1798, by Retire Becket, for Elias Hasket Derby, and proved to be the last commercial venture of that great merchant. She was registered at Salem, February 21, 1799, and combined the functions of a commercial and a naval craft. She was a full-rigged ship, but there were peculiarities about her rig which have not been seen for a century. She measured just under 100 feet in length; her breadth of beam was 2834 feet, and she was of 356 tons burthen. She carried fifty men and twenty guns, among the latter two long nines and an 18-pounder. She was en- tered at Salem from Havana, May 20, with a cargo of sugar, tobacco, etc. This first voyage was a success, but her owner died in September while she was at Palermo. With what is described as “‘a very valuable cargo of silks called ormazine, wines, and brass cannon,” after having made some fortunate ventures in wheat in the Mediterranean, she entered her home port, July 7, 1800, and paid to the Derby estate a profit of upwards of $100,000 on an outlay of $43,275. Ship and cargo were necessarily disposed of at auction in settlement of the estate. The “Mount Vernon” became the property of the Messrs. Peirce and Waite of Salem, and she seems to have succumbed, on her second voyage, to one of the hurricanes which visit the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. So her career was as brief as it was romantic.

But the “Mount Vernon” had brought into the country an interesting personage, Michele Felice Corné, afterwards to become the leading marine artist of this section. He died in 1845, at the advanced age of eighty- eight. After landing here, he spent his life at Boston and at Newport, as well as in Salem, and he left behind him at least a dozen fine paintings of the ship to which he owed his passage to America. No Salem ship has been so often or so finely painted as the “Mount Vernon.” Corné earned some reputation as a decorator, and the Governor

Hancock House in Boston was one of those ornamented with his frescoes. A portrait of him is in the Redwood Library at Newport, where, as well as at Salem, he is gratefully remembered for having introduced the to- mato as an article of diet. His success as a marine painter was great. He has not only shown his favorite ship engaged in her nu- merous encounters; in her running fight with a French frigate and a sloop-of-war sent after her from the combined French and Spanish fleet of fourteen sail; in her battle with the African corsairs; in convoying a fleet of merchantmen up the Mediterranean; in her departure from Malta; in her action before Gibraltar; but he also painted with great approval all the most famous naval ac- tions of our second war with England. Ina painting, now in possession of Mr. Rea, Corné shows the “‘ Mount Vernon,” July 29, 1799, bearing herself well in an encounter with a large lateen-rigged French cruiser carrying one hundred men. This affair is most graphically described in her log and also in the letter from her commander, ad- dressed to his father, the owner, dated at Gibraltar, August 1. From this letter it appears that Gibraltar was in full view, and a British fleet as well, and the victors derived no little satisfaction from the presence of these spectators. ‘The ‘Mount Vernon,’ ” says the letter, “reached Gibraltar after popping at the Frenchmen all the forenoon.”

Captain Derby had been, during his stay at Naples, the guest at dinner of Lord Nelson, and had entertained famous com- pany most elegantly in his own cabin. His letter, which has been printed in full, con- tains the following passage: . . . “July 28, p. M., found ourselves approaching a fleet of upwards of fifty sail. Concluding it impos- sible that it could be any other than the English fleet, continued our course for their centre to avoid any apprehension of a want of confidence in them. They soon dis- patched an eighteen-gun-ship from their cen- tre and two frigates to beat towards us. On

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approaching the centre ship, I fortunately bethought myself that it would be but com- mon prudence to steer so far to windward of him as to be a grape-shot distance from him, to observe his force and maneuvering. When we were abreast of him he fired a gun to leeward and hoisted English colors. We immediately bore away and meant to pass under his quarter, between him and the fleet, showing our American colors. This move- ment disconcerted him, and it appeared to me he conceived we were either an American sloop-of-war or an English one in disguise, attempting to cut him off from the fleet; for, while we were in the act of wearing on his beam, he hoisted French colors and gave us his broadside. Weimmediately brought our ship to the wind and stood on about a mile; wore toward the centre of the fleet; hove about and crossed him on the other tack, about half grape-shot distance, and received his broadside. Several of his shot fell on board of us and cut our sails, two round-shot

striking us without much damage. All hands were active in clearing ship for action, for our surprise had been complete. In about ten minutes we commenced firing our stern-chasers, and in a quarter of an hour gave him our broadside in such a style as evidently sickened him; for he immediately luffed in the wind, gave us his broadside, went in stays in great confusion, wore ship afterwards in a large circle, and renewed the chase at a mile and a half distance, a man- euver calculated to keep up appearances with the fleet and to escape our shot. We received seven or eight broadsides from him, and I was mortified at not having it in my power to return him an equal number with- out exposing myself to the rest of the fleet, for I am persuaded I should have had the pleasure of sending him home had he been separate from them. At midnight we had distanced them, the chasing rocket-signals being almost out of sight, and soon left them.”

SHIP ULYSSES, JAMES COOK, MASTER

Wrecked on Cape Ced, February 22, 1802. From the water-color probably made by Corné. A copy is new in the possession of the Peabody Museum, Salem.

[22]

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FRIGATE ESSEX

The story of the fast little frigate ‘‘ Essex,” built at one of the critical moments in our history, under conditions altogether excep- tional, never lacks a listener. At the time we seemed to be drifting into a war with France, and we had no navy and no depart- ment of the Government devoted to marine affairs.

On July 17, 1798, the Salem Gazette printed this announcement:

“PATRIOTIC SUBSCRIPTION”

“Tast evening a subscription was begun in this town for raising money for the use of the Govern- ment, to be applied to the building of vessels, or such other purposes as Government may choose... Neither ability nor patriotism is wanting.” On July 24 the Gazette adds ‘‘It is expected that the subscription in this town will be applied to the building of a stout frigate.”

The subscription paper was placed at the Salem Insurance Office, and funds poured in promptly. Subscribers to the number of more than a hundred pledged sums ranging upwards from ten and twenty dollars. “A Lady,” whose name does not appear, gave fifty dollars, and the list of twenty-three donors, each of them subscribing a thousand dollars or more, was as follows:

William Gray .......... $10,000 liastiee Derby eeenoeer 10,000 William Orne ........... 5,000 ohne Norsemen 5,000 Volum WOMKS .cccccoscacc 1,500 iDbenwBecktond se ereeei 2,000 Benjamin Pickman ..... 1,000 Benjamin Pickman, Jr. 1,500 Joseph Peabody ........ 1,500 JohniOscoodeeeemnnree 1,000 William Prescott ....... 1,000 Stephen Phillips........ 1,000 Ichabod Nichols ....... 1,000 Jacob Ashton .......... 1,000 SamueliGrays = asec ease 2,000 Jonathan Neal ......... 2,000 Waite and Peirce ....... 2,000

Richard Manning ...... 1,000 Volain IDG? nce cc0cc06 1,000 Ezekiel H. Derby ...... 1,000 Nathaniel West ........ 1,500 Georges Dodretaeseennee 1,000 Richard Derby, Jr. ..... 1,500

The total contributed was $74,250, after- wards swelled to $75,473.59. The signers met at the Town House, October 25, and voted unanimously “to build a Frigate of thirty-two guns and to loan the same to the Government.” A noble effort this on the part of a town of ninety-three hundred people!

The builder was Enos Briggs, who had come from the South Shore to build the “Grand Turk.” As soon as ‘“‘ready cash”’ could be promised, Briggs made his first ap- peal to the public. A call for copper, iron, blacksmithing and supplies was advertised, for the first time, in the Gazette of November 23, 1798:

“Take notice! ye Sons of Freedom!” — says Briggs, in the same issue, — “Step forth and give your assistance in building the Frigate to oppose French insolence and piracy! Let every man in possession of a White Oak Tree feel ambitious to be foremost in hurrying down the timber to Salem, to fill the complement wanting where the noble struc- ture is to be fabricated to maintain your rights upon the Seas, and make the name of America respected among the Nations of the World! Your largest and longest trees are wanted, and the arms of them for knees and rising timber. Four trees are wanted for the keel, which altogether will measure 146 feet in length, and hew 16 inches square. Please call on the subscriber, who wants to make a contract for large or small quantities as may suit best, and will pay the Ready Cash.”

Finally, on September 30, 1799, Dr. Bent- ley in his Diary describes “The launching of the Frigate. Everything was in full prep- aration. The morning gun was fired and nothing then remained to be done but to prepare the tallow, drive the wedges, re- move the blocks and let her go. Seats were

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prepared and given to such as paid their quarter of a dollar on the western side of the ship and near the water. Within were seats for the Committee in banks so as to accom- modate many spectators. Above 12,000 persons passed the causeway and entered upon Winter Island. Crowds were on Naugus Head, numbers in boats, and the whole adjacent shore was covered. She

moved easily and the Launch was happy. No accident interrupted the joy of the day.”’

The subsequent story of the “Essex” has become a part of every naval history of the United States. In March, 1814, she was captured by two British frigates in Val- paraiso Bay after a bloody contest in which nearly one-half of her crew were killed or wounded.

SHIP PRUDENT, BUILT IN 1799 From the painting now in the possession of the Peabody Museum, Salem.

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SHIP MARGARET

The ship “Margaret” was built for John Derby, Benjamin Pickman and Samuel Der- by by the famous Retire Becket, whose fam- ily had built vessels in Salem for over 150 years. She was launched in the fall of 1800, and sailed on her first voyage November 25. Part of her cargo consisted of one hundred bags containing 50,000 Spanish dollars, twelve casks of Malaga wine and two hogs- heads of bacon. She was only 91 feet in length, 27 5-12 feet in breadth, and 13 2-3 feet in depth, with a capacity of 295 tons, and proved to be a very fast sailer.

Arriving at Batavia April 25, a bargain was made with the Dutch East India Com- pany to carry the annual freights to and from Japan, and to receive 45,000 Spanish dollars if a full freight was carried both ways.

A cargo, such as the Dutch had been ship- ping for nearly two centuries, consisting of sugar, spices, sapan wood, sandal wood, rat- tans, glass, glassware, cloths, medicines and various other articles, was loaded, and on June 20, 1801, the “Margaret”’ cleared for Nagasaki. On July 20, after much cere- mony, including the firing of numerous salutes, she came to anchor in the harbor of Nagasaki, being the first vessel from Salem, and, it is claimed, the second American ves- sel to visit Japan. The ship “Franklin” of Boston, commanded by James Devereux of Salem, was the first American vessel which traded with Japan, having made the same voyage as the “‘Margaret”’ two years pre- vious. No other American vessels were allowed in Japan until after the treaty of March 31, 1854, the result of Commodore Perry’s Expedition.

The ‘‘Margaret,” on her return voyage, reached Batavia December 6, 1801, and after loading with coffee and other mer- chandise cleared for Salem, arriving in June, 1802.

A change of ownership took place in 1809, when she was registered June 29 with John Crowninshield and William Fairfield, owners and William Fairfield, master. Three days

later she sailed for the Mediterranean, load- ed with cod fish, cotton goods, etc., and on August 11, when about eight miles from the entrance of Tunis Bay, was boarded and taken possession of by the French privateer “Constant,” ten guns and eighty men, and taken into Gata, in the Kingdom of Naples. About the first of December proposals were made to compromise, and on December 17 an arrangement was made, after having been ratified at Paris, by which one-half of the proceeds of the sale of the cargo, after de- ducting port charges, etc., was restored to the captain, he giving up all claims. The “Margaret”? was then loaded with a val- uable cargo of brandy, sewing silks, hats, rugs, etc., and on April 10, 1810, with a crew of fifteen men and thirty-one passen- gers, consisting of the officers and crews of vessels which had been seized and sold by the French, she sailed from Naples bound for home.

On Sunday, May 20, a squall struck the ship and she was thrown on her beam ends. All on board were able to reach her side and succeeded in cutting away part of the rigging and masts. A rope was attached to the fore and mizzen chains; all hands then got hold and, going, as near the keel as possible, suc- ceeded in righting her, although full of water and the waves making a continual breach over her. The next morning Captain Fair- field and fourteen men left the ship in the long boat which had been repaired, and were picked up on Saturday, May 26, by the ship “Poacher,” Captain Dunn, from Alicant to Boston. The survivors arrived at Marble- head June 19, 1810.

After the departure of Captain Fairfield, Captain Henry Larcom, master of the schooner ‘‘Mary” of Beverly, was “ap- pointed to act as their head” by the thirty- one still remaining on the wreck. In Cap- tain Larcom’s account of the shipwreck he says:

“On the 7th of June, finding we could be of no use to those on the wreck, and having

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nothing but brandy to subsist on, being then in lat. 39.12 N. and thinking that too far south for the track of Europeans, we thought it best to endeavor to stretch to the north- ward.

“The morning we left the wreck we went under the bowsprit and joined in prayer with Captain Janvrin for our deliverance. At 10 we bade them a final adieu, having about 214 gallons of brandy and a little pork, leaving on the wreck the following persons (who were never heard from afterwards): Henry Tucker, supercargo of the ship “ Fran- cis” of Salem; Captain Janvrin, master of the schooner ‘‘Syren” of Newburyport; Benjamin Peele, seaman of brig “Victory”

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of Salem; John Merrill, seaman of schooner “Peace,” Newburyport; Edmund Wingate, seaman of schooner “‘ Peace,” Newburyport; Nathaniel Sheffield of schooner “Ousiton- ack,” Derby, Conn.; Jacob Fowler of brig “Two Betsies,” Beverly; James Sinclair of schooner ‘Kite,’ Baltimore; Alexander Marshall, brig ““Nancy Ann,’ Newbury- port; William Burrill of schooner “Syren,” Newburyport.”

On June 30, after the most intense suffer- ing, the boat with three survivors was picked up by the schooner “General John- son,’ Captain Stephen L. Davis, from Lis- bon to Gloucester, and arrived in Glouces- ter, July 21, 1810.

SHIP VOLUSIA, SAMUEL COOK, MASTER

Wrecked on Cape Cod, Febuary 22, 1802. From the water-color probably made by Corné. A copy is now in possession of the Peabody Museum, Salem.

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PRIVATEER SHIP AMERICA

The private-armed ship “America” was the largest, the fastest, the most fortunate and the most famous of all the privateers which at any time sailed out of Salem har- bor. She was built for a merchantman in 1803-4, just west of the head of Crownin- shield’s wharf, by Retire Becket, under the eye of George Crowninshield, Jr. In those days every ship must protect herself. Al- gerine and Barbary corsairs made the ocean routes and the Mediterranean unsafe, and neither England nor France showed us much more quarter than the pirates. The “ Amer- ica’? was launched with portholes in her sides, and never put to sea without a heavy armament.

She cleared on her first voyage for Su- matra in command of Captain Benjamin Crowninshield, Jr.; Elias Davidson of Gloucester was her first officer; Nathaniel Leverett Rogers, her clerk; James Chever, 12 years old, her cabin-boy. She sailed from Salem July 2, 1804, and even on that voyage she took an armament of ten nine- pounders. ‘Thirty-five men navigated her. Her tonnage was 473 tons. She had two decks, and, for a figure-head, a life-sized Indian chief chased by a white dog. She was 114 feet long, with a depth of 15 feet 4 inches; had 30 feet 8 inches breadth of beam, 14 feet 3 inches draft, and was square- rigged throughout.

The ‘“‘America’s”’ best speed was 13 knots. She often maintained this rate for hours, and she often averaged more than ten knots for twelve consecutive hours. She was fre- quently pursued by Spanish and by British cruisers, and she left them with ease. But this was after she had been converted for a privateer. Both her size and her shape had been changed. Her upper deck was re- moved. As reduced in 1812, she measured in length 108 feet, in depth 11.15 feet, and in tonnage 331 tons.

Between her launching and 1812 the “America” made voyages, first to the Isle of France, where she was detained by an

English fleet, — found coffee high and learned that a cargo could be had at Mocha, — thence to Aden.

At Mocha the “America” loaded with coffee, hides, goat-skins, sienna and gum- arabic. She made Cape Cod again June 17, 1805. The ship and cargo being at once sent to Holland netted a profit of more than a hundred thousand dollars. This great success was followed by voyages in com- mand of Elias Davidson, Jeremiah Briges and Joseph Ropes, and these occupied her until the spring of 1812, when she arrived from Goettenburg, April 24. Her upper deck was taken off, her sides filled in solid like a frigate’s, and she was rigged with longer yards, with royal-masts, and with a flying jib-boom. She now spread an enor- mous area of canvas, for her crew was large her equipment ranging from 142 to 168 men all told, — 20 of them marines, — in action, her deck and rigging swarmed like a wasp’s nest. Her main-mast now measured 69 feet, making the height from deck to main-truck about 136 feet, while her spread of boom athwart-ship was 104 feet, and the total length of her bow-sprit, jib-boom and flying jib-boom reached the enormous figure of 107 feet. The picture of her, taken be- fore the War, shows her without these striking features.

George Crowninshield, Jr., supervised these changes. When they were complete she sailed on her first cruise, September 7, 1812, commanded by Joseph Ropes. Pri- vateer officers and crews were neighbors and from the best people, and they sailed as a joint-stock company. No wages were paid.

Her first cruise lasted until January 7, 1813, — four months, — and she sent in six prizes valued at $158,000.

On the second cruise, from March 29 to July 21, 1813 (four months), John Kehew, first officer on the first cruise, was in com- mand. They carried twenty guns. Ten prizes were taken, and 130 prisoners paroled and 30 more brought in.

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On the third, fourth and fifth cruises James Chever was in command, —a sea- man who would have honored any service. He was a lieutenant on the second cruise. Twelve prizes were taken, mostly sent in, on the third cruise, between December 3 and March 31, 1814, the most successful cruise of all. On the next cruise she struck a dead whale or a submerged wreck off Portsmouth and, badly strained, promptly put back. On the fifth and last cruise, between Novem- ber 14, 1814, and April 8, 1815, she made thirteen captures, bringing the total of

prizes sent into port, out of 47 taken, up to 27 in all, of a value of $1,100,000. Her casualties were very slight. She was never outsailed while testing her speed against the fleetest.

So ends the “America’s” career. After the war she lay rotting in the dock from which she had been launched until 1831 when she was broken up for old metal. Once, in 1813, she was coppered and fitted for sea, and a half-interest sold for $4,000, but the “America” never again left her moorings.

SHIP BONETTA, THOMAS OSGOOD, MASTER

From the original painting made in 1805 at Leghcrn fer Capt. Hardy Phippen, now in possession of Hardy P. Chapman.

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SHIP HERCULES

This was one of the famous ships of old Salem and had a very interesting career. She was built in Haverhill in the year 1805, and although she went many voyages to all parts of the world, was not larger than a small two-masted coasting schooner of to- day. A towboat which has been built for service on this coast is of about the same dimensions as this little ship. She was about 96 feet in length, 26 feet beam, and was approximately 13 feet deep and of only 290 tons register.

She was built for Nathaniel West, and on her first voyage Captain James Fairfield commanded her, and continued to do so until 1808, when Captain Edward West took the vessel and sailed in her until 1811; then Captain James King, Jr., who was an able shipmaster of his time, took the ship and made eleven voyages, going during this time to Batavia three times, to Canton once, four voyages to St. Petersburg, once to Rio de Janeiro, once to Santos and once to Buenos Ayres.

An interesting point in her career was that in 1809, when commanded by Capt. Edward West, she was seized at Naples and had the good fortune to obtain her release in order to transfer Lucien Bonaparte and

family to the United States. This saved the ship from confiscation. This incident appears in the memoirs of Lucien Bona- parte:

“August 5, 1810, left Civita Vecchia in the three-master ‘Hercules’ for the United States. Owing to sickness of his family he attempted to land at Cagliaria, but was re- fused and warned that he would be seized. He was allowed to stay in the roadstead a week. He started again, and in a few hours was captured by two English cruisers, one called the ‘Pomona’. He was taken on board and arrived August 24, 1810, at Malta, and placed in the fortress Caselli. The husband of his sister Caroline placed the ship ‘Hercules’ at his disposal.”

During her career her cargoes paid many thousand dollars of duty to the United States customs. She was sold to D. R. Green & Co., of New Bedford, in 1829, and rebuilt as a whaler. Her good luck followed her and she made eight successful voyages to the whaling grounds in all parts of the world. The end of her service came in 1847, for on July 27th of that year she was lost off Navigator’s Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

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BRIG GRAND TURK

No finer picture of a Salem privateer can be presented than the painting by Anton Roux here reproduced of the brig “Grand Turk,” of 309 84-95 tons burthen, built in 1812 for thirty Salem owners, at Wiscasset, Maine. The “Grand Turk” measured 102 feet in length, 28 feet beam, and 12 feet 4 inches in depth, and carried ninety-odd officers and men and eighteen or twenty guns. She had “a square stern, one deck, no galleries, and a billet figure-head.”’

The “Grand Turk” made five cruises of about one hundred days each. That was the average term for which private-armed ships were provisioned. She sailed from Salem, Holten J. Breed, commander, Feb- ruary 16, 1813, on her first cruise, and she arrived at Portland May 29. She was thus reported in the Essex Register: —

“Private-armed brig ‘Grand Turk,’ of 16 guns, Captain Breed, arrived at Portland on Thursday evening from a cruise. On the coast of Brazil, April 4, fell in with two large English letter-of-marque ships, which she captured after a severe engagement of five minutes, both much cut up in hull and rigging. Several of the ‘Grand Turk’s’ men were wounded, among them the sailing master (Mr. Abrams), a most valuable and intrepid officer, who died of his wounds. The same day captured another large ship. They are all very valuable prizes, and were ordered to France. The ‘Grand Turk’ was chased on Thursday by two frigates and a brig, and escaped by swift sailing.” She was brought round from Portland to Salem, June 6, but not without incident. Says the Register of June 9: “Off Cape Ann the ‘Grand Turk’ was boarded by a boat from Cape Ann, supposing her to be an English cruiser. Captain Breed favored the decep- tion, and the man voluntarily gave informa- tion of prizes and merchant vessels ex- pected, advised with respect to cruising ground, and offered to come off next day with fresh provisions, and said he has fur- nished a pilot for the ‘Sir John Sherbrooke.’

We are glad to hear that the name of this traitor was ascertained and that steps have been taken to bring him to justice.”

On her second cruise, Breed in command, the “Grand Turk” sailed from Salem, Octo- ber 19, 1813, and arrived home January 20, 1814, a cruise of ninety-four days, — having captured seven prizes, of which two were burned, four manned out, and one sent off as a cartel with prisoners.

The third cruise was her most eventful one and Captain Breed’s last. On this cruise she brought in thirty prisoners and $65,000 in specie. The “Grand Turk” sailed from Salem February 18, 1814, and arrived at Portland, June 5, — a cruise of one hundred and nine days. Her men seem to have been ready for mutiny at all times, and more than once only the promptness and nerve of her commander prevented it. The ring- leaders in the trouble, as they were discov- ered, were kept in irons and then sent home, one by one, in prize crews. Such miscon- duct forfeited their shares. But the com- mon penalty for minor offenses was loss of “grog.” Not gambling only, but all card- playing was forbidden in the shipping- articles. “Grog stopped” for twenty-four or forty-eight hours is a frequent entry. The penalty for the sale by one seaman to another of the allowance of “grog” was loss of his ration for a week.

May 2 she engaged H. M. packet “ Hin- chinbroke,” William James, commander, who thought well enough of the “Grand Turk” as an antagonist to procure, five years later, the engraving of a plate representing this action. The plate was printed for the proprietor, February, 1819, by Messrs. Colnaghi & Co., 23 Cockspur Street, Lon- don, and these are the words of the Com- mander’s dedication: —

“This plate, representing the situation of H. M. packet “ Hinchinbroke”’ at the close of an engagement with the American privateer “Grand Turk,” of Salem, in May, 1814, is

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very respectfully dedicated,” etc... . “The action commenced at 5 h. 20 m. P. m., and continued until 7 h. 30 m., within pistol- shot, during which the Enemy twice laid the Packet aboard, but was beaten off; after the failure of the second attempt, the “ Hin- chinbroke”’ obtained a raking position, dis- abled the privateer and obliged her to sheer off.”

The ‘‘Grand Turk” sailed from Salem, Green, commander, on her fourth cruise of one hundred and three days, August 6, 1814, and took fifty prisoners in the thirteen

captures made. She left Salem January 1, 1815, on her fifth and last cruise of a hun- dred and eighteen days, and arrived home April 28. Peace had been made before she sailed, but of this nothing was known. The “Grand Turk” made three captures on this cruise, of which she manned out two and de- stroyed one. She took, in specie, $17,500. May 30 she was sold to William Gray, and cleared for Boston, June 6, 1815, Thomas Webb, master. The subsequent career and ultimate fate of the ‘““Grand Turk” have not been traced.

SHIP MONK, JOHN W. ALLEN, MASTER

Captured by the British brig ‘‘Colibri’’ during the War of 1812. From the painting by Nicolai Carmellieri, Marseilles, 1806.

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SHIP GEORGE

The ship “George” was one of the large fleet of merchantmen which owed its exist- ence to the sagacity and enterprise of Cap- tain Joseph Peabody of Salem. For twenty- two years she plied, with the regularity of a shuttle, between Salem and Calcutta, and ranked first in the fleet for speed and relia- bility, probably excelling, in these qualities, any other Indiaman in the country. Her average outward voyages were one hundred and fifteen days in length, and her home- ward passages averaged one hundred and three days. She was built at Salem in 1814, for a privateer, by a company of ship-car- penters whom the war had thrown out of work. But the war closed, and the un- launched ship was converted into a mer- chantman by the addition of another deck, then launched and sold. She was designed by Christopher Turner, and was named the “George” for Capt. Peabody’s third son. The “‘George” measured in length 110 feet 10 inches, beam, 27 feet, depth of hold, 13 feet 6 inches, and, according to the measure- ments of that day, 328 tons, equal to a present measurement of about 228 tons, a full-rigged ship drawing, outward-bound, 14 feet 6 inches, and homeward-bound, 15 feet 8 inches. She took out specie to secure her return cargoes, which consisted mainly of indigo, with some piece-stuffs of silk and cotton fabrics.

On her first voyage she sailed May 23, 1815, and entered her home port again June 13, 1816. Hardly a man on board was 21 years of age. In 1821 every man on board but the cook could read and write, and he could read. All but four understood “navi- gation and lunars.”

Captain Forbes says that in his early days on the ocean she was known as the “Salem Frigate.” Her cooks and stewards were black, and no yachtsman of today carries a more famous cook than London Ruliff or Prince Farmer, nor a better steward than William Coleman or John Tucker. The

stories of her unrivalled speed are countless, and her triumphs over rivals and companion ships fill a bright page in the history of Salem. Great odds were repeatedly laid against her in wagers on her speed, but she never disappointed her backers. Forty-five of the graduates of this training-school be- came shipmasters, twenty chief mates and six second mates. She paid into the Treas- ury of the United States, in duties on im- ports in her twenty-one voyages, the sum of $651,744.

She was furnished with the best of the old-time appliances, steered with a long tiller, all hands weighed anchor with the hand windlass, cables and standing rigging all from Salem ropewalks, —a _ full-rigged ship as the picture shows, with rakish masts and painted portholes. Her best run was an outward passage in 1822, which she made in eighty-nine days. Her best home- ward passages were of ninety-three days, in 1831 and in 1832. Her best run (in 1831) from the Cape of Good Hope was made in forty-one days. This is believed to be the quickest passage from the Cape to a North Atlantic port ever made under canvas. She had her vicissitudes. Once, in 1827, she was chased by a nondescript schooner, a four-master, — a rare sight in those days, —which proved to be a slave-pirate, but she escaped with ease. Twice she encoun- tered terrific gales and was badly wrecked, first, in Massachusetts Bay in the dreadful snowstorm of March, 1823, the worst storin in a generation; and again in the Indian Ocean, a year later, when a hurricane drove all hands below but one man who was lashed to the helm. Once, on her arrival at Pernambuco in September, 1828, forty days out from Salem, she was leaking from ten to twelve hundred strokes per hour. Once, in 1834, she returned aleak in ballast from Gibraltar, where she had lain seven months waiting in vain for a cargo of quicksilver, her keel loose, only five copper bolts hold- ing, with sheathing started and seams open.

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Finally she arrived from Calcutta May 17, The picture of the “George” here repro- 1837, and the following September, freighted duced was the work of Edmund Stone of with the regrets of all who recalled her in Beverly, who sailed before the mast in her her prime, the famous craft left this port for from July, 1820, until April, 1821, and who Rio de Janeiro, where she was condemned, is the only person known to have made a sold and broken upon her arrival. picture of her.

SHIP GLIDE, NATHAN ENDICOTT, MASTER

Joseph Peabody, owner. From the painting by “Anton Roux fils aine a Marseille, 1823,’’ now in possession of Gecrge A. Peabody.

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BRIG CLEOPATRA’S BARGE

“Cleopatra’s Barge” was built by Retire Becket, the famous Salem shipbuilder, at his yard at the lower end of Derby Street, and was launched October 21, 1816. She was 83 feet long on the water line, 191 tons dis- placement and rigged as a brigantine — practically the same dimensions as the mod- ern yacht “Mayflower.” The starboard and port sides were painted differently. The former in horizontal stripes of many colors and the latter in herring-bone pattern. No expense was spared to make her the best vessel built in the world, and the fittings, especially the cabin furnishings, were most elaborate and elegant. The construction cost $50,000, which in those days was a very large sum, and the cost of the finish and furnishings was as much more. She was the second recorded American yacht, the first American yacht of note and the first to cross the Atlantic. The owner, Captain George Crowninshield, first named the yacht “Car of Concordia,” but before regis- tration changed it to the name which was destined to become famous in both Europe and America.

In 1801, fifteen years before the building of ‘“Cleopatra’s Barge,’ Captain George Crowninshield built a smaller yacht, a sloop of twenty-one tons, the “Jefferson,” which is the first recorded American yacht.

Captain George Crowninshield was born in Salem, May 27, 1766. His father, George Crowninshield, was the founder of the mercantile house of George Crownin- shield & Sons, which was extensively en- gaged in commerce with the West Indies and ports of Europe, India and China. Upon the death of his father in 1815, and changes in the affairs of the firm, he was left wealthy, and with ample leisure.

Owing to the severity of the winter of 1816-1817 the sailing of the yacht was de- layed, and while frozen in the ice in Salem harbor was visited by thousands of persons

(1900 women and 700 men in one day) from far and near. She sailed from Salem March 30, 1817, and returned October 3 the same year. On the voyage it was everywhere the same, a constant series of entertain- ments given and received, while great throngs visited the yacht at every port she anchored. She proved a fast sailer, at one time logging thirteen knots for ten consecu- tive hours, while on her run from Gibraltar to Port Mahone in the Mediterranean. “Much to the delight of her owner,” she raced with and passed the U.S. frigate “United States,’ bound for the same port.

At Genoa, Captain George Crowninshield is quoted as saying that his black cook could calculate longitude and understood lunar observation; in fact, the greater part of the seamen on board the “Barge” could use the sextant and make nautical calcula- tions.

One of the romances of the voyage was the rumor, whispered here and in Europe, that it was the intention of the owner to rescue Napoleon Bonaparte from St. Helena and bring him to America.

The elaborate preparations for the voy- age, the more than 300 letters of introduc- tion to prominent personages, the call at Elba, the visits of the family of Napoleon at Rome, their attentions and the gifts to Capt. George Crowninshield, all add proba- bility to this supposition. So seriously was this rumor taken abroad that the move- ments of the ‘‘Barge’’ were closely watched by the ships of the British Navy. Yet in spite of all these circumstances some of his relatives are convinced that he did not seriously consider such an undertaking.

After the death of Captain George Crown- inshield, which occurred in Salem on board the boat November 26, 1817, ‘‘Cleopatra’s Barge” was dismantled and entered the merchant service, making several voyages

to South America. Later she was taken to

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the Hawaiian Islands and became the pri- vate yacht of King Kamehameha II under the ““Haaheo 0 Hawaii” (Pride of Hawaii) until wrecked on Kauai, one of the islands, in the spring of 1824.

This picture, showing the starboard side as she is entering the port of Genoa, bears the following inscription: “Drawn and painted from the original in 1817 by An- toine Vittaluga, Genoa.”

BRIG PHOENIX OF SALDM

WD. WATERS CoM!

BRIG PHOENIX, W.D. WATERS, MASTER

From original painting by Antoine Vittaluga, made in Genoa in January, 1829, now in pessession of the Peabody Museum, Salem,

[50]

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BRIG LEANDER

The brig ‘‘Leander”’ was one of a fleet of eighty-three vessels built or owned, between 1790 and 1844, by Captain Joseph Peabody, of Salem, and all freighted by him from Salem, sometimes when better voyages could have been made from other ports. She was launched at the shipyard of Benja- min Hawkes, which is now Grant Street, July 25, 1821. The Salem Register of July 28 calls her ‘“‘an elegant coppered brig,” com- mends her greatly, and adds, “the model has had high praise.” In those days all America was looking towards Salem, Bev- erly and Marblehead for models. The brig measured 223 tons, according to the Custom House rating of the day, having a length of 91 feet 4 inches, a breadth of 23 feet 5 inches, and a depth of 11 feet 81% inches. Measured on the present scale, she would rate about 156 tons only. She carried 13 men all told.

On her first voyage the “‘Leander”’ sailed for Smyrna and Leghorn, Samuel Rea, mas- ter, August 31, 1821, and arrived home May 28, 1822. Captain Charles Roundy com- manded her for the next five years. Cap- tain Roundy sailed on his second voyage as master August 21, 1823. He was then twenty-seven years old. On his arrival at Canton in the spring of 1824 he found that the supply of tea was short and the prices high. He decided, on his own responsibil- ity, to wait six months, or until the new crop came down the river to market. The wisdom of this course was justified on his arrival home, March 19, 1825, with a cargo which netted large profits and paid in duties at this port $86,847.47. On his next voy- age the duties paid in April, 1826, were $92,392.94. At this time no other vessel

had paid $90,000 in duties. Her brief career of twenty-three years is sc marked as to make it good reading. If the profits she earned could be stated it would be still more so.

The time consumed in each of her voy- ages, at a period when there were neither fast steamers, quick mails, nor ocean cables to carry instructions, demonstrates anew the absolute trust reposed by owners in the good judgment and loyalty of that fine race of men, the Salem shipmasters. Those who recall the old days of sailing ships will not fail to note how promptly the little brig was ready for sea after discharging each cargo, and how soon she was back in port again, bringing another. But for all that there were months of anxiety when captain and owners were without intelligence of each other, and when brig and cargo were in the undivided charge of the commander.

In March, 1837, the ‘‘Leander’’ was at Zanzibar on the arrival of the first foreign Consul from the United States ever sent to that busy port, Richard Palmer Waters, of Salem, bearing a commission and an auto- graph letter from General Jackson. The Consul was saluted by Turkish and other naval and commercial vessels representing various nations. Among them only two were American, and one of these was the “Leander.”

In November, 1840, the brig was sold to David Pingree, of Salem, and was after- wards employed in the African trade. In 1844 the “Leander” arrived home from the West Coast of Africa, March 3, and sailed again March 29, arriving out in time to have been condemned and sold at Gambia, July 11, 1844.

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BRIG OLINDA

The brig “Olinda” was built for Gideon Tucker, Samuel Tucker and Daniel H. Mansfield by Elijah Briggs, a cousin of Enos Briggs, the famous Salem ship builder. After the death of Enos Briggs, Elijah who had moved here from Scituate, succeeded to the business and continued at the old ship yard in South Salem, which was located on Peabody street, where of late years stood the machine shop of George Newcomb. The “Olinda” was only 178 tons measure- ment with a length of 88 feet, 2 inches, breadth of 21 feet, 2 inches and depth of 10 feet, 7 inches, which was very small when compared with modern vessels.

The Salem Register of July 21, 1825, says: —‘“On Tuesday last (July 19) at one o’clock p.M., was launched from the ship yard of E. Briggs in South Salem, the beau- tiful coppered and copper fastened brig Olinda owned by G. Tucker, Esq. At the time the brig was launched she was com- pletely rigged and had part of her cargo on board. She will sail for South America in a few days.”

She made many voyages, some to Europe, others to the Provinces and thence to South America and was finally sold in January, 1847, to Boston owners. In those days it was customary for vessels in the South American trade to sail for the Provinces in ballast, there taking on fish for the Cape Verde Islands, where they would load salt for South American ports, returning to the United States with hides and tallow. Or they might leave here in ballast for Rich-

mond, Va., there load Haxall flour made from a certain kind of wheat grown in that vicinity which would stand transportation south of the equator. At other times a trip to the Provinces for fish to be taken to the West Indies, there to be exchanged for sugar for Philadelphia, would result in a voyage home by way of Richmond with a cargo of corn.

Among the names of the masters were Richard Wheatland, William Briggs, Samuel Hutchinson and George Savory.

Gideon Tucker, one of the owners, was born March 7, 1778, and built and occupied the house on Essex street opposite the Essex Institute. He was clerk for Joseph Peabody and afterwards a partner in that noted ship- ping firm, which he left to establish a busi- ness of his own. He died February 18, 1861. “A venerable man of exact habits and strict integrity.”

Samuel Tucker was a younger brother of Gideon and commanded various ships sail- ing from Salem, among them being the ship ““Glide,” schooner “Lydia,” and others.

Daniel H. Mansfield was a nephew of the Tuckers and father of Mrs. Henry W. Pea- body of Salem. He was a master mariner, commanding the bark ‘‘Emily Wilder,” brig “‘ Cherokee,” brig ‘‘ Rattler,” and others. He was United States Consul in Zanzibar for several years and afterwards an alder- man of Salem. He died December 24, 1874. “An efficient shipmaster of simple habits and great integrity of character.”

[57]

BARK SAPPHO, RICHARD D. ROGERS, MASTER From the painting now in possession of George S. Silsbee.

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BRIG CAMBRIAN, ABNER GOODHUE, JR., MASTER From a painting by Frederic Roux, now in the possession of J. B. Ropes.

[58]

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SHIP ST. PAUL

Among the many ships famous in the early days of Salem’s maritime history, none is more deserving of honorable men- tion than the good ship “St. Paul.” The vessel was built in Boston in 1833, registered 463 3-95 tons, her length was 129 feet, her beam 23 feet, and depth 18 feet. For two years she made voyages under command of Capt. Joel Woodbury of Beverly, between New York, New Orleans, and Liverpool. In November, 1835, the late Hon. Stephen C. Phillips purchased the ship, and for six- teen years she bore the name of Salem as her home port.

Heavily built for the cotton trade, and of a large, full model, she proved herself an enormous carrier. Her figure-head was a white bust of the Apostle Paul, and her large, square stern, with cabin windows, was embellished with a superb carving, rep- resenting the Apostle Paul shaking the viper from his hand into the fire when he was shipwrecked on the Isle of Malta. When he purchased the ship, Mr. Phillips did so with the express purpose of placing her in the trade between Salem and Manila.

On December 9, 1835, commanded by Capt. Gordon Robinson, she left New York for Manila. She made the outward passage in 140 days, remained in port 53 days, and arrived back at New York, December 10, 1836. On her next voyage she was com- manded by Capt. Joseph Winn. Eleven round voyages between Salem and Manila followed, the ship calling once at Macao, China, Singapore, and Batavia. The quick- est voyage was the tenth, made in ten months and four days, under command of Capt. Charles H. Allen. Several were made in less than eleven months.

While at home on her thirteenth voyage, the “St. Paul” was retopped and thoroughly overhauled at Dodge’s Wharf, South Salem. The figure-head was removed, the quaint carving taken off the stern, the heavy chan- nels replaced by modern chain plates, the hull painted black, and her appearance was

greatly changed. Previously, she had paint- ed ports, and with her wide channels with the dead eyes and rigging running down to them, and her high side out of water, she had much the appearance of a heavy East India Company ship.

Captain Allen was the commander on this voyage, Daniel Bray was mate, and John Hancock was second mate. The last named had sailed in her on her eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth voyages. He mourned over the removal of the figure- head, and as the ship started for sea on July 5, 1851, he remarked sadly, ‘‘She will never come back!” His words were pro- phetic and too true. The ship was driven, during a typhoon December 9, on the island of Masbate; in the Straits of St. Bernardino, the crew narrowly escaping losing their lives. This ended her career so far as Salem was concerned. She was sold at auction as she lay, afterwards was floated, and subsequently sailed under the Spanish flag, bearing the name of “Santa Eusta.”

Two anecdotes of the ship are here re- called. On her fifth voyage from Salem, in 1840, three days after leaving Manila, on the homeward passage, the ship encoun- tered a typhoon, was very badly damaged, putting into Singapore for repairs. There she took several missionaries, a physician, Dr. Wm. B. Driver of Philadelphia, and two shipmasters, Captain Lowry and Cap- tain Underwood, as passengers. The vessel sailed from Singapore, March 4, 1841, and on the night of March 9, at ten o’clock, some of the passengers wished to visit the British ships “‘Valleyfield” and “Lord Wilson” to say “good-bye” to friends. The three ships sailed from Singapore at the same time, and the captains arranged to keep together through the Straits of Malacca, as those \ waters were infested with Malay pirates. Captain Lowry was engaged in clearing the jolly boat, when suddenly there was a splash, followed by a swish and the swirl of the water as though a large fish had broken the

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surface. The night was dark, a dead calm prevailed, nothing could be seen and there was no outcry. But Captain Lowry was The boat went over the side in less time than it takes to tell the story, and boats from the English ships assisted in the search. The unfortunate man could not be found. In the twinkling of an eye he had been seized by a man-eating shark, and car- ried beneath the water.

Another tragedy of the sea in connection with the “St. Paul,” occurred on the tenth voyage. There had been living in Salem a Manila boy, sixteen years old, brought here by a Salem shipmaster. The lad having grown homesick, was placed on the “St.

missing.

Paul” to be carried to his native land. Four days out from Salem, in the evening, he jumped up on the ship’s rail, and, before any one realized his purpose, dived into the sea. A boat searched for an hour for him, but he could not be found.

The “St. Paul” was the largest vessel of her time owned in Salem, only two others exceeding 400 tons. Her departure from Salem was watched from headland to head- land until she was lost to view, and on her return ‘““‘many an eye awaited her coming, and looked brighter when she came.” Her cargoes filled the spacious storehouses on Phillips’ Wharf, and she paid total duties of $163,268.02 into the United States Treasury.

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SHIP ROME, SAMUEL R. CURWEN, MASTER From the painting showing the ship leaving Marseilles in March, 1848, made by S. Pelligrini, and now in the possessicn of Mrs. Charles F. Curwen.

[62]

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SHIP CAROLINA

The ship “Carolina” was built in Med- ford in 1836 by George Fuller for Ammi C. Lombard, and measured 395 tons. From the early days Medford, from its location on the winding Mystic river, furnished favor- able opportunities for many shipyards and after the Revolution, from 1803 to 1846, when shipping again revived, nearly 400 vessels, aggregating over 130,000 tons, estimated to have cost $6,000,000, were launched there. One vessel, the ‘‘Avon,” a privateer in the last war with England, was built in twenty-six days.

Two Medford vessels deserve special mention; the first was framed and put to- gether, then taken down and transported to Boston, where it was shipped to the Sand- wich Islands with the first missionaries, sent there on the “Thaddeus.”” The other was the first vessel built without Medford rum. After much opposition the trial was made and resulted five years later in abol- ishing the custom so long in vogue of serv- ing rum freely from the time the keel was laid until the ship was launched.

The “Carolina” was first registered in Salem May 31, 1842, and was owned by David Pingree, Benjamin Fabens, Charles H. Fabens, and Benjamin Fabens, Jr., and was commanded by Capt. Charles H. Fa- bens. She sailed for the Far East with a letter of credit for £20,000 sterling with which to purchase a cargo, together with a miscellaneous cargo, part of which was 1,500 pigs of lead, 15 kegs containing 42,800 Mexican dollars, 3 kegs containing 7,200 Spanish dollars, a bag with 150 Mex- ican and a keg with 250 Mexican dollars.

The instructions given to the captain, in the shape of a letter signed by all the owners, show that the ship was to clear for Soura-

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baya in the Island of Java, there to load rice for Lintin, the open port for Canton which was up the river, and from there to go to Whampoa for a cargo of tea if it could be purchased at a low price, if not, to proceed to Manila and there load sugar and hemp for home. Captain Fabens was advised to “give all the rocks and shoals a wide berth” which he evidently did, for the ‘‘Carolina”’ arrived safely in Salem from Manila with “merchandise, 100,000 cigars and 343,907 pounds of sugar,” paying duties of $10,- 055.32.

She made other successful voyages, being registered September 16, 1843, May 31, 1844, and in 1845 was sold in New York for $14,000.

Charles H. Fabens, who was master of a ship at nineteen years of age, was born on Mill street, Salem, next to the mill on South river where the corn of the farmers in South Fields was ground and where the great ma- hogany logs from South America were cut up, and from which the street took its name. This mill was situated where the round house of the Boston & Maine Rail- road stood previous to the conflagration of 1914.

Captain Fabens went to sea when he was sixteen and retired at the age of twenty-six, and settled in Cayenne for seven years. On his return to Salem he engaged in the Cayenne trade. The Fabens family for four generations carried on this trade, oc- cupying in Salem the wharf and counting- room of the famous William Gray. The last arrival from Cayenne was on March 21, 1877, the schooner “‘ Mattie F.,”’ consigned to C. E. & B. H. Fabens. This brought to a close the once famous foreign trade of Salem.

BRIG MARY PAULINE, NEAL P. HEWESON, MASTER

Formerly the African slaver, “‘La Rooke.’ Frem the original painting now in possession of the Peabody Museum, Salem.

SHIP SAPPHIRE, STEPHEN C. PHILLIPS, OWNER

From the original painting in the possession of Stephen W. and J. D. Phillips of Salem.

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SHIP THOMAS PERKINS

The ship “Thomas Perkins,” of Salem, was built at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1837, for David Pingree and Emery Johnson. She was 156 9-10 feet in length, 28 and 41% tenths feet in breadth, and 20 feet deep, with two decks, a square stern, a billet head, and a capacity of 595 64-100 tons.

The vessel arrived in Salem, September 1, 1837, and sailed upon her first voyage November 29, William Graves, Jr., of New- buryport, master, for Mobile and thence to Liverpool and China. She did not return to the United States until June 21, 1842, arriving in New York from Manila after one of the most remarkable and profitable voy- ages on record. During most of this long period of almost five years, being a neutral ship, she was engaged in distributing the cargoes of the English vessels in Chinese ports, which were then closed to the English by reason of the Opium War.

The opium trade of the East India Com- pany with China, which was worth £1,000,- 000 to £1,500,000 to British India, and amounted to 30,000 chests in 1837, was stopped that year by the Chinese govern- ment, although the trade had actually been illegal since 1796. Various seizures, riots and diplomatic incidents finally led to a declaration of war by the British govern- ment in 1840. Nine-tenths of the British merchants in China were engaged in the illegal traffic when British shipping was ex- cluded from Chinese waters and the contents of British vessels had to be transferred to American bottoms for conveyance to Chinese ports. In 1842, a treaty of peace was signed by which the ports of Amboy, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai were de- clared open to trade in addition to those previously used, and an indemnity of $21,000,000 was to be paid to the British government.

On her return the ‘Thomas Perkins”’ came into Massachusetts Bay, June 16, 1842, and was ordered around to New York by the pilot, this being the ordinary way of

changing the destination when such a course seemed desirable.

She sailed from New York again July 14, 1842, for Manila and Canton, and made four regular voyages under Capt. William Graves, Jr., to these and other ports in the East during the next five years. On the last of these voyages she was in Penang harbor with the ship ‘“‘Caroline Augusta,” the ship “Ann Maria” and the bark “ Three Brothers,” all of Salem. All four of these vessels were owned by the same merchants.

Under Capt. Edmund Pike of Newbury- port, she sailed from New York, December 22, 1847, for Penang, Amoy and Manila, re- turning to New York, May 4, 1849, loaded with Manila hemp. This proved to be a very profitable voyage, the price of hemp having advanced during her passage home.

In June, 1849, she was owned by Richard S. Rogers and William D. Pickman of Salem, and was commanded by Capt. Wil- liam C. Rogers of Salem. She sailed from New York, July 18, 1849, for San Francisco and thence to Calcutta, with an entire cargo of lumber and arrived at San Francisco ahead of the fleet on November 22, 1849. As this was during the gold fever the cap- tain was able to dispose of one-half of the cargo at an enormous profit, then the other vessels arrived and the balance had to be sold at cost. She arrived at Boston from Calcutta, December 6, 1850, thus complet- ing a voyage around the world.

On February 21, 1851, she sailed from Boston for New Orleans under command of Capt. Charles Bush of Salem, being owned at that time by Theodore A. Neal, Richard S. Rogers, William C. Rogers and Jacob C. Rogers. Upon her return in May, 1851, another voyage was made to the same port, and again in August and November, the latter one under command of Captain Boott.

On February 13, 1852, under Captain Boott, she sailed again for New Orleans, leaving there May 1st for Liverpool, but on

[69]

May 29, leaking badly, was obliged to put into Boston harbor. After having been repaired she sailed for Liverpool on July 17, 1852, and on September 8 following, sailed from Liverpool for San Francisco, arriving January 29, 1853. On April 18 of that year she left for Callao, and sailed from there September 8, arriving in Baltimore January 5, 1854. In February, 1854, the ownership changed and from that time until 1861, she was engaged in the cotton trade between New Orleans, Boston and Liverpool. No record of her appears after 1861.

A half-hull model is preserved in the Ma- rine Hall of the Peabody Museum in Salem.

This picture, which has the signal of David Pingree at the mainmast, shows the ship probably in a Chinese port, very likely Lintin.

She was named by Mr. Pingree for his uncle Thomas Perkins, who was born in Topsfield, April 2, 1758, and died there, November 24, 1830. Beginning life as a shoemaker, Mr. Perkins came to Salem at the age of twenty-two and shipped on board a privateer in company with Joseph Peabody who afterwards became his busi- ness partner. They were also together on the letter-of-marque brig “Ranger,’’ Cap- tain Simmons, when she was attacked in the Potomac river in 1782, by three British tory barges which were brilliantly repulsed. He became captain of the privateers “Spitfire” and “Thrasher,” and in the latter captured six prizes in a single cruise. He was fre- quently referred to as Captain Perkins and became an eminent merchant, his enterprise aiding very materially in building up the reputation of the City of Salem.

SHIP ELIZA ANN, WILLIAM J. CHEEVER, MASTER.

From the painting by a Chinese artist at Whampoa, showing the rescue, in November, 1845, cf the crew of a dismantled junk.

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SHIP IRIS

The ship ‘‘Iris,” 227 tons burden, was built in Kennebunk, Maine, in 1797 for Wil- liam Gray, Jr., of Salem, one of the most dis- tinguished merchants of his time, and one of the largest ship-owners in Salem. In 1807 Mr. Gray owned fifteen ships, seven barks, thirteen brigs and one schooner, be- ing one-fourth of all the tonnage of Salem. There is a tradition in Salem that his ambi- tion was to own a hundred vessels. He lived in the mansion on Essex Street, which he built in 1800 and which in later years was known as the ‘‘Essex House,” on the site of the present hotel of that name. In 1809 he removed to Boston and in 1810-11 was chosen Lieutenant-Governor, and died in Boston, November 3, 1825, possessed of a very large property.

The ‘‘Iris” was first registered in Salem, June 19, 1799, Enoch Swett, master. No special records are found of her voyages ex- cept as the impost books at the Custom House show her arrival from time to time.

December 19, 1799, she returned from Archangel with merchandise, cordage, hemp and candles. Again on June 9, 1800, she arrived from Havana, Philip Besom, mas- ter, loaded with white and brown sugar and molasses, upon which duties of over ten

thousand dollars were paid. On November 3, 1800, she returned from Copenhagen, John Conway, master. March 8, 1803, the same master was recorded as from Lisbon with salt and wine. September 4, 1805, still with John Conway in command, she brought hemp, tallow and merchandise from St. Petersburg. On November 20, 1805 a change of ownership to Henry Gray is noted, and the vessel is registered in the name of the new owner. September 6, 1806, John Conway, master, brandy and wine from Naples, paying duties of over fourteen thousand dollars. April 20, 1807, John Conway, master, merchandise and salt from Lisbon. On March 15, 1808, still with John Conway as master, she is regis- tered as from Algeciras with stores and ballast, possibly an unsuccessful voyage, but more likely having discharged her cargo at some other port, returned here in order to load for another foreign voyage.

This apparently is her last arrival in Salem, and as Mr. Gray moved his business to Boston the next year, she may have con- tinued to bring these varied cargoes from the well-known ports in Europe and to have assisted materially in making Mr. Gray one of the great merchants of that era.

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SHIP BORNEO, CHARLES H. RHOADES, MASTER, 1851 Silsbee, Pickman and Stone, owners. Altered to a bark.

SHIP PROPONTIS, WILLIAM SILVER, MASTER, 1844 Tucker Daland, Jacob Putnam and William Silver, owners.

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SHIP BROOKLINE

For many years Salem was largely inter- ested in trade with the Philippine Islands, and her vessels plied regularly between Manila and this port. Little did her mer- chants, ship masters, supercargoes and sea- men dream that these Islands would be as truly a part of the United States as is Massachusetts.

Prominent among the Salem merchants to do business with the Philippines was the late Hon. Stephen Clarendon Phillips, later a Mayor of Salem, and among the ships that he placed in the trade was the ‘“‘ Brook- line,” a picture of which is reproduced here. It is copied from a large painting owned by George H. Allen of Salem and Manchester, a son of Capt. Charles H. Allen, one of the ship’s masters.

The “Brookline” was built in 1873, in Medford, by Thacher Magoun for Henry Oxnard of Boston, and she registered 364 tons. Mr. Magoun was born in Pembroke, Mass., June 17, 1775. For five years he was an apprentice to Enos Briggs, a famous ship builder of Salem, also a native of _ Pembroke, who was the builder of the noted frigate, Essex, which was launched in Salem, September 30, 1799, from Winter Island. From Salem, young Magoun went to Mr. Barker’s yard in Charlestown (the present United States Navy Yard,) where he worked two years longer. In 1802 “he laid the first keel of that fieet of ocean merch- ant ships whose sails have shaded every bay and sea of the navigable globe.” Between 1803 and 1845, 149 vessels were built at his yard.

On May 11, 1832, the “Brookline” cleared at New York for Manila, under command of Capt. Samuel Kennedy of Salem. She is next reported in the Salem Register of January 10, 1833, as follows “Arrived in River Hoogly, ship Brookline, Kennedy, for Calcutta; made the land, August 18, (1832), in 97 days from Boston.” She arrived at Boston on her return, June 5, 1833, from Calcutta January 20, Sands

Heads, February 6. ‘This was her first voy- age to the East Indies, her Captain having made a previous voyage in the ship ‘‘Rome”’ to Calcutta.

Among the arrivals at Salem, June 18, 1833, the Salem Register of June 20 reports: “Ship Brookline, Kennedy, Boston. Pur- chased by Stephen C. Phillips.” This, then, was the beginning of the ship’s connection with Salem. Her registry at the Salem Custom House reads: “Brookline, ship, 349 tons, Medford, 1831, Stephen C. Phillips, owner, George Peirce, master, June 19, 1833.” The ship cleared from Salem, July 1, 1833, George Peirce, master, for the East Indies, and sailed the next day.

April 29, 1836, the “Brookline” sailed from New York for Manila under command of Capt. Charles H. Allen, and she made regular voyages with him as master until 1844, with the single exception of a voyage to Valparaiso and Manila, sailing from Bos- ton, June 26, 1837. On that voyage Gordon Robinson was master, Benjamin W. Peach, Marblehead, mate; John Church, Beverly, second mate; Charles F. Proctor, Salem, one of the crew, and London Ruliff, Salem, steward. She returned to Salem, arriving here March 9, 1839, and paying duties of $8727.44 at the Salem Custom House.

The “Brookline” sailed from Salem for Manila, May 23, 1843. She returned from this voyage and arrived at Salem, April 2, 1844, and that ended her connection with Salem. May 9, 1844, the ship was sold to a Boston owner. Starbuck’s book on “Whaling,” records her as the ship “Brooklyn,” 360 tons, Perkins & Smith, owners, Jeffry, master, and sailing the Pacific Ocean, July 7, 1845. She returned April 6, 1848; sailed again July 10, 1848, return- ed May 7, 1851. With Newry, master, she sailed on her third voyage, July 11, 1851, and returned April 30, 1856. Sept. 6, 1856, Capt. Rose, master, she sailed again, and returned May 5, 1859, and is

[77]

then reported as sold to Boston parties, and in 1861 is recorded in the Ship Register as sold to Buenos Ayres parties and brok- en up.

John Felt, who was assistant superinten- dent of the Salem Gas Light Co., when 80 years of age, told the writer that he was in the ‘‘Brookline” when she made a double voyage in 1833-36. He said they sailed from Salem, July 2, 1833, and were accom- panied down the harbor and 20 miles to sea by many prominent citizens who came back in the pilot boat. Among them, says Mr. Felt, was Hon. Stephen C. Phillips, the owner, Rev. John Brazier, pastor of the North Church, Rev. James Thompson, pas- tor of the Barton Square Church, Rev. Charles W. Upham, author of Salem Witch-

craft, pastor of the First Church, and ex- mayor of Salem, Capt. Kennedy, master of the “Brookline” on a previous voyage, Capt. Lovett of Beverly, John Porter Felt, brother of Mr. Felt, and who lost his life by the burning of the steamer “Lexington” in Long Island Sound in 1840. It is a sad coincidence that the owner of the ship lost his life, while mayor of Salem, by the burn- ing of the steamer “Fulton” in the St. Lawrence River, June 26, 1859.

On this voyage the ship cleared for Batavia, went to Canton, thence to Ham- burg, back to Manila, and then home to New York, where she arrived March 11, 1836, having left Manila Oct. 6, and St. Helena, Jan. 22. The entire voyage occu- pied 32 months and nine days.

BRIG NEREUS, WILLIAM SKERRY, MASTER, 1834.

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SHIP FRANKLIN

The picture here reproduced is from a painting in the possession of Mr. William C. Waters of Salem. It was painted in Japan by a Dutch artist and represents the ship “Franklin” of Boston, 200 tons burden; James Perkins, Thomas H. Perkins and James Dunlap of Boston, owners, and James Devereux of Salem, master. She sailed from Boston on December 11, 1798, bound for Batavia on the island of Java. At that time the entire foreign trade of Japan was controlled by the Dutch merchants at Java and on the arrival of the “Franklin” she was chartered by the Dutch East India Company for 30,000 piastres, for a voyage to and from Japan. This was the first voyage of an American vessel to Japan. The original letter of instructions, the ship’s charter party and the directions of the Dutch East India Company to Captain Devereux were printed in volume two of the Essex Institute Historical Collections and show with what care ships were started on long voyages before the days of the tel- egraph and cable, when the responsibility for success or failure, to a very large extent, rested upon the man on the spot.

The letter of instructions was dated Bos- ton, December 7, 1798, and Captain Dev- ereux was directed, “being master of our ship ‘Franklin’ now ready for sea, to pro- ceed immediately to Batavia in the Island of Java; on your arrival there to co-operate with Mr. Walter Burling, who goes out in the Ship and to whom the cargo is jointly with yourself addressed.” The return cargo was to be coffee and was to be brought in bulk if possible. Boards were to be carried to fit the hold for that purpose and also material for the construction of a coach house on the quarter-deck for the accommo- dation of the officers on the return voyage so that the cabin also could be filled with coffee.

The “Franklin” left Boston on December 11, 1798, and after an uneventful voyage of 130 days, on April 19, 1799, made Java

Head. On her arrival at Batavia, nine days later, it was found that the Dutch East India Company was in need of a vessel to take a cargo to and from Japan and she was at once chartered. The cargo consisted in part of “sugar, cloves, cotton yarn, chintz, tin, elephant’s teeth and 100 lb. mummie.”” On the voyage back she was to bring copper, “camphire,” empty boxes and boards. Article eighth of the charter-party stipulates “That the number of persons on board shall amount to 17, the Captain included.”

The following extracts from the letter of instructions are of curious interest: “When you get to latitude 26 or 27 it will be neces- sary to have everything in readiness to com- ply with the ceremonies which the Japanese are accustomed to see performed by the ships of this company.

“First. You will have all your colors in order to dress the ship on her entrance into port.

“Second. There must be a table pre- pared on the quarter-deck which must be covered with a piece of cloth and two cush- ions for the officers to sit upon, when they come on board.

“Third. It is indispensably necessary to have a list of all the people on board, pas- sengers and officers, their station and age.

“Fourth. All the books of the people and officers, particularly religious books, must be put in a cask and headed up. The officers from the shore will put their seals upon the cask and take it on shore and on the departure of the ship, will bring it on board without having opened it.

“Fifth. Before your arrival at Japan, you must make the people deliver you their money, and keep it until your departure. This will not be attended with inconven- ience, as at Japan nothing is bought for cash, but they may change their specie for Cambang money, and then make their trade, but this must be done by the Captain,

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“Sixth. When you are in sight of Japan, you must hoist a Dutch penant and ensign in their proper places, as if you were a Dutch ship.

“Seventh. When the Cavalles are on your starboard hand, and the Island of Japan on your larboard, you must salute the guard on the Cavalles with nine guns.

“Eighth. After that you pass on the larboard side of Papenburg, and salute with nine guns.

“Ninth. You then pass the guard of the Emperor on the starboard and larboard, nearly at the same time, and salute with seven or nine guns, the first all starboard guns, and the second all larboard.

“Tenth. You then advance into the Road of Nangazacky, and after anchoring salute with thirteen guns.

“Eleventh. When you enter the Cavalles, the Commissaries of the chief will come on board, and you must salute them with nine guns. At the same time, if it is practicable, hoist some colors to the yard as a compli-

ment to them. It is immaterial what colors you dress your ship with, except Spanish or Portuguese, it is however necessary to recollect that the Dutch colors must always be in their proper place, as if the ship was of that nation.

“Twelfth. When the Commissaries re- turn on shore you must salute them with nine guns.

“Thirteenth. You must be very par- ticular in letting the boats which are around the ship know when you are going to fire, as, if you were to hurt any of them the conse- quences would be very important.

“Fourteenth. After you are anchored and salute the harbour, the officers examine the list of your people and compare them with the number on board. After having received them, those who wish it can go on shore, but before the Japanese land, all the arms and ammunition must be sent on shore, and it will be proper that everything of this kind should be landed as they search the ship after she is unloaded.

SHIP UNION, WILLIAM OSGOOD, MASTER, 1815

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BRIG NAIAD

The Brig ‘““Naiad,” of 259 tons burden, was built in Haverhill in 1817 for Pickering Dodge of Salem and was first registered at the Salem Custom House July 18, 1819, Nathaniel Osgood being the master.

On Thursday, October 28, 1819, she ar- rived from Calcutta on her first voyage, hav- ing been struck by lightning the Sunday previous. Thesecond mate, William Griffen, who was on the main topsail yard was instantly killed and fell into the sea with his clothes burning. The first mate was knocked down and one man seriously in- jured. The vessel, however, received but trifling damage.

In January, 1821, she arrived from Cal- cutta paying duties of $24,000. After mak- ing several successful voyages to India she was sold to Newburyport parties in August, 1823.

Pickering Dodge, her first owner, was born April 6, 1778, married Rebecca, daughter of Daniel and Mary Jenks, and died August 16, 1833. He was well known as an active, enterprising, intelligent and honorable merchant and was universally esteemed. He built and occupied the house in Chestnut Street, now owned by Dr. O. B. Shreve.

He was associated in business with some of the ablest merchants of his period, in- cluding Thomas Wigglesworth, Ebenezer Francis, Dudley L. Pickman and R. C. Mackey; his ships were the largest for the times and he paid some of the largest amounts in duties that were received at the Custom House in Salem.

Rev. William Bentley in his Diary records in 1812, that the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions notified the churches that four candidates, Adoniram Judson, Samuel Newell, Samuel Nott and Gordon Hall were to be ordained in the Tabernacle Church and go immediately to India and that Pickering Dodge was to

supply them passage. The event is com- memorated by the bronze tablet now to be seen on the Tabernacle Church in Salem.

Mr. Dodge’s wharf was located in South Salem and is now part of the property of the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company.

Mr. Bentley also records in 1819 that Dodge’s Wharf was being carried out from the point opposite Derby Wharf, “the work is in the method of the wharf at the Charity House, with stone filled with earth to be solid and not like our other wharves of cobb and liable to be hurt by every sea.”

The picture here reproduced was painted by Anton Roux in Marseilles, showing the “Naiad” leaving for India on March 5, 1820.

The water color paintings of vessels by Anton Roux are more highly prized by col- lectors than those of any other artist of the period. Roux was born in Marseilles in 1765 and died there in 1835. He was established as a hydrographer on one of the quays and painted pictures of many famous ships, of which a number were owned in Salem.

His sons Anton, Jr., Francois and Fred- erick followed his profession as artists, their work closely resembling that of their father. Francois became painter to the French Ministry of Marine.

The “Naiad” having been built in Haverhill, the following extract from the proprietor’s records under date of June 18, 1733, will be of interest as showing the earliest notice of shipbuilding there:

“Henry Springer petition as followeth, viz. That he is willing and desirious to settle in Town and Carry on the Trade of a Ship Carpenter if he might have suitable encouragement. But having no place of his own to build on prays the grant of so much Land betwixt the highway by the

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burrying place, and the River or where the vessel now stands on the Stocks as would accommodate him for a building yard.” “Upon which petition after mature con- sideration it was Voted, that he should have so much, provided that he settled in the town of Haverhill and Carried on the Trade of a Ship Carpenter, or that some other per-

son build in the same place in his room and no Longer.”

Mr. Springer was not the first shipbuilder in town, but was evidently the first person who carried on shipbuilding as a regular business, from the fact that his name is the first that appears in that connection in the Records.

BRIG ELIZA AND MARY, NATHANIEL GRIFFIN, MASTER, 1822

From a painting in possession of Nathaniel Griffin Simonds of Salem

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