Shelburne Shipyard Steamboat Graveyard: Archaeological
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SHELBURNE SHIPYARD STEAMBOAT GRAVEYARD: ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF FOUR STEAMBOAT WRECKS A Thesis by CAROLYN KENNEDY Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Chair of Committee, Kevin J. Crisman Committee Members, Cemal Pulak Anthony Stranges Head of Department, Cynthia Werner August 2015 Major Subject: Anthropology Copyright 2015 Carolyn Kennedy ABSTRACT Steamboats became commercially viable in the early nineteenth century, and by the 1830s were arguably the most popular form of long-distance travel around North America, especially on inland waterways like Lake Champlain. Due to this popularity, demand for faster, larger boats drove shipwrights to experiment with new designs that differed greatly from traditional ship construction. Unfortunately, steamboat plans from this period are mostly missing or incomplete, and therefore our knowledge of their changing shapes and features must be derived from archaeological data. A survey of Lake Champlain’s Shelburne Shipyard revealed the remains of four nineteenth-century steamboats. The four hulls, labeled Wrecks 1 through 4, were recorded for comparative study during a field school that took place in the month of June, 2014. Researchers from Texas A&M University and the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum spent three weeks recording the remains in order to identify the individual boats, develop preliminary site plans for each wreck, and compare the differing construction patterns. Though Wreck 1 (A.Williams) proved to be from 1870, the other three were nearly contemporaneous, all built in the 1830s. Despite their close launch dates, Wrecks 2, 3 and 4 (Winooski [1832], Burlington [1837] and Whitehall [1838]) displayed very different construction methods. This study examines the archaeological findings of the Shelburne Shipyard steamboats along with historical background information in order to illustrate how shipwrights were straying from traditional, heavy-timbered ship designs to make lighter and longer hulls in an effort to make faster vessels. ii DEDICATION For my grandfather, Stanley Roussel, who inspired in me the love of boats and Lake Champlain. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was made possible by the guidance, support and encouragement of several individuals and organizations. First and foremost I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Kevin Crisman, for introducing me to this historically and archaeologically rich site. It has been my great honor and pleasure to work alongside Dr. Crisman throughout this project. His love for Lake Champlain’s shipwrecks is inspiring, and I could not have asked for a better mentor. I am indebted to my committee members, Dr. Cemal Pulak and Dr. Anthony Stranges for their helpful insight and general guidance throughout the writing process. I sincerely thank both of them for reviewing in a tight time frame, and being flexible with digital edits while I continue to work in the field. Many thanks are owed to the institutions that made this project possible, including the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation, and the Department of Anthropology. I appreciate these organizations’ decision to fund my project, and for their ongoing support for future field work. I would also like to thank the State of Vermont’s Division for Historic Preservation for granting permission for this archaeological investigation. I am deeply grateful to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum staff for their assistance and support throughout every phase of this project. Archaeological director Christopher Sabick worked with us through all of the phases of the project, devoting much of his time and energy to the planning, field school and writing stages. His iv guidance and participation made him an invaluable asset to this work. Our divemasters, Ron Adams and Robert Wilczynski, ensured the safety of all our divers, and to them we owe many thanks. I would like to sincerely thank Paul Gates, conservation technician for the museum, who was our site photographer and also hauled our dive tanks back and forth every morning and evening to the dive shop for refills. I also thank the Waterfront Diving Center in Burlington, Vermont, for their help with refilling tanks and providing the project and divers with gear. Thanks also go to my friends and colleagues from Texas A&M University who participated in the 2014 field school: Mara Deckinga, Nathan Gallagher, Rebecca Ingram, Stephanie Koenig, Varvara Marmarinou, Carrie Sowden and Grace Tsai; and our volunteer, Dan Bishop. This team surpassed all expectations in data collection, especially considering the short timeframe within which we were on site. The stellar group dynamic and work ethic of these individuals is unmatched, and I truly hope to work with them all again on future projects. This project was made possible by the agreement of the property owners living adjacent to the site. Marge Aske, Mark Brooks and Connie Porteous generously allowed our divers to stage directly off their shorefront properties, and use their docks for surveillance. Their enthusiasm for the work being done for this project is highly appreciated, and many thanks are owed to their ongoing support. Thanks to Mary Griswold, owner of the Shelburne Shipyard, for allowing our team to use the marina’s facilities. Finally, thanks to Mary Fitzpatrick for renting us her house in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, for the duration of the project, a wonderful place to come home to every day. v I am forever indebted to Arthur Cohn who has guided and mentored me even prior to my acceptance into Texas A&M University on all aspects of nautical archaeology. Art has ingrained in me the importance of shipwrecks as resources of our shared cultural heritage, and also the need to study and share our results with everyone. I would like to thank Art here specifically for his role in the 2014 project, in which he gave three lectures to the field school students on different aspects of diving and ethical issues relevant to nautical archaeology based on his personal experiences (which are extensive). Finally, thanks to my family for their constant support throughout my academic career. Their encouragement and enthusiasm over this project has been infinite, and I will be forever grateful to them for enabling me to pursue all of my academic goals. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................... 5 History of Steamboat Companies on Lake Champlain .............................................. 5 Mistaken Identities ..................................................................................................... 8 Franklin................................................................................................................. 14 Burlington and Whitehall ..................................................................................... 16 Francis Saltus........................................................................................................ 20 Confirmed Identities ................................................................................................. 21 Winooski............................................................................................................... 25 A. Williams........................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER III ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY ............................................ 28 CHAPTER IV ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESULTS: WRECK 1 ....................................... 35 Construction and Materials....................................................................................... 36 Keel........................................................................................................................... 39 Stem Assembly ......................................................................................................... 40 Stern and Rudder ...................................................................................................... 42 Frames ...................................................................................................................... 46 Keelson ..................................................................................................................... 48 Engine Bed Timbers ................................................................................................. 49 Miscellaneous: Cleat ................................................................................................ 52 CHAPTER V ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESULTS: