Thank you once again Joe. I will certainly let you know if I find anything about the Merrill shipbuilders. Diana >From: Joseph T Chetwynd <[email protected]> >Reply-To: [email protected] >To: [email protected] >CC: [email protected] >Subject: Re: [MASUFFOL] MORRILL HAMMOND >Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:56:18 -0500 > > Dear Diana, > > In The History of Newburyport Massachusetts 1764 - 1905, wriiten by >John J. Currier , originally published in two volumes, Vol/ I in 1906 >and Vol/ II in 1909, this a a facsimile edited by D'Arcy Van Bokkelen, >New Hampshire Publishing Co, Southworth 1977; Chapter XII Shipyards, >Ship Owners and Shipbuilders, pp449 - > > >p 450. Abel Merrill leased of the selectmen in Newburyport, in 1765, a >building yard at the foot of Queen, now Market Street, where he built >several vessels. > > [ March 19, 1765 ] Voted that the selectmen be ordered to >let out to Mr. Abel Merrilll so much of the twelve rod highway at or >near the upper end of Queen's > Wharf, or the upper long wharf, so called, as they think >can be spared. > > >p 453. Ra;ph Cross, who owned a shipyard near the lower long wharf, died >Jan. 4, 1788. His grandson, William Cross, bought, April 16, 1789, a lot >of land near > the foot of Merrill's Lane, now Merrill >Street...........which he subsequently occupied as a >shipyard.................He also built , in 1813, in company with Orlando > > B. Merrill ( edit note corr. sp of f.n. ), the sloop of >war WASP at a yard near Moggaridges Point in the town of Newbury. > > > >I have read several differnt places that Orlando B. Merrill was >responsible for the invention of the " Lift Model " concept of building >ship model hulls. This can be described as the carving of a half hull >model, built up in stacked layers of wood of a scaled dimension ( example >; 1/2 " equals 4 feet, or 1/8th imch scale ). The layers would de >determined from the ' lines ' taken ' drawn plans at regular dimensions >( say, every four feet from the waterline, above and below. These are >then stacked and secured vertically with dowels to keep them in line >with one another. Then, the stepped edges of the laters are faired to a >smooth hull shape. This was also the method used when there were no >lines or drawings made, until after the hull had been shaped by an >expert eye and hand who was creating a hull shape based on his wealth >of know;ledge of the ' art ', or better yet, craft of shipbuilding. I >cannot, however, say that this is the absolute truth without more >scholarly research. There may well be some truth in the statements, >however. Up until that time, large vessels were often built in the " >Hawks Nest " manner, constructing elaborate, fully modeled, ribbed and >planked scaled replicas, very minutely and often elaborately detailed >works of art as well as craft. > >I am sure that you might be able to learn more about the Morill family >from the reference dept of the Newburyport Public Library. Their >historical society is not very responsive to inquiries, my experience. > >Newburyport is about an hour drive north of Boston. It was quite common >for shipbuilders to move from the South Shore, from the cradle of >American Shipbuilding her on the North River ( Hanover, Pembroke, >Marshfield, Scituate ) North to Boston, Medford, furtther north to Salem >and Newburyport, but also as far north as Camden, Maine. They would not, >of course, have commuted, say, from Charlestown to Newburyport. They >would have removed to where they found work. > > Hope this is of some value to you in your search. I would be >interested in anything you learn about the Merrill shipbuilding family, >if you don't mind. > >Good luck, > > Joe Chetwynd, >Pembroke, MA > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >[email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message _________________________________________________________________ MSN Hotmail is evolving – check out the new Windows Live Mail http://ideas.live.com