Charles Bliss Hosmer (1814-1888)

[butlersrangers]

You didn't like my 'Ditty'.

[cdagnese]

Dick:

There were many Hosmers ( Including your Charles B.) who sailed out of New Bedford on long (1 to 3 year) voyages on Whaling Ships from the 1840s to about 1860. See http://www.nmdl.org/aowv/whvoyage.cfm?VesselNumber=622

and

http://www.whalingmuseum.org/

[butlersrangers]

Well, call me Ishmael! (Really neat stuff).

[cdagnese]

The photo of the house shows this house was highly modified over the years, maybe even moving the front door from North St. to County St. When I googled it, the North St. side of the house popped up. If you look close, you can see the chimney arrangement is of that period and the Widows observation deck is still on the top of the house.

[cdagnese]

Dick:

Here's an additional link showing your ancestor as Master on the whaling ship Stafford for a cruise during 1857 through 1860.

http://www.nmdl.org/aowv/whvoyage.cfm?VesselNumber=622

[Dick Hosmer]

Thank you so much. Another window opens on family history - was totally unaware of any such connection until yesterday. These are cousins, not "ancestors" in the strictest sense, but fascinating nonetheless.

[cdagnese]

A Painting of the Stafford.....


Bark, Barc, or Barque

However its spelled, historians believe a bark was originally a barge and, over time, the name has been altered. The earliest barques were noted in Portugal with square sails and oars. In the 1440s, Mediterranean barques carried three masts and lateen rigs. Eventually, there was a difference between a barge and a bark, which began to have sails. The French called a ship, barque, and the English, bark.

In the 18th century, the British Navy used the term bark to cover ships that did not fall in any other categories. Ships of exploration such as Captain James Cooks Endeavour were colliers that were converted to ships of exploration. Thats why the Navy referred to Cooks ship as the HMS Bark Endeavour.

The word bark (which seems to be the American spelling) evolved by the 19th century to mean how a ship was rigged. The ship could have three or more masts and a particular sail configuration. The advantage of the bark-rig was that the ship needed fewer sailors to work the sails.