Charles G. Davis Collection (Coll. 253)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview of the Collection

Biography of Charles G. Davis

Scope and Content

Restrictions

Index Terms

Administrative Information

Detailed Description of the Collection

Biography of Charles G. Davis

Charles G. Davis was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on July 22, 1870, and died in Manor Haven, Port Washington, N.Y. on January 22, 1959, aged 80. His father was clerk to Admiral David G. Farragut, Union Naval Commander during the Civil War. He began his love of boats and sailing at an early age; he is reputed to have sailed around Cape Horn in a square rigger at the age of thirteen. He and his older brother, William, built their own boat in 1884, cruising the Hudson and Western Long Island Sound in her before purchasing, refitting and racing an old sandbagger.

In 1889 he went to work in New York as a draftsman for William Gardner, the Clydeside Scots steam yacht designer, and filling in on a job at T.R. Webber's boat shop where he began to do some independent designing. His eyesight became affected and in 1892 he signed on as an AB on the Bark JAMES A. WRIGHT out of Boston for a trip around Cape Horn to Chile. After another year in Gardner's office, he again went to sea in the J. PERCY BERTRAM in the West Indies trade. Upon his return from this trip, he began to design racing boats for Webber and later for Larry Huntington in New Rochelle, N.Y.

About 1898 he joined the staff of The Rudder and was its design editor for several years. At the outbreak of World War I he joined the Elco Boat Builders, managing their plans at Halifax, N.S. and Montreal where wooden submarine chasers were being assembled for England. In 1917 he became general manager of the Trailer Ship Building Corporation at Cornwells, Pa. supervising the building of wooden steam, and after the War he became associated with the United States Maritime Service. From 1925 to 1927 he was in retirement in St. Petersburg, Florida, but returned to Port Washington to work as a draftsman under A. Couch for Toms & King, Inc.

In 1935 Davis again retired. He moved to Cazenovia, N.Y. and began building ship models, many of which are on display in the Stillman Building at Mystic Seaport. In 1940 he was called out of retirement by the Navy to become head hull inspector for wooden PT boats and minesweepers at the Nevins, Jacobs and United Shipyards at City Island, N.Y. He retired for a third time at the end of World War II.

He was a charter member of the Cruising Club. He was also an enthusiastic and skillful racer of small boats, and often enlisted his sons, Theodore and William, to crew for him. As an author, he wrote many technical articles for Yachting, The Rudder, Motor Boat and other magazines, as well as several books on sailing ships and ship models. He is said to have made detailed drawings of every Navy sailing ship built. His pen and ink sketches, ranging from old square rigged vessels to modern racing yachts, are sprinkled throughout his writings in this collection.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Content

The Charles G. Davis Papers contains approximately 2400 pieces of material either created or collected by Davis and arranged into 5 categories.

The largest series, "Manuscript Articles and Books by Charles G. Davis," includes the manuscripts for Davis' published along with unpublished works and related papers. The manuscripts, typescripts, and illustrations in this series are arranged alphabetically by title. Of special interest are several illustrated manuscript journals of various yachting cruises and races. This series is contained in boxes 1 through 4.

"Published Article Copies," located in box 5, contains published articles by Davis, clipped from Yachting, Forest and Stream, and Outing Magazine. These are arranged alphabetically by publication title.

"Miscellaneous items written by or regarding C. G. Davis," located in box 5 and part of box 6, contains personal correspondence, contracts, and tax records and Davis' sketches. These are arranged alphabetically by folder title.

The series "Yacht Club Race Information," contains Mr. Davis' notes and newspaper clippings regarding certain yacht races. These are filed chronologically and located in box 6.

"Ship Model Papers," in box 7, is comprised of Davis' notes, specs, measurements and other relevant information collected and used by him in the repair and building of his many ship models. This series also contains photographs of ship models. These are arranged alphabetically by title.

"Charles G. Davis Papers Regarding the American Bureau of Shipping: 1941-1944," located in box 8, contains Davis' notes, correspondence and employment information for the years 1941-1944, as well as U.S. Shipping Board ( became the U.S. Shipping Bureau in 1933) photographs of World War I era shipyards and shipbuilding. This series is comprised of a large gift given to the Museum in 1996, and an earlier gift of 250 pieces originally cataloged as Collection 192 "Charles G. Davis Papers."

Return to the Table of Contents

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. See also: Mystic Seaport's copyright notice.

Return to the Table of Contents

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.

Corporate Entities:

Subjects:

Document Types:

Occupations:

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Coll. 253, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.

Return to the Table of Contents

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Return to the Table of Contents