Old Dartmouth historical sketches - New Bedford Whaling Museum

Scattered records are being brought to light revealing, so far,some 2 5 vessels built in the next twenty years for New Bedford,Nantucket, Newport, Providence, New London, and New York.An old account book in the Whaling Museum gives the firstvessel, whose name is known, to be built specifically for a NewBedford merchant. She was the Brig Thonun, built by CaptainWilst)n Barstow in 1805. She was used in the merchant tradebetween New Bedford and New York for a number of years,and then seems to have been sold back to Mattapoisett.From 1800 to 1812, that is, just before the war with England,this waterfront became a beehive of activity. Meagerrecords alone give three, four, and live vessels a year; and thatthese are but a fraction is shown by an article in the MassachusettsHistorical Society's Collection for 1815, which states:"At this harbor (Mattapoisett) there is an increasing villageof perhaps 40 houses, 3 or 4 wharves, a ropewalk, and shipyards,where in 1811 upwards of 8000 tons of shipping were constructed.. . .Five vessels were ship rigged, and of the burthen of300 or more tons."Now much as I would like to believe it, that "8000 tons"seems as if it must be a misprint. That would be twenty ships of400 tons each, and even in the balmy days later on this figurewas never reached. But it may be so. There were at least sixshipyards going full blast, and if they built only three vessels apiece, as often happened in later years, this total would nearly bereached. And it is known that at this time William Moore wasbuilding 400-ton ships for the New York-European trade. Thereis a record of two of these, the Amies and the Xciiophoii, in 1810alone. At any rate, it is obvious that a tremendous amount ofshipbuilding was being done, more than in any other port inSoutheastern Massachusetts.Of these early shipyards not much is known. Yet oneanecdote has come down the years, showing in what esteem theskill of these ship-carpenters was held. One day a barefootman walked down the sandy cart-trackto one of the shipyardsand asked the master carpenter for a job. The latter demandedsome proof of the applicant's skill, whereupon the newcomersiezed a broadaxe, balanced himself on a huge stick of timber withhis toes spread wide apart and curled over the edge, raised theaxe over his head, and brought itdown again and again, strikingthe spaces between his toes in swift succession. He got the job.