This boat shop, built behind the owner's house, complete with two elegant bird houses, could have belonged to any one of many boat builders on and around Mount Desert and its surrounding islands or perhaps have been somewhere else in Maine. It is typical of the way mechanization crept into the boat building and servicing industry. The sign on the roof of the shop says, "Hartford Marine Gas Engines For Sale."
Description: This boat shop, built behind the owner's house, complete with two elegant bird houses, could have belonged to any one of many boat builders on and around Mount Desert and its surrounding islands or perhaps have been somewhere else in Maine. It is typical of the way mechanization crept into the boat building and servicing industry. The sign on the roof of the shop says, "Hartford Marine Gas Engines For Sale."
We use the term "Crayon Portraits" for a particular type of early enlarged photograph, probably made with a solar enlarger, printed on paper and embellished with charcoal of crayon. There are many kinds of embellished photographs in the collection - everything from tinted tintypes to color postcards with people added to the scenes. It is common to find pencil marks on photographs to "improve" them (and also common to find the fingerprints of early photographers like Henry Rand who made their own prints(, but the term Crayon Portrait used here refers to one specific kind of print. To understand the history and techniques of crayon portaits and painted photographs see - "The Painted Photograph 1839-1914 – Origins, Techniques, Aspirations" by Heinz K. Henisch and Bridget A. Henisch, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996.
Description: We use the term "Crayon Portraits" for a particular type of early enlarged photograph, probably made with a solar enlarger, printed on paper and embellished with charcoal of crayon. There are many kinds of embellished photographs in the collection - everything from tinted tintypes to color postcards with people added to the scenes. It is common to find pencil marks on photographs to "improve" them (and also common to find the fingerprints of early photographers like Henry Rand who made their own prints(, but the term Crayon Portrait used here refers to one specific kind of print. To understand the history and techniques of crayon portaits and painted photographs see - "The Painted Photograph 1839-1914 – Origins, Techniques, Aspirations" by Heinz K. Henisch and Bridget A. Henisch, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996. [show more]
The original house was built in 1830 for Benjamin Ward and is one of the oldest still existing buildings in Southwest Harbor. The house once held the U.S. Customs House [T-184] and was sold by Eldora Dolliver Ward to sea captain William W. King in 1905 (426/105). It was sold by Lottie King Reed to Emery Norwood in 1946 (712/121). Emery died July 22, 1953, leaving as heir-at-law Edna G. Hurd Norwood, who lived in the house until she sold it to John Eugene Jacobson in 1975 (1209/647). The shed ell was reported to have belonged to Albert “Uncle Al” King, who used it as a boat shed on the shore of 373 Seawall Road. The small barn in the rear is Jake Jacobson’s shop. (map 1, lot 44) - Burnham, John, Rebecca. - Our Neighborhood – Manset and Seawall (Southwest Harbor Historical Society, Southwest Harbor, 2015) 78-79.
Description: The original house was built in 1830 for Benjamin Ward and is one of the oldest still existing buildings in Southwest Harbor. The house once held the U.S. Customs House [T-184] and was sold by Eldora Dolliver Ward to sea captain William W. King in 1905 (426/105). It was sold by Lottie King Reed to Emery Norwood in 1946 (712/121). Emery died July 22, 1953, leaving as heir-at-law Edna G. Hurd Norwood, who lived in the house until she sold it to John Eugene Jacobson in 1975 (1209/647). The shed ell was reported to have belonged to Albert “Uncle Al” King, who used it as a boat shed on the shore of 373 Seawall Road. The small barn in the rear is Jake Jacobson’s shop. (map 1, lot 44) - Burnham, John, Rebecca. - Our Neighborhood – Manset and Seawall (Southwest Harbor Historical Society, Southwest Harbor, 2015) 78-79. [show more]
In the 21st Century we may think of ice as something that comes out of the doors of our refrigerator or a nice skating surface in an indoor rink, but, in the 18th and early 19th centuries the ice business produced a very necessary product and employed many people. See: “Ice Harvesting Sampler” DVD, produced by Northeast Historic Film, Black & White, NTSC, 33 minutes - 1994. This “compilation of newsreel and amateur footage of ice harvesting operations in Maine includes ice-house interiors with massive ice blocks being maneuvered at high speed, and horse teams delivering ice to brownstones in Boston.” “America’s Icemen: An Illustrative History of the United States Natural Ice Industry 1665-1925” by Joseph C. Jones Jr., published by Jobeco Books, 1984. “The American Ice Harvests: A Historical Study in Technology, 1800-1918” by Richard O. Cummings, published by the University of Calfornia Press, 1949.
Description: In the 21st Century we may think of ice as something that comes out of the doors of our refrigerator or a nice skating surface in an indoor rink, but, in the 18th and early 19th centuries the ice business produced a very necessary product and employed many people. See: “Ice Harvesting Sampler” DVD, produced by Northeast Historic Film, Black & White, NTSC, 33 minutes - 1994. This “compilation of newsreel and amateur footage of ice harvesting operations in Maine includes ice-house interiors with massive ice blocks being maneuvered at high speed, and horse teams delivering ice to brownstones in Boston.” “America’s Icemen: An Illustrative History of the United States Natural Ice Industry 1665-1925” by Joseph C. Jones Jr., published by Jobeco Books, 1984. “The American Ice Harvests: A Historical Study in Technology, 1800-1918” by Richard O. Cummings, published by the University of Calfornia Press, 1949. [show more]
The photo above and the information that follows is from Andrew Baron of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The ship’s two survivors were rescued on May 2, while the boat went down on April 28 near Cape May New Jersey. Depending on the weather, this means the schooner would likely have sailed out of New York (where its chronometer was calibrated on April 16) on April 26 or 27, only a week and half or so after the chronometer’s certification. I have the ship's marine chronometer (precision ship's clock shown in the photo above) from the Rebecca R. Douglas, well preserved and working, along with a verified vintage calibration certificate (timekeeping accuracy tested, calibrated and certified by an established chronometer firm) dated April 16, 1943, only two weeks before this schooner went down. This would likely have been done in preparation for its last journey. It's a mystery how the clock and its certificate survived when the ship did not. Given the date of the demise of the Rebecca R. Douglas, I can only assume that it had more than one chronometer, leaving one behind in New York and sailing with another. There’s more I want to learn about this however; the need of the navigator to definitely have a chronometer on board, to plot longitude on a north-to-south passage through coastal waters, how long a chronometer would remain with the certifying company after certification, prior to boarding ship, whether a coastal schooner like the RR Douglas would have had more than one chronometer, the prevailing weather at the time of the accident, whether U-boats that were observed off US coasts were in the area at that time, and the names of the two survivors long with the names of those who perished when the schooner went down. This last detail might possibly make the survival of this artifact of some importance to descendants of the victims and survivors. If any of them had young children at that time, they may still be living. This unusual survivor may be all of significance that remains of the tangible material associated with that boat, apart from the photo in your library collections. During wartime every viable old chronometer that could be found was reconditioned and pressed into service for the Navy and Merchant Marine, to augment new ones made to meet the increased demand for navigational aids. When this chronometer, made by Thomas Porthouse, ca. 1850 in London, was assigned to the Rebecca R. Douglas, it was already close to a century old, and yet its accuracy could still be certified for ongoing service at sea.
Description: The photo above and the information that follows is from Andrew Baron of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The ship’s two survivors were rescued on May 2, while the boat went down on April 28 near Cape May New Jersey. Depending on the weather, this means the schooner would likely have sailed out of New York (where its chronometer was calibrated on April 16) on April 26 or 27, only a week and half or so after the chronometer’s certification. I have the ship's marine chronometer (precision ship's clock shown in the photo above) from the Rebecca R. Douglas, well preserved and working, along with a verified vintage calibration certificate (timekeeping accuracy tested, calibrated and certified by an established chronometer firm) dated April 16, 1943, only two weeks before this schooner went down. This would likely have been done in preparation for its last journey. It's a mystery how the clock and its certificate survived when the ship did not. Given the date of the demise of the Rebecca R. Douglas, I can only assume that it had more than one chronometer, leaving one behind in New York and sailing with another. There’s more I want to learn about this however; the need of the navigator to definitely have a chronometer on board, to plot longitude on a north-to-south passage through coastal waters, how long a chronometer would remain with the certifying company after certification, prior to boarding ship, whether a coastal schooner like the RR Douglas would have had more than one chronometer, the prevailing weather at the time of the accident, whether U-boats that were observed off US coasts were in the area at that time, and the names of the two survivors long with the names of those who perished when the schooner went down. This last detail might possibly make the survival of this artifact of some importance to descendants of the victims and survivors. If any of them had young children at that time, they may still be living. This unusual survivor may be all of significance that remains of the tangible material associated with that boat, apart from the photo in your library collections. During wartime every viable old chronometer that could be found was reconditioned and pressed into service for the Navy and Merchant Marine, to augment new ones made to meet the increased demand for navigational aids. When this chronometer, made by Thomas Porthouse, ca. 1850 in London, was assigned to the Rebecca R. Douglas, it was already close to a century old, and yet its accuracy could still be certified for ongoing service at sea. [show more]
Built by Theodore P. Austin, a New York jeweler, who invested in Hancock Country mining. He died before the construction was complete. The 42 room castle was never completed, although Austin's two daughters lived in the one finished room for many years.
Description: Built by Theodore P. Austin, a New York jeweler, who invested in Hancock Country mining. He died before the construction was complete. The 42 room castle was never completed, although Austin's two daughters lived in the one finished room for many years.
The Manset Boatyard, and later as the Henry R. Hinckley Company, made most of the hardware for their vessels in their own shop. Willis Ballard produced illustrations of their hardware the old fashioned way too. Working in the days before computer generated or touched up images, Ballard photographed hundreds of hardware pieces and then painstakingly isolated each item against a white background by hand, using a brush dipped in white paint. However imperfect the images seem in their original size, they were beautiful when the photographs were reduced to produce catalogue pages. Some of the hardware was used just on Hinckley boats and some was sold at the company’s Manset Marine Supply Company in the old Clark and Parker store building on Clark Point. The library has 60 Ballard negatives illustrating Hinckley hardware. "1940 - Henry [Henry R. Hinckley (1907-1980)] starts the Manset Marine Supply Company to distribute marine supplies, engines and equipment to the many small yards springing up along the coast, as well as to his own boatyards. Dissatisfied with the quality of some commercial fittings, Hinckley designs many fittings that are still used by the company today. Among these items are fuel tanks, stanchions, deck plates, bow and stern chocks, pulpits and lead keels." - “The Hinckley Company History,” The Hinckley Company web site, 2000, Accessed online 11/20/2010; http://www.hinckleyyachts.com/employment/about_us2.html
Description: The Manset Boatyard, and later as the Henry R. Hinckley Company, made most of the hardware for their vessels in their own shop. Willis Ballard produced illustrations of their hardware the old fashioned way too. Working in the days before computer generated or touched up images, Ballard photographed hundreds of hardware pieces and then painstakingly isolated each item against a white background by hand, using a brush dipped in white paint. However imperfect the images seem in their original size, they were beautiful when the photographs were reduced to produce catalogue pages. Some of the hardware was used just on Hinckley boats and some was sold at the company’s Manset Marine Supply Company in the old Clark and Parker store building on Clark Point. The library has 60 Ballard negatives illustrating Hinckley hardware. "1940 - Henry [Henry R. Hinckley (1907-1980)] starts the Manset Marine Supply Company to distribute marine supplies, engines and equipment to the many small yards springing up along the coast, as well as to his own boatyards. Dissatisfied with the quality of some commercial fittings, Hinckley designs many fittings that are still used by the company today. Among these items are fuel tanks, stanchions, deck plates, bow and stern chocks, pulpits and lead keels." - “The Hinckley Company History,” The Hinckley Company web site, 2000, Accessed online 11/20/2010; http://www.hinckleyyachts.com/employment/about_us2.html [show more]