Ship Senator Weber

Senator Weber was built in Boston in 1853 as the ship Wellfleet. She sailed for Enoch Train’s Boston Liverpool Line of packets in 1854, then transferred to the Regular Line, sailing in the Boston-New Orleans cotton packet trade. The Civil War idled ships like the Wellfleet, and she was sold to Hamburg, Germany in 1863. There she was renamed Senator Weber and flew the flag of Hamburg. This painting was done when she was still the Wellfleet. It descended in the family of the American captain, Henry S. Rich, of Bucksport, who had the American flag painted over as well as the ship's name flag so that if caught by a Confederate raider he could claim that the ship was legitimately owned in Hamburg. Until the mid 1860s, the city of Hamburg had its own merchant fleet. During that decade the city became part of the North German Confederation.

Captain Rich's log of the Wellfleet voyage of 1862 is in the Museum's library collection.