Manufactures and Commerce. 171 



John Chubbuck, Junr. 6 



John Stovvel 15 



Samuel Thaxter, Esqur- 18 



Joseph Lewis 12 



Elisha Beal 09 



William Humphrey 09 



The ratable estate of Hingham, taken by Act of the General 

 Court, March 28, 1749, gives the following : — 



" Tons of vessels engaged in foreign trade, 240 ; otherwise, 116 

 tons of decked vessels, 107 tons of open-decked vessels." 



It will be seen by the foregoing that the amount of tonnage en- 

 gaged in foreign trade had increased in a greater ratio than did 

 that of the smaller or fishing craft, and this comparative difference 

 continued for some years. 



According to old account-books, it was seldom that any one 

 dealer in town recorded the sale of more than five or ten barrels 

 of mackerel in a season before the middle of the last century. 



After Capt. Francis Barker came to Hingham (about 1750) and 

 established a shipyard at the foot of Ship Street, the fishing busi- 

 ness began to assume some importance. In 1753 Hezekiah Leavitt 

 built a warehouse near the shipyard for the convenience of his 

 lumber, shipping, and fishing business. Deacon Solomon dishing- 

 also owned another warehouse, and tradition says that Major 

 Samuel Thaxter soon after erected another at or near his wharf 

 at Broad Cove. March 16, 1752, a fishing company was formed, 

 consisting of Capt. John Thaxter, Dr. Ezekiel Hersey, Elisha 

 Leavitt, Capt. Francis Barker, and Deacon Solomon dishing. 

 The " shallop " and " dog's body " were to some extent soon su- 

 perseded by larger craft, and the business probably gave satisfac- 

 tory returns until it was brought to a close by the war of the 

 Revolution. In 1768 there were 30 vessels owned in the Second 

 Precinct (Cohasset), aggregating 305 tons; the smallest of these 

 was 4 tons, and the largest 35 tons burden. 



When peace was restored the fishing industry was again revived. 

 At this period, the firm of Leavitt & Rice appear as large owners 

 of vessels engaged in the cod, hake, and mackerel fisheries. 

 Among their fleet of new schooners built between 1783 and 1788, 

 were the " Betsey," " Two Friends," " Hingham," " Good Hope," 

 " Atlantic," " Greyhound," " Success," and " Phoenix." Thomas 

 Loring owned the new schooners "Fox," "Junior," "Ranger," 

 and " Sophia," also the sloop " Friendship." Other owners of 

 vessels from 1788 to 1812 were Peter Cushing, Jacob Leavitt, Mar- 

 tin Lincoln, Ezra Hudson, Joseph Lovis, Luther Lincoln, Reuben 

 Stoddard, John Souther, Thomas Thaxter, Wilson Whiton, Elijah 

 Lewis, Joseph Bassett, Jotham Lincoln, Elijah Whiton, Benjamin 

 Jones, Moses Whiton, Jr., Abel Lincoln, Matthew Burr & Co., and 

 Elijah Beal. 



During the last war with England several Hingham vessels were 

 captured and burned ; but nearly all those which hailed from here 



