The Opelousas courier., 1892-12-17
A FAMOUS FISHING PORT.
THE SAILORS OF OLD GLOUCESTER
HAVE SAILED EVERY SEA.
When and How 1t Was Settled-His.
tory of the Town-Its Fishing In
duStry.

utcu auu ulG6Cn anniversary Oh
the incorporation of Gloucester,
6 the chief and Oldest fishing
port OF the country, took place at Cape
Ann, on August Path, 25th and 26th.
Here a daring colony from Plymouth
isolated itself in 1642, and in the two
and a half centuries since then the family
names of the first settler have been per.
petuated and multiplied. Gloucester
sailors have sailed every sea. They are
roVers by inheritance. Peril has been
their birthright. But within the shell.
tering headlands of the home port they
have always hoped to find their final
anchorage. This instinct has beer trans.
mitted through their children for sc
many generations as to impart to the
present event peculiar beauty. The
landing of the first permanent colony
vas honored by those who trace from il
a'direct lineage.
Gloucester wears with exceptional
imodesty the mantle of age. By un-
doubted record the harbor was discov-
cred by Chevalier Champlain IN 1905.
He described it in the account of his
voyages, and drew a map of it which is
still preserved. LIE BEAUFORT was the
name he gave it. The Indians had called
it Wingaersheek. Clam shell mounds
left by them are still abundant, showing
wherein they found it attractive. Cap
tain John Smith explored the Cape in
1914, and left a record of his visit by
naming it Tragabigzanda. By this name
it wa known until Prince Charles called
it Cape Anne, in honor of his mother,
Princess Anne, Of Denmark. A colony
from Dorchester, England, in 1923,
bailt a stage or wharf at the entrance oil
toe harbor, known now as Stage Fort.
AConant became Governor. This
beginning of the Massachusetts,
colony; for the new settlers, although
successful in fishing, were harassed by
Miles Standish and other e~nvious in
vaders, and abandoned the station in
1926, the majority of them removing to
Salem.
The few who remained were Joined by
newcomers in the next few years, but
their station did not rise above the i'm
portance of a camp. John Endicott led
a small and adventurous band to the
| Cape in 1923. Anthony Thatcher turned
his attention there in..1635. His vesse!
] pounded against the rocky island that
bears his name, drowning his family and
the Rev. John Avery. These persistent
efforts to c~olonize the Cape show that
its value as a fishing station became early
apparent. In 1889 the Plymouth colony
came to stay, and by 1912 the colony
had SO we'll established itself as to incor-
porate the settlement. embracing all Of
Cape Ann within its limits. Gloucester
was chosen, as its name because many of
the settlers were. natives of Englaud's old
cathedral town. The mother Gloucester
is represented by a delegation at the an
niversary, as is also vigorous daughter,
/ settled by a colony from the American
| Gloucester on the Maine coast.
Gloucester's infancy was singularly free
I from some of the hardships of settle
] ments more thickly peopled. Fishing
! confined to local Waters) and farming
4 enabled the settlers to live comfortably
and their isolation from other commun-
1 tiles, while perhaps not always agreeable,
bred in them self-reliance, and exempted
them from some of the crazes that at
ficted other places. Thus the Cape at.
forded a refuge for the prosecuted. Glou.
cester kept reasonably clear of witches,
and witch-fnders from Salem met a colo
reception when they visited the Cape.
There still stands a house at Pigeon Cove
said to have been built by sons for
mother who was pursued from Salem a
"a witch.
So long as fishing did not extend be
yond local waters, shallops, sloops, ano
a boat known as a ketch suited the pur'
pose. The ketch was the favorite. II
had two masts, set well aft. one rugged
like the foremost Of a ship, and the
other like the mizzenmast of a bark.
A simpler rigging wa furnished for the
Chebacco boat, named for the place
where it was built, now Essex, aud in
tended for shore fishing. One mast was
stepped near the bow, and the otnei
aft, and bow and stern were built high,
like an ancient gondola. This boat cam
into use about 100.
At that time the fishing industry hao
become important enough to turn the at
tention of the Gloucester men to distant
and more productive waters. Inventive
talent was stimulated to provide a styl'
of boat suitable for fishing voyages
Among the ship-builders who hae
started yards in Gloucester was Captain
Andrew Robinson. He built a boat ol
new design, and invited the people Il
she launching. When the boat took th,
water, a by-stander exclaimed, "Oh
how she schoons!" (schooning being Il
skim, as does a light stone we'll thrown.
"a schooner let her ber' replied Rob
inson, as he broke a bottle of rum owe
ner bow, and the word thus coined ha
since applied to that style OF boat.
Until 1740, when seventeen schooner
J composed the Gloucester feet, the fish
ing industry thrived. Then came vicis
. STUDIES other than the perils of the sea
The French at Cape Breton hampere
Gloucester fishermen in every way posi-
Bile, and the situation in this respect wa
not relieved even by King Georges war
! in which Gloucester men helped to II
, duce the fortified French town Of Louis
burg. The Revolution suspended fish
cries almost altogether, and privateefinI
, became the occupation Of the fishermen
, with results on the whole, disastrou
: From the earliest days Of deep-sea fsi
inc the schooners had visited the nortl
ern waters in summer, and returning wit
: their fares of fish, had engaged in scutl
ern cnastwise trade for the wint