Ancient & Honarble during Colonial Revolution Times Marblehead MA

Happy Memorial Day Marblehead! New York Times 1896 Please E=mail me or post to send Full Article in PDF

John Greenleaf Whittier: Ballad of Skipper Ireson's Ride

Benjamin "Flood" Ireson  was a 19th-century American sailor, captain of the schooner Betsy Hoooper. In 1808, during a gale, the Betsy Hooper was on its way from Grand Banks to home port when it discovered another ship, the Active. The Active was wrecked and taking on water. "Ireson tried to rescue the crew of the sinking vessel, but his own men insisted upon giving up an attempt which held considerable dangers. On return to Marblehead, the crew, finding themselves blamed for the loss of life, placed responsibility upon their captain." The people of Marblehead, the Betsy's home port, were outraged with Ireson, and he was tarred and feathered and dragged out of town in a cart.
According to Life and Letters of John T. Pickard John Greenleaf Whittier heard the tales of Skipper Ireson from a schoolmate who lived in Marblehead. Whittier crafted this version in 1828 when he started the work and it took thirty years before it was published. 
There was one line in the ballad that struck a chord with many readers: "one-eyed Calendar's horse of brass." Whittier received queries from numerous sources, one from a women in Washington, Gail Hamilton who wrote to him on April 4, 1882 inquiring on this specific line. Copy of Letter from Gail Hamilton to J G Whittier from Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier: 

The letter was quite witty, but the author is Mary Abigail Dodge who wrote under the name Gail Hamilton. Dodge, daughter of James Brown Dodge and Hannah Stanwood was from Hamilton, Massachusetts. She lived in Washington in the home of her cousin,  Harriet Stanwood Blaine, wife of Speaker of the House James G. Blaine.  Dodge was Whittier correspondence: letters sent series (1833-1882) includes this letter and housed at the Peabody Essex Museum library. 

The ballad is still cherished by readers today. While the poem’s success perpetuated the Whittier version in the public imagination, Whittier recognized that it was spun from tales of folklore and his own dexterous mind. In The History and Traditions of Marblehead (1881), author Samuel Roads defended Ireson, who had actually been innocent of the crime. Whittier sent a letter to Roads expressing that he was pleased the true facts had come out. 

Charles Buxton Going published a poetic rebuttal of Whittier's poem The True Story of Skipper Ireson 

The Ireson House at 19 Circle Street in Marblehead would remain a notable Marblehead landmark and be the subject of postcards well into the twentieth century.

Here are some accounts of the story on Skipper Iverson published: From The Rudder Volume 19 The tar-and-feather treatment was popular in all the Massachusetts settlements. In several cases it was applied to men who informed the authorities of the activities of smugglers. In such cases the act met with general approval, since smuggling was no sin in the colonies. One of the last cases of tarring and feathering in Marblehead was that of Skipper Benjamin Ireson, of the schooner Betty, made memorable by J G Whittier's ballad of "Skipper Ireson's Ride." Ireson was accused by his crew of abandoning to their fate the crew of the sinking schooner Active of Portland, which he passed off Cape Ann on the night of October 30, 1807. The Active's captain, who had been taken off by another vessel, confirmed the story of his abandonment by the Betty. Thereupon Skipper Ireson's fellow-townsmen tarred and feathered him, and putting him in a dory started to drag him to Salem. The bottom of the dory was worn through by the rocky road, and Ireson was transferred to a cart. A crowd of men and boys, with music, took him to Salem and back. Ireson kept silence until released, when he said, "Gentlemen, you will regret this." Many of them did, for time showed him to have been wronged. His crew had refused duty when he wished to stand by the Active. They were homeward bound from a long Grand Bank trip, and in their hurry were content to let the schooner look out for herself. This story became known too late to benefit Ireson. lie lived many years in Marblehead, but never was he known to smile after his terrible ride. The children recited doggerel verses commemorating his disgrace. Whittier as a youth heard a schoolmate repeat them, and they formed the basis of his ballad, published thirty years later, in which "the women of Marblehead" are represented as the chastisers of Skipper Ireson. In the revised editions of his works the poet acknowledged the incorrectness of the statements in his ballad, and the unintentional wrong done the memory of Ireson and the women of Marblehead. Ireson's house still stands. It is on Circle Street, near Oakum Bay. The name of Ireson is no countersign to the good graces of a native of Marblehead. One stops almost furtively to steal a glance at the plain wood structure in which the unhappy skipper lived and died. A dour countenance peers from a window. Persons passing look at the stranger with never a word or a smile. Marblehead surely is sensitive still over the wrongs of the past.

From The Fitchburg Sentinel 1932

                                                                  

                                                            Albany Art and History

NEVER Trust a Marblehead Woman: Skipper Ireson’s Wild Ride.
Marblehead Museum 
Historic Houses  
Library of Congress Digital Photo
A Note on Skipper Ireson's Ride Jules Zanger The New England Quarterly Vol. 29, No. 2 (June 1956) 
First Harbor Company
A Poets Town The Chautauquan Volume 13 Margaret B Wright
Floyd Ireson By Henry Colford Gauss
John Greenleaf Whittier Papers, 1781-1922 Peabody Essex Museum Library
Mary Abigail Dodge Papers, 1834-1896 Peabody Essex Museum

Mary Pickford Marblehead Film 1917

October 1916 Boston Post (For full article email) Watch movie Pride of the Clan on you tube

Film History: A Fisherman "Saves" Star of the Silent Screen by Terry Date 

                          All Photos of Mary in The Pride of the Clan 1917

"The Pride of the Clan," a visually stunning film shot on location in Marblehead, Massachusetts by director Maurice Tourneur, is considered one of the best of Pickford's early pictures. Scholar Richard Koszarski, was so impressed with the film's composition, acting and editing, he wrote it was "clearly ten years ahead of its time." After I informed the LC and the MPL about the problems with their materials they agreed to collaborate on a restoration. The joint venture emphasizes the importance of archives, scholars, and owners of private collections working together to save our film heritage.

THE "WRECKED SHIP" REALLY SANK Mary Pickford bad a narrow escape from drowning in the ocean off Marblehead. Massachusetts from The Illustrated World Volume 26.

While Miss Pickford was rehearsing "Hulda of Holland" at Marblehead, Massachusetts during one of the episodes of the picture which shows Mary Pickford in a vessel drifting out to sea. The vessel selected for her use was an aged fishing schooner, and after it had been towed out to sea by two tugs it was set adrift with Miss Pickford_ supposedly, the only one on board. Gazing disconsolately upon the ocean, as the forlorn Hulda Mary Pickford leaned over the side of the clung tearfully to an absurdly small kitten while Director Maurice Tourneur hidden from sight directed the work of the camera Suddenly and quite unexpectedly the schooner listed toward the bow and rapidly settled in the water The old boat had sprung a leak something which was not in the scenario of the film Mary Pickford's simulated distress changed to feminine fright as the waves broke over the schooner and she called to Director Tourneur who fought his way to Mary as she clung waist high in water to the helm and also to the kitten that was meowing in frighting fright Let go of the kitten shouted I won t was Mary's spirited That kitten goes with me And the kitten did although it hardly more than a ball of wet fur it was finally rescued by motorboats came racing to the scene But at an age when most kiddies playing house and cuddling dolls this child was finding amusement in props and gaudy scenes back stage At a time when most kiddies are tucked into bed by loving hands five year old with the big serious was enacting a child's part for the of the nightly audience. From The American Magazine Volume 85

According to Pam Peterson in a 2013 article MARBLEHEAD 101: The movies and Marblehead

The first movie made in Marblehead was in 1917, when Mary Pickford came to town. Movie making itself was just starting, so it was a silent film. The movie was called “The Pride of the Clan,” and the plot was fairly simple. The last chieftain of an island off Scotland dies, leaving his only daughter in charge. Somewhat overwhelmed by the responsibility, the daughter, played by Pickford, hopes that her boyfriend can help. Their romance has complications, of course, which are finally resolved after a disaster at sea.

Samuel Preble and Hannah Stone of Marblehead

From August 18 1920

ODD FELLOW FOR 70 YEARS IS DEAD OBIT
From Boston Herald Boston, Mass. Tuesday, December 8, 1925

Samuel S. Preble, Marblehead, Also Veteran G.A.R. Member

Samuel S. Preble, one of the oldest members of the Odd Fellow and of the Grand Army in Massachusetts, and perhaps the oldest member of both organizations, died yesterday at his home, 53 Lincoln Avenue, Marblehead. He would have been 96 years old Dec. 18.

He and his wife, on Aug. 2, celebrated their 74th wedding anniversary. His widow, who survives him, is 92.

Mr. Preble was born in Marblehead. Early in his life, he went to the Grand Banks fishing. Later he became a shoe worker and for 50 years he worked in shoe factories in Lynn and Marblehead, retiring when he was 77. For 70 years, he had been a member of Atlantic Lodge, I.O.O.F., of Marblehead, and was the oldest member of that lodge. He also was the oldest member of John Goodwin, Jr., post, G.A.R., of Marblehead.

When the civil war broke out, he enlisted in Company C, 8th Massachusetts Volunteers, serving nine months with that organization. Afterward, he served at Camp Newbern in South Carolina.

For many years he was associated with bands. He played in the Salem brass band when the late T.S. Gilmore, noted bandmaster, was conductor. He was a church singer of local note in Marblehead and neighboring cities and towns.

Besides his wife, he is survived by four sons and daughter, Samuel S. Preble, Jr. of Melrose; Frank A. and Carrie Preble of Marblehead, and Mrs. Edwin A. Hathaway of Swampscott.

The funeral will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m. at his home. Burial will be in Waterside Cemetery.

The Creesy's of Marblehead, Donald Mckay & The Flying Cloud

Ship Flying Cloud Original painted in Hong Kong for Capt. Cressy, owned by S. H. Brown, Marblehead From Old Marblehead Sea Captains and More information at Marblehead Museum & Historical Society

Capt Josiah Perkins Creesy with the Flying Cloud, won the reputation of being the best skipper, with the fleetest sailing ship, in the world. See The Maritime Heritage Project Born March 23 1814 Marblehead, MA Died: June 1871 Salem, MA

Eleanor Horton Prentiss Creesy (September 21, 1814–August 25, 1900), daughter of Captain Joshua Prentiss III, who died when she was three, and stepdaughter/niece of Lt. John Elbridge Prentiss of the US Navy, who married her mother when Eleanor was just eight. Ellen and Perk, as they were known, both grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where they fell in love with the sea and each other.
Note: Creesy spelled Cressey, Cressy
Creesy was the master of the clipper ship Flying Cloud - built by Donald McKay in Boston - on two record-setting voyages from New York to San Francisco around South America's Cape Horn. See David Burkhart Article

What’s in a Name?
Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout - See more at: http://www.anchorbrewing.com/blog/whats-in-a-name-flying-cloud-san-francisco-stout-2/#sthash.8TLxHcku.dpuf

What’s in a Name?
Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout - See more at: http://www.anchorbrewing.com/blog/whats-in-a-name-flying-cloud-san-francisco-stout-2/#sthash.8TLxHcku.dpuf

In 1851, aided by his wife Eleanor (Prentiss), a master navigator who plotted the clipper's course using dead reckoning around the Horn, due to a constant overcast that prevented her from fixing their position via the sun, the couple guided the clipper safely to San Francisco in 89 days and 21 hours. In 1854 they bested that record, completing the voyage in 89 days and 8 hours. The Cressys' and the Flying Cloud's record stood until 1989 when it was surpassed by the high-performance racing sloop Thursday's Child. Captain Creesy served in the Union navy during the Civil War as captain of the Ino. He also later served in the Massachusetts legislature and as an alderman of Salem. Both Captain and Eleanor Creesy were renowned among mariners the world over. They are buried together in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.
See The Woman Who Guided the Flying Cloud

From The Clipper Ship Flying Cloud Monday, October 6, 1851 Daily Atlas (Boston, MA)

Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 68 1884 Article The Old Packet and Clipper Service
Captain Josiah P. Creesy, of the Flying Cloud, owned by Grinnell, Minturn, and Co., was presented by the Board of Underwriters with a service of plate on the 3d of February, 1855. Mr. Walter R. Jones, president of the board, said: “Sir, on your late passage from China, when in command of the celebrated ship Flying Cloud, with a rich and costly cargo of delicate goods, the total value of which probably amounted to a sum between a million and a million and a quarter of dollars, you encountered adverse currents and stormy and foggy weather, which carried your ship upon a coral reef on the. 7th of August last, in the China seas striking with such severity that her bow was raised out of water three or four feet. her shoe taken ofl’ her keel, and her keel itself out through to the bottom planking, causing her to leak badly and to make a great quantity of water. With a skill that none but a first-rate ship-master possesses, you soon extricated her from her perilous situation, without cutting away her masts or making any other great sacrifice, which is often done, nominally for the benefit of whom it may concern, proving very frequently, however, to the great detriment of all concerned. In a very short time you had her afloat, ready to proceed, when the important question arose in your mind where you should go, on the settling of which much depended. Again your good judgment manifested itself. The expensive and costly ports in the straits were near at hand. You determined to avoid them. and no one can say how much you saved to those interested in your valuable ship and cargo, but it is reasonable to suppose that those concerned have been saved at least thirty thousand dollars, and probably much more. In fact, no one can probably tell the extent of saving with much accuracy; all know it to have been very large. Walter R Jones Portrait from Old Historic Long Island

 “At that time your qualifications as a skillful commander again became manifest, and you seem also to have combined in yourself the talents of the merchant as well as the ship-master. After relieving your ship, your attention was directed to the next best movement, and in that you rendered us an important service; instead of running your ship into an expensive port. before referred to, where the positive and known charges would have amounted to a very large sum, you examined the condition of the vessel and the means at' your command, and although your crew was weak and insufficient, you made up your mind to proceed homeward, and, with a very leaky ship, you left the China seas. and in a very short time thereafter. to the great relief of the underwriters, you reached this port in safety, and with scarcely a damaged package on which a claim could be made on the underwriters.”

Captain Creesy was then presented with “a choice and weighty service of plate." He replied that though he had merely done his duty as a ship-master, he was “very far from being ungrateful for the beautiful and valuable testimonial. The sailor,” he added, “amid the difficulties, dangers, and responsibilities of his profession, often feels the need of appreciation and sympathy. These are his best reward and highest encouragement.” After noting the remarkable fact that Captain Creesy. between the years 1845 and 1850, had made five voyages from New York to Anjer which did not vary twenty-four hours in length, and no one of which was more than ninety days, the New York Evening Post said: “The captain seems to have a propensity for ninety day voyages. He is one of the most skillful sailors in the American merchant service.”

Father Josiah Perkins Creesy (1785-1844) Mckay Family: See Nathaniel Mckay

Donald Mckay Born September 4 1810 Died September 20, 1880 See Newburyport Clipper Ship Museum     More on Donald McKay

Photo from A master designer in Boston built America’s fastest sailing ships via
McKay's Shipyard, East Boston. about 1855. Southworth and Hawes, American, 19th century. Photograph, daguerreotype. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Author: Southworth & Hawes
 

 New York Times Obit April 4 1895

From Sunday, March 6, 1927
Paper: San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, CA)

See The history and genealogy of the Prentice, or Prentiss family, in New England from 1631 to 1883. By C. J. F. Binney

More Sources:

• Stephen D. Perkins FLYING CLOUD and The First Female Navigator, my ancestor Eleanor Creesy" 1854
• India House Foundation 10 October 2007
• Flying Cloud Cruising Adventures
• Opium Traders and Their Worlds-Volume One: A Revisionist Exposé of the World By M. Kienholz
• A World of Her Own: 24 Amazing Women Explorers and Adventurers By Michael Elsohn Ross
• South Street By Richard Cornelius McKay
• More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Massachusetts women By Lura Rogers Seavey 
• The American Clipper Ship, 1845-1920: A Comprehensive History, with a Listing of Builders and Their Ships By Glen Knoblock
• Dare the Wind: The Record-breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the Flying ... By Tracey Fern