Wheel
Grand Manan Museum
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| Object Name: | Wheel |
|---|---|
| Artist/Maker: | Unknown |
| Object Type: | Ship's Steering |
| Category: | Wheel, Ship's |
| Material: | wood, mahogany? metal, brass? |
| Technique: | turned fastened |
| Accession Number: | X 2021.140 |
| Origin-Province: | New York |
| Origin-Country: | USA |
| Use-Province: | New Brunswick |
| Use-Country: | Canada |
| Culture: | North American |
| Description: | Round wooden wheel has 10 spokes and handles extending from a central disk and a central brass fitting that allows it to spin. |
| Narrative: | The second in a series of seven permanent ferries in service between the mainland of New Brunswick (and sometimes Maine) and the island of Grand Manan, NB, between 1884 and 2022. Preceded by the S.S. Flushing (1884-1900), the S.S. Grand Manan was formerly named "Aurora" (1900-1930).Some Grand Manan Island Ferry History: "....When steam ferries began to be available, North Head replaced Woodwards Cove as the main post office center, and probably by 1880 the steamers stopped making visits to the Woodwards Cove terminal entirely. For a number of years following Confederation, the Island was served by the S.S. Dominion, a vessel owned by mainland companies and operated fairly regularly during the summer months when traffic warranted, leaving much to be desired at other time of the year. Finally, a group of local pioneers decided the Island could best be served by a Grand Manan ship. Among these men were Eben Gaskill, Allan Otty Guptill, Isaac Newton, Nelson M. Small, John A. Ingersoll, Frank Ingersoll, William E. Tatton, H. Hamilton Bancroft, William L. Kent, and Nelson M. Wormell, who with others formed the Grand Manan Steam Boat Company, incorporated (1883) with a capital of $20,000 divided into 800 shares of $25 each. Local legend persist there was an earlier incorporation, but no official record has so far been found to support this belief. At any rate, in 1884 the Company was sufficiently launched to send Capt. James Pettes and Capt. John Ingersoll to New York to buy a suitable steamer. They selected the two-year old S.S. Flushing, then lately taken off a Flushing, Long Island and New York City route, took aboard charter cargo for Lubec, Maine and proceeded up the New England coast. By mid-April the steamer was tied up at the Gaskill wharf at North Head where carpenters, painters and steam fitters went to work to prepare her for the Bay of Fundy trials. Finally, on Dominion Day, 1884, Capt. John Ingersoll proudly blew three whistles and moved out of North Head harbour for the first run to the mainland. The service later developed into four trips per week, with calls at Welchpool, Eastport, St. Andrews, St. Stephen and Saint John and often including Deer Island. The initial subsidies for the Flushing totalled $6,500 annually, with $4,000 from the Dominion government and the remained from the Provincial Treasury. The Flushing was in use for nearly sixteen years and then sold for conversion as a tug boat. In 1900 the Company bought a 130-foot New York excursion boat, the S.S. Aurora and converted her for the Island run. In 1911, rebuilt at the Mullhall Shipyards in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and rechristened, this ship became the first Grand Manan. Oddly enough, the records grow dim at this point. However an interview granted by the ships captain following his retirement, confirms the fact that in 1914 a majority interest in the assets of the Grand Manan Steam Boat Company was sold to Saint John investors and management transferred from Grand Manan to that city. The acquisition of steam boat companies became quite a hobby in the Port City; in 1929 a new company called the Eastern Canada Coastal Steamships Limited amalgamated a dozen of the small, local transport companies located around the Bay, including the Grand Manan system. One of the companys first moves was to build a steel ship for the island route and as M.V. Grand Manan II in February, 1930; the new vessel (with under-deck capacity for 14 cars) replaced the old and storied Aurora - Grand Manan I. The late Scott D. Guptill, an Island MLA for 24 years, represented the Grand Manan investors in the Eastern Canada Coastal venture as a member of the Board of Directors.... |
| History of Use: | The steering wheel from the island's second ferry, the Aurora, renamed "S.S.. Grand Manan", also known as the Grand Manan I. In service from 1900-1930. |
| Width: | 148.5 cm |
| Depth: | 6 cm |
| Subject/Image: | Ship's Steering Wheel from Aurora (S.S. Grand Manan I) ferry. |
| Institution: |
Grand Manan Museum
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| Institution City: | Grand Manan |
| Institution Province: | New Brunswick |