January 2018 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 25. HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Maine Industry Journal - 1880


2 January Captain Charles Deering of the


1880


steamer LEWISTON claims to have found a rich mining property in Sargentville on Eggemoggin Reach.


* * * * * At present three steamers are


touching at Sedgwick, steamer CITY OF RICHMOND, plying between Portland and Machiasport, steamer MOUNT DESERT between Rockland and Sullivan, and steamer CHARLES HOUGHTON, between Rockland and Sullivan.


20 February A steamer is to run daily next summer between Blue Hill and Bar Harbor.


March


STEAMER LINE TO BLUE HILL The Bangor and Bar Harbor Steamboat


Company propose to run a line of steamers between Bangor and Blue Hill the coming season, commencing as soon as the river is open to navigation. The MAY FIELD already makes a weekly trip from Bucksport to Blue Hill and return, and as soon as the ice will permit, the CITY OF BANGOR will be put on the route, when two weekly trips will be made leaving Bangor Monday and Thursday mornings at 8 o’clock and leaving Blue Hill on the return trip Tuesday and Saturday mornings, thus giving passengers by Thursday’s boat an opportunity to stop over Friday and return the same way on


Saturday. During the summer one of these popular steamers will also make two trips each week to Bar Harbor, touching at Sedgwick, Deer Isle and the various river landings. At Sedgwick connections are made with stages for Blue Hill, thus furnishing a desirable means of communication between Bangor and Blue Hill four times each week.


9 April 1880, Friday Ice left Blue Hill Harbor Monday night. * * * * *


The port of Bangor is now open to


navigation. The ice left the Penobscot on Tuesday.


The steamers of the Bangor and Bar


Harbor Steamship Line will make regular trips to Blue Hill and Mount Desert. The favorite steamer MAY FIELD leaves Bangor Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 AM, touching at the river landings and Sandy Point, Fort Pont, Castine, Deer Isle, Sedgwick and arrives at Blue Hill in the afternoon. Returning leaves Blue Hill Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30 AM, touching at the above landings. The popular steamer CITY OF BANGOR will leave Bangor Saturday mornings at 8 o’clock for Bar Harbor touching at river landings and Castine, Islesboro, Deer Isle, Sedgwick and Southwest Harbor and leave to return on Monday morning. The steamers of this line are deservedly popular and the offi cers are exceedingly obliging and courteous.


The schooner HAVARD H. HAVEY


makes semi-monthly trips between Boston and Sullivan.


* * * * * A steamer launch 40 feet in length is


being built in Portland for Curtis, Proctor & Company, and will make regular trips between Long Island and Blue Hill during the summer.


* * * * * The Sanford Steamship Line have


recently secured another large steamship in addition to the KATADHIN and CAMBRIDGE and during the summer season will run a daily line between Boston and the Penobscot.


* * * * * The steamer CITY OF RICHMOND


is undergoing thorough overhauling at Portland and will have her saloon extended forward and fourteen staterooms will be added to her. Captain Dennison will command her as usual and she will run between Portland and Mount Desert.


A sardine factory has just been started at


Camden by New York parties. They expect to put up 5,000 boxes a day when they get fully underway.


The Gouldsboro correspondent of the


Ellsworth American writes: Three vessels have arrived here within a month with lumber for the Gouldsboro and West Bay Mining Companies, and another will soon be here with lumber for the dams, and concentrating works. Workmen are digging for, and driving the spilings for the dams.


The upper dam is to fl ow twenty feet head, and Bogus meadow will be fl owed and the water turned from its present course into this upper pond; besides Dingle meadow and the Goose ponds will have dams at their outlets all held in reservoirs. The above named mining companies are fortunate in securing the services of two master builders Sherman Smith and G. R. Hardison. Mr. Hardison is our mechanical genius, and Mr. Smith has made mill building the favorite of his life and he has had much practice in his art, here and in California.


18 June THE SOUND DISASTER.


The disaster to the steamer NARRAGANSETT of the Stonington Line has been the general topic of conversation during the past week, and we cannot let the occasion pass without a few remarks upon the subject. Everyone who has had occasion to


travel by water is aware of the diffi culties attending the navigation of our coast during the dense fogs which frequently prevail here. All must know that at such times, no matter if the pilot be ever so cautious and the lookouts ever so watchful, accidents are liable to occur in spite of every precaution; but we most emphatically assert – and any man of sense must agree with us – that in calm weather and with an abundance of assistance close at hand there cannot in case of any ordinary accident be the slightest shadow of


Continued on Page 26. Continued from Page 24. Belfast, ME The storm began with snow on Mon-


day, which turned to hail and then rain on Tuesday. The wind was blowing hard out the southwest. This caused a lot of damage around the harbor, including damage to the wharves and some of the vessels in the harbor. At Strout’s Wharf on the east side of the harbor the schooner DIONE was loading brick for Jacksonville. During the afternoon it was discovered that she was taking on water and had three feet of water in her hold. She immediately signaled that she was in distress and a crew was quickly sent from the revenue cutter DOBBIN, who was able to keep ahead of the leak. When the storm calmed she was taken over to Dy- er’s dock for repairs. Two schooners, WM. STEVENS and ABBY GALE dragged and struck the bridge doing some damage to the bridge. Other damage included: a broken bowsprit on the fi shing schooner CLOUD RIFT, a damaged stern on the schooner LAFAYETTE. At Lane’s dock the schoo- ner GEN. MEADE struck her jib-boom against a building breaking it off at the cap. At Simpson’s wharf the schooner HATTIE parted a stern line causing her to swing out, but she rode the rest of the storm out without issue. The schooner CAMEO, which was at Sanford’s wharf, did the same. Out to Sea


In Lat. 36 deg. 40’, Long. 73 deg. 32’ the


schooner J. C. BLAKE from Turk’s Island, spoke to the Machias schooner LUCINEO. They said that during the night with the gale blowing the captain and a seaman was washed overboard and drowned. The needed a navigator and the BLAKE could not allow anyone to board because of the heavy seas. They stood by until morning, but they were


HISTORY FROM THE PAST - The Loss of the HATTIE EATON - 1876 no longer there.


On 20 March the Camden schooner D.


her anchors and collided with the schooner S. D. HART. MARY STEWART went to Belfast for repairs.


TALBOT was dismasted and in a sinking condition. They were rescued by the bark J. F. SMITH, which was making a passage from Cienfuegos to Boston. On the 24th the DIRIGO from Harrington spoke to the SMITH and took on board the crew from the TALBOT. They also supplied the SMITH with fl our, which they desperately needed. LOSS OF THE BRIG HATTIE EATON The wind howled and the waves


crashed around the entrance to Portsmouth, NH harbor. A number of fi shing schooner dragged ashore on Clark’s and Fishing Island. A schooner cut away her masts in order to weather the storm, but she went up on Clark’s Island. The Sedgwick schooner GOVERNOR had put out three anchors, but they still had to cut away her masts in order to reach the lower harbor. Her crew suff ered due to the conditions, but all were alive. At Pepperell Cove was the schooner FAIRFIELD of Eden, which is ashore with her side stove in. Ashore near the Navy Yard is the Newburyport fi shing schooner GENERAL TAYLOR. She also has her side stove in. In a better way was the fi shing schooner KITTY CLARK of Eastham, MA, which was ashore at Kittery Cove. It was thought she would come off with ease and did. An unknown schooner was seen off the shore and it was thought that she could not have kept off the shore due to the conditions. When the winds calmed there was no sign of her and it was thought she had gone down. It was feared that many lives were lost from these vessels. The Boston brig HATTIE EATON,


under the command of Capt. James F. Cook, had set sail from Cienfuegos, Cuba 23 days prior for Boston with a cargo of 150 hhds. and 48 tierces of molasses and 362 hhds. sugar consigned to Elisha Atkins & Co. of Boston. During the storm she missed Bos- ton, Cape Ann and went ashore on Gerrish’s


Point at Kittery. The EATON was making for Ports-


mouth as the weather turned. They tried to sail off the coast under a double reefed mainsail, closed reefed foretopsail and forestaysail. The anchors along with thirty fathoms of chain were ready and as soon as they were in position they would dropped the anchors and she could be brought up into the wind safely. Before this could happen a sea grabbed her stern and she fl ew up into the wind. Steerage was lost and she headed for the rocks. Mr. Mitchell, who lived close to the site


of the wreck, saw the vessel strike. He said that despite the captain trying to ground on the smooth beach, the EATON struck stem fi rst, wedged between two rocks, about 100 feet from the shore. Three Negro seamen were below badly frostbitten and the fi rst mate had a dislocated shoulder and was in the forecastle. Capt. Cook got into the rigging and when the brig listed he ran out on the boom. He and Mr. Mitchell, who was now down on the rocks, were just 8-feet from each other when a sea raised the ves- sel putting the boom deep in the water and that is the last time the captain was seen alive. Quickly this had sea swept away the masts. The same wave pushed Mr. Mitchell backwards, and fortunately there was no undertow and he was able to get to higher ground. Now other men had arrived at the scene and were able to grab the mate LeB- aron and bring him ashore. However just as they did a huge wave broke the timbers and pushed the stern up over the bow killing the second mate as well as the rest of the crew below. One mulatto took his clothes off and jumped into the water. Several times he got within feet of the shore, but the undertow grabbed him and took him back out to sea. Finally exhausted his head struck a rock and he disappeared below the waves. As the brig began to break apart the bodies began coming ashore and soon there was nothing


left of the EATON. The following day the bodies of Capt.


Cook and second mate washed ashore. The body of the Spanish boy was seen off the shore, but could not be recovered. Capt. Cook was 39 years old and leaves


a wife of 15 years and two children, a boy and a girl, at East Boston. Others lost on the EATON were: John S. Atwood, second mate, of Maine, aged 38, William Fitzpatrick of Ireland aged 32, Peter Betars of Grenada aged 25, Jeremiah Stephens of St. Kitts aged 20, William Crevenar of Tobago age 20, and Joseph Alban, residence unknown. The only survivor was the fi rst mate W.


C. LeBarron, who belonged to Middleboro, MA. He explained cleared up who the sec- ond mate was, saying John S. Atwood, who went in her from Boston as second mate, left in Port Spain, and that James M. Fitzpatrick took his place. A funeral, conducted by Rev. George W. Christie of the Congregational Church, for Fitzpatrick and another crew member was held at Kittery Point on 23 March. They were buried at the cemetery there.


Capt. Cook’s funeral, conducted by


Rev. W. H. Cudworth, was held in East Boston. Those in attendance included the members of the Baalbec Lodge of Free Ma- sons of which he was a member. Capt. Cook was a native of Santa Cruz and went to sea at the age of 13. The owners of the vessel spoke very highly of him. He was buried at Mount Auburn, MA. HATTIE EATON was built at St. John,


New Brunswick, Canada in 1862. She was 345 tons and was owned by J. S. Emery & Co., Addison Gage & Co., Capt. Cook, and others, of Boston. As bold a coast as it is at the entrance to


Kittery and Portsmouth harbors it is surpris- ing that there was not a life-saving station at Gerrish Island. Due to this tragedy a life-sav- ing station was proposed to Congress.


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