User:Gatoclass/SB/J. Williams

refs

Life and career

Jabez Williams was born on February 21, 1788 at Stonington, Connecticut, the third of eleven children to Joshua Williams (1749–1838), and the only child of Joshua's second wife Priscilla, née Ruff (~1760–88), who died while Jabez was still in infancy. A seventh-generation American, Jabez was a descendant of Robert Williams (1607–93), who emigrated with his wife Elizabeth on the ship Rose from Great Yarmouth, England, to New England in 1637. Robert Williams later became a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, and "one of the most influential men in Roxbury affairs".

It is not known where Jabez Williams trained as a shipbuilder. By 1821, he had his own shipyard in New York, where he built the steamboat United States. By 1824, he had partnered with Stephen Thorne to establish the Thorne & Williams shipyard, located on the East River at the foot of Montgomery Street, Manhattan, where several vessels, including two steamboats, were completed through 1828. By 1830, this partnership had been dissolved, with Williams retaining possession of the yard. Williams from this point until a few years before the end of his career would operate under the company name Jabez Williams & Co. In the mid-1830s, Williams briefly employed the future noted yacht designer George Steers, when the latter was aged about sixteen and still learning his trade. In 1846, Williams moved his yard across the East River to the foot of North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[1]

In June 1848, Williams and three partners—his son John T. Williams, son-in-law Samuel Sneden, and marine engineer James Cunningham—purchased a large tract of marshy land at Greenpoint, Brooklyn, consisting of about 500 lots and 1000 feet of waterfront, where they planned to establish a new shipbuilding district, both for their own use and for sale to other shipbuilders. Development of the locality, which entailed the excavation of large amounts of earth from a nearby knoll to reclaim waterfront marshland, continued into 1850 and was only achieved for the then "enormous" sum of $220,000 (equivalent to $7,747,385 in 2023). An additional plan by the developers to establish an “extensive foundry ... designed for the construction of heavy marine engines and boilers" on ten of the building lots at a cost of "upwards of $100,000" (equivalent to $3,521,538 in 2023) was subsequently abandoned. The acquisitions of Williams and Sneden included the estate, north of Bushwick Creek of Greenpoint's earliest settler, where both shipbuilders would later construct "large and fine houses".

Williams launched the last ship from his Williamburgh yard in November 1850. The following April, he launched the first ship from his new Greenpoint yard; it was from this yard that Williams would later launch his renowned clippers Tornado and Simoon. Late in his career, Williams' eldest son John was apparently admitted into partnership, after which the firm was sometimes referred to as Jabez Williams & Son. Williams retired from shipbuilding around the end of 1853, after which his yard appears to have been divided between his two eldest sons John and Edward, each of whom used their allotment to operate their own independent shipyard.

In addition to his shipbuilding career, Williams served as an alderman of New York City in 1844–45. He was an incorporator of the Dry Dock Bank, founded in 1848, and a director of the Williamsburgh City Fire Insurance Company and of the Ship Timber Bending Company. In 1859, he became the first president of American Lloyds shipping register.

Personal details

Jabez Williams married Susanna "Ann" Tuthill (1797–1887) at Riverhead, Long Island, on 11 February 1819. The couple had nine children together, John Tuthill (1819–79), Susan Jane (b. 1822), Charles Lawrence (1823–34), Edward Francis (b. 1826), Cornelia Priscilla (1828–88), Horace Lambert (1830–31), Samuel (b. 1832), Sidney (1835–96) and David (1838–79). Williams' sons John, Edward, Samuel and Sidney followed their father into the shipbuilding industry;[2] his older daughter Susan married shipbuilder Samuel Sneden, while his younger daughter Cornelia was an invalid who remained a lifelong resident of her parents' household, assisting with domestic duties.

Williams is referred to as "honest old Jabez Williams" in an early account, indicating that he had a reputation for integrity.

new

greenpoint earthmoving[3]
southerner influence[4]
bark isaac mead 1841[5]
eagle 1843[6]
pilot boat e k collins 1844[7]
creole 1847[8] j williams & son[9]
princeton 1848[10]
yorktown 1850 -mys58
eclipse schooner 1854 -mystic1858

ships

john t
schooner 450t 1853 -nyt

Production table

*Ships built by Jabez Williams (1821, 1828–53), Thorne & Williams (1822–28) and Jabez Williams & Son (1849–53)*
Name(s)^[a]	Type^[b]	Yr. ^[c]	Ton. ^[d]	Original owner and/or operator^[e]	Intended service	Ship notes; references
United States	Steamboat	1821	180			[11] First steamboat to feature eagle figurehead on pilothouse, and first to issue tickets (rather than way-bills) to passengers.
Carolina	Steamboat	1822	80			-archive1 First known vessel built by Thorne & Williams
Europa		1823	369			archive1
Gen. Putnam		1824	418			archive1
Emperor	Ship	1824	302	Established Line	East Coast	#5 qwo474
Chief Justice Marshall	Steamboat	1825	314	Stephen H. Herrick et al	Hudson River	Lost 1836. [12]
Transport	Steamboat	1828	73	John H. Howland	New York Harbor	Last known vessel built by Thorne & Williams. swede p. 61
Warsaw	Ship	1830	350	Francis Spies & Co.	Liverpool trade	be
	Schooner	1832	160			[13]
Louisa	Ship	1832	590		East Coast	#5
Celia	Ship	1833	338	Established Line	East Coast	#5 qwo474
Angelique	Ship	1834	420	Established Line	East Coast	be qwo, also see fulton
Stonington	Steamboat	1834	211			[14]
Yorktown	Schooner	1834	200	Richmond & Petersburg Line
Jamestown	Schooner	1834	200	Richmond & Petersburg Line
Celeste	Schooner	1834	200	Richmond & Petersburg Line
Hudson	Schooner	1834	200	Richmond & Petersburg Line
Argo	Steamboat	1836		Wardrop	Hudson?	be
Atlantic	Ship	1836	699	W. T. Frost*		mystic
Independence	Pilot boat	1837	95			1x
Baltimore	Schooner	1837	201			2x -mystic1858
Petersburg	Schooner	1837	185			3x
Wakulla	Brig	1838	286			4x
Mary Frances	Ship	1838	334			5x
Juliette	Schooner	1838	207			6x -mys66 -mys58
Catherine	Ship	1839	478	Chapen, Dutton & Co.*	Liverpool*	mys 10x #5 -mys70
Philura	Brig	1839	208			7x
Peter Demilt	Brig	1839	316			8x
Wilson Fuller	Brig	1839	220			9x
n/a	Pilot Boat	1840	95			11x
Ohio	Ship	1840	738	J. W. Phillips*		mys
Isaac Mead	Brig	1841	300		East Coast	Converted to bark, ca. 1845. Sunk in collision with steamship Southerner, 1850; 24 killed.[15][16]
Union	Ship	1842	544	W. T. Frost*		mys #5
Eagle	Brig	1843	329	J. Hyslop, F. Spies	China	Armed with "six long 6 pound cannon" built by the West Point Foundry [17]
Edward K. Collins	Pilot boat	1844	75			[18]
Edwin Lewis^[f]	Steamboat	1845	200		New York—New Jersey	be #2
n/a	Bark	1845	260			#2
South Carolina	Ship	1845	581	Post, Smith & Co.*		mys 2of2 #2 #5
Medana^[g]	Bark	1845	400			#2
St. Mary	Brig	1845	250			#2
Patrick Henry	Schooner	1845	200			#2
Cabot^[h]	Schooner	1845	200			#2 -mystic1858
Seguine	Schooner	1845	199			#2 -mys58
Atlantic	Ship	1846	736	Stanton & Frost	East Coast	#5 [19] #6
Montezuma	Bark	1846	400	Alvah Tuttle	Demerara trade	be mys59 #6
Pocahontas	Schooner	1846	200		"Richmond packet"	#6
n/a	Schooner	1847	250			#3
Creole	Ship	1847	771	W. T. Frost*		mys #3 #8
Wisconsin Carlos	Ship	1847	942	W. T. Frost*		-mys #3 #8 carlos -mys70
Greenpoint	Bark	1849	500	Thomas Wardle		be Fast clipper bark. #4
Washington	Ship	1849	2000	Frost & Hicks	Liverpool trade	be tonnage 1665 -mys "largest merchant ship afloat" from canonicus search (debows) williams builder confirmed and largest ship -npc loading for first voyage december 22 1849 -npc record passengers 1850 -npc captain congratuled 1851 -npc
Jabez Williams	Pilot boat	1850	90	Pilots' Assoc.	New York Harbour	herald 1 jan 1850
Yorktown	Schooner	1850	250			"[E]mployed between this city and Petersburg". nyh_1jan50 mystic58
Eclipse	Clipper	1850	1600	Joseph Hamilton	West India trade	be #4 1850 according to nyh_1jan50
Pioneer	Ship	1851	1841	W. T. Frost*		mys
South Carolina	Steamship	1851	1533	Nicholson & Whittle*		[20] Intended as "pioneer steamer for direct trade from Southern ports" to Liverpool, but converted to sailing ship before entering service after accidental damage to machinery. nm21 mys 1 of 2 -mys70
Tornado	Clipper	1852	3000	Benjamin A. Mumford	California	be tonnage 1802 -mys nm21, 25
Simoon	Clipper	1852	1435	W. T. Frost*		mys nm25
Surprise	Schooner	1853	350	Capt. Cole		#7
Fanny	Schooner	1853	363		East Coast	#7 nm29

john t
julia nm26
mary dunham nm36

Footnotes

^ Name of ship. Where a ship had more than one name in the course of its career, the names are presented sequentially, with the last two digits of the year in which the name change took place displayed, where available, after the name. Names followed by a "(y)" are yard names.
^ Type of vessel. The generic term "steamer" is used in this column where it is not clear from the sources whether the vessel was a steamboat or a steamship.
^ Year of ship launch, where available, otherwise year of completion.
^ Ship tonnage. Tonnages will be in either tons burthen or gross register tonnage. Sources rarely indicate which form of tonnage is being employed.
^ Original party or business entity that ordered the ship and/or operated it, where known. Entities followed by an asterisk (*) indicate first known owner and/or operator.
^ Built by Lawrence & Sneden according to some sources.
^ Some letters of the name in the source are difficult to read and the name rendered here is the writer's best guess.
^ Some letters of the name in the source are difficult to read and the name rendered here is the writer's best guess.

[shipname-1] Name of ship. Where a ship had more than one name in the course of its career, the names are presented sequentially, with the last two digits of the year in which the name change took place displayed, where available, after the name. Names followed by a "(y)" are yard names.

[2] Type of vessel. The generic term "steamer" is used in this column where it is not clear from the sources whether the vessel was a steamboat or a steamship.

[yearbuilt-3] Year of ship launch, where available, otherwise year of completion.

[tonnage-4] Ship tonnage. Tonnages will be in either tons burthen or gross register tonnage. Sources rarely indicate which form of tonnage is being employed.

[orderedby-5] Original party or business entity that ordered the ship and/or operated it, where known. Entities followed by an asterisk (*) indicate first known owner and/or operator.

[6] Built by Lawrence & Sneden according to some sources.

[7] Some letters of the name in the source are difficult to read and the name rendered here is the writer's best guess.

[8] Some letters of the name in the source are difficult to read and the name rendered here is the writer's best guess.

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