A Chinese painting of the ship S.F. Hersey, a 991 ton, 169 foot long ship- rigged vessel built in Searsport in 1865. Marlboro Packard was the master builder. She was Searsport owned until she went under Australian registery in 1888. This painting's donor, Mrs. Henrietta Carver, was born on the vessel in 1885 in the straits of Mindoro, taking her middle name from the straits; her father, Captain Franklin Garey died on board the vessel in that passage. The donor's mother, Henrietta Packard, was the daughter of the vessel's builder. The S.F.
This painting of the ship Elizabeth is attributed to Marie Edouard Adam, c.1883. It was mostly Searsport sea captain capital that financed Elizabeth, built in Newcastle, Maine, by Haggett & Co., and named for the wife of her first master, Phineas Pendleton III. Launched in October, 1882, she went ashore nine years later at Rocky Point, San Francisco. Elizabeth’s wreck is a story of loss for four Searsport families. Her master, Captain John Herbert Colcord, was travelling with his wife and two children, who were saved, although he died.
This 1776 painting by William Hodges is from The Great Age of Sail: Maritime Art and Photography. New York: Facts on File Publications, 1986. (Collections of Penobscot Marine Museum)
The Bark Henrietta was built in 1847. Captain William McGilvery of Searsport sailed her to Ireland during the Irish potato famine, bringing a cargo of food. There is also a ship Henrietta, built in Bucksville, South Carolina, in 1875 by a crew of Searsport shipbuilders.
Written on the back of the painting's original backing: "The Kentucky was built in 1833 for Captain Benjamin Carver and was sailed by him for 10 to 12 years. She then went into the slave business, carrying slaves from Africa to Rio de Janeiro." According to Searsport Sea Captains by Frederick Black, the Kentucky was one of the fastest of her type in the world.
The ship Henrietta was built at Bucksville, South Carolina, in 1875. There was also a bark Henrietta, built in 1847, which Captain William McGilvery used to carry food to Ireland during the potato famine.
Sailor's Valentines are a form of sea shell art, popular in the 1800s, when sailors brought them home to their wives, girlfriends, mothers, or sisters. Most Sailor's Valentines were made in the West Indies, on the island of Barbados, between 1830 and 1880, but production continued into the early 20th century. People used to think that sailors made them aboard ships, but research has shown almost all were made in Barbados for sale to British and American sailors.
The Maine State Seal, painted wood carving. The carving depicts a mariner and a farmer around a picture of the Maine State tree, the White Pine. Above these is the Maine State motto, "Dirigo," which means "I lead" in Latin.
