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The
owners of the
Captain’s House are descended from Captain Clayton Morrissey,
Gloucester’s most famous fisherman.
Clayton Morrissey was born in Lower East Pubnico, Yarmouth County, Nova
Scotia in 1874 to a fishing family. "Clayt" sought a place on his
father's boat and was accepted as a deck boy at age 13. He learned the
salt fishing industry, how to handle men at sea, how to win their
friendship and trust and how to get the most work out of them.
Throughout his life, Capt. Morrissey retained the enviable reputation
of being one of the squarest, fairest skippers that ever sailed out of
a North Atlantic fishing port.
Capt. Morrissey took his first command in 1893 when he was only 19. He
was on the Effie M. Morrissey, named after his sister, when his father
was taken sick. He made good from the start and before many years
passed, ascended to the pinnacle of the salt fishing fleet of the North
Atlantic. His record trip weighted out in the vicinity of 450,000
pounds of fish in 1910 and he clipped days off the usual time taken for
salt fishing. Where even the rugged old-timers made two trips a season,
he would always make three. The Effie M. Morrissey still sails today as
the Ernestina.
 During his career he owned
and skippered many vessels, but
he always regarded the Arethusa, named after one of his daughters, as
his finest. While he was skipper of the Arethusa, Capt. Morrissey first
demonstrated his love of racing; the ship was on a salt fish trip and
had run out of bait. He sent men ashore in Newfoundland in dories to get
whatever bait they could buy, but while they were out, the Canadian
fast-cutter Curley steamed toward him at full speed. Capt. Morrissey
up-anchored and, though having no auxiliary engine power, out-sped the
fast cutter with sail. The next he saw of his men was at St. Pierre in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where he took them aboard, acquired new
dories, and nonchalantly resumed fishing.
In 1916 while he was skippering the schooner Corona off Green Island
near Clark’s Harbor in dense fog and heavy wind, the 119-ton
Essex-built vessel crashed on the rocks at 2am. The crew of 18 men took
to the dories, but had to stand off until morning because of the heavy
breakers that would have killed them had they tried to land. Morrissey
and his men were fortunate to escape with their lives.
Capt. Morrissey took command of the 140ft schooner Henry Ford in 1922
and sailed her "out o' Gloucester" for six years until she met her doom
off the west coast of Newfoundland in June of 1926. The Henry Ford had
a reputation though for speed under sail and she was chosen as the
fitting rival to the schooner Bluenose for the international races
(against Canada) in October. Amongst some controversy the Ford
eventually lost to the Bluenose and the trophy went to back Canada. A
fishermen's race in honor of the tercentenary celebration of Gloucester
was held in August 1923, when the Ford again commanded by Capt.
Morrissey took the honors from her local contenders. Captain Morrisey
skippered again in the international races again in 1923 and 1926,
but never
succeeded in beating the Canadian contender.
 In
1923 Clayton Morrissey posed for sculptor Leonard Craske's monumental
fisherman statue which stands on Gloucester's Western Avenue.
Capt. Morrissey's final command in the line of large schooners was the
Flora Oliver in which he went halibuting until 1931 when, aged 57, he
finally stayed ashore. However, he had hardly taken a year's vacation
when he decided he wanted a small boat in which to go trawling offshore
and had the Nimbus built by his son-in-law, Ralph Nelson, at the
latter's boat yard on Bearskin Neck, Rockport.
He spent his last summer in 1935 as commander of the old pilot boat
Liberty in pursuit of Spanish treasure thought to be on an old British
frigate the Braak which had sunk off Lewes, Delaware. That summer they
succeeded in bringing actual pieces of eight. On the eve of his
departure for his second summer seeking the treasure, he died "with his
boots on" of a heart attack at Hyannisport aboard the Nimbus. He was 62
years old.
The
Effie M Morrisey still sails
today as the Ernestina, an official vessel of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. She continues to make history as a cultural resource
rich in tradition and diversity, often serving as a memorable setting
for civic, social and corporate events. For more information please
visit www.ernestina.org.
Pictures
copyright of www.ernestina.org.
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