Jump to content

User:Gatoclass/SB/J. Williams

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia





refs

[edit]


Life and career

[edit]

Jabez Williams was born on February 21, 1788 at Stonington, Connecticut, the third of eleven children to Joshua Williams (1749–1838), and the only child of Joshua's second wife Priscilla, née Ruff (~1760–88), who died while Jabez was still in infancy. A seventh-generation American, Jabez was a descendant of Robert Williams (1607–93), who emigrated with his wife Elizabeth on the ship Rose from Great Yarmouth, England, to New England in 1637. Robert Williams later became a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, and "one of the most influential men in Roxbury affairs".

It is not known where Jabez Williams trained as a shipbuilder. By 1821, he had his own shipyard in New York, where he built the steamboat United States. By 1824, he had partnered with Stephen Thorne to establish the Thorne & Williams shipyard, located on the East River at the foot of Montgomery Street, Manhattan, where several vessels, including two steamboats, were completed through 1828. By 1830, this partnership had been dissolved, with Williams retaining possession of the yard. Williams from this point until a few years before the end of his career would operate under the company name Jabez Williams & Co. In the mid-1830s, Williams briefly employed the future noted yacht designer George Steers, when the latter was aged about sixteen and still learning his trade. In 1846, Williams moved his yard across the East River to the foot of North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[1]

In June 1848, Williams and three partners—his son John T. Williams, son-in-law Samuel Sneden, and marine engineer James Cunningham—purchased a large tract of marshy land at Greenpoint, Brooklyn, consisting of about 500 lots and 1000 feet of waterfront, where they planned to establish a new shipbuilding district, both for their own use and for sale to other shipbuilders. Development of the locality, which entailed the excavation of large amounts of earth from a nearby knoll to reclaim waterfront marshland, continued into 1850 and was only achieved for the then "enormous" sum of $220,000 (equivalent to $7,747,385 in 2023). An additional plan by the developers to establish an “extensive foundry ... designed for the construction of heavy marine engines and boilers" on ten of the building lots at a cost of "upwards of $100,000" (equivalent to $3,521,538 in 2023) was subsequently abandoned. The acquisitions of Williams and Sneden included the estate, north of Bushwick Creek of Greenpoint's earliest settler, where both shipbuilders would later construct "large and fine houses".

Williams launched the last ship from his Williamburgh yard in November 1850. The following April, he launched the first ship from his new Greenpoint yard; it was from this yard that Williams would later launch his renowned clippers Tornado and Simoon. Late in his career, Williams' eldest son John was apparently admitted into partnership, after which the firm was sometimes referred to as Jabez Williams & Son. Williams retired from shipbuilding around the end of 1853, after which his yard appears to have been divided between his two eldest sons John and Edward, each of whom used their allotment to operate their own independent shipyard.

In addition to his shipbuilding career, Williams served as an alderman of New York City in 1844–45. He was an incorporator of the Dry Dock Bank, founded in 1848, and a director of the Williamsburgh City Fire Insurance Company and of the Ship Timber Bending Company. In 1859, he became the first president of American Lloyds shipping register.

Personal details

[edit]

Jabez Williams married Susanna "Ann" Tuthill (1797–1887) at Riverhead, Long Island, on 11 February 1819. The couple had nine children together, John Tuthill (1819–79), Susan Jane (b. 1822), Charles Lawrence (1823–34), Edward Francis (b. 1826), Cornelia Priscilla (1828–88), Horace Lambert (1830–31), Samuel (b. 1832), Sidney (1835–96) and David (1838–79). Williams' sons John, Edward, Samuel and Sidney followed their father into the shipbuilding industry;[2] his older daughter Susan married shipbuilder Samuel Sneden, while his younger daughter Cornelia was an invalid who remained a lifelong resident of her parents' household, assisting with domestic duties.

Williams is referred to as "honest old Jabez Williams" in an early account, indicating that he had a reputation for integrity.




new

[edit]

ships

[edit]




Production table

[edit]
Ships built by Jabez Williams (1821, 1828–53), Thorne & Williams (1822–28) and Jabez Williams & Son (1849–53)
Name(s)[a] Type[b] Yr.
[c]
Ton.
[d]
  • Original owner
  • and/or operator[e]
Intended service Ship notes; references
United States Steamboat 1821 180 [11] First steamboat to feature eagle figurehead on pilothouse, and first to issue tickets (rather than way-bills) to passengers.
Carolina Steamboat 1822 80 -archive1 First known vessel built by Thorne & Williams
Europa 1823 369 archive1
Gen. Putnam 1824 418 archive1
Emperor Ship 1824 302 Established Line East Coast #5 qwo474
Chief Justice Marshall Steamboat 1825 314 Stephen H. Herrick et al Hudson River Lost 1836. [12]
Transport Steamboat 1828 73 John H. Howland New York Harbor Last known vessel built by Thorne & Williams. swede p. 61
Warsaw Ship 1830 350 Francis Spies & Co. Liverpool trade be
Schooner 1832 160 [13]
Louisa Ship 1832 590 East Coast #5
Celia Ship 1833 338 Established Line East Coast #5 qwo474
Angelique Ship 1834 420 Established Line East Coast be qwo, also see fulton
Stonington Steamboat 1834 211 [14]
Yorktown Schooner 1834 200 Richmond & Petersburg Line
Jamestown Schooner 1834 200 Richmond & Petersburg Line
Celeste Schooner 1834 200 Richmond & Petersburg Line
Hudson Schooner 1834 200 Richmond & Petersburg Line
Argo Steamboat 1836 Wardrop Hudson? be
Atlantic Ship 1836 699 W. T. Frost* mystic
Independence Pilot boat 1837 95 1x
Baltimore Schooner 1837 201 2x -mystic1858
Petersburg Schooner 1837 185 3x
Wakulla Brig 1838 286 4x
Mary Frances Ship 1838 334 5x
Juliette Schooner 1838 207 6x -mys66 -mys58
Catherine Ship 1839 478 Chapen, Dutton & Co.* Liverpool* mys 10x #5 -mys70
Philura Brig 1839 208 7x
Peter Demilt Brig 1839 316 8x
Wilson Fuller Brig 1839 220 9x
n/a Pilot Boat 1840 95 11x
Ohio Ship 1840 738 J. W. Phillips* mys
Isaac Mead Brig 1841 300 East Coast Converted to bark, ca. 1845. Sunk in collision with steamship Southerner, 1850; 24 killed.[15][16]
Union Ship 1842 544 W. T. Frost* mys #5
Eagle Brig 1843 329 J. Hyslop, F. Spies China Armed with "six long 6 pound cannon" built by the West Point Foundry[17]
Edward K. Collins Pilot boat 1844 75 [18]
Edwin Lewis[f] Steamboat 1845 200 New York—New Jersey be #2
n/a Bark 1845 260 #2
South Carolina Ship 1845 581 Post, Smith & Co.* mys 2of2 #2 #5
Medana[g] Bark 1845 400 #2
St. Mary Brig 1845 250 #2
Patrick Henry Schooner 1845 200 #2
Cabot[h] Schooner 1845 200 #2 -mystic1858
Seguine Schooner 1845 199 #2 -mys58
Atlantic Ship 1846 736 Stanton & Frost East Coast #5 [19] #6
Montezuma Bark 1846 400 Alvah Tuttle Demerara trade be mys59 #6
Pocahontas Schooner 1846 200 "Richmond packet" #6
n/a Schooner 1847 250 #3
Creole Ship 1847 771 W. T. Frost* mys #3 #8
  • Wisconsin
  • Carlos
Ship 1847 942 W. T. Frost* -mys #3 #8 carlos -mys70
Greenpoint Bark 1849 500 Thomas Wardle be Fast clipper bark. #4
Washington Ship 1849 2000 Frost & Hicks Liverpool trade be tonnage 1665 -mys "largest merchant ship afloat" from canonicus search (debows) williams builder confirmed and largest ship -npc loading for first voyage december 22 1849 -npc record passengers 1850 -npc captain congratuled 1851 -npc
Jabez Williams Pilot boat 1850 90 Pilots' Assoc. New York Harbour herald 1 jan 1850
Yorktown Schooner 1850 250 "[E]mployed between this city and Petersburg". nyh_1jan50 mystic58
Eclipse Clipper 1850 1600 Joseph Hamilton West India trade be #4 1850 according to nyh_1jan50
Pioneer Ship 1851 1841 W. T. Frost* mys
South Carolina Steamship 1851 1533 Nicholson & Whittle* [20] Intended as "pioneer steamer for direct trade from Southern ports" to Liverpool, but converted to sailing ship before entering service after accidental damage to machinery. nm21 mys 1 of 2 -mys70
Tornado Clipper 1852 3000 Benjamin A. Mumford California be tonnage 1802 -mys nm21, 25
Simoon Clipper 1852 1435 W. T. Frost* mys nm25
Surprise Schooner 1853 350 Capt. Cole #7
Fanny Schooner 1853 363 East Coast #7 nm29


  • john t
  • julia nm26
  • mary dunham nm36




|- align="left" | ' | | align="center" | | align="right" | | | | |- align="left" | ' | | align="center" | | align="right" | | | | |- align="left" | ' | | align="center" | | align="right" | | | | |- align="left" | ' | | align="center" | | align="right" | | | |




|- align="left" | Eagle | Brig | align="center" | 1836 | align="right" | | Francis Spies | "channel trade" (Panama?) | be Fast ship, eventually went to China trade, later a smuggler and later still slave ship, ran ashore and wrecked, Cuban coast. |- align="left" | Princeton | Ship | align="center" | 1846? | align="right" | 1800 | Frost & Hicks | Liverpool trade | be qwo lists a princeton of 1131 tons built for Frost & Hicks in 1838 but american lloyd's says the ship was built by pp&s. |- align="left" | United States | Ship | align="center" | 1828 | align="right" | 200 | | | |- align="left" | Catharine | Ship | align="center" | 1829 | align="right" | 350 | Sutton & Co. | "Liverpool trade" | be |- align="left" | Mary Frances | Ship | align="center" | 1831 | align="right" | 350 | Sutton & Co. | West India trade | be |- align="left" | Union | Ship | align="center" | 1833 | align="right" | 700 | Wardell & Co. | New Orleans trade | First 4,000 bale cotton ship - be |- align="left" | Ohio | Ship | align="center" | 1834 | align="right" | | Samuel Truslow | Liverpool | |- align="left" | South Carolina | Ship | align="center" | 1850 | align="right" | 2000 | Capt. Tucker | Charleston trade | be |- align="left" | Sanguine | Steamboat | align="center" | 1849 | align="right" | 200 | Daniel Cotheal | Mobile, AL | be

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ Name of ship. Where a ship had more than one name in the course of its career, the names are presented sequentially, with the last two digits of the year in which the name change took place displayed, where available, after the name. Names followed by a "(y)" are yard names.
  2. ^ Type of vessel. The generic term "steamer" is used in this column where it is not clear from the sources whether the vessel was a steamboat or a steamship.
  3. ^ Year of ship launch, where available, otherwise year of completion.
  4. ^ Ship tonnage. Tonnages will be in either tons burthen or gross register tonnage. Sources rarely indicate which form of tonnage is being employed.
  5. ^ Original party or business entity that ordered the ship and/or operated it, where known. Entities followed by an asterisk (*) indicate first known owner and/or operator.
  6. ^ Built by Lawrence & Sneden according to some sources.
  7. ^ Some letters of the name in the source are difficult to read and the name rendered here is the writer's best guess.
  8. ^ Some letters of the name in the source are difficult to read and the name rendered here is the writer's best guess.