The White FenceNo. 86

April

2019

ISSN 1913-4134 N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E T A N T R A M A R H E R I T A G E T R U S T

Tantramar Heritage Trust29B Queens RoadP.O. Box 3554

Sackville, NB E4L 4G4

(506) 536-2541tantramarheritage@gmail.com.

heritage.tantramar.com

Tantramar Heritage Trust, Inc.

Executive Directors 2018-2019President Barbara JardineVice-President Geoff MartinSecretary Rebekah CantTreasurer Paul Bogaard

Staff MembersExecutive DirectorKaren ValanneBookkeeperSandra Niles

Editorial-This issue of your newsletter containstwo very interesting Maritime topics ofour past: shipbuilding and the dangers of seafaring in the 19th century. In themid-1800s, Sackville had three activeshipyards: the Purdy, Dixon andBoultenhouse shipyards. As you readabout the Purdy shipyard, you may find it interesting how the Purdy andBoultenhouse families collaborated intheir respective ventures. This story is about family members who playedimportant roles in Maritime coastal businesses that allowed for transport and trade in our region and beyond.

These were family businesses carried onby the respective sons into the close ofthe century. Ship travel also representedsignificant dangers. The loss of the Bella,described below, is but one example. Hereis a very personal and dramatic accountreported by Mate James Outhouse ofWood Point in July, 1870, who survivedthe sinking of this schooner. I hope thatthese two reports carry you into the yearsof sailing which once dominated ourcoastline. I also hope that they allow you,as they did me, to be close to a time thatwas so important to our region.

—Peter Hicklin

Upcoming EventsSee page 5

Loss of schooner BellaSee page 6

The Purdy ShipyardBy Al Smith

Recently, a fellow history enthusiast,Colin MacKinnon, gave me a copy of

a photo of an old abandoned steam boiler,discarded many years ago over the dykeon the Westcock Marsh. That boiler wasonce an integral component at the HenryB. Purdy Shipyard, used to generatesteam for bending lumber used in shipconstruction. Following the closure of theshipyard in the 1880s, the old boiler wasrepurposed and used as a land roller byDon Johnson and, when no longer func-tional, it was discarded over the dyke.1

Little remains today of Sackville’s richshipbuilding history so the discovery ofthis relict from the past was a good segueinto this article. Shipbuilding wasSackville’s first large industry and by themid-1800s the three local shipyards:

Boultenhouse, Dixon and Purdy werebuilding and launching three to five vessels annually, and, at its peak,employed 300-400 men.

Boiler from the Purdy Shipyard: 8' long x 2' diameter. (C. MacKinnon photo)

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Henry Boultenhouse Purdy (1814-1888) was a first cousin of BedfordBoultenhouse as his mother, MaryAnn Boultenhouse, was his father’ssister. Henry Purdy married DorcusSnowdon (1817-1897) on March 21,1837 and they raised a family of nine.On leaving Westcock in 1852, itappears that Bedford Boultenhouseleft his cousin Henry Purdy to oper-ate the shipyard. Henry’s first vesselwas a little schooner called Merlin, a 79-ton vessel launched on July 3,1852. It was built in association withMartin Cole who owned 40 of the 64shares in the vessel. Henry Purdy waslisted as a shipwright on the 1851census so he was very likely employedby Bedford Boutenhouse and learnedthe trade under his tutelage.

Henry Purdy’s second vessel was a138-ton Brigantine Hart launched inMarch, 1853. Then, strangely, noother vessels were built until 1858.Would that five-year hiatus have hadsomething to do with the uncertain-ties of not actually owning the shipyard? However, on September 9,1859, Bedford Boultenhouse ofPortland Maine, sold the property to

Henry Purdy for the sum of 700pounds. The property description onthe deed actually reads “now in thepossession and occupation of the saidHenry Purdy”7 thus confirming thatthe Purdy family were resident on theproperty likely since the departure ofBedford Boultenhouse in 1852/53.

Now with full title to the property,shipbuilding resumed in earnest. An additional 17 ships were built byHenry Purdy between the years 1858and 1878. Henry built mostly smallervessels: seven schooners and fivebrigantines although he did build sixbarques and one full-rigged 1132-tonship named the George H. Oulton,launched in 1872. Purdy built mainlyfor local businessmen and for theSaint John Oulton family. Seven ofhis ships were constructed under contract with Sackville merchantMariner Wood. No photos or paint-ings of Henry’ Purdy’s ships existexcept for the Barque M. Wood, built in 1866. Fortunately, that imageis safely in the collections of the New Brunswick Museum in SaintJohn, NB. A copy of the beautifulwatercolour painting of the Barque

Sackville was the largest Shipbuildingcentre in Westmorland County constructing 176 vessels or just ver 30% of the 580 vessels built in the County.2

The Christopher Boultenhouse shipyard was by far the largest, butthe Purdy yard site lasted the longest.The origins of the Purdy Shipyard,located on Frosty Hollow Creek, date back to at least 1838 whenBedford Boultenhouse (son of John Boultenhouse and nephew ofChristopher Boultenhose) purchased a 31-acre parcel of land from GeorgeLawrence.3 Shortly thereafter, with his father John, Bedford established a small shipyard4 on the banks ofFrosty Hollow Creek, originallyknown as Mill Creek (see map5).Bedford Boultenhouse (1816-1870)married Cynthia Barnes (1810-1905)on Feb. 25, 1840, and likely establishedtheir homestead on this property.

Bedford undoubtedly learned hisshipbuilding skills from his fatherwho built 9 vessels over the period1835 to 1853. In 1846, at the age of30, Bedford built his first ship, the199-ton Brig Three Sisters. He constructed six more vessels at hisWestcock yard with the last one beinglaunched in early May, 1852. Soonthereafter Bedford, Cynthia and theirtwo children left Westcock. By 1853,they had settled in Portland, Maine.6

M. Wood Barque: NB Museum Accession # 1954.169, Estate of Emma Thurmon, 1954.9

Tantramar Heritage Trust Page 3Page 3

M. Wood by British artist E.L. Gravesis shown on page 2. At the age of 64years Henry Purdy constructed hisfinal vessel in 1878, the little 76-tonschooner O.P. Barnes for CaptainOliver. P. Barnes of Sackville.8

The Purdy Shipyard was not huge in comparison to ChristopherBoultenhouse’s large yard on the main Tantramar River. Purdy did not have his own sawmill but reliedon purchasing lumber stocks formnearby sawmills.10 However, the ship-yard had an excellent launchway thataccessed deep water at high tide in a sheltered locale. A large pattern and sail loft building was located conveniently close to his residenceand a steel mini-railway track wayconnected the main constructionbuildings to the slipways thus expediting movement of heavy components.11 The 1953 black &white air-photo shown at right showsthe shipyard buildings to the right ofthe residence. It also clearly shows thetwo “notches” in the riverbank wherethe launchways were located. Theshipyard employed a large number ofworkers and Dick McLeod relates astory told to him by his grandmotherof watching men from SecondWestcock walking by on the road carrying their boots heading to theshipyard; apparently, they walkedbarefoot to save the wear on theirboots!

By the late 1870s, the days of woodensailing vessels was starting to wanebut Henry Purdy’s three oldest sonscarried on the family’s seafaring ways.Both John and Reuben Purdy weremaster mariners and son James was ashipwright. James built the 393-tonBarque Arda which was launched onMay 17, 1878, as well as two smallSteamer Schooners: the Sir John in1886 and Dorcas in 1887. The PurdyYard was possibly used by other

builders of which there is at least onerecord.12 However, it is most likelythat the little Steamer SchoonerDorcas, probably named after hismother, was the final vessel constructed at the Purdy Shipyard.

Aerial photo showing the location of the Henry B.Purdy Shipyard by his house along Hwy 935.

Dorcas Snowdon (wife of Henry B. Purdy).

Listing of Vessels Constructed by Henry Boultenhouse Purdy1852 Schooner MERLIN 79 tons1853 Brigantine HART 138 tons1858 Schooner HAVELOCK 100 tons1859 Brigantine CYGNET 100 tons1860 Schooner MINNEHAHA 51 tons1860 Brigantine SEAMANS BRIDE 167 tons1861 Brigantine GEORGE G. ROBERTS 162 tons1862 Schooner EMPRESS 89 tons1863 Brigantine MARTHA McCONNELL 207 tons1863 Barque MARY E. PURDY 288 tons1864 Barque CHARLIE WOOD 325 tons1864 Schooner JANE 130 tons1866 Barque M. WOOD 550 tons1866 Schooner WILLIAM 140 tons1867 Barque AMITY 535 tons1871 Barque AMEDEO 565 tons1871 Barque EMMA L. OULTON 668 tons1872 Ship GEORGE H. OULTON 1132 tons1878 Schooner O.P. BARNES 76 tons

Vessels Built by Henry’s son James Purdy 1878 Barque ARDA 393 tons1886 Steamer Schooner SIR JOHN 85 tons1887 Steamer Schooner DORCAS 120 tons

Reference: Shipbuilding in Westmorland County, NB by Charles A. Armour and Allan D. Smith, 2008, published by Tantramar Heritage Trust, ISBN #979-0-9784100-5-6.

The little shipyard at the banks ofWestcock Creek was in operation for

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Fortunately for us, author Sir CharlesG.D. Roberts captured the descriptivedetails of the village of Westcock inhis timeless historical-fiction novelThe Heart That Knows. Published in1906 and reprinted in 2002, the novelcaptures events in the Westcock community in the 1860s and includesthe full story of the naming of thePurdy-built Brigantine George G.Roberts. That ship was named afterRoberts’ father, the local Anglicanrector, who, returning home late onenight from visiting a parishioner,noted a fire that had started in a pileof debris under the stern of the vessel. He quickly raised the alarm,fetched buckets of water and had thefire under control before help arrived.In appreciation for his quick actionsPurdy named the vessel after thegood rector.13

Henry Boultenhouse Purdy died in1888 but the property still remains in ownership of direct descendants.Henry Purdy’s daughter Amy JanePurdy (1848-1914) married John P.Johnson (1842-1914), a carpenterfrom Pictou, NS who came toSackville c1859/60. He most likelyworked at the Purdy shipyard initiallybut later was heavily involved in lumbering. John and Amy Jane livedin the Purdy house at Westcock until1899 when they moved to Sackville.Their son Seward Henry Johnson(1871-1959) inherited the propertyand passed it down to his son DonaldPurdy Johnson (1907-1977).14

Donald’s son Larry Johnson is thecurrent owner of the property.

Henry Purdy’s three sons, mentionedearlier, all left Westcock and by theearly 1890s all three were settled withtheir families in the Vancouver area of the West Coast. Their stories willbe the subject of a later issue of The White Fence.

Mid-1950s photo of the old Henry Purdy property. (Johnson Family photo courtesy of Mary-Jo Thompson)

May, 2018, photo of the property – the last remaining shipyard building has collapsed. (Al Smith photo)

nearly 50 years but little remainstoday of that once active constructionsite. The mid-1950s aerial photoshown above clearly shows one of the last remaining buildings of theshipyard. The long, narrow, red-

roofed building in the photo was theoriginal pattern, construction and sailloft. The second photo taken in 2018shows the rubble pile of that buildingas it exists today.

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The former Henry Purdy house and grounds, March 2019. (Colin MacKinnon photo)

1. Conversation with Westcock resident Dick McLeod.

2. Shipbuilding in Westmorland County, NBby Charles A. Armour & Allan D. SmithISBN 978-0-9784100-5-6.

3. Deed #8143 George Lawrence to BedfordBoultenhouse, Dec. 6, 1838 registeredFeb. 26, 1839.

4. F.C. Jonah Early History of Sackville –The Tantramar, Vol.1, No, 5, April 1915

5. Map from Roberts Country: Sir CharlesG.D. Roberts and the Tantramar by Charlie Scobie, 2008.

6. Boultenhouse Family genealogy –Ancestry.ca – Al Smith.

7. Deed #20545: Bedford Boultenhouse toHenry Purdy dated 9 Sept, 1859 registered4 May, 1860.

8. Tall Ships and Master Mariners SailingFrom The Port of Sackville by ColinMacKinnon, 1998.

9. Shipbuilding in Westmorland County, NB,page 33, by Charles A. Armour and AllanD. Smith, 2008.

10. Conversation with Dick McLeod, March 20, 2019.

11. Ibid12. The Chignecto Post issue of Dec. 21, 1871,

page 2, reported: Messrs. Amos andWilliam Ogden are building a vessel of300 tons at the Purdy’s Yard, to belaunched next July. (Authors note: Theremust have been a delay in finishing thisvessel as the Odgen brothers BrigantineOtacilius, 232 tons, was not launched until July 10, 1873.)

13. The Heart That Knows by Charles G.D.Roberts 1906, reprinted edition 2002,Formac Publishing Co.; also Robert’sCountry by Charles Scobie 2002, Tantramar Heritage Trust publication.

14. Purdy family genealogy, Ancestry.ca, Al Smith’s Purdy tree. Family informationfrom Mary Jo (Johnson) Thompson,unpublished manuscript, August 2016,

UPCOMING EVENTSSunday, May 26, 2 pm Annual General Meeting Campbell Carriage FactoryGuest speakers: Sandy Burnett and Peter Manchester. The Pickard Quarry: Past, Present and Future?

All are welcome, light refreshmentsto be provided.

Sunday, June 16, 12-5 pm Official Opening of Campbell CarriageFactory Museum Entertainment, games, black-smithing demonstrations and thevery popular Annual Plant Sale.

Monday, July 1, 2-4 pm Canada Day Strawberry Social Boultenhouse Heritage Centre. Join us for games, tours, music, and delicious homemade strawberryshortcake.

July and August Make It Workshops Heritage-themed children’s workshops – details TBA.

July and August Under the Sky Events Community events at our museums– details TBA.

Sunday, August 11, 12-5 pm Heritage Field Day at the Campbell CarriageFactory Museum Blacksmithing demonstrations, live music, dancing, snacks, artisandemonstrations, tours and muchmore.

To keep up with what’s happeningat our museums, follow us onFacebook or Instagram (tantramarheritagetrust) or Twitter (@TrustTantramar) or contact the office at tantramarheritage@gmail.com and ask to be put on our email list.

Endnotes

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Particulars of Loss of schooner BellaThe Statement of the Mate

The following account is transcribedfrom an article that appeared in theJuly 14, 1870, issue of the Sackville,NB, newspaper Chignecto Post. The little 46-ton schooner Bella wasbuilt at the Christopher Boultenhouseshipyard in 1859 and launched April 30. The builders were two ofChristopher’s sons, William and AmosBoultenhouse. The Bella was the thirdschooner that the Boultenhouses hadbuilt for the seafaring Anderson family.The earlier vessels, both built byChristopher, were Temperance, the87-ton ship built in 1831 and the 50-ton Jane, built in 1853. TheSchooner Temperance was the vesselthat got the Andersons into a sea-faring occupation and was the first

vessel commanded by Captain TitusAnderson (see The White Fenceissue #59, February, 2013). Capt. Anderson was the father ofCapt. George Anderson who built theAnderson Octagonal House whichstands beside the BoultenhouseHeritage Centre on Queen’s Road inSackville. The transcription of thenewspaper article follows the originaltypescript and spellings. Anythingadditional by way of explanations areenclosed in brackets and italicized.The two graphics included with thetranscript are from a display in theAnderson Room at the OctagonalHouse in the Boultenhouse HeritageCentre.—Al Smith, April 2, 2019

We have to record this weeka sad calamity which hascast a gloom over Sackville

and vicinity – the loss of schr.“Bella”, Capt. Titus Anderson, onher passage from St. John to thisplace, and the drowning of theCaptain and one of the crew, a ladnamed John Ogden.

Mr. James Outhouse of Wood Point,Mate of the Schr. “Bella” came to St. John from Cape Spencer onSaturday night last, and we obtainedfrom him the following particulars:

“The “Bella” left St. John onThursday last at 4 o’clock P.M. The wind was S.S.W., and quite thick(foggy). We were towed out to theIsland and beat out the harbour.

Tantramar Heritage Trust Page 7

The last we heard of Partridge Islandwhistle was at 12 o’clock, bearing N. by E. The wind continued blow-ing same direction (S.S.W.) and quitestrong. I was at the wheel, runningher S.S.E. The Captain took thewheel and told us to take in the mainsail and outer jib (foresail). Hesaid he would keep her on course upthe Bay. About half an hour after Iwas standing forward and saw thebreakers on the lee bow. We broughther to (put the bow directly into thewind) and put the mainsail on her.About this time the wind died out.There was a heavy swell. We werethen so close to the shore; we let gothe anchor. She swung around andbegan to thump against the rocks.

After a while the stern post came upthrough her. The wind commenced toblow up stronger. About 1 o’clock theCaptain lowered the boat, and got inher. The painter (bowline to the boat)was entangled with the main sheet(rope that raises and lowers the mainsail) block and the boat swampedand upset. We hauled the Captain onboard. The Captain told Merrill togive her more chain (let out theanchor chain), which he did. I thenjumped ashore on a rock. They threwme lines, but I could not get them.Nathan Merrill then jumped, and thewaves washed him ashore and Ipicked him up. John Ogden got outon the main boom to jump ashore;John Liveson was standing by the

tatirail (a wooden spar behind therudder) waiting for him to jumpwhen the stern of the vessel came off and he (Liveson) went with it. I picked up Liveson. Liveson andMerrill, just before they left, saw the Captain lying abaft (towards thestern) of the house (deck house) onhis back. Supposed he had beenstruck senseless by the main boom.John Odgen called out he wouldthrow a line, and for us to look for it.I called for him to go to the masthead. He was then on the main boom.I did not hear him again. It was aboutan hour after flood (rising tide) thatshe struck. The heavy sea and tidecoming in stopped us from gettingnear the vessel. We went up the shore

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at daylight. In the afternoon we wentback. At low water (tide) her sternwas ten feet under. She was thennearly broken up. We saw nothing ofthe bodies. The spot is rather to theEast of Cape Spencer, 12 miles fromthe city.”

Captain Titus Anderson was one ofour oldest (he was 65) citizens, andalmost ever since boyhood has sailedvessels up and down this Bay.Rugged, persevering and resolute, he has fought during a long life manybattles with winds and storms on a

proverbially dangerous coast, only, as it proved, to succumb in theevening of his days. We beg to tender to his family our sympathywhich we are sure is shared by thewhole community.

John Ogden, who shared the samefate with Capt. Anderson was quite alad, aged about eighteen, and leaves a mother in this place to morn for anonly son. She may feel some comfortin the reflection that he was a youngman of exemplary conduct.

The “Bella” was owned by Capt.Rufus Outhouse of Sackville and others (George and Ammi Anderson).He has been running her this season,but Captain Anderson took his placefor this her last trip. The “Bella” hada large quantity of freight for thisplace among which were 32 tons ofpig iron, tin, zinc etc. belonging to C. Fawcett & Co,; 1 ton nails,Dickson & Bowser; safe, flour etc.P.M. Dickson; flour, S. Clarke; furniture, lime etc, Andrew Ford;bricks, Capt. Milner; household furniture, Rev. Dr. Stewart. Therewas no insurance.