Thomas Jefferson Southard (June 18, 1808 – September 20, 1896) was an American
shipbuilder
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
, ship owner, entrepreneur, politician and philanthropist, who is considered one of the founding fathers of
Richmond, Maine
Richmond is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,522 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area, situated at the head of Merrymeetin ...
. Southard rose from humble origins to found T. J. Southard & Co., later known as T. J. Southard & Son, the largest shipyard in Richmond in its day and one of the most productive in the state, turning out between 75 and 100 wooden-hulled sailing ships over the course of about 44 years, including some of the largest and best known Maine-built ships of the era. Southard retained a majority share in many of the ships he built, thus building and controlling his own merchant fleet.
Southard was a leading property developer in his home town, and owned, founded or helped established many businesses there, as well as encouraging infrastructure projects. He was Richmond's first
postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
, and served in the
Maine Legislature
The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Aug ...
both as a
representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
*Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
*House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
*Legislator, someon ...
and
senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
Life and career
Early life
Southard was born in
Townsend, Maine on May 18, 1808.
[Webber]
p. 445
[ In 1819, at the age of eleven, intent on becoming a sailor, Southard hiked across to Richmond, Maine (then known as White's Landing), where he was hired by Captain Solomon Blanchard.][ For the next year, Southard worked aboard coastal vessels as a ship's boy and cook,][ but finding this line of work disagreeable,][ he secured instead a position as a ]blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
's apprentice at Richmond.[
After completing his apprenticeship, Southard set up his own forge on the ]Kennebec River
The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river within the U.S. state of Maine. It ri ...
, where he did a lucrative trade[ as a shipsmith,][ often taking payment in shares of the ships he serviced. His forge burned down in its first year of operation, but the locals, appreciative of his skills, helped him rebuild.][ While plying his trade, Southard also continued his education, studying draftsmanship and ship construction, until he had accumulated enough wealth and knowledge to open his own shipyard.][
]
Shipbuilding and merchant fleet
Southard built his first ship—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 ...
named ''Texas''—before the age of 29 (in about 1837). He then designed a series of small "coasters" intended for the Southern coastal trade, with names such as ''Savannah'', ''Richmond'' and ''Wilmington''.[ According to Little's ''Genealogy'', Southard then formed a partnership with a talented young shipbuilder named Stanwood Alexander; the two of them building sixteen ships together from 1845 until Alexander's death in 1852.][Little, Vol. 4]
p. 1681
Southard then continued as a sole trader, operating the business under the name T. J. Southard & Co..[
In 1865, Southard's son Charles H. T. J. Southard became a partner in the firm, after which it usually traded as T. J. Southard & Son, although at least two ships were constructed under the name of T. J. & C. H. Southard.][Fairburn, Vol. 5]
p. 3314
According to his own testimony, Charles' main role in the firm was bookkeeping,['' ecords, 1882–85']
p. 4
although he is also later said to have assisted in the management of his father's merchant fleet.
''The Baltimore Sun''. P. 9. 1896-09-18 (ppv).
Over the course of some 44 years, the Southard shipyard built between 75[Petroski]
p. 151
and 100[ wooden-]hulled
Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective ...
sailing ships of all kinds, large and small, including schooners, bark
Bark may refer to:
* Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick
* Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog)
Places
* Bark, Germany
* Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland
Arts, ...
s, brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
s and full-rigged ships, his vessels having "an industry-wide reputation for reliability of workmanship and trimness of line."["Richmond resident launched ships at early age"]
''Lewiston Sun-Journal''. 1992-03-18. T. J. Southard owned shares in many of the ships he built, and was the first local shipbuilder to own 100% of a ship (the ship's captain in this era usually being obliged to own at least one-sixteenth of his command). By these means, Southard became not only a shipbuilder but the head of his own merchant fleet, his ships flying the Southard house flag with a design incorporating an anvil
An anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal (usually forged or cast steel), with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck (or "worked").
Anvils are as massive as practical, because the higher th ...
—a pictorial reference to the proprietor's smithing origins.[Priscilla E. Braun]
"T. J. Southard, Richmond's Builder"
''Lewiston Evening Journal''. 1972-10-07.[Petroski]
p. 150
Notable ships
An early vessel of note built by Southard was ''Buena Vista'', a 660-ton vessel built in 1848 which, though not a clipper
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...
, had a reputation for speed, sometimes clocking passages comparable with clippers and once making a "splendid passage" of 60 days from San Francisco to Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
.[Fairburn, Vol. 5]
p. 3315
In 1853, Southard built the 1,854-ton ship ''Gauntlet'', which for many years retained the distinction of being the largest ship ever built in Maine.[Fairburn, Vol. 5]
p. 3229
Sold to the British in 1860 and renamed ''Sunda'', the vessel under Captain "Bully" Bragg subsequently made a number of very fast passages, including a record 76-day passage from London to Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
.[Howe and Matthews, pp. 219–220.] In 1854, Southard built the 1,400-ton ''Wizard King'', which "established for itself a fine record in Australian service."[ Both ''Gauntlet'' and ''Wizard King'' were classified as clippers and are usually referred to as such, but according to Fairburn, were no more than "half-clippers" at best.][Fairburn, Vol. 5]
pp. 3315–3316
Some of the largest vessels built at the Southard yard, constructed between 1875 and 1879, were the full-rigged ship
A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three se ...
s ''Charles Dennis''—"a good-looking and loftily-spired ship" of 1,710 tons; ''Eureka'' (2,101 tons); ''Red Cross'' (1,300 tons) and ''Theodore H. Allen'' (1,537 tons).[Fairburn, Vol. 5]
pp. 3316–3317
Of these, ''Eureka'' in particular was an "outstanding" ship: the largest Maine-built vessel at time of construction,[ she later made several fast passages around ]Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...
or across the 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 ...
.[ The largest vessel built by Southard—and apparently the largest ever built in the state north of Bath—was ''Commodore T. H. Allen'', a vessel of 2,390 tons and 245 feet in length, built in 1884, which is also known to have recorded some respectable times.][ According to the Southard family itself, the last vessel built by the Southards was a four-masted schooner named ''Edith L. Allen'', completed in 1890.][
One of Southard's ships, '']Ellen Southard
''Ellen Southard'' was an American full-rigged merchant ship from Bath, Maine that was built in 1863 by prominent shipbuilder T.J. Southard. She plied international trade routes for twelve years, calling at ports as far away as Sydney.
On 27 ...
'', is best known for the manner of her demise, as it led to a change in U.S. law. The vessel was wrecked in 1875 with the loss of nine lives in a gale near the mouth of the Mersey River, Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. The courage of British lifesavers attempting a rescue prompted the United States Congress to alter the statute covering Lifesaving Medal
The Gold Lifesaving Medal and Silver Lifesaving Medal are U.S. decorations issued by the United States Coast Guard. The awards were established by Act of Congress, 20 June 1874; later authorized by . These decorations are two of the oldest med ...
s to allow them to be awarded for the first time to non-Americans. A total of 27 Lifesaving Medals were awarded over the ''Ellen Southard'' disaster.["Gold Medals For Brave Men"]
''The New York Times''. 1877-05-05.
Other activities
In addition to his shipbuilding company and merchant fleet, T. J. Southard was a major contributor in numerous other ways to the economic and social development of his home town of Richmond and the surrounding locale.[ He founded the Southard Cotton Mill,][ as well as a mineral spring business that sold its product nationally.][ He owned numerous businesses collectively employing hundreds of people, including four shipyards, a brass foundry, grist mill, saw and planing mill, furniture factory, sail loft, bakery, edged tool store,][ drugstore and dry goods and West Indies goods store, the latter alone turning over $50,000 annually in 1840s dollars.][ Additionally, he worked to bring other businesses and business infrastructure to Richmond, including shoe factories, a bag mill, the ]telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
and railroad.[ He is credited with establishing several business blocks in Richmond][ along with some fifty houses, and he owned and rented farmland in the locality. It was said of him that there was scarcely an "institution in town he hasn't a corner in."][
Notable buildings constructed or commissioned by Southard include the Southard Cotton Mill;][ his own residence, in ]Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
style;[ his son's residence—a wedding gift that today serves as the C. H. T. J. Southard Museum; and the T. J. Southard Bank and Counting House, later known as Southard Block. The latter building, designed by T. J. Southard himself and featuring a cast iron facade transported from ]Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in the 1970s.[
During the course of his career, Southard served his region in many different capacities. He was Richmond's first ]postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
, and later became an "active director" on the boards of several New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
railroad and telegraph companies, towage corporations, banks[ and other institutions, such as the Portland and Kennebec Railroad, International Telegraph Company, and the State Bank and First National Bank, as well as being a longstanding president of the Sagadahoc Agricultural and Horticultural Society.][ He also served his state as a politician, firstly as a member of the ]Maine House of Representatives
The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...
, in 1853, and later as a state senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
in 1865-66.[Se]
Legislators Biographical Search
mainelegislature.org. Southard was a Douglas Democrat
The Northern Democratic Party was a leg of the Democratic Party during the 1860 presidential election, when the party split in two factions because of disagreements over slavery. They held two conventions before the election, in Charleston and B ...
before the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, but later became a supporter of President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
.['' ecords, 1882–85']
p.51
During the Civil War, Southard and a business associate, Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
, were accused of endangering the lives of Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
soldiers by selling the government unseaworthy ships at inflated prices for the 1862 Banks
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
expedition to . Southard was also accused of charging an illegal 5% commission on the sales. Southard was eventually censured by Congress for his role in the scandal, but Vanderbilt escaped censure, reportedly due to his political influence.[Flynn]
pp. 190–191
[Myers]
pp. 87–90
Southard was a philanthropist, known for his generous donations to newly established schools and churches, "regardless of denomination".[
File:Southard Block.jpg , Southard Block, designed by T. J. Southard and added to the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in the 1970s
File:Thomas Jefferson Southard House.jpg , Southard's house, built ca. 1855 in Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
style
File:Southard Mill.jpg , Southard Mill
Personal life
At the age of 23, Southard married Jane Jones Springer, an "amiable and intelligent" woman two years his junior;[ it would be a lifelong partnership. The couple had eight, possibly nine, children together, including a son, Charles, and seven daughters: Ellen J. (died in infancy), Caroline G., Harriet Frances (married name Hussey), Mary Elizabeth (Merrill), Ellen Jane (Stoutenburg), Florianna M. (Hulbert) and Delia Davis (Tallman).][Webber]
pp. 445–446
T. J. is said to have "never fully recovered" from the loss of his daughter Delia, who was aboard the Southard ship ''G. W. Morton'', commanded by her husband Horatio, when it disappeared without trace on an 1854["The Perils Of The Sea"]
''The Morton Bay Courier''. P. 2. 1854-09-02. Reprinted from the ''New York Enquirer'', 1854-05-10. voyage.[ Southard later had the entrance to his new Italianate home painted with scenes from Delia's life.]["Thomas Jefferson Southard House"]
(HABS document ME-149), Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
website.
Sources differ as to Southard's personality. To some, he was a "charming conversationalist" who was fond of a good joke and who enjoyed recounting tales of his rags-to-riches life.[ To others, he was "garrulous and a perfectionist": it has been said of him that he was by no means "universally well liked".][ He had a reputation as a tough business negotiator,][ and has been described as a workaholic,][ not averse to staying up all night in the pursuit of his business goals.][
The Southards participated in the social life of Richmond, T. J. and his wife sometimes hosting ]whist
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play.
History
Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...
parties or dances, the latter usually featuring the Virginia reel, at their Richmond home. A wide cross-section of the community was represented at these events.[
Southard remained fit and active well into his seniority; anecdotes abound of him performing feats of athleticism in his 70s. Late in life, his preferred mode of personal transport was a basket phaeton—a type of horse-drawn carriage with a reputation for being fast and dangerous. Southard was a ]Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, a member of the Knights of Pythias
The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded ...
and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd ...
.[ He died at Richmond, Maine, aged 88, on September 15, 1896, his wife Jane surviving him by barely a month.][ Their son Charles closed the Southard family shipyard not long after in 1899.][Coe]
p. 297
T. J. and his wife Jane were blessed with few grandchildren, but a grandson by their son Charles, named Thomas Jefferson Southard after his grandfather, achieved a degree of prominence in the fields of banking and insurance.[Coe]
p. 297
A granddaughter, Hattie Bishop Hussey, married New York stock speculator Charles W. Morse.[Little, Vol. 1]
p. 438
List of ships
Southard is credited with building between 75 and 100 ships in the course of his career, including those listed here.
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southard, T. J.
1808 births
1896 deaths
People from Boothbay, Maine
People from Richmond, Maine
American shipbuilders
Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States
Maine state senators
Members of the Maine House of Representatives
Maine Democrats
Maine Republicans
Philanthropists from Maine
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American philanthropists