PREFACE. 



For some time past it has been my desire to 

 prepare a MEMORIAL VOLUME, which would con- 

 tain, among other matters of interest to the 

 fishermen, as well as to the large number of 

 vessel owners and fitters, a record which should 

 be as complete as could possibly be gathered, 

 of that vast number who have been lost from 

 the port of Gloucester, while toiling on the fish- 

 ing-grounds, in the arduous avocation of wrest- 

 ing from old ocean her finny treasures. 



Here in this volume arc the names of these men recorded, and here 

 will their memories be perpetuated among their shipmates and rela- 

 tives, and handed down to those who in the years to come shall sail 

 the vessels, haul the lines and nets, in the prosecution of a business 

 which has given to Gloucester a goodly portion of her wealth, and 

 placed her in the position of the largest fishing port in the world. 



To the fishermen, the workers those who have fought the elements 

 at inclement seasons much of this prosperity is due, and it has been 

 my aim to render the volume of special interest to them and theirs. 

 To those who have been so kind in furnishing information and in- 

 cidents during the canvassing of the past six months, and who by 

 their words of appreciation of the work have so efficiently aided 

 its progress, I return my warmest thanks, as without their hearty 

 co-operation its pages would not contain such a large array of facts 

 and incidents. Those who have ever undertaken anything of a sim- 

 ilar nature, requiring such persistent labor, know full well how much 

 their success depends upon this " interviewing" process, which is, 

 when courteously conducted, the surest means of obtaining informa- 

 tion. 



Most especially would I return thanks to JOHN S. E. ROGERS, 

 of the Gloucester Telegraph, and to JOHN W. WONSON, for their 

 courtesy in furnishing the means of obtaining information relative 

 to some of the crew lists of vessels lost previous to 1850. I am 

 also under obligations to JOHN L. SHOUEY, ESQ., editor of the NUT- 



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