Bow Watchman on the "City of Lowell"
In his autobiography Ellery tells of his youthful curiosity about the Long Island Sound steamboats and his desire to work aboard them. His father was willing, his mother reluctant, but he had his way and was hired by the New England Steamship Company, operator of the New London Line (originally known as the Norwich Line) and other Sound lines. Only sixteen, he gave his age as seventeen and was likely taken on because of the maritime knowledge he had gained from his father, a captain of the Groton-New London ferry and well-known dragger fisherman.
Below: One of Ellery's typescripts
The bow watchman stood on the bow, looking straight ahead and shouting his observations - other boats, channel markers, lights or anything unusual - to the captain behind him up in the pilothouse.
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City of Lowell was built in 1894 at Bath Iron Works (Maine) for the Norwich Line. Her sleek 325-foot steel hull, 4500 hp engines and twin propellers soon earned her the nickname "Greyhound of the Sound," capable of more than 21 miles an hour.
The Lowell operated on the Norwich/New London Line until 1919, running opposite the older City of Worcester, a sidewheeler often seen leaving New London in postcard views. Soon after the Lowell went into service the terminus of the Norwich Line was cut back to New London with its better train connections and other advantages.
"My first night on the City of Lowell was typical of others to come when the weather was clear, with wind off the land. I would remain on the bow - reporting anything that appeared dangerous to our passage - until we passed Bartlett Reef Lightship south of Harkness's Point. Then, with Captain Pettigrew retiring either to his stateroom or the dining salon...the 1st Pilot at the center window [of the Pilot House] would call me inside to watch out the second window to port."
"After passing Cornfield Lightship off Cornfield Point, near the mouth of the Connecticut River, the big Priscilla would come up astern and pass us with blazing lights and a drunken weave as she passed over Long Sand Shoal, her greater depth sucking at the sand."
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Right: Ellery's signed 1963 "photo painting" of Priscilla, the most popular of the Fall River Line sidewheelers. He had a few of his paintings reproduced in a smaller size for sale or as gifts.
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"When abreast of Faulkner's Island Light...I would take the wheel to relieve [quartermaster] Billie Foss until we reached Stratford Shoal Light. Then it would be my turn to head for the officers' galley to mugg up on roast beef sandwiches and hot coffee."
"On approaching Execution Rocks Light after daybreak, I would go off watch for breakfast. On returning to duty on the bow...the big burly mate, Mr. Sullivan, a former shipmate with my father, would come forward with two sailors to stand by the anchors. Hell Gate was tricky, and one must be prepared to drop anchor in a hurry.
"Each time we passed under the unfinished Hell Gate Bridge the open space between the two spans extending out from shore lessened. Then one morning the two arching sections were joined. It gave us quite a thrill. I had seen man conquer a devilish stretch of race-tide waters. Other bridges were to follow. I was seeing New York City grow up."
Background Note: Opened in 1916, Hell Gate Bridge was the final connecting link between the Pennsylvania Railroad, its magnificent new station in midtown Manhattan, and the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad line to southern New England. Today this route is Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
The steamboat heading under the bridge toward the Sound appears to be a vessel of the New England Steamship Company's famous Fall River Line.
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"As we steamed down the winding East River...weaving in and out of river traffic while doing 15 knots, we whistled one loud toot as we turned to starboard, two toots on veering to port. The excitement of passing Brooklyn Navy Yard and under busy Brooklyn Bridge helped erase the stink of the city garbage dump on Rikers Island."
"By the time we were rounding the Battery, with its huge Aquarium, New York harbor was crazily alive with ferryboats and scow tows going every which way. Little did I dream as I looked down the harbor and over at the Statue of Liberty that within two years my father and I would be on a secret mission down New York harbor to unload Swedish gunpowder from the tramp ship Polish Prince." (Ellery never explained that last sentence.)
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"The future was for tomorrow. The present demanded immediate attention, especially at docking a large Sound steamer at the strength of the tide. But [Captain] Pettigrew was an expert. Never did I hear him swear. I was to hear other skippers cuss a blue streak."