Bessie Ford
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Uncurated Search Results
Type: Bugeye
Year: 1884
Builder: E. S. Wiley
Location:
These records are found in the collection of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland. Uncurated search results are presented to give researchers and interested readers an idea of whether CBMM’s archives contain information about this vessel and whether it may be worthwhile to contact CBMM for further investigation. Uncurated results may be inaccurate or incomplete.
For more information about these items, contact the CBMM curator at collections@cbmm.org, or use the selection buttons below to submit a research request.
Search mode: Exact Name. Search phrase(s): "Bessie Ford". Results returned: 3. Results displayed in this table: 3.
Use these buttons to send uncurated search results to your own app or text document for further research. First, check the box for any row, or click "Select All" then uncheck any rows. Then click "Show Selections". You can then copy your selections from the text box and past them into your app.
| Fetch? | Row ID | Catalog # | Object Name | Title | Artist/Maker | Date Made | Place Made | Description | Full Image | CBMM Cat. Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8888.0018.0000.00 | documents | Ernest Tucker (1913 - 1981) Papers (1936 - 1979) | Range, Exa 01/01/1936 - 12/31/1979 | Ernest Tucker (1913 - 1981) Papers (1936 - 1979)The collection is comprised of correspondence, newspaper articles, brochures, etc., concerning Ernest Tucker's career as a boat designer and sailor. Also included are photographs of Tucker-designed boats, power and sailing boatsand Chesapeake Bay boatbuilders. The papers were donated to the Museum by his widow, Jane Foster Tucker.Biographical BackgroundErnest Tucker was born on the family estate, Hilton, in Walbrook, a northwestern section of Baltimore. He contracted polio before the age of 2 and was required to wear braces on both legs.Tucker developed a strong interest in boatbuilding and design from an early age. He built his first boat, a 12'5" sailing skiff when only twelve. He attended Johns Hopkins University, School of Mechanical Engineering, 1933-1938.In 1942:, he was employed by the Owens Yacht Co., Dundalk, as project engineer for 36' LCVP's for the Navy. After the war he designed the Owens 40' auxiliary cutter. In 1946 Tucker started at the Annapolis Yacht Yard as draughtsman (which later was sold to John Trumphy and Sons) and worked on many famous boats such as Makarra and Lenore, a famous Presidential yacht.Tucker purchased his beloved double-ended Nassau-built sloop, Half Pint, in 1945, which he used to sail the Bay until the time of his death. In 1958 he became self-employed. His designs included the Dickerson 35, 36, 40 and 41 for the William Dickerson Yard of Fishing Creek (laterTrappe). Always found on the drawings was his trademark, a flying duck. Tucker also made drawings for John Bailey of Tunis Mills, Marine Contractor.After the death of his mother, Ernest Tucker lived on a houseboat in Galesville, Md., was married in 1960, and in 1962 moved to Oxford. The designer was a good friend of C. Lowndes Johnson, noted Talbot County Comet class designer, and his wife Clara. He was a founding member of the Classic Yacht Club of America, member of the Sailing Club of the Chesapeake, and Tred Avon Yacht Club. Ernest Tucker died in August 1981.Scope and ContentThe material is divided into two parts. The first consists of biographical information and information on boats designed by Ernest Tucker. Included in the latter is the well-known series of Dickerson ketches built by DickersonBoatbuilders of Trappe, Maryland. Other designs include deadrise workboats built by Chesapeake Marine Industries of Trappe, and the famous Owens cutters.Ernest Tucker was also a recorder of many varities of sailing and power crafton the Chesapeake through the medium of the camera. Many of these boats no longer exist. Also of value are photographs of many well-known Bay boatbuilders, particularly from Dorchester County. An index of boats is available. The photographs have been divided up into broad subject categories.SubjectsBoatdesigning Boatbuilding Subject: Mrs Ernest Tucker | No image URL. | View | |||
| 2 | 8888.0063.0000.00 | documents | Charles J. Hopkins - Kinkora Collection<CR><CR>Backgro | Charles J. Hopkins - Kinkora Collection<CR><CR>Background<CR>This collection consists mainly of an account journal and documents related to the ram schooner Kinkora of which Charles Hopkins was captain, and the bugeyes Blue Wing and Sarah W. Wingate which he owned.Charles J. Hopkins, according to the 1900 census, was born in March 1878 in the Mt. Vernon District of Somerset County, MD, the son of John S. and Julia A. Hopkins. According to the 1930 census he still lived in the Mount Vernon District and had a wife, Nellie, and two sons, Fred E. (actually Edwin Ford), age 16, and Douglas C[harles], age 8. (See folder 7 for a letter from Ford to his father; and folder 9 for a letter from Nellie in which she mentions Douglas.) Charles Hopkins died on 19 August 1957 at age 79 leaving a small estate which included a 26-foot workboat and 16 acres of oyster grounds in the Wicomico River..Kinkora, Official No. 126732, was built by J. M. C. Moore in 1891 at Sharptown, MD. Her original gross and net tonnages were 215.50 and 204.73 respectively; her dimensions in feet were 125.2 length, 23.8 breadth, and 8.9 depth. In 1891 she was christened Charles T. Strann; her owner was John H. Marshal and her homeport was Seaford, DE. In 1911 the vessel's name was changed to Charles L. Rohde and her tonnages had changed to 215 gross and 186 net. Her homeport had changed to Washington, DC. By 1925 the vessel's owner was Johnson & Winsatt, 13th and Water Streets, SW, Washington, DC, and her homeport remained Washington. In 1928 her name was changed to Kinkora. By 1930 her dimensions had changed slightly to 229 net and gross tonnage, and 126.0 length, 24.1 breadth, and 8.4 depth. Her owner remained the same and, from the account journal it appears that Charles Hopkins was her captain.By 1935 Johnson & Winsatt still owned the vessel, as well as schooners Josephine Winsatt (92864) and Mabel and Ruth (92691). Hopkins still commanded Kinkora, and did so until 1937. In 1943 the vessel was sold to a buyer in the Dominican Republic and renamed Cuidad Trujillo.Bugeye Sarah W. Wingate, official No. 116787, was built by Joseph Brooks in Madison, MD, in 1897. Her gross and net tonnages were 34; her dimensions in feet were 70.8 length, 19.4 breadth, and 5.2 depth. Her homeport throughout her lifetime was Baltimore. Her early owners are not known, but in 1914 she was purchased from James R. Downy of Rock Hall by Edwin H. Ford, 1/2, Charles J. Hopkins, 1/3, and Oscar L. Ford, 1/6 (see Folder 1). By 1925 she was solely owned by Charles J. Hopkins of Princess Anne, MD. Hopkins continued to own her until 11 April 1935, according to his journal, when she was sold to Harry Dill of Centreville, MD. By 1937 she had been converted to a 36-horsepower gas screw vessel and was owned by Purnell Elbourn, Rock Hall, MD. In 1938 her name had been changed to P. Jay Elbourn. Purnell Elbourn continued to own the vessel until 1952 when Thomas B. Elbourn of Rock Hall became the owner. He remained the owner until 1956 when she was abandoned.Bugeye Blue Wing, official No. 3596, was built in Solomons, MD, in 1893 by M. M. Davis. She was of 19 net and gross tonnage. In feet she was of 62.0 length, 18.0 breadth, and 4.6 depth. In 1894 her homeport was Baltimore, but by 1905 it was Crisfield, MD. By 1910 it was again Baltimore. From 1925 through 1935 she was owned by T. Preston Webster of Tappahannock, VA, but still homeported in Baltimore. In 1936 she was owned by the Salisbury Yacht Building Company and her homeport was Crisfield. From1937 until 1944 she was owned by Charles Hopkins of Princess Anne, MD, and her homeport remained Crisfield. In 1944 and 1945 she was owned by L. L. Gibbs of Columbia, NC, and her homeport was Washington, NC. In 1946 she had been sold to Nellie J. Harrington of Baltimore which was also her homeport. In 1948 her owner was Kenneth J. Harrington, Washington, DC, which was her homeport as well. It is reported that by 1954 she had been abandoned in Canoe Neck Creek, off the Potomac River, inMaryland.References and SourceThe basic reference for all three vessels is Merchant Vessels of the United States. For Kinkora, also see Quentin Snediker & Ann Jensen, Chesapeake Bay Schooners (Centreville, Md: Tidewater Pub., 1992). For photos of Kinkora and Captain Hopkins see CBMM photo collection PF 567.016/017 (Kinkora in Elk River) and PF 756.027/037 (Hopkins and family members aboard Kinkora). Hopkins death date is from the probate of his will and estate on file in the Somerset County courthouse, and from the Salisbury Times of 20 August 1957. His ownership of workboat and oyster grounds was listed in the inventory of the estate. Subject: Charles A Hopkins | No image URL. | View | ||||
| 3 | 8888.0098.0000.00 | papers | Burgess manuscript collection | This collection is housed in 24 boxes, starting on CSC 15A2 and continuing on to 15A3, 15A4, 16A1, and 16A2<CR><CR>The collection is broad in scope and content. It includes about 100 trailboards and name boards, and many other artifacts obtained from Chesapeake Bay vessels of all kinds; years of correspondence (covered in this finding aid), much of it acquiring background for and arranging the publication of his books, particularly those about the schooners Albert F. Paul and Purnell T. White; many of his photographs; and numerous clippings containing articles by and about Burgess.Among the highlights of the collection are a number of documents from the late 19th century such as invoices, receipts, and note from George P. Bailey, of Kinsale, VA, a dealer in wood, ties, etc., and the canner of the "Pride of Westmoreland" brand tomatoes and commission merchants Courtney & Kennan (see Box 17). Also, the lengthy correspondence (1946-1969) with the Baltimore Sunday Sun about articles Burgess submitted for publication, including the ""I Remember When" series (Boxes 19 & 20) | No image URL. | View |
Created 2026 by Don Barker, CBMM volunteer, for the Chesapeake Shipbuilding Project. shipbuilding@sailingworkboats.es