For the past two years, I’ve been involved in research on the Ann Parry, a 19th century bark that had quite the career. Built in 1825 in Portsmouth NH, she was first for the trades between that town and the Atlantic, then off as a whaler all over the Pacific. She ended up on the West Coast for the Gold Rush where she lived out the rest of her 40 year life in the coastal trade between San Francisco and Puget Sound.
In about two weeks I’ll be giving a major talk on her life and adventures and her role here in the NW. It has been a labor of love, requiring a trip to New England to see her original journals and records, reading old newspapers (1849-1855) from San Francisco, and gathering her shipping articles and registration from around the county. In following her, I have learned more about the history of Puget Sound and our ties to San Francisco and that town’s ties to the great shipbuilders of Portsmouth, Salem and Boston. That New England connection is in the Chinook Jargon word for American- Boston. I hope to write about her and publish.
Last year, maritime artist Steve Mayo, painted a picture of the Ann Parry arriving on Bellingham Bay July 1858 to deliver bricks for the oldest brick building in the state of Washington. Proceeds from the sale of the original painting and prints will help support the restoration of said building. People interested in the painting can contact Rick Tremaine at (360) 734-7381 to order.
JL Oakley Author of Historical Fiction 