Saturday, June 7, 2014

Isaac Newton Colby rescues Captain Oliver O Jones



Issac Newton Colby was born on 28 February 1838 in Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts. He married Mary Amelia Haskell on 26 November 1862 in Newburyport. He passed on 20 April 1910 in Newburyportat age 72. He was the son of  who was the son of son of George Curwen Ward Colby and Harriet Kitching/Kitchen. 
Children: George Rufus COLBY, Mary N. COLBY, Elizabeth C. COLBY, Isaac Newton COLBY Jr., William Johnson COLBY.
In 1857 Captain Oliver Osgood Jones joined the new ship 'Blandina Dudley,' Captain Horace Atwood, owned by E. S. Mosley. Several Newburyport boys were with me in the ship, all of whom became masters and members of the Marine Society. Atwood notes: We loaded ice and apples in Boston for Calcutta." In discharging the cargo the crew enjoyed the ice and apples freely, though apples were selling for twenty-five cents apiece. With a full East India cargo the vessel returned to Boston, one hundred and twenty-five days out. Off Cape Good Hope, in a heavy westerly gale at relief of the midnight watch, Mr. Jones was swept overboard by a heavy sea that washed N the deck, but almost miraculously rescued by the quick action of a sailor, Colby, in throwing a coil of rope, which he caught and by which he was drawn aboard. Colby afterward be came Captain I. N. Colby, a well known mas ter mariner, and naturally the two men remained close friends in later life.

In 1871 Jones notes: he was mate of the American ship "Elizabeth Gushing," Captain I. N. Colby, and I remained with her in the same capacity until 1876, visiting nearly every port of importance on the globe. "I passed the happiest hours of my sea- life," writes Captain Jones, "on this dear old ship. I received many kindnesses and favors and had many pleasant outings in foreign ports. I shall long remember my outing at the port of Mollendo, the seaport of Arequipa, whither we carried coal and rails for the new railroad, then building in South America. I rode on the locomotive up to Arequipa, some sixty miles distant, and -some two thousand- feet above the coast line, and spent the day and night. The quaint old Spanish city with its churches, squares and funny people, was a new phase of life for me, and the scenery was beyond description. The return down-hill was very novel and delightful, though it seemed risky to me. I think few mates had more good times than Captain Colby gave me. The ship was a home for us all, but he was at the same time a strict disciplinarian and always put business before pleasure. One day in London I went with him aboard the ship "Ellen Munroe" to call on the captain. We spent half an hour there and when we left I was master of that fine vessel." Captain Jones loaded his ship with cargo


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