Champlain's drawing of this vessel on his map is thought to represent the vessel he used to explore the coast of Maine in 1604 when he found and named Mount Desert Island. An engraving made from a drawing by Samuel de Champlain. From the map drawn by Champlain - “Isle de sainte Croix”
Description: Champlain's drawing of this vessel on his map is thought to represent the vessel he used to explore the coast of Maine in 1604 when he found and named Mount Desert Island. An engraving made from a drawing by Samuel de Champlain. From the map drawn by Champlain - “Isle de sainte Croix”
This small wood, one masted vessel was probably similar to the Pilgrim shallop used by the occupants of the Mayflower 16 years later. An engraving made from a drawing by Samuel de Champlain. From the map drawn by Champlain - “Isle de sainte Croix”
Description: This small wood, one masted vessel was probably similar to the Pilgrim shallop used by the occupants of the Mayflower 16 years later. An engraving made from a drawing by Samuel de Champlain. From the map drawn by Champlain - “Isle de sainte Croix”
Heading out of Southwest Harbor by the Manset shore. The Nathaniel Gott house on Greening Island is visible off the stern of the vessels as is the Gott barn before it was moved further away from the shore.
Description: Heading out of Southwest Harbor by the Manset shore. The Nathaniel Gott house on Greening Island is visible off the stern of the vessels as is the Gott barn before it was moved further away from the shore.
Fitz Henry Lane painted one of the earliest views of Southwest Harbor, and seems to have studied the shore carefully. The view shows a lumber schooner loading its long cargo through a port in the bow of the vessel. The white house immediately to the left of the vessel probably shows an early version of the Seth Higgins Clark House. The white house at the center of the shore is the Nathan Clark II House. The white building at the far left is Deacon Henry Higgins Clark's Island House Hotel, early in its career, before it was expanded into several stories with a mansard roof. Clark descendants, and their houses, are still in Southwest Harbor. William Howe Witherle (1821–1906) accompanied Lane on his trip around Mount Desert Island and recorded many of their adventures in his diary. On August 21 he wrote, "… George, Joe & myself took breakfast this morning at the Island House – and a fine one it was – price 25 cts – Mr. Lane took 2 sketches here…” The sketches referred to were of the shore and harbor, not the hotel. See: Witherle, William Howe. William Witherle Diary (unpublished manuscript) (August 16–21, 1852). Personal diary in the collection of the Wilson Museum, Castine, Maine (A00060-1a-1h).
Description: Fitz Henry Lane painted one of the earliest views of Southwest Harbor, and seems to have studied the shore carefully. The view shows a lumber schooner loading its long cargo through a port in the bow of the vessel. The white house immediately to the left of the vessel probably shows an early version of the Seth Higgins Clark House. The white house at the center of the shore is the Nathan Clark II House. The white building at the far left is Deacon Henry Higgins Clark's Island House Hotel, early in its career, before it was expanded into several stories with a mansard roof. Clark descendants, and their houses, are still in Southwest Harbor. William Howe Witherle (1821–1906) accompanied Lane on his trip around Mount Desert Island and recorded many of their adventures in his diary. On August 21 he wrote, "… George, Joe & myself took breakfast this morning at the Island House – and a fine one it was – price 25 cts – Mr. Lane took 2 sketches here…” The sketches referred to were of the shore and harbor, not the hotel. See: Witherle, William Howe. William Witherle Diary (unpublished manuscript) (August 16–21, 1852). Personal diary in the collection of the Wilson Museum, Castine, Maine (A00060-1a-1h). [show more]
A freight bill for 3 casks of lime for Capt. James Long (1814-1895) signed by Jo. R. Freeman [John T.R. Freeman (1838-1916)] and paid at Mt. Desert on November 2, 1853. As can be seen from the account below, "Rockland" was supposed to have been built in 1853 and to have gone into service in 1854, but this bill of lading clearly shows that she was working in the Mt. Desert area as early as November 1853. She may have gone on the water in 1853 and done some freight work in the area before she started her career on the passenger route in 1854. The 1857 date may just be an error.
Description: A freight bill for 3 casks of lime for Capt. James Long (1814-1895) signed by Jo. R. Freeman [John T.R. Freeman (1838-1916)] and paid at Mt. Desert on November 2, 1853. As can be seen from the account below, "Rockland" was supposed to have been built in 1853 and to have gone into service in 1854, but this bill of lading clearly shows that she was working in the Mt. Desert area as early as November 1853. She may have gone on the water in 1853 and done some freight work in the area before she started her career on the passenger route in 1854. The 1857 date may just be an error. [show more]
Vessel Name – Mahoning – renamed Levi Woodbury “Woodbury” April 1898 – renamed Laksco after 1915 Class – Topsail Schooner / Steamer – Pawtuxet-class tender Hull – wood – oak, locust and white oak w. iron diagonal bracing Masts - 2 Rig – topsail schooner Build date – 1863 Commissioned – July 18, 1864 Built by – J.W. Lynn & Sons Built at – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Built for – U.S. Revenue Service Named for – Mahoning creek and valley, Pennsylvania – 1898 for Levi Woodbury (1789-1851), U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, Supreme Court Justice Power – steam engine with 2 oscillating cylinders; single 8’ screw Displacement – 350 tons Length – 138’ Beam – 26’6” Draft – 11’ Crew – 7 officers, 34 enlisted Armament – 1 x 30-pound Parrott rifle; 5 x 24-pound howitzers Number – Disposition – By 1913, Woodbury was not only the Coast Guard's oldest cutter, she was the oldest active-duty vessel in U.S. government service, as well as being the only ship to have seen active service in both the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War. Decommissioned by Coast Guard, July 19, 1915, Portland, Maine. Sold to Thomas Butler & Co., Boston, Massachusetts August 10, 1915. Woodbury's decommission ended 51 years with the Revenue Cutter Service, making her one of the longest serving cutters in the organization's history. After her final decommission in 1915, Levi Woodbury was placed into service as the merchant Laksco. She disappears from shipping records in 1932.
Description: Vessel Name – Mahoning – renamed Levi Woodbury “Woodbury” April 1898 – renamed Laksco after 1915 Class – Topsail Schooner / Steamer – Pawtuxet-class tender Hull – wood – oak, locust and white oak w. iron diagonal bracing Masts - 2 Rig – topsail schooner Build date – 1863 Commissioned – July 18, 1864 Built by – J.W. Lynn & Sons Built at – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Built for – U.S. Revenue Service Named for – Mahoning creek and valley, Pennsylvania – 1898 for Levi Woodbury (1789-1851), U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, Supreme Court Justice Power – steam engine with 2 oscillating cylinders; single 8’ screw Displacement – 350 tons Length – 138’ Beam – 26’6” Draft – 11’ Crew – 7 officers, 34 enlisted Armament – 1 x 30-pound Parrott rifle; 5 x 24-pound howitzers Number – Disposition – By 1913, Woodbury was not only the Coast Guard's oldest cutter, she was the oldest active-duty vessel in U.S. government service, as well as being the only ship to have seen active service in both the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War. Decommissioned by Coast Guard, July 19, 1915, Portland, Maine. Sold to Thomas Butler & Co., Boston, Massachusetts August 10, 1915. Woodbury's decommission ended 51 years with the Revenue Cutter Service, making her one of the longest serving cutters in the organization's history. After her final decommission in 1915, Levi Woodbury was placed into service as the merchant Laksco. She disappears from shipping records in 1932. [show more]
Describes the schedules for the Sidewheel Steamers City of Richmond and Lewiston in 1874. From the endpages in Mount Desert on the Coast of Maine by Clara Barnes Martin.
Description: Describes the schedules for the Sidewheel Steamers City of Richmond and Lewiston in 1874. From the endpages in Mount Desert on the Coast of Maine by Clara Barnes Martin.
Harry Alexander Ogden's famous drawing of the S.S. Cambria. The article begins: "In the landlocked waters of Southwest Harbor lies the now muchly talked of Cambria. A more adroit selection for a quiet berth could scarcely have been made; and when we came to take a glance at the trim and taut-looking vessel, we felt inclined to wonder, as with the fly in amber, "how the deuce she got there?” Southwest Harbor is about twenty-three miles from Ellsworth, Maine. To reach it, recalls those tortuous times when our forefathers ventured forth at rare intervals, their wills made, their flasks full, and their powder dry. The journey from New York to Boston, and from thence to Bangor, savors of the nineteenth century, but from Bangor to Ellsworth, and from Ellsworth to Southwest Harbor, speaks loudly of the eighteenth."
Description: Harry Alexander Ogden's famous drawing of the S.S. Cambria. The article begins: "In the landlocked waters of Southwest Harbor lies the now muchly talked of Cambria. A more adroit selection for a quiet berth could scarcely have been made; and when we came to take a glance at the trim and taut-looking vessel, we felt inclined to wonder, as with the fly in amber, "how the deuce she got there?” Southwest Harbor is about twenty-three miles from Ellsworth, Maine. To reach it, recalls those tortuous times when our forefathers ventured forth at rare intervals, their wills made, their flasks full, and their powder dry. The journey from New York to Boston, and from thence to Bangor, savors of the nineteenth century, but from Bangor to Ellsworth, and from Ellsworth to Southwest Harbor, speaks loudly of the eighteenth." [show more]
The paper upon which the drawing was made seems to have been embossed with a cartouche encircling the word, "Evadne." "My [great] grandfather John Dix (1829-1858) was a sea captain, and my grandmother [Celestia Gertrude Dix] always said that he was once shipwrecked, but she didn’t know where. She was just a little girl at the time, and she couldn’t remember much about it. She thought it might have been “on the Jersey coast.” Anyway, he lost his ship, and it took him two years to get home. The story went that he had traded one vessel for another one at Blue Hill, and she almost sank before he got her home to Bartlett’s Island across the bay. She’d been down in the Caribbean and hadn’t been coppered, so she was worm-eaten. Even though she was a fairly new vessel, they had to fix her up before they could use her. I’m not sure whether this was the same ship he lost or not, but I’ve got a picture of a brig that was drawn by Fred W. Dix, who was lost at sea in 1886 and who was some kind of cousin to my great grandfather. It’s just a picture on a piece of lined paper, hand colored. On the back it says “Built in New Haven, 1882,” and it says “Carrie F. Dix” on the flag. [Frederick William Dix (1861-1886) was John Dix’ nephew, the son of John Dix’ brother, William Dix (1826-1910)] Now, Carrie F. Dix was my grandmother’s sister. Carrie married Dr. Joseph Dana Phillips, but she died in childbirth. Dr. Phillips sent my grandmother and her other sister, Vienna, to school at Coburn Classical Institute in Waterville. Then my grandmother taught school on Tinker’s Island for a time, and she also taught on Bartlett’s Island, where she lived. [Carrie Frances Dix (1863-1892), later Mrs. Joseph Dana Phillips, was the daughter of John Dix and the first cousin of Frederick William Dix] On the back of this picture of the brig it also says, “First trip to Faroe Isles and then to a place in Norway.” After that, the writing fades out, and the rest of it is illegible. I’ve tried using a black light to read it, but I can’t make it out. It says something about some port in Spain, so John Dix was probably bound down through the English Channel. Whether he was wrecked on the Channel Isles and spent some time on the island of Jersey, I don’t know. If the ship had been lost off New Jersey, it wouldn’t have taken him two years to get home. I do know that the whole crew was rescued by breeches buoy. But I bet my grandfather was shipwrecked on the Channel Isles, and he might have had to stay on the island of Jersey. Now, he might have been hurt or might have had a nervous breakdown over losing that vessel, because it took him two years to recover enough to get home. He had no money. When he got back to Maine, his spirit was broken and he never went to sea again. He had to run that little farm on Bartlett’s Island, and his family was very poor. When his daughter Emily Bartlett died, John Dix came off the island and lived in Southwest Harbor with another daughter, Vienna Lawler. When he died, they had Emily’s body brought over and buried with his, down at Mount Height Cemetery." - “Ralph Stanley : Tales of a Maine Boatbuilder” by Craig S. Milner and Ralph W. Stanley, published by Down East Books, Camden, Maine 2004, p. 136-137.
Description: The paper upon which the drawing was made seems to have been embossed with a cartouche encircling the word, "Evadne." "My [great] grandfather John Dix (1829-1858) was a sea captain, and my grandmother [Celestia Gertrude Dix] always said that he was once shipwrecked, but she didn’t know where. She was just a little girl at the time, and she couldn’t remember much about it. She thought it might have been “on the Jersey coast.” Anyway, he lost his ship, and it took him two years to get home. The story went that he had traded one vessel for another one at Blue Hill, and she almost sank before he got her home to Bartlett’s Island across the bay. She’d been down in the Caribbean and hadn’t been coppered, so she was worm-eaten. Even though she was a fairly new vessel, they had to fix her up before they could use her. I’m not sure whether this was the same ship he lost or not, but I’ve got a picture of a brig that was drawn by Fred W. Dix, who was lost at sea in 1886 and who was some kind of cousin to my great grandfather. It’s just a picture on a piece of lined paper, hand colored. On the back it says “Built in New Haven, 1882,” and it says “Carrie F. Dix” on the flag. [Frederick William Dix (1861-1886) was John Dix’ nephew, the son of John Dix’ brother, William Dix (1826-1910)] Now, Carrie F. Dix was my grandmother’s sister. Carrie married Dr. Joseph Dana Phillips, but she died in childbirth. Dr. Phillips sent my grandmother and her other sister, Vienna, to school at Coburn Classical Institute in Waterville. Then my grandmother taught school on Tinker’s Island for a time, and she also taught on Bartlett’s Island, where she lived. [Carrie Frances Dix (1863-1892), later Mrs. Joseph Dana Phillips, was the daughter of John Dix and the first cousin of Frederick William Dix] On the back of this picture of the brig it also says, “First trip to Faroe Isles and then to a place in Norway.” After that, the writing fades out, and the rest of it is illegible. I’ve tried using a black light to read it, but I can’t make it out. It says something about some port in Spain, so John Dix was probably bound down through the English Channel. Whether he was wrecked on the Channel Isles and spent some time on the island of Jersey, I don’t know. If the ship had been lost off New Jersey, it wouldn’t have taken him two years to get home. I do know that the whole crew was rescued by breeches buoy. But I bet my grandfather was shipwrecked on the Channel Isles, and he might have had to stay on the island of Jersey. Now, he might have been hurt or might have had a nervous breakdown over losing that vessel, because it took him two years to recover enough to get home. He had no money. When he got back to Maine, his spirit was broken and he never went to sea again. He had to run that little farm on Bartlett’s Island, and his family was very poor. When his daughter Emily Bartlett died, John Dix came off the island and lived in Southwest Harbor with another daughter, Vienna Lawler. When he died, they had Emily’s body brought over and buried with his, down at Mount Height Cemetery." - “Ralph Stanley : Tales of a Maine Boatbuilder” by Craig S. Milner and Ralph W. Stanley, published by Down East Books, Camden, Maine 2004, p. 136-137. [show more]