Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Adz, Caulk, and Rivets: A History of Ship Building along Ohio's Northern Shore, 1963, 2017, p. 38

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The best-known shipbuilders at Madison Dock were the Bailey brothers - Alanson C., Daniel E., and John Emery - sons of Carlow Bailey. Carlow arrived at Madison in 1819 from Burk, Vermont, and was a carpenter. The Baileys did not begin to build vessels until 1855, with the launching of the two-masted schooner Caroline E. Bailey. Alanson and Daniel, along with J. F. Blair, are shown as owners. She was a small schooner (122 tons, eighty-seven and a half feet long) of the canal type, i.e., having no figurehead and a square stern. This was to make transit through the locks of the Welland Canal easier and still permit the ship to carry as much cargo as possible. One interesting entry in the Baileys' account books is an expense of eighty-eight cents for beer for the men at her launching.19 There is a lapse of some six years before the Baileys built another vessel at Madison Dock. This can be explained in part by their building the schooner Tarry Not at Charlotte, New York, in 1857. The original enrollment of the schooner Caroline E. Bailey was surrendered at Rochester, New York, on June 2, 1857, by reason of change in ownership and district, which would also indicate the whereabouts of the Baileys during this time.20 It is further substantiated by the vessels built on contract to a Rochester party by the Baileys upon their return to Madison Dock in 1861. The Tarry Not had been built for Hosea Rogers, a well-known shipbuilder and vessel owner on Lake Ontario. In the fall of 1861, a break in the Genesee Valley Canal prevented oak timber from reaching Roger's shipyard at Rochester, New York. With the prospect of rising grain prices brought on by the Civil War, he contracted with the Baileys for the building of two schooners. The first of these was the Alida Jane Rogers, named after Rogers's adopted daughter. However, the ship was sold the following year to Sandusky parties. The second vessel was the George G. Cooper, named after the editor of the Rochester Union and Advertiser. The Baileys testified that the timber, although it had been part of a forest only three months before, was the best that could be obtained. The Cooper cost $20,000.21 The rigging, sails, cables, anchors and colors were furnished by Provost and Newkirk, of Buffalo; A. E. Park of Geneva, Ohio, did the painting, lettering, and graining. The Cooper was launched on October 6, 1862, and shortly after launching ceremonies ended, she sailed for Chicago to enter the grain trade. The Baileys later built the schooners A. P. Nichols, Aetna, William Young, Red, White & Blue, and Wake Up, before removing to Fairport. The Red, White & Blue was built for $16,022.22 The William Young was built under contract to Vandercook of Cleveland, but was sold while still on the stocks to J. B. Spink of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.23 25

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