Old Dartmouth historical sketches - New Bedford Whaling Museum

he gave the runt to the farmer and drove pell-mell over to theNeck and took the hog for debt.Besides running the shipyard, the County House, an extensivesalt works on the Neck, a coastwise trade to Charleston,Savannah, and New Orleans, Uncle Leonard was a GovernmentLighthouse contractor. He built the lights at Mattapoisett andGay Head, and in 1838 he sailed from Mattapoisett with twoships and a large crew of men to construct two lighthouses onthe Gulf of Me.xico. It is related that Uncle Leonard did notfinish the Mattapoisett light within the specified time, and whenthe Government Inspector arrived, Uncle Leonard sent a manposthaste to lay some planks on barrels to give the impressionthat the floor was completed. After a friendly glass of rum.Uncle Leonard drove the Inspector down to view the job; butunfortunately the Inspector stepped on the end of a plank notover a barrel, and disappeared into the foundation.Next to the Fast from the Anchorage, on the old WilliamRotch \ard. Captain Wilson Barstow built until he failed in1807. William Moore took it over and built until he failed; andthen the yard was run by Eliakim Cannon until he failed in1827. It is said that in this yard the bowsprits of the ships onthe stocks hung far out over the street, so if you had arrived inMattapoisett 1 1 S years ago in the New Bedford and PlymouthStage Coach, you would have ridden under the overhangingrigging as you jounced up to the Mattapoisett House across thestreet.At the foot of Mechanic Street, on the present Hinsdaleproperty, was the famous Meigs shipyard. Joseph Meigs, Esq.,was a prominent Citizen, State Senator, prosperous shippingmerchant, and successful shipbuilder. He built and ran an oldfashioned country tavern and store in what is now the BayView Hotel. The tavern business must have been thriving, forit is said that Squire Meigs stood on a hill and every farm he couldsee was mortgaged for rum. In his early days he was CommissionMerchant for the Rotches, Howlands, and Rodmans ofNew Bedford, handling their trade in Naval Stores, Lumber,Sugar, Molasses, and Cotton in Savannah, Charleston, and NewYork. Of Squire Meigs' two sons, Joseph Jr. was by far thesmarter, and his tragic death in his early thirties when he hadjust taken over the shipyard, broke the old man's spirit, and hepassed away a few years later, in 1846. The other son, Loring,carried on the business until he was ruined by the panic of 1857.