Plymouth memories of an octogenarian

by William T. Davis

The following vessels were built and owned by his son Edward Holmes of Kingston:

1864, Schooner Anna Eldredge, 139 tons.
1865, Schooner Fisher, 105 tons.
1866, Bark Solomon, 600 tons.
1867, Schooner Lucy Holmes, 137 tons.
1868, Bark Hornet, 330 tons.
1869, Schooner Mary Baker, 139 tons.
1874, Brig H. A. Holmes, 320 tons.
Sloop Roxanna, 60 tons.
Sloop Leo, 70 tons.
Sloop Rosewood.

Besides the above, the ship Matchless was built in Boston, and owned by James H. Dawes of Kingston, and the ship Brookline, with others, was owned by John and James N. Sever of Kingston.

The following is a list of Kingston captains in the merchant service within my memory, for which I am indebted to Capt. John C. Dawes of Kingston:

William Adams, Frederick C. Bailey, Justus Bailey, Otis Baker, George Bicknell, Calvin Bryant, Cephas Dawes, James H. Dawes, John C. Dawes, Paraclete Holmes, Edward Richardson, Benjamin T. Robbins, James W. Sever, Charles Stetson, William Symmes, Peter Winsor, William Winsor.

The following is a partial list of vessels wrecked within my memory in Plymouth waters:

The earliest wreck in Plymouth waters of which I have any recollection, was that of the brig Sally Ann, Captain Caulfield, in January, 1835, bound from Porto Rico to Boston. She was owned by Charles W. Shepard of Salem, and after striking on Brown’s Island became a total wreck on the beach. No lives were lost, and Martin Gould, one of the crew, became a permanent resident of Plymouth, and married in 1836 Ruth (Westgate) widow of William Barrett.

The next wreck within my memory was that of the brig Regulator of Boston, Phelps master, on Brown’s Island, February 4, 1836. She was bound from Smyrna to Boston, and with rudder and rigging frozen, and the vessel unmanageable, she came into the bay in a gale from east, northeast, and bore away for Plymouth to find an anchorage in Saquish Cove, where she saw a brig lying. She dropped her anchor at the entrance of the channel in three fathoms of water, and in the heavy swell struck hard. At eight in the evening she floated with the tide, and held on until seven o’clock the next morning, when she drifted into the breakers, and the captain cut away his foremast, which carried with it the main mast, and the main yard. At half-past eight she began to break up, and George Dryden, an Englishman, Daniel Canton of New York, and Augustus Tilton of Vermont, who took to the long boat, capsized fifty yards under the lea of the brig and were lost. John Smith, a Swede, and a Greek boy, were killed by the wreckage, and the remainder of the crew retreated to the main rigging, and their final safety was due to the presence, in the channel, under the Gurnet, of the brig Cervantes of Salem, Kendrick, master, which bound into Boston from Charleston, had succeeded in finding a safe anchorage. The crew of the Cervantes, after six hours of heroic work, took off the men and carried them to their own vessel. The cargo of the Regulator consisted of four hundred and sixty bales of wool, twenty-five cases of opium, twenty-five cases of gum Arabic, twelve bales of senna, two thousand drums of Sultana raisins, five packages of cow’s tails, one case of saffron flower, four hundred sacks of salt, and five tons of logwood. The men saved were Captain Phelps, Martin Adams, first mate; James Warden, second mate; Elijah Butler, and Louis Almeira.

On the 20th of November, 1848, the schooner Welcome Return, from Charlottetown, bound for Boston, went ashore in a gale at Rocky Hill. She had as passengers, John and Mary Burns and six children: Ellen, 11; Catherine, 9; Henry, 7; Mary, 5; Rose, 3; and Sarah, six months old. The father and mother and infant were saved, and all the others lost. The father and mother died in Taunton, and the infant, Sarah A., is living in Plymouth, the widow of John H. Parsons.

The next wreck I remember occurred on Friday, January 25, 1867, at Gunners’ Point at Manomet. A gale with snow set in Wednesday night, and the railroad was so blocked that no trains ran through to Boston until Sunday, and the train from Boston Wednesday night reached no further than Halifax, where the passengers were supplied with refreshments. The flag staff in Shirley Square was blown down, as well as those at Pilgrim Hall and at the Cordage Factory, and also the store house of the Cordage Works. Considerable damage was done at the wharves, and the schooner Thatcher Taylor was capsized, and her masts were carried away. The bark Velma from Smyrna, October 18th, Zenas Nickerson of Chatham, master, entered the bay on Thursday morning, and during the early part of the gale, headed northeast with the wind southeast, and finally struck at two o’clock Friday morning, a half a mile off shore. Beating over the ledge she came within twenty rods of the beach, and swung round with her head to the sea. The crew took to the mizzen rigging. A little before daylight the steward, unable to longer hold on, fell overboard, carrying with him another of the crew, and both were lost. The main mast soon fell, carrying also the mizzen above the men, and through the forenoon the survivors succeeded in holding on. At two o’clock in the afternoon Henry B. Holmes, Paran Bartlett, James Bartlett, James Lynch, Henry Briggs, Otis Nichols, Robert Reamy and Octavius Reamy, reached the vessel and saved the remainder of the crew as follows: Zenas Nickerson of Chatham, master; Starks Nickerson of Chatham, first mate; John G. Allen of New Bedford, second mate; Augustus L. Jenkins of Portsmouth, John Florida of New York, John Perry of Lisbon and Joseph Sylvia of Boston. The names of the two men lost were William Sampson, England, and Manuel Gustres of Pico, Western Islands. The men were carried to the Manomet House, and when stripped, one called Jack was found to have on seven undershirts and four pairs of stockings. Dr. Alexander Jackson of Plymouth, and Dr. C. J. Wood of Chiltonville, the father of Gen. Leonard Wood, who was then practicing in Chiltonville, attended the men, and performed a number of necessary amputations. While they were under treatment I visited them several times and rendered such assistance as I was able. The vessel belonged to G. W. Bisbee, and her cargo consisted of 1245 cases of figs; 1120 boxes do; 7,937 drums, do; 3,527 mats, do; 1,340 drums of Sultana raisins; 7 casks of prunes; 108 bales of wool; 180 bags of canary seed; 6 cases of gum tragacanth; 3,070 pieces of logwood; 50 cases of figs; 8,407 cases, and 1,587 drums, do, the consignees of which were Baker & Morrell, Ryder & Hardy, and the captain.