March 2017 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 25.


rulers, the English government was slow in taking adequate relief measures, the papers recording that notwithstanding the failure of crops in 1845, the receipts of food products in England from Ireland in the spring of 1846 were greater than in any previous season – the rents had to be paid despite the conditions. At one time 3,000,000 of Ireland’s 8,500,000 inhabitants were receiving rations, and a million and a half of people died from starvation and disease caused by lack of proper sustenance. The newspaper fi les of the fall of 1846


and spring of 1847 contain many piteous accounts of the distressful scenes witnessed by travelers from this country, some by Elfi ra Burritt, the linguist and learned preacher, then in Ireland, and these must be read to get any idea of the affl iction which had fallen on that island.


Fleeing from Starvation. No ship left Ireland for any part of the


world in those trying days that did not have more demand for passages than could be accommodated. One item in the Bangor Courier of February 16, says that at this season of the year there are few who would willingly encounter the perils of a winter passage, yet such has been the dread of starvation in Ireland that since October last more than 8,000 persons have left the port of Sligo alone, for this country. Another item copied from the St. John’s


Herald states that of immigrants who left Ireland for Quebec alone, 4,005 never reached their destination, having died at sea or at quarantine. About 600 more perished by shipwreck, making 4,700 up to June 30, 1847. It is in memory of these fever stricken


immigrants and as many more that died in later years in the quarantine pens and were buried on Grosse Isle, 30 miles below Quebec, that the Ancient Order of Hibernians of America erected a handsome Celtic cross but a few years ago on the highest point of the island, where it may be seen by all who sail up or down the St. Lawrence.


Aid From This Country. When the full extent of the calamity was


realized by the people of the United States they did everything possible to furnish relief, large sums of money being collected, and ship loads of provisions sent. In this vicinity considerable money was subscribed, the Irish residents of Bangor, although not numerous in those days, sending by Gilman’s express to Boston on March 16, 1847, the sum of $1,000 in various parcels and the towns of Lincoln and Dexter sending $44 and $46, respectively. While many vessels had sailed with aid


previous to the spring of 1847, the marine columns of the Courier record the following Maine vessels leaving various ports on the Atlantic coast for Ireland, most of them loaded with food contributed by the people of the country. January 1, bark SARAH E. SNOW


(new), of Blue Hill, John Closson, Jr., for Galway, wrecked on Bellmullett, Ireland. All lost but mate. January 19, brig LANE of Waldboro,


for Kilrush, Ireland. Spoken February 10, on Grand Banks. (Nothing ever heard from her).


Cork. Sligo.


March 5, bark PROSPECT, French, for March 7, brig MAZEPPA, Colson, for March 8, brig ZELLES, Larkin, for


Londonderry. March 8, brig ROWLAND of


Thomaston, Watts, Ireland. March 8, brig NEW MODEL, of Cherryfi eld, for Cork (abandoned March


HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Bangor Daily Commercial - Early 1900s 17).


Cork.


March 12, brig MARENS, Pierce, for March 12, brig WAHSEGA, Borland,


for Limerick. March 15, brig SAN JACINTO, Carlton, for Cork. March 18, brig DUNCAN, Gilchrist for


Sligo. March 18, brig MARSELLOIS,


Sleeper, for Sligo. March 19, bark E. CHURCHILL, Gilchrist, for Cork. March 13, spoken, brig TORCELLO,


for Cork. March 28, bark SEBOIS, Thompson,


for Cork. April 8, BRAZILLIAN, Hichborn, for


Cork. April 8, ship JAMESTOWN, and bark


TARTAR, from Portland to Ireland. April 9, schooner LUCULLUS, Lufkin,


for Galway. April 10, brig TOLEDO, Glover, for


Londonderry. April 16, brig SALINE, Singer, for


Cork. April 17, bark WALTER RANKIN, for


Galway. April 17, brig BENJ. LITTLEFIELD,


for Sligo. May 4, bark WARWICK, Weeks, for


Londonderry. May 4, bark SUCCESS, from Belfast,


Maine, to Norfolk, Virginia, thence to Sligo and back to New York. June 9, arrived at Cork, Osceola, Child. The following vessels mentioned as sailing from Ireland and the dates are: February 23, Bark RIO GRANDE,


of Bangor, from Belfast, for Boston with passengers. February 23, Bark AMOS PATTEN, from Cork for Havana. May 4, Brig SUSSEX, spoken, 40 days from Sligo, for Eastport, with passengers. May 10, CHINCHILLA, Patterson, from Limerick for Thomaston. May 19, Brig WAHSEGA, Borland, from Limerick to Boston. May 27, Arrived, Boston, brig JOHN CLIFFORD, from Galway, 67 passengers. July 2, Brig THOMAS and EDWARD spoken, from Ireland for Bath. July 6, Arrived, Boston brig


MONTAGUA, Wade, of Belfast, from Cork. July 7, Arrived, Boston schooner


VALHALLA, Chase, from Galway, 51 passengers. June 30, Sailed from Sligo, bark LOUISIANA, Emery, for Thomaston. August 9, Arrived at New York, ELLEN


PRESCOTT, Admiral, of Calais, from Galway.


The Brig MARCUS Record. The brig MARCUS, the only vessel


bringing immigrants to Bangor made its maiden trip from this port June 16, 1846, for New York arriving there June 30, and is next noted in the marine columns as clearing there September 18. She was at Boothbay,


October 30, on way to West Indies, arriving at Port au Prince, January 8, 1847. Next she is noted at New York from latter port February 18 and sailing for Cork, Ireland, March 12, arriving there April 26. The time of the MARCUS sailing from Cork to Galway is not recorded but that she left the latter port in July and arrived here August 14, after a voyage of six weeks and four days,


with 56 passengers, three cabin passengers and a crew of eight men has been told by the passengers. All of the immigrants were from Galway and vicinity. Captain Pierce was sick with fever and remained below four weeks. At Rockland a number of people boarded the vessel and off ered positions to the immigrants but by the captain’s advice none left until this port was reached. The arrival of a vessel here with Irish


immigrants created quite a stir and talk of preventing their landing was freely made, it being claimed that they would be dependent upon the city for support but such fear was soon dispelled by Patrick Golden, Michael Boyce and Patrick Wall, well known and respected merchants, who went among the citizens and found positions for the girls as servants, while the men, all young and hearty, were quickly placed at work and in a few days all opposition had disappeared. The gratitude of the immigrants


toward these three warm-hearted fellow countrymen, who fi rst greeted them on their arrival in a strange land was never forgotten and has often been told to their children and in those families to which those girls went to labor there grew a friendliness and mutual respect that lasted not only after they had married and possessed homes of their own but even to the day they passed away to their fi nal reward. It would be interesting to learn what


became of the 70 immigrants who landed in Castine, but evidently few of them remained in that vicinity permanently as no Catholic church was built there, which is one thing the Irish immigrant of those days soon had where they settled in any numbers.


28 April 1911


Losing a Ship Ends a Captain’s Career May Not Lose Certifi cate but Rarely Get a Command


Some Notable Examples


Sealby of the REPUBLIC. Though Held Blameless, Was Dismissed – Fate of


Captain Who Obliged the Ladies In the case


of shipwreck or collision at sea the general rule of the big steamship lines has been that the captain who is at fault not only loses his place in the service but frequently has his certificate suspended by the licensing authority. This is one reason why captains prefer to go down with their own ships. A few


companies, the North German Lloyd among them, are lenient, giving commanders and other offi cers another chance if their previous record is good and if the ship does not become a total loss. On the other hand, the White Star Line and others have a hard and fast rule that commanders who lose their vessels or are in collision that costs the company a big sum of money are to be dismissed. Capt. Inman Sealby, who commanded


the REPUBLIC when she sunk after a collision with the Italian liner FLORIDA on January 23, 1909, although no blame was attached to him for faulty navigation of seamanship in handling his vessel, was dismissed from the service and is now studying admiralty law at the University of Michigan. All his sea career had been with the White Star Line, and he had been 16 years in command in the China Australian and Mediterranean trades. Capt. E. Prehn of the North German


Lloyd Prinz Frederich Wilhelm, backing out of his pier at Hoboken last September, went two-thirds of the way across the river and collided with the outbound French liner LORRAINE, smashing in her bows and doing considerable damage to her plates. He is still in command of his vessel, which is evidence that the directors considered that he was not to blame. Capt. Sidney Leyland, in command of


the Atlantic Transport line MINNEHAHA when she struck on the Sicily Islands two years ago and was afterward got off and repaired, had his certifi cate suspended by the British Board of Trade for three months and was dismissed from the service. He had previously grounded the company’s line MINNETONKA at the mouth of the Thames, but without damaging the hull of the vessel. She was the Commodore ship, and as a disciplinary measure Capt. Leyland was put in command of the MINNEHAHA.


Continued on Page 26.


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