The Fate of the First Three-Masted Schooner Ever Built in a Pelham Shipyard

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On February 29, 1884, a local newspaper made a brief reference to the "first three masted schooner ever built on City Island" in the Town of Pelham.  Although the reference indicates that the schooner, christened the John K. Shaw, was built at Carll's shipyard in about 1869, it actually was built at the shipyard and delivered to its initial owner, A. S. Hatch, in 1872.  

I have written extensively about David Carll and Carll's Shipyard before.  See, e.g., Mon., Nov. 16, 2015:  David Carll's Shipyard in the Town of Pelham on City Island; Fri., Jun. 16, 2017:  Origins of Ship Repair and Shipbuilding on City Island in the Town of Pelham; Thu., Dec. 31, 2009:  Obituary of David Carll, Master Shipbuilder on City Island in the Town of Pelham.

Schooners are a class of sailing vessels that have fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts. The most common type has two masts, the foremast being shorter than the main.  Although other schooners had been built at Carll's Shipyard prior to construction of the John K. Shaw in 1872, it would appear that the earlier ones were the more common two-masted version of the vessel, if the brief newspaper reference published in 1884 is to be believed.  

The newspaper reference is fascinating because it revealed the fate of the three-masted schooner John K. Shaw.  It stated:

"About fifteen years ago, the first three masted schooner ever built on City Island, the John K. Shaw, was built at Carll's shipyard. During these fifteen years, the vessel never met with any serious mishaps until Friday last, when she was wrecked off Woodlands on the New Jersey Coast."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 29, 1884, Vol. XV, No. 754, p. 3, col. 4.  

The tragic wreck of the John K. Shaw off the Woodlands on the New Jersey coast with the loss of its entire crew of Manasquan, New Jersey men on about Friday, February 22, 1884 captured national attention.  Many believe the schooner was involved in a rare instance of a maritime "hit and run" and was sunk by a vessel that fled the scene after a terrible collision. 

The 158-foot, 379 ton schooner John K. Shaw left Newport News between 12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 21.  The vessel carried nearly nineteen tons of iron ingots on its deck as well as Captain Lucien Osborn and his crew of six men from the borough of Manasquan in Monmouth County, New Jersey.  Three days later on the afternoon of February 24, observers near Deal Beach, New Jersey spotted the spars of a wreck in the waters off the beach.  The pilot of a local tugboat named the Maggie Moran traveled out to the wreck.  He found the afterpart of the deck afloat, and took off a bell having the name "John K. Shaw" on it.  For a time thereafter, other parts of the wreck washed ashore (or were brought ashore) and were identified as belonging to the John K. Shaw.  

There was no certain proof as to how the schooner was lost.  However, the appearance of the remnants of the wreck suggested that a terrible collision had occurred.  The broken planks on one side of the deck suggested that a collision sank the vessel.  No other vessel (or remnants of any vessel) were on the scene.

Within a short time, the owners of the John K. Shaw began an investigation.  Soon they learned that a steamship named the Newport was bound from New York to Havana on the evening of Saturday, February 23, 1884 and that, while off Deal Beach, had a collision with an unidentified three-masted schooner.  The owners of the John K. Shaw filed a maritime action in libel against the owners of the Newport in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.   The libelants (i.e., plaintiffs) alleged that the steamship Newport collided with and sank their vessel and sought $21,062 in damages (about $735,000 in today's dollars).

The owners of the Newport admitted that their steamship collided with an unknown three-masted schooner off the coast of Deal Beach.  They alleged, however, that the schooner was not the John K. Shaw and the collision was a "slight one, her starboard bow grazing the schooner's starboard quarter without injury to either vessel."  

The Court dismissed the action, holding that the libelants had failed to establish that the steamship Newport had collided with the John K. Shaw.  That did not, however, end the matter.  The owners appealed, but were unsuccessful.  See The Newport, 36 F. 910 (2d Cir. 1888).  Instead, the owners of the John K. Shaw and the insurer of the ship's cargo subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Master of the steamship Newport at the time of the collision.  That case made it to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit where the Court ruled that because the owners of the Newport were parties to the first lawsuit, they could not re-litigate the question of whether the Master of the steamship Newport was responsible.  The insurer that was not a party to the earlier lawsuit, however, was permitted to proceed.  See Bailey v. Sundberg, 1 F. 101 (2nd Cir. 1892).  

The location of the remnants of the John K. Shaw is well known.  Indeed, the vessel seems to have been run down and virtually split in half with the two halves settling near each other in two adjacent locations off the New Jersey shore.  The two locations of the wreckage of the vessel have become popular with recreational divers in the last few years.    

Though proceedings continued in the related litigations involving the owners and the insurer of the John K. Shaw for years, the mystery remained.  Indeed, the mystery of what happened to the John K. Shaw more than 134 years ago remains unsolved to this day.  The mystery of who sank the first three-masted schooner ever built in the little Town of Pelham likely will never be solved.

"View of City Island" by Frederick Rondel, 1872. Oil on Canvas

Painting, 20.25 inches x 30 inches. This Painting Depicts the Marine

Railway at David Carll's Shipyard in 1872, the Year the John K.

Shaw was Built at the Shipyard.  NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND. 

Mr. George O. Hawes is erecting a neat cottage at Bartow, for a gentleman of New York City. 

A pound party was held at Grace Church parsonage on Monday evening last. It was a very social and pleasant affair. 

Mr. Dudley R. Horton will occupy the handsome dwelling adjoining the M. E. Church, owned by Mr. Horton Sr., this spring. 

The pigeon match at Secord's Bartow, on Washingtons Birthday, between Will. Pell and Ben. May, for $25 a side, was won by Pell killing eight straight birds. 

Mr. Hawes the carpenter and builder, is at work rebuilding the summer residence of Mr. Wm. Belden. We understand the alterations are to be very extensive. 

Through the persistancy [sic] of the Board of Town Officers, City Island bridge has been temporarily repaired, so that it is at least safe. Cannot something be done to put the road between City Island and Bartow in a passable condition? 

The talk about that scheme to build a horse railroad from City Island to Bartow is all gas. Such an enterprise would doubtless be a grand thing for City Island but a good macadamized road between the two points would be quite as advantageous as a horse railroad. 

Mr. J. F. Horton, representing the Hell Gate pilots, before the Committee on Commerce and Navigation of the Assembly, on Tuesday of last week, made such forcible arguments against the bill to further reduce the fees of pilots, that the committee reported unanimously adverse to the bill. 

About fifteen years ago, the first three masted schooner ever built on City Island, the John K. Shaw, was built at Carll's shipyard. During these fifteen years, the vessel never met with any serious mishaps until Friday last, when she was wrecked off Woodlands on the New Jersey Coast. 

On Wednesday morning last, about seven o'clock, Andrew Anderson, a sailor on board the schooner J. H. Leeds, fell from the masthead to the deck when the vessel was nearing [illegible] and was instantly killed. The schooner put in at City Island and Coroner Tice held an inquest, when a verdict of accidental death was rendered. Anderson was a Swede, about 32 years old, and was unmarried. 

On Saturday last, John Cochran and Hugh Ryan went out in the bay to get some drift wood. After they had gotten their wood and towed it where they wanted it, they rowed around the Island to the cove, and just before landing, their skiff was capsized. Cochran swam ashore, but before Ryan could be rescued he came very near drowning. He was carried to his home in an insensible condition and it was nearly an hour before he was recusitated [sic]. 

The last will of Samuel P. Billar, an oysterman of this place, was a short time ago, admitted to probate by the Surrogate without opposition. It provided that his estate, about $30,000, should be enjoyed by his two children and widow as long as she remained single. In case of her re-marriage, the estate should be divided into thirds and each given their share. Application was recently made to the Surrogat to decide whether she was entitled to the personal estate, the executor having some doubts on the legal construction of the will. The Surrogate has decided that she is so entitled."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 29, 1884, Vol. XV, No. 754, p. 3, col. 4.  

"NO TIDINGS OF THE CREW.

The tug Maggie Moran, the schooner C. Hawsahan, and the revenue steamer Grant, all reported yesterday having passed a wreck off Woodlands, N. J.  The wreck provides to have been the three-masted schooner John K. Shaw, which left Newport News for New-Haven on Feb. 20.  Two of her spars and a portion of her stern were sticking above water.  The Moran's crew wrenched off a small brass bell, which bore the name of the schooner, and which established her identity.  Nothing whatever has been heard of her crew.  they were six men, under the command of Capt. Lucien Osborn.  The vessel was valued at about $12,000, and is said to have been uninsured.

A. S. Hatch & Co., of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, were part owners of the lost vessel, and Capt. Osborn owned a share of her.  Mr. H. P. Havens, of No. 107 South-street, the agent of the vessel, received a letter on Saturday from the wife of Capt. Osborn asking if he had yet arrived in port.  She resides at Manasquan, N.J.  It is feared that the whole crew have perished, for if they had been rescued so near this port some tidings of the fact would have reached the agent.  The cargo consisted of about 350 tons of coal and 150 tons of pig-iron.  The vessel was built at City Island in 1872 and measured 379 tons.  Her agent thinks that perhaps she was run down by some steamer."

Source:  NO TIDINGS OF THE CREW, N.Y. Times, Feb. 26, 1884.  

"Wreckage on the Jersey Coast.

LONG BRANCH, March 3. -- The search continues for the bodies of the crew of the schooner John K. Shaw, which was sunk off Woodsland several days ago.  The sunken vessel now lies bottom up, and is supposed to be intact.  Parts of another vessel were washed ashore yesterday at Asbury Park.  The body which washed ashore near Bear island yesterday was buried to-day alongside of the other victims of the British bark Elmina.  The life saving crews will keep up the watch for bodies of the Shaw's crew.  The wife of Captain Osborn has offered a reward for the recovery of her husband's body."

Source:  Wreckage on the Jersey Coast, The Evening Bulletin [Maysville, KY], Mar. 3, 1884, p. 4, col. 1 (Note:  Subscription required to access via this link).

"The Newport.1 
[Footnote 1 reads:  "1 Reported by Edward G. Benedict, Esq., of the New York bar."]

Hatch and others v. The Newport. 

(District Court, S. D. New York. September 17, 1886.) 

Collision — Steamer And Schooner — Identity Of Colliding Vessel — Circumstantial Evidence—Witnesses Discredited—Costs Not Given. Libelants' three-masted schooner the S., which sailed on the twenty-first of February, 1884, from Newport News for New Haven, was sunk off the New Jersey coast, and all on board perished. The appearance of the wreck, discovered on the 24th, indicated collision as the cause of the loss. The steamer Newport, on the evening of the 23d, was in collision in the same neighborhood with a three-masted schooner. Libelants, claiming that the vessel struck by the Newport was the schooner S., and that she was sunk by the steamer's fault, brought this suit against the steam-ship for their loss. Held, on the evidence, some of the libelants' witnesses being discredited, that libelants had not established the identity of the Newport with the vessel that had sunk the S., and that the libel should be dismissed; but, considering the libelants' misfortune and probable case, without costs. 

In Admiralty. 
L. E. Chittenden and Geo. A. Black, for libelants. 
Goodrich, Deady & Goodrich, and R. D. Benedict, for claimants. 

Brown, J. In February, 1884, the libelants' three-masted schooner John K. Shaw, while on a voyage from Newport News to New Haven, and when some four or five miles off the Jersey coast, and about opposite Deal beach, was sunk, and all on board perished. She left Newport News between 12 and 1 o'clock P.M. of Thursday the 21st. In the afternoon of the 24th the spars of a wreck were seen projecting above water off Deal beach. The pilot of the tug-boat Maggie Moran, upon going near, found the afterpart of the deck afloat, and [Page 658 / Page 659] took off a bell having the name John K. Shaw upon it. Other parts of the wreck which came ashore, or were brought ashore afterwards, were identified as belonging to the John K. Shaw. 

There is no certain proof how the schooner was lost. She was deeply loaded, and had 19 tons of iron on deck. The wind on the night of the 23d was high from N.W., blowing about 50 miles per hour, with a considerable lumpy sea; and the weather during the afternoon previous was snowy. But the schooner is proved to have been staunch and sound, and her captain an experienced and capable officer, well acquainted with the coast; and the appearance of the wreck, from the breaking of the planks on the sides of the deck, indicated collision as the cause of the loss. 

The steamer Newport, bound from New York to Havana, when about opposite Deal beach, and at about 7 P.M. on the evening of the 23d, had a collision with a three-masted schooner. The libel charged that this schooner was the John K. Shaw, and that she was sunk by the steamer's fault, and claims $21,062 damages. The answer avers that the schooner with which the steamer collided was not the John K. Shaw, but some other schooner unknown to the claimants; and that the steamer's collision was a slight one, her starboard bow grazing the schooner's starboard quarter without injury to either vessel. 

Assuming that the John K. Shaw was sunk by a collision, the principal question in the case is whether the identity of these collisions has been satisfactorily established; in other words, whether, during the 24 hours preceding the afternoon of the 24th, when the wreck of the Shaw was first discovered, there were two collisions in that vicinity, or but one. 

As there is no direct proof identifying the John K. Shaw as the schooner with which the steamer collided, the evidence on the libelants' part is necessarily circumstantial only. The chief circumstances relied on to show that the schooners were one and the same are the following: (1) Both were three-masted schooners bound up the coast; (2) the John K. Shaw, from the time she left Newport News, might easily have been off Deal beach at the time of the Newport's collision, since only an average speed of four and one-half miles would have been requisite to bring her there at 7 P.M. of the 23d; (3) the site of the wreck when discovered in the afternoon of the 24th, was not far—certainly not over two or three miles—from the admitted place of the Newport's collision, and the latter place is but approximately fixed by estimates only; (4) one witness, the mess-boy of the Newport, testifies that he saw the schooner list and sink a few minutes after the collision, and when from a quarter to a half mile distant; and two others of her seamen, who watched the schooner from the steamer's port side, though they do not swear to seeing the schooner sink or capsize, think she must have sunk, because she vanished or disappeared suddenly when a half mile or thereabouts distant; (5) [Page 660 / Page 661] there was no other known wreck of a schooner at that time and place; (6) if the two schooners were not the same, then there were two collisions at about the same time and place, and hence two other colliding vessels to be accounted for; but there is no evidence of any other collision,—no other was reported, and no other vessel colliding with the Newport is proved. The Newport has not shown what other vessel it was, if any other, that collided with her or with the John K. Shaw. 

These circumstances present a pretty strong prima facie presumption and probability that it was the John K. Shaw with which the Newport collided. But the most important circumstance of all, if true, is that the schooner that collided with the Newport sank shortly after. If that could be deemed proved, it would have great weight in discrediting the opposing testimony; for, if another three-masted schooner had been sunk and lost there on the 23d, that fact would in all probability have become known and reported; although this, even, would not be certain, since it might be a schooner returning from a long voyage, and her wreck might have wholly disappeared. But one of the weakest parts of the libelants' testimony is the alleged sinking of the schooner with which the Newport collided. If, on the other hand, that schooner did not sink at the time, or is not known to have sunk; and, still more, if the direction and the kind of the colliding blow were not such as were likely to cause a schooner to sink; and if the schooner, after passing the steamer, showed no signs of sinking, and gave no signal for assistance, though means of doing so were at hand,—then the other circumstances relied on by the libelants are obviously wholly inconclusive. 

Careful consideration of the particulars, as regards each of the circumstances relied on by the libelants, has satisfied me not only that they are insufficient to establish their case by a preponderance of proof; but that, notwithstanding my first impressions to the contrary, the probabilities, upon the facts and circumstances proved by the claimants, are that, however the John K. Shaw may have been sunk, it was not through the Newport, but that the schooner colliding with the latter was another vessel. I shall state some of the chief reasons only for this conclusion, without going into all the details of the testimony. 

(1) There is no satisfactory proof that the schooner that collided with the Newport was substantially injured. The weight of direct proof, and the probabilities of the case, are to the contrary. The mess-boy is not supported by Murphy, who stood by him watching the schooner. The latter says she sailed away into the darkness, as usual, apparently uninjured. The testimony of the other two seamen for the libelants, that they thought she sank, is based upon her disappearing suddenly some five or ten minutes after the collision, and a half mile or so distant, whereas they thought she should have been seen longer; but their credibility and good judgment are cer- [Page 660 / 661] tainly not sustained by their further testimony that a schooner on that night could be seen, as the one says, seven miles, the other twenty miles, off. Four other witnesses who were watching the schooner from a better post of observation say that she gradually disappeared, sailing away, as usual, into the darkness, without apparent injury. The night was dark, being still clouded and thick to the south and east from the previous snow, but clearing to the westward. 

(2) Most of the witnesses say that the schooner, before the collision, was sailing close-hauled, and therefore heading about N. by E.; that her sails at the collision were shaking from an apparent luff to avoid the Newport; and all say that after raking past the steamer she sailed away, or filled away, upon her previous course, until she disappeared from sight. This would not be natural or probable if she had been seriously injured as to sink within 10 or 15 minutes after the collision. 

(3) The schooner gave no call for help, nor signal of any kind indicating disaster or need of assistance. As she passed the steamer, several of the witnesses heard something said from the quarter deck. Two witnesses say it was in substance, 'Where in h—l are you going;' an exclamation certainly not indicative of serious injury or impending disaster. After she had passed, a light like that of a lantern was seen on board; but it was not swung, nor was any other signal for help displayed. It is scarcely credible that the vessel should have filled away on her course, and exhibited no signal for help, if so damaged as to sink shortly after. 

(4) The libel alleges that the colliding blow was given on the schooner's starboard bow, forward of the foremast,—the lookout of the steamer so testifies; and, if this had been true, doubtless the schooner would have been cut in two or capsized. But all of the other witnesses of the collision disprove the lookout's account in this respect. The blow was clearly a glancing blow upon the schooner's starboard quarter, given when the schooner, having luffed somewhat, was heading either N. or a little W. of N., while the steamer was heading about S. 1-2 W.; and the schooner's quarter raked along the steamer's side, as shown by the mark on the latter, for some 50 or 60 feet, beginning about 25 feet from the steamer's stem. Such a blow was not one that would necessarily do much damage to either vessel. It did none to the steamer, and the subsequent conduct of the schooner would indicate that none was done to her. If so, that furnishes all the explanation called for to account for the absence of proof of the name of the schooner collided with. The collision, in this view, was not one that required reporting, and accordingly was not reported; and hence the schooner was unknown. The steamer, for the same reason, made no official report of her collision, as she would have done had it been accompanied by damage. 

(5) There is no certain proof that the Shaw was sunk by collision. [Page 661 / Page 662] The breaking of the sides of her deck might have occurred in foundering, and from the great weight of iron on deck. So far as the appearances indicate a collision, however, they would indicate a different kind of collision from that with the Newport, viz., a collision on the port side, instead of one on the starboard side; and in the waist, cutting her in two, instead of a glancing blow along the starboard quarter. The wreck of the Shaw showed the taffrail mainly in place, and the rail and stanchions for a considerable distance still standing on the starboard quarter much further than along the port quarter. A sideling blow from the Newport on the schooner's starboard quarter could only have caused her to sink from crushing in that part of her; and it is hardly conceivable that a blow sufficient to crush in her quarter could have left her rail and stanchions standing; and the Shaw's wreck indicated a blow, if any, upon the opposite side. 

(6) A moment or two before the collision, the steamer's wheel was hard a-starboard, and her engines were stopped for five minutes. Her previous speed, aided by the wind, was about 15 knots. Under her starboard wheel she swung to port till she headed due north, when she went ahead under one bell at 'half speed,' being about nine knots. In swinging round to due north she would have gone due east from the meridian of the collision at least a third of a mile. She continued going north about 10 or 15 minutes, without seeing any signs of the schooner, and then swung around again to the southward, and continued on her course. As the schooner was probably going at the rate of six to seven knots, if she continued on her course without injury she would not have been overtaken by the steamer, on this return of about two miles to the northward, after the five-minutes stop of her engines. But, if the schooner had been seriously damaged, she would not have been likely to continue under full sail to the northward; and she would probably have been seen, or at least some boats or signals for help would probably have come into view, since there was clearly ample time, while the schooner was in sight, and before the steamer had got headed to the northward, to have launched her small boats. 

(7) The weight of testimony leaves no doubt that on board the Newport there was not, at the time, any belief or thought that the schooner had been sunk or materially injured; and such is the entry in her log. All the circumstances point to this belief on their part; and the testimony of one or two of the discharged seamen to the contrary is not sustained. Every probability is otherwise. 

(8) It is not wholly insignificant that out of the seven witnesses that looked down upon the deck of the schooner as she passed the steamer, illuminated to some extent by the steamer's lights, not one noticed any deck cargo; while the Shaw's large deck-load of iron must have been easily distinguishable. 

(9) The evidence all tends to show that the place of the Newport's collision was some two or three miles from the place where the wreck [Page 662 / Page 663] of the Shaw was found the next afternoon. This conclusion depends, to some extent, on estimates; but by no means wholly so. The place of the wreck is fixed, by its bearings from the stations Nos. 5 and 6, as less than five miles off Deal beach. The officer at station No. 5 testified at the trial that it bore from his station S. E. He afterwards made affidavit that he should have said E. S. E.; and as it bore E. by N. from station No. 6, the former would make the wreck less than three miles from shore; the latter, four and a half miles. 

All the witnesses from the Newport, however, as well as three for the libelant, estimate the place of the collision as from seven to eight miles off shore. The master went out further than usual to avoid the many coasters that had gathered near shore during the thick and snowy weather previous. It is scarcely probable that all on board should have misjudged the distance from shore in the same way, by making it one-third greater than it was. 

The distance and course run by the steamer after passing Sandy Hook and Scotland lightship, and the bearing of the Highland lights, after the Newport had got headed north, confirm the estimates given by the witnesses of their distance from shore at nearly seven miles. Upon heading north, the Highland lights, as the pilot testifies, bore 'about N. N. W.;' the two lights being in range and showing as one. The master says that the Scotland lightship at the same time bore N. by W. westerly. By passing from half a mile to a mile to the eastward of the latter at 5:50 and running 40 minutes S. by E., and then 10 minutes S. 1/2 W., as the master testifies she did run, the steamer would have reached, at 6:40 P.M., when the engine was stopped, about 12£ miles from the Scotland light-ship, and would be bearing, when headed to the northward, within half a point of S. S. E. from the Highland lights, which the pilot says bore 'about N. N. W.;' and this would also bring the Scotland light-ship N. by W. westerly, as the master testifies. This would make the steamer about seven miles from shore. The mate's statement that the Highland lights bore N. N. W. from the steamer after she got headed south again, I consider a mistake, as it is not reconcilable with anything else in the case, nor with the libelants' theory. 

The witnesses upon whom the libelants rely for proof that the schooner struck by the Newport was seen to sink, not only testify under somewhat suspicious influences, but the force of their testimony is greatly weakened by the manifest mistakes and improbabilities that attend it. One of the witnesses, Anderson, who says the schooner disappeared suddenly when about half a mile distant, also says 'it was a clear night at the time;' that the steamer was 'under full speed;' that it was moonlight; and that without moonlight the schooner could not be seen a half mile off, but thinks it could have been seen a quarter of a mile. Now, the proof is certain that the steamer was not then under full speed, but that her engines were either stopped or going slow; that it was not then a clear night; and, [Page 663 / Page 664] as the moon fulled on the evening of February 11th, there was no moon above the horizon at 7 P.M. of the 23d. From this it is manifest that not only can no value be attached to the witness' inference that the schooner sank when half a mile off because she suddenly disappeared, but the false circumstances stated discredit him altogether. There are other circumstances that compel me to withhold confidence from the statements of the other witnesses that testify that they saw the schooner sink. 

These circumstances altogether are sufficient, as it seems to me, to explain and to outweigh the apparent probabilities against the Newport at first presented. Her narrative is not attended, so far as I can perceive, by any serious inconsistencies, or by any difficulties or improbabilities. I cannot regard the case of the libelants, therefore, as established by any such preponderance of proof as to warrant a decree against the Newport, and the libel must be dismissed. The Grace Girdler, 7 Wall. 196; The Albert Mason, 2 Fed. Rep. 821; S. C. 8 Fed. Rep. 768; The City of Chester, 18 Fed. Rep. 603. But, considering the misfortune of the libelants, and their apparent probable case, the dismissal may be without costs."

Source:  The Newport, 28 F. 658 (S.D.N.Y., 1886) (Federal Reporter).

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Earliest Evidence of Ship Repair on City Island in the Town of Pelham

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City Island, part of Pelham for nearly 250 years until its annexation by New York City in 1895, is strategically located near the "entrance" to Long Island Sound from the East River and New York Harbor.  Indeed, it is the first substantial island in the Sound North of Throggs Neck on the mainland and Kings Point on Long Island, an area where many believe the so-called "East River" becomes Long Island Sound.  

As long ago as 1651, Dutch settler Adriaen Van der Donck recognized the strategic importance of the lands and islands in this area when he wrote:  "land fortifies itself remarkably and also lends itself naturally to fortification at Sandy Hook, The Narrows, Hell Gate, or at other bays and entrances so as to make it, humanly speaking, impregnable."  Van der Donck, Adriaen, A Description of New Netherland, pp. 132-33 (Lincoln, NE and London:  University of Nebraska Press, 2008) (Edited by Charles T. Gehring and William A. Starna; Translated by Diederik Willem Goedhuys).  

 

Image from Google Maps Showing City Island and Long Island

Sound (in Upper Right) Relative to the East River at Bottom.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Given its location, mariners traveling up and down the northeast coast of America have sailed past today's City Island since at least the earliest years of the 17th century.  Thus, it should come as no surprise that the sloping, sandy shores of City Island, adjacent to deep water and even somewhat protected by nearby Hart Island, has been used for ship repair and shipbuilding for at least nearly two centuries.  Indeed, even before the Revolutionary War, people such as Benjamin Palmer recognized that the island known today as City Island was ideally situated to attract and service vessels sailing to and from nearby New York City. In fact, Palmer devised a grandiose plan to rename the island (then known as Minneford Island) as "City Island" and to develop it as a deep water harbor town intended to rival, and compete with, New York City's port of New York Harbor.  That plan, of course, ended ignominiously with the onset of the Revolutionary War.

I have written before about the history of shipbuilding on City Island.  See, e.g.:  Fri., Jun. 16, 2017:  Origins of Ship Repair and Shipbuilding on City Island in the Town of Pelham.  Today's Historic Pelham Blog article documents a brief newspaper reference demonstrating that City Island was used as an impromptu ship repair site in 1821.

In 1821, the Town of Pelham was virtually unpopulated.  The Town tax assessment roll for 1821 shows only 31 taxpayers in the entire town.  See Tue., Apr. 05, 2005:  1821 Tax Assessment Roll of the Town of Pelham.  According to the Pelham School Commissioners' Report to the Superintendent of Common Schools of the State of New York for the year 1821, there were 65 school age children in Pelham, although only 35 of these children attended school during the year previous to the report.  See Wed., Nov. 12, 2014:  September 1821 Report from Pelham School Commissioners to the Superintendent of Common Schools of the State of New York. 

At about this time, City Island likewise was nearly unpopulated.  As of 1818, most of the island was owned by Nicholas Haight and Joshua Huested.  On January 1, 1819, however, Nicholas Haight and his wife, Mary, sold to George Washington Horton 42 acres on the lower (southern) portion of City Island.  Nevertheless, even as early as 1821, the waters around City Island in the Town of Pelham were quite busy.  For example, I have written before about the steamship Robert Fulton and its anchorage at City Island in 1821.  See Mon., Oct. 17, 2016:  The Famed Pioneer Steamship Robert Fulton Anchored at City Island During an Excursion in 1821.

There are many news accounts that reflect maritime activity in the waters near City Island at the time.  For example, one sad account published on May 3, 1821, reported:

"Accident. -- A small boat in crossing from City Island to Throgg's Neck, on Sunday last, was filled by getting in the trough of the sea.  Mr. Pearson, head carpenter of the buildings erecting by Elbert Anderson, Esq. and a lad about 18 years old, jumped overboard and were drowned.  --  Another lad about 13 years old, stuck to the boat and was saved."

Source:  Accident, The National Gazette and Literary Register [Philadelphia, PA], May 3, 1821, Vol. 1, No. 156, p. 2, col. 3 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

A very brief report published earlier the same year is evidence that City Island was used as a site for impromptu ship repairs as early as 1821.  The report indicates that on February 13, 1821, a sloop from Newport named Agent sprang a leak and was hauled ashore at City Island for repairs.  The entire report reads:  "The sloop Agent, Blisen, from Newport, hauled ashore yesterday at City island, to stop a leak." Source:  MARINE LIST, The New-York Evening Post, Feb. 14, 1821, No. 5818, p. 3, col. 1. 

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Edwin Dennison Morgan III's Famed Racing Yacht "Constellation" Was Built in a Pelham Shipyard in 1889

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Yesterday's Historic Pelham article addressed the success of the Henry Piepgras Shipyard on City Island in the Town of Pelham during the latter half of the 1880s and efforts by Piepgras to expand the facility in 1888 and 1889.  See Wed., Dec. 13, 2017:  Henry Piepgras Made Improvements to His Pelham Shipyard in 1888 and 1889.  As noted in that article, at the very beginning of 1889, the Piepgras Shipyard was extremely busy.  On February 1, the keels of three yachts were already laid with plans to lay two more keels -- five at once.  All five vessels were steel-plated racing yachts intended to be finished in time for yacht races later that year.  One of the three steel-plated yachts under construction on February 1, 1889, was a yacht commissioned by Edwin Dennison Morgan III (E. D. Morgan).

Edwin Dennison Morgan III has been described as "The Greatest American Yachtsman."  According to one source he had a "long record in yacht racing, including the America's Cup."  He was a grandson of New York Governor and United States Senator Edwin Dennison Morgan and a distant relation of J. P. Morgan.  His father, Edwin Dennison Morgan II, died young.  Thus, when his grandfather died thereafter, the young Edwin Dennison Morgan III inherited from his grandfather an estate valued at about $12,000,000 (roughly $400 million in today's dollars).  He graduated from Harvard in 1877 and lived life thereafter as a "sportsman" -- primarily a yachtsman.

He served as Commodore of the New York Yacht Club in 1893-94 and served on that club's America's Cup Committee four times.  Yachting was central in his life.  His biography for his induction into the Herreshoff Marine Museum America's Cup Hall of Fame notes that "He owned some 17 vessels including steamers, schooners, sloops, America's Cup Defenders and many smaller yachts."  The biography further notes:

"After many years racing lesser yachts, Mr. Morgan came to particular prominence in yachting circles as the owner of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff's breakthrough yacht GLORIANA, which won all eight races in the New York Yacht Club's most competitive class in 1891. Thus began a legendary partnership in competitions over many years between E.D. Morgan as owner and manager and N.G. Herreshoff as designer and builder. The duo's accomplishments included very direct involvement with four Cup Defenders: VIGILANT in 1893 over VALKYRIE; DEFENDER in 1895 over VALKYRIE II; COLUMBIA in 1899 over SHAMROCK; and COLUMBIA in 1901 over SHAMROCK II with E.D. Morgan as syndicate manager."

Source:  Herreshoff Marine Museum / America's Cup Hall of Fame, "EDWIN DENNISON MORGAN, 2000 INDUCTEE" (visited Dec. 9, 2017).

Edwin Dennison Morgan III, Famous 19th Century Yachtsman.

During the late 1880s, E. D. Morgan hired Edward Burgess, one of the nation's premier yacht designers and maritime architects to design a massive steel-plated schooner exclusively for speed.  He also hired New York's premier shipbuilder, Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras of City Island in the Town of Pelham, to construct the massive racing schooner.

By February 1, 1889, the keel of the new schooner had been laid at the Piepgras Shipyard at the eastern end of Pilot Avenue (today's "Pilot Street") on City Island.  Although there are suggestions in some news accounts that Morgan hoped to race the new schooner in upcoming races in the Spring, work on the new schooner was delayed not long after the keel had been laid.  According to one report, Henry Piepgras was not satisfied with the quality of steel available to him for creating the steel plates for the hull and waited until he could obtain better quality steel.  By mid-February, 1889, Piepgras had the steel and arranged for work on the new schooner to proceed "in earnest" the week of February 23rd.

The yachting world was beginning to anticipate great things regarding the new schooner.  On February 16, 1889, a New York City newspaper reported a rumor that "the mainmast is to be 100 feet from tenon to masthead.  This looks as thought the yacht is to carry a big spread of sail."

By at least February 27, 1889, the new schooner under construction at the Piepgras Shipyard had a name.  The New York Herald of New York City reported that day that the "name of Mr. E. D. Morgan's schooner which Piepgras is building at City Island, will be the Constellation."

Work on the Constellation progressed slowly but steadily over the next six weeks.  By mid-April, the steel-plating was nearly complete with "only a little more" left to do.  The deck was expected to be laid "soon."  

As the Constellation slowly took shape at the Piepgras Shipyard slowly took shape during the next two months, it became increasingly clear that the schooner would be something very special.  It clearly would be the largest steel schooner yacht yet built in the world (136 feet overall, almost half the length of a modern football field).  In addition, it was being designed exclusively for speed.  

The Constellation, a centerboard schooner, had a rather revolutionary feature.  It was designed so that the centerboard did not rise above the cabin floor.  Reported measurements for the schooner differed slightly in various reports, but the vessel was about 136 feet long overall, 107 feet long on the water line, 24 feet 9 inch beam, and a draft of about 12 feet.  The ballast of the vessel was lead, "most of it being poured in hot."  The vessel also had a "pole bowsprit and set[] her jib flying cutter style" with a very large set of sails.  


By July 15, 1889, the Constellation was "rapidly approaching completion."  One newspaper reported that day that Morgan hoped to have the racing yacht ready for upcoming races of the New York Yacht Club.  

Though work on the yacht was not yet complete, over the next two and a half weeks, Morgan was able to take the vessel on "two or three trial spins."  The New York Herald reported on July 31 that Morgan was "quite satisfied with his new schooner Constellation."  It further reported that the trial runs gave Morgan "hope for great things when she gets into thorough racing trim.  In the forthcoming cruise of the New York Yacht Club her speed will be thoroughly tested, and some people think she will be a formidable candidate for the $1,000 Goelet Cup."  

That same day (July 31, 1889), the Constellation's designer, Edward Burgess, spent the day at the Piepgras Shipyard in Pelham giving Henry Piepgras instructions for a "few alterations in the rig" of the schooner "so as to have her in the best possible condition for the New York Yacht Club cruise" that would be held on August 8.  

On Thursday, August 8, the beautiful day broke with light breezes.  Edwin Dennison Morgan III and everyone else, frankly, expected great things of the Constellation during the New York Yacht Club Squadron Races from New London to Newport held that day. 

The Constellation raced among five other "First Class Schooners" including the Palmer, the Ramona, the Intrepid, the Norseman, and the Dauntless.  It won the race, beating all by about a minute.  See BEAUTIFUL GRAYLING LEADS THE FLEET, N.Y. Herald, Aug. 9, 1889, p. 4, cols. 1-3.  

Surprisingly, however, reaction to the Constellation and its performance in the race was somewhat negative among American yachtsmen.  The New York Herald reported the day after the race as follows:

 "The Constellation, the big schooner designed by Mr. Burgess for Mr. E. D. Morgan, comes in for a great deal of unkind criticism, and rather unjustly so, in my opinion.  She is a steel centreboard craft, 106 feet on the load water line, 24 feet 9 inches beam and 12 feet draught.  Constructed expressly for speed, her ballast is of lead, most of it being poured in hot.  She has a pole bowsprit and sets her jib flying cutter style.  Her sail plan is very large.  As to her beauty people are divided, but the point made against her is that she undoubtedly should have shown to better advantage."

The problem seems to have been one of expectations.  The Constellation was brand new with purportedly significant technological improvements.  Yet, it beat the last place Dauntless, a 24-year-old vessel, by only one minute and nine seconds.  Moreover, the remaining vessels that it also beat were a hodge podge of older ships with one even described as "old fashioned."  Indeed, the New York Herald reported "With such boats as these against her it is argued with some force that the Constellation ought to have made a more remarkable record.  Unkindly criticism of this kind ought, however, to be deferred until next season."

 Morgan himself seems to have been less than enthusiastic about the potential of the Constellation.  Barely two years later, on September 10, 1891, a local newspaper reported that he had sold the vessel to Mr. Bayard Thayer of Boston for $40,000, a price that was "much below the original cost of the yacht."  

Eight years later, in 1899, Bayard Thayer sold the Constellation to Francis Skinner of the Eastern Yacht Club.  The yacht eventually landed in the hands of Henry Sears, also of the Eastern Yacht Club.  According to the City Island Nautical Museum, "The yacht was the flagship and landmark at Marblehead Harbor and the Eastern Yacht Club until 1941, when the yacht was donated to the Navy for scrap metal, so much of Constellation went into the construction of war ships. Constellation was considered by many to be the most beautiful yacht in America during its lifetime."

The most beautiful yacht in America during the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries was built in a Pelham shipyard by Pelhamite and City Island shipbuilder Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras.  The lovely yacht is pictured immediately below.

Edwin Dennison Morgan's Centerboard Schooner Constellation

Designed by Edward Burgess and Built at the Henry Piepgras Shipyard

on City Island in the Town of Pelham in 1889.  This Image Shows the

Yacht on August 10, 1892 in a Race Near Marblehead, Massachusetts

Which She Won in Her Class.  Source:  Wikimedia Commons.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"YACHTING NOTES AND COMMENTS. . . .

I saw Mr. E. D. Morgan and Mr. Edward Burgess at City Island.  They had gone there to see how the big steel schooner is progressing.  There has been some little delay in getting the proper kind of steel for the yacht, but Mr. Piepgras has at last obtained what he wants and work will go on in dead earnest next week.  I hear a rumor that the mainmast is to be 100 feet from tenon to masthead.  This looks as thought the yacht is to carry a big spread of sail."

Source:  YACHTING NOTES AND COMMENTS, N.Y. Herald, Feb. 16, 1889, p. 8, col. 2.

"YACHTING TOPICS. . . . 

The name of Mr. E. D. Morgan's schooner which Piepgras is building at City Island, will be the Constellation. . . . ."

Source:  YACHTING TOPICS, N.Y. Herald, Feb. 27, 1889, p. 8, col. 2.

"YACHTING NOTES.
-----
A Great Deal of Activity in all the Local Shipyards. . . . 

Work is being rapidly pushed on Mr. E. D. Morgan's Burgess cutter Tomahawk and Burgess' schooner Constellation by Piepgras.  The former is nearly plated and her deck will soon be laid.  Only a little more plating is needed by the Constellation. . . ."

Source:  YACHTING NOTES -- A Great Deal of Activity in all the Local Shipyards, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Apr. 11, 1889, Vol. 49, No. 100, p. 1, col. 3.

"YACHTING TOPICS. . . .

Mr. E. D. Morgan's fine steel centreboard yacht Constellation, designed by Mr. Burgess, was launched yesterday afternoon from the yard of Mr. Henry Piepgras at City Island, on the Sound.  A large party of yachtsmen and ladies witnessed the launch, which was successful in every way.  Just as the yacht settled in the water Mrs. Morgan, wife of the owner, broke a bottle of wine over the yacht's prow, at the same time saying prettily, 'I christen thee Constellation.  Be speedy, victorious and safe.'  The yacht will be schooner rigged, is both keel and centreboard.  A feature of the centreboard is that it does not rise above the cabin floor.  The Constellation is 138 feet long over all, 107 feet on the water line and 26 feet beam and 16 feet depth of hold.  Her spars are in readiness at the yard of her builder, and she will probably receive them to-morrow."

Source:  YACHTING TOPICS, N.Y. Herald, Jun. 21, 1889, p. 8, col. 6.  

"YACHTING. . . .

Edwin  D. Morgan's handsome new schooner Constellation is rapidly approaching completion at Piepgras's yard.  Mr. Morgan hopes to have her ready for the cruise of the New York Yacht Club.  She will be classed with the schooners Dauntless, Roseman, Palmer and Ramona. . . ."

Source:  YACHTING, Utica Morning Herald [Utica, NY], Jul. 15, 1899, p. 3, col. 2.  

"YACHTING TOPICS.
-----

Mr. E. D. Morgan is said to be quite satisfied with his new schooner Constellation, which Mr. Burgess designed and Mr. Piepgras built.  He has given her two or three trial spins, and the way she goes through the water leads him to hope for great things when she gets into thorough racing trim.  In the forthcoming cruise of the New York Yacht Club her speed will be thoroughly tested, and some people think she will be a formidable candidate for the $1,000 Goelet Cup.  The Constellation is one of the largest centreboard schooner yachts afloat.  Her fittings are in excellent taste and cost a pile of money."

Source:  YACHTING TOPICS, N. Y. Herald, Jul. 31, 1889, p. 8, col. 6.  

"YACHTING TOPICS. . . . 

Mr. Edward Burgess spent some time yesterday at City Island giving Mr. Piepgras instructions for a few alterations in the rig of Mr. E. D. Morgan's schooner Constellation, so as to have her in the best possible condition for the New York Yacht Club cruise."

Source:  YACHTING TOPICS, N. Y. Herald, Aug. 1, 1889, p. 6, col. 4.

"THE CRUISE AND ITS LESSONS.
-----
How Yachtsmen Regard the Results of the New York Yacht Squadron Races.
-----
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE FORTIES.
-----
Minerva the Most Popular Boat in Her Class in Spite of Her Scotch Origin.
------

The problems which the cruise of the New York Yacht Club, with its glorious races, was expected to solve are as yet unsolved.  It is one of a yachtsman's salient characteristics never to admit that he is beaten, so the owners and designers of the vessels which sustained actual defeat are by no means satisfied that under different conditions their boats would not have come in at the head of the fleet.  Nearly all the yachtsmen have returned and are sweltering in their offices, trying to get on even terms with the immense amount of work which has accumulated during their absence.  They do not seem so happy, though, as they did at Newport or Cottage City, when with silken soul and body lashings of various brilliant hues they charmed the hearts of the girls and had a tip-top, glorious time.

Discussion as to the merits of each and every boat in the squadron may be heard at all the haunts of yachtsmen.  There are two factions -- Burgess and anti-Burgess -- and the way they clapperclaw each other is a caution to snakes.  The Constellation, the big schooner designed by Mr. Burgess for Mr. E. D. Morgan, comes in for a great deal of unkind criticism, and rather unjustly so, in my opinion.  She is a steel centreboard craft, 106 feet on the load water line, 24 feet 9 inches beam and 12 feet draught.  Constructed expressly for speed, her ballast is of lead, most of it being poured in hot.  She has a pole bowsprit and sets her jib flying cutter style.  Her sail plan is very large.  As to her beauty people are divided, but the point made against her is that she undoubtedly should have shown to better advantage.  She had against her the Dauntless, a boat twenty-four years old, whose shape and spars have been described until they are quite familiar.

Competing against her also was the Intrepid, a wooden keel schooner, designed in 1878 by Mr. A. Cary Smith for ocean work entirely, with inside ballast of iron and lead, and rigged with flying jib-boom in the old style.  Her dimensions are 100 feet 8 inches load water line; beam 24 feet 1 inch; with a plumb sternpost, a deep bilge and flat floor, with nothing modern about her.

Another of her rivals was the Palmer, a wooden schooner, lately rebuilt by Piepgras and transformed into a keel yacht by Poillon.  She is 104 feet 3 inches on the load water line, 24 feet 2 inches beam and 12 feet draught.  Her ballast is of lead, about forty tons of it on the keel.  She has a pole bowsprit.  She carried away her foretopmast on the run to Vineyard Haven, and sailed without it during the rest of the cruise.  Consequently she could not set her spinnaker or jibtopsail is a great help to speed in windward work.

With such boats as these against her it is argued with some force that the Constellation ought to have made a more remarkable record.  Unkindly criticism of this kind ought, however, to be deferred until next season, when she will be in full racing condition, and then she may turn out the best centreboard racing schooner of her size in the world.  Yachtsmen who have seen the fast keel schooner Yampa, designed by Mr. A. Cary Smith, whose fine achievements in deep water have been from time to time chronicled in the HERALD, would very much like to see the two boats in an ocean race.  The Iroquois, a good, seaworthy cruising craft, from the design of Mr. A. Cary Smith, successfully weathered the memorable blizzard and did very well indeed on the cruise.

If Mr. Burgess made a partial failure with his schooners this year, all hands must congratulate him on the peerless work of his smart sloop Titania.  This boat, with the exception perhaps of the Puritan, is undoubtedly the very best yacht Mr. Burgess has ever turned out.  The Volunteer is excepted for many reasons obvious to well informed yachtsmen.  The brilliant all round work of the Titania must make her celebrated in the annals of American yachting.  There is not a yachtsman on this side of the Atlantic who does not believe that the Titania could walk away with the Valkyrie with great ease under any conditions of weather.  The general impression goes that if Valkyrie had only proved herself just a wee bit smarter in her races the Royal Yacht Squadron would probably have taken a different view of the New Deed of Gift.

The Titania, therefore, seems to be facile princepa in her class.  The owners of the Katrina have had tests enough and they must fain admit that the Burgess boat is the better.  As for the Bedouin she might, with a few alterations, have done more creditably, but the good old cruiser has been out-built.  Nevertheless she is still staunch and sound as a roach and for a good all round boat, perfectly safe and seaworthy and one that can weather a gale of wind in fine style, commend me to Archie Rogers' fine old cutter.

The next class which commands attention is that of the forty footers -- those purely racing machines concerning which the HERALD has had something to say since they first originated.  Boats with great beam, large displacement, deep draught and enormous sale area, they were sprung with a rush upon American yachtsmen.  The result cannot be truly said to have been satisfactory.  All of them which have tried conclusions with the Scotch cutter Minerva have come woefully to grief.  Burgess, Cary, Smith, Gardner and McVey have trotted out their finest and choicest designs and young Fife of Fairlie has beaten them with a last year's boat."

Source:  THE CRUISE AND ITS LESSONS, N. Y. Herald, Aug. 25, 1889, p. 7, col. 6.

"E. D. MORGAN'S SCHOONER SOLD. -- The famous schooner yacht Constellation, built two years ago by Piepgras of City Island, for Mr. Edwin D. Morgan, of New York, the owner of the Gloriana, has been sold to Mr. Bayard Thayer of Boston.  The price paid for the schooner is said to be $40,000.  This is much below the original cost of the yacht.  She is of Burgess design, built of steel, fitted with a centreboard below the cabin floor and rigged in the strongest manner.  Her dimensions are:  131 feet over all, 166 [sic] feet water line, 24 feet 9 inches beam and 12 feet draught.  She is just the kind of vessel in which to make a cruise around the world."

Source:  E. D. MORGAN'S SCHOONER SOLD, Queens County Sentinel [Hempstead, NY], Sep. 10, 1891, Vol. 35, No. 15, p. 3, col. 2.  

"VICE COMMODORE MORGAN'S ITUNA. . . .

Yachtsmen here who had given the subject consideration during the winter and early spring wondered a little what Vice Commodore Morgan would do this year for a large boat.  He had disposed of the schooner Constellation to Mr. Bayard Thayer, of Boston. . . ."

Source:  VICE COMMODORE MORGAN'S ITUNA, N.Y. Herald, Jun. 8, 1892, p. 11, col. 4.  

"NEWS FOR YACHTSMEN. . . .

B. B. Crowninshield reports that he has sold the schooner Puritan, the former cup defender, for J. Malcolm Forbes to J. O. Shaw, Jr. Eastern Yacht Club, and the steel schooner Constellation for Bayard Thayer to Francis Skinner, Eastern Yacht Club.  The Constellation is one of the largest and finest schooners in the fleet; was designed by Burgess and built by Piepgras in 1889.  The yacht's dimensions are 131 feet over all, 107 feet water line, 25 feet beam, and 12 feet draught. . . ."

Source:  NEWS FOR YACHTSMEN, N. Y. Times, Mar. 12, 1899, p. 8, col. 4.

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