Captain Ebenezer Harding Linnell, Capt

Most famous perhaps, of all of the Linnell captains, was Ebenezer Harding Linnell. By 1853 Eben had already distinguished himself in the cotton trade as Captain of the Cabinet and the Buena Vista. When the Eagle Wing was launched by James Curtis in his ship building yard at Medford, Mass., Captain Eben was promoted to the command of this sleek and beautiful ship. He took her out of Boston on her maiden voyage on December 20, 1853 headed for San Francisco, CA and a voyage of two years that would test both his skill and the seaworthiness of his ship.

Just four days out of Boston he ran into a hurricane in the North Atlantic that even Captain Eben said was more severe than any typhoon or hurricane he had ever witnessed. Two men were washed overboard and only one could be saved. In spite of this beginning though, he reached San Francisco in 105 days, and from there headed for China in the spring of 1854 and a consignment of tea for London. He left Foo Chow on 31 July 1854, survived a typhoon that nearly wrecked him again, and limped into the Thames in 113 days without a mizzen mast. His repair bill was high, 1470 pounds sterling, but so was his profit. His consignment of 1308 tons of tea could be sold at eight pounds sterling a ton.

Captain Eben's next two trips are those that cemented his reputation and that of his ship. He left London on 17 Apr. 1855 and arrived at Hong Kong 10 July after just 83 1/2 days, a record at which later clipper ships were to shoot in vain. His return trip was to New York and that was accomplished in 86 days, another remarkable record. On this trip he passed both the Joshua Bates and the Romance of the Seas.

He had been away from home two years and two months. In his well earned vacation of nine months he invented an improvement on the top sail rig that was to increase performance of the clippers and was used by sixty-four vessels, including a number of Shivrick-built ships, soon after it was patented.

It was about 1860 that Captain Eben commissioned his father-in-law Edmund Crosby to build a French style villa on the site of the Cape Cod house that had been built for his bride Rebecca Crosby in 1835. The new home was to be a duplicate of a house he had seen in Marsailles in 1850 and was owned by his shipping agent. His home was a delight to him and continues to this day to delight those who visit its rooms and eat the gourmet cuisine of the Captain Linnell House Restaurant on Namskaket Rd. in Orleans, MA.

In 1856 the Chases invited Captain Eben to take command of their new clipper, the Flying Mist. His voyages on this ship took him first to San Francisco, then to Valparaiso, Chile, then to Caldera, also on the coast of Chile. On this last leg he rescued all on board a yacht that was in distress and won the great devotion of the gentlemen who were rescued. From Chile he returned to the Chesapeake Bay on 23 Aug. 1857, thence to Singapore and Hong Kong and back to New York by way of Manila in time for Christmas, 1858 in Orleans.

It was while in Hong Kong at Thanksgiving time, 25 November 1859, and waiting for a cargo, that Capt. Eben gave a much remembered ball on board ship. Invited were all in port from the Governor to the shipmasters with their wives, and the report was of a very splendid occasion.

On another tour he departed Hong Kong for San Francisco then picked up a load of guano from Baker's Island in the Pacific to be deposited in New York. For the next year he remained at home with his wife and three daughters in Orleans, MA.

On his next voyage on the Flying Mist he ran into unexpected difficulties. He had picked up the Flying Mist in London in February, 1862, took her to Glasgow and there loaded her with 1760 sheep and 18 shepherds to look after them, enroute for New Zealand. He made the trip in 81 days and picked up a pilot at Bluff Harbor. The ship dragged both anchors with which she was secured, rammed into a rock, and became a total loss. A subsequent investigation found no explanation for the disaster.

He returned to the command of the Eagle Wing in 1863 and on a trip to San Francisco in 1864 in a squall, he was caught in a bight of the spanaker-boom vang while the sail was jibing and was dashed against the spokes of the wheel. Critically injured, he lived only a few days. "For native ability, energy, and shrewdness, few American shipmasters were his equal" (Kettridge, Henry C., Shipmasters of Cape Cod, Houghton Mifflin Co. 1935, pp. 199-205).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/ships/Clippers/Eagle_Wing(1853).html Eagle Wing A medium clipper ship built in 1853 by James O. Curtis, Medford, MA, USA. Dimensions 198'Ùj39'Ùj23' and tonnage 1174 tons. Required 600 tons of ballast to be able to stand without a cargo. 1853 October 4 Launched at the shipyard of by James O. Curtis, Medford, MA, for Chase & Tappan, Boston. 1853-1855 Under command of Captain Ebenezer H. Linnell. 1853 December 20 - April 5 Sailed from Boston to San Franciso in 105 days. Crossed the Pacific Equator 82 days out. [Cutler has a total passage of 115 days] 1855 April 17 - July 10 Sailed from London to Hong Kong in 84 days 22 hours anchor to anchor. 1854 July 31 - December 4 Sailed from Foochow to London in 113 days, having lost the mizzenmast and received other rigging damage on the voyage. 1855 April 17 - July 10 Sailed from London to Hong Kong in 83 days 12 hours pilot to pilot. 1855 November 22 - February 16 Sailed from Shanghai to New York in 86Ùa days. 1855 Captain Waters replaced Captain Linnell who had been appointed master of the new clipper ship Flying Mist. 1856 March 25 - July 23 Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 118 days. Was 100 miles from the Golden Gate when 112 days out. 1858 February 4 Sailed from Shanghai to New York in 103 days. 1858 June 30 - November 10 Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 131 days. In command of Captain Thomas Worth. 1859 March 13 - June 3 Sailed from Hong Kong to New York in 82 days. In command of Captain Worth. 1859 October 6 - February 3 Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 120 days. In command of Captain Worth. 1860 Sailed from San Franciso to New York in 90 days. 1860 October 8 - February 11 Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 122 days. In command of Captain Colby. 1862-1863 Under command of Captain Ebenezer H. Linnell. 1862 Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 119 days. 1863 July 18 Arrived at Falmouth 133 days out from Akyab. 1864 Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 140 days. Captain Linnell who was killed in an accident and command of the ship was assumed by the Mate Morrisson. He was subsequently discharged after having been found selling the ship's stores in San Francisco. 1864 Sailed from San Francisco to Boston in 98 days. 1865 February 11 Sailed from Boston for Bombay under command of Captain Hickey and was lost on the way. Posted missing in October the same year.

The lines of the Eagle Wing has been published in the The Historic American Merchant Marine Survey (1983). References: Clipper ships, general references. Cutler, Carl C.: Greyhounds of the Sea. The Story of the American Clipper Ship. United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, 1960. Fairburn, William Armstrong: Merchant Sail. Fairburn Education Foundation, Inc., Center Lover, ME, 1945-1955. Howe, Octavius T. & Matthews, Fredric C.: American Clipper Ships 1833-1858. Marine Research Society, Salem, 1926-1927. McLean, Duncan: The New Clipper Ship Eagle Wing, of Boston. The Boston Daily Atlas, December 1, 1853
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/ships/Clippers/Flying_Mist(1856).... Flying Mist A full-rigged clipper ship built in 1856 by James O. Curtis, Medford, MA. Dimensions 200" [loa]Ùj39"Ùj24" and 1183 tons Old Measurement. Rigged with double topsails and a main skysail. 1856 September 13 Launched at the shipyard of James O. Curtis, Medford, MA, for Theodore Chase and George B. Chase, Boston. Captain Ebenezer H. Linnell, late of the clipepr ship Eagle Wing, was given command of the ship. 1856 November 15 - March 12 Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 113 days. [H&M has 115 days] 1857 Sailed from San Francisco to Valparaiso in 43 days. 1857 August 23 - October 13 Sailed from Caldera, Chile, to New Point, VA, in 51 days, being only 37 days from Cape Horn. 1857 December 10 - May 25 Sailed from Philadelphia, PA; to Hong Kong. 1858 December 15 Arrived in New York from Manila. 1859 February 20 - June 26 Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 123 days. 1860 Sailed from San Francisco to Hong Kong in 42 days. 1860 Sailed from Hong Kong to San Francisco in 48 days. 1860 August 14 - December 14 Sailed from Baker's Island to New York with a cargo of guano. 1861 ?? - June 24 Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 119 days under command of Captain Foster. 1861 July 22 - January 30 Sailed from San Francisco to Queenstown by way of Mazatlan under command of Captain Stickney. 1862 May Left the Clyde for New Zealand with a general cargo and 1760 sheep together with 18 shepherds. 1862 August 26 Arrived at Bluff Harbour, NZ, but was blown ashore and wrecked during the night. The crew and the shepherds were saved as was 820 of the sheep but the rest of the cargo was lost. References: Clipper ships, general references. [McLean, Duncan]: The New Clipper Ship Flying Mist, of Boston. The Boston Daily Atlas, November 12, 1856. Updated 1999-11-23 by Lars Bruzelius The Maritime History Virtual Archives | Ships | American Clippers | Search.

Copyright à 1999 Lars Bruzelius.

He built the home on Namskaket Road for her- It is now the Captain Linnell House

• ** By 1853 he had already distinguished himself in the cotton trade as Captain of the Cabinet and the Buena Vista. When the Eagle Wing was launched by James Curtis in his ship building yard at Medford, MA, he was promoted to the command of this ship. He took her out of Boston, MA on her maiden voyage on December 20, 1853 headed for San Francisco, CA and voyage of two years. Just four days out of Boston he ran into a hurricane in the North Atlantic . Two men were washed overboard and only one could be saved. In spite of this beginning though, he reached San Francisco in 105 days, and from there headed for China in the Spring of 1854 and a consignment of tea for London. He left Foo Chow on 31 July 1854, survived a typhoon that nearly wrecked him again, and limped into the Thames in 113 days without a mizzen mast. His repair bill was high, but so was his profit. His consignment of 1308 tons of tea could be sold at eight pounds sterling a ton. He left London on 17 April 1855 and arrived at Hong Kong 10 July after just 83 ½ days, a record at which later clipper ships were to shoot in vain. His return trip was to New York and that was accomplished in 86 days, another remarkable record. On this trip he passed both the Joshua Bates and the Romance of the Seas. He had been away from home two years and two months. In his well earned vacation of nine months he invented an improvement on the top sail rig that was to increase performance of the clippers and was used by sixty-four vessels, including a number of Shivrick-built ships, soon after it was patented. It was about 1860 that Captain Eben commissioned his father-in-law Edmund Crosby to build a French style villa on the site of the Cape Cod house that had been built for his bride Rebecca Crosby in 1835. The new home was to be a duplicate of a house he had seen in Marsailles in 1850 and was owned by his shipping agent. In 1856 the Chases invited Captain Eben to take command of their new clipper, the Flying Mist. His voyages on this ship took him first to San Francisco, then to Valparaiso, Chile, then to Caldera, also on the coast of Chile. On this last leg he rescued all on board a yacht that was in distress and won the great devotion of the gentlemen who were rescued. From Chile he returned to the Chesapeake Bay on 23 Aug, thence to Singapore and Hong Kong and back to New York by way of Manila in time for Christmas, 1858 in Orleans.

On another tour he departed Hong Kong for San Francisco then picked up a load of guano from Baker's Island in the Pacific to be deposited in New York. For the next year he remained at home with his wife and three daughters in Orleans, MA. On his next voyage on the Flying Mist he ran into unexpected difficulties. He had picked up the Flying Mist in London in February, 1862, took her to Glasgow and there loaded her with 1760 sheep and 18 shepherds to look after them. enroute for New Zealand. He made the trip in 81 days and picked up a pilot at Bluff Harbor. The ship dragged both anchors with which she was secured, rammed into a rock, and became a total loss. A subsequent investigation found no explanation for the disaster. He returned to the command of the Eagle Wing in 1863 and on a trip to San Francisco in 1864 in a squall, he was caught in a bight of the spinnaker-boom while the sail was jibing and was dashed against the spokes of the wheel. Critically injured, he lived only a few days.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Linnell&GSfn=...