Quoting Fletcher Blanchard to BLANCHARD-L on 11 Nov 97: > Kathie, I think you will find several list members who connect with > your 'sea-faring' ancestors from Maine. John Clement > (jclement@m2.sprynet.com ) is one of the more active ones and just > in case he misses your message, I suggest you contact him. Yep, I missed it. But Kathie got in touch and we are corresponding. > John is a descendant of Hollis BLANCHARD (1839-1898) Nope, I am a great grand nephew of Hollis BLANCHARD. But this gives me an excuse to run my write up on his tragedy. The tragedy of the steamer Portland Hollis H. Blanchard, captain of the ill fated sidewheeler steamship Portland, is a Great Grand Uncle of John Chandler Clement. The steamer he commanded was destroyed by the legendary gale that claimed more than four hundred vessels off the New England coast. The 1898 storm was remembered as the Portland Gale because of the great loss of life from the Portland. Before commanding the Portland, Blanchard captained the Schooner Mary A. Coombs, Brigantine R.S. Hassel, Steamship William Tibbetts and a number of coasters and vessels in the West Indies trade. Like a child's game of telephone, a story told over and over, grows less and less trustworthy. For that reason, there are conflicting accounts of what happened Saturday, 26 November 1898; even Captain Blanchard's name changes from Hollis to Horace on occasion. However, in the December 1989 issue of Yankee Magazine, Susan V. Seligson accumulated what she calls the least-shakable details. The Portland, a wooden-hulled sidewheeler, 281 feet long with a 42-foot beam sailed from Boston bound for Portland, Maine on Saturday at 7:20pm. Though the day began fair with a light west wind, by late afternoon several storm warnings were issued and sky was overspread with a yellow light, similar to that seen before the hurricane of 1938. Whether Captain Blanchard was advised by a superior not to sail that day remains in dispute. At the mouth of Boston harbor, a keeper of a light house waved to the Portland passengers and remarked to his wife, "There will be many seasick people about that ship tonight." As the Portland turned toward the open sea, she exchanged whistle signals with the Kennebec, which had sailed earlier but was returning to the shelter of the harbor. The sky was then overcast with a fresh northeast wind blowing and soon thereafter snow commenced to fall. After the Kennebec, the Mt. Desert entered the harbor with the occupants of the pilot house looking astern expecting the Portland to come about, but she continued seaward. At about 11:00pm, the Portland was seen by the schooner Grayling and the Grayling Captain reported the Portland was rolling and pitching badly. Despite her 1,400 horsepower engine, the Portland was still only about fifteen miles southeast of Gloucester when she was seen again at 11:45pm; the captain of the vessel sighting her reported she was damaged and without lights. What happened after that is unknown, but the following afternoon, the Portland's grim debris began washing up along the Outer Cape. Later in the evening, patrolmen came upon great masses of broken beams, furniture, barrels of freight and several bodies. Conflicting reports say 60, 38 and 35 bodies were found. In any event, there were no survivors among the estimated 160 to 191 passengers and crew. Using advance technology, the hulk of the Portland was discovered in 1989, ninety-one years after she went down, twenty miles north of Cape Cod in 300 feet of water. Hollis S. 1839 b Belfast, ME, USA 1898 d At Sea 1997 11 12 -- John Clement, 6940 E. Girard 205, Denver, CO 80224-2917 Email: jclement@m2.sprynet.com Voice: 303-691-0613