Days of the Schooner Fred L. Wells
Story of the schooner Fred L. Wells
by Richard Palmer
Prior to 1900 when she ran at Four Mile Point east of Oswego, the two-masted schooner Fred L. Wells (U.S. #120246) was a familiar sight at Lake Ontario ports. She was easily recognizable by her clipper bow, raking transom, white top, green rails, covering-board and lead-colored hull. She transported everything from cedar posts and lumber to chestnut coal.
She was a fast sailor and could make the distance between Oswego and Kingston in four hours. Tradition has it this was the last schooner that sailed in and out of Pultneyville in 1881.
There appears to have been two vessels named Fred L. Wells. This one was built by A. Frazer at New Jerusalem, Ohio, near Toledo, in 1875. This is not the current New Jerusalem. This was located here Toledo.She was 90 feet long, had a 22-foot wide deck and hold of seven feet, eight inches, and registered at 94 tons. She was named for a local state senator. Later she drifted over to Lake Ontario and was owned at Pultneyville and in later years at Sackets Harbor. It was used in the coasting trade on the lake, transporting barley, cordwood, lumber, coal, and other commodities between both American and Canadian ports.
When it came to Pultneyville it was owned by Captain Mervin P. Pallister and his brother, Albert. It frequently docked in Salmon Creek along side the warehouse there.. He was described as “a well known, lovable character far and wide for his friendly character.” He and his wife, the former Addie Robison, lived on Mill street. He died in 1926. Occasionally this vessel went on pleasure cruises and participated in local events. The Wayne County Alliance, a newspaper published in Sodus, reported on June 28, 1882:
The staunch, sea-going and first-class sailing vessel Fred L. Wells, Capt. M. V. Pallister, will make excursions from Pultneyville, during the day on Tuesday, July 4th, 1882, which will be towed by a first-class tug. An awning will be spread over the deck of the vessel for the comfort of the passengers will be made. The first trip will be made at 10 o’clock A.M., sharp, each trip occupying two hours.
The Lake Shore Cornet Band will be in a attendance during the day. The whole to conclude with a Grand Hop at Smith’s Hall in the evening. Good music will be in attendance. Come one, come all and enjoy yourselves. - By Order of the Committee.
The schooner was sold to Captain John McClary of Pultneyville in August, 1894 for $1,200. During the winter it laid up in Sodus Bay.
She finally ran ashore the stormy day of November 5, 1900. She was running light and had sailed from Sackets Harbor to Oswego to pick up a load of coal. Nothing unusual occurred until that evening when a brisk wind came up and the barometer fell rapidly. At 6 p.m. a sudden fierce storm came up. As the sea grew very rough and the wind increased in violence, the crew took in the canvas.
She was well in towards land and drifted rapidly toward the shore at the mercy of the sea and wind. The anchor was put out, but the windlass was carried away. Nothing could be done to keep the vessel off the shoals. A torch was prepared to signal the Life Saving crew at Oswego which came to the rescue. About 7 p.m. the vessel struck heavily on a shoal.
The lifesaving crew rowed the four miles in good time and succeeded in taking off the four men aboard the boat without mishap. They were put ashore through the surf as was the lifeboat. The men came back along the shore and retrieved the boat the next morning.
The schooner’s crew included Captain Theodore Lake, of Sackets Harbor, the vessel's owner; Henry Lake, Thomas H. Lake, Raymond McIntosh and a woman cook. They were the only persons aboard.
The vessel came to rest among the boulders about 400 feet from shore and in about three feet of water. She was pointed northwest with a list. As the vessel pounded after she struck, her bottom is badly damaged and she was leaking badly. After an inspection it was decided not to salvage the vessel as it was already 25 years old and badly damaged. She was valued at $1,000 and is a total loss. It was uninsured.
A slightly different account of the wreck appeared in the Oswego Daily Times on Nov. 6, 1900:
During the furious gale that swept down the lake about 6:30 o’clock last evening, the schooner Fred L. Wells went ashore near Four Mile Point. The Wells left Sackets Harbor, light, bound for this port at 9 a.m. and had smooth sailing until the gale increased in fury. Her anchor was thrown out but her canvas was carried away and she struck a reef about 15 rods from shore
The crew endeavored to man the yawl but it was carried away by a huge wave and they regarded this as fortunate as the tiny boat would have certainly capsized so high were the wave. The lookout at the life saving station noted the perilous condition of the schooner and with all possible speed, the life boat was manned and the long pull of four miles in heavy sea began. About eight o’clock Captain Anderson and his men reached the Wells and the crew taken ashore. The sea was so heavy that it was deemed advisable tot all to the city, leaving the lifeboat near the schooner. Captain Anderson brought the life boat back this morning.
Captain in Hard Luck
The Wells hails from Sackets Harbor, is rated A2 and is valued at $1,800 with no insurance. She left here last Friday with 200 tons of coal for Sackets Harbor and was returning for a similar cargo. She was owned by Captain Theodore Lake, who was in command with the following crew: mate Thomas H. Lake, his brother ; seaman Raymond McIntosh and Henry Lake. Captain Lake said this morning he did not believe the Wells was badly damaged although pounding on the rocks might have occasioned considerable damage to her bottom.
Considerable sympathy is expressed for Captain Lake as in addition to the accident to, and probable loss of, his schooner, his house and contents at Henderson, on which he and no insurance, wad destroyed by fire this past summer. He and his crew speak in terms of the highest praise of Captain Anderson and his crew for their watchfulness and promptness in going to the rescue of the crew of the hull fated schooner. Captain Anderson returned from the scene of the wreck shortly before noon and gave it as his opinion that the Wells would be a total loss.
The official report of the Lifesaving Service said:
Driven ashore, 4 miles E. of station, by the high wind and sea at 7 p.m. Station patrol answered her torch with a Boston lights, and then the turfmen pulled out and to the eastward, finding the schooner stranded in the breakers about 500 feet from the shore. The crew had lowered their yawl and put their clothing into it, but it broke adrift and capsized. Surfmen safely landed the crew, and then recovered the yawl, which they hauled up on the beach. The schooner was a total loss.
These photos show the schooner Fred L. Wells near the shore were taken by Fred Dobbie Wheeler and are part of a collection at the Oswego Public Library. Wheeler was a local businessman and at one time city clerk. The tugboat Fred D. Wheeler was named for him.
Williamson Sun
Thursday, December 16, 1926
Obituary
Mervin V. Pallister, 85, one of the old lake captains, died here December 2, at his home on the lake shore. He had spent his entire life in Pultneyville, and on the lakes, from pioneer days, the halcyon years of lake schooners; had witnessed the rise in power of the railroads, and the ensuing change in transportation from water to land; eighty-five momentous years. Captain Pallister leaves two sons, Dr. Stanley Pallister of Brooklyn, and Claude Pallister of New York.
The Captain was of pioneer stock. His father, John Pallister, came from England with his mother, father, brother and sisters by way of the St. Lawerence River. The father, however, died on the way and was buried in Prescott. But the mother, with intrepid spirit, brought the children on to Pultneyville. John, the eldest son, later on married Hannah Wake also of English descent, and Mervin was their eldest son.
In those days every one was a sailor, and every second house in Pultneyville was a Captain’s home. Mervin made his first venture on the lake in 1859. As a lad of eighteen he shipped aboard the schooner, Kingsford, Sam Tompkinson, captain. They sailed from Oswego with a cargo of 600 barrels of salt, up the lake, stopping at several ports; wee towed through the Welland Canal. In those days the towing was done with horses from lock to lock, and they finally reached Chicago with their salt.
The leisurely speed of commerce in those times allowed them to tie up in Chicago for two weeks before returning with grain. Trips were made up and down the lakes all summer, and the Kingsford was not tied up for the winter until late November. The sailor boy writes of frozen rigging, sleet storms, and ice. Three years later he sailed from Pultneyville in command of the Sylph, at the age of 21, the youngest captain on the lake. Later he commanded the Pilot for many years, and his last ship was the Fred L. Wells.
The name of Captain Pallister recalls to mind other old captains, whom we name with admiration and respect. At one time there were 21 vessels owned in the town, and 26 captains made their homes here. Among them were John Palmer, John Sheffield, and H. N. Throop, the Holling family, Armine, James and Andrew, Edward Todd and his brothers, John and James, the four Royce brothers were going a-whaling.
There was a line of freighters carrying lumber from Port Hope, and carrying coal to Toronto, and in the fall a great apple business. Apples were piled high along the waterfront and even in the road; schooners would take thousands of barrels to Chicago and Milwaukee, or for Oswego, there to go down the canal to tide-water. Early in the spring the captains sailed proudly out of the harbor. Late in the fall they came bravely back, her to tie up their vessels and rest through the winter.
Captain Pallister was one of the last of the captains. For years he has been a familiar and ,much-loved figure about the creek and the lake shore. When his many friends among the younger generation return next summer, they will sadly miss “the Captain” with his hearty voice and genial smile.
(Editor’s Note. - The above article was given to this paper through the courtesy of Mr. F. W. Cornwall of this place).
Comments
Post a Comment