124 CAPTAIN ZACHARY G. LAMSON 



have been connected with Essex Lodge of 

 Free Masons in Salem, 293 were mari- 

 ners. Fifty of these were lost at sea and 

 forty-two died in foreign ports at the aver- 

 age age of thirty-eight. 1 More than one 

 sixth were lost at sea and nearly one third 

 died away from home. 



Of the 120,000 seamen who manned the 

 vessels of the United States, probably one 

 twelfth were employed in the codfishing 

 industry. Codfishing was carried on chiefly 

 from New England, and demanded and 

 produced sailors of unusual ability. No 

 one else could sail a fore-and-after like the 

 men of Gloucester and Marblehead, no 

 one could carry sail longer or be more re- 

 sourceful in danger. It was the sturdy 

 arms of the Marblehead fishermen which 



1 Out of 634 members of Essex Lodge of Free Masons, 

 293 were mariners, 246 master mariners. Fifty of these 

 were lost at sea and forty-two died in foreign ports. 

 Seventy-four other members were of trades intimately 

 connected with the sea, such as ship-builders, sail and 

 cordage makers and block makers. Hist. CoU. Essex 

 Institute, vol. 4, p. 225. 



