Kingston Town (part 2 of 4)

It would be very interesting if a complete account could be given here of the cruises made by this vessel during the short time she was in the service of the State and how her captors finally disposed of her.

Kingston people always spoke of the Independence as a brig, but by Allen's history calling her a brigantine, she may have been so listed on State Records. These two rigs, brig and brigantine, have always been confused and continued to be so as long as twomasted vessels with yards and square sails on one or both masts were built. In all proba¬ bility these first naval records of the State were not accurately kept for Allen's History calls the 'Tyrannicide a sloop when building, and later reports her as a brig in command of Captain Haraden, sailing late in the fall of 1777 on a cruise to the West Indies in com¬ pany with the brig, Hazard , Captain Sampson.

These pitchers were called Liverpool pitchers because it was very common in the early part of the nineteenth century whenever a vessel went to Liverpool, for the master either for himself or owner to have a pibfure of his ship painted on a pitcher of Stafford¬ shire ware.

This pitcher, whose picture is shown, belongs to Alexander Holmes of Kingston an has been in his family since brought from England by Captain Seth Johnson of the bri Two Tollys on her first voyage in 1801.

The brig Two Tollys , 250 tons, was built by Joseph Holmes at Bridgewater in 180 y Mr. Holmes says in a letter, that he went to Bridgewater, May 27, 1801, engaged plan of Zeph. Shaw and timber, 10 tons at $4.00 per ton from Johnathan Leonard. He bui the brigs T wo Tollys , zAlgol and J^ucy, noted for taking first cargo of ice, the schoom Alexander and brig Trident in Bridgewater. Trident was used to move his materials t Kingston in 1806.

There is no record in the Plymouth Custom House of the Two Tollys, zAlgol and Tuc' and as they were brought down the Taunton River, they must have been registered ; Dighton or Boston, where they were partly owned. The schooner ^Alexander and bri i Trident were the last vessels Joseph Holmes built on the Taunton River in what I called his Bridgewater shipyard, coming to Kingston as soon as launched, where sonfinal work was done on them, as shown, by old bills, in the building yard he had acquire of Stephen Drew at the Landing, Jones River, and they are registered at the Plymout Custom House.

The brig c Algol's rig was changed to that of a ship the work being done at Kingstoj and she was then registered at the Plymouth Custom House as a ship in 1807.

Joseph Holmes, or as he then signed his name, Joseph Holmes, Jr., soon disposed <[ his interests in these early vessels, as he was then more of a builder than owner, and v know little of them but their names.

The following item taken from Notes and Queries in the Boston Saturday Evenir Transcript for August 3, 1912, shows that the brig, Two Tollys' first voyage was to Enj land and reads thus: "Sometime ago an inquiry appeared asking for data as to tinrequired to cross the Atlantic in the 1800 to 1850 period. At that time my attest copy <' the old Marland Family Bible was loaned. Today it is returned and it seems authent: enough to copy the following: "Memorandum from the family Bible of Abraham Ma land (born 1772, died 1849) °f Andover, Mass, an early and successful manufadturer of wooleii at Andover. The within named Abraham anl Mary Marland left England in brig Two Tolly Capt. Seth Johnson, on the 9th day of Augu: 1801, together with William Sykes, brother d Mrs. Marland and arrived in Boston in the U. , 17th of September following. I should be inteested to learn of longer voyages than thirty nil: days in the early part of the last century ' Signed S. J. M.

In reply to the above, it may be said that th: was not a bad passage for a small vessel bourl west, lor in 1846, the ship Herculean, owned t| Joseph Holmes and called by her captain ver fast, besides being much larger than this litt: brig, was 55 days from Havre to New York.

Liverpool Pitcher or Staffordshire Ware. Brig farm> Called Egypt, Was situated in the nort - Two Poiiys, Seth Johnson, Master, 1801 west part of the town. The reason for so namiij

Always of a studious and deeply religious mind he entered the College of Rhode Island in Provi¬ dence, now Brown University, and on graduat¬ ing in 1797 became a minister, taking charge of a parish on the Cape. A dislike for the parish or finding himself unfitted for this work caused him to give up the ministry and in 1801 he leased a shipyard on the Taunton River near Pratt's Bridge in Bridgewater for the building of vessels. Here he remained until 1806 when he removed to the Kingston Landing and con¬ tinued building vessels up to the time of his death, in 1863. Mr. Holmes was a man of large frame, well over six feet in height, and their ancestry can easily be traced in his descendants today.

He lived in the large, square house on the corner of Main and Elm Streets, or the Mill Road, as it was once called, near the Meeting House of the First Congregational Parish. This house was built by his brother Lemuel, in 1797, and bought by him in 1805. It faces to the east and the room to the right of the front door on the northeast corner was unfinished and used for a store. His office was in a small room on the westerly end of this store with an outlook onto the Main Street. Here he transacted all of his business, consulted with his captains as to their voyages, and carried on his correspondence with bankers, merchants, and those in charge of his vessels at home and abroad.

The account of the seizure of his ship jQucy , in 1807, shows the danger of loss he and other ship-owners were exposed to when sending vessels to England or European ports during the Napoleonic wars.

The ship jQucy of Kingston, 208 tons, was launched in 1806. This ship was named djicy for the wife of Joseph Holmes, Jr., and was the first ship owned by him. She was built for him by Lysander Bartlett, Sr., master carpenter in the Bartlett Yard above the railroad bridge where the boatshop of the heirs of Captain E. A. Ransom now stands. She cost $7,366, ready for sea, Joseph Holmes, Jr., owning one-half, Jedediah Holmes one-quarter, and Jesse Inglee, who was master, one-quarter. This was the first vessel built by Joseph Holmes, in Kingston, the previous ones being built in Bridgewater, in what he called his Bridgewater Ship Yard and taken down the Taunton River, though hailing from Kingston.

Very little can be told about this ship, and what I know of her voyages was found in a few old bills, letters, protests, etc. She left Kingston in May, 1806, bound for Boston, Inglee, master, and Captain Peter Winsor was paid $10 for piloting her to Boston, and the same month he was paid $1 for piloting brig 'Trident down the river, and in July was paid $2 for piloting brig Brunette down the river. At that time, Joseph Holmes had these vessels employed, besides schooner ^Alexander and brig zAlgol, the others he had built appearing to have been sold. The first voyage of this ship was from Boston to Charleston, S. C., in ballast, loading cotton there for Liverpool, where she was in September, 1806, on for Boston, loaded with coal, salt, crated goods and passengers. October 27, 1806, she arrived in Boston and entered protest that date, having had bad weather on the passage. Protest read as follows: "That she sailed from Liverpool, September 4, 1806, bound to Boston, with dry goods, tight and strong and well equipped and manned for the voyage, that on September 14, 1806, Latitude 590 17 ' North and Longitude 20° 10' West from London, experienced a sudden change of wind from southwest to north, obliging all sail to be furled, except foresail, wind blowing very hard and ship leaking considerably and from the 14th to the 22d, weather and wind was variable with hard gales in which the ship was kept close reefed the greater part of the time and sometimes only foresail set, the ship making considerable water, and on the 29th experienced a heavy gale of wind, continuing two succeeding days, with heavy rains, and at times a very bad sea, by which ship labored and strained and "leaked much. After this had variable weather, mostly strong gales till October 25th when the ship arrived at Boston." This protest was signed by Captain Inglee, Bartlett Holmes, 2d mate, and Banjamin Coffin, seaman.

The vessel received $2,070.22 for this first voyage, and after being repaired in Boston, she sailed from there December 18, 1806, for Charleston, S. C., loading there the last of January, 1807, for Liverpool with cotton and staves. Being in Liverpool the last of March, 1807, she loaded there with coal, salt, crated goods and passengers for Boston, arriving there June 2, 1807, this being her second voyage.

Her accounts show that $201.27 was secured from passengers brought from Liverpool to Boston and $641.50 freight money on cargo. Having secured a freight from New York to London she proceeded to New York and loaded staves, Jesse Inglee, master, and Bart¬ lett Holmes, 2d mate. In London a cargo of sugar was taken for Hamburg, where she was seized and condemned by the French authorities for smuggling, her papers not being correCl. From what is known of the affair it appears that the captain was not honest in his settlements with the other owners of the ship, as on the passage to London a quantity of cotton in bales was picked up at sea and sold there by him for much more than appeared in his ship's account, the captain calling the cotton of the most inferior quality and claim¬ ing to have sold it for such, when it was afterward proved by the 2d mate, Holmes, to have been of, and to have sold for, the best quality. It also appears that after the ship arrived at Hamburg, some of her freight was sold, Inglee receiving the money, and he had $400 that he was unable to account for in his settlement with the owners, and had no funds of his own on leaving New York.

Helbers, James & Co. chartered the J£ucy for the Hamburg voyage and under date of August, 1809, wrote in answer to Mr. Holmes' letter inquiring as to the seizure that the ship was entered out and bound for Tonningen to get a set of real papers which they had been promised, and then to proceed to Hamburg, having also American simulated papers to serve in case of need. She did not go to Tonningen on account of a gale or was warned off, they did not know which, as they never had any further word of her. She was condemned in consequence of a French Customs Officer introducing himself as an American sailor and then getting at the secret of her having loaded in England. They received $30,000 insurance on cargo on account of her being condemned. The American owners of the ship were insured, but were unable to colleCt, as was the case of two other American ships who made the same voyage and were condemned at that time.

This aCt of the captain in making this voyage, which seems in every way illegal, and the consequent loss of the ship, caused Joseph Holmes great financial embarrassment, which was also increased by the United States Embargo Adi, as is shown by his letters of these years. The ship, at time of seizure, was almost new, this being her third voyage, and as he had only been in the business of building and owning vessels a few years, it was a number of years before he recovered from these losses and became the large and successful ship-owner of his later years.

In connection with her capture we find from a copy of a memorial for a claim for damages to the United States Commissioners appointed by the United States Government to settle claims for American vessels seized and condemned by the French Government about 1806 and 1807 and since called "French Spoliation Claims," dated August 6, 1833, and signed by Joseph Holmes and Jedediah Holmes, both of Kingston, Mass., that they then in 1806 and 1807 owned the ship djrcy of Kingston, Mass., of 253 82/95 tons, together with Jesse Inglee of Kingston, master of said ship and the memorial reads in part as follows as to her loss:

That the said ship Lucy was employed by your memorialists in the business of freighting. That the said ship being arrived in the port of London from New York, did discharge the said cargo in London, take on board in the month of 061. 1807 as freight, a full cargo of coffee and sugar for Tonnigen and proceeded accordingly from the said port of London toward the said port of Tonnigen and arrived off the island of Heligoland and came to anchor. When the said ship Lucy encountered a long continued and heavy gale of wind lasting for several days, that the wind shifting to a quarter that prevented the anchors from holding the officers and crew of said ship, judged it prudent to get the ship under sail, cut the cables and made for the opposite port of Crushaven when upon arrival or soon after, the said ship and cargo, was seized and sequestrated by the French Government Custom House officers from Hamburg and by them confiscated and con¬ demned.

During the years 1805, 1806 and 1807, Joseph Holmes was building in Kingston and Bridgewater, for the schooner ^Alexander, the last vessel he built in Bridgewater, cleared from Dighton on the Taunton River for Boston, May 28, 1807, and he had already com¬ pleted and launched the brig brunette in 1806 from the yard at the Landing which he had lately acquired from Stephen Drew.

Among Joseph Holmes' papers as to ship<£«ry is a bill from Lysander Bartlett of King¬ ston, a copy of which follows and shows the date of his final work on ship djicy in the Bartlett yard.

The carving done by Skillin must have been a six and one-half foot figurehead, or, as some¬ times called, a head, of a woman's figure, representing Joseph Holmes' wife Lucy, for whom the vessel was named. Previous to this period and for many years after, it was the fashion for vessels to carry on their bows a large and elaborately carved figure, often of a man or a woman, which would now be considered out of all proportion to the size of the vessel.

safety by the less weight hanging on the stem. On the Herculean , as will appear in the story of this vessel, a figure of a man about seven feet tall sup¬ posed to represent Hercules was carried for a figurehead. It was about the size of that on the jQucy, and although this ship was much larger than the jQucy it gives a ship a very heavy appearance forward as can be seen in the painting of her. It had to be removed on account of its weight. About 1859 and after, the style of ornamenting the bows of a vessel changed. If a full-length figure was used it was made much smaller and often only a head and bust was carried. In many cases a small piece of planking or timber was fashioned with graceful curves and scrollwork on the forward end and sides, into an ornament called a billet or fiddle-head. This was fitted to the vessel's stem under the bowsprit and the customs records were very particular in their de¬ scription of avessel registered as towhether shewas distinguished by a figure or a billet-head. Today, regardless of the shape or size, it is customary to call all these ornaments figureheads and sometimes none were carried, which gave to the vessel a very unfinished look forward.

Elisha Turner Holmes

This inventory does not mention a num¬ ber of articles that must have been on board, but gives a very good idea of what was required for a ship's use that was en¬ gaged in foreign trade at this time. As in the later vessels, passengers were usually carried on the return voyage from Eng¬ land and the Continent to this country, but no life-rafts, life-preservers or extra boats were provided, and in case of dis¬ aster at sea there was little chance to save life, which offers a striking contrast to the safety devices employed on the passenger steamships of today.

A genealogical sketch of the Holmes family in "The Giles Memorial'' speaks ol him as the first to carry the Stars and Stripes into the Black Sea.

He commanded the brig ^Brunette of King¬ ston, 180 tons, when new, making several voyages in her. This is the first record of a vessel built by Joseph Holmes in his building yard at the Kingston Landing. She was launched in 1806. December 9, 1807, the brig was at Liverpool from Lisbon, being repaired, and sailed for Boston in February, 1808,

December 1, 1808, the vessel was again at Liverpool from Lisbon, bound for Boston, captain, E. T. Holmes, and as no further accounts appear of the brig among Joseph Holmes' papers she was probably sold on arrival. A number of years later, June,

The following is a copy of the Protection paper given to Captain Elisha Turner Holmes, master of the brig brunette of Kingston by the representative of the Eng¬ lish Government at Lisbon for a voyage from Lisbon to Liverpool, October 16, a very important paper as it would save him from unnecessary delay if overhauled by English cruisers on the high seas. The Protection reads:

Whereas, I have received Instructions from the Right Hon¬ orable George Canning, one of His Majesty's Principal Secre¬ taries of State, Directing me to grant certificates to foreign Vessels for the purpose of removing British property from Portugal, in the event of emergency and of there not being in the Ports of Portugal a sufficient quantity of British Shipping.

And Whereas, circumstances render it, at present, necessary to have recourse to such a measure, I do by virtue of the said authority so vested in me grant this certificate to the American Vessel called Brunet. E. T. Holmes, Master, bound for Liver¬ pool or any other Port in the British Dominions, laden with the Property of John Turner, Richard Withered and other British subjects, and I therefore recommend the said Vessel, cargo and crew of the said American Vessel, Brunet and British Subjects going Passengers to the protection of His Majesty's Government, Ships of War, Cruisers and Privateers, and I venture to undertake on the part of His Majesty's Government that this protection shall continue until her arrival at and during her stay in the Port of delivery being in the British Dominions and also until she shall go to some other Port notin a state of Blockade by His Majesty's forces notwith¬ standing any War, Hostilities or misunderstanding between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and any Power whatsoever. Witness my hand and Seal of Office.

There is nothing to show that he ever went in any other Kingston vessel. He married a Charlestown woman and for a number of years made his home there while sailing out of Boston. On giving up the sea he returned to Kingston and died there in i860.

Bark T urbo of Kingston, 294 tons, built at Kingston by Joseph Holmes in 1831; owned by Joseph Holmes, Alexander Holmes, Henry Hall and George T. Williams, Boston.

Benjamin Delano

When this bark left Kingston for Boston, new, Edward Holmes was in command. He did not go in her from Boston and very little is known about this vessel. From a picture of this bark, owned by Dr. Arthur B. Holmes of Kingston, it is shown that she was in Cork, Ireland, March 6, 1833, commanded by Captain Henry L. Adams, who had previously served as mate.

January 20, 1834, she was at Charleston, S. C., in command of Captain Melzar Whitten, loading rice and cotton for Antwerp, and later at Boston, Joshua Delano, mate.

December 31, 1839, Alexander Holmes writes his father, Joseph Holmes, that he thinks of send¬ ing the T urbo south in ballast to Savannah or Mobile. As nothing more can be found about this vessel she was probably sold about this time; two Boston merchants owning her with Joseph and Alexander Holmes.

He was a younger brother of Captain William S. Adams, and was born in Kingston in 1810. He commenced going to sea when a boy and most of his voyages were made in Boston vessels. The only Kingston vessel he commanded was the bark Turbo , owned by Joseph Holmes, Alexander Holmes and Boston parties.

Upon retiring from the sea, about 1845, be was engaged for a number of years in a com¬ mission business of freighting vessels at Wilmington, N. C., and afterward carried on a lumber business in Havana, Cuba.

The Records in the Plymouth Custom House give him and Peter Winsor the ownership of the sloop Two Sisters , 44 tons, in 1803. From the time his son Joshua was old enough to be¬ come his partner he seldom owned a vessel alone, and whenever a Delano vessel was men¬ tioned it was always considered as belonging to both, so closely were they associated in business.

Custom House books did not always give the names of all of a vessel's owners, after her first registration, and if owned in a family the real ones can only be found by a careful search through old letters and journals, and a vessel registered to the father alone might also be owned in by a son.

He lived in Rocky Nook, Kingston, on the old Boston road, near Smelt Brook and not far from his Rocky Nook wharves, and his house is now owned by his granddaughter, Mrs. Marcia D. Demmon of Boston.

Joshua Delano

Joshua Delano, a son of Benjamin Delano, was born at Rocky Nook, Kingston, in 1809, and when a young man sailed in his father's vessels for several years. In 1831 his name is on record as owning with his father the schooner Sedum of Kingston, and from this time until the selling of the last vessel, about 1882, he was a large owner in the shipping of Kingston.

Like Joseph Holmes, when the Delanos owned a vessel with others their interests were usually controlling ones, which allowed them to be the managing owners. For many years more sea captains lived in Rocky Nook than in any other part of the town, almost every house being owned by one of them, and many going in the Delano vessels as long as they followed the sea.

I his brig was built at Wells, Maine, and her Captain, Francis Johnson, superintended her construction. \ alued at $9,000 when ready for sea. Carried a crew of six men. Captain Johnson continued to be master of her for several years and the following is an account of some of her earlier voyages. Her first voyage was from Boston to Smyrna and return in 1831 and 1832, ar¬ riving in Boston, January 19, 1832. The following is from a letter that Captain Johnson wrote to Mr. Delano from Boston Quarantine, dated January 19, 1832, as to the homeward passage:

Arrived at last without losing a hair of my head, thank God. Left Smyrna, Odt. 16th, 1831, full of plague and cholera morbus, dying at the rate of 500 per day. Passed the Rock (Gibralter) the 34th day. Off the Western Islands met the westerly gales, when we lay to 10 days to commence with. Such weather as the month of December I have never seen. My whole passage nothing but westerly winds. Still I think myself fortunate for there has not been a day since I left but the brig has been in condition to make most of every slant of wind. The brig possesses every quality we can expedf or wish. She has not met with the slightest damage. I have seen one vessel under jurymasts and fell in with one without any masts and full of water, out of which I took nine men badly frozen and almost exhausted. Were reduced to one gallon of water. Had been exposed to the weather twenty-four days. The mate, poor fellow, with both feet frozen and the lock-j aw. He was soon relieved by the happy stroke of death. The rest of them are doing well. I have met with pleasant weather on the coast. I think it damned hard after being at sea three months to be quarantined, when I have not a man on board who has not eaten his two pounds of beet per day since leaving Smyrna. Whether I have got to lay here one month or two is more than I know. Shall I ever finish this voyage, my patience is threadbare.

In June, the vessel was at St. Petersburg for Boston and November 16, 1833 at New York chartered for Savannah, and from there to Nantes, Rochelle and Philadelphia and returned to New York. Cargo from Savannah, cotton and flour. Amount of charter $1,500, which Captain Johnson considers very good. Captain Johnson wrote Mr. Delano from Brest where he was anchored on account of bad weather, as to the voyage from Savannah, and the letter tells of the hardships the officers and crews underwent at that time on winter passages in these small vessels. The letter is given here:

Dear Sir: I have made my passage by scudding and lying to. The heaviest passage that I ever made. Last Friday, blowing a gale of wind discovered myself in the bay of Brest.

About one p.m. put the brig under double reefed topsail and wore ship every two hours through the night with sea enough to bury her up. This was the most dangerous night I ever spent. At daylight was to the leeward of Brest Harbor, blowing too heavy to expecft any assistance from shore.

I will now give you the situation of my crew who were fatigued out for the want of dry clothes and proper provisions. I have got a good crew and ten days out took them into the cabin and this would not always shelter them from water. Twice on the passage my cabin was filled half full of water. For ten days not a day for drying clothes and for five days at a time not so much as a cup of hot coffee could be obtained. The mate had a felon on his finger. The captain good for nothing and the crew were filled with salt water boils and their feet too much swelled to wear shoes or boots. Nothing but the safety of their lives kept them moving this awful night. In this situation the one chance was to make a harbor by the chart. About ten o'clock squared away, run up the bay about fifteen miles and came to anchor about three p.m. in a fine harbor with a westerly wind. At ten that night, calm. Sunday, blew strong from the west, saw the men on shore, but none came off. At night blowing a gale from the north¬ west, the brig in a good harbor. Monday, a fine day for drying clothes which we stand so much in

Itwasnow blowing heavy from thesouthwest, the brig lying with both anchors ahead. The brig is quarantined for nine days. The brig has sustained by little damage considering the heavy gales we have passed through.

About Christmas, we had a heavy gale from the west lasting three days and before January 1st, an¬ other from the northeast, it commenced with a heavy tempest and for two hours I never saw it blow so heavy. Nothing but gales during the passage. Our damage is, both monkey rails stove in and a part of the bulwarks, lost both swinging booms, broke one top mast, stove the boat, cabin house and caboose, almost everything washed off decks except boat and water. Lost one jib and about one half the fore spencer. The rigging has suffered very much. It is all broke to pieces and washed to the devil. I pity any poor devil that is caught in the Atlantic in an old vessel.

He lived in a house beside his father's and after he had disposed of his vessels occupied himself with the care of his farm, inherited from his father, adjoining the Rocky Nook Wharves, up to the time of his death, in 1903.

Ship Bjalto of Kingston, 459 tons, built at Kingston by Joseph Holmes, in 1834; owned by Joseph Holmes, Alexander Holmes, Paraclete Holmes and Edward Holmes.

She was built in Joseph Holmes' shipyard at the Landing, Jones River, in 1834, and up to that time was the largest vessel ever built in Kingston. Her tonnage was 459 tons and her dimensions were 124 feet long, 28 feet 7 inches wide, and 14 feet 2lA inches deep. She was valued at $25,000 as she sailed from the Cow Yard, Plymouth harbor, ready for sea.

Cornelius Bartlett, a ship carpenter of Kingston, and who worked on her when building, says in his diary as follows: "Mar. 24, 1834. The ship BJalto was launched from Mr. Joseph Holmes' shipyard. very successful launch. Mar. 27th, she was taken down the river. Stopping on the point of the Nook. The tides fell off and she remained there till they came up. While there she was mostly rigged. From there she was taken to Rocky Nook Wharf. Finished rigging, took in ballast, etc., and sailed for Boston. Stopped in the Cow Yard a few days to take in a little more ballast, then went to Boston. Arrived, Apr. 29, 1834.

"On May 9th, she sailed from Boston bound to Savannah, Captain Perez H. Sampson, master; Mr. Edward Holmes, mate. Arriving at Savannah, May 18, 1834. Nine days from Boston after a very boisterous passage.''

In January, 1835, the Bjalto was at Charleston, S. C., Captain Paraclete Holmes, master; Edward Holmes, mate, and sailed for Liverpool with cotton. July 20, 1835, she was at Liverpool ready for sea, bound for Boston with a small cargo, consisting of 160 tons of salt, 100 tons of C. coal and 100 pounds in sovereigns, balance of freight money. Mr. Edward Holmes in a letter to his father, Joseph Holmes, dated Liverpool, July 19, 1835, says, he expebts a 40 days passage.

January 20, 1843, s^e sailed from Boston in ballast bound to Mobile, Captain W. S. i\dams of Kingston, master, and on the passage in a heavy gale of wind, the ship was hove down and they cut away the mizzenmast to make her keep off and so lost it with all rigging and sails attached, and on account of this disaster went to New Orleans to repair. She then loaded cotton for Europe and returned July 27, 1844. Mr. Joseph Holmes says he has some prospers of selling the BJalto but if not sold shall take her to Kingston and give her a thorough repairing. She was not sold: repaired at Rocky Nook Wharf and was continued in the cotton and tobacco trade under Captains Adams, Chase and Hansen.

A letter from Joseph Holmes, dated July 27, 1844, to his son, Captain Paraclete Holmes at London in the ship Herculean , after acknowledging receiving a letter from the captain concerning a freight he had accepted from New York, amounting to the sum of 1,400 pounds, says in part: "Small business enough, but we must make the best of it so long as we are doing as well and a little better than our neighbors. The Bjalto arrived safe, short passage. The Belize gone to Smyrna, the September to Port au Platt, the Oflober to Curasao, the January , May Bee , June^Mugubl and November ail are fishing this season. Have some prospedl of selling th eBJalto. If I do not shall take her to Kingston and give her a thorough repairing." This letter shows the whereabouts of his small vessels and what they were doing at this time, and an owner's dependence on his captains in chartering vessels.

In March, 1850, she was at New Orleans from European ports, leaking 600 strokes an hour and in bad condition. She was repaired so that Captain Peter Hansen, her master, thought he could get her to Boston and was loaded with a light cargo of pork and cotton and sailed for Boston. On the passage she leaked very badly but finally reached Boston, was repaired and sailed for the South with a cargo of hay and ice. Soon after leaving port she again leaked and was finally abandoned with eight feet of water in her hold; the cap¬ tain, officers and crew being taken off by a ship bound to New York, where they arrived April 21, 1850.

The ship %ialto was one of Joseph Holmes' most successful vessels, earning for her owners a large amount of money. Under the command of Captains Sampson, Holmes and Adams of Kingston, and last bv Captain Peter Hansen, who from his long service with Mr. Holmes as captain and mate in his vessels, could almost be called a Kingston man, she was a truly Kingston ship and she usually had some Kingston men as officers and members of her crew.

The trade in which she wras engaged was hard on a ship, the cotton cargoes being stowed so close that the decks and beams were often started and the return cargoes of iron, salt, coal and marble, very heavy, causing a vessel to labor in a sea more than with a usual general cargo. This greatly strained a vessel and the T{ialto must have been strongly built to withstand the many years of constant use with little money spent for repairs, and the fact that she was an old vessel when lost and had never been sold, shows how well she was always regarded by her owners. The Holmes', being builders as well as owners of vessels, usually sold them when they were comparatively new, and so were not called upon to expend any considerable amount of money for repairs, as is always necessary after some years at sea. When they sold a vessel they had one or two more ready for sea to take the place ol the one sold and thus their fleets were constantly increased.

November 19, 1843, t^ie ship 'Rialto of Kingston, Mass., Captain William S. Adams, was reported arriving at New Orleans, 33 days' passage from the Downs, England. Captain Adams writes Joseph Holmes that th t \Rjalto's last passage is the shortest from the Downs that has been made.

The following letter from Captain Adams gives the account of the cutting away of the ' TZjalto's mizzenmast on the passage from Boston to Mobile and New Orleans in ballast:

I arrived here, this morning with the loss of mizzen¬ mast, sails and rigging attached, foresail and foretop¬ sail. On the 26th January while scudding in a hard gale from the N. W. was struck by a heavy sea; shifted the ballast and carried away all of the stanchions for¬ ward of the after-hatch. The ship lay twelve hours with her lee-rail entirely under water and lower-yards in the water. I tried every method to get the ship before the wind started the water on deck but to no purpose. Finding her ballast still shifting, cut the mizzenmast away, when she fell off nearly before the wind and sea wrhich shifted the ballast back some. The wreck of the mast cleared itself and she came to again and lay with her lee-rail entirely under water, until we trimmed the ballast and got the deck out of water in about twelve hours after she was hove down. She made no water, if she had she would have sunk before we righted her.

I can get rigging for 1 1 cts. and good russia canvass for 18H cts. bolt and the mast and spars very cheap. Freights are quoted at 1 ct. I cannot get that today but have engaged at 15-16 cts. to Liverpool for 1500

Sidney George Fisher, in his book entitled "The True Daniel Webster" in the chapter on the Northeastern Boundry Dispute, speaks of the brig Qreole , which vessel was engaged in the winter ol 1841 and 1 842 in carrying a cargo of slaves and merchandise from Richmond, ^ a-> to ^ ew Orleans. The slaves rose upon the master and crew and took the brig into

Captain William S. Adams

Nassau, British West Indies, where the authorities set the slaves at liberty, England having some years before abolished slavery in all her colonies.

Mr. Webster at that time was Secretary of State, living on his farm in Marshfield, Mass., near Kingston, when his duties at Washington per¬ mitted, and his settlement of the Qreole case and the Northeastern Boundary Dispute with Lord Ashburton, who represented England, aroused much unfavorable criticism in the North, which later greatly affecffed his political career.

The story that connects the ship \Rjalto with the brig Qreole is, that about that time, one of Joseph Holmes' vessels fell in with a slaver at sea, short of food and water. On being furnished with the necessary supplies payment was made in Spanish doubloons, which were brought home to Joseph Holmes. The dates on these gold pieces were, 1837, and in this year, Spanish gold was common in the coast towns of the South, there being many cargoes of salt brought to them from Cadiz, Spain. As the Qreole was owned in the South and bound to a southern port, it can be easily understood why Spanish gold was used, instead of American or English gold, especially on board ship.

The first part of the winter of 1841 and 1842 Captain Adams in the shlp^ialto arrived at New Orleans, and going or coming would place him in the track of the brig Qreole. No other of the larger vessels can be placed in that vicinity at that time. The smaller vessels belonging to Joseph Holmes would not have had any provisions to spare, as their voyages were short and no extra supplies were carried. The larger ones, owing to the length of their passages, were obliged to have a greater quantity and the "J{ialto could have easily furnished the brig all that was required, which must have amounted to quite a sum, as there were a number of doubloons brought home.

In these years, Mr. Holmes' vessels were constantly visiting southern ports and on that account any transaction with a vessel of the Qreole's, description would naturally have been kept as quiet as possible, in both the North and South. If our story is correct and the brig had not received any provisions and so been unable to have reached Nassau, Mr. Webster would not have had this additional dispute to increase his difficulties with Lord Ashburton in his final settlement with England.

Mr. Webster's home in Marshfield was only eight miles from Kingston, the hailing port of the^ffz//o and the home of her builders, owners and commander. It would be a strange circumstance if one of his neighbor's ships was the means of bringing the question of slavery into the affair.

Mr. Alexander Holmes of Kingston has the model of this ship and also a painting of her as she was entering the port of Marseilles, Paraclete Holmes, master, in 1838. This paint¬ ing is done in oils, by Pelligrini, who was a famous French artist of marine pictures of that period. The model shows her with very full bows and heavy quarters, but for all this, she seemed to make fair passages. It was carrying capacity and not speed that seemed to be required in those days and the ships of this style were called "Cotton boxes."

Captain William S. Adams was born in Kingston in 1808 and was a son of Captain Charles Adams of Kingston. Marrying Lucy Eveline, a daughter of Joseph Holmes, he sailed in his ships for a longer period than any of the other captains, with the exception

Like Captain Holmes he was a very competent ship-master and business man, and at different times took charge of nearly all of Joseph Holmes' larger ships engaged in the cotton trade. After being placed in command he soon acquired an in¬ terest in the vessels he sailed which was retained until they were sold or lost.

In a letter to Joseph Holmes, dated July 12, 1830, he is mentioned as second mate of the ship Helen Mar of Kingston, having probably joined this ship on her first voyage, December 18, 1829. The captain of this vessel was Theophilus Burgess with Benjamin Cook of Kingston, mate. Later he was mate with Captain Holmes in the ship BJalto, and when Captain Holmes took over the Herculean he became the Bjalto's captain.

He retired from the sea soon after 1850, but was employed by Joseph Holmes in looking after his vessels when in port, continuing to do this until Mr. Holmes' death.

Brig Belize of Kingston, 162 tons, built at Kingston by Joseph Holmes, David Beal, measurer, in 1838; owned by Joseph Holmes and Edward Holmes.

The first captain of the brig Belize was Allen Dawes of Duxbury, in 1838. She was engaged in voyages to the West Indies and Honduras, James H. Dawes of Kingston, mate, and later master. In 1844 she made a voyage to Smyrna. In connection with one of this brig's voyages in August, 1847, James H. Dawes, master, the following is found in R. B. Forbes' book, "Notes on Wrecks and Rescues":

The Ship Mameluke and Brig Belize The new ship Mameluke , Captain Christiansen, of 1,000 tons, owned by Delano & Co., sailed from New York in August, 1847, bound for Liverpool. She had on board, all told, 64 persons. Among the passen¬ gers were two ladies. Shortly after leaving port she was overtaken by a southwest hurricane; and as her rigging was slack, she was kept before the wind under close-reefed topsails and reefed foresail, to set it up. The gale increasing, the fore and mizzen topsails were taken in; but hardly had they been furled when the ship broached to, a tremendous sea broke on board, threw the ship nearly on her beam ends, swept away her deck-house and forty-two persons, broke the mizzen-mast halfway up, the mainmast just below the top, the fore topmast and jib-boom at the caps, leav¬ ing the fore-yard a cockbill. The hatches burst open, the water rushed between decks, and in a very short time she became waterlogged. She had a full poop deck, and on this the survivors, 22 in number, sought shelter. The sea rolled over her waist and tore away the wreck of the broken spars and sails and smashed the boats. Most of the water and provisions were sub¬ merged, and only such scraps as could be fished from the cabin were left for the people to eat.

The first night was dreadful. The tempest howled with unabated violence, and the waves frequently rolled over the poop; so that the people had to make themselves fast to keep from being washed away. During the next day and the day following several vessels passed, and some changed their course as if they had not seen them. One approached so near that a man was seen on her quarterdeck surveying them through a spy-glass but she too "passed by on the other side." At last a small brig crossed her stern; and the captain hailed them and told them to be of good cheer, for he would lie by them while he had a stick standing. She was under a close-reefed fore top¬ sail and close-reefed fore and aft mainsail, and rounded to under the lee of the wreck. The sea was then too rough for any boat to live. At the end of twenty-four hours the gale moderated, but the sea was still very rough; yet the brig hove to and hoisted out her only boat. It was manned by the mate and three seamen, leaving only three persons on board. The two ladies and two men were first rescued, and when the ladies reached the brig they fainted from sheer exhaustion. The boat could not take more than five persons at a time in addition to her crew, and consequently had to make six trips before all were rescued. Captain Chris¬ tiansen was the last to leave the wreck, which shortly afterward must have gone down, for it was not seen again.

The brig was the Belize of Kingston, Mass., com¬ manded by Capt. James H. Dawes, bound from Bos¬ ton for Port-au-Prince. She encountered the same gale which wrecked the Mameluke and had to throw her deck-load overboard to ease her. As his vessel was very small, and the people saved were much exhausted, Captain Dawes decided to put into New York, the nearest port. He and his mate surrendered their berths to the ladies and bunked out on the lockers; most of the men had to remain on deck, although the sailors gave up the forecastle to those who were suffering from exhaustion. All that the captain, his mate, and crew could do was done to make the poor, shipwrecked people comfortable; and they had the pleasure of landing them in New York. The brig performed her voyage to Port-au-Prince, but upon her return to Boston the party who had chartered her refused to pay the charter because she had deviated from her course. In vain Captain Dawes showed that most of the people he had saved would have died from expos¬ ure had he attempted to take them to the West Indies; the charterer was unrelenting, - he had "the law on his side." Captain Dawes sailed the brig on shares. He sued the charterer, who employed Rufus Choate to defend the suit. In the mean time the Boston Post exposed the story. Mr. Choate told his client that he must have the case settled by arbitration, for though he had the law on his side, humanity was against him, and no jury could be found to decide in his favor. It was referred, but the arbitrators were confined to the

After such an experience one would naturally sup¬ pose that Captain Dawes would, like many others, find it convenient to see as little of wrecks as possible. To his lasting honor be it recorded that hardly had he been again in command before he saw a brig in distress and ran out of his way to give her relief. It was the brig Ciudad Bolivar in a sinking condition. The weather was boisterous; and at great risk he took off all hands, twelve in number, and landed them safely in the West Indies. He incurred the risk of sav¬ ing them at the expense of feeding them afterward, for he sailed this vessel on shares, as he had done the Belize. His owner did not lose a cent. Subsequently, while in command of the ship Matchless of Boston, of which he was part owner, he fell in with the ship Japan of Bath, Captain Emmons, off Cape Horn, bound from Cardiff for San Francisco. He ran off his course, and when he reached her found she was on fire and could not be saved. Captain Dawes rounded to; and though a heavy swell was running, he res¬ cued all hands, twenty-five in number, and carried twenty of them to San Francisco. He spoke an English bark which agreed to take five on board, and he supplied her with water and provisions for their use.

While others have been applauded and rewarded very properly, Captain Dawes has lost over three thousand dollars by his humanity. His father and two brothers were shipmasters, and all had rescued many men from wrecks, of which no note was taken. Captain Dawes is 64 years of age, lives at Kingston, Mass., and is one of the Trustees of the Boston Marine Society, respected by all who know him. The party who fleeced him boasted that he made $500 clear by the operation; but he has been many years in his grave.

The ship Herculean was the larg¬ est and most expensive vessel that had been built in Kingston at this time. Her dimensions were 135 feet 9 inches long, 29 feet 6 inches wide and 14 feet 9 inches deep and was valued at $32,000 when ready for sea. She was built in 1839 and her first voyage was from Boston to Mobile in October, 1839, 22 days' passage. Captain Benjamin Cook of Kingston, master. She was used in the cotton trade between Southern ports and Europe till she was sold in 1850. About 1843 Captain Cook gave up his command and Captain Paraclete Holmes was in charge of her most of the time until she was sold.

In going to Southern ports from Boston and New York these vessels often carried passen¬ gers. Sometimes the cotton cargoes were taken from New York to England and France. In letters to Joseph Holmes from Captain Cook, as to her first voyage we find he had a number of passengers and that the ship was very fast and that she was much admired in Mobile. Captain Cook says:

The ship is in every respecft a first-rate vessel, she as my rigging was slack and crew very light, which leaks but very little and out-sailed anything I fell in made it necessary for me to be careful about carrying with on the passage. I do not consider it a fair trial sail. She steered like a pilot boat.

From Mobile she went to Havre with cotton and there is called as "fine a ship as ever came into this port and a great number of people came on board every day to look at her.'' She went from Havre to New Orleans with two cabin and ninety-five Swiss passengers. The next voyage was to Liverpool, cargo 1781 bales of cotton, 100 bales of which was on deck. The freight charge in money was 3,282 pounds. In one of Captain Holmes' letters as to a voyage from New York to Liverpool, he says that June 25, 1846, on the easterly edge of the Grand Banks he passed the schooner November, Joseph Holmes, owner. He says he tried to speak her but could not without hauling in all the studding sails and gave it up, supposing they were doing all they could toward a voyage. At this time he speaks in his letters of constantly seeing brigs and schooners owned by Joseph Holmes, on his passages or in southern ports. There is a story that Joseph Holmes said when told that two of his vessels were in collision off Hatteras, that he should have to stop building, as there was not room in the Atlantic for them. As he owned them both he could not get damages.

Under date of December 27, 1 841 , Captain Cook writes to Joseph Holmes from Savannah that on his passage from Philadelphia he spoke the schooner January of Kingston, Mass., a fine new vessel with a black ball in her foresail, bound to North Carolina.

February 5, 1844, Captain Paraclete Holmes writes his father, Joseph Holmes, that all their ships have a black ball in their spankers and if you see any reports of that kind you will be able to judge who it is. They are all to sail about the same time. Owners were now beginning to use some distinguishing mark on some sail on their vessels so that they could be more easily identified when spoken at sea, or entering port, and Joseph Holmes seems to have been one of the very first owners to adopt such a device, his schooners and brigs having a black ball in their foresails. By 1850, the packet ships belonging to various lines running between New York and Boston to England had some distinguishing mark on their sails; the vessels of the Black Ball Line showing a black ball in the foretopsail, the Red Star Line a red star and the Red Cross Line a red cross. The names of the ships then owned by him and their masters all being then engaged in the cotton trade and loading for Europe were as follows:

Captain Chase relieved Captain Paraclete Holmes, who had been in the Herculean a number of years, taking command in Odfober, 1846, at Boston and continued in the ship as master till August, 1849. Captain Peter Hansen, who had been mate on Mr. Holmes' ships, took charge of the Rialto, succeeding Captain Chase, continuing as master of the 'Rjalto till she was lost in 1850. A letter from Captain Chase to Joseph Holmes, dated Havre, December, 1846, gives an account of the narrow escape of the Herculean from disaster by fire at sea. The letter reads:

Dear Sir: I wrote you the evening previous and on the morning of sailing from Charleston, informing you of my proceedings and prospeds up to the latest moment. I have now to inform you that soon after closing my last we came safely over the Bar, dis¬ charged the pilot and bore away to the east with a fine breeze from the S.W. At two p.m. wind freshening took in topgallant sails. At three furled jib and main- sail. At four close reefed the topsails fore and aft and reefed the foresail. At five the weather wearing an exceedingly wild appearance took in the mizzentopsail, clewed up the fore-topsail and while the men were in the acff of laying aloft to furl it a whirlwind was seen approaching from N.W. The helm was in¬ stantly hove hard aport but before the ship had time to answer it the squall was upon us in great fury, i blowing the fore-topsail all away below the reefs and splitting the mainsail from the reef-band to the foot rope and in spite of all we could do to the contrary, the ship broached to, head to the north. Furled the maintopsail, got the star-board fore-sheet aft and finally succeeded in getting her again before the wind. Scudded through the night.

The 23rd, 24th, and 25th, we had better weather and I had got all things right again when on the 26th we had another violent gale from W. N.W., which soon reduced us to a reefed foresail. The ship behaved well, scudded like a yacht, but unfortunately at two o'clock p.m. while a heavy squall of hail was passing over us a single flash of forked lightening was seen just forward of the maintop the report of which was exactly like that from a cannon. The effedt on the ship , was like that of a heavy weight having fallen with great violence on the deck, causing her to vibrate for several seconds and severely stunning the men about the decks. After a close examination no marks of its having struck the hull or spars could be found.

At six o'clock the same evening a strong smell of gas and smoke issuing from the after-hatch was per¬ ceptible. The foresail was immediately hauled up the helm put to port, brought the ship's head to the 1 south, cleared away and opened the main-hatch with all possible dispatch when the cotton was found burn¬ ing freely around the mainmast. We all went at it like so many tigers, breaking out cargo and hoisting it up, but from its having been uncommonly hard screwed, our progress was very slow. In the meantime, the fire 1 having got air, was spreading rapidly having lit into * a blaze and showing the chances of subduing it from 1 that direction much against us. At seven and one-half I o'clock p.m. we cut through the deck to the windward of the mainmast and brought a cask of water near the hole knocked out a portion of the head and let it down upon the fire. This had a very good effebt and by following it up with water from the pumps, we were enabled to keep it under and prevent it spread¬ ing until we had broken out and got around it finally extinguishing it at eleven o'clock. At midnight again, bore away.

Here much might be said upon the horror of such a situation, but knowing well how little sympathy is usually extended towards such cases, I forbear, hop¬

On the second of December, near the longitude of the Grand Bank, took strong gales from the N.E. with high seas which afterward shifted to S.E. and continued until about the 15th of December when the wind came round to westward and gave us a fine run.

Came into the Channel on the 21st and hove to off the port of Havre on the night of the 23rd, took a pilot on the morning of the 24th, with the wind from the east blowing direbtly out of the harbor. On the afternoon of the 25th, I with others made a signal for a steam boat, but being nearest to the Mole Head I had the misfortune to be the first served. The boat came out, took our hawser and we clewed up the sails. The boat pointed her head towards the harbor, and when very near the mouth, which is narrow, she found herself likely to come in contadt with two outward bound French coasters. She cut our hawser, dodged out of the way and in attempting to steer the ship between them, we struck both of them, one on each bow, damaging the ship to the amount of about one hundred dollars, and the other vessels together about four hundred more.

This affair is now in the processes of law and every one says I shall have to pay the bills for the whole damage, upon the principal that any foreign vessel damaging a French one is doomed to pay the costs. But I shall not pay it until French law or French justice compels me to do so. I contend that the owners, master, two officers of the Herculean had no more control over her than if they had all been in Paris. I have endeavored to take all proper measures for a speedy and satisfactory settlement of the light¬ ning scrape. We threw overboard about fifteen bales of cotton which together with the damage received by water I suppose will be borne by general average on ship's freight and cargo, but what the amount will be, I cannot tell, not having yet broken bulk and I expect it will be several days yet before things will be in proper train for doing so.

I hope you will not think this long story unneces¬ sary, the ship must lose some money and what is worse she must lose time which under present circum¬ stances is more than money. I wish you to know exactly how I am situated which I have endeavored to communicate and must acknowledge that I either manage my affairs very badly or my evil star, it there is such a thing, is much in the ascendancy. I leave you to judge which, and ask as much of your charity as you can conscientiously allow me, and remain your unfortunate and

There is no date in the above letter as to when the Herculean left Charleston, but a previous letter shows it to have been November 22, 1846; cargo, cotton. Considering the weather and the delay caused by the fire, she made a very good passage.

This is the only time that any of the Holmes' vessels were ever damaged by fire, which is remarkable when we consider the length of time and the number of their vessels engaged in the cotton trade. Sailing vessels carrying cotton for cargo were often on fire and some were lost from this cause. Even today, when steamers are used for this business, it is quite common to hear of the vessel and cargo damaged by fire and they are furnished with all modern equipment for extinguishing fire at sea.

Captain Benjamin Cook was born in Kingston in 1809 and died in 1880. He lived in a large white house on the Wapping Road, this place being now called Spring Brook Farm. Although he always lived in Kingston very little is known of the voyages he may have made in Kingston vessels. A letter to Joseph Holmes from the captain of the ship Helen Mar of Kingston, dated July 12, 1830, speaks of him as the mate and leaving her to go in another ship.

From this it appears that he must have gone to sea quite young to have become mate at this time, for he was then twenty-one years old. In 1839, he was master of the ship Herculean of Kingston, new, and continued in her until 1843, as 'm t^le 'Remarks" on the voyages of this vessel. The next year, a letter to Joshua Delano from London, shows him to be in command of the ship zAlesto of Kingston, owned by John Sever and Joshua Delano of Kingston, and nothing more can be found to connedl him with any Kingston vessels.

The oil painting of the Herculean was done for him on his first voyage in her, 1840, as this was the only time the ship was in Liverpool while in his charge. The artist's name is not given anywhere on the painting, but he must have been one of the best of that day as can be seen by a careful study of the picture. From the position of the ship the figurehead can easily be recognized and compared with the original.

January 28, 1849, the Herculean was at Glasgow, Scotland, with a cargo of cotton from Apalachiola. Her master, Captain Isaiah Chase of West Harwich, Mass., who had been in her the past three years, writes Joseph Holmes of the ship's arrival, June 23, 1849, after a passage of forty-six days, and that she has leaked very freely all of the passage. In consequence of this the pumps were badly worn, refusing to work, and new ones were absolutely necessary. He experts that the cargo is considerably damaged, as at times, there was two feet of water in her. In closing this letter he says, "I intend to sail for Boston about the 18th of July with about the same cargo as last year, but, un¬ fortunately, at much less rates, only eighteen shillings per ton for pig iron, and other things in proportion, with probably about as many passengers as last year at the same rate."

I wrote you by the last steamer informing you of my arrival, etc. Have now to say that we have com¬ pleted discharging, found some considerable damaged cargo, but not half as much as I expected. Have not yet settled or received the freight, expedt to do so in a day or two and have no doubts but I shall remit to London one thousand five hundred pounds before the next mail for the U. S. We have dis¬ charged as much ballast as we dare to and am in momentary expectation of receiving iron. The caulk¬ ing I mentioned in my last will be completed to-day together with the lower deck. The seams outside were found much harder than I expected to find them and I do not hesitate to say that the whole trouble with the ship is in the bow and that will never be remedied until it is strengthened with bolts and extra breast hooks. I do not think that reflects upon the credit of the ship at all, on the contra, it is wonderful or rather surprising to me how she has managed to carry such an immense weight hanging on her stem for so long a time. It is the only part of her that I have seen show the least signs of weakness. The expense of caulking the lower deck may he more than you counted upon, but when I joined the ship Captain Holmes advised me to have it done the first oppor¬ tunity. It had got to be very open and water spilt there went directly into the lower hole, this, with passengers is sometimes very annoying. I shall write you again by the next steamer.

A letter from Captain Chase from West Har¬ wich to Mr. Holmes, dated August 27, 1 849, shows that the Herculean arrived in Boston the last of the month, but no further account can be found in Joseph Holmes' letters concerning the re¬ moval of her figurehead. It has always been told that it was taken off on account of its great weight, but nothing was ever known about it making her leak so badly until Captain Chase's

From what Captain Chase writes as to strengthening the ship forward, this extensive alteration must have been done in Boston after his last voyage in her, when a smaller or billet-head was fitted on in its place, very likely by carpenters sent up from the King¬ ston shipyard, as Joseph Holmes always repaired his own vessels, if possible. It had been on the ship ten years and after it was taken off, was brought to Kingston and fastened to the westerly end of the second story of the rigging and sail loft in the Holmes shipyard at the Landing, remaining there until the building was torn down by Edward Holmes a few years before his death in 1888. For several years after this the figure lay on the ground among the old timbers in the yard, finally coming into the possession of Mr. Elsworth C. Bailey. It now stands among the shrubs on the grounds of his residence in Kingston facing toward the Massachusetts Bay, never again to be washed by the seas of the Western Ocean on a winter's passage, or by the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean Sea.

A few of these full-length figureheads are still to be found in some of the seaport towns of New England, but they are becoming more rare with each passing year and are hardly to be compared in size or modeling to this that came from the bows of the Herculean.

From 1849, when the ship arrived in Boston and it was brought to Kingston, up to the present time it has always been exposed to the weather, but in spite of this is still in a remarkable state of preservation.

The figure is seven feet tall and weighs about 800 pounds, and with the exception of the right knee and arm is carved entire from a pine log.

I he shipc Alesto of Kingston, 420 tons, built at Kingston by Lysander Bartlett in 1840; owned by John Sever, James N. Sever, Benjamin Delano, Joshua Delano, Melzar Whitten of Kingston, and Henry Whiting, Josiah Finney and W. S. Finney of Plymouth.

Henry Whiting was her first master, but did not stay in her long, for in 1844 she was reported to be loading in London in command of Captain Benjamin Cook of Kingston.

The picture of this ship is from an oil painting that Captain Cook had painted for himsell. The date on it is 1846 and the artist's name is C. F. Feeleler. The vessel is shown leaving or entering a Spanish Port and there is no further record of her.

This was the largest vessel built on Jones River above the present railroad bridge. In November, 1846, this ship was at New Orleans, loading for Rotterdam. Robbins, master. Colonel John Sever's daughter Emily says that the ship JQeodes was launched at mid¬ night and that tar barrels were burned on both banks of the river to give light to the workmen and people viewing the launch. At the time of launching the night tides were much higher than in the daytime and on account of the ship's size the highest tides were needed for a successful launch.

A book entitled "Old Ships of New England,'' published by the Lauriat Company of Boston, in 1923, contains pictures of many of the more famous sailing vessels, and among them is a picture of the ship JQeodes of Boston, Captain Edward Graves, enter¬ ing Brouwershaven on the 19th of May, 1856, coming from Samarang. It is painted by Spin of Amsterdam. This shows the ship to have been owned in Boston at that time.

Through the courtesy of Mr. C. B. Webster of the C. B. Webster Company of Boston, who compiled the book for Charles E. Lauriat Company, the picture of the JQeodes, entering Brouwershaven, is reproduced here.

The picture of the bark Stafford of Kingston, now owned (in 1924) by Alexander Holmes of Kingston, and painted by an unknown marine artist, is very similar to the one of the ffeodes, so much so that it seems as though it was the work of the same man, as the position of the vessels, the way the sails are drawing and condition of the sea are exabtly alike in both pictures. Pictures of the ffjalto of Kingston and Hropontis of Salem show a like similarity and we know in this case both were painted by the same artist at Marseilles at about the same time. The only difference is that the Propontis is under all plain sail on the starboard tack and the ffjalto under shorten sail on the port tack.

February 1, 1842, the schooner June was at Kingston, Mass., ready for sea in command of Captain Luther Crowell. She was used for fishing, coasting and West India voyages, and when new she was spoken off the southern coast by Captain Paraclete Holmes of ship Herculean. Captain John A. Morse was in her many years and was in command when she was lost on the

An old letter of that time to Joseph Holmes, reads that some merchants of Charles¬ ton, S. C., have a bill against Captain Morse and owners of the schooner June , as part of the cargo of rice was saved from the wreck of the schooner and sold and the proceeds used for protest, Captain's board and expenses home, the owners of the vessel ought to bear a proportion of the expenses.

Alexander Holmes has the half or working model of the schooner which shows her to have been a full bowed craft with a long floor and easy run. During these years there were large numbers of vessels of this size and rig used in the business of fishing, coasting and West India voyages and although not built for speed, good passages were made and they were always in demand; their draft of water allowing them to visit ports not reached by larger vessels. Carrying small crews with no long waits for cargo, their run¬ ning expenses were small as compared to the larger vessels and little difficulty was experi¬ enced in the showing of a profit for the year's work. Later, when railroads became the carriers, business was centered by them in the larger ports and the small vessels were no longer used as packets and coasters, and few were built, except for fishing and carrying lumber from eastern ports.

Unlike his brothers, Paraclete and Edward, he never went to sea, but early in life became an owner in his father's vessels, assisting him in their construction and outfitting. As the business increased he was obliged to make frequent visits to Boston and New York to see to the chartering and general management of the vessels when in port, with the result that he soon acquired a large acquaintance in the shipping circles of these cities. Whenever a vessel was sold, that was not in Kingston, he usually attended to the business and letters to his father often speak of the offers he had secured lor them when in Boston or New York.

In 1839, he leased the upper shipyard at the Landing of John Drew and began building vessels for himself, but retained his holdings in those owned with his father. Previous to this he had owned this part of the Landing, conveying it back to the Drews a short time before leasing. None of his letters or books are to be found, so only a brief account can be given about the vessels he had built for him in the old Drew building yard.

There are two paintings, two models, and three sheer and spar plans of them left, which are now owned by his grandson, Alexander Holmes, of Kingston.

The last vessel built for him was the brig Franks Henry in 1854, and becoming president of the Old Colony Rail Road Company in that year, he soon after gave up all of his interests in shipping. He was president of the railroad company for over twelve years, retiring from this office in 1866 owing to his health.

On his marriage he took up his residence in a house on the Main Street near his father s and opposite to the Town Green, afterward building the house on his large estate near the Great Bridge over Jones River, now owned and occupied by his grandson, Alexander,

Schooner 'Brazos of Kingston, 99 tons, built at Kingston by Nathaniel D. Drew in 1 841 ; owned by Alexander Holmes, Dawson Lincoln, Benjamin and Joshua Delano, and Melzar Whitten.

Like many others who lived here and com¬ manded vessels, he commenced his seafaring life at an early age. With the exception of a voyage or two in the ship Helen Mar , after she was sold he always went in his father's vessels.

When twenty-two years old he was mate of the brig Sophia and Cli^a of Kingston, bound from Boston to Lisbon, and the following is a partial account of the voyage:

"The brig, Sophia and Eliza, was 85 feet long, 23 feet 6 inches wide, and 11 feet 9 inches deep, and her tonnage was 206 tons. She was built in Kingston by Joseph Holmes, owned by him and Joseph W. Plasket of Nantucket and registered at the Plymouth Custom House as built in 1824. She was sold to Duxbury in 1841 and registered as hailing from Duxbury rigged as a bark. We only know of one voyage made by this vessel which was from Boston to Lisbon, touching at Gibralter and from there to Callao, Peru, and return to Boston. She sailed from Boston, September 27, 1826, Joseph W. Plaskett, master, with Paraclete Holmes, who afterward commanded his father's vessels so successfully, making his first voyage as mate. Cargo, staves. The mate writing his father, Joseph Holmes from Boston, September 21, 1826, says, in part, as to the prospers of the voyage as follows:

I rec'd your letter and my clothes. We expedt to Capt. Plaskett says he does not know how long he sail Sunday morning wind and weather permitting, shall stay out. We must ship for a voyage anywhere Our crew I dislike very much, very light but pre- from 6 to 18 months. I shall not. If I can't do nothsume sober men or rather boys. The vessel is in ing better before that time I will quit the sea and good plight for sea going. I see nothing to prevent dig clams.

We move very slowly owing to weather. We was chance, write me. I expeft to go from Lisbon to to have sailed Tuesday but owing to the weather New Orleans, from there to Liverpool and elseand some other things we shall not sail till tomorrow, where, according to the Old Man's feelings. We Our crew are shipped and on board such as they be. stay out till everybody else is wore out. I shall All of them light hands. We have but one able bodied not write again before we sail, you will remember man among them. I dislike some movements on me to all.

Alexander Holmes

He evidently soon got any "movements" he disliked, "regulated" on getting to sea, for nothing more is heard about the matter. He never had to dig the clams he speaks of in his first letter, but completed the voyage and continued to follow the sea constantly nearly twenty-five years longer, in command of his father's largest vessels, until he retired about 1855 to become president of the Warren Insurance Company, a marine insurance company of Boston.

In Captain Plaskett's letter to his father on his arrival at Lisbon he speaks of his ability and knowledge of things pertaining to the sea, when, as a very young man, he was show¬ ing a business capacity rare, even in those days of young commanders, in one of his age.

The letter of Captain Plaskett to Mr. Holmes reporting the brig's arrival at Lisbon and the quaint wording of his commendation of the mate, his son, is worthy of attention and must have been a source of great gratification to his father, although he had two other sons, older and younger, of equal, if not greater ability, Alexander and Edward.

We arrived last Tuesday the 28th after a long passage with constant easterly gales, 35 days after passing the Western Isles a distance ran in four or five days good wind. But I think all done their duty. Other vessels have had long passages as ourselves. Business appears dull and I cannot tell our future destination till I get Prattick. My cargo will pay a fair freight and if a return one can be procured she will pay her way. She has performed her passage without accident to herself although with constant side winds and deck load, she lay all under water to lee-ward. I am as well pleased with her qualities as ever. The latter part of the passage, she leaked some but on arrival it subsided so it must be in her upper works and easily come at. My passage except in length has been pleasant. My officers good and temperate, crew quiet, no difficulty. Your son possesses more within than his exterior to a stranger might judge. He has strong powers of mind and takes hold of things at the right end. A rough exterior many times pos¬ sesses a good heart, he is virtuous and temperate. I would sooner, notwithstanding his age, give him a vessel than one half the masters I have known.

The next we hear of her is in a letter to Joseph Holmes from his son, dated September 8, 1827, from Chorillos, a little port near Callao, Peru. In this he gives an idea of what the conditions were in Peru at this time in the revolt of the Peruvians against Spain. The letter in part is:

We lay at this dreadful place. We have discharged have had to purchase a chain, for which we pay the best part of our cargo and been down to the the round sum of $400.00. island of San Lorenzo and ballasted our vessel. Took in two tons for the General Brown, a New York ship, that has been condemned for having Spanish property on board. She had 12 boxes of knives which were entered as knives, but they were very long I think more properly termed, swords.

However, she is I think a lawful prize and I believe universally thought so, although a beautiful ship. She sailed from Gibraltar in company with us. It was reported that the Patriot cruisers were after her guns before she got under way but it appears nothing troubled her until she got round Cape Horn.

How much longer he will hold out is un¬ certain. It makes it very hard for the ship¬ ping for at this place they are exposed to a very heavy swell although in a constant

As to where we are going I hear some talking sometimes we are going to Panama to carry troops, at other times we are going to Valparaiso with troops, at other times we are going down the coast after a load of wood and thousands of other places too numerous to mention or sum them all up. I do not as yet know our future doom but I wish and hope that we shall come home where I can find you all enjoying good health and spirits, which is the sincere wish of your affedlionate son.

In this letter the mate speaks of their having to buy a chain. This was for a cable and at this time and for some years after, most of the cables used on merchant vessels were made of hemp, Russian hemp being the best. Oftentimes if the bottom of an anchorage was covered with rocks, or foul as it is called in the letter, the hemp cable would be chafed off, the vessel losing her anchor and going adrift, and if the weather was very bad be driven on shore and so lost. When chain cables became common no thought was ever given to the bottom of a harbor as to rocks, and few vessels were wrecked by the parting of their cables.

In addressing their letters to their father, Joseph Holmes, his sons show him the greatest resped:, commencing them with "Honoured Sir" or "Respeded Parent," and there was little said except what concerned the vessel or the business in hand.

At the present time this brig would be considered a very small vessel to make so long a voyage, but it was sometimes made in smaller ones and little was said of the hardships the officers and crews endured, confined for many months on board, in cramped quarters with a passage often greatly prolonged by head winds and bad weather.

One could wish more letters could have been found telling of her further proceedings on the South American coast and the voyage home. But no more is known, so it appears that soon after her return Joseph Holmes disposed of his interest.

This was the first vessel belonging to him to round Cape Horn and there is no record of any other, until 1850, when the ship T^aritan, with the mate of the Sophia and £li^ay as master, went to San Francisco from Boston and return.

After Paraclete Holmes' return from the West Coast of South America, being then twenty-four years old, he was given his first command, the schooner Pamela of Kingston, 88 tons, built and owned by his father.

He writes home that the schooner sailed from New York, February 7, 1829, for Gibraltar and had a passage out of 29 days. Very bad weather for 12 days, had no sail set but a three-reefed foresail, but no damage done. From Gibraltar the vessel went to Malaga, loading for New York, where she arrived after a passage of 44 days. The freight money was $1,000 for the voyage, cargo out being flour, with deck-load of staves, and she carried a crew of six men.

The pass or indenture issued by the United States Government for the vessel's voyage, signed by the President, John Quincy Adams, and Henry Clay, Secretary of State, is owned by Alexander Holmes of Kingston, and a picffure of it is shown here.

In 1828, Joseph Holmes launched the full-rigged brig Tdjoxana, 137 tons, owning her with his oldest son, Alexander. Captain Paraclete, having given up the ddamela^ took com¬ mand of the new vessel and in the fall of 1829 sailed from Boston for Rio de Janeiro with

Captain Paraclete Holmes

Aaron Brewster of Kingston, mate. Captain Holmes writes his father that he had a 65 days' passage to Rio with light winds and never took in a royal till up to Cape Frio. The vessel arrived back to Boston in the winter of 1829, and February 27, 1830, was at New Orleans from Boston after a very hard passage. April 3, 1830, the brig was bound to New York and was there May 7. Captain Holmes writes that he is offered $4,000 for the brig and that she needs repairs. Not being sold he left, and the mate, Mr. Brewster, was made captain and the vessel repaired.

His next command was the ship Helen Mar of Kingston, as appears from a letter of instruction from John Fairfield, agent, in Boston, to Captain Paraclete Holmes of the ship Helen Mar , dated Boston, November 26, 1830. This ship was being used as a packet for freight and passengers between Boston and New Orleans, although owned in New York. Joseph Holmes, who built her in 1829, and owned her with his son, Alexander Holmes, having sold her. Captain Holmes, taking charge of her about this time, continued in her in the employ of her new owner. In those years a large business was done between these ports with a number of different packet lines and the competition was very keen. Captain Holmes' instructions were to look well after his ship so that she should be popular with passengers and shippers of freight. In Richard H. Dana's book, "Two Years Before the Mast," he says that August 20, 1834, six days out of Boston in the brig Pilgrim , bound to the west coast of North America, they spoke the ship Helen Mar of New York steering west, bound home, so at that time she was still owned in New York. It is not known how long he remained in the Helen Mar , but in January, 1835, he is at Charleston, S. C., master and part owner of his father's ship, Pjalto of Kingston, with his brother Edward as mate, loaded with cotton and bound for Liverpool.

T\\tpjalto, 459 tons, was new the year before and the largest vessel he had commanded up to this time. He remained master of this ship for several years, making many voyages from New Orleans and other southern ports to England and France, with cargoes of cotton and tobacco. In 1838, the pjalto is at Marseilles, and he writes that the ship is loaded with 300 tons of freight, 25 steerage passengers and 12 jackasses at $60 each, bound to New Orleans. The date on the oil painting of the Pjalto, 1838, shows that it was on this voyage to Marseilles that the picture was painted by Pelligrini. Dana, in his book, "Two Years Before the Mast," mentions another Kingston vessel besides the Helen Mar when he speaks of an English sailor whom he met when on the Californian coast in 1835 who had come to Boston from Liverpool in the ship pjalto^ Captain Holmes, and then shipped in th z California ior the West Coast. For a short time in 1841 he was coasting in his father's schooner September , having given up the Pjalto to William S. Adams of Kingston, who had been mate with him.

In 1843, t°°k command of the ship Herculean of Kingston, a larger vessel than the ! Pjalto and built by his father in 1839. During the time he was in this ship he continued to make voyages to England and France from New Orleans and other ports in the south with the usual cargoes of cotton and tobacco. The return cargoes were coal, salt and iron with as many cabin and steerage passengers as could be accommodated. If freights were good in the South he returned there at once, oftentimes in ballast, for another cargo, otherwise he would charter for New York or Boston and then go South, where if freights were very low or could not be readily obtained, vessels were obliged to lie idle sometimes for a month or more.

April 12, 1844, he writes his father from New Orleans that business as to freights was very dull and at that time there were in New Orleans 180 ships besides barks, brigs and schooners too numerous to mention. In a sea journal kept by him while in the Herculean he says, "Jan. 5, 1846, sailed from Mobile with a cargo of cotton. After a very boisterous passage arrived at Havre Feb. 23rd, discharged cargo and took on a full complement of passengers, say 216, for New York and sailed March 12th in great confusion. Arrived at New York after a very rough and long passage of 55 days. Had two passengers die and one born, May 5, 1846. Am glad to see Sandy Hook as ever I was to see anything in my life." After arriving in New York Captain Holmes left the Herculean and later joined the ship 'Rjzritan of Kingston. Letters to his father show that February 18, 1849, the T^aritan was at Mobile, loaded for Liverpool, ready for sea. There was on board 1,800 bales of cotton weighing 923,054 pounds, and the freight was 1923 English pounds. In order to carry the largest number of bales possible each bale was compressed, as they called it, to make it smaller in loading. This and the stevedores' bill were the largest items; the compressing bill being $1,033.35, and the stevedores' bill, $788.75. There were lighterage bills of $398, commis¬ sions procuring freight, $495.44, and bills for smaller amounts, crew's advance wages, supplies, pilotage, etc., which made a total of $3,306.11. The cotton bales were usually square sided, but sometimes, round, and in that case a higher freight was charged, as the round bales would not stow so closely, and fewer could be carried.

The expenses in port while loading a cargo of cotton amounted to quite a sum, and one loading would apply to all. Freights were higher or lower according to the demand for cotton in the foreign markets and the number of ships in port. The usual rates for cotton were from one-half to a cent a pound and on tobacco, thirty-two shillings and six pence per hogshead was a low price. London was a bad port to bring tobacco to for the consignees always made claims against the ship for damage to the tobacco hogsheads on account of close stowage and it was made hard for the captain to colled his freight money in full.

At New Orleans there was an additional expense in getting the ship to and from the sea by towing. The bar at the mouth of the river often caused delay in going to sea, if the ship were too deeply loaded, and then two steamers were required to pull the ship over the bar into deep water, as is to be seen from the towage bills. The size of the ships built by the Holmes from 400 to 600 tons seems to have been well adapted for the cotton trade from New Orleans. A larger ship with a greater draft of water would have been prevented from sailing if the river was at a low stage and so making the water on the bar very shoal. As it was, they had trouble in getting to sea. In Mobile and the other southern ports, the cargo in many cases was loaded from lighters, which really made the expenses in all these ports about the same.

February 11, 1850, she sailed from Boston bound for San Francisco, where she arrived the following July after a passage of 165 days. From San Francisco the ship went to Hausco, Chili, and sailed from there for Boston, February 14, 1851.

The cargo of the ship for San Francisco was brick, cement and lumber, and some private ventures. The lumber was consigned to various parties, but on the arrival of the vessel the market was overstocked and hardly money enough to pay the freight could be obtained for it. Several lots were left on Captain Holmes' hands, which he was obliged to sell at audion to get it out of the ship in order to pay the freight. The delay in discharging the lumber caused him to lose the sale of his bricks and cement which were in the bottom of the ship, and brought out on the ship's account. On reaching San Francisco the bricks were worth $40 per 1,000, but when ready to be discharged the price had fallen so low that they were the same price in weight as ballast, which he would have had to buy when he sailed, so they were left on board.

The only Kingston, or as he says, Old Colony people that he saw in the town were Captain Theodore Cunningham, Captain Francis Jameson, Sylvanus Everson and Walter Bartlett. He speaks of some goods he brought on his own account which he sold at 100 per cent profit. Provisions were very high and all that could be spared were sold.

As in the case of all vessels arriving there at that time, the crew immediately left, but his officers remained by the ship and completed the voyage back to Boston. He speaks of them as excellent men. At this time such was the rush for the gold mines, vessels were often left by captains and officers as well as crews; in fad, abandoned. His letters are wholly about the business of the ship and make little mention of other affairs. All of his letters as to his many voyages are of the same type, a bare statement of fads; and a more detailed account of his passages and doings while in port would have been of much interest now, especially concerning the months spent in California. From his sea journal of this voyage he seems to have had the average kind of passage to San Francisco, as made in vessels of that period that were not built for speed, like the later clipper ships, with the usual heavy seas and westerly gales encountered in rounding Cape Horn. He was twenty days from latitude 50° in the South Atlantic to latitude 50° in the South Pacific, or as they say from 50° to 50°, which is called rounding the Horn, Cape Horn being in 550 south latitude.

His sea journal, under date of May 1, 1850, says, "Moderate winds, N.W., steering by the wind to W.S.W., middle part, wind N.N.W., two a.m., passed Cape Horn, bright moon¬ light, ten miles distant, shortly after the wind shifted to W. and W.S.W., in a squall of snow and rain. Strong gale. Close reefed. Latter part under short sail. Close reefed maintopsail, reefed foresail, main spencer and forestaysail, heading south.

"May 3rd, Strong gale from the west. Steering by the wind in shore under close reefed topsails and reefed coursers. At noon bore ship to the southward. Cape Horn bearing N.N.W."