Eben B Clark of Gloucester MA April 1915

Motorboat Killarney Wreck Gloucester MA 1921

August 29 1921 
 

Samuel Veazy Colby Gloucester MA

Samuel V Colby born July 28 1838 son of Charles Pressey Colby and Hannah R Wentworth Orrington, Maine. Married Hannah Maria MARSTON born on 19 AUG 1842 in Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts. She appeared in the census in JUN 1880 in Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts. She died on 7 SEP 1880 at Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts. (SOURCE: NEHGS, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910.)
Children were: William B. COLBY, Benjamin H. G. COLBY, Amy M. COLBY, Annie M. COLBY.
Samuel Married 2nd Spouse: Harriet S. COOK. Samuel Veazy COLBY and Harriet S. COOK were married on 24 APR 1889 in Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts. (SOURCE: NEHGS, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910.)
"United States Naval Enlistment Rendezvous, 1855-1891," Samuel V Colby, May 1861; citing p. 14, volume 14, place of enlistment New Bedford Massachusetts, NARA microfilm publication M1953, roll 14, NARA microfilm publication M1953, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 2381631.

From History of  Gloucester MA James L. Clancy, George Clark, James Cabin, William Coffee, Thomas Colbert. Samuel V. Colby, entered service, May 27, 1861, aboard the U. S. S. Colorado.
Colby was the sailmaker's mate. Engagements: captured blockade runner, Calhoun, destroyed schooner Judith and then naval dry dock at Pensacola, Fla., engaged in Gulf blockade, discharged July 3, 1862.

U S S Colorado was recommissioned on 3 June 1861 and sailed from Boston on 18 June to join the Union Navy's Gulf Blockading Squadron, under the task force command of Commodore William Marvine's flagship for the Blockade. On 14 September, an expedition under Lieutenant J. H. Russell from Colorado cut out the schooner Judah, believed to be preparing for service as a privateer and spiked one gun of a battery at the Pensacola Navy Yard, losing three men in the raid. On 11 December, another expedition was sent to Pilot Town and succeeded in capturing a small schooner and two men. Colorado assisted in the capture of the steamer Calhoun (or Cuba) on 23 January 1862 off South West Pass at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and a week later engaged four Confederate steamers. She returned to Boston on 21 June and was decommissioned from 28 June-10 November.

The headquarters for equipping vessels for the fisheries is Samuel V. Colby, sail maker and dealer in cordage. Mr. Colby is an experienced, practical man to the trade, and was born in Maine. He has been a resident of the city many years, and was formerly master of a fishing vessel. Mr. Colby has been a member of the City Council, and has always been foremost in fostering and advancing every enterprise that was for the public good. His establishment is the largest private sail making loft in the country. One listed location 375 Main Street, Babson's Wharf.From History of the Town and City of Gloucester, Cape Ann, Massachusetts By James Robert Pringle. September 28 1879 New York Times reported a fire Samuel was reported to have several injuries was on duty as fireman 

From Memorial of the Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of Gloucester, MA Guests of Defiance Steam Fire Association Benjamin Kinsman William H Friend Samuel V Colby William H Blatchford Melvin H Perkins Melvin Haskell David M Hilton and W Scott Call   From New York Herald 1893 April 19

Gloucester, MASS records
Samuel V. Colby established 1864, manufacture everything that can be made of Cotton Duck, Awning Stripes or Bunting, sails of every description, yacht sails and hammock beds.
Name:    Samuel V Colby
Event Type:    Census
Event Year:    1880
Event Place:    Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts, United States
District:    177
Gender:    Male
Age:    42
Marital Status:    Married
Race:    White
Race (Original):    W
Occupation:    Sailmaker
Relationship to Head of Household:    Self
Relationship to Head of Household (Original):    Self
Birth Year (Estimated):    1838
Birthplace:    Maine, United States
Father's Birthplace:    Maine, United States
Mother's Birthplace:    Maine, United States
Sheet Number and Letter:    503A
Affiliate Name:    The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Affiliate Publication Number:    T9
Affiliate Film Number:    0529
GS Film Number:    1254529
Digital Folder Number:    004241706
Image Number:    00209
Household    Role    Gender    Age    Birthplace
Samuel V Colby    Self    M    42    Maine, United States
H Maria Colby    Wife    F    38    Massachusetts, United States
Wm B Colby    Son    M    17    Massachusetts, United States
Benj H Colby    Son    M    15    Massachusetts, United States
Amy M Colby    Daughter    F    9    Massachusetts, United States
Annie M Colby    Daughter    F    5    Massachusetts, United States
Mary Carroll    Other    F    17    Massachusetts, United States
Citing this Record:
"United States Census, 1880," index Samuel V Colby, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; citing sheet 503A, NARA microfilm publication T9, NARA microfilm publication T9, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 1254529.
AD From The fisheries of Gloucester from the first catch by the English in 1623, to the centennial year, 1876

Schooner Samuel V. Colby, 95 tons, built at Essex in 1885, owned by D. B. Smith & Co., and insured by the Gloucester Mutual Fishing Insurance Company for $3800 with $3000 additional on outfits lost in an early February gale 1895 while on the passage home from Fortune Bay, Newfoundland, with a cargo of frozen herring. Vessel and cargo valued at $9000.
Her crew list was as follows:
Capt. John A. Vibert, 50, master, left a widow and three children
John McLean, mate, a native of Cheticamp, C. B., 35 and unmarried
Peter McLean, a brother of the mate, 27 and unmarried
Alexander McDougall, 30, a native of Antigonish, N. S., and unmarried
George S. Hamilton, steward, a native of Isle au Haut, Me., 45, left a widow and children
Arthur Burns, 30, a native of Fortune Bay, Newfoundland
Harry McIntosh, a native of Port Hood, C. B., 32 and unmarried
Ambrose Bennett, 17, a native of St. John's N. F.
Source From Out of Gloucester

Death Certificate

George Sayward oil on canvas early view of East Gloucester Massachusetts from Blackwood March Fine Art & Auctioneers

Son Ben Colby's Sail Loft at 415 Main St., Gloucester, MA. February 1913. Herman Spooner photo. Cape Ann Museum Archives.

Some New England Mills

From the Archives and Please refer to Coffin and Greeley Tide Mills Project
and my post on Patch Historical Lecture on Water-Powered Mills in Early Salisbury and Newburyport with Paul Turner and Ron Klodenski

NEW ENGLAND has always been more noted for its cotton and paper mills than for its flour mills, and has become famous the world over in these other classes of industrial effort; yet strange to say, what are perhaps the oldest flour mills in the country are located in New England and characteristically prove their sturdiness by their continuous operation.
Two of these are tidewater mills—one located at Rowley, the other at Gloucester, Mass. The one at Rowley, known as the Glen Mill, is the older of these, and has been operated continuously except for a short period, since 1643, that is, 273 years. The exact date of the building of the Gloucester mill is somewhat in doubt, hut it is known to be over 250 years ago. It is called the Riverdale Grist Mill.

Sent to me via Laurie Short Jarvis painted by Mildred Cahoon Hartson (1904-1997), former president of the Nbpt Art Assoc. Her mother was Lula May Short (1883-1944). This is a painting of Mildred's interpretation of the Short's tide mill at Knight's Crossing Newbury, MA . Noted in Mildred's own hand. (Lula May was the daughter of Henri M Short, Henri was the son of Samuel Sewall Short Sr (1848-1926) and on back to first settler of Newbury Henry Short).

Newburyport Herald AD Silas Pearson February 8, 1831 and two pages from History of Newbury MA John J Currier

Private and Special Statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Volume 7

List of Patents for Inventions and Designs, Issued by the United States ...By United States. Patent Office, Edmund Burke

 From American Notes and Queries, Volume 5

Also see The New England Quarterly, Volume 9 page 186 
Law of Seashore Waters and Water Courses: Maine and Massachusetts page 26
THE MUX AT ROWLEY

The Rowley mill, in the ancient parish of Byfield is owned by descendants of Richard Dummer. Even today, after so many years of service, the old mill presents much the same appearance that it did when the river was first harnessed to the wheel and the large round stones took the place of the pestle and mortar.
The original building has been enlarged to meet the demands of the increased imputation, but the same dam, with the identical stones and timbers imedded in the mud, the same waterway and foundation for the wheel-box, stronger with time, though showing signs of age, are still there.
The mill is situated in the midst of a pretty valley, where the waters pour down in between sloping hills, while on either side of the stream, as far as the eye can see, are towering oaks and pines and white birches.

 

The first Dummer mill in the new world was built at Roxbury, Mass., by Richard Dummer, a rich Englishman, who came to the colony in 1632. He remained in Roxbury until four years later, when he fell into disfavor with the governor because of untimely political activity, and removed to the parish of Byfield. Here he was granted a large tract of land in consideration of the establishment of a grist mill. In 1638 the waters of the Parker River were first troubled by artificial barriers and machinery. John Pearson and Richard Dummer were the original millers of the town, and for a time were partners. Then Dummer acquired the whole interest in the mill.

THE OLD GLEN MILL

In 1643-4 Thomas Nelson was allotted 36 acres of land on what is now Mill River for the purpose of erecting a saw and grist mill. The partner of Richard Dummer soon acquired this new mill, and this is the one which is now known as the Glen Mill, and which has been in the Dummer family for so long. It figured largely in the history of the times.

In the King Philip War a large number of men were drawn from Byfield, and with them were carried wagon loads of meal for their own and for their compatriots' fare in the struggle which followed. Still later, in the French.and Indian War, the stone wheels of the old Glen Mill ground the corn into meal for the fighting men of Massachusetts Bay colony.

With the news of the first English depredation, plans were made by the men of the town to join the Continental forces and to send meal to the army. The old Benjamin Coleman house, which is still standing, was made the rendezvous. Here a little later a large wagon was prepared and loaded with meal from Glen Mill—as much as the wagon would hold—and with a guard of patriots the trip to Valley Forge was made and the contents turned over to the quartermaster of Washington's army.

The first Dummer mill on the waters of the Parker River was suspended after a long life, and Samuel Dummer acquired the present Glen Mill in 1817. The family had always been millers, as far back as legend recounts, and so, after a lapse of years during which the mill was out of the family, it was but natural that a member of it should want to get it back again. It has been under the management and ownership of a member of the family ever since.

The old undershot wheel was replaced a number of years ago by a small turbine, but old-fashioned millstones are still used for grinding the corn. Before the old wheel was taken down, the structure and its surroundings represented a typical mill scene of 300 or 400 years ago. The wheel was 35 feet in diameter, and the roof was low and sloping, reaching almost to the ground. The dimensions of the building were much smaller than at present.

RIVERDALE Mills
The Riverdale grist mills, located at Riverdale, Gloucester, still continue to make their daily grind, as they have done almost unceasingly for the last 250 years, with power supplied by the waters of quaint old Mill River.
These ancient mills, hearing unmistakable signs of the wear of two and one half centuries, form an interesting and important part of Gloucester's history. Situated in the heart of picturesque Riverdale, where Boston residents annually find a summer retreat, the dilapidated buildings and running stream, with its churning foam, have a charm which makes the place more attractive.
The present owners of the mills have made no effort to disturb or modernize them, while annually between their stones thousands of bushels of grain are being ground into flour or meal. Over 25 years ago, the mills were purchased by the late Albert Dodge in connection with the grain business he maintained in the city proper; and after his death, the property was taken over by the Albert Dodge Co., the present owners.
The Gloucester mill was at one time the most important, along the coast, and it was not more than 25 years ago when ships laden with corn plied up the Mill River to have their cargoes ground. see Tide Mill Institute

TOWNS' GRANTS FOR MILL PURPOSES
See Minor Descent for Pearson Genealogy 

 In the early days the means of producing food were of great concern to the settlers of New England, and though there is no record of a grant providing for a mill earlier than 1664 although it is known that one existed—there is a record of a grant in that year by which the inhabitants gave to their pastor, the Rev. John Emerson, "all the rights, privileges, ponds and streams belonging to it and all fresh meadow thereabouts," provided he would keep a mill in operation and repair, and grind the grist of the townsfolk. The Short Pearson Mill was Henry Short (Short Family Group Facebook) and Jeremiah Pearson see Early records of Parker Family Andover

From votes of the town, passed some years later, an inference may be drawn that Mr. Emerson did not for a long period make any use of the grant, for on Feb. 18, 1677, the town voted that a corn mill should lie set up and erected on the sawmill dam and the town give the stream to the saw mill. "Saw Mill Dam" is the place now occupied by the tide mills or Riverdale mills. Copyright. 1916. by The Miller Publishing Co. The Northwester Miller Volume 108

Built on the side of the Glen Mills, and the first fulling mill in America, built by Richard Holmes built in 1642, and known as the Pearson Mill.  see more on Pearson family

check out
The Village Mill 
John M Bishop Blog 
Industrial and Agricultural History of the Parker River Watershed
CHAPTER 4: ANNISQUAM AND MILL RIVERS: The Cut to Goose Cove
New Life in the Old Mill Pond

Pearson snuff mill 

Little Old Mills, by Marion Nicholl Rawson, 1935.

Foster-Spalding Family

A Share from UNH Special Collections & Thank You to Jessica McClain for permission  

This is an introduction to the Collection on Foster-Spalding Family Papers 

Joseph Foster, 1730-1804

Col. Joseph Foster was born in what is now the town of Essex, Massachusetts in June 19, 1730. Initially a fisherman and sailor, Col. Foster became a merchant and sea capatin, living in Gloucester, Massachusetts for much of his life. In 1756 Joseph married Lydia Giddings, one of the couple’s eight children was Joseph Foster (1764-1816).
Col. Foster’s sea travel brought him to the West Indies and to points in Europe. Col. Foster was one of the wealthier land holders in Gloucester during the second half of the eigteenth century. He was present in Gloucester during the British attack on the city in August of 1775. Col. Foster would serve in the House of Representatives of Massachusetts from 1775 to 1776. Elected as Colonel of the Sea-Coast Forces during the Revolution in 1776.
In 1782, Col. Foster was captured with the ship “Polly” by Britishforces and was detained in Nova Scotia. Col. Foster died in 1804 in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Joseph Foster, 1764-1816

Joseph Foster was the son of the previous Joseph Foster, and was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts May 27, 1764. Joseph was a sea captain, sailing to destinations in the West Indies and South America. In 1782 he married Rebecca Ingersoll and the couple had thirteen children, all born in Gloucester. One of Joseph and Rebecca’s children was Joseph Foster (1784-1843).
Joseph Foster was third mate on the ship “Polly,” with his father as captain when it was captured and detained in Nova Scotia by the British. Joseph was also involved in local government in Gloucester.
Joseph was lost at sea in 1816 near the Island of Guadaluope, West Indies, probably during a hurricane.

Dr. Lyman Spalding, M.D., 1775-1821

Lyman Spalding, M.D. was born June 5, 1775 in Cornish, New Hampshire. Following graduation from Harvard in 1797, he studied medicine with Nathan Smith, M.D., whom he assisted in establishing a medical school at Dartmouth College, teaching the first chemistry courses at the school. After receiving an honorary degree from Dartmouth in 1798, Spalding began to practice medicine in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1799.
On October 9, 1802, Dr. Spalding married Elizabeth Coues (1779-1838), daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Jackson) Coues of Portsmouth. Ten years later, in 1812, he was elected president and professor of anatomy and surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of the State of New York. Spalding moved his family to New York City in 1814, but resigned his academic post after only a few years in order to better serve his profession and family. While in New York, Spalding served as a trustee of the city’s free schools and played a part in establishing the city’s first Sunday schools.
Dr. Spalding’s life ended unexpectedly in 1821, as described in “Tribute to Dr. Spalding” (1840): “Walking in a street [in New York], some ponderous body from aloft struck him a violent blow on the head, and the gigantic intellect no longer performed its functions. Removed to Portsmouth, NH where his lady’s friends resided, he expired at that place soon after [October 30, 1821]. Such was the end of Lyman Spalding, a man whom none could approach without respect, or leave without affection.”

Elizabeth Coues Spalding, 1779-1838

Elizabeth Coues was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, December 16, 1779. She was the only child born to Elizabeth (Jackson) and Peter Coues. Her father, Peter Coues, had two other wives with whom he had an additional twelve children. Elizabeth met her husband Lyman Spalding when he came to her home as a physician to treat her step-grandmother for burn wounds. Elizabeth married Lyman Spalding, October 9, 1802 in Portsmouth.
Elizabeth was in Portsmouth for the birth of her five children, and often lived apart from her husband who had accepted a position in New York. Elizabeth moved back and forth between Portsmouth and New York and died in Portsmouth in 1838.

Joseph Foster, 1784-1843

Joseph Foster, the husband of Adelaide Coues Spalding Foster (below) was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts August 2, 1784. He was a sea captain and married first in 1806, Lucy Elwell. His first wife died in 1837 and he married Adelaide in 1838.
After attending school in Boston for several years, in about 1799 Joseph decided to go to sea, like his father and grandfather, as a sea captain. Joseph died on the ship “Ventrosa” off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in 1843. One of Joseph’s eleven children (three by Adelaide) was Joseph Foster (1841-1930).

Elizabeth Parkhurst Spalding, 1803-1878

Elizabeth Parkhurst Spalding, the first child born to Lyman and Elizabeth (Coues) Spalding, was born August 11, 1803 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was she who began collecting the family papers and letters, later taken up by her nephew, Joseph Foster. Elizabeth’s education included several years at the Manhattan Female Seminary. She returned to Portsmouth sometime before 1830, where she operated a School for Young Ladies during the 1830s.
Elizabeth never married. She traveled extensively in her lateryears, including a trip to Europe, as well as living for periods of time in Northwood and Claremont, New Hampshire. Her letters are testament to her desire for staying in contact with her family, especially the family of her sister Adelaide Coues (Spalding) Foster. Elizabeth died July 16, 1878 in Portsmouth.

Adelaide Coues (Spalding) Foster (1805- ?)

Adelaide Coues (Spalding) Foster, the second child of Lyman and Elizabeth (Coues) Spalding, was born in Portsmouth on December 3, 1805. She, like her sister, Elizabeth, was educated at the Manhattan Female Seminary.
On September 2, 1838 she married Joseph Foster III (1784-1843), a sea captain, in Portsmouth. Following her marriage, Adelaide lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where her three children were born. She was living there at the time of her husband’s death, on December 19, 1843, while serving on board the brig Ventrosa near Holmes’ Hole (now Vineyard Haven). Adelaide moved back to Portsmouth in 1850 with her two surviving children, Joseph Foster IV and Lyman Spalding Foster (her first child, who bore the same name as her mother, had died aged one year old in 1840). The date of Adelaide’s death is unknown, although it occurred sometime after the death of her sister in 1878.

Alfred Peter Spalding, 1815-1844

Alfred Peter Spalding was the fourth child born to Lyman and Elizabeth (Coues) Spalding. Born in Portsmouth December 15, 1815, Alfred became a sea captain, like many other men in his family. The close relationship that Alfred had with his two sisters Elizabeth and Adelaide is evident from the many letters he exchanged with them.
Alfred was the master of the ship “Normandie” of New York and in 1844, was lost at sea during a return trip from England.

Edwin Stewart, 1837-1933

Edwin Stewart was the father of Laurance Sprague Stewart, the husband of Dorothy Foster (Dorothy Foster was the third child of Joseph Foster (1841-1930). Edwin Stewart was born in New York, New York May 5, 1837 and graduated from Williams College in 1862. During the Civil War, he was appointed Assistant Paymaster in the U.S. Navy.
His naval career included service on the USS Pembina during the capture of Fort Royal, on the USS Richmond during the battles of Port Huron and Mobile Bay, on the USS Michigan in the Great Lakes, on the USS Hartford in China and Japan and on the USS Lancaster to Japan to represent the United States at the coronation of the Czar. In 1889 Edwin was appointed Paymaster General and was responsible for reorganizing the navy’s purchasing and accounting system, creating the US Navy Supply Corps. He retired from the navy in 1899 as a Rear Admiral.
Edwin Stewart was married twice, first to Laura Sprague Tufts in 1865 and second to Susan Maria Estabrook in 1877. He had a total of four children, the last of which was Laurence Sprague Stewart who married Dorothy Foster in 1919. Edwin Stewart died in 1933.

Joseph Foster, IV (1841-1930)

Joseph Foster, IV, the second child of Joseph, III, and Adelaide Coues (Spalding) Foster, was born June 17, 1841 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. In November of 1850 he returned to Portsmouth with his mother and brother. He was educated at the Portsmouth Academy, and from 1857- 1862 worked as a clerk for Edward F. Sise, a dealer in coal, salt and crockery in Portsmouth.
On October 3, 1862 Joseph entered the navy as a Captain’s Clerk on the USS Augusta under Commander E. G. Parrott. In 1863 he was part of the convoy of General Bank’s Expedition from Hampton Roads, Virginia to Ship Island, Mississippi. On October 19, 1863 Joseph was appointed Acting Assistant Paymaster in the volunteer navy. He was present for the fall of Charlestown on February 10, 1865. While attached to the Commodore McDonough in 1865, he was able to save the public money, as well as his official books and papers from the wreck of that vessel. He was commissioned as Past Assistant Paymaster in 1867, Paymaster in 1877, Pay Inspector in 1898, and Pay Director in 1901, serving as the General Storekeeper at the Portsmouth Navy Yard. His duties brought him to many areas of the country and world, including Asia and the Caribbean.
On October 7, 1875 Joseph married, Helen Dickey (1853-1904), daughter of David and Lois Leverett (Nelson) Dickey. The couple had four children, the first two born during Joseph’s service in China. After his first wife’s death in 1904, Joseph married Josephine Hunt in 1906 in London. Joseph died May 17, 1930 in Portsmouth.

          Foster and Spalding Family
             (partial genealogy)

Joseph Foster
 (1730-1804)
      |     Lyman Spalding m. Elizabeth Coues
      |             (1775-1821)  |    (1779-1838)
Joseph Foster             |
 (1764-1816)   ______________________|_______________________
      |    |    |       |    |      |
      |    |          |       |    |      |
Joseph Foster      m.    Adelaide C.  Elizabeth P.  Edward J.   Alfred P.    Lyman
 (1784-1843)    |   (1805-1898)   (1803-1879)  (1819-1833) (1815-1844) (1810-1892)
                   |                       m.
      _____________|_______________________________________       Susan Parker Parrott
      |          |     |           (1815-1889)
      |           |                         |
   Adelaide    Joseph Foster           Lyman Foster
 (1839-1840)              (1841-1930)              (1843-1904)
                        m.            m.
            Helen Dickey               Elima Hallet
     (1853-1904)       (1839-1899)
                               |
          |          Edwin Stewart
     __________________________|__________________________           (1837-1933)
     |      |        |    |         |
     |      |               |           |         |
   Joseph       Beatrice    Isabel        Dorothy    m.   Laurence Stewart
(1880-1947)    (1882-1900)       (1892-1937)         (1886-1970)   |   (1886-1980)
     m.                  |
Jane Holmes      ___________|______________
     |             |    |
    _|____________________                         Mary        Lawrence
    |       |   |                m2.
    |       |   |           David Welch
 Joseph     John     Mary Jane

Biographical information was primarily found in:

• Foster, Joseph. Colonel Joseph and His Children and Grandchildren. Cleveland, Ohio, 1947.
• Welch, David. Unpublished genealogical information on the Foster, Spalding, Coues, Stewart-Aikman and Estabrook families.

New England Phelps Captain, Doctor, Postmaster & More

Henry Phelps, of London, England, was a passenger in the ship "Hercules," which arrived in this country in 1634. John Phelps, son of Henry and Anna Phelps, was born in Salem, but settled in Reading, Massachusetts, where he died in 1685. Henry Phelps, son of John Phelps, was born in 1673, and passed away in Reading in 1722. Henry Phelps, son of Henry Phelps, was born in 1720. Capt Henry Phelps (1745-1785) married Betsy Herrick of Beverly, MA October 1786 Betsy received word of Henry's death at sea via a message he cast out during a treacherous storm. The bottle was picked up by a Boston vessel

Dr Henry Phelps born in Salem 1766. Attended Harvard College graduated in 1788. Dr. Henry Phelps was appointed the first postmaster in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1790. In 1795 Henry married Mary Forbes Coffin, daughter of Mary Parkman Forbes and Peter Coffin. The couple had 10 children:

David Oct. 14, 1799  Printer in New York City

Eli Forbes, Mar. 16, 1811.m Susan Burnham
Emily Coffin Sept. 15, 1818.m. Dr Pollard
Hannah Dane Jan. 11, 1809.m. William Phelps
Hannah Symonds Sept. 2, 1797.died 1805
Henry Sept. 24, 1806.
Henry Augustus, s. Eli F., carpenter, and Susan B., Aug. 30,
1846. 

Lucy Coffin [after 1811? bp. Oct. 22, 1815. c. R. 1.]  m. John Phelps

Mary Forbes Oct. 1, 1795.  m. John Davis
Sarah Coffin Apr. 23, 1804.m. Henry Haskell
William Dane Feb. 14, 1802.  m.

(1821) Henry married Mrs Mary Elliot and Third wife married (1826) Mrs Mary Foster. Dr. Phelps early in life chose the profession of medicine, and after studying with Dr. Plummer, of Salem, was established by him as a physician and apothecary in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1790. He acquired some practice as a doctor, but soon abandoned that branch of the business. Before the establishment of a post office in the town of Gloucester, the people received their letters by a messenger, who was sent twice a week to Beverly to secure them. A post office was established soon after the adoption of the Constitution, and was at first, and for several years, kept in the shop of the postmaster, Henry Phelps, who was postmaster for many years, and principal acting magistrate in the town, being often employed as a scrivener. Dr. Phelps continued to keep this shop until he reached the age of eighty years, when, becoming dependent upon filial support, he resided with a daughter.  From American Historical Magazine Volume 13
Phelps store building was on Front Street, opposite the head of Central Wharf. The post office location was afterwards changed from time to time till its permanent establishment in the building erected by the government for a custom-house and post office.

On October 15, 1862, Charles Clinton Goodwin was united in marriage with Alice Dodge Phelps, who was born October 18, 1838, a daughter of Captain William Dane Phelps and Lusanna Tucker Bryant, of Lexington, Massachusetts. Her father, Captain William Dane Phelps, was a native of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and was a noted sea captain. He had sailed the coast of California for several years before the discovery of gold in that country, and he was the first man to carry the American Flag up the Sacramento river. The ship "Alert," famous in song and story, immortalized in the book written by Richard H. Dana, Jr., entitled, "Two Years Before the Mast," was commanded on its return voyage to California by Captain William Dane Phelps.

Richard H. Dana, Jr., (read more at Dana Publication ) returned from the coast aboard the "Alert" and his adventures are recorded in his most interesting sea tale.

The "Alert" subsequently became a prize of the Confederate steamer, "Alabama." Captain Phelps also brought to Boston the first California gold, after its discovery in 1849, and was the author of a book, which related his many exciting and dangerous experiences, entitled, "Fore and Aft," which he wrote under the nom de plume of "Webfoot." When a boy, on a voyage in the South Seas, he and seven others were left by their captain on Prince Edward Island, in one of the South Sea groups, to collect oil. The captain promised to return for them in nine months. The captain, however, did not return, and for twenty-eight months young Phelps and the small party lived a Robinson Crusoe life on the desert island, until they were finally rescued. In 1835, Captain Phelps was shipwrecked in Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts, and he was one of only three or four of the crew who were saved. After he retired, he decided to take one more voyage, and this time took a trip around the world. He passed the remainder of his life in his pleasant Lexington home, among his old friends and neighbors. He was well known for his wit and dry humor, and his family and closest friends spent many happy hours listening as he related his many strange experiences in all the corners of the world. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Clinton Goodwin were the parents of three children, as follows: 1. George Clinton, born November 24, 1863; unmarried; he is connected with the Northern Pacific Railroad, at Tacoma, Washington. 2. Grace Elise, born September 21, 1870, who became the wife of Edward Porter Merriam, the son of Matthew Henry Merriam and Jane Merriam, of Lexington; they are the parents of two children, Robert Clinton and Gordon Phelps. 

3. Alice Phelps, born October 20, 1875; she is a graduate of Smith College, and studied at the University of Berlin, Germany; she is a graduate nurse of the Boston Homeopathic Hospital, and took an allopathic course at the Boston Floating Hospital, where she served as superintendent of Nurses for two seasons; she also served as superintendent of Nurses at the Medical Mission on Clinton 13 Hull Street, Boston; on September 24, 1908, she became the wife of Dr. J. Walter Schirmer, of Needham, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of two children, Louise and John. Mr. Goodwin was made a Mason in 1871, in the Simon W. Robinson Lodge, of Lexington, Massachusetts, and was afterward a member of Hiram Lodge. He was exalted in Menotomy Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, at Arlington, Massachusetts, March 30, 1876. He enjoyed to intermingle with his fellow-men, and was a member of De Molay Commandery, Knights Templar, of Boston. He joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston in 1869, and was a member of the Lexington Historical Society.

Captain William Dane Phelps, son of Dr. Henry and Mary Forbes (Coffin) Phelps, was born February 14, 1802, at Gloucester, Massachusetts. He inherited a love for the sea from several of his ancestors, who had been mariners, and ran away from a boarding school, where he had been sent by his parents to prepare for college, embarking as a cabin boy on board a vessel sailing from Boston, and working his way through the different grades to that of master. He made many voyages to Europe and the Levant, around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, in command of some of the finest ships of the times. He was wrecked when a boy at the Cape of Good Hope, and also when captain at the entrance of Plymouth Harbor, in the winter of 1836, which was one of the most distressing shipwrecks known for many years on our coast. In one of his early voyages, when a boy, he was left with seven others on a desertisland, in the Indian ocean, to procure a cargo of sea elephant oil and fur seal skins. The captain promised to return for them in nine months, but did not appear for twenty-eight months, when he hoped to collect his oil and furs without any men to pay off. But although they had lived Robinson Crusoe lives, replete with dangers and hardships, they were all alive, with a full cargo ready for him. He made several trading voyages, generally of three years' duration, to California, in the days when San Francisco was called Yerba Buena, and consisted of only three houses where the famous city now stands. With two of his boats and a part of his crew he explored the river Sacramento, displaying the Star and Stripes for the first time upon its waters. He commanded the ship "Alert," (which has been made famous in connection with the book entitled "Two Years Before the Mast," by Bichard H. Dana, Jr.), the following year after Mr. Dana returned in it from California as a passenger.

In 1849 he was in California, at the time when gold was discovered, and on his return soon after he brought some of the first gold specimens to Boston, with reliable information about the mines. For his last voyage he went on a trip around the world, after which he retired in 1857, passing the remainder of his life in his pleasant Lexington home. He was well known for his dry wit and humor, and his family and friends spent many happy hours as he related to them his entertaining and strange experiences in many parts of the world. He was a ready writer and was the author of a book entitled "Fore and Aft, or Leaves from the Life of an Old Sailor," under the nom de plume of "Webfoot." He died August 15, 1875, at Magnolia, the summer home of Charles C. Goodwin, within a few miles of Gloucester, the place of his birth.

The Ipswich Female Seminary was an early school for the secondary and college-level education of young women,founded in 1828 by two women, Zilpah Grant and Mary Lyon.Grant strongly believed in “the delicacy of the female constitution, and the greater delicacy of her reputation”. Students were kept isolated from the community, forbidden from stopping in the street or standing near the front windows of their lodgings.

Lusanna Tucker Bryant Phelps, wife of William Dane Phelps, was born in East Lexington, July 11,1804. She attended the Young Ladies' Seminary at Ipswich, under the instruction of Mary Grant and Mary Lyon, afterwards becoming a very successful teacher. She married Captain Phelps in 1834. She accompanied him on one voyage up the Mediterranean sea, but the most of her life was spent in Lexington. Her memory of places and people was remarkably clear and exact, and she often entertained her friends with narrating her experiences. Both she and her husband were members of the Baptist church, and were actively engaged in promoting benevolent work at home and abroad. She died August 23, 1885. Children: 1. Lusanna Tucker, born November 18, 1836, died April 30, 1872. 2. Alice Dodge, born October 18, 1838; married Charles C. Goodwin, October 15, 1862. 3. Edwin Buckingham, born April 14, 1845, died September 4, 1849.