''Monohansett'' was a sidewheel steamer operating as a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

serving the island of

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

during the late nineteenth century. She was named after

Monohansett Island Monohansett Island is one of the Elizabeth Islands between Cedar Island and Naushon Island. It is located in Dukes County, Massachusetts, just east of Naushon Island and southwest of Woods Hole Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the ...

, a tiny 12-acre (4.9-hectare) island off Naushon Island.Banks, Charles E., ''The History of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., Volume I''. (Dukes County Historical Society, 1911)

Construction

''Monohansett'' was built in 1862 by the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, & Nantucket Steamboat Company as a replacement for the steamer ''Eagle′s Wing'', which had caught fire during a race on the Providence River off Pawtuxet in 1861 and was completely destroyed. The engine from ''Eagle′s Wing'' was fitted into the new vessel.Turner, Harry B. ''The Story of the Island Steamers'' (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910
Books.google.com
/ref> ''Monohansett'' was built in five months in the shipyard of Thomas Collier of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

under the supervision of ''Monohansett''′s designer Captain Benjamin C. Cromwell of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts. She was long, with a beam of , depth, and had a gross register tonnage of 489. Her keel was made of white oak, her deck timbers were of oak and white chestnut, and her tops of

hackmatack ''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland (island) ...

and white chestnut.Vineyard Gazette Online
/ref> ''Monohansett'' made her first trip to Martha's Vineyard, to the

Edgartown Edgartown is a tourist destination on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. It was once a major whaling port, with historic houses that have been carefully preserved. Tod ...

wharf, on June 1, 1862.

Civil War service

Barely two months later, on August 13, 1862, the United States Government chartered ''Monohansett''. During the American Civil War, ''Monohansett'' carried dispatches to United States Navy ships operating in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras and Wilmington, North Carolina, as well as in the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River. The small screw steamer ''Helen Augusta'' operated as the substitute ferry to Martha's Vineyard during the war. By the end of the war in April 1865, ''Monohansett'' was the

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

boat at

City Point City Point of CityPoint may refer to: United Kingdom * CityPoint, an office tower in London, England United States *City Point (New Haven), a neighborhood in New Haven, Connecticut * City Point, a section of the South Boston area in Boston, Massac ...

, Virginia, and was used by General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

as a dispatch boat. General Grant reportedly was very fond of ''Monohansett'', and President Abraham Lincoln and his wife also spent time aboard her.

Vineyard ferry service

''Monohansett'' returned to service as a Martha's Vineyard ferry in June 1865.''The Dukes County Intelligencer'', Vol. 8, No. 4, May 1967. In the summer of 1874, now-President Grant used the ''Monohansett'' to visit Martha's Vineyard, arriving in Cottage City (now Oak Bluffs). ''Monohansett'' was first commanded by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Benjamin C. Cromwell, her designer, and during the American Civil War by Hiram Crowell. Captain Charles C. Smith (b. 1826), who served as first mate under Captain Crowell during war duty, became captain of ''Monohansett'' in 1867, and was still master in 1885. At some point a Captain Marshall, evidently Francis J. Marshall (1857-1933) of

, Massachusetts, is said to have been her captain; Marshall also commanded the steamboat ''

'', and would later command the steamboat '' Uncatena''. Although ''Monohansett'' was primarily a Vineyard boat, she occasionally would make trips to

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

, especially during wintertime "freeze-ups," when ''Monohansett'' would force her way through ice to relieve the isolated Nantucket residents.

Final years

''Monohansett'' was sold in 1901 or 1903 (sources vary), and was used around Boston, Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts North Shore. On 3 August 1904,"Beverly Evening Times, August 4, 1904" she was wrecked in a dense

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

on Little Misery Island in the Misery Islands in

Salem Harbor Salem Harbor is a harbor in northeastern Massachusetts spanning an area north and south of Salem, Massachusetts, Salem. Historically the Salem Harbor was the site of one of the major international ports in the colonies. During the American R ...

, Massachusetts, while headed to Boston from Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Notes

References

* Banks, Charles E., ''The History of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., Volume I''. (Dukes County Historical Society, 1911) * Turner, Harry B. ''The Story of the Island Steamers'' (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910)

- reprint of a 1927 article in the ''Vineyard Gazette'' * ''The Dukes County Intelligencer'', Vol. 8, No. 4, May 1967. * Beverly Evening Times, August 4, 1904. {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Monohansett'' (steamboat) 1861 ships Ships built in New York (state) Paddle steamers Ferries of Massachusetts Maritime history of the United States Martha's Vineyard Shipwrecks of the Massachusetts coast Steamboats of Nantucket Sound Maritime incidents in 1904 Transportation in Dukes County, Massachusetts