Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2016 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= NOTICE TO USERS - These files are protected by the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Information contained herein is provided for research purposes and may be freely linked to. Copying for redistribution or presentation by any person, persons or organization is not allowed without the written permission of the author/submitter. Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: Massasoit OTHER NAME(s): Jesse or Jessie Linn (given new name in 1882) OFFICIAL NO: 75605 DATE OF LOSS: 25 November 1904 CAUSE OF LOSS: Stranded LOCATION: Niagara River RIG TYPE: Schooner barge HULL TYPE: Wood BUILDER: Linn & Craig, Gibralter, MI - 1874 OWNER(S): Capt. John J. Boland MASTER: Capt. Charles Keenan TONNAGE: 842 gt, 800 nt DIMENSIONS: 189 x 34 x 16.8 CASUALTIES: None Bound down from Marquette in tow of the propeller OCEANICA, carrying nearly 300,000 feet of lumber. Upon entering Niagara River the OCEANICA struck an obstruction that broke her propeller blades and both vessels were left at the mercy of the current. The MASSASOIT stranded broad- side on the "nose" of the Buffalo Waterworks intake pier. All but about 50,000 feet of it was removed from the barge, the remainder being stacked below deck in the bow and stern. Efforts to free the MASSASOIT were fruitless and, as she represented a serious threat to the Buffalo water supply, she was blown up bit by bit over several days. It was necessary to use several smaller charges in order to prevent further damage to the intake pier. In the aftermath Capt. Boland filed suit against the owner of the propeller OCEANICA to recover $25,000 for loss of the MASSASOIT and her cargo of lumber. Verdict for the plaintiff, March, 1906. Decision reversed 17 February 1909. As JESSE LINN was ashore on Bois Blanc Island in September, 1881. Released by wrecking tug LEVIATHAN and taken to Milwaukee for repairs. ======================================================================== Sources: Merchant Vessel List - 1881 (as Jessie Linn),1885, 1891, 1900 Beeson's Marine Directory, 1898 Buffalo Courier, 22 December 1904 North Tonawanda Evening News, 28 & 29 December 1904 Buffalo Morning Express, 19 May 1905 Report of Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army - 1905 Buffalo Courier, 30 July 1905 Buffalo Courier, 7 February 1906 Buffalo Courier, 11 March 1906 Buffalo Courier, 18 February 1909