Montgomery & Howard
TypePrivate
IndustryShipbuilding
GenreWritten
Founded1867
FoundersJabez K. Montgomery and A. L. Howard
Defunct1904
FateClosed
HeadquartersMarginal Street,
Chelsea, Massachusetts
,
Suffolk County
Area served
New England
ProductsWooden-hulled steamships and other watercraft
ServicesShip repairs

Montgomery & Howard was a 19th-century American shipbuilding company started by Jabez K. Montgomery and A. L. Howard in 1867. The shipyard was on Marginal Street in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Some of the finest boats in the New England cost were designed and built by them. The company stayed in business until 1904. The sidewheel passenger steamer Old Colony was the last vessel that the firm built.

History

During the American Civil War Jabez K. Montgomery and A. L. Howard worked for a large shipbuilding firm in Portland, Maine, where they constructed gunboats for the United States Navy. Both men were born in Warren, Maine, and were school boy friends. In 1867, they came to Chelsea, Massachusetts, to start the Montgomery & Howard shipbuilding company.[1]

The Montgomery & Howard shipyard was at 37 Marginal Street in Chelsea, Massachusetts, at the foot of Hawthorne Street. They built passenger steamboats, pilot boats, and ferryboats. Some of the finest boats in the New England coast were designed and built by them. They built for the Winnisimmet Ferry Company, Old Colony Steamship Company and the Fall River Line.

The sidewheel passenger steamer Old Colony was the last vessel that was built by the firm before going out of business in 1904.[2]

Jabez K. Montgomery

Jabez K. Montgomery of the Montgomery & Howard shipyard.

Jabez K. Montgomery was born on May 25, 1797, in Warren, Maine where he learned the shipbuilding trade. He is the son of Phillip Montgomery and Olive Faulkner.[3] He worked for a shipbuilding firm in Portland, Main during the Civil War with his friend A. L. Howard. Montgomery moved to Chelsea in 1867 and cofounded the Montgomery & Howard shipbuilding firm.

Montgomery was one of the best known shipbuilders of New England. He was a director of the First Ward National bank of East Boston and the Globe Gas Light company. He was a member of the common council city government from 1879-1880 and an Alderman in 1881 for six successive years. He lived in Chelsea for over thirty years.[1]

Montgomery died on March 7, 1907, in Chelsea, Massachusetts.[4]

Atwood L. Howard

A. L. Howard of the Montgomery & Howard shipyard.

Atwood L. Howard was born in 1827 in Warren, Maine. He was the son of Thomas Howard and Sarah Keen. He married his first wife, Loda A. Sargent on January 12, 1856, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He married his second wife, Mary A. Saunders on July 15, 1896, in Boston, Massachusetts.[5]

Howard learned shipbuilding from his father who was a well-known shipbuilder and mechanic. He moved to Chelsea to develop the Montgomery & Howard firm with his friend Jabez K. Montgomery. He lived in Chelsea for over thirty years.[1]

Howard was a member of the Review club and was an established equestrian. He was one of the founders of the Hauthorne Club Stables.[1]

Howard died on December 22, 1902, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Funeral services were conducted at his home by Rev R. Perry Bush, pastor of the First Universalist Church of Chelsea. Many shipbuilders and residents of Boston attended the services. He was buried at his birthplace in Warren, Maine.[6]

List of ships

List of Montgomery & Howard ships.[7]

Name Image Owner Type Built Description
City of Malden Winnisimmet Ferry Company Ferryboat March 18, 1882[8] The City of Malden was withdrawn from the Chelsea route when the Winnisimmetline discontinued service in 1917 and were converted to a harbor lighter.[9]
City of Fall River Old Colony Steamboat Company Freight boat July 29, 1882[10] The paddle steamboat City of Fall River under way.
Hesper George W. Lawler, Augustus Hooper, and James L. Smith pilot boat 1884 She was launched on October 4, 1884, from the Howard & Montgomery shipyard in Chelsea.[11] On May 13, 1901, the Hesper, was sold to Andrew C. Wheelwright, a retired merchant of Rowes Wharf, in Boston, Massachusetts.[12]
City of Brockton Old Colony Steamboat Company Side-wheel Passenger steamboat 1886 Built for the Fall River Line. She was scrapped in 1929.[13]
Mount Hope Fall River & Providence Steamboat Company Passenger steamboat May 24, 1888[14] Scrapped in 1936.
Varuna Captain Thomas Cooper pilot boat 8 May 1890 Varuna was built in 1890 by Howard & Montgomery at Chelsea.[15] She went out of commission in 1912 because of the introduction of steam power. She was sold to Stephen Simmons as a trading vessel between ports in the Spanish Main.[16]
Mayflower Nantasket Steamboat Company Passenger steamboat December 25, 1890[17] Beached at Nantasket in 1948.
City of Taunton Old Colony Steamboat Company Side-Wheel Passenger steamer May 28, 1892[18] Scrapped in 1929.
Myles Standish Nantasket Steamboat Company Passenger steamboat June 7, 1895[19] Scrapped in 1936.
Hingham Nantasket Beach Steamboat Company Passenger steamer April 8, 1896[20] Later Orient 1901, Bay Queen 1922, burnt in 1929.
Fairhaven N Y, N H & H Railroad Company Ferryboat February 5, 1896[21] Abandoned in 1934.
Nantasket Nantasket Steamboat Company Passenger steamboat May 5, 1902[22] Burnt Nantasket Beach Pier 1929
Old Colony Nantasket Steamboat Company Sidewheel passenger steamer 1903[2] Burnt Nantasket Beach Pier 1929

See also

External sites

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Gillespie, Charles Bancroft (1898). The City of Chelsea. Chelsea, Massachusetts: Chelsea Gazette. p. 137.
  2. 1 2 "Along The Water Front". Boston Post. Boston, Massachusetts. 20 Apr 1904. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  3. ↑ "United States Census, 1860". FamilySearch. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  4. ↑ "Ship Builder Gone. J. K. Montgomery Dies in Frost Hospital". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 8 Mar 1907. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  5. ↑ "Year: Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Records, 1840-1915 for Loda A Largent". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  6. ↑ "A. L. Howard's Funeral". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 24 Dec 1902. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  7. ↑ "Montgomery & Howard, Chelsea MA". shipbuildinghistory.com. Chelsea, Massachusetts. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  8. ↑ "Launch of a Ferryboat". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 18 Mar 1882. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  9. ↑ "Along The Waterfront". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 1 Mar 1917. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  10. ↑ "New Freight Boat For The Old Colony Line". Fall River Daily Evening News. Fall River, Massachusetts. 29 Jul 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  11. ↑ "The Largest American Pilot Boat". Passaic Daily Times. Passaic, New Jersey. 4 Oct 1884. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  12. ↑ "Will Become A Yacht. Pilot Boat Hesper, Fastest of the Fleet, Sold to A. C. Wheelwright". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 13 May 1901. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  13. ↑ The Launching of the Ship
  14. ↑ "Grand Opening Excursion". Fall River Daily Evening News. Fall River, Massachusetts. 24 May 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  15. ↑ Cunliffe, Tom (2001). Pilots, The World Of Pilotage Under Sail and Oar. Brooklin, Maine: Wooden Boat Publications. p. 162. ISBN 9780937822692.
  16. ↑ "Varuna Is Sold. Old Pilot Boat Becomes Property of Stephen Simmons, Is Going to Jamaica". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 28 Jun 1913. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  17. ↑ "Launch of the Mayflower". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 25 Dec 1890. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  18. ↑ "City Of Tauton Launched". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 28 May 1892. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  19. ↑ "Accepted by the Company". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 27 Jun 1895. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  20. ↑ "Will Make First Trip July 1". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 8 Apr 1896. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  21. ↑ "Launching of a Ferryboat". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 15 Feb 1896. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  22. ↑ "New Steamer Nantasket". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 5 May 1902. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
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