The Republican journal., 1922-02-23
Belfast Bays Old Merchant
Marine.
(By Mrs. Helen B. Shute.)


Name, the commerce of Belfast, as car
3 ned on in sailing vessels, has been much
Il diminished during the past quarter of a
q century by the constantly increasing ia
cilites afforded by steamers and railroads.
4 Coasters, which formerly ran to and from
u Boston and New York, now belong to the
q PAST, hay and other products being ex-
4 ported principally by rail. Save the heavy
article of coal, but few cargoes of any de-
8cription reach Belfast by water. 1t was
Formerly not uncommon to see forty or
more schooners in port; now, their arrivals
Sere few and far between.
From an old account ook kept at Fort
Pownall, it appears that the first vessel
seyer built upon the Penobscot was launch
I'd there in IVA No further information
Mc6ncerning her exists, except That she
Twas a schooner, and that Thomas Goldth-
wait and others were her owners. After
the Revolution, when cord wood became
profitable articlr of export, the building
bf coasters began to receive attention.
THE earliest experiment OF the KIND mere
was the schooner Jenny Miller" built by
Robert and James Miller, at Sandy Beach,
bnd launched Oct. 20, 1898 She measured
#bne hundred and twenty tons.
E*
Aesmith, in 1899. 1t was Just southerly
from Lewis wharf, at the foot Main
8treet. Mharves were steadily built here,
Mntilin 1875 there were about twenty five.
FThe records of the Penobscot Customs
plstrict. which included Belfast until 1873
riye a list of about sixteen vessels built
here up to that year. This list is said to
ne imperfect, however, as it does not IN
cude the ships Fox" and Belfast" or
the brig "Iluminator The 'r OK, the
first ship launched here, was built by Ma
q ior William Cunningham, near the upper
Bridge, in 1905. Her tonnage was about
three hundred. People from Ear and near
came to the launching, and wondered at
Bier immense size. / he number OF vessels
owned here that year was twelve. Inc
ship Belfast" was built in 1871, by w al
Ter Hatch, for western parties, on the
Eastern side of the harbor, near Goose
River In the same year the brig, "lllum :
jnator" built roi Jonathan and Robert
~ hite James Patterson and John Angler,
bf Belfast. and James A. Allen of Boston,.
was launched from yard on the site OF
Condon's Wharf. 1t is said that in 1878,
lot of ship carpenters tools used in con
ktructinp this vessel were found in an un-
occupied attic of the old Robert White
house, where they had remained forgotten
flor over sixty years. The ship ALFRED.
Mthree hundred and twenty tons, built by
a Hutson Bishop, in 1928, was the first cop
per fastened vessel launched here. The
whole number of vessels owned In the
district in 1874 was 337, with tonnage OF
u.s. 72.
& Following the discovery of gold in Cali
Efornia in l848 many persons from TINS
vicinity started for the new FL Dorado;the
more venturesome by the uncertain and
dangerous route of the lsthmus; Others
with Orleans, overland, through path
less wilderness. The first direct voyage
from Maine was projected in and started
from Belfast. EARLY in l849, the bark
"Suliote," of 263 tons, Just launched, own
ed by Asa Faunce and others, and COM
1 handed by Captain Josiah Simpson, was
announced for San Francisco, provided
forty passengers were obtained. 10 the
surprise of the owners, the requisite num-
Der soon applied, and towards the end OF
January everything was in readiness. The
event was one of no small Importance, and
v created much excitement In all this region.
The Bangor passengers, on their arrival,
4 were met by a deputatlon OF citizens, and
escorted into town with band OF music.
On the 9th a meeting was held In WASH
4 ington Hall on High street, where COLA
ton was spread and partaken OF by the
yoyagers and their friends. Elk Governor
d Anderson presided. On Tuesday afternoon
Jan. 80, at o'clock, the bark set sail,
and although the day was bitterly cold, a
large crowd witnessed her departure. The
passenger list included several from Bel
last. After 100 days the vessel reached
San Francisco on the 18th of July. In
gale off Cape Horn, on April 10, Edwin +.
Simpson, son of the captain, was washed
overheard ard lost This was the only
death or accident during the voyage. Soon
after the ''Suliote" left, Charles b Hazel
tine and Justus G. Miller started by the
isthmus route, and were until the follow
ing September reaching san Francisco
The subsequent history Of the "Suliote, .
as the first vessel which went from Maine
TO California, may be interesting. She
returned to the Atlantic, and remained IL
the hands of her original owners. On the
18th Of August, 1864, while on the wa,
from Cow Bay to New York, she was cap
tured by the rebels, bonded for $4,000, anc
compelled to take on board three hundred
passengers from the ship "Adriatic,
eurnt at sea. In 1867, she was dismasted
lowed into Boston wreck, sold, and rig
geo into schooner. In November, 1870
while bound from Bangor to New York
sue was brought here in leaky condition
and repaired.
AMONG the other EARLIER DaSSeuoer yes