Brown Smith Jones

Bugeye

Date: 1894

Builder: George T. Johnson

Location: Cambridge

Eastern Shore
Sailing Workboats

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Narrative History

Note: This report was prepared from the cited source materials. Send questions and corrections to editor@sailingworkboats.es.

The bugeye Brown Smith Jones was built at Cambridge, Maryland, in 1894 by George T. Johnson. Its name came from three Maryland state officials: Governor Frank Brown, Comptroller Marion DeKalb Smith, and Treasurer Spencer Jones. Contemporary notices and later summaries describe the vessel as a new bug-eye for the Maryland oyster navy, launched at Capt. Thomas Johnson's shipyard on August 1, 1894, and christened by Miss Kenerly.¹

The vessel entered service as an oyster police boat at a time when Maryland was actively enforcing oyster laws with a fleet of sailing patrol craft. Newspaper notices identify Brown Smith Jones as an oyster police schooner or state fishery-force vessel; the record also names several commanders and applicants for command, including Nathaniel D. Sollers, John Sedwick, O. F. Langrell, D. W. Wheatley, Goldsborough Johnson, Robert W. W. Parks, and Webster C. Wroton. These notices show the vessel not merely as an object of later nostalgia, but as a state working vessel with assigned waters, crew changes, political appointments, and public scrutiny.²

Selected incidents give a practical sense of that service. In 1895 Brown Smith Jones grounded in the Patuxent River off Mill Creek and was refloated by the revenue marine steamer Crawford. In 1900, during an inspection of the oyster navy, she was reported in fairly good condition and was towed to Cambridge by the state steamer George Thomas for repair and repainting. In 1912 she was identified as guarding Fishing Bay and Honga River, and in 1917 she was among Maryland oyster-navy craft taken into United States service, assigned to patrol Fishing Bay, Honga River, and tributary waters.³

The vessel's later history carried it from enforcement work into private and recreational use. A museum model record says that Brown Smith Jones was built for Maryland's Oyster Navy and later sold as a yacht in 1932 or 1933. Photographic and catalog records show the converted vessel under sail, docked, on a railway at Smith's Shipyard in Curtis Bay, tied up at Gibson Island in August 1940, at Oxford in 1947, and at Solomons in 1948. These images make clear that the vessel survived into the mid-twentieth century in altered service, still visually recognizable as a Chesapeake bugeye but adapted to a different life.⁴

The best-documented late episode is its celebrated challenge race against the bugeye Bee. A 1935 newspaper account and a later WoodenBoat Magazine article describe Brown Smith Jones under the ownership of J. Linton Rigg and Edward Janeway, brought back from Long Island to the Chesapeake for a 60-mile race. The accounts stress both her working pedigree and the extravagance of her temporary racing fit-out, including added spars and large borrowed light sails. The race record does not turn the vessel into a yacht from the start; rather, it shows how a former oyster police boat could be recast as a sporting and preservation-minded Chesapeake artifact while still carrying the aura of its earlier enforcement career.⁵

Later accounts continued to use Brown Smith Jones as a symbol of the old oyster navy. A 1949 article under Harry F. Ogden's ownership recalled the long name, its state-official origin, and stories of confrontations with oyster pirates. A 1958 account described the vessel as famous, noted wartime service as U.S.S. Dorchester, and reported that after returning to state service it was sold, converted to a pleasure craft, changed owners, and had recently sunk at Falmouth, Massachusetts, before being raised. Museum plans similarly record the vessel's 1894 build, later yacht conversion, tender Tom Dick Harry, 65-foot 6-inch hull length, and sinking at Woods Hole followed by raising in 1958.⁶

Read together, the surviving record makes Brown Smith Jones unusually well documented among Chesapeake workboats. It appears first as a purpose-built Maryland oyster-police bugeye, then as a named state vessel with commanders and patrol assignments, later as a private yacht and racing curiosity, and finally as a vessel preserved in photographs, plans, models, and retrospective accounts. Its history is especially valuable because it connects construction at Cambridge, state oyster enforcement, twentieth-century conversion, and later public memory in one vessel.

Timeline

Timeline content may be truncated, fragmentary, or incomplete, and may require further evaluation.

Date	People	Location	Event	Source
1892	State officials Brown, Smith, and Jones	Maryland	Names proposed for new oyster-navy schooners, following a custom of naming boats after state officials.	¹
Aug. 1-2, 1894	George T. Johnson / Capt. Thomas Johnson; Miss Kenerly	Cambridge, Md.	Brown Smith Jones launched and christened as a new bug-eye for the Maryland oyster navy.	¹
Feb. 1895	Revenue marine steamer Crawford	Patuxent River, off Mill Creek	Grounded and then refloated.	³
1896-1914	Several commanders and applicants	Maryland oyster navy / fishery-force service	Named in command appointments and contests for command, including service in the Patuxent, Fishing Bay, and Honga River districts.	²
July 1900	State steamer George Thomas	Patuxent River; Cambridge	Inspected, found in fairly good condition, and towed to Cambridge for repair and repainting.	³
1917	Webster C. Wroton	Fishing Bay and Honga River	Requisitioned for United States service and assigned to patrol local waters.	³
1932-1933	Not stated	Maryland	Sold out of oyster-navy service and converted to a yacht.	⁴
1935	J. Linton Rigg; Edward Janeway	Long Island / Chesapeake Bay	Brought back to the Chesapeake and raced against the bugeye Bee.	⁵
Aug.-Oct. 1940	Photographers and collectors	Gibson Island / Chesapeake Bay	Photographed tied up and under sail after conversion to yacht.	⁴
1947-1948	A. P. Ramsey	Oxford and Solomons, Md.	Photographed docked in later yacht use.	⁴
1957-1958	Later owners	Falmouth / Woods Hole, Mass.	Reported sunk and raised, with uncertain future.	⁶

Footnotes

Note: Some cited materials are held in ESSW working files and may not be available directly through this page. Contact editor@sailingworkboats.es for more information.

The Baltimore Sun, June 3, 1892; The Baltimore Sun, August 2, 1894; Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, ships plans for bugeye Brown Smith Jones, catalog record 1993.0001.0107.01. ↩
The Baltimore Sun, June 6, 1896; The Baltimore Sun, May 11, 1898; The Baltimore Sun, August 3, 1906; The Baltimore Sun, August 19, 1908; The Baltimore Sun, April 20, 1900; The Baltimore Sun, September 2, 1914. ↩
The Baltimore Sun, February 28, 1895; The Baltimore Sun, July 21, 1900; The Baltimore Sun, July 24, 1900; The Baltimore Sun, March 4, 1912; The Baltimore Sun, July 3, 1917. ↩
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, selected catalog records for model, plans, and photographs of Brown Smith Jones, including records 2009.0005.0001.00, 0000.1295.0090-.0095, 0000.1110.0010-.0011, and related later transparency records; Mariners' Museum, MS63-601-1 through MS63-601-3. ↩
The Baltimore Sun, October 27, 1935; WoodenBoat Magazine, September/October 2022, Issue 288, selected pages concerning the Brown Smith Jones and Bee race. ↩
The Evening Sun, March 7, 1949; The Baltimore Sun, May 11, 1958; Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, ships plans for bugeye Brown Smith Jones, catalog record 1993.0001.0107.01. ↩

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Curated Search Results

Type: Bugeye | Year: 1894 | Builder: George T. Johnson | Location: Cambridge

Catalog #	Object Name	Title	Artist/Maker	Date Made	Place Made	Description	CBMM Cat. Page
0000.0290.0003.00		BROWN, SMITH & JONES, FORMER OYSTER POLICE BOAT; F	Bodenstein, William G __Photographer	Range,Circ 01/01/1950 - 12/31/1950		BROWN, SMITH & JONES, FORMER OYSTER POLICE BOAT; From old Remarks field: FROM SLIDE Old Subject Fields: BROGAN OR BUGEYE, SAIL VESSELS	CBMM catalog page
2009.0005.0001.00	bugeyes (model)	Model of bugeye BROWN SMITH JONES	Harsh, Thomas L			Fully rigged model of BROWN SMITH JONES. Red and white hull, no sails, pushboat hanging from stern. Movable rudder. Stand is 2 wooden disks with metal rods that attach to the keel. Gold painted eagle figurehead. This vessel was built in 1894 for Maryland's "Oyster Navy" until soild as a yacht in 1932/3. The museum has lines for the vessel, and the model appears to be built to scale from those plans. The hull is a solid block, not built up.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1295.0090.00	photographic prints	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones under sail		Range, Cir 01/01/1941 -		Bugeye Brown Smith Jones under sail, after she was converted to a yacht. On bottom of the back of the print is the name "Clark" in pencil.See 1295.001 for source<CR>	CBMM catalog page
0000.1295.0091.00	photographic prints	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones on railway at Smith's Shi			__ __ __Anne Arundel County __Curtis Bay __Western Shore __MD	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones on railway at Smith's Shipyard, Curtis Bay; bow on view. No date given. See 1295.001 for source<CR>	CBMM catalog page
0000.1295.0092.00	photographic prints	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones on railway at Smith's Shi				Bugeye Brown Smith Jones on railway at Smith's Shipyard, Curtis Bay; view from port bow along the hull. No date given. See 1295.001 for source<CR>	CBMM catalog page
0000.1295.0093.00	photographic prints	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones on railway at Smith's Shi				Bugeye Brown Smith Jones on railway at Smith's Shipyard, Curtis Bay; view from port quarter showing three-bladed propeller. No date given. See 1295.001 for source<CR>	CBMM catalog page
0000.1295.0094.00	photographic prints	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones tied up at Gibson Island		Range, Exa 08/01/1940 - 08/31/1940		Bugeye Brown Smith Jones tied up at Gibson Island, MD See 1295.001 for source<CR>	CBMM catalog page
0000.1295.0095.00	photographic prints	Women in deck chairs aboard Brown Smith Jones		Range, Exa 08/01/1940 - 08/31/1940		Women in deck chairs aboard Bugeye Brown Smith Jones with man at helm; she is under way under power. She has been converted into a yacht and is crossing the bay from Love Point. See 1295.001 for source<CR>	CBMM catalog page
0000.1295.0347.00	photographic prints	Bow of bugeye Brown Smith Jones, showing trailboar				Bow of bugeye Brown Smith Jones, showing trailboard. No place. No date. For source, see 1295.0001	CBMM catalog page
0000.1322.0024.00	photographic prints	BROWN SMITH JONES sailing	Rosenfeld, Morris __Photographer			BROWN SMITH JONES sailing	CBMM catalog page
0000.0882.0012.00	photographs	BUGEYE BROWN SMITH JONES; From old Remarks field:				BUGEYE BROWN SMITH JONES; From old Remarks field: SHOWS HER CONVERTED AS A YACHT, UNDER POWER Old Subject Fields: BROGAN OR BUGEYE, SAIL VESSELS	CBMM catalog page
1993.0001.0107.01	ships plans	Ships plans for bugeye "BROWN SMITH JONES". A) Li	Brownlee, Edward G __Designer \|\|Johnson, George A. __Builder	Exact 01/01/1940 -	__ __Cambridge __ __ __ __MD	Ships plans for bugeye "BROWN SMITH JONES". Built in 1894 for the Maryland Oyster Navy/Oyster Fishery Police. It was subsequently converted to a yacht. The vessel had a tender named Tom Dick Harry. In 1958, the vessel sank at Woods Hole and was later raised. A) Lines & deck plan B) Profile, sail and rigging plan. Boat size: 65' 6". Condition: Poor. Material: Pencil on paper.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0010	Transparencies, color	Bugeye docked	A. P. Ramsey	1947	Oxford, MD	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked at Oxford; men aboard and on dock; wooded shoreline in background	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0011	Transparencies, color	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked	A. P. Ramsey	1948	Solomons, MD	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked; men aboard and on dock; wooded shoreline in background	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0012	Transparencies, color	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked	A. P. Ramsey	1948	Solomons, MD	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked; men aboard and on dock; wooded shoreline in background	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0027	Transparencies, color	Man aloft on bugeye	A. P. Ramsey			Man aloft on bugeye Brown Smith Jones; he appears to be hanging on to a halyard; boat is docked with two men on deck.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0028	Transparencies, color	Brown Smith Jones under sail	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones under sail; sails luffing in light air; seen from port side.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0029	Transparencies, color	Brown Smith Jones luffing	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones under sail, luffing; seen from port side; deck of a power cruiser in foreground	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0030	Transparencies, color	Brown Smith Jones luffing	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones under sail, luffing; seen from port side; bow and tops of sails cropped out.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0031	Transparencies, color	Brown Smith Jones luffing	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones under sail, luffing; seen from port side; bow and tops of sails cropped out.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0032	Transparencies, color	Brown Smith Jones under sail	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones under sail; seen from starboard side	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0033	Transparencies, color	Brown Smith Jones under sail	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones under sail; seen from starboard quarter; dinghy on davits astern; several persons on board.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0034	Transparencies, color	Man hanging aloft on bugeye	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked with man hanging aloft, probably from top of mizzen mast, which is cropped out	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0035	Transparencies, color	Brown Smith Jones under sail	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones under sail; seen from starboard quarter with main and mizzen pulling; beautiful clouds in sky	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0036	Transparencies, color	Man aloft, bugeye Brown Smith Jones	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Man at top of mast on bugeye Brown Smith Jones; he is sitting on a small plank and looking down; legs crossed.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0037	Transparencies, color	Man aloft, bugeye Brown Smith Jones	A. P. Ramsey	1949	Chesapeake Bay	Man aloft on bugeye Brown Smith Jones; he is just below top of mast; sitting on small plank; hands and feet on mast	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0041	Transparencies, color	Probably bugeye in canal lock	A. P. Ramsey	1950		Probably bugeye Brown Smith Jones in a lock; tied to bollards; ice floating on water; lock tender's shack in background	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0042	Transparencies, color	Probably bugeye in canal lock	A. P. Ramsey	1950		Probably bugeye Brown Smith Jones going through a canal lock; lock gates in background	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0043	Transparencies, color	Canal lock opening for sailing vessel	A. P. Ramsey	1950		Canal locks opening in background; two men on foredeck of sailing vessel, perhaps bugeye Brown Smith Jones, in foreground	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0044	Transparencies, color	Sailing vessel in canal lock	A. P. Ramsey	1950		Men standing on deck of sailing vessel, perhaps bugeye Brown Smith Jones, as she passes through lock	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0045	Transparencies, color	Sailing vessel in canal	A. P. Ramsey	1950		Sailing vessel, perhaps bugeye Brown Smith Jones, moving through canal; wooded shoreline; looking aft toward men in cockpit	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0046	Transparencies, color	Sailing vessel in canal lock	A. P. Ramsey	1950		Sailing vessel, perhaps bugeye Brown Smith Jones, moving through canal lock; men on deck.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0061	Transparencies, color	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones				Bugeye Brown Smith Jones from starboard side. She is in the water, but no sails are set; a few people on board; man up in the rigging.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0062	Transparencies, color	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones				Bugeye Brown Smith Jones from starboard side. She is in the water, but no sails are set; a few people on board; man up in the rigging.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0073	Transparencies, color	Bow wave of bugeye Brown Smith Jones				Looking down on bow wave of bugeye Brown Smith Jones; also shows part of bowsprit and bow and line	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0074	Transparencies, color	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones, stern				Stern view of bugeye Brown Smith Jones; it is docked; shows rudder, pointed stern, name of vessel, empty davits; furled sails	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0075	Transparencies, color	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked				Bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked near a gas pump; seen bow on; sails furled;	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0076	Transparencies, color	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones, bow				Bow of bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked; sails furled; cruiser docked in background.	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0080	Transparencies, color	Bugeye Brown Smith Jones, stern				Bugeye Brown Smith Jones docked; shows after part with main furled; gas station sign and tanks in background	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0108	Transparencies, color	Sunset, anchored yacht and bugeye				Sunset beyond wooded shoreline with yacht, probably Liberty, and bugeye Brown Smith Jones anchored and reflected in water	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0110	Transparencies, color	Stern of bugeye Brown Smith Jones				Stern of bugeye Brown Smith Jones, with stern of another boat in foreground; they both appear to be docked	CBMM catalog page
0000.1110.0111	Transparencies, color	Scrubbing bugeye Brown Smith Jones				Man scrubbing deck of bugeye Brown Smith Jones; docked, with yacht docked in background; shows bugeye cabin and after part of topside and deck.	CBMM catalog page

Mariners' Museum, Curated Search Results

Type: Bugeye | Year: 1894 | Builder: George T. Johnson | Location: Cambridge

Media	Date	Inscription/Marks	Subject	Notes	Archive Number
MS63-601-3 Bugeye Brown Smith Jones	10/1940	Envelope: "Bugeye Brown Smith Jones. Oct 1940"	Bugeyes (Boats)–United States.; Schooners–United States.	Shows a starboard side view of the stern of a schooner sailing. There is no caption for this negative.	MS0063/01-601#0601-C
MS63-601-1 Bugeye Brown Smith Jones	10/1940	Envelope: "Bugeye Brown Smith Jones. Oct 1940"	Bugeyes (Boats)–United States.; Schooners–United States.	Shows a starboard side view of the bow of a schooner sailing. There is no caption for this negative.	MS0063/01-601#0601-A
MS63-601-2 Bugeye Brown Smith Jones	10/1940	Envelope: "Bugeye Brown Smith Jones. Oct 1940"	Bugeyes (Boats)–United States.; Schooners–United States.	Shows a starboard side view of a schooner sailing. This shot is made from a boat and some of the sail is visible. There is no caption for this negative.	MS0063/01-601#0601-B

WoodenBoat Magazine, Curated Search Results

Type: Bugeye | Year: 1894 | Builder: George T. Johnson | Location: Cambridge

Date	Issue	Source Doc	Page	Exact Name?	Name+Type?	Text Excerpt
September/October 2022	288	WoodenBoat_288_September-October_2022.pdf	78	Y	Y	...oached Sharps Island Lighthouse over on the Eastern Shore, all hands began to douse and stow the light sails and all the attending gear. BEE had now closed the distance; it was becoming a dinghy-style race to the mark. BEE’s bowsprit was nearly overlap - ping BROWN SMITH JONES’s long main boom, but a luff by her helmsman kept her clear and she made the turn with all hands lined up on deck trimming sheets, saying “two six, two six” as they swayed them in. BROWN SMITH JONES tacked immediately to the favored starboard...
September/October 2022	288	WoodenBoat_288_September-October_2022.pdf	74	Y	Y	...of the best challenges often do. After a sumptuous dinner at the Gibson Island Clubhouse near Annapolis, Maryland, on a broad veranda overlooking Chesapeake Bay, J. Linton Rigg declared, “I’ve got the fastest bugeye on the bay.” The newest owner of the bugeye BROWN SMITH JONES had a point: she had been feared by nearly every oyster poacher on the bay 40 years earlier, when the Oyster Police used her to enforce catch limits. She had a rapid- /f_i re ri/f_l e on her foredeck, and she could outrun any poacher she enco...
September/October 2022	288	WoodenBoat_288_September-October_2022.pdf	77	Y	Y	...w spectator boats, with watchers bundled up and seeking the lee of the deckhouse, dropped their anchors. There was no countdown; when the race of/f_icer’s venerable railroad pocket watch showed the hour of 2 o’clock, a shotgun was /f_ired and the race was on. BROWN SMITH JONES was closer to the line at the gun and crossed quickly, with BEE a few lengths behind. Riggs’s crew hoisted their borrowed, light canvas bal - looner (a spinnaker set to weather) right away, and she spread a broader bow wave as her speed incre...
September/October 2022	288	WoodenBoat_288_September-October_2022.pdf	76	Y	Y	for Maryland’s governor, comptroller, and treasurer at the time she was constructed in 1894) and sailed her the 300 miles home from New York to the Chesapeake, where she took a mooring in Gibson Island’s protected harbor. BROWN SMITH JONES and her tender, TOM DICK HARRY , looked right at home after a spell on Long Island Sound. She was about 66 ' LOD but had a sparred length of nearly 100 ', counting her bowsprit and her long main boom extending over her “patent” stern—a platfo...
September/October 2022	288	WoodenBoat_288_September-October_2022.pdf	101	Y	Y	...ilgeboard Scows,” “Canadian Dinghies,” “The Story of the Fastnet Race,” “Ice Boating,” “Class R Sloops,” “New York Forties and Fifties,” and many more. It’s only a mildly surprising coinci - dence that this issue of WoodenBoat fea- tures the Chesapeake bugeye BROWN SMITH JONES and that Sailing Craft includes a piece entitled “The Bugeye of the Chesapeake.” As with many of the book’s articles, this one opens with a silhouette of the type so readers get an instant impression of what the boats looked like. The article...
September/October 2022	288	WoodenBoat_288_September-October_2022.pdf	76	Y		...ed in place to carry more sail. BEE enlisted some Eastern Shore log canoe sailors, and the canoe champion Caulk Kemp contributed a square sail from his FLYING CLOUD. A 1,900-sq-ft spinnaker was found and made ready to hoist from the foremast on downwind legs. BROWN SMITH JONES went one better. Riggs’s Long Island Sound crew found a 2,800-sq-ft spinnaker raided from the locker of AMERICA’s Cup sloop RESOLUTE, to be carried from her own lashed-on fore topmast. She added a 6' extension to her bowsprit to help /f_ly th...

Newspapers, Curated Search Results

Type: Bugeye | Year: 1894 | Builder: George T. Johnson | Location: Cambridge

State	Newspaper	Date	Location	Full-page PDF	Article Summary
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 32	Sunday, October 27, 1935	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The ancient bugeye Brown-Smith-Jones, a former Maryland Conservation Commission "police boat" once feared by oyster pirates, is currently competing in a 60-mile race against the Bee to determine which vessel is faster. Co-owned by J. Linton Rigg and Edward Janeway, it initially led the race after being sailed 300 miles from Long Island back to the Chesapeake for the contest.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 210	Sunday, May 11, 1958	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The famous bugeye Brown, Smith and Jones was built in 1894 for Maryland's State Conservation Service, serving briefly as the U.S.S. Dorchester during World War I. After returning to state service, it was later sold and converted into a pleasure craft, changing owners multiple times. The vessel was last reported to have sunk in Falmouth, Mass., late last year, but was raised, though its future remains uncertain.
Maryland	The Evening Sun • Page 23	Monday, March 7, 1949	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	Harry F. Ogden owns the bugeye "Brown, Smith, Jones," an unusual and lengthy name for a craft built 60 years ago for the State Conservation Department's patrol fleet. The vessel was named to honor Governor Frank Brown, Comptroller Marion Diels Smith, and Treasurer Spencer Jones, and is known for its proud history, including sinking two oyster pirate boats off Bloody Point.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 8	Thursday, February 28, 1895	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The State oyster police steamer Brown Smith Jones ran aground in the Patuxent River off Mill Creek last Friday. The revenue marine steamer Crawford located the vessel and successfully refloated it.
Maryland	The Star-Democrat • Page 31	Sunday, August 11, 2002	Easton, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 8	Saturday, July 21, 1900	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The vessel Brown Smith Jones, from the Patuxent river, was found to be in "fairly good" condition during an inspection of the Maryland Oyster Navy. Following the inspection, it was towed to Cambridge by the steamer George Thomas.
Maryland	The Daily Banner • Page 1	Wednesday, September 2, 1914	Cambridge, Maryland	Open PDF	The newspaper reports that the commandership of the Fishing Bay police schooner, Brown, Smith and Jones, has finally been settled. Captain Goldsborough Johnson will serve as captain, and Captain Robert W. W. Parks will be mate. The article notes that the contest for these positions on the vessel was one of the most intense ever seen in the county.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 215	Sunday, March 31, 1963	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 6	Thursday, August 2, 1894	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The new oyster police boat, Brown, Smith and Jones, was launched on August 1, 1894, at Capt. Thomas Johnson's ship-yard in Cambridge, MD. This new bug-eye for the Maryland oyster navy was christened by Miss Kenerly.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 2	Saturday, June 6, 1896	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The oyster police schooner Brown, Smith-Jones, captained by Nathaniel D. Sollers, has a new mate, B. Parran Duke.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 11	Monday, November 4, 1935	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 26	Sunday, August 15, 1948	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The Brown Smith Jones, identified as a former Maryland oyster police bugeye, was part of a large spectator fleet. This fleet followed race contestants on the Tred Avon and Choptank rivers.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 23	Wednesday, June 28, 1950	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 10	Wednesday, August 19, 1908	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The command of the vessel Brown Smith Jones is a contested position within the State fishery force. D. W. Wheatley is the incumbent commander, with A. L. Johnson, F. O. Langrell, and Robert R. Tyler also listed as applicants for the appointment.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 7	Wednesday, May 11, 1898	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The vessel Brown Smith Jones was mentioned in the appointments for the Maryland Oyster Navy. John Sedwick of Calvert county was selected to command it.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 10	Thursday, August 30, 1906	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 8	Friday, June 29, 1900	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Daily Times • Page 4	Friday, December 26, 1975	Salisbury, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	Der Deutsche Correspondent • Page 4	Sunday, July 22, 1900	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	Cumberland Evening Times • Page 10	Wednesday, September 2, 1959	Cumberland, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Prince George's Enquirer and Southern Maryland Advertiser • Page 2	Friday, August 3, 1894	Upper Marlboro, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Daily Banner • Page 2	Friday, August 14, 1914	Cambridge, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Daily Banner • Page 3	Wednesday, August 12, 1914	Cambridge, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Cecil Whig • Page 4	Saturday, February 2, 1907	Elkton, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 261	Sunday, December 3, 1972	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 123	Sunday, June 18, 1972	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 193	Sunday, June 22, 1958	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 1	Thursday, August 2, 1894	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The new oyster police boat, Brown, Smith and Jones, a bug-eye for the Maryland oyster navy, was launched and christened on August 1, 1894, at Capt. Thomas Johnson's ship-yard in Cambridge, MD. The vessel had been under construction for several months.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 7	Friday, February 14, 1896	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 5	Tuesday, August 6, 1929	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The vessel Brown, Smith & Jones is a patrol boat under the jurisdiction of the State Conservation Department. It is scheduled to be inspected, remeasured, and revalued by Commissioner Swepson Earle as part of his review of the Maryland oyster navy. Deputy Commander J. O. Rodgers is associated with the vessel in Herring Bay.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 3	Thursday, October 12, 1916	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The vessel Brown Smith and Jones was commanded by Captain Samuel A. Tyler during his tenure as a deputy commander of the Oyster Navy.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 3	Tuesday, July 3, 1917	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The vessel Brown, Smith and Jones, with its skipper Webster C. Wroton, was one of the Maryland Oyster Navy craft requisitioned by the Federal Government. It went into United States service and was assigned to patrol Fishing Bay, Honiga river, and its tributaries.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 12	Monday, August 7, 1916	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 6	Friday, June 3, 1892	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	Brown, Smith, and Jones are potential names for three new schooners commissioned for the oyster navy, following a custom of naming boats after State officials. However, the final naming decision for these vessels will be made by Commander Seth.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 11	Tuesday, June 7, 1910	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 7	Wednesday, June 5, 1907	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 6	Monday, March 4, 1912	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The Brown, Smith and Jones is identified as a police boat. It is responsible for guarding the waters of Fishing Bay and Honga river.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 12	Friday, August 3, 1906	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The State Board of Public Works appointed Captain O. F. Langrell as the new commander for the vessel Brown, Smith and Jones, replacing Captain Bruce C. Dean of Dorchester county. This appointment is part of the State Fishery Force changes. Captain Langrell is expected to take command of the vessel on September 1, 1906.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 1	Friday, January 22, 1892	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Evening Sun • Page 3	Monday, March 7, 1932	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The State Conservation Commission's patrol boat, the bugeye Brown, Smith & Jones, was reported high and dry on a beach below the mouth of the Choptank river. Other vessels from the conservation fleet were dispatched to assist it, and its crew was reported to be uninjured.
Maryland	The Evening Sun • Page 21	Thursday, July 26, 1923	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 8	Tuesday, July 24, 1900	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The police vessel Brown, Smith and Jones, part of the Maryland Oyster Navy, was brought to Cambridge by the State steamer Gov. P. F. Thomas. It is slated to undergo repairs, repainting, and be put into first-class condition at the Cambridge Manufacturing Company's railway.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 8	Friday, July 13, 1900	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The State fishery force police schooner Brown, Smith and Jones collided with the anchored May Brown while entering Annapolis harbor, carrying away the May Brown's main top-sail.
Maryland	The Baltimore Sun • Page 8	Friday, April 20, 1900	Baltimore, Maryland	Open PDF	The newspaper reports that the "Brown, Smith and Jones" is an oyster police schooner operating on the Patuxent. Edwin I. Plowder is an applicant for commander of the vessel.
Maryland	Saint Mary's Beacon • Page 4	Thursday, August 9, 1894	Leonard Town, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	Der Deutsche Correspondent • Page 4	Thursday, May 12, 1898	Baltimore, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	The News • Page 3	Thursday, August 2, 1894	Frederick, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	Denton Journal • Page 3	Saturday, July 28, 1900	Denton, Maryland		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Maryland	Cumberland Evening Times • Page 1	Thursday, March 10, 1932	Cumberland, Maryland	Open PDF	The Bugeye Brown, Smith and Jones sustained damage during the recent storm when its anchor line parted. This caused the vessel to go ashore in Great Cove in the Big Anneniessex river.
Virginia	The Virginian-Pilot • Page 13	Tuesday, October 12, 1948	Norfolk, Virginia		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Virginia	Richmond Times-Dispatch • Page 13	Monday, November 4, 1935	Richmond, Virginia		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Virginia	Covington Virginian • Page 6	Wednesday, September 2, 1959	Covington, Virginia		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Virginia	Daily Press • Page 4	Saturday, December 18, 1926	Newport News, Virginia		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Virginia	The Progress-Index • Page 4	Wednesday, September 9, 1959	Petersburg, Virginia		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Virginia	The Virginian-Pilot • Page 6	Tuesday, January 9, 1912	Norfolk, Virginia		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.
Virginia	The News Leader • Page 6	Saturday, October 6, 1945	Staunton, Virginia		No downloaded full-page PDF for this row.

Created 2026 by Don Barker, CBMM volunteer, for the Chesapeake Shipbuilding Project. shipbuilding@sailingworkboats.es