July 2016 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 23.


as severe as has even been experienced in this vicinity at this season of the year. The Story of the Wrecks


Pemaquid, September 17. While seeking a harbor of refuge during


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the terrible gale which swept the New England coast last night two vessels were wrecked on the treacherous bar at the end of Pemaquid Point and 15 hardy mariners went down to their death. The wrecked vessels were the mackerel seiner, GEORGE L. EDMUNDS, owned by Capt. Willard G. Poole of Gloucester, Massachusetts, her commander, and the little coasting schooner SADIE AND LILLIAN, Capt. Harding of Machias, Maine. Of the 16 men on board the EDMUNDS,


14 including the captain were drowned. Capt. Harding of the coaster stuck to his vessel in an attempt to run her into a safe position on the beach and lost his life. The two members of the crew were taken ashore by Weston Curtis, a volunteer life saver, after a hard struggle.


Both vessels were well off shore in the


afternoon when the thickening clouds and increasing wind gave warning of a nasty blow and both headed for the nearest harbor. Night closed in quickly, the wind increased in force and long before a haven was within reaching distance the little schooners were pitching in a terrible sea. It was intensely dark and the beacon lights which blinked faintly through sheets of rain when they momentarily appeared above the crests of the mountainous waves, gave but little assistance. It was owing to these conditions, probably that Capt. Harding lost his life. He chose Seguin, but in the thick weather picked up Pemaquid light and instead of fi nding safety in the broad Kennebec his vessel was dashed on the rocky point at Pemaquid. Weston Curtis who had witnessed the


wreck, soon succeeded in getting a line to the SADIE AND LILLIE which was pitching and pounding in the surf and after a fi erce struggle with the waves the two men of the crew were brought safely to land. Capt. Harding in the meantime had been trying to work the schooner from her perilous position to a less dangerous point and was the last to make the attempt to reach land. By this time the line which already had made two trips to and from the wreck had become tangled by the action of the waves and when the captain was about halfway between the


vessel and the shore it stuck fast and he was drowned before the eyes of his helpless companions. His body was recovered. The schooner probably will be a total loss. The EDMUNDS went ashore on the


eastern side of Pemaquid while Capt. Poole was attempting to round the point. When he ran in toward shore in the darkness he found himself to the westward of the point and fearing that the schooner would not be able to live out the gale on that exposed side decided to try to round the point. By this time the wind had increased to almost a hurricane and even the fi shing schooner which is said to be able to weather almost any kind of a sea was unable to live through it. In a few moments she was a helpless wreck upon the rocks.


Dory after dory was put over the side


of the schooner which was rapidly breaking up, only to be dashed to pieces in the surf. Finally, however, one of these little seaboats succeeded in avoiding the rocks, and with fi ve occupants started on the hazardous journey toward shore. She had made hardly more than half the distance when a tremendous wave capsized her and the fi ve occupants were left to struggle for their lives in the boiling sea. Two of them who succeeded in reaching shore, more dead than alive, are the only survivors of the 16 men who made up the EDMUNDS’ crew. The SADIE AND LILLIE was built at


Steuben, Maine, in 1884, and hailed from Machias. She was of 60 tons gross, 48 tons net, 63.8 feet long, 22.5 beam and 6.1 feet in depth. She was bound from Prospect for Boston in ballast when she encountered the gale Wednesday afternoon. As the day wore on further evidence


was received of the severity of the storm. The schooner EDORA, Capt. Francis, which was bound from Milbridge for Boston with a cargo of laths and the fi shing schooner N. B. NICKERSON of Boothbay put into Boothbay Harbor during the forenoon each bearing marks of a severe battle with wind and sea. The EDORA which ran into the gale when about 20 miles off Seguin was minus part of her deckload, several of her sails were torn and she was leaking badly. Capt. Francis throught she would be able to continue her voyage, however, after making temporary repairs. The NICKERSON which was returning from the Gloucester


Continued on Page 24.


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