From: Bill Day

To: MSRNA members at large

With respect to the photograph above,

1. 1. 1. (i)Where were these wharves situated?
         

      2. (ii)What are the names of the steamers?
         

      3. (iii)When was the photograph taken?
         

2. My own answers are in [1] below.
   

At the end of the nineteenth century Loran Ellis Baker exerted an enormous influence on the development of Yarmouth’s transportation and tourism industries. He was, for example, the first president (1870) of the Western Counties Railway Company, the founder (1887) and only president of the Yarmouth Steamship Company, the force behind the building (1894) of the Grand Hotel, and the developer of Bay View Park, which opened in 1896. His legacy derived from a realization that Yarmouth’s economic growth required not only reliable steamship service between New England and Yarmouth but also convenient steamer and rail connections to enable passengers and goods to flow between Yarmouth and destinations in Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy. At the centre of this transportation web were seven ships of the Yarmouth Steamship Company, which I am pleased to introduce.

A schooner-rigged wooden steamship of length 126 feet and breadth 23 feet, the Alpha was built at Summer-side, PEI, in 1874. On 14 November 1876 she ran ashore under sail at Cape Sable Island, was subsequently floated, brought to Yarmouth, repaired, and on 7 July 1877 was purchased at auction by Capt. John Ramsay of PEI. [2, p. 241] Subsequent owners included Edward F. Clements, Samuel Killam, L. E. Baker, Yarmouth Steamship Company, and the Dominion Atlantic Railway. When Baker purchased the Alpha in January 1886 he placed her on the Yarmouth–Boston route, but soon she was displaced by newer, faster, more glamourous vessels. In the summer of 1902 she was broken up at Yarmouth.

A schooner-rigged wooden steamship of length 171 feet, breadth 26 feet, and draught 15 feet, the Linda was built at Mystic, Connecticut, in 1864. She “went ashore at High Head about 6 o’clock on Sunday evening, August 27th [1871], with 15 passengers (5 ladies). All were saved. The steamer filled with water. After several ineffectual attempts to float her, a breakwater was built to seaward of her, and the next summer she was got off, brought to Yarmouth and repaired. Her name was shortly afterwards changed to the Dominion.” [2, p. 235]

At this time she was owned by Capt. N. K. Clements; subsequent owners were the Nova Scotia Steamship Company, L. E. Baker, and the Yarmouth Steamship Company. When Baker purchased the Dominion in May 1885 he placed her on the Yarmouth–Boston route. By 1888 she was running between Yarmouth and Boston in the winter months, and was held as a reserve at Yarmouth during the rest of the year. [3, p. 505] On 24 April 1893, while serving on the Yarmouth–Halifax route, in dense fog at full speed the Dominion ran aground on Big Duck Island, between Lunenburg and Mahone Bay, and was lost; but the five passengers and 23 crew returned safely to Lunenburg in a lifeboat and a large dory she happened to be carrying as freight. [2, pp. 177–178]

Steamship Yarmouth

"The new steel steamer Yarmouth arrived in Yarmouth on Tuesday, 3 May 1887, from Glasgow direct, after a passage of 9.5 days. She was built by Archibald McMillan & Son, Dumbarton-on-the-Clyde, is 220 feet between perpendiculars, 35 feet beam, and 21 feet 6 inches hold. She has five water-tight compartments, is fitted with bilge keels, and carries 4000 barrels. Her speed is guaranteed 14 knots. She left for Boston on her first passage on 7 May, Capt. Harvey Doane master and Capt. S. F. Stanwood pilot. She was built expressly for the Yarmouth Steamship Company, and at the time was the finest steamer plying between the United States and the Maritime Provinces." [2, p. 555]

As time passed the Yarmouth Steamship Company was purchased by the Dominion Atlantic Railway which, in turn, was absorbed by the Canadian Pacific Railway. CPR assigned the Yarmouth to its route between Digby and Saint John. During the First World War CPR sold her to the North American Steamship Company, and after the war ended her ownership passed to a group working with Marcus Garvey on a colonization scheme in Liberia. “Eventually the scheme fell through, and the vessel was attached for liabilities and sold under hammer to ship breakers for $1,625. She was condemned and dismantled at Philadelphia in 1922.” [4, pp. 180–182]

Steamship Boston

"Steamer Boston was launched at Glasgow on 15 September 1890. She arrived in Yarmouth on Monday morning, 24 November 1890, at 10 o'clock. Her record [17 knots] given at her trial speeds (six consecutive runs) ‘marks this ship as the fastest single screw passenger steamer of her dimensions in the world.’ She is 245 feet long, 36 feet beam, and depth to hurricane deck 28 feet 9 inches." [2, pp. 555–556]

By the summer of 1899 the Boston and the Yarmouth were making four return trips weekly between Yarmouth and Boston; but since at that time the Dominion Atlantic Railway’s vessels were providing six return trips weekly, the DAR succeeded in purchasing the financially weakened Yarmouth Steamship Company in 1900 for $260,000. [4, p. 180] Ownership of the Boston passed in 1911 from the DAR to the CPR, then in 1912 to the Eastern Steamship Lines of Boston.

1. 1. “The Eastern Steamship interests sold the Boston to the U.S. government in 1917. The Americans reconditioned her to go to war, but she never went overseas. She stayed at the Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, and, when peace came, private interests bought her. She was sold for $6,000 at a U.S. Marshal Sale in Baltimore in 1921, and was scrapped. At the end, her name was the Cambridge.” [4, pp. 181–182]
      

2. Side Wheel Steamer City of Saint John
   

A side wheel steamer of length 160 feet, breadth 27 feet, and draught 10 feet, the City of Saint John was built at Carleton, NB, in 1870. She arrived in Yarmouth on her first trip from Saint John on 26 May 1870, made a few trips, was withdrawn, and ran on the north shore of New Brunswick for some years. Capt. George L. Burchell, of Sydney, C.B., purchased her at auction in September 1884, brought her to Yarmouth for repairs, and left Yarmouth on 6 November for Sydney via Barrington, Halifax, and other intermediate ports. She proceeded as far as Lockeport, where she was intercepted by L. E. Baker and Capt. Harvey Doane, of Barrington, who purchased her from Capt. Burchell. She was brought back to Yarmouth and placed in winter quarters. [2, p. 554] She was assigned to the Yarmouth–Halifax route, calling each way at Barrington, Shelburne, Lockeport, and Lunenburg. [3, p. 505] Her ownership passed to the Yarmouth Steamship Company after it was organized in February 1887, and by 1900 she had been condemned. [2, p. 589; 4, p. 180]

Side Wheel Steamer Express

The story of the Express began on 26 January 1898 with an announcement that “The Yarmouth Steamship Company has just added another flyer to its fleet, having purchased the new steel paddle steamer, Express, in England. The Express was launched in May last, and has proved herself a sea-boat. ... She will be placed on the route between Halifax and Yarmouth, and when the Coast Railway is completed to Barrington, will connect with that route there.” [5]

Five months later, “Steamer Express arrived in Yarmouth at 4 a. m. on the 20th June, 1898. She called at St. John’s, Newfoundland, for coal. She was purchased by the Yarmouth Steamship Co. in January, 1898, for service on the south shore. She was 202 feet long, 24 feet beam, 10 1-4 feet deep and registered 428 tons. She was constructed of steel, having two distinct sets of engines, one set to each paddle. She was launched in May, 1897, and had a speed of 15 1-4 knots.” [2, p. 554]

But after three months in service, “The Yarmouth Steamship Company’s new steel steamer Express, T. M. Harding master, from Yarmouth for Halifax, via intermediate ports, struck on Bon Portage [Outer] Island, at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, September 16th, and within two hours the engine room filled with water. The ebb tide at the time of the accident was about one and one-half hours from low water, and as the steamer settled down two large rocks penetrated the engine room floor. As the flood tide made the fires were extinguished and the vessel filled to the upper deck. ... The Express became a total wreck. She was very fast and on her last trip broke all records between Halifax and Yarmouth. The cost of the Express was $80,000; insured $60,000. The hull was purchased at auction by Mr. Lantalum, of St. John, for $475.” [2, pp. 187–188]

Side Wheel Steamer City of Monticello

In March, 1899, Yarmouth’s residents learned that the Yarmouth Steamship Company had purchased the iron side wheel steamer City of Monticello for $30,000. [2, p. 556] She had been built in 1866 by Harlan and Hollingsworth, at Wilmington, Delaware, and was first called the City of Norfolk. Later she was purchased by the Bay of Fundy Steamship Co., was rebuilt in 1889, and her name was changed when she obtained British registration. She ran between Saint John and Digby for several years and then, in 1896, she was reassigned to the Digby–Boston service. [6, p. 113] She was 232 feet long, 32 feet wide and 10.9 feet deep, registering 478 tons. She had four bulkheads and a vertical beam engine. She was insured for $25,000. [2, p. 198]

The Yarmouth Steamship Company assigned the City of Monticello, with T. M. Harding as master, to the Saint John–Yarmouth–Halifax service. On 10 November 1900, while traveling from Saint John to Yarmouth, she encountered a violent storm, with high winds and great seas, that disrupted coastal steamers in the Gulf of Maine and transatlantic liners heading in and out of New York City. The next day the New York Times reported what had happened to the Monticello:

There is a gripping report [2, pp. 191–198] of the foundering of the City of Monticello online at the Lost to the Sea Memorial website.

References and Notes

    [1] My answers to the quiz in the first paragraph:

(i) The wharves were on Water Street, at the foot of Forest Street, on the site recently used by Bay Ferries.  (ii) The steamers are the City of Saint John, the Dominion, and the old Yarmouth.

(iii) The photograph was taken after the Yarmouth arrived in Yarmouth on 3 May 1887 but before Clara Killam completed her album, which was entitled “Yarmouth County and Nova Scotia Scenery 1890.”

    [2] J. Murray Lawson, Yarmouth Past and Present: A Book of Reminiscences. Yarmouth Herald, Yarmouth NS, 1902. 681 pp.

    [3] George S. Brown, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia: A Sequel to Campbell’s History. Rand Avery Company, Boston, MA, 1888, 524 pp.

    [4] Harry Bruce, Lifeline: The Story of the Atlantic Ferries and Coastal Boats. Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, 1977. xviii+249 pp.

    [5] This transcript of a news item for 26 January 1898 is available online.

    [6] Marguerite Woodworth, History of the Dominion Atlantic Railway. Kentville Publishing Co., Ltd., Kentville, NS, October 1936.159 pp.

    [7] The New York Times article on the Monticello was published on 11 November 1900, is copyrighted by The New York Times, and is available online.

    [8] The illustration of the Alpha is in [6] between pages 112 and 113. I am indebted to archivist Jamie Serran, at the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives, 22 Collins Street, Yarmouth, for providing access to the remaining images. In particular the illustration heading this essay is on page 10 of the Museum’s album 3, which was compiled by Clara Killam and entitled “Yarmouth County and Nova Scotia Scenery 1890.”