Winter - Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Charting the Course
On The Rail
Skipjacks embody the strong spirit of Chesapeake
people. They not only represent what is past, but
also the ways in which people’s lives are currently
connected to the Bay. People that care about this
place, and its connections to its people will support
this very important project.
-Richard Tilghman
Spes alit agricolum: Hope sustains the farmer.
– Tilghman Family Motto.
In the history of the Tilghman family—including
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Board of Governors
member and generous supporter Richard Tilghman—farming
was deeply connected to the Chesapeake Bay.
“The Bay was the highway and commerce system of the
Eastern Shore,” comments Tilghman. “It was the quickest
way to get crops and other goods to the other side. Now that
way of life is gone. About all that’s left of the old Eastern
Shore is the recreation we enjoy on the Bay.”
As a 12th generation Eastern Shoreman, Richard
Tilghman could make the case that the Chesapeake Bay is
as much a part of him as his family is a part of American
history. The Tilghmans settled in Maryland in the mid-17th
century and became one of the founding families of the
United States. His mother’s family, the Lloyds, also settled
on the Eastern Shore in the 17th Century and still own the
property known as Wye House, where Richard and his wife,
Beverly, now live.
Recently, Richard and his wife and mother made a substantial
gift to the restoration of Rosie Parks. Built by Bronza
Parks, Rosie is one of the Chesapeake’s most well-known
skipjacks.
When asked why giving to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime
Museum and the Rosie Parks restoration is so important to his
family, Tilghman takes pause. “It’s almost an innate response.
It seems awfully important
to preserve
the things that used
to be, so that we can
understand where
we have come from
and ultimately, who
we are.”
At the Museum,
hope also sustains
the legacy of the
skipjack.
The Rosie Parks is
a two sail bateau, or
skipjack, which was
Museum Board Member Richard
Tilghman at the Wye House.
deemed Maryland’s
State Boat in 1985.
Skipjacks are the last working boats under sail in North
America.
In winter, fleets of skipjacks used to dredge oysters from
the floor of Chesapeake Bay. “Drudgin,” as watermen called
this process, was hard, cold, dirty, and sometimes dangerous
work. In 1957, more than 80 skipjacks plied the waters of
Chesapeake Bay.
Today, the prevalence of powerboats and disease and
environmental hazards affecting the oyster, present a bleak
future for commercial skipjacks. Despite restoration efforts,
the fleet has diminished sharply in recent years. Few skipjacks
operate commercially except in the tourist trade.
“Skipjacks embody the strong spirit of Chesapeake people,”
said Tilghman. “They not only represent what is past,
but also the ways in which people’s lives are currently connected
to the Bay. People that care about this place, and its
connections to its people will support this very important
project.”
Richard Tilghman joined the Museum’s Board of
Governors in 2009. He also serves as president of the
Historical Society of Talbot County and on the boards of
Pickering Creek Audubon Center and the Maryland Historical
Society. Prior to moving to Wye House in 2006, Tilghman
was a partner in the international law firm DLA Piper.
Edna’s old king plank will also be
replaced, and will sit on top of the
new mast partner being built.
(top) The shipwrights working on the Edna E. Lockwood have constructed a cover to protect them from the winter elements, complete with
windows. (from left) From the inside - Shipwright Marc Barto chips out a pine beam, which will be replaced with a more durable Douglas Fir
beam. The Edna was dismantled down to her nine logs in 1975 and rebuilt over the next several years. Shipwright Apprentice Joe Green (left)
and Master Shipwright Marc Barto (right) are using hand tools to build a new mast partner to support the main mast for Edna. The shipwrights
are using White Oak for Edna’s new mast partner, which will then be bolted together and installed on the deck beams of the 57’ 1889 bugeye.
CBMM Heros
Annual Fund Gifts of $500 or greater
Last year almost 1,000 donors together gave over
$500,000 to our Annual Fund—a new record. This
year, we’re off to a running start and wish to extend our
deepest gratitude to the generous self-starters who
already have made a sizeable gift or pledge before a
single appeal letter or “ask” was even made.
Watch for your Annual Fund appeal letter in the mail,
or use the enclosed envelope. We thank you in advance
for giving generously. The Museum has big plans and
you can be a big part of them by making a tax deductible
donation by April 30. Be a Hero!
Antique & Classic Boat Society -
Chesapeake Bay Chapter
Nancy & C G Appleby
Beth & Harry Burton
Jocelyn and George Eysymontt
Anna & Chip Fichtner
Liz & Howard Freedlander
Shirley S. Gooch
Penny & Alan Griffith
Leeds Hackett &
Victoria McAndrews
Pam & Jim Harris
Nancy C. Hickey
Jane & Frank Hopkinson
Pam & Jerry Jana
Karen & Dick Kimberly
Alice & Peter Kreindler
Pat & Ted Lewers
Nancy & Fred Meendsen
Maxine & Bill Millar
Talli & Geoff Oxnam
Fran & Sumner Parker
Mary Lou & Joe Peters
Donna Cantor & John Pinney
Carol & Charles Robertson
Alexa & Tom Seip
Karen & Langley Shook
Sally & Roger Stobbart
Susan & Jack Stoltz
Beverly & Richard Tilghman
Joan & Clif West
Lisa & Tim Wyman
Become a CBMM hero!
Use the enclosed envelope to
mail in your donation or visit our
website at cbmm.org/give.htm
to use your credit card or
PayPal account.
*list current as of November 22, 2010
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