USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Holden > Brewer, Orrington, Holden, Eddington : history and families > Part 15
USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Eddington > Brewer, Orrington, Holden, Eddington : history and families > Part 15
USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Orrington > Brewer, Orrington, Holden, Eddington : history and families > Part 15
USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Brewer > Brewer, Orrington, Holden, Eddington : history and families > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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In Mr. Gilmore's Inn there was a hall on the second floor where dances and various types of social gatherings were held.
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Near the front entrance was the bar. Because they sold liquor some of the people in other parts of the town looked askance at the Inn at Gilmore's Corner. The Pinkham residence is now located on the site of the old Inn.
John Gilmore, the first proprietor, was also a merchant; and we might contrast the prices of the goods he sold with those of today. In his stock were pine boards at $9.00 a thousand; spruce and hemlock, $4.00; hemlock logs, $2 per thousand; potatoes, 25c a bushel; butter, 20c a pound; veal and lamb, 6c a pound. In 1835, a guest at the inn paid 13c for dinner; 20c for supper and a night's lodging; 12c for washing two shirts. Four dollars was the price charged for eight gallons of wine, and 12c for six Spanish "seegars". A horse and wagon could be hired and driven from the inn to Bangor and return for 33c, to Bucks- port, 48c; and a horse and shay for a funeral was provided at a charge of eighty cents. There were a number of other inns and taverns in this section of the town.
In recalling stories which she had been told of Brewer's beginning, the late Miss Alice Farrington said, "Everybody was a farmer and everybody was a shipbuilder." We shall endeavor to discuss the leading occupations of the past and make brief mention of others which we have discovered in our search for information.
SHIP BUILDING
The launching of the Horace E. Monroe in 1919, marked the end of an era in our city. Ships built in the numerous yards of Brewer once sailed the seven seas. Bath, Brewer, and South Portland are generally thought of as Maine ports building the greatest number of wooden steamboats.
Some names connected with these yards which were vital to the life blood of the town during the 19th and early 20th century are: McGilvery, Dunning, Warren, Oakes, Doane, Barbour, and Stetson, and others. The Oakes Yard, which was later to become the Barbour Yard, was located at the foot of Union Street just north of the Joshua L. Chamberlain Bridge. From this yard were launched, among others, the Llewellyn J. Morse and the Formosa. On a return trip from the West Indies, Captain Woodbury is said to have brought the pine and spars used later in building the Llewellyn J. Morse in 1873. This ship played the part of the
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"Philadelphia" in the moving picture "Old Ironsides" which was filmed in 1936. She was blown up during the making of the film.
Captain Woodbury is said to have been in Washington the night that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. He, with a group of friends, had planned to attend the play at Ford's Theater that evening; but the tides changed and it was necessary for them to sail earlier than they had anticipated.
Ship building during the Colonial period was a brief affair on the Penobscot River. The 60-ton Hannah was built at Bucksport by Colonel Jonathan Buck of that town. The Hannah was burned by the British ship Nautilus in 1779. In 1791 Robert Treat began ship building in Bangor and he built the first ship ever launched from Bangor ways, according to a book on Bangor & Vicinity, published in 1899.
During the 19th century numerous shipyards flourished in Bangor and Brewer. The general practice which prevailed in this and in most of the coast towns of the period was that of taking up a ship on shares. According to his financial status, a man might own the whole, or a large part of a vessel; but more often they were owned on shares, sometimes down to a 64th. Because of this practice people of very moderate circum- stances were able to profit from this business at that time.
From 1790 to 1818, Bangor, Brewer, and Orrington were a part of the Castine Customs Distict. The early records are very imperfect. The Customs House was moved to Hampden during the War of 1812 and the records seem to have been left in Hampden, later probably being taken to Bangor. From 1818 to 1826 Bangor reported to Belfast and these records are complete. Brewer and Orrington, however, since they were located on the east side of the river, continued to report to Castine. Appar- ently, during this period, there was little shipping done. In 1834 the Hampden Customs House was moved to Bangor. During the Bangor Fire of 1911 when the business section of the city was burned, the records which were kept in the old vaults were completely destroyed. Included here were records of Hampden and Winterport since 1826, and those of Bangor, Brewer and Orrington, since 1834.
Before 1800, Hampden was more important than Bangor; and Brewer did not take her place of importance until well into the
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century. However some ship building was done and many sea- faring men made their homes in Brewer. After the Civil War, Brewer took the lead. The shipbuilding relations with Searsport were important to the twin cities. Of about twenty full-rigged ships built in Bangor and Brewer, eight were for Searsport accounts.
According to data taken from the History of Penobscot County only one vessel was owned in Brewer at the opening of the 19th century. From this the town grew to a leading place for shipbuilding, more vessels being launched here in most years than at Bangor or any other place on the river.
Navigation on the river presented a problem, due partly to the fact that there were no guiding marks of any kind; and also to the large amounts of sawdust, edgings, and slabwood that were dumped in the river. They lodged, not only in the channel, but also along both shores especially in the shallow water. For a long time dredging operations were badly needed, and when they were finally accomplished, they proved to be of great benefit to the shipping in the river. The dredged material was placed on scows and taken down to the Bay where they were dumped into the deeper waters.
The War of 1812 was a body blow to the occupation of ship building in the Bangor-Brewer area. The reader will remember that the British burned a number of ships and took away several at this time. One ship, the "Thinks-I-To-Myself" was reported burned; but later records state that she was recognized as a privateer, sailing under British colors.
Shipyards were located all along the river, from Dyer's Cove on up to the head of tidewater. The first full-rigged ship launched in Brewer was the "Premier" from Cooper's Yard in 1853. This yard was on the site of the present Hathorn Manu- facturing Block. Most of the vessels were christened in Brewer; and many of them sailed all over the world.
In 1820, the tonnage in shipping and stock in trade included: 57 tons shipping; $1,300 stock in trade. Domestic exports from the port of Bangor in that year were almost 124,000,000 feet of lumber; almost 116,000 tons of ice, 3,000 tons of hay; and 8,000,000 bricks. Brewer shared in the Bangor boom at the beginning of the century. Shipbuilding had a great deal of influence on the growth of the town.
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The first steamboat to visit this area was in May, 1824. This was the "Maine" under the supervision of Captain Cram, formerly a resident of Montville. When the ship arrived at the port of Bangor, someone at once suggested an excursion to Bucksport. In those days the steamboat was quite a new invention and most people were sure that to travel on one was to take a certain risk of being blown up. However, the people of the area were curious and perhaps a little foolhardy, so before much time had passed a group of one hundred and twenty persons were ready to sail. The boat left at nine o'clock and was in Bucksport at noon. After about an hour it left on the return trip arriving in Bangor by night. The ship "Maine", 105 tons, was built from the hulls of two schooners, with beams across each connecting them. The boat cost $13,000, the price including a second hand engine.
We have heard many stories about the port of Bangor. People tell of the day when there were so many ships at anchor that one could cross the river by stepping from the deck of one to the deck of the next one. Indicative of the great days to come for this port was this item of July 27, 1826: five brigs, five sloops, and twenty-five schooners lay in the port of Bangor at this time. This was the largest number ever known at this season of the year.
The progress from 1830 to 1860 was steady but slow. The Flood of 1846 resulted in a great deal of damage to the shipping interests. In 1846 a breakwater was built above the bridge at a cost of $5.00.
A ship, the "Goldhunter", was built in Brewer in 1849 for freight hauling. The building of the ship was finished and plans had been made for the launching when the news of the discovery of gold in California reached Brewer. One hundred and thirty- two persons immediately took passage on the ship for California via Cape Horn. Captain Joseph Nickerson of Brewer was the master of the ship.
It is thought that the vessel "Hope" was the first vessel to be pulled out of the water on the marine railway, using the block and tackle. Drydocks had been used prior to this. The Whig & Currier for January 15, 1870 carried an article on the construc- tion of the marine railway. It was 500 feet long and the outer end was 12 feet under water at low tide. Power for its operation
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was furnished by steam. The railway consisted of two rails, extending into the water; a cradle, attached to an endless chain, formed a carriage for the purpose of hauling the vessel out of the water.
A Mr. Gardiner, who lived at the corner of Chamberlain and North Main Streets, owned a rope walk. This extended from just below his house on the Chamberlain Street side to Miss Alice Farrington's house, now just west of the new Telephone Building. A map, printed before 1840, shows this rope walk but lists it as the property of Fish & Dale. The extremely long building was a necessity as the ropes were made to use with sails and had to be very long. As the rope was being made a horse walked back and forth, carrying it. In later years when excavations were being dug for building in this area near Chamberlain Street, workmen found the ruins of a furnace which it is believed was used for heating tar for the rope walk.
Currier & Hook operated a sail loft in a building near the river end of Wilson Street. It was the last two story building on the left of the street and remained standing for many years after the business had gone out of existence. When everything in this area was torn down to make way for the abutments for the new bridge, the last shadow of the sail loft disappeared. For those of us in this generation who have never seen a sail loft; nor indeed, ever heard of one; a description might be in order. There was a large cylindrical stove hanging near the center, a few feet above the floor to allow the canvas to be spread beneath it. Around the room were low sail-makers' benches with a strange assortment of tools. There was a small room near this loft which could be easily heated with a small stove. Here the sail makers could go to warm themselves on the bitter cold days of the Penobscot winters.
For many years "knees" for use in ship building were made in Brewer. The material for these was taken from the roots of the hackmatack (larch) tree. This wood is very durable and lighter in weight than many of the other kinds of wood avail- able. This made it very valuable in this branch of the ship building business. Some of the knees from Brewer were used in the great Boston clipper ships. In the beginning there was plenty of the required wood available in Maine; but it was attacked by a worm and the wood here was made useless. After
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that it was imported from Canada. During late years it has again begun to be numerous in Maine.
An establishment for the making of oars was in operation in Brewer for many years. Oars made in this city enjoyed an enviable reputation in the towns of the North Atlantic coast.
The rotting remains of the old wharves and the cribs of the icehouses were far out in the river and submerged at half tide. One of these which is located opposite Hampden was the cause of a good deal of trouble. One small schooner headed for Brewer with a load of pulp ran on it and the tide went out. As this happened her stern dropped down until she filled with water through the cabin door and the windows.
Amid the colorful traffic on the river during the 1800's were the pleasure barges. This type of travel was at its height in 1860. The barge, "Fairy of the Wave" was launched June 30, 1860, from Isaac Dunning's yard in Brewer. She was built by James Dunning for Pendleton & Ross. One hundred feet by twenty-two, with a house seven feet high, she could accom- modate from one hundred to one hundred and fifty people. She was towed down the river on her first trip by the steamer Nautilus.
In the winter the lumber vessels were at rest and the saw mills were silent, but the ship building business went busily along. Band saws were used in the yards on which timbers could be sawed into any desired shape. At the Treat Ship Yard (Bangor) the timbers were whip sawed. In carrying out this operation one man worked on top and one in a pit beneath the timber. Men who worked at this business were shipwrights, shipsmiths, calkers, riggers, sail and spar makers, and all sorts of skilled and unskilled labor. We would venture to say, although we know nothing about ship building, that the part of this business which was carried on in the winter must have been inside work. One job which most certainly occupied many of the men at this season of the year was the making of sails. One item states that keels were laid in the spring and an attempt was made to complete the ships by fall if at all possible. Each yard employed from 40 to 60 men and during the winter when this work was slack, many of them found employment in ice harvesting.
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Ships that were launched in Brewer between the years 1861 and 1868 were: 1861 - steamer Gazelle and brigs, Moses Day and Timothy Field, 397 and 167 tons; 1862 - brigs, Caroline Eddy and Frontier; barks, Monitor, Limerick Lass, City of Bangor; Ironsides, and Templar, and the schooner Maria Lunt, aggregate tonnage, 3,303; 1863 - ships, Dumbarton, 941 tons; Nevada, and F. Carver; brig, Clara P. Gibbs; bark, Evening Star; schooners, July Fourth and General Banks; (Bangor launched but one vessel this year); 1864 - ship, David Brown; brigs, Katahdin, T. A. Darrell, and Atlas; bark, Charlotte A. Littlefield; schooners, Moses Patten and Mary Patten; 1865 - ships, Jennie Hight, 1,117 tons; Hattie E. Tapley, 946 tons; and Florence Treat, 790 tons; brig, Eugenia; schooners, Mattie Holmes, Fanny Elder, and Izetta; 1866 - ships, Phineas Pendle- ton, 1,383; barks, Helena, Albert Emerson, Argentine, and Hosea Rich; brigs, Caroline Gulliver, Charlotte, and Rachel Coney; schooners, Mary Collins, Paul Seavey, and Dauntless; 1867 - brigs, George E. Drake; Maurice, and Manson; schooners, Darius Eddy, Charles E. Hellier, Nellie Treat, Fred Smith, and Iona; (Bangor launched but one this year). A statement here says that Joseph Oakes & Son had a marine railway on Main Street in the "upper village". We are sure of the location of but one marine wraiayl, that at the Stetson Yard on South Main Street.
Of course the story of shipping in any community is not without its events which bring sadness. Early in the 19th century Captain Elijah Brown sailed for Boston in a sloop, and with his crew, Charles Bolton, Welcome Doane, and Charles Bacon, was lost on the passage. The James Littlefield, launched in Brewer in 1852, was upset with a load of people when com- manded by Captain Potter. There was a brighter side to this picture, although it must have brought sadness to some; there was but one life lost in the accident. Later the same ship, commanded by Captain Harman N. Bartlett, was captured by the Confederate cruiser, Tallahassee on August 14, 1864. Another Brewer built, the bark, Mark L. Potter, was taken by the Chicka- mauga.
On July 14, 1860, with the period of only a few hours, sixty vessels arrived in the port of Bangor. Only one of these was a steamboat.
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The schooner, Edward Stewart was built in E. & I. K. Stetson's shipyard in Brewer, for Captain Joe Harlow of this city in 1883. After Captain Harlow retired she was sailed by other captains from this area; namely Allie Kent, James Winslow, and Oliver E. Kendall. She made a number of trips to Atlantic ports and then was sold to some people from Nova Scotia. The new owners loaded the vessel with coal and set forth for the home port. When they left New York it was storming and they were soon surrounded by thick fog. They struck the rocks on the south side of Cranberry Island, just inside from Baker's Island Light, near the entrance to Bar Harbor Bay. She had come from the coast of Maine and the coast of Maine provided her final rest- ing place. She was considered by some to be the finest vessel, or at any rate one of the finest, that was ever built in Bangor or Brewer. The Stetson Yard was taken over in later years by Stanford and Hamlin and is now the site of the Wood Products Company.
Other vessels launched here included the T. J. Stewart, Gert- rude Bartlett, C. F. Case, Melissa Trask, and the I. K. Stetson. The latter sailed to the West Indies on her maiden voyage. The T. J. Stewart, a three masted barkentine, was launched in 1882. She was lost with all hands some years later after she had sailed from New York for an eastern port with a load of coal. The Harriet McGilvery was launched in 1872, probably when the yard was owned by McGilvery. Four-masted schooners launched from the Stetson Yard from 1902 to 1905 were the Horace Stone, the Augustus Babcock, and the Augustus Snow.
The Jennie Hight, the ship chosen for the illustration on the 150th anniversary commemorative stamp, was built at the Dun- ning Yard.
Two newspaper items for April of 1900 are of interest: one states that Elisha Higgins has two boats under construction for parties at Moosehead Lake; the other, that the yacht, Aria, owned by E. H. Blake, was launched on Saturday morning from Stetson's Marine Railway where she had been hauled up for the winter.
Outstanding among the ship builders in Brewer was Samuel H. Barbour. The Barbour Yard replaced the Oakes & Son Yard at the foot of Union Street. The business was established by Samuel Henry Barbour for the purpose of building boats to meet the requirements for carrying passengers and freight to the
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towns along the coast and to Bar Harbor, which was just begin- ning to gain distinction as a summer resort town.
Previous to the inauguration of the business, Mr. Barbour had, in 1872, built the "Maude Barbour", a three master, which he named for his eldest daughter. He served as master of this ship for several years. At his home on Center Street, in 1874, he built the small sloop "Alice", named for his wife. While taking family trips on the river with this sloop, he saw the possibility of organizing a steamboat company. During the winter of 1874-75 he built the "May Field", named for a daughter of Dr. Field of Bangor, which was launched on May 12, 1875. Referred to as a steam yacht, the "May Field" made two round trips a week to Bar Harbor, the fare to that town being two dollars. She was the first boat to run a regular route to the small towns along Eggemoggin Reach and to Bar Harbor. Previous to this time all excursions were made, either on the Boston boats or on the barge "Fairy of the Wave" which was towed by the Ross & Howell Company tugboats. The "May Field" ran that first winter from Belfast to Castine and the next season from Bangor to Sedgwick. She was sold in June, 1881, and delivered to Mr. E. P. Walker, who took her to Vinalhaven for the Bodwell Granite Company. She was the first of twenty-six steamboats, large and small, that were built by and for Samuel H. Barbour.
The "Cimbria", built in 1882, was of interest because of her very different name. She was named for a Russian troop ship which laid off Southwest Harbor in 1878. She was the most widely known of all of the Barbour boats, running for many years on the Bangor to Bar Harbor route. One accident occurred during her years of service. She ran ashore on a ledge at Bar Harbor in October, 1898. She was rescued from that episode without too much serious damage and returned to the run after she had been lengthened and modernized. She was forced from her colorful career by railroad competition. In later years she was used in Bridgeport, Connecticut; and we find her name mentioned in Chicago, where she was abandoned in 1922.
The "Silver Star", 1886, had a long and honorable career. A twin-stack ship, she was in local service for a time; after which she took passengers and freight from Belfast for the Pendletons. Her last days were spent serving as a towboat. Her remains today are under the fill at the Belfast Steamboat Wharf.
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The "Castine", 1889, was one of the most successful of the Penobscot River excursion boats. She was still in active service long after nearly all the other boats which were built at the same time were gone and forgotten, save by a few old-timers on the river. She was always in A-l condition. Her captains, W. Perry Coombs and Leighton Coombs, insisted on keeping their boat immaculate and the hull and machinery at the peak of perfection. The "Castine" always ran on Penobscot waters. Bar Harbor was the extreme limit of her journeys. She played a leading part in the bitter Penobscot steamboat war until she was forced out by the demand for larger boats. She served successfully for the Crocketts on the Bluehill run. She lived an exciting life for forty-one years, and then on her final day she ran on Bay Ledge near Vinalhaven Island. She had an excursion party of Grangers aboard. The situation did not appear to be serious when it first happened; but after a time the vessel heeled over at a 45 degree angle and a large group of the passengers were sent into the water. Survivors were picked up from the water and also from the wrecked vessel by lifeboats from the North Haven, and also by boats operated by local fishermen. Later the force of the tides broke the boat in half and today the forward half of the hull forms a small summer camp on a point on Cedar Island.
The "Sedgewick", 1892, was placed on the island run after the Vinalhaven was burned in 1893.
The "Islesford", 1893, was a Brewer boat and active on local waters, although part of her life was spent in the Damariscotta region.
The "Goldenrod", 1893, was registered at Bangor, and was the first on the so-called "Round the Hills" service. She went from Hancock to Sorrento, Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, and South- west Harbor. She was later transferred to Penobscot Bay where she served residents and visitors to the region for many years. She also carried the mail to the coastal towns along the bay. Her last listing was in the register of 1929. Her final resting place was on the shore at Castine.
The "Awashonks", 1893, was built for a concern in Providence and was sent there as soon as she was completed. It is for this reason that we find no mention of her in the record of ships on the river.
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The "Tremont", 1895, was one of the finest appearing boats in this age group. She was finally abandoned on the bank near the Belfast Steamboat Wharf.
The "Verona", 1902, was the last of the great Barbour boats belonging to the larger bay group. The finals days of her life were spent on the Hudson River where she was burned in 1907.
Other Barbour boats included the "City of Bangor", 1897; "Nellie Kane", 1881; "Little Buttercup", 1881; "Queen City", 1881; "Florence", 1882; Sty. "Leila", 1883; "Alice", 1884; "Creed- mor", 1884; "Susie May", 1886; "Winona", 1886; "City of Water- ville", 1890; "Gertrude Lunt", 1892; "Una", 1892; Sty. "Navis", 1894; and the "Mascot", 1894 (later called the William Connors).
Mr. Barbour also had a number of vessels made from his hull models under his supervision. They included the "Clara May", a two-masted packet for the Dutch Guiana Government in 1882; the "Hattie H. Barbour", 1883; the "Annie Lord", and the "Aetna", in 1881. The latter group were all three-master schooners.
With the coming of the railroads giving sufficient service to care for the freight and passengers of the area, the competition became very keen and the Barbour line was finally given up in 1906.
An attempt was made to revive the wooden steamboat in the years directly following World War I, and two boats were built in Brewer. The Charles D. Stanford was built in 1918. She stuck on the ways during the launching ceremony and the affair had to be put off until the next day in order that the ways might be greased again. The Horace E. Monroe, 1919, was much larger than the one successfully launched the year before. The time set for the launching was eleven o'clock in order to take advantage of the tide. Most of the crowd who had gathered to watch, clad in raincoats and carrying umbrellas because of the cold drenching rain which was falling, had never seen a launching before. The vessel slid down the greased ways without any difficulty; but when she was in the water and the anchors were dropped from the catheads, the inexperience of the men handling her led to trouble. They did not let out enough rope for the anchors to hold the boat and she shot across the river and cut several feet into the wharf on the Bangor side. She tore out the roof and the side of an old warehouse there, and did some damage to her own stern.
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