Tag Archives: history
Honoring the Last “Old Salt” of Ocracoke
The last of a generation of Ocracoke Island men who were true “old salts” died recently, but Edgar Maurice Balance will be remembered on this island with love and respect. Known locally as Morris, Ballance was born to Elisha and Emma Gaskins Ballance in 1927. He was one of nine children, born at home in a big white house on Back Road. <Read more here> 12:04
Commercial fishing: A traditional, if dangerous, business
June 02–Editor’s Note: As Newburyport celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, The Daily News is publishing a series of articles that looks back on the city’s history. Today we focus on commercial fishing, an occupation that goes back centuries. Fishing has been called one of the oldest pastimes on the North Shore. In regard to Newburyport, historians say it has had both prosperous periods,,, Read more here 15:32
Elyse Moore: ‘Flip dog’ in the shadhouse: Recalling the Connecticut River days when fish and rum ran freely
SOUTH HADLEY — In 1733, the first recorded retail purchase of 30 Connecticut River shad for a penny apiece in Northampton launched a fisheries industry that continued through the industrial development of the mid-19th century. Commercial fisheries along the Massachusetts reach of,,, Read more here 10:38
An oral history of the Newfoundland seal hunt
However, I had to pop them in the oven while my wife was at work. Sherry doesn’t like seal meat. Nor does she like moose, caribou or rabbit. About the latter delicacy, she says, “It reminds me of cat.” Of course, my first inclination is to ask, “And when did you last eat cat?” But that’s another story for another day. Read more here 15:57
Fishermen are still at the mercy of Mother Nature
But fishermen today can take heart from the following story written by Frank Weeks and published in The Guardian May 29, 1961. “Lobster fishermen in Alberton and Tignish set their traps on 30 May 1961, possibly the latest date ever recorded for the spring season in,,,In his story, Weeks writes of some of the older fishermen who remember times when they had to fish lobster through the ice and special gear had to be used. “They say it has been 50 years since they were forced to fish lobsters through the ice. Back in the years around 1911, Read more here 23:27
War boats, draggers, sportfishermen, trawler-yachts: Bink Sargent navigates a diverse career
In 1937, Lennox “Bink” Sargent took a break from his studies in engineering at Harvard University, and from his summer internships with Boston naval architect A. Loring Swazey, to work for Henry Hinckley, a distant in-law who rehabilitated and was expanding a boatyard his father bought in 1927. Read more here BDN 21:01
Joshua James – Great rescuer helped harness sea
It was 125 years ago this month that the shoreline of Hull became the scene of one of the most remarkable maritime rescues in history. Sadly, the story of that rescue is now largely unknown, even among the local population and today’s maritime professionals. James, widely and justifiably considered the greatest lifesaver of all time, had as a child witnessed the drowning deaths of his mother and sister (at “The Gut” separating Hull from Peddocks Island), and subsequently embarked on an incomparable career that began when he made his first rescue at the age of 15. more@bostonherald 10:56
R/V Albatross Commisioned November 11, 1881
Congress authorized an appropriation totaling $148,000 for the construction of the vessel. Plans were drawn by Charles W. Copeland of New York and a contract for construction was awarded to Pusey & Jones of Wilmington, Delaware. The keel was laid in March 1882, the ship was launched in August, and she made her trial run on December 30. [email protected] 23:46
The Will of Wanchese by Susan West
Wanchese, North Carolina, wears its heart on its sleeve. Located on the southern tip of Roanoke Island, where the Roanoke and the Croatan sounds spill into the Pamlico, the fishing port holds a fiery grip on the lashes binding it to the sea. “We might go down, but we’ll go down swinging,” says fish dealer Billy Carl Tillett, sitting in his office at Moon Tillett Fish Company in Wanchese. The office sits high above the harbor, like the osprey nests over the marsh on the outskirts of town. more@workingwaterfront 08:12
Reg Hazelton has seen a lot of changes over the 70 years he’s been hanging around the Digby wharf. Story of an old wharf rat
The chair of the Digby Harbour Port Association first came down to the wharf as a youngster in the early 1940s. “If our parents knew the stuff we were up to,” he says without finishing the sentence. “We’d be crawling around under the wharf throwing rocks at rats.” That’s one change – there are no more rats to speak of around the wharf. more@digbycountycourior 23:11
Program To Explore History Of Commercial Fishing In Door County
The July 11 Gibraltar Talks program will focus on the interesting history of the commercial fishermen who ventured out into the waters of Green Bay from the small port of Fish Creek. They would set, lift, and mend gill nets. continued@doorcountydailynews
In Another Time > Fishing has always been dangerous work
The most tragic fishing accident in the history of the Wildwoods occurred as October was fading into November in 1921 and as the local fishing season was coming to an end. It took the lives of 11 men.
When they began their voyage that morning in windy weather that was not especially unfitting for seafaring the men were in two 35-foot power boats owned by Augustus Hilton and his son, John. Augustus, more popularly known as Gus, was mayor from 1900 to 1908, first of Anglesea, then of North Wildwood when it changed to its present name in 1906. The father and son were owners of the Hilton and Hilton Fish Company which was affiliated with Consolidated Fisheries. continued@wildwoodshorenewstoday
Memorial service marks sealing disaster
CBC News – A memorial service was held in St. John’s on Monday to mark the 99th anniversary of the 1914 Great Sealing Disaster. On March 30, 1914, sealers aboard the SS Newfoundland became stranded for 53 hours on North Atlantic ice floes in blizzard conditions. In the same storm, the ship Southern Cross sank while returning from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, taking her crew and sealers down with her. A total of 251 people died in both tragedies. continued
