- Effie M. Morrissey
The "Effie M. Morrissey" (later "Ernestina") was a
schooner skippered byRobert Bartlett that made many scientific expeditions to theArctic , sponsored by American museums, theExplorers Club and theNational Geographic Society . It also helped survey theArctic for the United States Government duringWorld War II . It is currently designated by theUnited States Department of the Interior as aNational Historic Landmark as part of theNew Bedford Whaling National Historical Park .History
Designed by George McClain of
Gloucester, Massachusetts to withstandNorth Atlantic gales, the "Effie M. Morrissey" was the last fishing schooner built for the Wonson Fish Company. Built withwhite oak andyellow pine at the John F. James & Washington Tarr shipyard, length at convert|112|ft|m|0|abbr=on, 13 ft draft and convert|8500|sqft|m2|-1 of sail, she took four months to build and was launchedFebruary 1 ,1894 . Her hull was painted black and her first skipper was William Edward Morrissey, who named her after his daughter Effie Maude Morrissey.Grand Banks Fishing Schooner
Effie M. Morrissey fished out of Gloucester for eleven years. Considered a high liner, on her first voyage she brought in over 200,000 lbs. of fish, enough to pay for her construction. One of the more notable skippers of the "Effie M. Morrissey" was Clayton Morrissey who went on to skipper the racing schooner Henry Ford. A statue to Clayton Morrissey by sculptor Leonard Craske entitled the monumental fisherman statue can be seen on Gloucester's Western Avenue.
In 1905 under a new owner, Captain Ansel Snow, the schooner "Effie M. Morrissey" began fishing out of Digby,
Nova Scotia . In 1912, the Montreal journalist and photographerFrederick William Wallace sailed on the vessel as a member of Snow's crew. [Photographs and documentation of this voyage are contained in M. Brook Taylor, "A Camera on the Banks" (2006) Wallace's July 1921 article for "National Geographic", "Life on the Grand Banks" also contains photographs of the vessel, though it was not named.] His epic poem about his time aboard the "Effie M. Morrissey", "The Log of the Record Run," was widely read and adopted by east coast fishermen with such authentic results that it was mistaken as a very old traditional song by folkloristHelen Creighton . [F. W. Wallace, [http://www.ernestina.org/history/RovingFisherman.html "Roving Fisherman"] ]Then in 1914, ownership moved to Brigus, Newfoundland where Harold Bartlett used her as a fishing and coasting vessel along the
Newfoundland and Labrador shoreline.Early 20th century: exploration
In 1925 Harold Bartlett sold her to his cousin, noted Arctic explorer Capt. Bob Bartlett, who installed an auxiliary engine and reinforced the hull so the vessel could be used in Arctic ice. In 1926 with the financial support of the well known publisher George Palmer Putnam, Bartlett embarked on two decades of Arctic exploration using this vessel.
The following is a listing of the many voyages captained by Robert Bartlett aboard the "Effie M. Morrissey":
# 1926
American Museum Greenland Expedition to Northwest Greenland for theAmerican Museum of National History withGeorge Palmer Putnam andUniversity of Michigan ProfessorWilliam H. Hobbs .
# 1927 Voyage toWestern Baffin Land for theAmerican Geographical Society , Museum of the American Indian and theHeye Foundation with George Palmer Putman and Robert E. Peary, Jr. (son ofRobert E. Peary ).
# 1928 Stoll McCracken Siberian Arctic Expedition to theAleutian Islands ,Bering Strait , and Arctic for the American Museum of Natural History withCharles H. Stoll andHarold McCracken .
# 1929 Labrador Motion Picture Expedition along theLabrador Coast withMaurice Kellerman .
#1930 North East Greenland Expedition for the Museum of the American Indian.
#1931 Norcross-Bartlett Expedition to Northeast Greenland for theSmithsonian Institution , Heye Foundation, American Museum of Natural History, and theNew York Botanical Garden to gather flowering plants for Botanical Gardens; specimens of wild fowl for the Museum of Natural History andnarwhal and seals for theOcean Hall of Life . In addition to this they carried outoceanographic ,hydrographic andmeteorological work for theUS Navy , Smithsonian Institution, and others.
#1932Peary Memorial Expedition as a monument to Robert E. Peary. Peary’s grandchildren, Ed Stafford and Peary accompanied them along with their mother. The expedition was co-chartered by Mrs.Marie Peary Stafford andArthur D. Norcross .
#1933 Bartlett Northwest Greenland Expedition through the Hudson Strait, Fury Strait and the Hecla Strait for the American Museum of Natural History, Museum of American Indian, American Geographical Society and the Navy Department.
#1934 Expedition to Greenland and Ellesmere Land making scientific collections for thePhiladelphia Academy of Natural Sciences .
#1935 Northwest Greenland Expedition forField Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. On this expedition was Dr.Lamar Soutter , founding dean of theUniversity of Massachusetts Medical School .
#1936 Bartlett Northeast Greenland Expedition for the Smithsonian Institution,American Geographical Society ,Chicago Zoological Society and the Field Museum.
#1937 Bartlett Northwest Greenland Expedition for the Smithsonian Institution and the Chicago Zoological Society.
#1938 Northwest Greenland Expedition for the Smithsonian Institution,Cleveland Museum of Natural History , and theUnited States National Museum .
#1939 Northeast Greenland Expedition for the New York Zoological Society and the Smithsonian Institution.
#1940 Greenland Expedition where the "Effie M. Morrissey" set a record for furthest north at 80 degrees 22 minutes North Latitude, a mere convert|578|nmi|km|0 from theNorth Pole . Pathe Newsreels had filimed this incredible effort, among those in attendance wasFred Littleton ,Austen Colgate ,John Pitcairn ,Jim Pond ,David Nutt ,Reggie Wilcox andGeorge Hodge .
#1941 Greenland Expedition into the Arctic regions sponsored byLouise A. Boyd ofSan Francisco into theBaffin Bay region. It was the first opportunity byNational Bureau of Standards for an extensive study of theionosphere at Arctic latitudes.
#1942 Voyage to Ungava Bay and Frobisher Bay to conduct survey work for air bases Crystal One and Crystal Two for both theUS Army Air Forces and theUS Navy .
#1943 Voyage toFrobisher Bay for supply and survey work for US military bases.
#1944 Voyage to southern and eastern Greenland to supply and service US weather bases.
#1945 Voyage to northwest Greenland to supply and service US military bases.Mid 20th century: packet ship Ernestina
When Captain
Robert Bartlett died onApril 28 ,1946 the "Effie M. Morrissey" was sold to the Jackson brothers to carry mail and passengers in an inter-island trade in the South Pacific. On their voyage to the Pacific she developed problems at sea, forcing the crew to return toNew York City . OnDecember 2 ,1947 , the boat caught fire of undetermined origin while docked at the Boat Basin in Flushing, New York.The schooner was repaired and sold to
Louisa Mendes ofEgypt, Massachusetts . She entered thepacket trade in a trans-Atlantic crossing toCape Verde with a cargo of food and clothing. Upon reaching the islands, CaptainHenrique Mendes reregistered the schooner under the name "Ernestina", after his own daughter, and used her in inter-island trade. The "Ernestina" made many transatlantic voyages and fell into disrepair at Cape Verde, where she remained until the late nineteen sixties when interest arose in the United States to save the historic vessel.Harry Dugan and theBartlett Exploration Association of Philadelphia made several offers to buy the ship for theSouth Street Seaport Museum in New York. In 1977 the people of Cape Verde agreed to give "Ernestina" to the "people of the United States". The Foreign Minister, speaking on behalf of PresidentAristides Pereira said, :"The Government of Cape Verde offers the Ernestina as a gift to the United States of America as an expression of the high regard of the people of Cape Verde for the people of the United States and we deliver the vessel to the State of Massachusetts as a representative of the people of the United States."Late 20th century: National Historic Landmark
Infobox_nrhp | name =ERNESTINA (schooner)
nrhp_type = nhl
caption = In the summer of 2005 the Schooner Ernestina was undergoing repairs.
location= Steamship Wharf,New Bedford, Massachusetts
lat_degrees = 41
lat_minutes = 38
lat_seconds = 1
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 70
long_minutes = 55
long_seconds = 16
long_direction = W
locmapin = Massachusetts
area =
built =1894
architect=George Melville McClain ; James & Tarr Shipyards
architecture= Other
designated=December 14 ,1990 cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1888&ResourceType=Structure
title=Ernestina (Schooner) |accessdate=2008-07-15|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added =January 03 ,1985 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Local
refnum=85000022In August 1982 its hull was completely rebuilt and it sailed to the United States with a crew of Cape Verdeans and Americans.
In August 1988 the schooner made a return trip to Brigus, Newfoundland, home of Capt. Bob Bartlett on the 113th anniversary of his birth.
The "Ernestina" was designated by the
United States Department of the Interior as aNational Historic Landmark in 1990,citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/85000022.pdf National Register of Historic Places Registration: "Ernestina" / Schooner "Ernestina" (formerly "Effie M. Morrissey"] |32 KB|date=April 18, 1990 |author=James P. Delgado |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/85000022.pdf "Accompanying 12 photos, from 1894, 1913, 1930, 1965, and 1990"] |32 KB] with restoration being completed in 1994, and in 1996 became a part of theNew Bedford Whaling National Historical Park . She is owned by the state of Massachusetts.According to the National Park Service at NHL designation:
References
External links
* [http://www.ernestina.org/ History of the Schooner "Effie M. Morrissey" with pictures (Official Site)]
* [http://www.heritage.nf.ca/cns_archives/30riggssep18_1997.html Memorial University of Newfoundland "Archival Treasures"]
* [http://www.umassd.edu/specialprograms/caboverde/ernestina.html UMASS Dartmouth website for the "Ernestina"]
* [http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=special45 New Bedford Standard-Times Web site for "Ernestina"]
* [http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/maritime/ern.htm Maritime History of Massachusetts: Ernestina] , a NRHP Travel Itinerary
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