The Winthrop Fleet
of 1630 consisted of eleven small sailing ships and was said to have carried the
larges group of English passengers at one time to the New World up to that
time. The eleven ships included Arbella, Ambrose, Jewel,
Talbot, Charles, Mayflower, William and Francis, Hopewell, Whale,
Success and Trial. The ships highlighted in bold letters carried
passengers and the others transported freight and livestock. The
Mayflower, not the same as the 1620 Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth,
carried Robert Seely. This Mayflower dropped anchor in Charlestown Harbor
on July 1, 1630 after a voyage that started at the end of April. The above
illustration is from Banks (2002) who states:
"The
construction and model of these ships are shown in the accompanying
illustrations of a typical craft of the early seventeenth century. The
bow with the high forecastle deck was occupied by the seamen before the
mast, and the still higher poop deck on the stern which covered the cabin
sheltered the quarters of the officers. The space between these two
towering structures, or 'between decks,' which was open on small vessels or
fitted with a deck and a hold in large craft, was used for the cargo, the
ordnance and stowing of the long boats In this part of the ship, as we
learn from Winthrop's story, 'some cabins' had been constructed, probably
rough compartments of boards for women and children, while hammocks for the
men were swung from every available point of vantage."
Route of the Winthrop Fleet.
The above information and illustrations from
Charles
Edward Banks 2002, The Winthrop Fleet of 1630, An Account of the Vessels, the
Voyage, the Passengers and their English Homes from Original Authorities.
Heritage Books Inc. Bowie, Maryland.
The William Tapscott built in 1852, carried Charles William MANN across
the Atlantic from England in 1859 While on this voyage he married Livina
Ann Smith. Photograph by Permission of the Peabody Essex Museum, East
India Square, Salem, MA 01970
The William Tapscott was one of the largest full-rigged ships
built in Maine during the 1850s. She was a typical "Down
Easter"-sturdy, moneymaking, moderately sparred, and designed for carrying
capacity. She was a three-decker with a square stern and billethead. Among her
owners, including her namesake, were such well-known mariners as William
Drummond, Gilbert C. Trufant, and George B. Cornish. She hailed from New York.
After plying the oceans for about forty years the William Tapscott was lost in
the English Channel in the early 1890s.
The William Tapscott: 1525 tons: 195’ x 41’ x 21’
Built: 1852 by William Drommond at Bath, Maine
The above from Conway
B. Sonne. Ships,
Saints, and Mariners: A Maritime Encyclopedia of Mormon Migration 1830-1890
(Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1983) pp. 198-199.
The Minnesota, built in 1866, carried Joseph and Marie Hirschvogel [they
came form Bavaria but got on board the Minnesota in England.] to the United
States in 1869. Photograph by Permission of the Peabody Essex Museum, East
India Square, Salem, MA 01970
