Cranberry Islands Notes

by Chuck Liebow

Maps, Vessels, Roads, Census Data, Boat Building, Sources, Photos, Houses, Families

List Of Vessels

Vessels at the Cranberry Islands in 1874 included:

Tons Name             Owner
21   Neptune          John C. Bunker
36   Rocella?         C. B. Stanley
48   Union            Hadlock
31   Starlight        Hadlock
36   Clinton          Hadlock
24   Theory           G. Fernald
82   Mantyman?        Sam Bulger
39   Sea Bird         G. B. Stanley
42   Van              W. Bunker
43   Church           F. Bunker

(Spelling of some names and initials of owners are questionable.)





ALICE B. CROSBY - Schooner                 KGQJ
Master - George Washington Bunker          Crew of 9
Built in 1898 in Bath.                     #106682
1113 Gross Tons                            204/40/18.5
Home port in Portland.  Made it to Portland Harbor in the gale of 1898.

AMANDA AUGUSTA
Built in 1889 at Swans Island.             #106646
10 Gross Tons.                             31.1/12.0/60 ???

ASTRAL
Wrecked on Mt. Desert in 1902.

ANNIE L. SANBORN
Built in 1886 in Maryland.                 #106203
38 Gross Tons.                             61.5/22.5/4.7

ANNIE F. KIMBALL
Built in 1895 in Baltimore.                #106444
401 Gross Tons.                            146.1/   /10.1

BEAVER - Brig
180 Gross Tons.                            Square sterned
Owned by Samuel Hadlock Sr. of Islesford.
Sam's son Elijah died in her of "brain fever" on a voyage to Cuba
in July of 1828.  Mate Josiah Higgins assumed command and sailed
her for a number of years.
Sold to Benjamin Spurling.

BELLE AND MARY
Captained part time by S. N. Bulger.

BLOOMER - Schooner
Built as a sloop in 1855 by Eben Pray at Indian Point.   #2179
51 Gross Tons.                                           64.3/21.8/6.2
Worked 50 years carrying stone.  Masts were widely spread apart
to allow for big hatches.

BREEZE - Sloop
Built in 1887 in Gloucester.#3366
33/14/5.3

CAMPO BELLO - Cutter
"Cutter: A fore-and-aft-rigged vessel with one mast and a jib and
a foresail" per Webster's.
This small vessel belonged to Capt. William Owen who was proprietor
of the British settlement on Campobello Island.  In 1770, Aaron Bunker
was Owen's pilot on a fall voyage from Campobello to Portland to bring
back winter supplies for the colony.  Aaron's parents were living on
Great Duck and brothers and sisters with families were on both Great
and Little Cranberry Islands.  The Campo Bello called at Great
Cranberry both going and coming and great fun was had by all.

The Campo Bello must have been a fast and a tough little vessel.  Two
schooners accompanied on the voyage and they usually left port before
the Campo Bello but arrived at the next stop after her.  Tough because
they ran her aground at two or three times both going and coming.
Also, when there was no proper wind, they "rowed" her in and out of
harbors including the Pool at Great Cranberry.  Probably they put a
rowboat out in front and towed.  In one case thay also "kedged" her up
a stream by carrying an anchor out ahead and then hauling up to it.

(Source: Narrative of American Voyages and Travels of Capt. William
Owen, R. N. 1766-1771; Victor H. Palsits, Editor.  NY Public Library 1942.)

CASHIER
Masters - Samuel Spurling & William Moore
Built in Eden in 1820.
30 Gross Tons.                                       49.8/17.8/5.3
Two masts with a square stern.
Perhaps the vessel from which Sam Spurling gave the Caribbean pirates
a "little bit of Hell, Maine style."

CLEOPATRA - Schooner
Master - Luchens Higgins
Built at Mount Desert in 1811.
Owned on shares by Sam Hadlock Sr., J. Stevens, and T. Westgate.

COMMERCE - Schooner
Built in 1846 in Bradford, Connecticut.              #4628
48 Gross Tons.                                       55/19/6
Owned and sailed in 1859 by Albert Stanley.

CRANBERRY
Built at Eden in October of 1805.
Included on some lists as a schooner owned by the Hadlocks.

DAUNTLESS - Sloop
Master - William Bulger                              Crew of 1.
Built in 1899 in Brystol, Maine.                     #1575
6 Gross Tons - 5 Gross Tons                          26' 4"/10'/5'

DOLLY
Built in about 1820.

DOLPHIN - Schooner
#157033
6 Gross Tons.                                        37'/11' 6"/7' 2"
Also the name of a Friendship sloop owned by Archie Spurling.

DON PARSONS - Schooner
Wrecked on the south shore at Islesford in _____ with a cargo of coal.

ELLA FRANCES
Built in Somesville in about 1874 for Capt. Sam Bulger.
Co-owners included: Joseph Spurling, Enoch Spurling, George Fernald,
and Alfred Gilley.

ELATE - Sloop
Built in 1892 in Vinalhaven.                      #136312
5 Gross Tons.33' 6"/9' 8"/4' 6"

ELVIE L. SPURLING - Schooner
Master - Warren A. "Bert" Spurling.               Crew of 15.
Built in Essex, Mass. in 1904.                    O.N. 200700
70 Gross Tons, 50 Net Tons.                       79.8/21.4/9.2
Probably used by Bert in the mackerel fishery.  On an oral history tape,
Bert says that he gave up fishing when he could no longer obtain a
reliable and sober crew.

L'ESPERANCE
Master - MacFarland.
A fishing vessel built at Bristol, Maine in 1866.

EVA N. - Sloop
Master - Elisha Bunker.                           Crew of 3.
Built in 1901 in Friendship, Maine.               #136911
9 Gross Tons, 9 Net Tons.                         31/12/6

EXPRESS
Master - J. Gilley
Built at Bangor in 1872.                          Possibly 7376 O.N.
                                                  79/23/7.7
In 1859, sailed by John Stanley and owned by him and others.
Note: the sailing date of 1859 conflicts with the building date of 1872. - Bruce.

FACTOR
Master - Enoch & Benjamin Spurling.
81-foot vessel built at Cranberry Isles in 1832.

FOUR SISTERS
Master - Capt. Benjamin Spurling.
Built in 1814 by William Moore and two sons [at Sutton?].

FRANK BRAINARD - Schooner
Three master which delivered coal to Islesford in the 1940s and later years.

FRANKLIN
Built at North Yarmouth in 1815.
Bought by Benjamin and Enoch Spurling in 1819.

GEORGE G. WALCOTT
Master - George Washington Bunker                  Crew of 10
Built in 1890 in Bath.
1553 Gross, 1388 Net Tons                          212/44/19.6
Home port of Portland.

GERTRUDE - Sloop
Built at Brooksville in 1889.                      #86048
6 Gross Tons.                                      32.6/11/4.6

GRAND DESIGN
Wrecked on Long Ledge (also called the Thumper or the Nubble) in the Western Way
in 1740.  Survivors went ashore at Ship Harbor where many remained over the
winter and died.

GUESS - Schooner
Built, perhaps, in Rockport, Maine.                10181 O.N.?
15 Gross Tons, 14 Net Tons.                        44/12.8/6
Crew of 1.

HARRIET - Sloop
Built in Islip, New York in 1879.                  #95577
8 Gross Tons.                                      34/13.8/3.6

HATTIE LEWIS - Schooner
Built in 1864 in Guilford.                         #11557
50 Gross Tons.                                     60.2/21.5/5.1

HAZARD
Master - Israel Higgins
Built in 1809 for Sam Hadlock Sr. and paid for with proceeds from his haul
of fish carried from Labrador to Oporto, Portugal, returning with a cargo
of citrus, onions, and salt.

HERO - Schooner
A two-masted schooner built in 1819.
Carried on some lists of the Hadlock fleet.

ICE PLANT
Built in 1819.
Owned 3/4ths. by Samuel Hadlock and, perhaps, 1/3rd. by Thomas Bunker.
Impossible: 3/4 + 1/3 = 13/12  - Bruce

ISLESFORD - Steamboat
Master - Gilbert T. Hadlock.                       #100555 O.N.
                                                   49.2/14.4/5.2
Built at Brewer in 1893 for Gilbert Hadlock who carried passengers and
freight around the Great Harbor of Mount Desert in her until 1907 when
she was sold "to the westard."  Capt. Gilbert received the Congressional
Medal for Bravery for having, with the Islesford, rescued the crew of the
schooner Effie T. Kemp on June 19, 1894.  (Source: Pioneers Settlers of
Islesford - The Hadlocks by Hugh L. Dwelley; Islesford Historical Society,
March 1994; Pg. 38.)

JESSIE MCGREGER - Barkintine
Call letters JWMB.
507 Gross Tons.                                    151/33.5/12.4
Built in 1882 by George Russell in Deering, Maine.  Owned by Thomas G. Krum.
Name changed to Mary Barry.  Foundered on March 17, 1913 with no loss of life.

LEWIS A.
Owned by Ernest W. Spurling.

MARGARET LEONARD
Owned by W. E. Bunker.

MARY BARRY - Barkintine
See the vessel Jessie McGreger.

MAYPOLE
A brig built early in the 1800s.

MINERVA - Schooner
75 Gross Tons.                                     64 feet long with a square stern.
A two-masted schooner built in the Cranberry Island Pool in 1820 for
Sam Hadlock Sr. and many partners.  In March 1829, Sam Hadlock Jr. sailed
the Minerva on a sealing expedition to Greenland with a crew of 19 local
men, including his 14-year-old son.  The vessel never returned and all of
the crew were lost.  (See God's Pocket by Rachel Field, 1934.)

NEW BOXER - Schooner
(Formerly the Boxer.)                              #2264 O.N.
60 Gross Tons, 57 Net Tons.                        69.1/21.2/5.7
Built in 1845 at Wells, Maine.  Crew of 2.  Probably home ported at
Southwest Harbor, Maine.

NESTOR (or NEWTON) - Brig
200 Gross Tons.
Owned by Enoch Spurling.  In 1820, brought Irish immigrants to Philadelphia.
Note: The brig Nestor is included on lists of the Hadlock fleet.  Perhaps
Sam Hadlock owned it with Enoch Spurling, or sold it to him.  Perhaps he
changed the name to Newton?  Sawtelle records that the Nestor was lost in 1828.

OCEAN
131 Gross Tons, 90 Net Tons?
This is the vessel in which Sam Hadlock Sr. sailed in 1807 from Labrador?
Greenland to Oporto, Portugal, and returned with a cargo of citrus, onions,
and salt.  This was the founding of Old Sam's fortune.

OCEANUS - Friendship Sloop
Built in 1907 in Friendship, Maine and owned by Fred Birlem.

OTTER - Schooner
Master - Epps Hadlock.
Built in 1823 for Sam Hadlock Sr. at a cost of $3,396.18 and employed in seining
and whaling.  In 1831, lost in the West Indies with all hands including 26-year
old Capt. Epps Hadlock.

PREFERENCE
Master - Thurston in 1871.                         #19715 O.N.
43 Gross Tons.
Built in 1829 at Charleston, Mass.  John Gilley was 1/3rd. owner and the vessel
was sold for a 1/2 share in the Express.

RENA A. PERCY - Schooner
Master - Willis G. Bunker.                         Crew of 14.
#200857
78 Gross Tons, 46 Gross Tons                       76.5/21.6/9.4
Built in 1904 in East Boothbay and used for dory trawling around Jonesport and elsewhere.

SAM HADLOCK - Brigantine (sometimes schooner rigged.)
Master - Edwin Hadlock and others.
120 Gross Tons.
Largest vessel built in the Mount Desert region and the last built at
Little Cranberry.  Built in 1848 for Edwin Hadlock and rigged as a schooner.  She
was re-rigged as a brig in 1852 and lost in a storm off Hatteras some years later.
(See Pioneers Settlers of Islesford - The Hadlocks by Hugh L. Dwelley; Islesford
Historical Society, March 1994; pp. 15-17 for an account of the harrowing maiden
voyage of the Sam Hadlock from Tampico, Mexico in February 1849.)

SUNSHINE - Friendship sloop
Master - S. N. Bulger.                             #116806 O.N.
7 Gross Tons, 6 Net Tons.                          27/10/5
Built in 1898 in Bristol, Maine.
A boat named Sunshine was also built for Charles Eliot in 1872.

THEMIS
Master - Fred Fernald.
Fred Fernald left Islesford in about 1900 and married Neva Gott.
Themis is mentioned in Merchant Vessels Travel Yacht.

UNION
1817  John Manchester.
Note: The Union is listed by Sawtelle and others as among the last remaining
schooners in the Hadlock fleet.  Indeed, she is credited by Sawtelle with having
brought pipe from Mt. Desert Ferry to Seal Harbor to pipe water from Jordan Pond.

VILLAGE BELLE
Early 1800s.

WILD ROSE
47.5 ft. built in Boothbay.  Owned in 1885 by Willis Bunker.
Mentioned in the records of a 1938 hurricane.



MASTERS                          VESSELS
Bulger, S. N.  ............ BELLE AND MARY
                            SUNSHINE
Bulger, Samuel  ........... ELLA FRANCES
Bulger, William             DAUNTLESS
Bunker, Elisha  ........... EVA
Bunker, George Washington   ALICE B. CROSBY
                            GEORGE G. WALCOTT
Bunker, Willis G.  ........ RENA A. PERCY
Fernald, Fred               THEMIS
Gilley, J.  ............... EXPRESS
Hadlock, Edwin              SAM HADLOCK
Hadlock, Elijah  .......... BEAVER
Hadlock, Epps               OTTER
Hadlock, Gilbert T.  ...... ISLESFORD
Hadlock, Samuel Jr.         MINERVA
Hadlock, Samuel Sr.  ...... OCEAN
Higgins, Israel             HAZARD
Higgins, Josiah  .......... BEAVER
Higgins, Luchens            CLEOPATRA
MacFarland  ............... L'ESPERANCE
Manchester, John            UNION
Moore, William  ........... CASHIER
Owen, William               CAMPO BELLO
Spurling, Enoch  .......... FACTOR
Spurling, Benjamin  ....... FACTOR
                            FOUR SISTERS
Spurling, Samuel  ......... CASHIER
Spurling, Warren A. "Bert"  ELVIE L. SPURLING
Stanley, Albert             COMMERCE
Stanley, John  ............ EXPRESS
Thurston                    PREFERENCE

Name of Vessel		Tons	Master	Owner	Home Port
boat	Ann	11 82/95	Hiram J Ladd	Samuel S Bunker & oth	Cran I
sch	Almond	26 23/95	Gilbert Hadlock	W.E. & G. Hadlock	Cran I
sch	Champion	53 24/95	William Stanley	Wm P Preble	Cran I
sch	Commerce	53 94/95	Albert Stanley	Albert Stanley & others	Tremont
sch	Carressa (built Tinker's Isl., 184?)	66 90/95	Thomas A Kenady	Enoch B Stanley & oth	Cran I
sch	Cashier	37 39/95	John Moore	William Moore	Cran I
boat	Clementine	17 54/95	Twisden Borden	William Moore	Cran I
sch	Baltic	80 22/95	Rufus B Ladd	Thomas Bunker	Cran I
sch	Del Norte	92 6/95	Warren R Bunker	Thomas Bunker & oth	Cran I
sch	Dolphin	59 4/95	George B Hamor	Wm P Preble	Cran I
sch	Express	50 5/95	John Stanley	John Stanley & others	Cran I
sch	Elmaral	42 77/95	Wm P Bunker	Thomas Bunker	Cran I
sch	Essex	37 2/95	Daniel K Stanley	Daniel K Stanley & oth	Cran I
sch	Hussar	53 4/95	John M Pierce	Wm M Richardson & oth	Cran I
sch	Lucy Jane	62 80/95	Benj Spurling	Enoch Spurling & oth	Tremont
sch	Mechanic	48 36/95	Albion Moore	Albion Moore & others	Cran I
sch	Nonpariel	30 43/95	Thomas Bunker	Thomas Bunker	Cran I
boat	Nymph	12 2/95	Alfred H Gilley	Joseph Bunker	Cran I
sch	Quickstep	166 83/95	Meltiah Jordan Richardson	Meltiah Jordan Richardson & others	Tremont
slp?	Resolution	16 49/95	T.J. Bunker	Thomas Bunker	Cran I
sch	Stranger	73 80/95	Andrew J Bunker	Thomas Bunker	Cran I
sch	Sea Flower	72 66/95	Enoch Hodgdon	Wm P Preble & oth	Cran I
sch	Sea Flower	54 80/95	David P Hodgkins	Horace Durgain & oth	Tremont
sch	Troubador	56	Robert Spurling 2nd	Robert Spurling 2nd	Cran I
sch	Lydia	31 31/75	Samuel S Bunker	Samuel S Bunker & oth	Cran I
???	Willow	77 7/95	William G Bunker	Enoch B Stanley & oth	Cran I
sch	Waterwitch	56 4/95	Enoch B Stanley	Enoch B Stanley & oth	Cran I

From 1859 Custom Records of Southwest Harbor
by R. Stanley, 1994.

1830 Census

Great Cranberry
Person                    Age
Benjamin Spurling        20-30
William Spurling         30-40
Enoch Spurling           40-50
Samuel Spurling          30-40
Robert Spurling          40-50
Thomas Spurling          40-50
Thomas Manchester        70-80
Thomas Bunker            40-50
Samuel Staples           40-50
Benayer Bunker           40-50 (Benaiah?)
Joseph Bunker            40-50
Elisha Young             30-40
Charles Cousins          20-30
David Sweet              40-50
Joseph Manchester        20-30
David Seavey             30-40
John T. G. Crane         60-70
John Pung                40-50
Mark Staples             40-50
Thomas Standley          60-70 ?Married a Manchester
Thomas Standley Jr.      40-50
Eben Phippen             20-30
Henry H. Guy?            20-30 (Grey?)
Epps Hadlock             20-30

Bakers Island
Person                    Age
William Vittry?          40-50
Joseph Standley          30-40


Little Cranberry
Person                    Age
Samuel Hadlock           50-60 married Sarah Manchester
William P. Blunt         50-60
John Standley            60-70
John Standley Jr.        40-50
Jonathan Standley        20-30
Asa Doane ?Stanley       30-40 ?something fishy
John Wilson              40-50


Sutton Island
Person                    Age
Joseph Lancaster         40-50
Isaac ?Richardson        30-40
William Moore            20-30
Joseph Moore             20-30

Cranberry Isles 1830 Statistics

Index

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