Effie M. Morrissey
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''Effie M. Morrissey'' (now ''Ernestina-Morrissey'') is a
schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
skippered by Robert Bartlett that made many scientific expeditions to the
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
, sponsored by American museums, the
Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...
and the
National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...
. She also helped survey the Arctic for the United States Government during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. She is currently designated by the
United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
as a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
as part of the
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (NBWNHP) is a United States National Historical Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and is maintained by the National Park Service (NPS). The park commemorates the heritage of the world's preeminent ...
. She is the State Ship of
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
.


History

Designed by George McClain of
Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...
to withstand
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...
gales, ''Effie M. Morrissey'' was the last fishing schooner built for the Wonson Fish Company. Built with
white oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...
and
yellow pine In ecology and forestry, yellow pine refers to a number of conifer species that tend to grow in similar plant communities and yield similar strong wood. In the Western United States, yellow pine refers to Jeffrey pine or ponderosa pine. In the S ...
at the John F. James & Washington Tarr shipyard, she took four months to build and was launched 1 February 1894. Her hull was painted black and her first skipper was William Edward Morrissey, who named her after his daughter Effie Maude Morrissey.


Grand Banks Fishing Schooner

''Effie M. Morrissey'' fished out of Gloucester for eleven years. Considered a high liner, on her first voyage she brought in over of fish, enough to pay for her construction. One of ''Effie M. Morrissey''s more notable skippers was Clayton Morrissey who went on to skipper the racing schooner
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
. A statue to Clayton Morrissey by sculptor Leonard Craske entitled the
Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial (also known as: "Man at the Wheel" statue or "Fishermen's Memorial Cenotaph") is a historic memorial cenotaph sculpture on South Stacy Boulevard, near entrance of Stacy Esplanade in Gloucester, Massachusetts, built ...
can be seen on Gloucester's Western Avenue. In 1905 under a new owner, Captain Ansel Snow, ''Effie M. Morrissey'' began fishing out of Digby,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
. In 1912, the Montreal journalist and photographer Frederick William Wallace sailed on the vessel as a member of Snow's crew. His epic poem about his time aboard ''Effie M. Morrissey'', "The Log of the Record Run," was widely read and adopted by east coast fishermen with such authentic results that the folklorist
Helen Creighton Mary Helen Creighton, CM (September 5, 1899 – December 12, 1989) was a prominent Canadian folklorist. She collected over 4,000 traditional songs, stories, and beliefs in a career that spanned several decades, and she published many books and ar ...
mistakenly believed it to be a very old traditional song. Then in 1914, ownership moved to
Brigus Brigus is a small fishing community located in Conception Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Brigus was home to Captain Bob Bartlett and the location of his residence Hawthorne Cottage.Canada travel guide. Lonely Planet 14th Edition (2020) ...
,
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
where Harold Bartlett used her as a fishing and coasting vessel along the
Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
shoreline.


Early 20th century: exploration

In 1925 Harold Bartlett sold her to his cousin, noted Arctic explorer Capt. Bob Bartlett, who installed an auxiliary engine and reinforced the hull so the vessel could be used in Arctic ice. In 1926 with the financial support of the well known publisher
George Palmer Putnam George Palmer Putnam (February 7, 1814 – December 20, 1872) was an American publisher and author. He founded the firm G. P. Putnam's Sons and ''Putnam's Magazine''. He was an advocate of international copyright reform, secretary for many years ...
, Bartlett embarked on two decades of Arctic exploration using this vessel. Notable voyages captained by Robert Bartlett aboard ''Effie M. Morrissey'' include: # 1926 Greenland Expedition to Northwest Greenland for the
American Museum of National History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
with
George Palmer Putnam George Palmer Putnam (February 7, 1814 – December 20, 1872) was an American publisher and author. He founded the firm G. P. Putnam's Sons and ''Putnam's Magazine''. He was an advocate of international copyright reform, secretary for many years ...
and
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
Professor William H. Hobbs. # 1927 Voyage to Western Baffin Land for the
American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the ...
,
Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Smi ...
and the
Heye Foundation George Gustav Heye (1874 – January 20, 1957) was an American collector of Native American artifacts in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in North America. He founded the Museum of the American Indian, and his collection became the core of ...
with George Palmer Putman and Robert E. Peary Jr. (son of
Robert E. Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in Apri ...
). # 1928 Stoll McCracken Siberian Arctic Expedition to the
Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...
, Bering Strait, and Arctic for the American Museum of Natural History with Charles H. Stoll and
Harold McCracken Harold McCracken (1894–1983) was an American writer, Alaskan grizzly bear hunter, biplane stunt photographer, cinematographer, producer and museum director. He was a noted explorer, who led expeditions in the 1920s tracing the possibility of a l ...
. # 1929 Labrador Motion Picture Expedition along the
Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...
Coast with Maurice Kellerman. #1930 North East Greenland Expedition for the Museum of the American Indian. #1931 Norcross-Bartlett Expedition to Northeast Greenland for the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, Heye Foundation, American Museum of Natural History, and the
New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...
to gather flowering plants for Botanical Gardens; specimens of wild fowl for the Museum of Natural History and
narwhal The narwhal, also known as a narwhale (''Monodon monoceros''), is a medium-sized toothed whale that possesses a large "tusk" from a protruding canine tooth. It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada and Russia. It is o ...
and
seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
for the Ocean Hall of Life. In addition to this they carried out
oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...
, hydrographic and
meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...
work for the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
, Smithsonian Institution, and others. #1932 Peary Memorial Expedition as a monument to Robert E. Peary, co-chartered by Peary's daughter Mrs. Marie Peary Stafford and
Arthur D. Norcross Arthur Dickinson Norcross (1848–1916) was an American musician and politician who served in both branches of the Massachusetts Legislature. He was a first cousin of poet Emily Dickinson. See also * 130th Massachusetts General Court (1909) B ...
. Peary's grandchildren, Edward and Peary Stafford, accompanied their mother. #1933 Bartlett Northwest Greenland Expedition through the Hudson Strait, Fury Strait and the Hecla Strait for the American Museum of Natural History, Museum of American Indian, American Geographical Society and the Navy Department. #1934 Expedition to Greenland and Ellesmere Land making scientific collections for the
Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...
. #1935 Northwest Greenland Expedition for
Field Museum The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...
and the Smithsonian Institution. On this expedition was Dr. Lamar Soutter, founding dean of the
University of Massachusetts Medical School The University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School is a public medical school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is part of the University of Massachusetts system. It is home to three schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Grad ...
. #1936 Bartlett Northeast Greenland Expedition for the Smithsonian Institution,
American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the ...
,
Chicago Zoological Society Brookfield Zoo, also known as the Chicago Zoological Park, is a zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. It houses around 450 species of animals in an area of . It opened on July 1, 1934, and quickly gained international recogn ...
and the Field Museum. #1937 Bartlett Northwest Greenland Expedition for the Smithsonian Institution and the Chicago Zoological Society. #1938 Northwest Greenland Expedition for the Smithsonian Institution,
Cleveland Museum of Natural History The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum located approximately five miles (8 km) east of downtown Cleveland, Ohio in University Circle, a 550-acre (220 ha) concentration of educational, cultural and medical institu ...
, and the
United States National Museum The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
. #1939 Northeast Greenland Expedition for the New York Zoological Society and the Smithsonian Institution. #1940 Greenland Expedition where ''Effie M. Morrissey'' set a record for furthest north at 80 degrees 22 minutes North Latitude, a mere from the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
. Pathe Newsreels had filmed this incredible effort, among those in attendance was Fred Littleton, Austen Colgate, John Pitcairn, Jim Pond, David Nutt, Reggie Wilcox and George Hodge. #1941 Greenland Expedition into the Arctic regions sponsored by
Louise Arner Boyd Louise Arner Boyd (September 16, 1887 – September 14, 1972) was an American explorer of Greenland and the Arctic, who wrote extensively of her scientific expeditions, and became the first woman to fly over the North Pole in 1955, after privately ...
of
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
into the
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay ( Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; kl, Avannaata Imaa; french: Baie de Baffin), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arct ...
region. It was the first opportunity by
National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...
for an extensive study of the
ionosphere The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an ...
at Arctic latitudes. #1942 Voyage to Ungava Bay and Frobisher Bay to conduct survey work for air bases Crystal One and Crystal Two for both the
US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
and the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
. #1943 Voyage to
Frobisher Bay Frobisher Bay is an inlet of the Davis Strait in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island. Its length is about and its width varies from about at its outlet into the Labrador Sea ...
for supply and survey work for US military bases. #1944 Voyage to southern and eastern Greenland to supply and service US weather bases. #1945 Voyage to northwest Greenland to supply and service US military bases.


Mid 20th century: packet ship ''Ernestina''

When Captain Robert Bartlett died on April 28, 1946, ''Effie M. Morrissey'' was sold to the Jackson brothers to carry mail and passengers in an inter-island trade in the South Pacific. On their voyage to the Pacific she developed problems at sea, forcing the crew to return to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. On December 2, 1947, the boat caught fire of undetermined origin while docked at the Boat Basin in
Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...
, New York. The schooner was repaired and sold to Louisa Mendes of Egypt, Massachusetts. She entered the
packet trade Generally, packet trade is any regularly scheduled cargo, passenger and mail trade conducted by ship. The ships are called "packet boats" as their original function was to carry mail. A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post ...
in a trans-
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
crossing to
Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...
with a cargo of food and clothing. Upon reaching the islands, Captain Henrique Mendes reregistered the schooner under the name ''Ernestina'', after his own daughter, and used her in inter-island trade. ''Ernestina'' made many transatlantic voyages and fell into disrepair at Cape Verde, where she remained until the late nineteen sixties when interest arose in the United States to save the historic vessel. Harry Dugan and the Bartlett Exploration Association of Philadelphia made several offers to buy the ship for the
South Street Seaport Museum The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District, in Lower Manhattan. The Seaport is a designated historic district, ...
in New York. In 1977 the people of Cape Verde agreed to give ''Ernestina'' to the people of the United States. The Foreign Minister, speaking on behalf of President
Aristides Pereira Aristides Maria Pereira (; 17 November 1923 – 22 September 2011) was a Cape Verdean politician. He was the first President of Cape Verde, serving from 1975 to 1991. Biography Pereira was born in Fundo das Figueiras, on the island of Boa Vi ...
said:
The Government of Cape Verde offers the ''Ernestina'' as a gift to the United States of America as an expression of the high regard of the people of Cape Verde for the people of the United States and we deliver the vessel to the State of Massachusetts as a representative of the people of the United States.


Late 20th century: National Historic Landmark

In August 1982 her hull was completely rebuilt in Cape Verde and she sailed to the United States with a Cape Verdean and American crew. In August 1988 the schooner made a return trip to Brigus, Newfoundland, home of Capt. Bob Bartlett on the 113th anniversary of his birth. ''Ernestina'' was designated by the
United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
as a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1990, and
with restoration being completed in 1994, and in 1996 became a part of the
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (NBWNHP) is a United States National Historical Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and is maintained by the National Park Service (NPS). The park commemorates the heritage of the world's preeminent ...
. She is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 2014, the ship was given the green light by the Massachusetts Department of Recreation and Conservation to undergo
$6 million multi-year restoration
project at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in
Boothbay Harbor Boothbay Harbor is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,027 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Bayville, Sprucewold, and West Boothbay Harbor. During summer months, the entire Boothbay Harbor regio ...
, Maine. After months of waiting for the weather to cooperate, the ship was finally able to reach Boothbay Harbor in April, 2015 and wa
hauled-out
later that month.


See also

*
List of schooners __TOC__ The following are notable schooner-rigged vessels. Active schooners Historical schooners * '' A. W. Greely'', originally named ''Donald II'' * '' Ada K. Damon'' * ''Albatross'' * * '' Alvin Clark'' * '' America'' * '' American Spi ...
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a total of 191 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) within its borders. This is the second highest statewide total in the United States after New York, which has more than 250. Of the Massachusetts NHLs, 57 ar ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in New Bedford, Massachusetts List of Registered Historic Places in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Former listings See also *List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts References {{DEFAULTSORT:National Register ...


References


External links


Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Archives at the Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections, UMass DartmouthHistory of the Schooner ''Effie M. Morrissey'' with pictures (Official Site)




a NRHP Travel Itinerary
After months of Waiting, tall ship arrivesErnestina-Morrissey Hauled Out
* {{Authority control Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Maritime history of Canada History of Bristol County, Massachusetts Water transport in Newfoundland and Labrador Museum ships in Massachusetts Individual sailing vessels Tall ships of the United States Ships of Cape Verde Schooners of the United States Ships built in Essex, Massachusetts Arctic exploration vessels New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Museums in Bristol County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in New Bedford, Massachusetts 1894 ships