The traffic control tower at the junction of Main Street and Clark Point Road was an acetylene beacon made by the American Gas Accumulator Co. of Elizabeth, New Jersey
Description: The traffic control tower at the junction of Main Street and Clark Point Road was an acetylene beacon made by the American Gas Accumulator Co. of Elizabeth, New Jersey
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]
The huge 11 ton boulder the local fishermen called “The Boiler” had been lodged in the mud just off Fish Point at the entrance to the Pool or harbor on Great Cranberry Island. The Pool, a good sheltered harbor for schooners, is shallow with a 2-foot draft at low tide, rising to an 8 to 10 foot draft when the tide is in. Vessels kept in the Pool were deep draft vessels and only came in and went out at high tide. There was an area called the "Deep Hole" in the Pool where six or more vessels could anchor. “The Boiler,” about 6 feet wide and 4 feet above the bottom, was not visible when the tide was in and, therefore, a hazard to navigation in the narrow channel. It was called "The Boiler" because the water "boiled" around it when the tide came and went. Samuel Newman Bulger (1835-1919) caught his boat on it one time. Enoch Boynton Stanley (1820-1903), “Uncle Jimmy’s” father, told Sam to turn his vessel around and it would come off the rock. The tide came in, the boat spun around and floated off the rock. Ralph Warren Stanley remembers his great uncle, Lewis Gilley Stanley (1869-1957), William Doane “Uncle Jimmy” Stanley’s brother, telling him about the enormous effort it took to move “The Boiler.” “First the group of men went out on several low drain tides to dig around the rock to break the suction. When they finally got enough dug away, they put an iron eye bolt into the rock, put a big log across two dories and tied a line to the rock. When the tide came in it sank both dories. They worked for months on the project. Next time they tried to move ‘the boiler’ they used four dories and just barely floated the rock. The dories were down to the gunnels. With a line on the dories, eight or nine men stood on the shore where they wanted it and hauled it hand over hand about 80 yards toward them, but before the rock reached its destination, the eyebolt [which had been welted into the top of the rock] came out and the dories popped out of the water. They just left the rock there where it sank on the north side of the Stanley wharf (E.B. Stanley & Sons - the Stanley wharf - on the map - now gone). ‘The Boiler’ is still there. “William D. Stanley and others have at last accomplished their long cherished wish to remove the rock designated as “the Boiler” from the channel near the Fish Point. After much hard labor, they succeeded, by the help of 4 dories in raising, floating and dragging it across to the flats, owned by the late Capt. John Stanley, when it struck a rock and in hauling on it caused the welted iron bolts to pull out, and “the Boiler” was anchored somewhat sooner than had been bargained for, but as it is now safely landed it will probably be allowed to remain where it is. It is very doubtful if any further attempt will be made to change its position, and as it is estimated to weigh 11 tons, it will be the cause of much comment for years to come. Wm. D. Stanley is very elated the he with a few others, should have accomplished the feat of removing the rock, which during the last 140 years has been in the way, and a menace to all boats coming in and going out from all parts of the creek, and they are to be congratulated for having removed the dangerous obstruction.” The Bar Harbor Record, February 23, 1900 - Cranberry Island.
Description: The huge 11 ton boulder the local fishermen called “The Boiler” had been lodged in the mud just off Fish Point at the entrance to the Pool or harbor on Great Cranberry Island. The Pool, a good sheltered harbor for schooners, is shallow with a 2-foot draft at low tide, rising to an 8 to 10 foot draft when the tide is in. Vessels kept in the Pool were deep draft vessels and only came in and went out at high tide. There was an area called the "Deep Hole" in the Pool where six or more vessels could anchor. “The Boiler,” about 6 feet wide and 4 feet above the bottom, was not visible when the tide was in and, therefore, a hazard to navigation in the narrow channel. It was called "The Boiler" because the water "boiled" around it when the tide came and went. Samuel Newman Bulger (1835-1919) caught his boat on it one time. Enoch Boynton Stanley (1820-1903), “Uncle Jimmy’s” father, told Sam to turn his vessel around and it would come off the rock. The tide came in, the boat spun around and floated off the rock. Ralph Warren Stanley remembers his great uncle, Lewis Gilley Stanley (1869-1957), William Doane “Uncle Jimmy” Stanley’s brother, telling him about the enormous effort it took to move “The Boiler.” “First the group of men went out on several low drain tides to dig around the rock to break the suction. When they finally got enough dug away, they put an iron eye bolt into the rock, put a big log across two dories and tied a line to the rock. When the tide came in it sank both dories. They worked for months on the project. Next time they tried to move ‘the boiler’ they used four dories and just barely floated the rock. The dories were down to the gunnels. With a line on the dories, eight or nine men stood on the shore where they wanted it and hauled it hand over hand about 80 yards toward them, but before the rock reached its destination, the eyebolt [which had been welted into the top of the rock] came out and the dories popped out of the water. They just left the rock there where it sank on the north side of the Stanley wharf (E.B. Stanley & Sons - the Stanley wharf - on the map - now gone). ‘The Boiler’ is still there. “William D. Stanley and others have at last accomplished their long cherished wish to remove the rock designated as “the Boiler” from the channel near the Fish Point. After much hard labor, they succeeded, by the help of 4 dories in raising, floating and dragging it across to the flats, owned by the late Capt. John Stanley, when it struck a rock and in hauling on it caused the welted iron bolts to pull out, and “the Boiler” was anchored somewhat sooner than had been bargained for, but as it is now safely landed it will probably be allowed to remain where it is. It is very doubtful if any further attempt will be made to change its position, and as it is estimated to weigh 11 tons, it will be the cause of much comment for years to come. Wm. D. Stanley is very elated the he with a few others, should have accomplished the feat of removing the rock, which during the last 140 years has been in the way, and a menace to all boats coming in and going out from all parts of the creek, and they are to be congratulated for having removed the dangerous obstruction.” The Bar Harbor Record, February 23, 1900 - Cranberry Island. [show more]
The Custom's service flag was designed by Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, Alexander Hamilton’s successor, who used 16 alternating red and white vertical stripes, one stripe for each State that had joined the Union by 1799, with a bald eagle in the canton holding 3 arrows in his sinister claw and an olive branch in his dexter claw. On the left and right sides of the eagle are 4 stars each in an arc pattern, and above the eagle 5 stars. On the eagle is a crest representing the United States. Wolcott submitted his flag design to President John Adams in 1799 and the final version was approved on August 1st, 1799. Nathaniel Hawthorne, who served as customs surveyor at the port of Salem, Massachusetts, from 1846 to 1849, suggested the "stripes turned vertically, not horizontally, indicated a civil, not military, post of Uncle Sam’s government." Although originally intended as a marine ensign to be flown from revenue cutters and customs vessels, the collectors soon were flying it over their customhouses. That tradition was codified a half-century later, when in 1874, Treasury Secretary William A. Richardson, required that during business hours, the customs ensign was to be hoisted by the side of the Stars and Stripes over all customhouses. From Wikipedia: The flag of the Customs Service was designed in 1799 by Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and consists of 16 vertical red and white stripes with a coat of arms depicted in blue on the white canton. The original design had the Customs Service seal that was an eagle with three arrows in his left talon, an olive branch in his right and surrounded by an arc of 13 stars. In 1951, this was changed to the eagle depicted on the Great Seal of the United States. Its actual name is the Revenue Ensign, as it was flown by ships of the Revenue Cutter Service, later the Coast Guard, and at customs houses.
SWHPL and
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Customs_Service
Description: The Custom's service flag was designed by Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, Alexander Hamilton’s successor, who used 16 alternating red and white vertical stripes, one stripe for each State that had joined the Union by 1799, with a bald eagle in the canton holding 3 arrows in his sinister claw and an olive branch in his dexter claw. On the left and right sides of the eagle are 4 stars each in an arc pattern, and above the eagle 5 stars. On the eagle is a crest representing the United States. Wolcott submitted his flag design to President John Adams in 1799 and the final version was approved on August 1st, 1799. Nathaniel Hawthorne, who served as customs surveyor at the port of Salem, Massachusetts, from 1846 to 1849, suggested the "stripes turned vertically, not horizontally, indicated a civil, not military, post of Uncle Sam’s government." Although originally intended as a marine ensign to be flown from revenue cutters and customs vessels, the collectors soon were flying it over their customhouses. That tradition was codified a half-century later, when in 1874, Treasury Secretary William A. Richardson, required that during business hours, the customs ensign was to be hoisted by the side of the Stars and Stripes over all customhouses. From Wikipedia: The flag of the Customs Service was designed in 1799 by Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and consists of 16 vertical red and white stripes with a coat of arms depicted in blue on the white canton. The original design had the Customs Service seal that was an eagle with three arrows in his left talon, an olive branch in his right and surrounded by an arc of 13 stars. In 1951, this was changed to the eagle depicted on the Great Seal of the United States. Its actual name is the Revenue Ensign, as it was flown by ships of the Revenue Cutter Service, later the Coast Guard, and at customs houses. [show more]
The Gray and Prior Machine Company in Hartford, Connecticut made “Hartford” marine engines. The company was organized in 1898 and incorporated in 1900 to make marine engines. It was the combined vision of Robert Watkinson Gray (1876-1945) and George A. Prior (1871-1938). George Prior had learned the machine trade at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, had worked for the Electric Vehicle Company and had been granted a patent for a universal joint. Robert Gray had worked for the Hartford Rubber Works and contributed $5,000 in capital. George Prior was an inventive genius and contributed much to the initial success of the company. He designed and built his own motorcycle in 1900, and completed his first automobile in 1904, both using the Gray and Prior 2-cylinder marine engine that he designed. He applied his vast experience in the machine shop to his inventions and designs, which have been the foundation of the success of the Gray and Prior Machine Company for almost a century. Gray and Prior originally made marine engines in addition to their growing line of universal joints and couplings. Their Hartford Marine engines were of very high quality and commanded respect in the market. They built two-stroke inboard engines and medium heavy-duty type long stroke four-cycle marine motors. Many of the ideas involved in their design were improvements over existing marine engines of the day. Gray and Prior continued to manufacture the engines for more than 25 years, until they sold the tooling and the designs for the Hartford Sturdy Twin to the Indian Motorcycle Company in Springfield, Massachusetts for $15,000. - Information adapted from “Our Company’s History,” The Gray and Prior Machine Company web site, Accessed online 04/13/2012; http://www.grayandprior.com/history.htm
Description: The Gray and Prior Machine Company in Hartford, Connecticut made “Hartford” marine engines. The company was organized in 1898 and incorporated in 1900 to make marine engines. It was the combined vision of Robert Watkinson Gray (1876-1945) and George A. Prior (1871-1938). George Prior had learned the machine trade at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, had worked for the Electric Vehicle Company and had been granted a patent for a universal joint. Robert Gray had worked for the Hartford Rubber Works and contributed $5,000 in capital. George Prior was an inventive genius and contributed much to the initial success of the company. He designed and built his own motorcycle in 1900, and completed his first automobile in 1904, both using the Gray and Prior 2-cylinder marine engine that he designed. He applied his vast experience in the machine shop to his inventions and designs, which have been the foundation of the success of the Gray and Prior Machine Company for almost a century. Gray and Prior originally made marine engines in addition to their growing line of universal joints and couplings. Their Hartford Marine engines were of very high quality and commanded respect in the market. They built two-stroke inboard engines and medium heavy-duty type long stroke four-cycle marine motors. Many of the ideas involved in their design were improvements over existing marine engines of the day. Gray and Prior continued to manufacture the engines for more than 25 years, until they sold the tooling and the designs for the Hartford Sturdy Twin to the Indian Motorcycle Company in Springfield, Massachusetts for $15,000. - Information adapted from “Our Company’s History,” The Gray and Prior Machine Company web site, Accessed online 04/13/2012; http://www.grayandprior.com/history.htm [show more]
Gift to Deacon Henry Higgins Clark from Guests - August 3, 1861. This silver plated water pitcher is typical of its era. It probably had an inner air jacket to keep the iced water cold. The inscription reads: "Henry H. Clark from the Guests of the Island House August 3rd, 1861"
Description: Gift to Deacon Henry Higgins Clark from Guests - August 3, 1861. This silver plated water pitcher is typical of its era. It probably had an inner air jacket to keep the iced water cold. The inscription reads: "Henry H. Clark from the Guests of the Island House August 3rd, 1861"
The occasion of the flag raising is described in Anne's account "Making Woods a Garden" (SWHPL 353) and in Tom Coleman's handwritten book "The House that Anne Built" (SWHPL 9979).
Description: The occasion of the flag raising is described in Anne's account "Making Woods a Garden" (SWHPL 353) and in Tom Coleman's handwritten book "The House that Anne Built" (SWHPL 9979).
The occasion of the flag raising is described in Anne's account "Making Woods a Garden" (SWHPL 353) and in Tom Coleman's handwritten book "The House that Anne Built" (SWHPL 9979). The ship model weathervane is shown atop the flagpole.
Description: The occasion of the flag raising is described in Anne's account "Making Woods a Garden" (SWHPL 353) and in Tom Coleman's handwritten book "The House that Anne Built" (SWHPL 9979). The ship model weathervane is shown atop the flagpole.
John Caston was visiting from Cleveland. The occasion of the flag raising is described in Anne's account "Making Woods a Garden" (SWHPL 353) and in Tom Coleman's handwritten book "The House that Anne Built" (SWHPL 9979).
Description: John Caston was visiting from Cleveland. The occasion of the flag raising is described in Anne's account "Making Woods a Garden" (SWHPL 353) and in Tom Coleman's handwritten book "The House that Anne Built" (SWHPL 9979).
“Some interesting valentines even come up for sale on eBay. A great friend of mine, Pippa Vlasov, who generously lent me a portion of her collection for this book, is an avid and determined collector who has been known to stay up all night at her computer waiting for an auction to close. One of her eBay treasures came from a hairdresser in Portland, Oregon, who found the Valentine in her grandfather’s attic, took it to an antiques dealer, and asked him to sell it for her. The dealer placed the Valentine on eBay with a reserve price of $50. It sold for almost $7,000 and is a wonderful piece…with an elaborate hand inscription on the back of the box. The inscription reads: ‘Presented to Mrs. A. Richardson by Captn. E.H. Pray, Schr Abraham Richardson, from Barbadoes, W.I. 1875.’” The Valentine is a Double 13” with pattern of flowers on left and star on right. - Photograph and information about the Sailor's Valentine made for Amanda (Robinson) Richardson, Mrs. Abraham Richardson, by Captain E.H. Pray. - “Sailors’ Valentines” by John Fondas, published by Rizzoli International Publications, p. 14, 15, 19, 72, 73, 91 - 2002 Captain E. H. Pray was Ephraim H. Pray, born to Ephraim and Rebecca P. (Norton) Pray on May 14, 1842. Ephraim married Vandora Carver, daughter of Wills and Nancy (Flye) Carver (born 1847), on December 25, 1864, in Tremont, Maine. The schooner ""Abraham Richardson"" was built in Bass Harbor (Tremont) by William S. Newman in 1874. She was 154.38 tons - 99.0 - 27.0 - 9.0. Thirty-two people owned shares with the largest number of shares (4) owned by Abraham Richardson of Tremont in 1880. Her master, in 1880, was Nathan A. Reed when she hailed from Boston, Massachusetts. - List of Vessels Built on Mount Desert, Cranberry, Tinker’s, Thompson’s and Long Island (Frenchboro) Compiled by Ralph Stanley, p. 76 - 2003 The schooner’s builder, William Spurling Newman, was born to Jonathan and Sarah Spurling Newman on May 10, 1825. He married Lydia Jordan Stanley who was born to Sans (Jr.) and Fanny Guptill Spurling Stanley on February 2, 1828 in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Lydia died on April 19, 1867 in Southwest Harbor. William Spurling Newman died on October 16, 1901. The “Abraham Richardson” was named for her largest shareholder, Abraham Richardson, born to Abraham and Mercy Wormell Richardson on February 3, 1809. Abraham first married Deborah N. Burnam who was born about 1809, on December 21, 1830. Deborah N. Burnam Richardson died on March 31, 1859. Abraham then married Amanda Robinson, daughter of Levi and Lavinia Savage Robinson on September 27, 1862. Amanda was born on February 21, 1836, the sister of Capt. Adoniram Judson Robinson. She was, therefore, the great grand aunt of 20th Century Southwest Harbor boat builder, violin maker, genealogist and story teller, Ralph Warren Stanley. Abraham Richardson died on August 31, 1878 in Tremont, Maine. Amanda (Robinson) Richardson died on April 14, 1914. Capt. Pray made the valentine for the wife of the owner of his schooner. “Sailors’ Valentines – Their Journey Through Time” by Grace L. Madeira, Constance Marshall Miller, Mary S. Page and Ann T. Schutt – 2006 - An update on the art of the valentines with good photographs."
Description: “Some interesting valentines even come up for sale on eBay. A great friend of mine, Pippa Vlasov, who generously lent me a portion of her collection for this book, is an avid and determined collector who has been known to stay up all night at her computer waiting for an auction to close. One of her eBay treasures came from a hairdresser in Portland, Oregon, who found the Valentine in her grandfather’s attic, took it to an antiques dealer, and asked him to sell it for her. The dealer placed the Valentine on eBay with a reserve price of $50. It sold for almost $7,000 and is a wonderful piece…with an elaborate hand inscription on the back of the box. The inscription reads: ‘Presented to Mrs. A. Richardson by Captn. E.H. Pray, Schr Abraham Richardson, from Barbadoes, W.I. 1875.’” The Valentine is a Double 13” with pattern of flowers on left and star on right. - Photograph and information about the Sailor's Valentine made for Amanda (Robinson) Richardson, Mrs. Abraham Richardson, by Captain E.H. Pray. - “Sailors’ Valentines” by John Fondas, published by Rizzoli International Publications, p. 14, 15, 19, 72, 73, 91 - 2002 Captain E. H. Pray was Ephraim H. Pray, born to Ephraim and Rebecca P. (Norton) Pray on May 14, 1842. Ephraim married Vandora Carver, daughter of Wills and Nancy (Flye) Carver (born 1847), on December 25, 1864, in Tremont, Maine. The schooner ""Abraham Richardson"" was built in Bass Harbor (Tremont) by William S. Newman in 1874. She was 154.38 tons - 99.0 - 27.0 - 9.0. Thirty-two people owned shares with the largest number of shares (4) owned by Abraham Richardson of Tremont in 1880. Her master, in 1880, was Nathan A. Reed when she hailed from Boston, Massachusetts. - List of Vessels Built on Mount Desert, Cranberry, Tinker’s, Thompson’s and Long Island (Frenchboro) Compiled by Ralph Stanley, p. 76 - 2003 The schooner’s builder, William Spurling Newman, was born to Jonathan and Sarah Spurling Newman on May 10, 1825. He married Lydia Jordan Stanley who was born to Sans (Jr.) and Fanny Guptill Spurling Stanley on February 2, 1828 in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Lydia died on April 19, 1867 in Southwest Harbor. William Spurling Newman died on October 16, 1901. The “Abraham Richardson” was named for her largest shareholder, Abraham Richardson, born to Abraham and Mercy Wormell Richardson on February 3, 1809. Abraham first married Deborah N. Burnam who was born about 1809, on December 21, 1830. Deborah N. Burnam Richardson died on March 31, 1859. Abraham then married Amanda Robinson, daughter of Levi and Lavinia Savage Robinson on September 27, 1862. Amanda was born on February 21, 1836, the sister of Capt. Adoniram Judson Robinson. She was, therefore, the great grand aunt of 20th Century Southwest Harbor boat builder, violin maker, genealogist and story teller, Ralph Warren Stanley. Abraham Richardson died on August 31, 1878 in Tremont, Maine. Amanda (Robinson) Richardson died on April 14, 1914. Capt. Pray made the valentine for the wife of the owner of his schooner. “Sailors’ Valentines – Their Journey Through Time” by Grace L. Madeira, Constance Marshall Miller, Mary S. Page and Ann T. Schutt – 2006 - An update on the art of the valentines with good photographs." [show more]