Biography of George A. Erskine
Captain George A. Erskine lived in Stockton and Bucksport, Maine, and the moved to Connecticut in 1915. Although the diaries give little family history, we know that Erskine’s father was born in 1814 and died in Stockton in 1892; his mother died in 1913. He had several brothers and sisters, and all family members seemed close and fond of each other.
Captain Erskine was hired as cook in July of 1876 at the age of 16 on board the schooner COPY of Surry, Maine. He was employed on at least two other schooners, but by 1883 he was aboard the schooner ELLA as master. From then on he was master of the schooners CHARLESTON, JOHN DOUGLASS, HATTIE H. BARBOUR, EMMA C. LORD and the MELBOURNE P. SMITH, as well as owning shares in other Maine coastal vessels.
From the local coasting trade carrying lumber, granite, ice and phosphates, he branched out to longer voyages in larger vessels. He was rarely without a cargo. In the 1880’s he sailed his vessel during all the three or four winter months, but by 1893 he was making one or two longer voyages a year to the West Indies, the Gulf Coast and South America with shorter coastal trips during the summer. By 1904 he was working for the New York firm of M. P. Smith & Sons.
His first wife, Stella, whom he married in 1883, occasionally sailed with him, but she was not strong, and usually stayed home with the two children, Arthur who was born in 1886, and Ella, who was born in 1890. A third child, Francis, died shortly after birth in 1895. Stella died two years later. Captain Erskine remarried in 1902 to a widow, Mabel Gould of East Franklin, Maine, who had a son from her first marriage, Maurice. Mabel was a gregarious as her husband and made many voyages with him. He also took his son, Arthur, on several voyages as a paid hand.
By 1915 Captain Erskine seemed to tire of the sea. In that year he moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and in 1917 he left the sea for good, buying a farm in Guilford, Connecticut. For the next nine years he immersed himself in the raising of cattle, delivering milk and selling vegetables. In 1926 he sold the farm, and did some minor real estate transactions in Guilford, buying, renovating, and renting a few houses. Not once did he seem to regret leaving the sea. He was a pious and friendly man, and he made friends easily with captains in every port in which he stopped. He lost no opportunity to see the sights in each new place he visited; he loved the theater; and he was a “joiner” being a member of several fraternal organizations, granges and clubs.
Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
Available for use in the Manuscripts Division
Restrictions on Use
Various copying restriction apply. Guidelines are available from the Manuscripts Division.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the G. W. Blunt White Library. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Erskine, Arthur,–b. 1886
Erskine, Mabel Gould
Corporate Bodies (Including Vessels):
Charleston (Schooner)
Emma C. Lord (Schooner)
Hattie H. Barbour (Schooner)
John Douglass (Schooner)
M.P. Smith & Sons (New York, N.Y.)
Melbourne P. Smith (Schooner)
Subjects:
Agriculture–Connecticut–Guilford
Coastwise shipping–Atlantic Coast (U.S.)
Granite industry and trade–Main
Ice industry–Maine
Lumber trade–Maine
Phosphates–Maine
Real property–Connecticut–Guilford
Shipmasters’ spouses–Maine
Shipping–Maine
Shipping–New York (State)–New York
Occupations:
Farmers–Connecticut–Guilford
Shipmasters–Maine–Bucksport
Shipmasters–Maine–Searsport
Administrative Information
Coll. 199, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
| Volumes, primarily diaries with a notebooks, bank books, and expense book; 1875-1930 | |||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Diary/Notebook, scattered entries; 1875-1877 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Diary/Notebook, scattered entries; 1876-187 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Book of expenses, clothing, etc.; ca. 1877-1878 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Primarily expense book, with four pages of diary entries; ca. 1879-1880 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Diary; also accounts and misc. notes; 1881 Jan-May | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Diary; 1882 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Diary; 1883 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Diary; 1884 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Diary; 1885 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Diary; 1886 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Diary; 1887 | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Diary; 1888 | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Diary; 1889 | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Diary; 1890 | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Diary; 1891 | ||||||||||||
| 16 | Diary; 1892 | ||||||||||||
| 17 | Diary; 1893 | ||||||||||||
| 18 | Diary; 1894 | ||||||||||||
| 19 | Diary; 1895 | ||||||||||||
| 20 | Diary; 1896 | ||||||||||||
| 21 | Diary; 1897 | ||||||||||||
| 22 | Diary; 1898 | ||||||||||||
| 23 | Diary; 1899 | ||||||||||||
| 24 | Diary; 1900 | ||||||||||||
| 25 | Diary; 1901 | ||||||||||||
| 26 | Diary; 1902 | ||||||||||||
| 27 | Diary; 1903 | ||||||||||||
| 28 | Diary; 1904 | ||||||||||||
| 29 | Diary; 1905 | ||||||||||||
| 30 | Diary; 1906 | ||||||||||||
| 31 | Diary; 1907 | ||||||||||||
| 32 | Diary; 1908 | ||||||||||||
| 33 | Diary; 1909 | ||||||||||||
| 34 | Diary; 1910 | ||||||||||||
| 35 | Diary; 1911 | ||||||||||||
| 36 | Diary; 1912 | ||||||||||||
| 37 | Diary; 1913 | ||||||||||||
| 38 | Diary; 1914 | ||||||||||||
| 39 | Diary; 1915 | ||||||||||||
| 40 | Diary; 1916 | ||||||||||||
| 41 | Diary; 1917 | ||||||||||||
| 42 | Diary; 1918 | ||||||||||||
| 43 | Diary; 1919 | ||||||||||||
| 44 | Diary; 1920 | ||||||||||||
| 45 | Diary; 1921 | ||||||||||||
| 46 | Diary; 1922 | ||||||||||||
| 47 | Diary; 1923 | ||||||||||||
| 48 | Diary; 1924 | ||||||||||||
| 49 | Diary; 1925 | ||||||||||||
| 50 | Diary; 1926 | ||||||||||||
| 51 | Diary (1 page entry from 1928); 1930 Jan-Jul, 1928 Jan | ||||||||||||
| 52 | Bank Book; ca. 1920-1927 | ||||||||||||
| Papers; ca. 1882-1930 | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Papers; | |||||||||||
| 2 | Papers; 1886-1890 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Papers; 1891-1893 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Papers; 1894-1895 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Papers; 1896-1897 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Papers; 1898 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Papers; 1899 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Papers; 1900-1901 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Papers; 1902-1903 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Papers; 1904-1907 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Papers; 1908-1909 | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Papers; 1910-1912 | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Papers; 1913-1917 | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Papers; 1918-1920 | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Papers; 1921-1923 | ||||||||||||
| 16 | Papers; 1924-1926 | ||||||||||||
| 17 | Papers; 1927-1929 | ||||||||||||
| 18 | Papers; unidentified; undated | ||||||||||||
| 19 | Tintypes and photos | ||||||||||||