USA > Maine > Hancock County > Blue Hill > Head of the bay : sketches and pictures of Blue Hill, Maine, 1762-1952 > Part 4
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
The Virginia foundered in the North Atlantic in a violent gale in December, 1842, while bound from Havana for Cowes with a cargo of sugar. The crew was saved by a passing vessel.
1834 Brig Thomas M. Lyon. Judah Chase, managing owner; 217.42 tons. Under Captain Judah Chase, the vessel sailed from Havre, France, at the end of March, 1836. Thrown on her bcam ends in a heavy galc off the Island of Jersey on March 28th, and was abandoned in a sinking condition. The crew was saved.
1835 Brig Granite. John Cheever, managing owner; 167.70 tons. Schooner Zodiac. Jonah Holt, managing owner; 117.29 tons.
1836
Schooner Marion. John Cheever, managing owner; 110.39 tons. Schooner Codhook. Israel Chase, managing owner; 86.56 tons. Schooner Regulator. Jedediah Darling, managing owner; 130.77 tons. Schooner Purveyor. Israel Chase, managing owner; 122.08 tons. The Purveyor was wrecked on Great Round Shoals off Cape Cod in a gale in May, 1845. Only one of the crew was saved - Sabin Peters, of Blue Hill, who clung to the rigging and was rescued the second day after the disaster.
Schooner Venus. Joel Long, Sr., managing owner; 101.04 tons. The Venus was built by Joel Long, Sr., at East Blue Hill.
1837
Schooner Saint Leon. Sivilian Babson, managing owner; 74.04 tons. Schooner Osceola. Jonah Holt, managing owner; 124.07 tons. Schooner Susan Taylor. Ebenezer Nave, managing owner; 104.37 tons. Schooner' Maine. John Cushing, managing owner; 174.32 tons.
1839 Schooner Saint Cloud. Giles J. Wood, managing owner; 36.64 tons. Schooner Aeolian. William H. Means, managing owner; 116.38 tons. The Acolian capsized November 3, 1840, when bound for George- town, N. C., under Captain Means. The crew was saved by a vessel named the Auburn.
1840 Schooner Robert Bruce (or Brace). John Closson, managing owner; 147.39 tons.
The vessel was wrecked on the Brigantine Shoals, when bound for Portsmouth from Philadelphia under Captain Morgan, in a gale on September 13, 1848. The crew was saved south of the Scituate Lighthouse.
The George Stevens, built in 1841. The painting is owned by the Herbert Stevens family of Medford, Mass.
1840 Schooner Sparta. Isaac Allen, managing owner. 100 tons.
The Sparta was built on the Salt Pond. The date 1840 is ap- proximate.
1841 Ship George Stevens. Capt. John Cushing, man. owner; 498.33 tons. This ship sailed in the Atlantic trade until 1849 or 1850, when she took freight and passengers to San Francisco. There she re- mained, and, according to Dr. Littlefield, "probably became real estate, as many other vessels did, by being beached and filled in around her on the waterfront of that city."
Boat J. M. Banks. Israel Spraguc, managing owner; 12.98 tons. Boat Three Partners. A. W. Eaton, managing owner; 7.84 tons.
1842
Brig D. Randolph Martin. Joel Long, Sr., man. owner. 169.03 tons. This vessel, which was built at East Blue Hill by Joel Long, Sr., sailed from Rochelle, France, for Boston on November 14, 1843, and was never again heard of. Captain Anson Darling, his son, Francis, and the first mate, Robert Robertson, were all from Blue Hill. Brig Alabama. Jonah Holt, managing owner; 195.47 tons.
1844
Brig Lemuel Peters. Spencer Treworgy, managing owner; 196.06 tons. This vessel was wrecked on Hennigan Reef in 1851.
Ship Tahmaroo. William Sinclair, managing owner; 372.27 tons.
The Tahmaroo, after several years service in the Atlantic, took cargo and passengers (among them four Blue Hill boys and others
2 7
1844 from nearby towns) for San Francisco in 1849. Later she took passengers to Panama and to Valparaiso, returning to New Bedford in 1852. Just before the Civil War, she was sold, and it is said en- gaged in the slave trade until she disappeared.
1845 Schooner J. Holt. Jonah Holt, managing owner; 157.09 tons. This vessel was abandoned at sea in a sinking condition on August 30, 1851. The crew was saved.
1846
Schooner Louisa. Lemuel Peters, managing owner; 154.65 tons. Schooner Belle. Israel Chase, managing owner; 105.65 tons. Schooner Del Norte. Jonah Holt, managing owner; 63.24 tons.
The Del Norte, under Captain J. Willard Friend, was driven ashore by a hurricane and wrecked in the Bay of Mexico in 1849. Bark Sarah Jackson. John Cheever, managing owner; 198.56 tons. 1851 Schooner Elizabeth. Joseph B. Thomas, managing owner; 67.20 tons. Schooner George Gilman. Joel Long, Sr., managing owner; 65.26 tons. This vessel was built at East Blue Hill by Joel Long, Sr. 1852 Schooner Everglade. Joseph Wescott, managing owner; 158.46 tons.
Bark Sarahı E. Snow. John Closson, managing owner; 196.07 tons. Bound from New York for Galway, Ireland, under Captain Clos- son, the Sarah E. Snow was struck by a huge sea near Enniskia Island, Blackshod Bay, on January 24, 1847. Meltiah K. Chase was the only survivor.
1847 Schooner John Snow. John Gordon, managing owner; 135.39 tons.
1848 Brig E. O. Holt. F. A. Holt, managing owner; 171.23 tons. Brig Delhi. John Cheever, managing owner; 175.08 tons.
Brig Bride. Alexander Fulton, managing owner; 157.15 tons.
On September 21, 1849, the Bride was bound from Boston for Mobile under Captain Meltiah K. Chase, with the Captain's Bluc Hill bride, the former Eliza Wescott, on board. The vessel was thrown on her beam ends by a gale, but the masts were cut away, she righted, and was kept afloat for thirty-six hours. Mrs. Chase was lashed to the mast when a falling metcor revealed the wreck to the passing British Brig Loyal. All hands were rescued and landed at Berniuda.
Brig J. Hinckley. Joseph Hinckley, managing owner; 198.54 tons.
This vessel sailed from Blue Hill for Jacksonville, Fla., under Cap- tain E. G. Parker on October 1, 1853. She was spoken to near her destination previous to the hurricane of October 19th, but was never after heard from.
1849 Zavalla. Jonah Holt, managing owner; 153.35 tons.
Schooner Quadratus. John Closson, managing owner; 132.55 tons.
1850
Schooner Clara Norton. R. G. W. Dodge, man. owner; 123.53 tons. Brig Equator. John Cheever, managing owner; 156.51 tons.
Bound for Valparaiso from Boston in 1851, the Equator was par- tially dismasted in a pampero. After repairs in Montevideo, she pro- ceeded. In August, 1861, she was sold in Valparaiso, renamed "Nova Yong," and placed under the Chilean flag. Upon her second or third trip between Valparaiso and Maule, she struck the bar at Maule entrance and became a total loss.
Brig Eliza Ann. M. K. Chase, managing owner; 223.84 tons.
The Eliza Ann went ashore high and dry on the beach near Long Branch, N.J., in December, 1854.
Brig Sarah Thorndike. Jonah Holt, managing owner; 177.27 tons. Brig Cosmopolite. John G. Witham, managing owner; 140.82 tons. Schooner Meridian. Giles F. Wood, managing owner; 131.54 tons. The Meridian was built by Joel Long, Jr., at East Blue Hill.
Bound from Turks Isle for Boston, the Everglade was wrecked on Hog Island on February 1, 1861. She was hailed from Newburyport at the time of her loss.
Schooner Sea Bird. 103 tons.
This vessel, which had a square top sail on her foremast, was built at East Blue Hill by Joel Long, Jr., and Phineas Cousins. Schooner Zicave. Ezra Dodge, managing owner; 129.93 tons. Schooner Petite Lizzie. F. A. Holt, managing owner; 155.06 tons.
Bound from Boston for Jacksonville, Fla., in ballast, the Petite Lizzie was dismasted in the hurricane of October 19th and aban- doned. Her crew was saved by the bark J. W. Brodie and landed at New York.
1853
Bark Grand Turk. Spencer Treworgy, managing owner; 282.36 tons. Bark R. G. W. Dodge. John W. Friend, managing owner; 306.19 tons. This vessel was later sold to parties in France, when her name was changed to "Clariec."
Brig John Stevens. Spencer Treworgy, managing owner; 266.19 tons. The John Stevens was wrecked on the beach near Jacksonville, Fla., on October 20, 1866, while bound from New York for that port.
Schooner Julia Elizabeth. L. Candage, managing owner; 104.55 tons.
1854 Ship Ocean Ranger. Spencer Treworgy, managing owner; 484.66 tons. This vessel was sold in London in November, 1863.
Brig Kineo. Alvin G. Conary, managing owner; 185.25 tons. The Kineo was built by Jocl Long, Jr., and Phineas Cousins at
28
East Blue Hill. Bound for Norfolk, Va., with a cargo of stone, it went ashore about a mile south of the Scituate lighthouse in a dense fog on November 8, 1857. The crew was saved, but the vessel became a total wreck.
1855 Brig Mira W. Holt. Jonah Holt, managing owner; 263.29 tons.
Bark Whistling Wind. John Hawlin, managing owner; 349.60 tons. On June 6, 1863, while bound from Philadelphia to New Orleans, the Whistling Wind was captured and burned at sea by a Con- federate privateer.
Schooner Annie Gardner. R. G. W. Dodge, man. owner; 149.32 tons. Schooner Python. A. O. Hale, managing owner; 93.09 tons.
1856
Sehooner Susan Friend. William Hopkins, man. owner; 93.39 tons. Schooner Zealous. Leonard Candage, managing owner; 140 tons. Schooner Minnehaha. J. W. Friend, managing owner; 103.28 tons.
This vessel, which was built by Joel Long, Jr., at East Blue Hill, had a square top sail on the foremast.
1857
Bark J. W. Friend. J. W. Friend, managing owner; 399.36 tons.
Sehooner Fair Dealer. Stephen Webber, managing owner; 85.40 tons. Bark Antioch. William H. Witherle, of Castine, managing owner; 595 tons.
1859
The Antioeh was sold first to Boston and then to San Francisco parties. She made the voyage from Boston around Cape Horn to San Francisco, and supposedly ended her days in Pacific coast trade. Sehooner Belle. Percy Rich, of Deer Isle, managing owner; 21.30 tons. Sehooner Alma Odlin. Nelson Franks, managing owner; 104.58 tons. Sehooner Massassoit. M. K. Chase, managing owner; 51.51 tons. Bark Oak Ridge. R. G. W. Dodge, managing owner; 388 tons.
1860
1865
The Oak Ridge foundcred at sea in a gale on August 2, 1867, while bound from Philadelphia for Boston. The crew was saved. Schooner Louler Newton. Albion P. Gray, man. owner; 127.65 tons. Schooner Lion. William L. Candage, managing owner; 36.76 tons.
1867 1871 1876 1890
Sehooner Annie F. Collins. Francis Cousins, man. owner; 63.55 tons. This schooner with a centre board was built by Francis Cousins on Phineas Cousins' shores ( now Camp's ).
Sloop Albatross. Managing owner unknown; 9.18 tons.
Schooner Mary C. Stuart. 204 tons.
This three-masted schooner was built by Franeis Cousins at East Blue Hill.
1891 Schooner Hazel Dell. Francis Cousins, managing owner; 157.65 tons. The Hazel Dell was built by Francis Cousins at East Blue Hill.
SEA CAPTAINS
Before the turn of the eentury, most local boys went to sea as sailors, and it has been said that they were more familiar with the Atlantic coast, the ports of Boston, New York, and New Orleans, the West Indies, and various European ports than they were with the interior of the State of Maine. The descendants of John Roundy, one of the two first settlers, are a ease in point. His grandson, James Candage was a captain, and his great-grandson, Captain R. G. F. Candage, was a noted seaman who sailed many Blue Hill vessels. The latter was one of twelve children, seven of whom went to sea. Five of these died in foreign ports and one was lost at sea.
It is, in fact, usual to find one or two sea captains in any Blue Hill family history. Boys who became captains when they were no more than eighteen or twenty years of age sometimes sailed Blue Hill vessels around Cape Horn to the Pacific - as hazardous a voyage as any in the world. ( Some of their ex- ploits are eited in the list of Blue Hill vessels. ) Captain John Warren Kanc 3rd and Captain Frank Stevens, both of whom were active at the turn of the century, are perhaps the best remembered.
Captain John Warren Kane, 3rd
It was under Captain Kane that many of the older local men of today learned seamanship. Late in life, he sailed the sehooner Mildred May in eoastwise trade. He also sailed the sloop Libra among the islands in this region, selling the produets of the Morrison Medical Company, and his erews were drawn largely from Blue Hill boys. In summers, during the days of the Mildred May, the entire town was eustomarily invited on pienie trips to Deep Cove on Long Island.
Earlier in life, the Captain had sailed to all the great ports of the world. The son of a sea captain, he knew every rope and spar on a ship when he was still a child, and his first voyage was made at the age of thirteen. At eight- een he took command of his first ship.
Two particularly hazardous exploits mark his carcer. In October, 1873, while sailing the brig Fanny Keating, he was wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico, and was rescued only after all on board had been lashed to the wreck for five days. Two years later, in February of 1885, he rescued the crew of twenty-five men of the English ship Elmete, in recognition of which Queen Victoria presented him with the handsomely inseribed silver cup now in the Blue Hill Public Library.
29
His seamanship was highly respected throughout this area. Once, when he was sailing the Libra around Mount Desert Island, he came to a draw- bridge with the wind blowing at gale force. The keeper refused to open the draw because of the dangerous high wind, but the Captain was adamant. "Who is it?" called the keeper. The answer "Captain Kane" came back together with some forceful seafaring words. The bridge opened at once, and the Libra shot through the draw like an arrow.
Captain Frank Stevens
Captain Frank Stevens, the second son of John Stevens, was a mariner for fifty-three years and a master for forty-seven of them. There is a special interest for me in writing of Captain Frank, my father's boyhood friend, since I used to spend many evenings in his home in Brooklyn listening to his colorful sea stories.
Born in Blue Ifill in 1842, Frank Stevens made his first voyage when he was fourteen years old. He was probably not yet twenty when he served as mate on the Blue Hill vessel under Captain Moses Johnson of Blue Hill during the Civil War. As this ship left New York harbor on one occasion,
The John Stevens House on Main Street (now owned by Mrs. Thomas Wootten ) as it looked in the 1880s. Ella Stover is seated left in George Clougli's surrey, and Eugene Stevens holds his horse's reins at right. The bearded man is John Stevens; his son John stands beside him; and Mr. and Mrs. Sain Stevens sit beside the tree. The little girl in white is Annie L. Clough.
-
the captain remembered a forgotten jug of vinegar, and Mate Frank went ashore at flighland Light to retrieve it. He brought back with him some melons which he had stolen from a nearby field. Soon after leaving the port of New York, the ship was chased and overhauled by the Confederate ship Alabama. Captain Johnson put on full sail, but a shot soon came across the bow, and he hove to. A small boat was sent to the captured ship, and Captain Johnson was taken aboard the Alabama with his papers. The officer left in charge of the captured ship told the Mate to get whatever he wanted to keep before the ship was sunk. Frank Stevens put ten dollars in gold in his shoe; then, he put on a new suit of clothes, and over them an old suit. While the crew was being transferred to the Alabama, the officer spied the melons ripening in small hammocks swung on the booms of the ship. Aboard the Alabama the crew was searched, handcuffed, and chained to the deck. During the following days, Frank Stevens saw his melons go by him on silver platters to the Alabama's captain. (When he told the story later, he commented drily that "The way of a transgressor is hard.") After ten days, the majority of the prisoners were landed at Liverpool, England. Mate Stevens, with his new suit of clothes and ten dollars in gold was on the next ship to the United States.
In later years, Captain Stevens served as Senior Captain of the Ward Line. He was popular in Havana Harbor, and he recalled finding the docks lined with cheering crowds when his ship arrived two days late after surviving a bad hurricane. On the night of February 15, 1898, when the Battleship Maine blew up, The City of Washington under Captain Stevens was anehored in Havana Harbor. Ilis boats were the first lowered to help the Maine's crew, rescuing many of the men as well as Captain Sigsbee. Captain Stevens also claimed that the Battle of Santiago was fought around him while he was towing a transport.
Trips from New York to Havana took him past the Lightship on Diamond Shoal. When weather permitted the Lightship to send out a small boat, Captain Stevens would soap the seams of a wooden box, fill it with the latest marine news and fresh vegetables, and drop it overboard for the men on post - a kindness which brought many letters of appreciation.
Captain Stevens died in Havana in 1909, and was later brought here for burial.
Other names of sea captains who played an active part in Blue Hill's nine- teenth century maritime life are also well remembered. Among them are: R. G. F. Candage, Judah Chase, Meltiah K. Chase, Daniel Clough, Rufus Clough, William Conary, Ezra Dodge, Merrill Dodge, Samuel Eaton, J. W. Friend, Samuel P. Holt, Samuel Johnson, Isaac Merrill, Stephen Norton, E. G. Parker, William Peters, William Sinclair, and Spencer Treworgy.
30
LEFT: View of the White Company dock, cutting sheds, and machine shop from the old Blue Hill Granite Company's shore. This land is now owned by John J. Mackin. RIGHT: One gallamanda which was used for hauling stone at the Collins or White Quarry is still in Blue Hill.
GRANITE QUARRIES
ABOUT THE YEAR 1768, JONATHAN DARLING, WHO HAD FIRST SETTLED AT The Falls, took up two lots of land on the north side of the bay, which in- cluded what came to be known first as Darling's Point and later as Seulpin Point. Numerous elam shells found here identify the Point as an ancient In- dian camping ground, and, later, Penobscot and Old Town Indians had eight or ten camps in the same area for many years. Mr. Darling's grandson re- lates that one of the whales which were often seen in the Outer Bay would sometimes come into the Inner Bay, delighting the boys, who "stood on the roeks at the extreme point of the narrows so that they distinctly saw his eyes and the barnacles on his body."
Jonathan Darling cleared the land for a farm, built a house, and reared a family of four sons and five daughters. It was his son Jedediah (born in 1784) who was first to become extensively engaged in the granite business- on his father's land and elsewhere in Blue Hill. Byron Darling writes: "About the year 1816 he got out and shipped to Boston the first granite that was ever taken from Blue Hill. . . . In 1836 he with Messrs. Day and Pitehard got out and shipped 18 large cargoes of granite to be used in the Charles- town Navy Yard."
Later, Jedediah and his three sons furnished the granite for the Congre- gational Churches in Blue Hill and Ellsworth, as well as that for the Peters Bloek and many stores in Ellsworth. Byron Darling tells that they "got out, roughly rounded, and shipped eight columns for the Dutch Reformed Church in New York. These columns were twenty-eight feet long, four feet wide at the base, and three feet six inches at the top. They also shipped a large quantity of granite for a fort on Bedloes Island in New York," and, un-
der the firm name of J. Darling and Sons, "shipped eight ship loads of granite paving blocks for the streets of New Orleans."
By the middle of the nineteenth century, granite quarries extended from about a mile east of the Village all along the shore north to Morgan's Bay; and wherever ledges or boulders projected above the ground they were broken up into paving blocks. One of the large concerns was the White Granite Company, which had the wharf on the place now owned by the Maekins. The granite for this company and for the Blue Hill Granite Com- pany (started by J. Darling; with a wharf on the site of the present Yacht Club) was taken from the north side of the road.
Among the big early contracts was that taken by Joseph T. Hinckley of the White Company together with Captain Joseph Weseott and his son George P. Wescott-for granite required for the construction of a bridge in St. Louis. "This stone," Byron Darling writes, "was shipped to New Orleans in large vessels." There, it was transferred to "flat boats and by steam tugs towed to St. Louis. Two of the vessels were lost on the way, but as they were insured and each piece of stone was numbered and an exaet account kept, the lost pieces were duplicated." Quite a large quantity of nicely eut granite was also furnished by this firm for the Treasury building in Wash- ington, D. C. Other stone was shipped to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Charleston, Pensacola, and New Orleans.
The Chase Granite Company was located about two miles east of the White Company. From this quarry, Meltiah K. Chase and Henry B. Darling filled large contracts for granite used in the construction of eity and county buildings in Philadelphia and in the Brookline (Mass.) town hall. This eom- pany was bought by Henry B. Slaven in about 1896. Under his management, the very large stone wharf was built-extending into deep water to aecom-
3 1
modate larger vessels. There was a railroad here, which took the granite from the quarries to the dock in flat cable ears. (In other yards, the stone was transported from the quarries to the cutting sheds and the docks on drags and sleds or gallamandas pulled by oxen. Sometimes two, three, or four yokes would be required to haul the heavy stones.) Stone taken from the Chase quarry at this time was used in the Holyoke Dam in Massachusetts.
Farther along the shore was the Eagle Quarry (opened by J. Darling), which was known to have excellent stone. This was on property now owned by Miss Delight Weston. At East Blue Hill, George W. Collins owned and operated the sizable Collins Granite Company, which supplied stone used in the construction of the "New York and Brooklyn Bridge" and the Pitts- burgh Post Office. The company's polishing mill, still standing today, is used as a barn on the property which now belongs to Dr. Seth Milliken.
A polishing mill and large sheds for cutting granite were also located halfway up Green's Hill on the Ellsworth Road, on the north side of Wil- liam M. Howard's house. (The quarry, which was farther cast in the woods, was reached by a road near the Fair Crounds.) Among other jobs, Mr. How- ard cut the Soldiers' Monument in the Blue Hill Seaside Cemetery and similar monuments for Ellsworth and Union, Maine, and Shirley, Mas- sachusetts.
The Blue Hill Copper Mine - once largest and most productive in the area.
COPPER MINES
Some time after the eastern part of Blue Hill was being quarried for granite, the western part was opened for eopper. Copper mines had been discovered here by William Darling as early as 1876. Beginning in that year, several mines, among them the "Blue Hill Copper" and the "Douglass," were run in a modest way until William Stewart, who was widely accepted as a mining authority, came to Maine in the fall of 1879. His enthusiasm for the quality of the ore, the nearness of the harbor for shipping, and the abundance of timber in this locality started a major mining boom. Land in the already- developed section of Blue Hill sold at high rates, and loeal men as well as outside businessmen elamored to invest reeklessly in what looked like a bonanza.
Although many pits were dug around the shore and one building, "The Cranger," was erected on the Parker Point road, most of the big develop- ments were made two miles west of the Village - in the vieinity of the "Blue Hill Copper" and the "Douglass." Among the new mines were the "City of Boston," "Stover Hill Copper," "Corinna," "Norumbega Silver," "Young Heela," "Favorite," and the "Twin Lead." The last of these was marked by a very ornate shaft-house with a cupola surmounted by a weather-vane.
Mining engineers came in from the West, and workers migrated to Blue Hill from all parts of the country. Big boarding houses and little huts sprang up everywhere to accommodate them. The Fiske house, until that time a boarding house, was enlarged and called The Copper and Gold Exchange. The Briek Block built by Jonah Holt in 1835 ( in which he had kept a ship chandlery store at the east end while his nephew, Frederic A. Holt, kept a store and post office in the other) was opened in 1880 as a spacious and handsomely-fitted mining exchange by William Darling, who now became known as "Colonel" Darling. A year later, the building was equipped as a fine hotel, with a large livery stable at the rear, and renamed the Pendleton House. With the boom at its peak, Colonel Darling planned to build two large new blocks in the Village - one, a new and elegant hotel, and the other to hold the offiees of a bank. Only the granite foundation of the bank building was started, however, and on it the village blacksmith shop now stands.
Speculation ran rampant. Although warned of swindlers, people bought stock freely, counting on great returns. Blue Hill was "mining crazy," and the depression of 1880 failed to dampen local enthusiasm. But, by 1881, the foundations were shaking. In the face of an unstable copper market and poor local management, stocks began to fall. Throughout Maine mining op- erations were suspended, and of thirty-nine companies in Blue Hill, only six mines continued to work.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.