USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Boothbay > The shipping days of old Boothbay from the revolution to the world war : with mention of adjacent towns > Part 31
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
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seven seas they carried at the masthead the Southard house flag with the design of an anvil, emblematical of early labor and start in shipbuilding. . Thomas J. Southard's funeral was an occasion for Richmond to honor a self-made man, a good citizen and a Freemason.
SPROUL, ROBERT (1808-1887). A Bristol mariner, he married Mary Leish- man and lived at her old B'bay homestead, about a mile from town, near a meadow which had a notably fine spring. In summer time of 1849 there was a drought, and the spring furnished the only available supply of water needed for steaming ship timber. Robert commanded topsail sch. Andrew Adams and brig Espoleta, both built for his command. His brother James was first officer and succeeded Robert in the A. Adams, and on his first trip as master lost the vessel on the island of Abaco.
SPURLING, BENJAMIN (b.1849). Early in life he commanded the Maggie Willard, later the Fannie Spurling, Mattie P. Dyer, Portland fishing ves- sels; also the Silvester Beals and the Lizzie Maud (B'bay). Although not a native of B'bay he settled at the harbor there and was interested in ship- ping.
STUART, HARRY B. (1864-1924). He was a native of Barter's Island and there, in 1890, married Ardelle, daughter of Capt. Albert Kimball. Com- mands: Rival, three-master Addie P. McFadden and four-master Robert P. Murphy; the last two Bath-built. Captain Stuart moved to Tacoma to superintend a fishing company until 1917, then removed to Seattle. There he helped establish the Sebastian, Stuart Fish Company.
SWETT. The brothers Harvey and Hiram had a fishing stand on an island in the Sheepscot which bore the family name, later named Isle of Springs. They operated Banner, Enterprise, Van Buren, Champion, and Meridian. Two sons of Harvey were likewise active: Byron W. sailed for Freeman Orne in Bay Chaleur fishing with the Jennie Armstrong and Josephine Swanton, owned and ran the Alaska in coasting. Sumner P. (1852; living 1938) was an expert hand-line fisherman and master of bankers. With twenty hands in the Gertie Lewis, he barely weathered the severe gale on the Nova Scotia coast in 1873, and took off the crew of a dismasted brig. Cleveland, son of Byron, captained the seagoing tug Pejepscot. He d. 1937.
TATNER-THURSTON. Arthur W. Tatner commanded a schooner which ar- rived in Boston in 1887 with cigars and Jamaica rum. In collusion with Capt. Albert Thurston of the Mary J. Elliot, it was arranged to smuggle
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a part of the cargo to Boothbay. During the night the goods were trans- ferred to the Elliot, to sail at daybreak. A vigilant inspector of customs thwarted the plot, seized the vessels and fined the masters.
TEVENEN-THORPE. John Tevenen (a. 1844-1897) was master of the Cyrena Ann, H. S. Rowe, and E. K. Dresser. Willard and Lewis Thorpe owned the Princeton, lost with all hands in 1851. In the 1860's William J. Thorpe managed the fishing vessels Gazelle and Northern Light, and Eliphalet and Franklin Thorpe operated Tookolita.
TIBBETTS, GARDNER G. (1833-1888). A grandson of John Tibbetts, in his twenties he commanded sch. Ocean Ranger and brig Tangent, later the Benjamin Reed, Cyrus Fossett and brig Hiram Abif. At times the Captain was away for long periods-a year and a half in the 'eighties. Thereafter he sometimes sailed as first officer for other masters, and while with Capt. Samuel Mckown of the G. W. Jewett, Gardner was drowned from the ship's boat at Cambridge, Maryland.
TIBBETTS, JAMES (1768-1858). In 1801 he commanded the brig Belisarius. His son James L. followed his father's career and both were members of Lincoln Lodge of Freemasons. James L. had sons Albert S., Sumner R., and Lincoln W. Tibbetts, born 1830-1834 inclusive, who were shipmasters.
Albert was the first master of brig Onward, bark Emma Cushing, and sailed R. Lewis and Company's bark Archer (E. Deering 1868, by S. Sar- gent). In 1854 Sumner was master of brig Mazatlan, and 'a superior bark owned by Capt. Sumner Tibbetts of Boothbay and James E. Ward and others' was launched at Wisc. and named James E. Ward. His first trip in the bark was to Matanzas in December 1858. Another command was the full-rigged brig John C. Noyes. In person Sumner was a bit thickset, affable with a pleasing personality. Lincoln was master of brig Tornado. On one occasion, about 1881, his vessel went ashore, but, sick at the time, he managed to put in at Key West leaking. His last command was the White Fleet bark Ella.
TIBBETTS, JOHN (1775-1848). In 1814 he followed the sea from Linekin's Neck in his new sloop Mary. Of his sons, Artemas was a fishing master of pink Dromo, the Elliot Woodbury and the Morning Star; Ichabod had pinky Betsey and Sally; in 1844 the brothers were lost at sea. Rufus (1817- 1894) commanded the Charlie and Willie and brig Eugene A. Reed; and Hiram (1822-1899), carly in 1864, contracted with Charles Murray to con- struct a large fishing schooner at Calais. He left the partly finished hull on
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the stocks, thereby causing Hiram a financial loss. Later completed by others, she was nearly lost in Casco Bay; later still, named Mercy A. Howe, she hailed from S'port. Hiram had a son, Mark (b.1843), who sailed for John McClintock as master of the Only Son; another son, Eliphalet (1847 -1935), in early life fished on the Grand Banks and later was an expert boatbuilder. He married a daughter of shipbuilder Andrew Adams, and their daughter, Grace, was the wife of Captain George Carlisle.
Samuel Berry Tibbetts in 1804 commanded slp. Patty (Bris.); June 1 1821, the Bath Gazette noted, 'On Sunday last Captain [Nathaniel, b. 1775] Tibbetts and his two sons, of Boothbay were drowned by the bilging of a boat on a rock at Line's Island, near this place.'; in 1822 Giles Tibbetts jr. was master of a W. I. trader, sch. Walter, and lived in the northern part of town in 1856, aged about seventy; in 1829 Warren Tibbetts was skipper of a pink of seventy tons, the Jefferson (Ipswich); in 1847 Henry Tibbetts had the Grampus (Bris.); in 1855 Samuel G. Tibbetts kept Mon- hegan light; and the next year a Samuel Tibbetts was lost with Captain Groves of Wisc. (q.v.). In 1878 D. C. Tibbetts was drowned with Capt. Charles W. Reed; Hartley Tibbetts was master of the General Grant, Fannie Hodgkins and coaster Hope Haines; and in recent years Rodney Tibbetts commanded the Mallory liner Durando.
TOOTHACHER, JACOB. Born about 1810, he commanded topsail schooners Edward, of Wisc., the Julia and Martha and brig Sarah Elizabeth. In the fall of 1851 Jacob was shipwrecked on Gardiner's Island, reputed haunt of pirates; the Edward, a reported loss, was floated off. All were saved. The Captain died sometime after 1885.
WHEELER, JOSEPH. Elsewhere mentioned, in 1778 he was skipper of a small schooner named Sea Flower. Related to him were two brothers, John and Sewall Wheeler of Pleasant Cove. John (b.1798) was master of pinky Hyder Ali and the Ruby (Edge.); Sewall (1811-1836) also had the Hyder Ali and was lost at sea. Their nephew, Albert M. Wheeler, was master of the Australia, Pemaquid and the Mariel (Franklin 1851).
WYLIE, DAVID and PARKER. Early in life these brothers were lost at sea. Two decades after the death of David, Parker, skipper of an old vessel none too seaworthy, the Forest, with seven hands sailed from B'bay in the spring of 1851 on a fishing trip to the eastward. Without tidings, it was thought she foundered in a gale which occurred two days after sailing. Also on a fishing trip with Captain Berry of the James Pool, another David Wylie (1842-1861) was lost from a dory near Cape North.
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WYLIE, E. NEAL (1832-1889). He was skipper of the Orne brothers' Diana, also of Northern Light and others. His son, Merritt (1877-1933), followed the sea in local vessels, was quartermaster of steamer Islander, Captain Dunton, and served on steamships. After the late war he was with the Bull Line, commanded steamship Lake Akra, and for four years preceding. his sudden death at home, served as chief officer of steamship Merrimac.
WYLIE, JOHN (1827-1868). He followed the sea with his brother Samuel, succeeded his brother Sewall in the command of brigs Australia and Waltham, and was master of brig Montgomery and the large fore-and-aft Frank Palmer, on which he lost his life. Off Nantucket the mainmast car- ried away in a March gale; falling gear and a block struck John on the head, killing him instantly. Mate Benjamin Reed took the schooner to Savannah, repaired and brought her home. With them were J. H. Pink- ham and Fred Giles. Captain Wylie is described as of active temperament and sociable.
WYLIE, SAMUEL T. (1813-1894). A sturdy mariner, he was mate of topsail sch. Westport and commanded square-riggers, also the fishing vessels Su- perior, Mary A., Northern Light and the Frank Barker. In early man- hood his son, Dennis S. (1845-1916), sailed for John McClintock in the Montebello; in the Ripley Ropes for S. G. Hodgdon; and later com- manded fruiting schooners, one the Eunice Mckown and briefly, the Julia Baker.
WYLIE, SEWALL S. (1823-1879). A commander early in life, he had brigs Australia, Rainbow, Tangent, Waltham, bark Windward, and owned a master's interest in brig Vincennes. The following was related admiringly by a contemporary: 'Captain Wylie sailed into the harbor, came up into the wind, backed his yards and dropped the Tangent into her berth along- side the old Marson wharf.' During dull times in shipping caused by the Civil War, Sewall became interested in bank fishing, occupied an unused stand near his home and operated the Alva, Only Son, Ocean Herald, P. G. Maddocks, Geo. Washington and the Frank Barker. He himself cap- tained the last named and the Only Son, and ended his career as a mariner in the Mary J. Elliot. In person the Captain was tall and of full figure; was prominent in local affairs and a member of Lincoln Lodge of Freemasons.
Of others, John Wylie (1740-1826) was a mariner; in the Penobscot ex- pedition of 1779 the transport sch. Rachel sailed from B'bay under a John
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Wylie, residence not known; in early manhood Thomas B. Wylie (1825- 1876) was an E. B'bay seafarer; and in 1875 a Wylie commanded the Old Chad.
III SOUTHPORT
SOUTHPORT primarily was a fishing community; it furnished few deep- sea shipmasters, although its sailors alternated in spring and fall trips to the Banks with winter southern voyages in the old topsail schooners and brigs. There were about ninety families on the island in 1857, and its maximum population of 700 a few years later was maintained during high tide of the fisheries. Inhabitants numbered 684 in 1870; a decade later there were 149 families in 140 houses, a total of 679 people. With the de- cline of the fishing industry the population diminished steadily. In the year 1880 there were sixty to seventy vessels engaged in the fisheries, some hailing from Portland, but owned mostly in town.
Several incidents connected with the island are related herewith; others may be found in brief sketches of its skippers. An Act of Congress in March of 1829 appropriated 5000 dollars to establish and construct a lighthouse on Hendrick's Head, named after a local resident. A new reflecting and re- volving apparatus was installed in 1855, used until 1875 when the old dwelling with its light tower on the roof was demolished and the station re- built. A bell of 1200 pounds was added in 1891, but the fog signal and light were discontinued in 1933. As far as known the keepers were Capt. John Upham, who died in office in December 1837, aged fifty-eight; Thomas Pierce in 1843; William Orne, Ephraim Pinkham, Simon Crom- well in 1855, and Stevens Smith. From about 1866 to 1895 the light was kept by Jeruel Marr, then by his son Walcott H. until his death in 1930, followed by C. L. Knight, the last keeper.
Several shipwrecks have occurred in the vicinity of Hendrick's Head and Cape Newagen. On a mackerel cruise in 1830 the Galen, while run- ning for shelter in the gloom of an October storm, mistook the newly erected lighthouse for the Boothbay light and struck on a reef at Cape Newagen. In surf and pounding seas seven of crew of nine were drowned that night; at daylight two survivors were rescued. In 1844 sch. British Token ran on the rocks south of the light, but was salvaged by a revenue cutter. Just before Christmas in 1850 British sch. Gypsey, from Saint Andrew with balsamic knees for shipbuilding, went ashore at night on the
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south part of the island. She was sold at auction, floated off and towed to Bath shipyards. On a wintry day in 1857 sch. John Colby (Camden 1842) stranded near the lighthouse; the wreck was towed to Saint George. Dur- ing a storm and thick weather in the fall of 1870 the master of the Rock- land sch. Leader, mistaking the Southport light for Burnt Island Light, ran in, struck on Green Island and sank.
In 1863 the well-known raid of Lieutenant Read of the Confederate navy caused some local excitement. Coming North in the Clarence, he captured the Tacony which suited him better, so he burned the former. A number of prizes were taken, the last being the smart fishing craft Archer of Southport. From fishermen he learned the raid was known ashore and that the revenue cutter Caleb Cushing was in Portland. Read realized his peril, and to mystify his enemies transferred a brass howitzer and his crew of twenty to the Archer and fired the Tacony. On resuming the cruise in June, the fisherman Cottage was destroyed and a plan formulated to run in and cut out the Cushing. It was an audacious undertaking, but offered a chance of success in the innocent appearing fishing vessel. Steering past Seguin therefore, he entered Casco Bay with not many on deck and an- chored without arousing suspicion. After midnight his men manned a boat, approached the cutter with muffled oars, boarded her, seized the anchor watch, quickly ironed sleepy officers and confined the crew below. Anchors were hove up and sail made on both vessels, but the wind was so light that next forenoon they were five leagues out only and becalmed. Meantime a furor arose in town over the disappearance of the cutter, and two steamers started in pursuit, but kept their distance from the armed vessels. To his chagrin Read found one round only of shot on the cutter, but plenty of powder. Filling the boats with crew and prisoners, he fired the gun, laid a powder train to the magazine and abandoned the cutter. The explosion destroyed the vessel, but the boats' crews were captured, imprisoned as pirates, and later exchanged as prisoners-of-war.
Afterward Read was well known to Maine shipmasters as a pilot of Southwest Pass, an entrance to the Mississippi. The Archer was restored to her owner, and in the fall of 1868 was run down by a Gloucester vessel and sank immediately, the crew barely having time to escape.
In 1865 Mary Casey, one hundred years old, died. Many, many years be- fore when younger, sprightlier and better known as 'Molly' Casey, she and her husband lived on a picturesque rocky bluff jutting into the Sheepscot called Molly's Head. There a goodly supply of West Indian rum was avail- able for a few pennies a glass. One day a thirsty sailorman appeared, a
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drunken frolic ensued ending in a fracas. The cause lies buried in the dim past; the story runs that he either insulted Molly or quarreled with the husband and got the upper hand. Mindful of marriage vows, she came to his assistance and crashed a heavy bottle on the sailor's head. The blow or blows proved fatal; the couple, appalled, consulted as to what should be done. The body was concealed, and that night or soon after under cover of darkness it was placed in a boat, rowed across the river and deposited in a thicket on the Georgetown shore. There the corpse remained under winter snows until spring, when it was discovered-a nine days' wonder. The mystery was never solved until on her deathbed Molly confessed the unintentional homicide.
There is little evidence that shipbuilding ever flourished on Southport. Inasmuch as Jonathan Pierce was sole owner of several fishing pinks which bore the names of his children, it is thought he constructed them. As the island was then part of Boothbay, they were credited to that town. Doubtless still earlier others were built of which no known record exists. Sporadic attempts were made in the 1840's, when the Ann Maria and the P. G. Maddocks were launched, and again in 1867 in the building of the Alaska at Maddocks's Cove. Here a sail loft and establishment for fitting out bankers were maintained. With exception of two sloops under ten tons (the Ellen Hale in 1865) these are the only vessels known to have been con- structed on the island.
The notes on skippers and sailors begin and end with the inevitable loss of many who followed the sea.
ALLEY. On Cape Newagen an old gravestone records that Reuben P., son of John and Mary Alley, was lost at sea November 8 1842 in his teens. His brother Samuel became a prominent fishing skipper at Boothbay. Alley de- scendants still live on the island.
BREWER. This is one of the pioneer families of old Boothbay, evidenced by the fact that in the year 1752 James Brewer was one of the signers of a peti- tion, in connection with the Kennebeck Purchase, from that settlement. His great-grandson Isaac (1820-1897) married Martha A. Cameron and lived near her family on Ebenecook Harbor. He sailed in deep-water ships, and captained fishing craft Two Brothers and the new Martha A. Brewer. Their son Elmer, said to have died in San Francisco, was a good navigator and first officer on large sailing ships.
William F. (1834-1910). He was skipper of the Castle Rock and the Lydia and Harriet. His son Nahum began steamboating on the Bath-B'bay
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route about the time the old company merged with Eastern Steamship Lines. After serving as senior commander on the local run, he captained the Boston and Maine steamers Calvin Austin, City of Bangor and the City of Rockland. In thick fog on the Kennebec Nahum lost the last-named steamer near Bay Point; none were drowned, and under the circumstances the boat was well handled. After the passenger boats were discontinued, he commanded the company's freight steamer Falmouth and others. Dur- ing a reliable service of thirty years for the same line Captain Brewer en- joyed a wide acquaintance with patrons.
Jesse W., son of William, was skipper of the Humboldt at seventeen. A skilful fisherman well versed in seamanship, he commanded the fore-and- aft Phineas H. Gay and later, 1904-1913, the three-masted schooners D. Gifford, William D. Marvel, Ellen M. Golder, Emily F. Northam and the Maud H. Dudley. During a March nor'easter in 1906, the D. Gifford (N. J. 1862), under Arthur Greenleaf of S'port, was lost on the Reef of Nor- man's Woe, G'ter.
Manley S. and Arthur Brewer were brothers and fishing skippers. Manley had the Queen of the Fleet and the Josephine Swanton. He died at Bris. in 1924, aged eighty-four. Arthur had the local Gertie Lewis, Argonaut of G'ter and the Laura Bell of Portland.
BROWN, WILLIAM. In 1857 he lived on the southwest side of the island; but two years later, mate of the E. S. Pendleton, Capt. R. Maddocks (q.v.), William was lost at sea.
CAMERON. Daniel (1750-1819) was skipper of pinky Jefferson, operated from his fishing stand called Cameron's, eastern side of Ebenecook Harbor. He had sons John, William, Daniel and perhaps Rufus Cameron, master of the Jasper. John (1788-1857) owned in and captained pinks John II, the new Echo and a fishing vessel lost by a son, Daniel. In 1828 William sailed for Jacob Auld in the Independence.
Daniel (1798-1867) built a wharf and stand on the western side of Joppa (now Pierce's) Cove. A vessel he named after his wife was lost in 1868 at the 'bend' on the north side of Sable Island. Skipper McDonald was in charge, and among the crew were James Coolin, Everett Pinkham, James Orne and 'Bill' Hart, afterward skipper of Island Queen. It was a calm night-no wind-when the vessel stranded. All landed on the island in dories. Next morning the Sarah H. Cameron lay on the beach, carried in by breakers. The Mercy A. Howe took off the crew and unspoiled fish.
Of Daniel's sons, Henry captained Castle Rock and the Waterfall;
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Charles also had Waterfall and John Cameron was skipper of the Mary Snow. Niles and Ralph were sons of Henry. Niles, master of Twilight and the H. S. Rowe, was venturesome in carrying sail. Later he was a deputy sheriff in Arizona. Ralph Cameron represented Arizona in the U. S. Senate.
Daniel (1818-1898), son of John, owned and operated Waterfall. New in 1866, she bore the flag that season as 'high line' of the fishing fleet with a fare of 810 barrels mackerel, caught June tenth to October tenth. She and the Telegraph sailed from Cameron's.
Robert (b.1817), son of Wm. Cameron, passed his youthful days in G'ter fishermen. Later he had a wharf at the western entrance of Pierce's Cove for use of the El Dorado and others.
CARY-CHAPLES. In boyhood Samuel J. Cary came to S'port with Capt. Samuel Pierce, from the Magdalen Islands. Called 'Josh,' the boy re- mained, and during the Civil War served on the screw sloop of war San Jacinto. Later he commanded fisherman Humboldt. Joshua Chaples, twenty-one in 1847, was a short dark-complexioned sailor with Capt. Samuel Bryant, bark Mariel. Joshua lived at B'bay, but was doubtless re- lated to the Chapleses of Cape Newagen.
CLARK, JAMES (a. 1847-1934). He came to S'port from Bristol; was cook of the Willie G. and other fishing vessels. In coasting he commanded fore-and- afters and three-master Rocky E. Yates. He died at Sailors' Snug Harbor and was buried at S'port.
COOLEN, JAMES (a. 1839-1904). He was one of the first to volunteer in '61, fought in several important battles, served through the war and was dis- charged with honor. Later James proved a good cod fisherman on the banks, and commanded the Annie Sargent, Emily Swift, Geo. W. Pierce, Hattie Maud of Portland, Herbert N. Rogers and the Gatherer of G'ter. His brother Charles was cook on various vessels; James's son, Benjamin L., runs the popular passenger boat Linekin.
DECKER, C. CUSHMAN. In his teens he engaged in bank fishing. In 1883, on a trip in the Lady Elgin, he was unable to eat for six days, nevertheless stood watch, went aloft, hauled the seine and did his share of work. Called 'Cush,' he captained Sir Knight when twenty-two, and out of G'ter fished for halibut as far north as Iceland. After employment in lighthouse serv- ice 'Cush' was connected with the Eastern Steamship Company for fifteen years, was second mate on the Lincoln, Captain Marr, first officer and for six years master of New York-Boston steamers.
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During the late war Captain Decker, with rank of Lieut. Commander, trained young men for merchant and transport service. Afterward he was employed by the U. S. Shipping Board for over two years, one year as port captain of New York. In 1921-1922 Decker took the first cargo of Hoover re- lief provisions to Russia; and made the port of Odessa on voyages for the American Food Administration. In 1924 he entered and continued for nine years with the American Export Line, master of steamship Exporter and others in New York, Mediterranean and Black Sea trade. With fifty years of sea life and sixty-two trans-Atlantic voyages to his credit, the Captain retired in 1932. He was born at S'port the day Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, son of Wm. A. Decker. The Captain now (1937) lives in Massachusetts, member of the Boston Marine Society.
DECKER, EBENEZER, THOMAS and WILLIAM. They were sons of Thomas Decker, a soldier of the Revolution (q.v.). The first two were born following the close of the war, and died before fifty. The boys followed the sea from a cove of Cape Newagen Island, so called at that time; Ebenezer with the pinks Superb and Trial (B'bay), which he owned and captained; Thomas owned pinky Two Rogues, captained in 1831 by Thomas Decker 3d (per- haps the owner), also part owner and skipper of pinky Favorite. William (1796-1821) had the Superb when, in the spring of 1817, for infraction of a maritime law, she was seized by the British and sent into Halifax.
DECKER, EBENEZER F. and WILLIAM A. Sons of Ebenezer, they continued his business at Decker's Cove; their vessels appear in the S'port Fishing Fleet list. Ebenezer (1819-1884) had Oasis; William captained Silver Moon, Lizzie Poor and was the first master of the Willie G.
DECKER, ROBERT G. (1819-1892). Son of Thomas jr., Robert was skipper of the fishing craft Ann Maria, Fairplay and the Mary Jane.
DYER. Albert S. and Alphonso were brothers. The former entered the navy in 1863 and later, on a voyage to the Mediterranean, he died on a frigate. Over a long period Alphonso was a fishing master with the Ethel and Addie, Nellie May and others. J. Dyer was master-builder of the Alaska.
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