Kingston Town (part 4 of 4)

"It was a couple of hours before we came up with the first of these ships. She was stand¬ ing over toward the African side of the Strait, though still distant from the land some six or seven miles. We hoisted our own colors and fired the usual gun. She hauled up her courses and backed her maintopsail at once, and in a moment more, we could see the brightest of stars and stripes fluttering in the breeze, and glittering in very joyousness as it were, in the rays of the morning's sun; for the captain of the prize had evidently treated himself to a new ensign.

"The cat ran close enough to parley with the mouse before she put her paw on it. The bark, for such the prize was, proved to be the^A Neapolitan of Kingston, Mass., from Messina, in the island of Sicily, bound for Boston with a cargo of fruit, dried and fresh, and fifty tons of sulphur. She had been freshly painted, with that old robber, the bald eagle, sur¬ rounded by stars, gilded on her stern; her decks looked white and sweet after the morning's ablution which she had just undergone; her sails were well hoisted and her sheets well home; in short, she was a picture to look at, and the cat looked at her as a cat only can look at a sleek mouse. And then only to think, that the sly little mouse, looking so pretty and so innocent, should have so much of that villainous material called sulphur in its little pouch!

"The master stated in his deposition that the entire cargo belonged to the British house of Baring Brothers, it being consigned to an agent of theirs in Boston. The obje6f of so wording the deposition was of course to save the cargo as neutral property, but as I hap¬ pened to know that the Boston house of the Barings, instead of being an agent merely, was a partner of the London house, the master took nothing by his deposition. Besides, if there had been no doubt as to the British ownership, sulphur going to an enemy's country is contraband of war; and in this case the contraband of war was not only condemnable of itself, but it tainted all the rest of the cargo, which belonged to the same owner.

"The master, who was as strongly marked in his Puritan nationality as the Israelite is in the seed of Abraham, feeling himself securely intrenched behind the Baring Brothers, was a little surprised when I told him that I should burn his ship, and began to expostulate. But I had no time for parley, for there was another ship demanding my attention; and so, transferring the prisoners from the doomed ship to the Sumter as speedily as possible, theTyTvzpo//- tan was burned; burned in the sight of Europe and Africa, with the turbaned Moor looking upon the con¬ flagration on one hand, and the garrison of Gibraltar and the Span¬ iard on the other.

"Previously to applying the torch, we took a small liberty with some of the excellent fruit of the Bar¬ ings, transferring a number of drums of figs, boxes of raisins and oranges, to the cooks and stewards of the different messes."

The brig had a forty-one days' passage to Barcelona and the captain wrote that it was a very rough trip and lost part of deck load of wood. Vessel did not leak very bad and was very fast. She went to Messina and loaded fruit for Boston. In 1858, July 4th, she was at Jacmel for Boston, B. N. Adams, master, who writes home that brig is very fast.

In 1859, she sailed from Boston, Captain Andrew Burditt's brother, Alfred, master, and was never heard from again; all hands lost. She was a very sharp vessel and probably run under carrying sail in bad weather. It was thought at the time she was lost on Georges, as there was a hard southeast gale the day after she left Boston.

Bark Egypt of Kingston, 557 tons, built at Kingston, in i860, by Edward Holmes, master carpenter, and Joseph Holmes; owned by Joseph Holmes 4/8, Alexander Holmes 1/8, Paraclete Holmes 1/8, Edward Holmes 1/8 and William S. Adams 1/8.

The bark Egypt was 557 tons and her dimensions were 139 feet 7 inches long, 29 feet iy2 inches wide and 14 feet 7T1 inches deep. xMbert Holmes of Plymouth was her first master and Robert Thompson, mate. She sailed from Boston, new, for New Orleans and from there to Bordeaux with claret staves and return to New Orleans. From New Orleans she went again to Bordeaux and from there to San Francisco. On her return she was sold in 1863 for $34,000 to Henry Sears, Boston. Lemuel Holmes, son of Edward Holmes was one of her crew on her first voyage.

This bark was named Egypt for the farm where Joseph Holmes was born. This was called Egypt because his father, who owned it and whose given name was also Joseph, always raised large crops of corn. The farm was situated in the western part of the town of Kingston on what, in old plans, was called the road to Hanson, now called Egypt road, not far from the southern end of Silver Lake and this sedion continues to be called Egypt to this day. Most of this farm is still owned by the Holmes family but is not cultivated.

Bark Fruiterer of Kingston, 321 tons, built at Kingston by Joseph Holmes, in 1861; owned by Joseph and Edward Holmes. Stephen Holmes, measurer.

The Fruiterer was built for the fruit trade from southern Europe, but on account of the war she was used for other business. Her dimensions were 115 feet long, 25 feet wide and

1 1 feet deep. The story of this vessel as told by Mr. James A. Simmons of Duxbury who at this date, May i, 1926, is the only survivor of the ship's company on her first and only voyage is as follows:

The Fruiterer left Boston, new, in 1861, bound to Malaga in command of Captain James H. Dawes of Kingston; Calvin H. Bryant, Plympton, mate; Justus A. Bailey, Kingston, second mate. The crew was what was called a home crew and their names were as follows:

Steward , Ozro Woodward, Duxbury Sailors: Charles Simmons, Duxbury Gustavus Ellis, Plympton Willard Clark, Duxbury Henry O'Hara, Boston Trescott Tupper, Kingston James A. Simmons, Duxbury At Malaga the bark loaded wine, raisins and lemons for San Francisco. They had a very good run to Cape Horn where the bark Egypt of King¬ ston, owned by Joseph Holmes, and commanded by Captain Albert Holmes, was sighted. She left Bordeaux sixteen days before the Fruiterer left Malaga. Captain Dawes signaled the Egypt but she would not reply and they soon passed her. When the Fruiterer arrived off the Golden Gate a bark was sighted just ahead, and after taking a pilot, they learned that the bark was the Egypt. Captain Dawes immediately ordered all sail made. They passed the Egypt and anchored in San Francisco bay just before the other vessel. This was a very close race from Cape Horn, but Captain Dawes was much disappointed that he did not beat the Egypt more as he had made a much faster passage from the Mediterranean to Cape Horn.

From San Francisco the Fruiterer went to Yokohama making the passage in thirty-five days, which at that time was the fastest passage that had been made between the two ports. After leaving Japan Captain Dawes employed the bark in freighting on the China coast between Chinese ports and to Japan, and at that time American vessels had very good freights for these coasting voyages. They often remained in Chinese waters several years before returning home.

Ofitober 22, 1863, the Fruiterer sailed from Foochow for coast ports and the next morning, October 23, at 4.20, the vessel being under topsails, weather thick, and a fresh gale blowing, was run down and sunk by the S. S. 'Viscount (fanning , an English steamer under the Siamese flag. The steamer was running before the wind under sail and steam, going very fast and struck the bark near the mizzen chains, tearing away her stern. Trescott Tupper was at the wheel and was left on the after part of the vessel where he supported himself in the water on a broken deck beam for seventy-six hours and during that time had nothing to eat but a small water snake which he caught. He was picked up by a Dutch bark and taken into a Chinese port where he found Captain Josephus Dawes, who was there in the Boston bark, Valetta , freighting on the China coast. He reported the bark lost with all hands not knowing that the rest of the crew had been rescued by the (fanning and already landed, reporting him as lost. This bark was a very fast vessel and had an elaborate figurehead carved by Charles Holmes of Kingston.

He was the youngest of the three brothers and was born in Duxbury in 1826. Like his brother, Josephus, he began his seafaring life when quite young for he was mate for his brother, Captain Allen, in the brig "Belize when she was new and later took command of her. He also commanded the barks Fruiter and Sicilian , both used for the Mediterranean fruit trade.

In 1861, Joseph Holmes launched the bark Fruiterer and Captain Dawes, who was in the Sicilian , left her to take charge of the new vessel, being in her when she was lost in the China Sea in 1863. The story of this disaster is told in the "Remarks" on the Fruiterer and the "Remarks" on other vessels he went in contain accounts of his voyages while in them.

About 1864 he came to Kingston to live, buying the property now occupied by the pastor of St. Joseph's parish of Kingston, and died there in 1905.

This vessel was one of the last two schooners owned in Kingston and was used for fishing, coasting and West India voyages. She left Kingston May 3, 1865, new, on a Grand Bank trip in command of Captain Elisha Eldridge of West Chatham and later Captain Elisha Morton Eldridge was in command. Captain Otis Finney of Plympton was master on many Bank trips and a number of men belonging to Kingston, Plympton, and Duxbury made up her crews. Calvin Bryant was captain on her last trip to the Grand Bank a year or two before she was sold.

Living most of his life, when on shore, in Plympton, where he was born in 1827, he was always asso¬ ciated with Kingston through the family of Edward Holmes.

in 1899. Although he first appears in the Records as mate of the bark Fruiterer in 1861, it is probable that he sailed in other Kingston vessels before this, as a boy or young man.

After the sinking of the Fruiterer he became master of a Boston vessel and for many years was in the coasting trade on the China coast; several years after giving up the sea, in 1881 and 1882, he made two salt fishing trips to the Grand Bank for Edward Holmes in the schooner Fisher and then retired from the sea for good.

This was the largest bark built in Kingston and next in tonnage to the largest ship, Joseph Holmes. After launching, she was rigged at Rocky Nook Wharf and taken to Boston, having been sold to Daniel Draper of Boston, who named her for Solomon Hancock before she was launched. Her first voyage was to Smyrna with rum. She was still owned in Boston in 1877, but afterward reported used as a hulk in Hong Kong.

This vessel was about one-half completed when work was stopped on her and the schooner Fisher was built, her keel being laid just south of the Solomon and she was launched out of the same dock, there being just room for her to launch by the Solomon s stern.

They were taken from "The Sailing Ships of New England. Second Series.'' By Robin¬ son and Dow. Publication Number Five of the Marine Research Society of Salem, Mass.

This schooner was the last vessel owned in King¬ ston. She was launched in 1869 and was named Mary Faker for the daughter of Captain Otis Baker of Kingston who had married a cousin of Edward Holmes. She was used for many years in the West India trade, running into Boston and New York.

She was one of the first vessels to bring bananas to this country from the West Indies. Captain Robert Thompson was master of this vessel nearly all the time till she was sold and made many very fast and successful voyages. She was also used in the Bank fisheries. In 1883, she was hauled into the north timber dock at the Landing and retopped, this be¬ ing the last carpenter's work ever done on a vessel in the Holmes' shipyard at the Landing. Mr. Ed¬ ward Holmes having become an aged man, eightyone years old and the vessel lying alongside of the wharf at the Landing for three years and also old, was sold in 1887 to the Nicholsons of Bucksport,

Captain Calvin H. Bryant

The Nicholson's having previously bought the Fisher , which had been found to be a vessel well adapted to their fishing business and knowing that the Mary Faker was built on the same lines sent Captain Angus Nicholson in November, 1887, to buy her of Mr. Holmes and bring her home when they learned she was for sale.

Mr. Holmes at this time being in poor health was unable to superintend the outfitting of the vessel as he had been accustomed to do when one was sold, which accounts for the trouble Captain Nicholson experienced on his passage home as is shown in his letter, of

After Edward left us in Boston I took on board 1000 barrels of flour for Bangor, but some of them laughed at me saying I would lose both vessel and flour, the vessel having been hauled up so long she would be damaged.

We came outside and took a heavy breeze of wind, but it was fair, but come to look around we found we were on a lee shore and then I had to haul snug on to the wind and carry sail very hard to save life and property.

The first thing we knew the forerigging gave out. There was a scrape. We had to get everything aloft we could to save the foremast. Only three of us on board. Would like you to let me know if the main rigging is as old as the forerigging. If it is I will have

Now, I hope you are well, smart and able to go around without those sticks. If you were well when I was there you would have saved us all this trouble we had. What caused all the trouble was, one of the compasses was broken and the other one was two and one-half points out of the way, and if you were well to wait on us there is no doubt we would of had the spirit compass. But I have no doubt you will send it down by express.

I shall fit the Mary Baker for 2200 quintals of fish and if she comes back and you receive a nice package of tongues and sounds by express, you may depend it will be from the Mary Baker.

This vessel was built on the same model as the Fisher only about ten feet longer on the keel, which increased her tonnage by fifteen tons. Above water she was painted black outside with a white stripe around her at the upper bends or waterways and a green bottom. Bowsprit painted black, jib-boom and masts bright - with tops painted white, fore and main booms and gaffs bright. Rails and inside of bulwarks and houses on deck, white with trimmings and deck fittings blue.

On account of her being used so much in the West Indies, about 1876, this schooner in order to obtain crews, who were then beginning to demand better accommodations, had a house built on deck abaft the foremast, divided by a partition into a forecastle and galley. This was much more com¬ fortable for the crew, especially in the warm latitudes, for the custom had been for the forecastle to be below decks, forward of the fore¬ mast on all of the smaller vessels.

In the fall or winter when en¬ gaged in coasting or West India voyages with no forward house, a small portable house about six feet square and five feet high, called a caboose, was brought on board and lashed to ring bolts on deck abaft the foremast and used for a galley by the cook, there being just room enough for a stove, little wood or utensils needed. Sliding doors on each side provided light and ventilation. The stores were kept in the cabin and below decks, and brought up as required.

Across the after end of the caboose was a bench used for a seat by the cook when at the stove, for with a scant five feet of head room most of the work in the caboose was done sitting down, the stove being within easy reach from the bench. Sometimes caboose and cook were both washed overboard by the vessel shipping a heavy sea and then captain and crew were on short allowance as far as cooked food was concerned for the rest of that voyage. The caboose was never carried to the Banks as all the room on deck was needed for the dories, rope cable, gurry butts and the handling of the fish when first caught. The crew lived in the forecastle below decks, forward, and in this confined dark place, they cooked, ate and slept. It was worse in the smaller and earlier vessels that used fireplaces instead of stoves, the cook often being a fourteen-year-old boy, probably making his first voyage to sea.

Augustus Simmons of Kingston, a Grand Bank fisherman who died several years ago a very old man, was one of these fourteen-year-old boys who went cook. x-\s a boy, in 1840, he was on the John Drew , going as cook or as he called it, cook's helper. During his latter years he often spoke to his nephews, Alexander and Dr. Arthur B. Holmes, of some of his experiences on this voyage. He said they cooked in a fireplace with a wooden chimney which had to be taken down in bad weather, and then no cooking was done. Each fisherman brought most of his own supplies, doing his own cooking, and the boy or cook's helper cleaned up and cooked what was the custom for the vessel to furnish the crew.

Coming home he remembered seeing the first cook stove that was used in Kingston. They had a severe season on the Banks that summer and vessels first to come home reported a number lost.

The John Drew being overdue, the boy's mother became anxious as to the safety of the vessel and crew, and spoke to Joseph Holmes about it. He told her not to worry as the schooner was strongly built and able to stand any kind of weather. They were gone four months and bound home arrived off the Gurnet after dark when no report of their being below could be made. Continuing on, up Kingston Bay, they anchored off Cripples Rocks. The captain, who lived near his parents, was anxious to see his family, and know¬ ing the boy was also anxious to be at home, took him in a boat and landing at the mouth of the river, both walked home to Northwest Kingston reaching there about 11.00 p.m. The boy knocked on the window of the room in which his father and mother were sleeping and they were much surprised at his appearing at that time of night so unexpectedly.

His wages were $11 per month which made his summer's work come to $44. When his mother went to Alexander Holmes, the owner of the vessel, to settle for her son's voyage she found that she owed Mr. Holmes $32 for supplies, which, due to the hard times of 1837, made the amount due him $37. There was $J from the boy's wages left her. With this she bought him a piece of corduroy and made him a suit of clothes so that he could go to school the following winter.

A description of the forecastle and cabin of the Mary Baker before the forward deck¬ house was built will apply to all of the later vessels owned by the Holmes' and others, used for Bank fishing. The forecastle was situated in the eyes of the vessel and the entrance was through a hatchway covered by a small house or companion way, just forward of the foremast and abaft the windlass.

Descending the stairs, which were almost perpendicular, one was confronted by a table abaft the windlass bitts where they went through the forecastle from deck to keel.

On the starboard side with a narrow bench in front of them within reach of the table which was opposite to them were four bunks, two lower and two upper. To port, they were arranged the same and at the after end was the stove which came just beside the foot of the stairs. Lockers on the side of the vessel opposite the stove held dishes and cooked foods. Opening out of the forecastle at its after end was a small, roughly finished room through which came the vessel's foremast and was used for the stores for the crew. A mov¬ able bench made a seat for those occupying the after end of the table at meals, the table having a high rising around its edge to hold the dishes from sliding oft' when it was rough. The stove pipe came up through the deck above the stove and at each side of the companionway was a six-inch glass bull's-eye, let into the deck for light, though a smoky lamp and the companionway also fur¬ nished light. This was the quarters for the crew of six or eight men and in bad weather it was one stifling place!

The cabin in the after part of the vessel usually had a small room on the starboard side forward for the captain and on the port side were two double berths under the deck. A table, chairs and some lockers in the after end of the cabin com¬ pleted these quarters. Besides being used by the captain, the cabin was also the quarters of the sharesmen and older members of the crew. In the later vessels some of the crew were hired by the month and others went on shares.

Th zJfjicy Holmes was painted in the same style as the Mary 'Baker, except that she had a red stripe around her upper bends instead of white.

The Fisher was always painted a medium shade of green above the waterline with a darker green for her bottom. Rails and inside of bulwarks were green and house and deck fittings were of the same color. Masts and spars were finished the same as those on the Mary Baker. Green seemed to have been quite a common color for fishing vessels up to the time the last one was sold from here. With the exception of the Fisher and Ffucy Holmes all of the vessels built by Edward Holmes were painted as I have described the Mary Baker to have been.

The schooners built by Mr. Edward Holmes were never coppered, for their stay in the warm water of the south was only for a short time, and soon coming north into cold water and often up the river to the Landing, the cold and fresh water killed all worms in their bottoms. The barks and brig, Helen zA. Holmes , built by Mr. Holmes, were coppered before launching.

The picture of Captain Robert Thompson shows him as he looked as a young man at about the time of his coming to Kingston in the brig Bird of the Wave , in 1858.

For a number of years he lived in Boston when ashore, but during the last of his sailing for Edward Holmes he made his home with him or his son, Edward K. Holmes of Kingston, and so can be called a Kingston captain.

Mr. Holmes always placed great confidence in him and no sea captain ever took more care of his owner's interests in the management of his vessel than did Captain Thompson.

After the Mary Baker was laid up to be sold he sailed out of Boston in various schoon¬ ers on coasting and West India voyages. When Charles T. Powers of this place was appointed to the command of the Succonesset Jfight Ship in the Vineyard Sound, Cap¬ tain Thompson, who then had no family or home, joined the Jfjght Ship as one of the crew about 1894. He remained on this lightship a few years until the infirmities of age compelled his retirement and he then entered the Sailor's Home in Quincy and soon after died there.

Edward Holmes, the third son of Joseph Holmes, was born in Kingston, in 1806. He was the last of the old-time shipbuilders of Kingston. Inheriting the Landing from his father at the time of his death in 1863 he continued the business of building and owning of vessels until a few months before he died in 1888.

Like his brothers and other boys of this time his opportunities for an education were limited, there being but one male teacher in the town. He taught part of the year in each school distridt and his pupils followed him from schoolhouse to schoolhouse.

After going in his father's packets and small coasting schooners several years he made his. first deep-water voyage of 1826 in the brig Edward of Kingston, 238 tons, which his father had built and named for him in 1825. She was owned by Joseph Holmes and his son Alexander.

As nothing can be found about this vessel after 1826 she was probably sold during 1827. The first voyage of this brig is as follows: sailed from Boston June 17, 1826, captain, Ellis Bradford; Robert Foster, mate; both of Kingston, and Edward Holmes one of the crew; this being his first deep-water voyage. After a passage of ten days she arrived at Charleston, S. C., June 27, 1826, and Captain Bradford writes Mr. Holmes that he thinks the brig will sail well and behave well, and was within thirty miles of Charleston light in five days from Boston.

The day after leaving Boston he says they had a blow from the northeast and ran 200 miles in twenty hours under a close reefed maintopsail and foresail and a boy could have steered her. February 26, 1826, the vessel is partly loaded with cotton for Liver¬ pool. Business very dull. March 15, ready for sea, but did not sail until March 25 on account of head winds, vessel drawing 14 feet.

The captain writes from Liverpool that he arrived there April 22, after a very boister¬ ous passage of thirty-one days with no damage but the stern boat stove at the stern and vessel leaking considerable; had discharged cargo in good order and loaded 180 tons salt and crated goods and left room for thirty or thirty-seven steerage passengers bound for Boston.

The brig sailed May 3, 1826, and after arriving in Boston, was not chartered again until December, 1826, when she sailed from Boston, December 10, for Savannah, captain,

December 25, 1826, after a very rough passage of fifteen days, but received no damage, but loss of stern boat. From the letter of instruc¬ tion to the captain, from Joseph Holmes, she probably loaded cotton again to Liverpool, returning to Boston, and was then sold, as no further accounts of her appear and Mr. Holmes was offered $ 10,000 for the brig before her sailing to Savannah and was anxious to dispose of her.

This vessel was a full rigged brig and for those days, a large vessel for this rig and must have been a good sailer to have made the passage to Charles¬ ton, S. C., in five davs.

In 1834 he was mate of the new ship T\ialto of Kingston, Perez H. Sampson, master, on a voyage to Charleston, S. C., Liverpool and Boston. On arriving in Boston his brother, Captain Paraclete took command and he continued as mate with his brother for several voyages in this ship. His father's business, as a builder and owner, increasing, he gave up going to sea about 1837 to superintend the work in his father's shipyard.

At this time the demand was for larger vessels and having assisted in the building of the cRjalto and then going in her for several voyages in the cotton trade, he was well qualified to become his father's master carpenter and improve the design and construction of the ships later built for the carrying of these cargoes. From this time up to the death of his father, Joseph Holmes, in 1863, he was more closely associated with him in his business than any of his other brothers, although all were usually part owners in his vessels as shown by Customs Records.

From 1863 to 1874 he built eight vessels. Two were sold to Boston at the time of launch¬ ing, or soon after, and one ordered built by Plymouth parties. The largest one was the bark Solomon , 600 tons, and while she was on the stocks, in 1865, he built the schooner Fisher , 86 tons, to the south and alongside of her. This bark was only 1 1 tons smaller than the ship Joseph Holmes , built by his father, in 1850, and the largest vessel ever built here.

The first vessel he built after taking over the building yard at the Landing, or as later called, the Landing Ship Yard, was the schooner Mnna Eldridge , 139 tons, and no plan or picture can be found of her. The dimensions of this schooner were as follows: 87 feet 8 inches long, 22 feet 3 inches wide, and 7 feet 2 inches deep. An old account book belong¬ ing to Edward Holmes shows that it cost $9,000 to build her and she was sold for $10,000 in 1866. The profits for two and one-half years were $5,000, and $2,500 of this was for one year. Her first voyage was fishing to the Grand Bank; second to Malaga, and third to the Bahamas. Several other voyages were made to the West Indies with fishing trips to the Grand Bank in between. While owned by Mr. Holmes, Captain Elisha Morton Eldridge of West Chatham commanded this vessel until she was sold.

The schooner Fisher was built next and the plan of this vessel and picture of the bark Solomon with their story are shown in this book. There are no plans or picture of the schooner Jducy Holmes which he built in 1867, but as Kipling makes mention of her in his "Captains Courageous" I have taken the following account from the "Remarks" on schooner jQucy Holmes in my "Story of Kingston Vessels."

She was 105 tons and Captain Elisha Morton Eldridge was master of this schooner when new and later Captain Clement Eldridge, a nephew of Captain Elisha Eldridge, was in command, remaining in her until she was sold, about 1874, to Boston parties. She was employed in the usual fishing and West India voyages and her design was similar to that of the Mary Falser. She was named for Lucy Holmes, daughter of Edward Holmes. Her name appears in Kipling's book, "Captains Courageous," a story of the Grand Bank, as does that of the schooner, King Fhilip of Kingston, Kipling getting the names of the schooners and idea of writing the book when living in Brattleboro, Vt., from his friend and family physician, Dr. James Conland of that place, who, as a boy, lived in Captain Elisha Morton Eldridge's family in Chatham.

Mrs. Julia H. Tirrell, a friend of my wife, who as a girl lived in Chatham and was then living in North Attleboro, wrote her under date of January 18, 1908, some interesting faCts concerning Kipling and Dr. Conland that may not be generally known.

The many tales that must have been told to Kipling by Dr. Conland as to his life on a "grand banker" when a little boy explains how the former was able to write the story of "Captains Courageous" in such a realistic manner when he had never been on the Banks, seen only a few fishing vessels in port and made a trip of a few hours' sail from Boston to Gloucester on the fishing sloop Venus , Captain Dent. This Captain Dent was afterward mate with Captain N. B. Watson of this place, who was master of the schooner yacht Qonstellation ol Boston and Captain Watson told me the manner of Kipling's going to Gloucester.

The first I knew of him was when he was thirteen years old and attended the same grammar school I did. Elisha Morton Eldridge had taken him on a fish¬ ing voyage the summer before and had brought him home as a sort of protege. I learned later that his father, an Irishman, had gone to California sometime in the fifties and had never been heard from. His mother, a Scotchwoman had been housekeeper for Governor Andrew and he had been cared for by her, but after her death he was forced to shift for himself and had drifted to this fishing vessel - one of your father's I think. From this time on he was an inmate of Captain Eldridge's family, earning enough sum¬ mers to enable him to attend school winters. He showed marked aptitude for books and his teachers gave him special instruction evenings. When about seventeen he had saved money enough to begin the course at Wilbraham Academy. By working out of school hours he was able to graduate here and little later entered the Medical College at Brattleboro, Ver¬ mont. After completing his studies he had the usual trying experience of young doctors struggling to estab¬ lish a practice, but was soon recalled by an old instruc¬ tor at Brattleboro to act as his assistant. When the old Doctor retired Dr. Conland took his patients and from that time on had all he wanted to do. Mean¬ while, he had become engaged to a cousin of mine. She broke the engagement for what seemed to her good reasons. He soon married a rich woman. One son was born to them, now about 20 years old.

When Kipling married his Vermont wife and went to Brattleboro to live he became acquainted with Dr. Conland and a firm friendship soon developed. The doc¬ tor told him some of his early experiences and Kipling became so interested he asked to visit the wharves of Boston and Gloucester, so they went together. The result was "Captains Courageous" which is dedicated to Dr. James Conland. The MS. was presented to him and was one of his most valued possessions. The Lucy Holmes is one of the fishing schooners and many of the people are real folks down on the Cape.

He was a member of the Vermont Legislature and served on important committees. His own death, which took place about three years ago, I forget just the date, was caused by visiting a patient at midnight during a hard storm when he was unwell himself.

This is a plain unvarnished tale. Of course one might dwell upon his early struggles, etc. at much greater length. If there's any fadt you would like that I have omitted, command me.

I have given Dr. Conland's life, as written by Mrs. Tirrell, so as to show what an orphaned boy, who started life in the forecastle of a fishing vessel, could accomplish by his own efforts. Few boys commencing to follow the sea so young leave it as he did and the verse from Longfellow in the dedication of "Captains Courageous" is most appropriate:

After the jQucy Holmes was sold, her new owners continued her in the West India trade until she was lost, soon after 1877 on a voyage to these islands.

One of the few sloops built in the shipyards on Jones River was the sloop Rosewood which he launched in 1868. This sloop was built for Captain Simon Burgess of Plymouth. She was built between the two timber docks on the middle wharf at the Landing and launched sideways into the river. She was used for lightering and short trips along the coast by Captain Burgess and when quite old was sold to Captain Parker Hall of Duxbury, who used her in the same business a few years and she was then hauled up on Morton's Hole, on the west side of Captain's Hill, and finally went to pieces. When new, her mast was the foremast of the old Qlance.

Like the bark Solomon the bark Hornet of 330 tons that he built in 1868 was first regis¬ tered in the Plymouth Custom House as hailing from Kingston. This vessel was named the Mary Baker when launched, but was at once sold to Daniel Draper of Boston. She was taken to Boston with the name covered and on arrival it was taken off', and she was called Hornet , and hailed from Boston. Captain David Ellis was her first captain and Robert Thompson, mate; she was used in the Mediterranean fruit trade and other voyages. In 1877, she was owned and hailed from Philadelphia.

built the Mary 'Baker, which was a schooner of ioi tons. A picture taken from a photograph of the sail plan of this vessel is shown here and the "Re¬ marks" concerning her taken from my "Story of Kingston Vessels" are given in full.

to be the last sailing vessel built in Kingston, the brig HelenM. Holmes, 316 tons. By this time many of the former ship carpenters of Kingston had died or become too old to work. Fewer vessels were be¬ ing built in the smaller yards each year and owing to the increased cost of construction and scarcity of orders these yards were fast being abandoned and young men were not learning the trade of shipwright, as in earlier days. For this reason, there was some delay in completing this vessel, workmen having to be hired from other towns.

She was a good sailer, but often in need of repairs and a passage from New Zealand to Scot¬ land very disastrous. At St. Helena she was leak¬ ing badly and again at St. Thomas, both most expensive ports of call for vessels in distress. The quality of the work done on her when building or material used may not have been as good as formerly, but whatever the cause, Mr. Holmes always found her to be the most costly of all his vessels to send to sea. A complete record of this brig's voyages are shown with her picture.

With the new brig he had now three vessels afloat and hailing from Kingston, the schooners Fisher and Mary Baker, the Fjicy Holmes having been sold in 1874 when the Holmes was building, and the story of their employments is told in the "Remarks" on these vessels. For several years he sent these three schooners to the Grand Bank on salt cod fishing trips and if they all arrived home in the fall at about the same time, as often hap¬ pened, there were no vacant berths at the Landing or fish wharves. With two schooners washing out and drying their fish and another waiting her turn, the Landing and River were scenes of great activity while this work was going in.

The Mary Baker, sold, sailing in the fall of 1887 never to return, and the death of Mr. Holmes the following spring, marked the closing chapter of the shipping industry of Kingston that had been carried on for so many years.

When first married he lived in the house at the Landing, now called the Landing House, belonging to his father. After several years he bought the house now occupied by his grandson, Horace Holmes, and on the death of his brother, Paraclete, came into possession of his place, residing there until his death. This property is now owned by Roland Bailey.

He was the son of Thomas and Sarah Alden (Sampson) Peterson, and was born in 1814 at Powder Point, Duxbury. He worked in his father's sail-loft, which was an adjoining building, until he was married in 1842, when he came to Kingston and bought the house in Stony Brook, where he lived the rest of his life.

It was a familiar sight to see him with his companion worker, Mr. Samuel Cushing, trudging off to their work at the Landing with their wheelbarrows in summer and hand sleds in winter, in which to bring home from the yards the huge chunks of wood and chips when they came from work at night.

He was the master rigger for the yards of Joseph Holmes and his sons, Alexander and Edward, and was highly esteemed by them all for his skill in the masting and ringing of their vessels. The safety of a ship when first out of port often depended on what had been done by the riggers, and although sailors always spoke contemptuously of this work as a rigger's job because it was not as finished as theirs, Kingston vessels never suffered any loss from poor workmanship in their rigging.

This pidture of the brig Helen A. Holmes of Kingston is from a pencil sketch made in the spring of 1874, about a week after she was launched and before the masts were stepped or jib-boom rigged out. The vessel lies between the two timber docks, the bow hiding the northerly one, at what was originally Foster's wharf, which was built on the site of the first one at this part of the Landing.

She had a flush deck fore and aft with no bulwarks and the railing that took their place is lacking in several sections, as are many other fittings about her upper works and deck. The reason for this flush deck was to gain a between decks about five feet high and so increase her tonnage, the bottom of the between decks being the real main deck. Some of the earlier vessels were launched with their masts in, yards crossed, sails bent and all ready for sea, but Edward Holmes left all he could of the work of finishing off his vessels above water until after launching, as it was easier to do this alongside of a wharf than when she was on the stocks with the deck and top sides high above the ground. This flush deck was sure to be free from water in bad weather, but decidedly bleak and uncomfortable for sailors with no lee from any bulwarks.

The buildings not concealed by the brig's hull that were in use at the time Edward Holmes was building, are seen and their location can be better placed perhaps by con¬ sulting his plan of the Landing. The roof and second story of the rigging, sail and mold loft show over the vessel's bow. On the wharf and joining this is a coal pocket for storing coal brought in the vessels from Philadelphia or New York. Above this pocket is the easterly end of the joiner's loft with door and steps to platform in front. The rear end of this building was almost connedled by a shed to the large, square dwelling-house which rises above the center of the vessel and always called the Landing House. This house was built by Stephen Drew from whom Joseph Holmes, in 1806, purchased that portion of the Landing that extends from the bow of the brig to the end of the wharf opposite the joiner's loft.

Under the vessel's stern is a part of the southerly timber dock. An old mast was laid across the entrance to the dock from the ends of the wharves, with pieces of plank driven into the mud and spiked at their tops to the mast. This made a fence on a large scale and held the timber that was kept in the water so it would not become wormeaten, from floating out into the river at high tide. When a launch was to take place the timber was hauled ashore, the mast and planks removed, and the launching was through the opening. To the left and over the vessel's stern are seen the staging poles that stood on each side of the hull of the vessel when she was on the stocks. Over the port corner of the after end of the cabin house the bow staging shows; this was a permanent stage with a gradual incline of planks leading from the ground to the top of the vessel's stern when planked and was used by the carpenters to carry up the planks, knees and other material that went into the decks and upper works as this part of the hull neared completion. Behind the bow staging is a long, one-story building used for a workshop. The floor was the bare ground and the ships' timbers were hewed and shaped here when the weather was unfit to do this out-of-doors. Two saw pits were on one side and a very large stone fireplace on the other, where in cold weather the ship carpenters gathered around to eat their dinners. The work of building a vessel went on out-of-doors in winter the same as in summer, as very little of it could be done under cover and the old-time workmen did not seem to mind the heat or cold.

this to the right and overlooking all, is the roof and east end of the historic Major John Bradford House that stands on a bank across the roadway.

Among the staging poles and near where the keel blocks lay, a pair of high wheels can be seen. These were the wheels to Joseph Holmes' chaise that carried him for many years on journeys to Boston and other places in connection with his business. Becoming old and worn out the body and shafts were taken off and a heavy wooden tongue was fastened to the middle of the axle and these wheels were then used to move small timbers about the yard that were too heavy to be carried on the workmen's shoulders.

The after ends of the keels of the vessels were laid on high blocks on the sloping bank, so the longer ones extended some feet over the water at high tide.

The buildings were all very old and greatly in need of repairs before Edward Holmes removed them and there is no record by whom or when they were built.

Brig Helen <iA. Holmes of Kingston, 316 tons, built at Kingston by Spencer Drew, master carpenter and Edward Holmes, in 1874; owned by Edward Holmes.

This vessel was the last vessel built by Edward Holmes, son of Joseph Holmes, in the shipyard at the Landing just below the railroad bridge. She was rigged as a hermaphrodite brig and launched in the spring of 1874. She was named for the wife of Edward K. Holmes. Her dimensions were as follows: 114 95/100 feet long, 28 4/100 feet wide and 15 1/10 feet deep and 316 62/100 tons burden. She was rigged at the Landing and then taken to Rocky Nook Wharf, ballasted and sailed from there for Boston in tow of the tug, Storm Kjngy the first of the summer. She was valued at $28,000 when she left Kingston ready for sea; Clement Eldridge of Harwich was master until she was lost. Her first voyage was from Boston to Antwerp with a general cargo, and returned to Boston with a cargo of pig lead and window glass, Manlius Baker of Kingston being mate and Thatcher Baker of Kingston, one of the crew.

After making two voyages to the Mediterranean she sailed for Dunedin, New Zealand, and from there to Greenock, Scotland, and returned to Boston. She was next chartered for a voyage from Boston to Surinam, South America, and return, and went ashore on Squibnocket Beach, near Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard, in December, 1879. Bad weather com¬ ing on she soon went to pieces, vessel and cargo of molasses a total loss. The brig was always an unfortunate vessel and her owner lost very heavily on her.

This was a centerboard yacht and was bought in New Bedford by L. H. Keith, in 1877 and used by him for racing and cruising until she was sold to Boston, in 1884. Captain N. B. Watson was master until the year before she was sold, when Captain E. A. Ransom was in charge of her. Her dimensions were as follows: 42 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 3 feet 6 inches deep with centerboard up.

While owned by Mr. Keith she was the fastest sloop of her size on the New England coast and won many prizes in races. She was a centerboard vessel as were most of the yachts of that period and had a large cabin, which with her shoal draft made her a most comfortable yacht for cruising.

On being sold her new owner made some alterations and she never sailed so well again. She was finally sold to parties on the other side of Cape Cod, and the last known of her was that she was used as an oyster boat.

He was one of the best-known yachting captains along the coast, a contemporary of Captains Banks, Haff and Charlie Barr of cup defender fame and also of Captain Aubry Crocker, master of the celebrated sloop yacht, Shadow , owned by Dr. John Bryant of Cohasset and George Lawley, the yacht designer and builder of Boston.

He was born on Clark's Island, Plymouth Harbor, in 1844, dying there in 1925, and belonged to the old Plymouth family of Watsons who owned Clark's Island for many years. Always living on the Island as a boy he early learned the handling of boats and this training was later the means of making him one of the most skillful racing captains of the Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays. On his marriage to a sister of Captain Edward A. Ransom he made his home in Kingston, as well as on Clark's Island, building lobster boats and small yachts winters, and going lobstering and fishing summers as has already been told.

When he became master of the schooner yacht Constellation he gave up using the boatshop, except for the storage of boats, being obliged to remain on the yacht the whole year, making cruises to the West Indies in winter or overseeing to her overhauling if laid up. He was captain of the Constellation for two owners, Bayard Thayer of Boston and Lancaster, and Francis Skinner, Jr., of Boston. In those years she was the largest and fastest sailing yacht of her class, but on account of her size was obliged to give so much time allowance in many races that it was seldom any great interest could be taken in the contests. After the death of Mr. Skinner the vessel was sold and Captain Watson retired from yachting, spending the winter on the mainland and summer on Clark's Island. It was at this time that he purchased a small launch for going about the bay in, using her for this purpose for a number of years and so retaining his interest in the water until his death. Shortly before this, the boathouse was sold to Dr. Arthur B. Holmes of Kingston and it is now used to haul up his yacht Seconset in.

For over fifty years this building has been a gathering place for the boatmen, former sailors and sea captains of Kingston, especially in winter and its only equal was the office of the late Captain John C. Dawes of Kingston where he presided over the famous Bob Stay Club. Many voyages to all parts of the world have been resailed on the old bench alongside the red hot stove by men who were more by towns. Very often in the excitement of recalling the incidents of a particularly hard and long voyage, a passage around the stove in the confined space was full as dangerous to them as one around Cape Horn. Usually in a joking way Captain Watson was only too ready to add to the confusion when several stories were being told at once, with the use of plenty of strong language, by loudly calling the attention of all hands to what he had to say about some of his own cruises and his voice being the loudest he always held the floor.

These old seafaring men would never admit that a modern craft could compare in speed with the old-time vessels they once sailed in and when¬ ever a recently fast passage was reported some one was always sure to have made a better one in some ancient brig or schooner that had been lost or condemned years ago and her very name for¬ gotten by all except the one who went in her.

Ships Of Kingston 129

Steamer Tiger of Kingston, 30 tons, built at Kingston, in 1898, by Edward A. Ransom; owned by Edward A. Ransom, A. J. Hill, C. A. Ransom and H. S. West.

This was the only steamer ever built on Jones River, and the largest vessel built on the Jones River since 1874. She was built in the boatyard of Captain E. A. Ransom, who was her designer and builder, and was launched from his yard on the south side of his work¬ shop or boathouse in the spring of 1898. Captain Ransom, her master, used her a few years for off-shore lobstering and fishing, when she was sold to the Churches of Tiverton, R. I., and used for a porgy steamer. Her dimensions were as follows: 53 feet over all, 14 feet beam and 6 feet draft. Her picture shows her to have been a very handsome vessel.

The first years of his life were passed in Kingston and on the Gurnet, Plymouth Harbor, and like Captain Watson, his brother-in-law, he learned to sail a boat when very young. As he grew older he made voyages to the West Indies and South America in Duxbury vessels and for a time was in the Plymouth packet, Sarah 8. Hyde , running between Plymouth and Boston. After giving up the sea he lived in Kingston winters, and on the Gurnet and Clark's Island in summer, for a number of years carrying on the lobster fishing business, and it was then that his attention was called to the improvements that might be made in the design of the boats used for lobstering in the bay, by giving them a centerboard and overhanging stern. After he commenced building these boats at Kingston in the old Drew workshop he made still further improvements in their construction, of which a description is given elsewhere in this book.

In 1883, he was captain of the sloop yacht, Siren , of Kingston and some years later was employed by George M. Winslow of Boston and Duxbury, to superintend the construction of his yacht, Qevalia , building at Essex, and going in her as master when completed. On retiring from yachting, he continued the business of building, hauling up and repairing launches and yachts until a few months before his death, in 1922, 77 years old.

An account ot the steamer Tiger which he built in his yard on the southerly side of his boathouse, in 1898, together with her picture, is found among the list ol Kingston vessels.

Captain Drew was born in Kingston, in 1821, and died here in 1906. His ancestor was Samuel Drew, the first of the Drew family to come here. x4s a boy and young man he went on the packets running between here and Boston, and bay fishing. For a number of summers he made his home at Cut River, or Green Harbor, fishing and lobster¬ ing, returning to Kingston in the fall and working in the shipyards as a carpenter in the winter. He was the pilot for the bay and river for the later of Joseph Holmes' vessels and all of those owned by Edward Holmes. After the last vessel was sold he engaged in boat fishing and the carrying out of sailing parties from here until he was an old man, no longer able to handle his boat.

While Mr. James L. Hall owned the sloop yacht, Tlaymate , he went in her as captain and when she was sold to Plymouth and the Gurnet, remained in her for a season.

The picffure of Captain Drew shows him standing in his sailboat, Matchless , waiting for a breeze and drifting down stream with the tide. It was taken from the upper Fish Wharf on Jones River, about 1890, by his friend, Mr. William L. Ames formerly of Kingston, and the Bradford House and Landing House with the old joiner's loft are seen in the distance.

In these days of steam and electricity when few remember the fleets of sailing vessels once seen in our seaports an endeavor has been made to interest the public in a revival of the merchant marine of the country by the publication, in various forms, of accounts of the most famous voyages of old Boston and Salem sailing ships. In many instances, their log-books, charts and sea-journals have been saved and it is easy to follow their different voyages to their completion. In Salem, records, pidtures and models of them have been deposited in the Essex Institute as has likewise been done in the Massachusetts Historical Society of Boston and other societies interested in marine history.

For the same purpose many books are now offered for sale in England, giving the stories of the early and later days of sailing ships belonging to that country, and the accounts of their voyages are similar to those given of American ships. Beautiful illustrations, taken from the original paintings, are to be found in the publications of both countries.

Being obliged to depend almost entirely on the Holmes family for the accounts of the Kingston vessels, the Delano family records offering still less material, it has been impossible to enter into the details of voyages in comparison with those made by the more numerous vessels of the larger ports. Not a log-book is in existence. Several working models, paintings and old charts, a sea-journal of a few voyages, some old letters and account books, are all that remain today.

In this narrative I have endeavored to show the part taken by Kingston, in what at one time was the principal industry of New England. In years to come, when the river will no longer show any trace of the busy life once occupying its banks, it may be of interest to some to read this record of what was a source of wealth to those engaged in it and of great prosperity to the town.

I have derived my information from the Plymouth Custom House records, family letters, private journals, account books and what has been told to me by those who formerly took an active part in these affairs.

Looking across the bay, no sails are seen whitening the horizon. A small collection of pictures is all that is left to show that, for over one hundred and fifty years, Kingston was once a hailing port for ships that sailed the seven seas.

The sailing of the last one was so long ago, that to the few who remember her and were once familiar with the sea and the ships going down to it, the words of the old deep-water chantey, "It's time for us to leave her," seem most appropriate. And, as the last line of the day's doings in a ship's log book often read, "So ends this day," "So ends" the maritime story ol Kingston.