Name the Town of Kingston’s new boat!

Kingston’s Town Administrator wrote yesterday

As many of you know, the town is awaiting a new Harbormaster Patrol Boat, which is estimated to arrive around July 17th, and perhaps sooner. This purchase was authorized at this year’s special town meeting.

The Board of Selectmen have offered a “contest” to name the boat for the town.  The person who submits the name chosen will be given a maiden voyage around Kingston Harbor on the boat, along with family and/or friends to the maximum allowed on the boat.

So, please submit your entries to me with a copy to Laurie, and pass along the info on this contest to others in your department, and/or in the town!

Here are some possibilities from the Local History Room. Submit your own to the Town Administrator’s office (see here for how to)

Chesperus, owned by Chester Fuller (or possibly his talking dog).

Chester Fuller and dog aboard the 'Chesperus,' 1898
Chester Fuller and dog aboard the ‘Chesperus,’ 1898

Arteola, owned by Charles Drew, in a photo from Old Home Day, 1908.

Arteola, at Delano's Wharf, 1908
Arteola, at Delano’s Wharf, 1908

Matchless owned by Captain James (or John) Drew.

Matchless, by William Ames, 1890
Matchless, by William Ames, 1890

Tiger, the only steamer built in Kingston, built by Edward Ransom in 1898, owned by him, A.J.Hill, C.A. Ransom and Henry S. West.

Steamer Tiger, 1898
Steamer Tiger, 1898

Kittiwake V, built by George Shiverick for Henry M. Jones.

Kittiwake V, 1905. Photo by N. L. Stebbins Photo, Boston, Mass.
Kittiwake V, 1905. Photo by N. L. Stebbins Photo, Boston, Mass.

Herculean, built in 1839 by Joseph and Horace Holmes, owned by Joseph Holmes.

Ship Herculean of Kingston, Benjamin Cook, Master, 1840

Ship Herculean of Kingston, Benjamin Cook, Master, 1840

The 7 foot figure head weighed in at 800 pounds, heavy enough to cause the ship to leak. It was repurposed as a garden statue, where it stood among the shrubs for many years.

Figurehead of the ship Herculean, no date
Figurehead of the ship Herculean, no date

Finally, though there is no painting or photo, Independence, for the very first ship of the U.S. Navy, built in Kingston and seen here on the Town Seal, designed by Helen Foster.

Kingston Town Seal
Kingston Town Seal

 

111 years ago next Wednesday…

The Liberty Bell came through Kingston!

The Liberty Bell on its flatbed, 1903
The Liberty Bell on its flatbed, 1903

Yes, THAT Liberty Bell!  And we have five glass plate negatives to help tell the tale.

Between 1885 and 1915, the Bell gallivanted around the country — down to New Orleans, across to Chicago, all the way to California — on a special flatbed railcar. In 1903, one of those trips brought the famed Bell to Boston for a commemoration of  the Battle of Bunker Hill, then south to Plymouth on June 18th.

The Liberty Bell on its flatbed, 1903
The Liberty Bell on its flatbed, 1903

The Boston Globe proclaimed the event “one grand ovation.”  After an estimated 50,000 people saw the Bell on Boston Common, hundreds more lined the tracks and thronged the stations as the train carried this most American symbol from South Station to meet its less-travelled cousin, Plymouth Rock.

The Liberty Bell on its flatbed, 1903
The Liberty Bell on its flatbed, 1903

On its journey, the Bell was guarded by patrolmen from Philadelphia and Boston — “their work was not arduous” said the Globe — watched over by GAR veterans and active military escorts, and accompanied by politicos and tycoons who “scattered flowers and other Liberty Bell souvenirs” to the singing, flag-waving crowds at each station stop.

Spectators and a band, near the Cordage, 1903
Spectators and band, near the Cordage, 1903

The celebration in Plymouth included a sumptuous banquet at the Hotel Pilgrim, patriotic tunes, and speeches galore.  The sizable Philadelphia delegation even got to stand on Plymouth Rock!

Band marching on Green Street, Kingston, 1903
Band marching on Green Street, Kingston, 1903

Though Kingston was not specifically mentioned in the Globe, we know the Bell came through on the way to Plymouth and back. This last image gives some idea of  how Kingston celebrated.  [If something about this image seems strange to you, you’re right! It’s reproduced in reverse, as is the third photo above.]

The Liberty Bell’s last train trip was to San Francisco in 1915. Officials determined that in 30 years of crossing the country, the Bell had lost 1% of itself along the way and this American icon has remained home in Philadelphia for the last 99 years.

 

Sources: Glass plate negatives from the Margaret Warnsman Collection MC30 (scans federally funded with LSTA funds through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and digitized at the Boston Public Library in conjunction with the Digital Commonwealth); “Seen by 50,000 on Common,” Boston Globe, June 19, 1903; Liberty Bell Timeline; National Park Service “The Liberty Bell: From Obscurity to Icon”

 

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog at piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com.