& MARCO POLO
Portrait of the Marco Polo from the Yarmouth County Museum.
The inscription says, "Marco Polo of Saint John, NB. Capt. Amos Crosby"
Amos Crosby
& MARCO POLO
Portrait of the Marco Polo from the Yarmouth County Museum.
The inscription says, "Marco Polo of Saint John, NB. Capt. Amos
Crosby"
Marco Polo was built by James Smith of Saint John, New Brunswick, and launched on April 18,1851. The Marco Polo was a square rigged ship of 2000 tons.
The first captain was William Thomas. The second captain was Amos Crosby of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. He was captain during 1852. He carried cotton from Mobile, Alabama to Liverpool, England in 35 days.
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Amos Crosby (1820-1882) |
This watch was given to Amos Crosby by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 for saving an American ship's crew and passengers off the U.S. coast. |
Marco Polo was the fastest ship in the world at its time. She had a special design that made her fast. When she was launched she slid across the river into the mud and bent her keel. Some people thought that she would never sail, but now others think that this helped make her faster. Her maiden voyage was to Liverpool; it took 15 days.
In 1852 James "Bully" Forbes was bringing 930 passengers from England to Australia where people would be looking for gold. He made the trip in 76 days. To keep his crew from going to look for gold he had them arrested on trumped up charges. He got them out of jail three weeks later when he had the ship ready. When they got on the ship it took 76 days to get back to England. This was the first return journey from England to Australia in less then 6 months.
In July 1883 the Marco Polo was old and was leaking very badly. She was passing by Cavendish, PEI. The captain knew the ship was going to sink so he ran it aground.
Lucy Maud Montgomery, who went on to write ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, saw the wreck.
By: Emma Crowell
