The Blanchard Shipyard (.left) in Yarmouth, Maine. Note the very fine example ol' 2-masted coasting 

 schooner in the left foreground. {Smithsonian photo 45ogj.) 



tured goods such as tools, stoves, hardware, and tex- 

 tiles. The vessels brought home dyewoods and ma- 

 hogany as well as sugar and other merchandise. 



Ownership of American sailing merchantmen in 

 this period might be by individuals or by companies, 

 or by a group who divided "stock" in a vessel. Some 

 shipowners in the 19th century held a controlling but 

 not complete interest in a ship or number of ships, and 

 some merchants used this method to reserve to them- 

 selves reUable and controlled transportation for their 

 goods. Individuals owning 100 percent of a fleet of 

 large vessels were comparatisely rare. In New Eng- 

 land it was not uncommon for a shipbuilding com- 

 munity to build a large vessel and for the tradesmen 

 to take shares or stock in her; the vessel was then 

 operated by a vessel manager or by the captain, the 

 latter being the more usual, who settled with the share 

 owners at stated intervals. Shipbuilders often held 

 shares in the vessels they built, and in a few cases, 

 particularly in Maine, there were shipowners who 

 built only on their own account. There were booms 

 in vessel-owning, as in the clipper-ship period, and 

 severe depressions, as in the late 1870's. Throughout 

 the sailing ship period some vessels — ocean freighters, 

 coasters, and even clipper ships — ^were built on specu- 

 lation and sold after completion; but in general vessels 

 were buUt under contract, the owner or owners financ- 

 ing the builder. 



The brigantines and topsail schooners built in New 

 England for the trade had a marked sheer, a somewhat 

 raking and flaring stem rabbet fitted with a short 

 head usually heavy in appearance, a slightly raking 

 post, an upper-and-lower square transom stern with 

 round tuck, a full convex entrance, and a long and 

 sometimes fine run. The midsection usually showed 

 small rise of floor and low and well-rounded bilges. 

 Such vessels sailed moderately well. Generally speak- 

 ing these vessels were cheaply and roughly built, 

 though there were exceptions. The coasting vessels 

 built in Maine were usually constructed at very low 

 cost but, in spite of the rough finish, were very long- 

 lived and made profitable vessels in the coastal trade. 

 Those vessels built for the ^V^est Indian and lumber 

 trades had short quarter-decks usually combined with 

 high main-deck bulwarks; as a result the cabin sole of 

 the trunk cabin was actually the maindeck, giving all 

 space below the maindeck for cargo. Small schooners 

 often housed the entire crew in the trunk cabin. 

 Large schooners and brigantines usually had a small 

 deckhouse at, or abaft, the foremast for a galley; 

 sometimes this served to quarter the crew. In the 

 large vessels there was sometimes a short forecastle 

 below the main-deck. Some of the schooners and 

 brigantines had quarterdeck bulwarks, others had 

 merely the turned-stanchion-and-cap rail aft which 

 eventually became very popular in all coasters. The 

 West Indian traders were usuallv over 80 feet on deck. 



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