Norwich bulletin., 1916-04-22
A PURSUIT OF MANY PERns

Deaths at sea during that year in- cluded:
 Isaac Loring, of the brig Despatch. at Demerara-
 Joseph Brewer, at the same place.
 Capt. Jeremiah Harris, aged 35, at Martinique.
 William, son of Jesse Brown. at the same port.
 William, son of Elkanah Tisdale, of Lebanon, also at Martinique.
 Henry Loring, of brig Iris, drowned at Green Island.
 John Batty. aged 21, of schooner Mechanic Gah1 , died at sea; John Cary, at sea
 Hezekiah, son of Capt. Daniel Meech, | of Preston, aged 22.
 Charles E. Trumbull, aged 24, at sea. Connected with marine intelligence of that period, the historian comes across frequent allusions to the civil | conflicts that convulsed several of the islands. particularly St Domingo. It is recorded that April 14, 1894, a | ship from Cape Francois came into Long Island Sound, with 300 men, women and children on board. who had | escaped with their lives, coming as ex- l lies to this country and leaving their | homes to devastation. Capt. Frederick | Tracy, of Norwich, was also on board.
 He had been for some years engaged
 in business at the Cape, and fled with the rest at the approach of the ln-
 vader. The vessel continued to New | York.
 Pirates, wrecks on desert islands, | hurricanes, wearisome captivity in | barbarous lands, the uncertainty and
 mystery of sailing away in hope, yet
 never returning, these are some of the
 dark sides of commerce in early Nor
 wich history.
 Those seamen who succeeded, laid,
 in many instances, the foundation of
 substantial fortunes, some of which
 are still being enjoyed by their de-
 scendants. But in too many cases
 ships and men went gayly out from their loved home port, never to be
 heard of more.
 |, | Capt. z. p. Burnham was a ship
 master of many years experiences, be- ginning with 1T90. He had retired from the sea and had engaged in mer- : cantile pursuits, when he was per } suaded to make one more voyage. He
 left, bound for Teneriffe, March 10 l 1910, after which no tidings of vessel , or crew were ever received. Capt Burnham was about A years , old. His widow, who was the oldest
 daughter of Elisha Hyde-second may. 5 or of the city of Norwich, born Oct t 11th, 1776-had been Q widow 65 years 2 up to the time when Miss Caull1ins ! finished her history of Norwich, abou s 1S45. Mrs. Burnham had at that time 2 gone to live with her son, Elisha Hyd' f Burnham, of Newstead, \. Y. v She was a type of the sorrowfu h wives of early days. whose brave hus . bands lost their lives while on voyages - in Norwich built ships, and of the sor
 rowful mothers who gave their younl
 sons up to a similar fate. Mystery and darkness rest, too, up on the fate of Capt. Elisha Defingwel who left for the Gulf of Mexico. in Oc
 tober. 1925. and is supposed to hay foundered at sea. He was but f7. am
 his eldest son, a bright, handsome la
 in his 18th year, perished with him.
 It is far pIeasanter to dwell upo . the bright side of Norwich shippin ,L and the successes and safe returns c s her olden-time shipmasters. = Following the ending Of hostilitie = between England and France, espec = tally during the year 1910, there wa l lf remarkable activity in the Norwic oI shipyards.
 e July 9th, of that year. a brig caTe
 the Dart, of 25O tons, and owned b n Augustus Perkins. James Gordon an others, was launched from the lowe :. shipyard by Thomas Gavitt. Sept. 1st, a vessel of 200 tons WE -e launched, built by Septimus Clark, fC le J. and Felix A. Huntington. .K Sept. 14. a ship of 400 tons WI le launched by Luther Edgerton. " In October a vessel of $50 tons wa Dh sent from the ways by Thos. Gavitt.
 Of the fifth vessel built this yea
 the Norwich Courier of Nov. 25t -lx said:
 r. Launched by permission on Sun ht day morning, from the yard of Jedids 1g Willett, a ship of 400 tons. owned l a, Peter Lanman and others" h This was the time when our coui ey- | try was looking forward apprehensiv a. ly to a war with England. The sh b. mentioned was probably the Rapi he which cleared early in January f
 Cayenne, and made two or three vo of ages before the declaration of war. clx During the war when it finally can i'd the O. H. Perry, 267 tons. the Ma 7II mion and other private schooners we e. built at West Chelsea-now the We
 Side.
 I'd A few years later. Norwich men b e- came interested in the whaling indu ,i try and several whaling ships we ,or built at the local yards. +b Their fate and fortunes were high po interesting. as far as we can learn 5v them now from the rather meagre re
 ords of that time.
 THE DICTAGRAPH a LETTERS TO THE EDITC st.