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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Early February, 1886, When the Waters Off Pelham Froze Over and Trapped Ships

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The cold that winter more than 130 years ago was so brutal that extreme efforts had to be taken to prevent prisoners held on Hart Island in the Town of Pelham from simply walking away from the prison across the ice of Long Island Sound.  Every day during that brutal cold spell in early February, 1886 the powerful steamboat Fidelity chugged along dutifully and plowed away the thick ice around the entire circumference of the island so Hart Island prisoners could not escape.  Winter was pounding poor Pelham once again.

Pelham, it seems, had grown accustomed to the terrible cold of a merciless winter.  Only four years before during another ferocious winter, the Long Island Sound around City Island and Hart Island off the shores of Pelham froze over and trapped hundreds of craft including schooners and myriad sailing vessels.  Indeed, so many ships were trapped in the ice on that occasion that, according to one account, at night the area "looked like a big town" due to the many lights that could be seen within the many trapped vessels waiting for the ice to thaw and break up.  

Three years before that, in 1879 during another brutal cold spell, much of the Sound and even rivers including portions of the Hudson froze over in a similar fashion.  Steamers were used to break up the ice to try to keep maritime navigation flowing.  Though shipping continued sporadically in the New York City region, the ice-choked waters slowed traffic tremendously for many, many days.

Early February, 1886 was no different.  On February 9, 1886, the New York Herald reported that around City Island and Hart Island "the ice was a complete field."  Pelham Bay "was an unbroken sheet of ice."  Ice on the rivers surrounding New York City was between four and six inches thick.  Schooners, tows, and tugs were stuck in the ice around the islands.  Indeed, on February 8, 1886 there were seven schooners and twenty one canal boats stuck in the ice near City Island and Hart Island.  Additionally, thirteen coal barges that were bound for Bridgeport were stuck in the area.  The New York Herald reported that the ice was solid from the waters around City Island all the way up to Saybrook, Connecticut.

In an effort to keep maritime commerce flowing to and from City Island, a steamship tug was used to cut a channel through the ice leading to the City Island dock one morning.  By the afternoon, however, the tiny little channel was virtually impassable.  It was "choked with broken cakes of ice."  

Sailors on board the trapped vessels made the most of their situation.  For example, Captain Flannery of the M. Vandercook (the vessel towing the thirteen ice-bound coal barges) was accompanied by his wife.  On the evening of Saturday, February 6, Captain Flannery's "buxom, hospitable" wife hosted a grand party for sailors including Captain Fillman, Captain John Walker "Peter" Carlin, and Captain Michael Daly.  Each captain was accompanied by his wife.  One of the crew members provided music with a concertina.  The ladies and gentlemen, according to the New York Herald, enjoyed "an elegant time . . . that evening on the frozen Sound."

It was days before the ice "rotted" from warm weather and ships could travel safely again.  For a time, however, the crews of many ships were ice-bound in a little place called Pelham, New York. . . .   

The Jeannette, Shown Ice-Bound in 1881.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"FROZEN IN ON THE SOUND.

The severity of the weather last week was especially remarkable up the Sound.  Around City Island and Hart Island the ice was a complete field, and from four to six inches in the rivers.  Schooners, tows and tugs were caught in Hart Island Roads and were ice bound for days.  Yesterday morning there were fixed there seven schooners and twenty-one canal boats.  The schooner John Douglass, Captain Jordan, with a crew of five, with coal, bound for Boston, ran in there on Wednesday night, and next day was unable to break through the ice, so heavy had been the frost within a few hours.  The other schooners caught in the same trap were the Helen Thompson, the Speedwell, the Charles W. Simmons, the E. Flower, the Randolph (Captain Ward), for Providence, the Gray Parrot (British, Captain Mulbury), for St. John, N. B., and the James English (Captain Perkins), for Newport.

A HERALD reporter yesterday went up to City Island to ascertain the state of things.  Pelham Bay was an unbroken sheet of ice and the Hart Island Roads were nearly in the same condition.  The powerful steamer Fidelity had ploughed along the shore of Hart Island every day so as to break the ice and thus prevent a possible means of escape for the prisoners confined on the island.  The ice in the roads was already black and showing signs of rottenness.  A channel from the City Island dock to the vicinity of the schooners had been made by a tug in the morning, but in the afternoon a good part of this channel was choked with broken cakes of ice.  The HERALD reporter pulled through the open water, and then he and his man had to drag the boat over the unbroken portion of the ice to get to another lead to reach the schooners.  The operation was watched with languid interest by the crews, who leaned over the bulwarks calmly smoking.

LIFE ON THE ICE-BOUND CRAFT.

When the reporter got alongside the Douglass and began to ask questions without introducing himself, Captain Jordan said:  --  

'I suppose you are a reporter?'

'Just so,' was the answer.

'Be you from the HERALD?'

'Why, of course,' was the response.

The skipper thereupon told his visitor that he would be still more delighted if he (the visitor) had brought along a sou'west wind to break up the ice.  The Douglass had spoken the C. B. Sanford, which reported that the ice was solid all the way up to Saybrook.  The crews of the different schooners had not suffered for anything.  Up to Sunday afternoon they were able to walk over the ice to City Island to get all the drink and (if necessary) all the food they wanted.

On Sunday afternoon, however, an accident occurred to one of the men.  A sailor named Jack Deering was in rear of a party, trudging over the ice to the village, when he got on a tender spot and down he went.  He clung to the edge of the broken ice and shouted.  His chums ran back and one of them extended to him a boat hook, which he grasped, and by this means was dragged to a safer place.

The Captain John, the steamer plying between New Rochelle, City Island and New York, got into City Island before Wednesday.  She came down to New York early yesterday morning.  
The Massachusetts was seen to pass down the channel outside the roads seemingly badly listed to port.  Every one thought she had met with a serious accident.

FESTIVITIES UNDER DIFFICULTIES.

From Wednesday until yesterday morning thirteen coal barges bound for Bridgeport and New Haven lay in the channel at the entrance of Hart Island roads.  They had been towed thus far by the M. Vandercook, but could get no further because of the ice.  The leading boat was bossed by Captain Flannery, whose buxom, hospitable wife determined on Saturday night to give a party.  The skippers who crowded her cabins were Captains Fillman, John Walker 'Peter' Carlin and Michael Daly, and the good ladies their wives accompanied them.  There was no grand piano aboard, but one of the crew had genius and a concertina and furnished the music.  The orchestra was not imbedded [sic] in a bower of roses, as is usual on such occasions, but a hillock of coal hid it from sight, and the proprieties were so far observed.  It was an 'elegant' time those ladies and gentlemen had that evening on the frozen Sound.  Yesterday their palatial floating residences were towed into the roads.

Mr. Furman, a member of the Pelham Yacht Club, said this winter, so far, the ice had not been as great and as unbroken as on some previous winters.  Four years ago there were hundreds of craft frozen in, and at night the roads, from the myriads of lights, looked like a big town.

Just below City Island Dock is Dan Carroll's shipyard, where the yacht Lurline is being repaired.  The Lurline belongs to Mr. James Waterbury, the millionaire.  The yacht is being fitted with a new boiler and a flush deck.  Owing to the cold the work on her has been slow, but it is hoped she will be ready by the 10th of March to go South.

The schooners Minnehaha and Oak Wood, which were disabled in the great storm of three weeks ago, are being repaired at the City Island Dock.  Should the fine weather continue -- indeed, should this morning prove very mild -- the schooners and tow named above will be able to get out by to-morrow morning."

Source:  FROZEN IN ON THE SOUND, N.Y. Herald, Feb. 9, 1886, p. 8, col. 6.  

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Pelham experienced a series of terrible winters during the 1850s, the 1870s, and the 1880s.  I have written before about some of these terrible winters and the major storms they produced. See, e.g.: 

Thu., Aug. 17, 2017:  More on Brutal Winters in Pelham During the 1850s.

Thu., Jul. 27, 2017:  Terrible Storm of 1856 Wrecks Dozens and Dozens of Ships Including Many on Pelham Shores. 

Fri., May 26, 2017:  The Significance of the Wreck of the Steamer Plymouth Rock in Pelham in 1855.

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The Launch of the Schooner Yacht Katrina, Built in Pelham, on Tuesday, May 29, 1888

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It was a magnificent yacht designed by famed marine architect A. Carey Smith for a pair of brothers:  Edgar Stirling Auchincloss and Hugh Dudley Auchincloss.  It was built in 1888 in the Pelham shipyard of Henrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras once located at the eastern end of Pilot Avenue (today's Pilot Street) on City Island.  It was named "Katrina."  The grand yacht launched from the rails of the Piepgras shipyard into the waters of Long Island Sound on May 29, 1888.

I have written extensively about the Piepgras Shipyard that once operated on City Island in the Town of Pelham.  For one example of such articles, see:  Tue., Dec. 08, 2015:  Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras and His Shipyard in the Town of Pelham on City Island.  

The launch of any large ship from rails on City Island during the 19th and early 20th centuries was a grand spectacle.  Spectators crowded the shores and lined the gunwales of yachts and ships that crowded the nearby waters for the event.  Shipyard owners hosted celebrations in their yards for the workers and even served kegs of beer and gave the workers time off for their jobs well done.  Sometimes yacht owners and their families and friends would crowd onto their new vessels before the launch and ride the vessels down the rails for the monumental splash as the large ships plunged into the waters of the Sound.  Nearly always, the new owner (or a member of the owner's family) would smash a bottle of champagne or wine against the bow of the ship as the ship is named aloud and launched, a tradition intended to invite good luck on the vessel and its future crew and passengers.

On May 29, 1888, about fifty members of the Auchincloss families and their friends were on board the steamboat Laura M. Starin to watch the launch.  Among those on board with them for the celebration were Albert Bierstadt and Mr. John Hyslop, the measurer of the New York Yacht Club.

A daughter of one of the owners cracked a bottle of wine over the bow of the sloop to begin its slide down the rails.  As the Katrina struck the water amid cheers from spectators and vessel passengers.  A host of steamship and sailing yachts gathered for the celebration with steamships blowing their whistles as the yacht slid effortlessly into the water.  According to one account, "all the steam whistles and cannon in the neighborhood echoed their approval." Many spectators witnessed the grand event, including famed American painter of the Hudson River School Albert Bierstadt.  Henry Piepgras gave his shipyard workers a half-day holiday that day and provided them with kegs of beer at the shipyard to celebrate the launch of the Katrina.  

Work on the Katrina began with the laying of the keel shortly after the Great Blizzard of 1888 that occurred March 12-13, 1888.  That storm was so massive that, as one account of the launch of the Katrina put it, "all dates are now B.B. [Before Blizzard] and A.B. [After Blizzard] in Westchester."  By the time of the launch, the schooner was nearly complete.  A little work still needed to be done including rigging the spars of Oregon pine and fitting the interior with white pine and mahogany facing.  

Construction of the yacht cost about $15,000 (the amount budgeted for the work).  This would be about  $505,000 in today's dollars.   

An image of the Katrina is included below.  Her dimensions reportedly were about 84 feet over all; 69 feet 6 inches length of water line, 20 feet 4 inches beam, 12 feet 7-1/2 inches depth of hold and draught 9 feet 3 inches aft.  

Immediately the yachting world began calling for a race between the Katrina and the recently launched Titania also built at the Piepgras Shipyard.  Pelham, for a time, was the center of the yacht-building world.

 

 Katrina, A Sloop Built for Edgar Stirling Auchincloss and

Hugh Dudley Auchincloss in 1888 at the Piepgras Shipyard

in the Town of Pelham.  Source:  Wikimedia Commons.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

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"HAIL!  KATRINA!
-----
LAUNCH OF THE NEW SLOOP OF MESSRS. AUCHINCLOSS AT CITY ISLAND.

With the broad bosomed Sound nodding her white caps in welcome, the new yacht Katrina, iron hull and sloop rig, was launched yesterday at Piepgras' ship yard on City Island.

Her keel was laid shortly after the blizzard (all dates are now B.B. and A.B. in Westchester) and in a week or two, or perhaps a little longer, she will be sparred and rigged ready for service.

'It was a won'erful fine launch!' said . . . one old [fellow] who has lived on City Island sixty years.

'I never saw a finer launch!' remarked Captain Herman Golden of the Lurline, Mr. J. M. Waterbury's fleet winged craft.

The verdict among the fifty persons who composed the party on board the new born offspring of the lathe, chisel and mallet was that she went off 'very slippery,' and the local genius in water lore had hopes that 'she'll be a terrible smart boat.'

Not a mishap occurred to mar the event.  The owners, Messrs. Edgar S. and Hugh D. Auchincloss, were present, accompanied by half a hundred friends, on the steamboat Laura M. Starin, among whom were Mr. John Hyslop, the measurer of the New York Yacht Club, and Albert Bierstadt, the artist.  A daughter of one of the owners cracked a bottle of wine over the bow of the sloop as she struck the water, and all the steam whistles and cannon in the neighborhood echoed their approval.  The workmen in the shipyard were given a half-holiday and beer was provided for them by the keg.

The Katrina's contract specified a cost of $15,000.  She was designed by A. Cary Smith.  Her dimensions are about 84 feet over all; 69 feet 6 inches length of water line, 20 feet 4 inches beam, 12 feet 7-1/2 inches depth of hold and draught 9 feet 3 inches aft.  She is to be rigged with spars of Oregon pine and fitted with white pine and mahogany facing.

A yachting expert alleged that the bow of the Katrina resembles the Thistle.  The stern is fashioned somewhat after that of the Priscilla, although much lighter than the latter.

Among the yachts about the launch were Mr. Augustus Mott's Puzzle, a roomy and elegantly fitted steam vessel; the Priscilla, which, under the ownership of Mr. R. Lenox Belknap, is being transformed into a schooner; the Bo-Peep, and the Mischief.

The Mischief is the property of Messrs. Auchincloss, and her captain and crew will man the Katrina.  

A hope was expressed yesterday that the Katrina, when ready, and the Titania should be matched for a race to test the relative merits of the respective designers -- Smith and Burgess."

Source:  HAIL!  KATRINA! -- LAUNCH OF THE NEW SLOOP OF MESSRS. AUCHINCLOSS AT CITY ISLAND, N.Y. Herald, May 30, 1888, No. 18,909, p. 8, col. 6

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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.

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"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.
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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.
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SOME FACTS ABOUT THE FORTIES.
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Minerva the Most Popular Boat in Her Class in Spite of Her Scotch Origin.
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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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An Important Additional Account of the Naval Skirmish Off Pelham Shores During the War of 1812

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Early on Thursday, September 9, 1813, a flotilla of small American gunboats assembled by Commodore Lewis sailed through Hell Gate toward City Island and Hart Island.  They planned to form a line across the Sound off the shores of Pelham to meet armed British Frigates and Sloops threatening shipping in the Sound and threatening to descend upon, and to cannonade, New York City.  The Naval Battle of Pelham was about to begin.

I have written before about Pelham and the War of 1812.  For examples, see: 

Bell, Blake A., The War of 1812 Reaches Westchester County, The Westchester Historian, Vol. 86, No. 2, pp. 36-47 (Spring 2012). 

Wed., May 24, 2017:  Another Account of Naval Skirmish Off Pelham During the War of 1812.

Mon., Oct. 10, 2016:  More About British and American Naval Activities Off the Coast of Pelham During the War of 1812.

Mon., Mar. 30, 2009:  Orders Issued from Pelham During the War of 1812. 

Thu., Nov. 09, 2006:  Accounts of Two Witnesses to Skirmish That Occurred Off the Shores of New Rochelle and Pelham in the War of 1812. 

Fri., Jun. 16, 2006:  Period News Reports Shed Some Light on Pelham During the War of 1812.

Today's Historic Pelham article provides yet another account of British and American naval activities off the coast of Pelham during the War of 1812.  More significantly, this additional account indicates that there was a second skirmish among the American and British vessels the following morning.  

The account was published in the September 16, 1813 issue of the National Intelligencer of Washington, D.C.  The account, based on a report of the naval skirmish from the crew of the pilot boat Unicorn that had arrived from Sandy Hook, is significant and interesting for a number of reasons.

First and most significantly, the report indicates that after the initial naval skirmish off the shores of Pelham on Thursday, September 9, the American flotilla retired to the waters off City Island and Hart Island to wait overnight, then tried a second attack against the British vessels the following morning.

Second, although most reports focus on troublesome tides that prevented the American flotilla from optimizing its cannonade of the British ships during the Thursday skirmish, the National Intelligencer report indicates that "the violence of the wind" also was unfavorable to the American vessels.

Finally, the report indicates that in the very brief second skirmish that occurred early on Friday, September 10, 1813, at least one American cannon ball hit its mark, striking a British vessel "under the chains."

It is clear from the account that the second skirmish off Pelham shores on Friday, September 10 was even more minor and brief than the one the day before.  The account suggests that unlike the first day, winds on the second day were far more favorable for the American flotilla.  

At dawn on that Friday morning, the British vessels still lay at anchor in the Sound.  At first daylight the American flotilla began its approach toward the enemy.  According to the account, the crews of the British vessels immediately realized that the winds had turned favorable to the American flotilla.  Thus, the British Frigate and sloops withdrew and sailed away for Gardiner's Island.  Before the British vessels escaped, however, "one shot took effect from No. 8. -- hit the enemy under the chains."  With that, the Second Naval "Battle" of Pelham ended. . . . . . . . 

British Warship During War of 1812 Like Those that Prowled the

Waters Off Pelham and New Rochelle. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

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New-York, Sept. 13.

Monday morning, 10 o'clock, A. M.  We learn by the pilot boat Unicorn, just arrived from Sandy-Hook, that yesterday afternoon, the British frigate which has been cruising in our Offing for some days, chased a smack close in with the Light; and, being within the reach of the guns of the fort at that place, several were discharged at her, and it is believed that two shots took effect, as she soon sheered off after discharging  several guns towards the block house on Sandy Hook.  An alarm was excited at Fort Richmond, several guns were fired, and all was a scene of bustle and active exertions in preparing to meet the enemy.  The alarm reached the city, and the necessary preparations were also made here.  At this moment, all is tranquil, and the frigate which occasioned so much bustle, is still cruising off the Hook at a safe distance from our fort at that place.  Gaz.

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The flotilla left Sandy-Hook on Thursday 6 o'clock, P. M. [sic; most accounts agree that the flotilla approached the British ships as early as 8:00 a.m. on Thursday] passed through Hurl-gate [i.e., Hell Gate] that night, and arrived in sight of the enemy, two ships, one a frigate, the other a twenty gun ship, accompanied by several armed sloops.  On the following morning, at 6 o'clock, took a position off Hempstead bay; when the enemy approached within gun shot, and began with broadside firing, without effect, although their shot passed far over the Gun Boats.  The fire was returned by two boats, those having guns mounted over the stern, which, when in the act of going round could fire when their sterns were towards the enemy.  The other boats could not bring their guns to bear, owing to the violence of the wind.  After the exchange of several broadsides, the enemy retired, the flotilla took position at Hart Island, with intent to attack again the following morning -- at day light ran down on the enemy, which were then at anchor -- but, seeing that the weather was favorable for gun-boat operations, they made sail for their old station, Gardners [sic] Island -- one shot took effect from No. 8. -- hit the enemy under the chains.     Adv."

Source:  New-York, Sept. 13, National Intelligencer [Washington, D.C.], Sep. 16, 1813, Vol. XIII, No. 2026, p. 2, col. 4.  

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