Animals

Topsey Sitting by House

Topsey was the Montgomery's' dog, who had her own dog house on deck. Pets were very common at sea. The photograph was taken by the captain's daughter aboard the bark Carrie Winslow.

Family aboard Ship with Sheep and Pets

Pets were very common on large sailing ships. The sheep was valuable for its milk, its milk being much richer than that of a cow or a goat.

Barkentine Mannie Swan

“Dodging the Pilots off Sandy Hook, August 11, 1893”

Antonio Jacobsen, signed, 1893

This must have been an interesting day. Captain Higgins of the barkentine Mannie Swan had years of experience sailing from New York, his home port. He wanted to save a little money by not using a pilot.

There are three pilot boats trying to get close to the Swan. Higgins is passing the Scotland lightship off Sandy Hook marking the shoal named for the 1866 wreck of the steamer Scotland.

Children and Pet Goat aboard Ship

Many children grew up at sea. These two children have a young goat as a pet. An older goat aboard ship would be good for providing goat's milk. Besides being more mobile than a cow on a moving deck, goats required much less feed per pound of milk so were economical at sea.

Ralph Starratt and Dog on Luarca

When the bark Carrie Winslow was in port, Ruth Montgomery, the captain's daughter and ship photographer, went over to another vessel, the Canadian barkentine Luarca. Aboard was Capt. Starratt's son Ralph with his dog, sitting at the base of a mast.

Andre the Seal

Children look into Andre the Seal's pen in Rockport Harbor. Andre was found by Rockport harbormaster Harry Goodridge in 1961, when Andre was a pup without a mother. Goodridge kept Andre in this floating pen during the summers and entertained visitors with Andre's tricks and antics. In the winter, Andre was let free, and later, sent to an aquarium. Andre died in 1986 after 25 years of pleasing the public. In 1965, when this photograph was taken, the moorings in Rockport Harbor had wooden runabouts and sailboats, and was relatively empty compared to today's dense field of summer yacht moorings.

Beaver Hat

This image of a beaver hat was provided by the web site, "White Oak Society" and their White Oak Learning Centre & White Oak Fur Post in Deer River, MN. This is a living history organization dedicated to the study of the fur trade era. Their site is www.whiteoak.org. To see more on beaver hats, click on "On-Line Learning" and then on The Beaver Hat, most of the way down the page.

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