Letters from voyages aboard the bark Arthur Sewall, 1899-1900
Book details
- Title
- Letters from voyages aboard the bark Arthur Sewall, 1899-1900
- Author
- Arthur Sewall
- Publication year listed
- 1899
- Format
- Public domain eBook
- Reading access
- Free online reader; no registration required
- Source record
- View on Archive.org
About this book
Letters from voyages aboard the bark Arthur Sewall, 1899-1900
Author: Maria Sarah (Higgins) Murphy
Year: 1899
Maria Sarah (Higgins) Murphy was daughter of Elisha and Sarah D. (Storer) Higgins of Bath (ME). In 1874 she married Capt. James F. Murphy (1850-1912), also of Bath; they had two children who survived childbirth, Jane Sewall and James Wilder. The latter became a shipmaster at 20. The 3,209-ton Arthur Sewall (Four-mast bark) was built at Bath (ME) in 1899 by Arthur Sewall & Co. for their fleet and for Capt. Murphy's command. Capt. Burton Gaffiey took the Sewall after the voyages documented here. The vessel sailed from the Delaware with coal for Seattle (WA) in 1907 and has not since reported. This lot of manuscripts consists of several long, diary-like letters, some addressed to "My dear home', others to older sister Sophie. They document voyages in Arthur Sewall (Four-mast bark) from Philadelphia (PA) to San Francisco (CA), and then to London (ENG) to load chalk. There is much discussion of the vessel, the captain and other family, the children, pets aboard, gossip, family business, activities ashore. There is some mention of vessels seen, the ship's boys, food, songs, and seamen. Part of the Sewall Family Papers in the Nathan R. Lipfert Research Library at the Maine Maritime Museum