Ambrose A. Martin

Ambrose A. Martin (October 13, 1851 – January 1, 1934), was a 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts yacht and boat shipbuilder. He built the Ambrose A. Martin shipyard in 1882 at Jeffries Point, East Boston, where he built many notable Boston yachts and schooners. Martin died in Boston in 1934.

Ambrose A. Martin
Born(1851-10-13)October 13, 1851
Boston, Massachusetts, US
DiedJanuary 1, 1934(1934-01-01) (aged 82)
Boston, Massachusetts, US
NationalityUnited States American
OccupationShipbuilder
SpouseLucy Anna Beadle
Children3

Early life

Ambrose A. Martin was born on October 13, 1851 Boston, Massachusetts. He was the son of Elbridge Gerry Martin (1815-1873), born in Essex, Massachusetts, and Rebecca Homan Dixey (1816-1852). Ambrose married Lucy Anna Beadle on March 12, 1876,[1] in Boston and had three children.[2] His father and son were both pilots.[3] His grandfather, Captain Ambrose B. Martin (1773-1851) was Master of the two-masted Marblehead, Massachusetts schooner Raven. A set of ceramic dinner plates were made, in 1796, bearing a portrait of the vessel.[4]

Career

Ambrose A. Martin started a shipbuilding business in Boston, Massachusetts in 1882.[5] He specialized in building yachts and schooners, carpentry and caulking, marine railway, repairing and painting. His shipyard was at Jeffries Point at the foot of Everett Street, East Boston.[6]

On January 9, 1887, Martin was elected on the executive committee of the Hull Yacht Club at Parker House, in Hull, Massachusetts.[7] He became director and secretary of the Jeffries Yacht Club at the Maverick House, East Boston, in February 1888.[8] Martin was a judge at many of the Boston held regattas. On August 11, 1889, at the annual Jeffries Yacht Club Regatta, which was a race of nine miles out to Apple Island.[9]

Martin was the commodore on the Edward Burgess designed fisherman schooner Nellie Dixon and was at her launch on March 2, 1889, at East Boston.[10]

Pilot boats

Martin built several pilot boats. The Eben D. Jordan was a Boston pilot boat built in 1883 by Ambrose A. Martin in East Boston for Captain Thomas Cooper. Her namesake was Eben Dyer Jordan, the founder of the Jordan Marsh department stores. In 1892, she was sold to the New York Sandy Hook pilots.[11]

The Columbia was a pilot boat that was launched from the Ambrose A. Martin's East Boston shipyard in 1894. She was built for pilot service for Captain Thomas Cooper, E. G. Martin, John C. Fawcett and Joseph Fawcett, to replace the pilot-boat Friend, No. 7. They wanted a more up-to-date vessel to challenge the Hesper, Varuna, and other faster boats of the Boston fleet.[12] She was the first pilot boat to be built with a unique spoon bow and was extremely fast. In 1898, she was thrown ashore in the great Portland Gale, and remained on the Sand Hills beach in Scituate, Massachusetts for over thirty years as a marine curiosity.[13]: p163-164 

The Minerva was a Boston pilot boat built in 1896 by Ambrose A. Martin of East Boston. She was owned by Franklin B. Wellock who was a Boston pilot for more than 55 years. The pilot-boat was named for his daughter, Minerva Hill. She was sold to Plymouth parties in 1901 to be used as a fishing vessel.[14]

The Louise was built as a civilian schooner-rigged boat in 1900 by Ambrose A. Martin at Jefferies Point, East Boston. Martin was also one of the owners. She was a pilot boat, No. 2, from 1900-1917 and a United States Navy patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919. She was a replacement for the ill-fated Columbia. After the World War I the Louise returned to pilot service until 1924 when she was purchased as a yacht.[13]

List of boats

Moses Adams built the following boats:

  • Eben D. Jordan (1883) pilot boat
  • Navarch (1891) 65-foot steamer[15]
  • Unnamed 85-foot steam yacht (1893) for William Amory of the Hull Yacht Club[16]
  • Columbia (1894) pilot boat
  • Minerva (1896) pilot boat
  • Unnamed 250-ton wrecking lighter (1899) for Boston towboat company[17]
  • Louise (1900) pilot boat
  • Unnamed 81-foot steam yacht (1902) for George A. Gardner[18]
  • Unnamed boat (1906) for Boston police department[19]
  • Lotis (1915) steam yacht for State Police[20]

Death

Ambrose A. Martin died, at age 82, on January 1, 1934, in Boston, Massachusetts. Funeral service were from the Bennison Funeral Home at the Winthrop Street Center.[21]

Ambrose A. Martin built pilot boats:

See also

References
  1. "Marriages". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. March 16, 1876. p. 47. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  2. "United States Census, 1880". FamilySearch. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  3. Eastman, Ralph Mason (1956). Pilots and Pilot Boats of Boston Harbor Presenting Stories and Illustrations. p. 54. Retrieved May 26, 2021. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. "AMERICAN SAILING SERIES: RAVEN PLATE". catalogs.marinersmuseum.org/. Massachusetts. 1949. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  5. "Building Permits". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. June 18, 1882. p. 9. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  6. "Yachts and yachting; a magazine devoted to the upbuilding of the noble sport of yachting". Boston, Mass. Hollis Burgess yacht agency. 1911. p. 70. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  7. "Election by Hull Yachtsmen". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. January 9, 1887. p. 6. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  8. "Jeffries Yacht Club". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. February 21, 1888. p. 5. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  9. "Jeffries Yacht Club Annual Open Regatta Sailed in a Stiff Breeze". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. August 11, 1889. p. 5. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  10. "The Nellie Dixon. Launch of the New Burges Fisherman at East Boston". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. March 2, 1889. p. 5. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  11. "Pilot Schooner Alabama" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, DC. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  12. "Eastern Yachting News". The New York Times. New York, New York. May 20, 1894. p. 3. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  13. Cunliffe, Tom (2001). Pilots, The World Of Pilotage Under Sail and Oar. Brooklin, Maine: WoodenBoat. ISBN 9780937822692.
  14. "New Pilot Boat Minerva, No 7. Will be Launched Today and Go Into Commission About The First of March". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. February 4, 1896. p. 3. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  15. "Yachting Gossip". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. June 3, 1891. p. 9. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  16. "Amory's Steam Yacht Launched". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. February 8, 1893. p. 4. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  17. "Water Front Items". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. September 6, 1899. p. 2. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  18. "Along The Water Front". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. February 27, 1902. p. 9. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  19. "New Boat To Be Built For Police Service". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. February 24, 1906. p. 14. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  20. "Will Enforce The Motor Boat Laws". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. March 7, 1915. p. 6. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  21. "Martin". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. January 2, 1934. p. 43. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
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