Page 24. MAINE COASTAL NEWS January 2018 HISTORY FROM THE PAST - The Loss of the HATTIE EATON - 1876


the two vessels were about two miles apart and when the lights of the HARVEST QUEEN disappeared ADRIATIC moved forward and when she neared the position where HARVEST QUEEN had gone down cries for help could be heard. Now the boats were launched, but returned without saving anyone. ADRIATIC then continued on her voyage. The claim by ADRIATIC was that HARVEST QUEEN did not have the proper lights set and was sailing erratically. Also happening: Capt. Thomas A.


A stone dedicated to the loss of the brig HATTIE EATON at a Kittery Point.


KITTERY POINT – One never knows where you might fi nd a great story. Most of these stories are passed on by people, but others are found buried in books, magazines or newspapers, but what about a cemetery? On Labor Day, I made a run to New Hamp- shire and instead of spending an hour or two in traffi c trying to get over a bridge to Portsmouth, I decided to head to a cemetery on Kittery Point that looked promising. I found a number of sea captains and their wives, a memorial to Levi Lincoln Thaxter from Robert Browning, but what really caught my interest was a stone to the brig HATTIE EATON lost on Gerrish Island on 21 March 1876. The newspapers were covering many


happenings in the maritime world. Back in February, a man dressed as a seaman went to the offi ce of Hicks & Bell in New York and gave them an order supposedly signed by Capt. Knight of the ship AGNES BARRON. The order asked them to give the man $20, which they did. It was not long after they fi gured that the order was a forgery. Soon after Hicks & Bell read about a man being arrested for attempting to pass an order for $45 from Capt. Hill of the ship REBECCA J. PAGE at Brown & Co. in New York. Hicks & Bell identifi ed the man as the same that had swindled them and soon he was before a judge charged with forgery and quickly found guilty. He was Amos Hall from Bos- ton and was given three years in the state prison.


What else was going on: There was an investigation underway at the Kittery Navy Yard about questionable practices. Ameri- can fi shermen were hoping for a settlement in the dispute over fi shing grounds with the Canadians on the Banks and around the Maritime Provinces. A report was released on the loss of the ship HARVEST QUEEN of the Black Ball Line, which was in a col- lision with the White Star Line ADRIATIC on 30 December 1875. The owners of the HARVEST QUEEN were seeking damages for their loss. The testimony stated that a sound signal had been made in the night that there was a ship in sight as ADRIATIC plied through the water at about 12 knots. Not long after there was a collision and the ADRIATIC put her engines astern. At this time HARVEST QUEEN’s bow was already low in the water and she was sinking fast. Members of the crew of ADRIATIC got to the lifeboats quickly in order to off er the stricken vessel any assistance they could, but this was countermanded. At this point


Hamlin of New Haven, CT was found by the Bay Bridge, apparently murdered. A body was found and three relatives of Capt. Hamlin went to identify it. After their exam- ination they said that they could not say pos- itively that this was Capt. Hamlin and would not take the body. Then there was the brig P. M. TINKER, of Boston, Capt. Charles Barnard, while making a passage from Rio de Janeiro for Richmond, VA, discovered that she had developed a leak. She made Richmond despite a leak that was letting in 5 inches of water an hour. Immediately her cargo of coff ee was off -loaded with just 15 bags damaged. Once unloaded she was taken to Norfolk where she could be hauled on a railway. Upon inspection they discovered a swordfi sh sword was embedded in a plank on the starboard side and had it actually hit between the planks it was thought she might have been sunk. On her way from St. Thomas for


New York and when off Barnegat the brig FRANK G. CLARK of Damariscotta was struck and sunk by the New York schooner ADELAIDE J. ALCOTT. Capt. Samuel Morton and his wife, as well as the fi rst mate Simpson, were below and went down with her. The owners of the ALCOTT said that she was in ballast heading southwest in a heavy gale under a two reefed foresail and spanker. The CLARK was heading north- east. The lookout on the ALCOTT saw the red light, but that quickly changed to green meaning the ship had tacked when just 800 yards away. The captain of the ALCOTT was at her helm and instantly put the wheel over, but he still struck her just aft of the fore-rig- ging. The CLARK went down head fi rst in 20 minutes, but her stern stayed up all night. The captain’s and his wife’s two adopted children were rescued. The other from the CLARK saved were: James O’Neil, second mate; William Regan, steward; Charles Johnson, John Hovy, James Connolly, John Reid and James Oree all crew members. Closer to home, William McGilvery,


age 62, noted sea captain, shipbuilder and shipowner, had committed suicide, likely due to poor health; The brig JAMES CROS- BY, (of Brooksville, ME) Capt. Lord, was wrecked on Castle Island. However, the major story was a severe


snow storm with gale force winds that raised havoc up and down the coast, but also across the eastern part of the United States. On 20 March newspapers were reporting that a severe snow storm had hit Nebraska, Mis- sissippi, Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania before striking the coastal states. Many of these inner states did not just have inches, but feet, which in some cases ruined crops, like the peach crop at Raleigh. With the snow came the winds, which dev- astated bath houses, wharves and set vessels adrift.


Sandy Hook, NY Monday afternoon with the storm


raging two schooners were sighted on the outside beach of Sandy Hook by the fi shing steamer GARRETT POLHEMUS. The steamer came so close that they could see a man in the rigging of one of the schooners. He signaled them for help, but due to her position on the inside of the bar there was


nothing they could do. The crew of the steamer then sighted the lifesavers about a mile and half north of the wrecks. The steamer rounded the point, tied to a dock and the crew made their way to the scene of the disaster. It was learned that the rest of the crew of the schooner with the man in the rigging had left in a boat, but the boat broke up and all were lost. Debris from this boat came ashore and was discovered by a party of fi shermen who reported it to life-saving stations #1 and #2. When the steamer’s crew arrived at the scene there was the life-savers, but without any equipment needed to rescue the man in the rigging. About 8 o’clock the equipment arrived and a line was fi red over the hull, but it was out of reach of the man in the rigging. Additional delays took place and all the while the man in the rigging could be heard crying for help. Final a surfboat was brought to the scene, but the captains of the two stations refused to let it be launched due to the conditions. The crew of the steamer said later that this was not the case and these crews were either incompetent or reluctant to do their duty. At daylight the schooner went to pieces and the man in the rigging was gone. It was learned later that this was the 201 ton schooner M. M. WEAVER, built in 1862. She was carrying iron. Newport, RI


The Fall River Line steamer OLD COL-


ONY and the freight boat ALBATROSS did not leave their dock due to the storm. Ex- pected, but had not arrived from New York because she had not left her dock at New York City, was the steamer NEWPORT. No damage to shipping in the area has been reported.


Vineyard Haven, MA During the night of 21 March the brig


MATTIE B. RUSSELL, of Portland, arrived and anchored in the harbor. She was making a voyage from Matanzas to Boston with a cargo of molasses. Her anchors did not hold and she went ashore near West Chop. Later she bilged and was probably going to be a total loss. Also ashore on the west side of the harbor is the Boston brig VARNUM H. HILL, which parted her anchors. She was coming from Port-au-Prince for Boston with logwood.


Hyannis, MA Ashore is the schooner H. W. GOD-


FREY, from Elizabethport for Boston with coal. Also ashore at the same place are the schooners SEA FLOWER and IDA DELLA TORRE, and one schooner unknown. Provincetown, MA


Locals said that this was one of the


most powerful storms that had hit their town in a number of years. Washed ashore the morning of 22 March was the stern and quarter boards of the schooner CANVILLA of Boston. It is expected she has been lost with all onboard. The new schooner WIL- LIE L. SWIFT, of Provincetown, broke free, struck another vessel and ended up on the beach with severe damage. At Free- man’s & Hilliard’s wharf the schooner J. H. COLLINS struck the schooner CHARLES ALLSTRUM and both went ashore with a lot of damage. Just off Steamboat wharf the schooner JOSEPH W. FISH, Capt. Rawl- ings, of St. Georges, ME, collided with the schooner COMET. JOSEPH W. FISH went down off the wharf and COMET was taking on water and sinking. Both vessels were be- ing buff eted by heavy winds which battered both against the end of the wharf and they were fast coming apart. Later, all the missing men from the wrecked vessels in the harbor were found to be safe. The total number of wrecks in the harbor was about 14. Boston, MA


Ashore on Lovell’s Island was the Gloucester schooner MARGIE SMITH. She


would be hauled off by a tug. Ashore on Tod- dy Rocks off Hull is the schooner HATTIE ATWOOD, Capt. Foster, from Virginia with a cargo of oysters. She has bilged and sunk, but her crew was rescued by the life-savers of the Humane Society at Hull. Cape Ann, MA


On Tuesday morning the schooner


JENNIE R. DIVERTY, Capt. Douglass went ashore on Ten Pound Island. She was in ballast making a passage from Boston to Bucksport. Her crew was saved by lifeboats, but it was thought she would be a total loss. On Marblehead Neck the schooner CHARLES E. JACKSON was ashore. Her crew, some in a very exhausted condition, were all rescued. She was carrying coal from Philadelphia, and both vessel and cargo will likely be a total loss. Anchored in Gloucester Harbor is the schooner MADAGASCAR, of Calais, ME, with her mainmast broken off near the deck.


Swampscott, MA


Ashore are the three fi shing vessels: MINNEHAHA, ALBERTA STORY, and CARRIE FORRESTER. MINNEHAHA was badly damaged, but workmen were removing internal pieces before trying to fl oat her and take her to Gloucester, where she will be repaired. Wells, ME


The Rockland brig M. C. HASKELL,


Capt. F. S. Hall, went ashore off Wells while making a trip from New York to Portland with a cargo of pig iron. It took a long time before the crew was safely ashore at 3 AM. It was expected that she would be a total loss. Portland, ME


The bark EMMA G. was loading at a


wharf and broke her fenders and damaged the wharf. Fearing that they would seri- ously damage the wharf they were tied to the revenue cutter DALLAS cast off and headed out into the harbor. The barkentine HATTIE S. JACKSON, Capt. Bacon, from New York for Wiscasset, was being assist- ed by the steam tug TIGRE after she went ashore off Spring Point Ledge at the water battery of Fort Preble. Unfortunately the tug lost her steam chest and had to return to her dock for repairs. The crew has been rescued and it is thought the schooner will be a total loss. The following day she was still tight, but had lost her mizzen and fore topgallant mast, rudder and stern post, but there was still hope of getting her off . She later fi lled, but hope still remained to save her. She is owned in Portland and is valued at $25,000. On the breakwater is the schooner FAIRY QUEEN. Ashore at Wood End was the schooner ROWENA ARABELLA and is thought to be a total loss. Her crew had made it up into the rigging and it was several hours before they could be rescued. Parting her chains was the schooner KOSCINSKO, Thomaston for Boston, and went aground in the mud between Long and Central wharves. Outside the harbor it was thought that the brig CARRIE B. NICHOLS was without sails. Several schooners were ashore and damaged.


Rockland, ME During the height of the gale the schoo-


ner CAROLINE KNIGHT broke free from Commercial wharf and went ashore. She has bilged with fore-foot and rail gone. A number of schooners dragged their anchors, but none have suff ered serious damage. Camden, ME


Ashore is the schooner FRANCIS A.


BAKER, Capt. Pendleton, of Lincolnville, which is going to pieces. No insurance. Islesboro, ME


Lying at Ryder’s Cove was the Bangor schooner MARY STEWART. She dragged


Continued on Page 25.


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