North Cumberland Historical Society
The George Henderson
Not only did people immigrate to Cumberland County, they also emigrated. Levi Eaton is an example of this.
Amos Eaton was a second generation Planter who had come from Cornwallis Township to Pugwash before 1811. Ship building was booming in Pugwash, and it is suggested that that is why he immigrated here.
His son, Levi Woodworth Eaton, born in Pugwash in 1811, also worked as a ship builder.
Levi had two sons and two daughters. His second daughter, Lydia Ann, had married a sea captain, John James, who often sailed her father’s ships. He also accepted jobs from others and, in 1857, had carried followers of Norman McLeod, a rather messianic leader, who took 5 boatloads of people, mostly of Scottish descent, from Cape Breton to New Zealand. They eventually settled in Waipu, New Zealand.
After handing over command of the ship Breadalbane in 1858, he made his way back to Pugwash where Levi Eaton was building the last of his many ships, the 171 ton brig, The George Henderson. He convinced Levi Eaton and his family to set sail for New Zealand. Fourteen natives of Pugwash, (including Pages, Orchards, McLeans, Fergusons, Eatons and Bigelows), left on Dec. 4, 1859 for the long voyage carrying 40 barrels of salt and 2,800 bricks. After two stops - one in South Africa and one in Sydney Australia, the George Henderson arrived in Auckland harbour on April 27, 1860.
Levi Eaton became an auctioneer in Auckland and Captain James continued on with the ship.
Maori and settler relations in New Plymouth, New Zealand, were very tense at that time. The government engaged the George Henderson and Captain James to take supplies to the troops and civilians who had been burned out. She arrived in New Plymouth and was then chartered to take some of the women and children to safety in Nelson. As she was waiting to load, on August 3, 1860, a storm hit, one of her cables parted, and as she drifted north, her ensign hoisted the Union Down - a sign of distress. With waves breaking over the ship, Captain James realized nothing could save her, and so headed to Fitzroy beach at the mouth of the Henui River.
She grounded on the sand with the waves still breaking over her. Captain James put a rope ashore, and the crew were pulled in on it by soldiers and civilians who had gathered on the beach. He, of course was the last to leave the ship.
The next morning, 20 carts of soldiers arrived to collect her guns, canvas, rigging and as much of her cargo as they could salvage. During the night a picket of soldiers had been posted to stop the Maoris from stealing things from her. One of the volunteers who went to take food and a blanket to some of the soldiers was shot and killed by Maori.
By August 21, 1860, stripped and waterlogged, the ship was abandoned completely and sank below the sand. It was a short life for a fine vessel, built from the forests of Pugwash.
In January, 1980, 120 years later, as Fitzroy Beach was hit by erosion, the ribs of the George Henderson rose from the sand. The remains were visible for only a few days before the shifting sands reclaimed them.
by Dianne Elliott
Loveland
How Pugwash was involved with the capture of Canada's first Prisoners of War
Here is a photo of the German Ship Loveland taken at the dock in Pugwash while she was loading scrap metal and a deck load of lumber on August 29, 1939. On Sept. 3, 1939, war was declared, and the ship was still in the harbour. There must have been much consternation among the crew as to how to get back home. They decided on a quick dash. She left port in the middle of the night and sailed out of the harbour without a pilot. When it was discovered next morning that she had gone, a call was put in to the navy in Halifax who dispatched two ships to intercept her in Canadian waters. They caught her just off the west coast of Cape Breton and the captain set course for the shore and scuttled her. The captain and crew were captured and became Canada's first prisoners of war. They were held in Dorchester NB until a camp was prepared in Ontario.
The Condor
The Condor was a full-rigged barque and in 1876 was the last of a series of ships built at the north end of Port Philip bridge in Port Howe by the Mokler Family. The Mokler Ship Yard was situated where the United Church stood. At one time, nearer the end of the bridge, was an acre or two of cleared land where there were several buildings and a long narrow wharf built on piles where ships were outfitted and rigged after launching.
In 1875, when under construction, a tax appraiser came and claimed that a wooden ship not yet launched was a structure not a ship and liable to taxes. Her owners didn't agree and told the appraiser he could leave either by the gate or floating down the river – he could take his choice. After much argument, a court ruling was found that a ship was a ship from the laying of a keel until completion providing a name was on the plans before construction began.
The Condor was launched in 1876 and was 169 feet long and 34.5 feet wide. Her hold was 19 feet deep.
She was owned by Patrick Mokler and on her maiden voyage, she was crewed by several of the young men who had built her. Some of them were MacKays of Port Howe. Also with her was his mother Ellen Mokler who accompanied all her sons (there were four of them) on maiden voyages to see how they handled their ships. With her on all the voyages went her lead coffin so that if she died, she could be buried at sea with dignity.
The Mokler family came from Ireland, but the children were born in Nova Scotia. Captain Pat gave money to St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, so much that the residence building, Mokler Hall, is named after him.
For 13 years, under the command of Captain Pat it sailed to Liverpool England with lumber, from Liverpool to Rio de Janeiro with coal and to New York with hides, horns, tallow and hair. The horns were for buttons, the tallow for candles and the hair for mixing in plaster. Apparently sailors claimed you could smell the ship before you saw it.
The Condor was sold in Liverpool, England to Norwegian interests on Sept. 19, 1889. Captain Pat retired to Brule. He had a glassed-in watch tower on top of his house so he could look out over the sea.
On July 26, 1895, the Norwegian Barque CONDOR was owned by J. A. Knudsen. On a voyage from Hull to Pensacola in ballast caught fire 50 miles east south east of Lowestoft, England and was abandoned.