1876–1879 Manuscript Log & Financial Ledger of Connecticut Sea Captain Charles H. Bacon With Daily Routes, Tugboat, Coal, and Stone Operations of the Schooner George Gillum

On offer is the working log and financial ledger of a sea captain in the Connecticut River and coastal trade, moving coal and stone by water between the river towns of Connecticut and larger coastal markets.

The book belonged to Captain Charles Hubert Bacon (1843-1917). Captain C.H. Bacon was part of a lineage of New England sea captains whose coastal trade in raw materials laid the foundation for an expanding America, transporting the stone and coal that built the booming New York metropolis. See biographical notes for more on the Bacon family.

For nearly 100 pages, Bacon’s log tracks almost two years of his workload as Master of schooners, mainly the George Gillum, which historical newspaper records show Bacon as Master for many parts of the years 1876-1879. A further 38 pages at the rear of the diary act as a ledger of the Captain’s work-related debts and payments to local tugboats, laborers and others, providing further insight into the people and boats with whom he did business.

Capt. Bacon’s meticulous record keeping allows researchers to trace his exact routes and the expenses associated with his work. For example, on some days he would load up coal at Chappell’s Dock in New London, CT, from FH. Chappell & Co. on the Thames, and deliver to places like Gowanus Creek, Red Hook, and Harlem. He indicates stops at Portland, Haddam and Maromas, which were hubs for brownstone and granite quarries. He also references stops at other Eastern Seaboard hubs and ports such as Tottenville, New London, New Haven, Wethersfield, Rock Landing, Essex, and more.

The log is especially interesting for its repeated references to tugboat towing. Captain Bacon frequently notes when his schooner was taken in tow, identifying the tug, the route or location, and the amount paid. He is frequently towed by the O.V. Coffin, a steam tug built in 1870 in Philadelphia, PA., but he also worked with dozens of other captains and vessels in towing his schooner to its destinations.

Some of the dozens of other vessels he names are Steam Tugs, such as the Admiral Farragut, A.M. Smith, J. Warren Coulston. He similarly discusses many Steam Propellers such as the General A.E. Burnside, which was owned by Thames Tow Boat and Co. and captained at the time by Roswell M. Waterman. Finally, Capt. Bacon interacted frequently with other ship captains, such as Master Richard L. Buell, who at this time was master of the Gleam, a Sloop built in Brookhaven, New York. Excerpts:

“Towed to Saybrook by the tug O.V. Coffin $12.00…” [Nov 26, 1876].

“Cash for towing in and out of Gowanus Creek by the Hattie Backus $9.00. Sailed from Red Hook to Perth Amboy. Arrived at 3 PM” [Dec 5, 1877]

Tracking the daily minutiae of a 19th-century coasting captain such as Capt. C.H. Bacon down to the specific tugboats hired, the exact routes sailed, and the costs for wharfage and stevedores, is crucial. It transforms abstract economic history into tangible human reality.

These hyper-local ledger entries act as the raw, unfiltered data of the American Industrial Revolution, revealing the true, fluctuating market rates for labor and transport that official government summaries often smoothed over or missed entirely. By mapping these granular transactions, historians can reconstruct the intricate, messy supply chains that built modern cities, demonstrating exactly how independent contractors and everyday laborers physically drove massive economic shifts, one ton of coal and one block of brownstone at a time. Some representative excerpts follow: 

“Towing from Saybrook to Middletown by Tug AM Smith $15.00 Arrived at 12 Midnight” [April 26, 1877]

“Finished discharging and sailed to the Quarry. Cash for discharging 159 tons of coal at is $22,24” [April 27, 1877].

“Sailed from Off Old Field to Layhook Canchored at 2pm R Buell Pilot at Layhook Towing from Layhook to Middleton by the Tug J.W. Coulston $12.00” [May 12, 1877]

“Discharging stone for Samuel Dean & Bro [stoneyard in Brooklyn] Gowanus Creek…Tow for Help $10.50. Wharfage $6.00” [Dec 4, 1877]

This would be a highly desirable addition to a collection focused on maritime archives, the urban development of New York, or the Northeast coasting trade during the Industrial Revolution, offering a primary lens into the grit, stone, and everyday enterprise that literally built modern America.

Condition: The book is leather-bound, measures approx 5.75x3.5 inches and contains about 120 pages. It is 100% complete, with the majority of the book being Bacon’s daily log and embedded financial notes, and the final 38 pages being a ledger of financial transitions where he lists debts to be paid and payment dates. The manuscript is written in pencil and is legible. The cover, binding and pages are all in good condition with expected signs of age.

Bio Notes: Charles Hubert Bacon (1843-1917) was born in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut to parents, Captain Charles Bacon (1815-1902) and Eunice Bridgham (1816-1851). His father was a sea captain for many years, but by the 1870 census, the senior Bacon had given up sailing for a life of farming, which is how the young Cpt. Bacon was confirmed as the keeper of this log book.

In 1868, Capt C.H. Bacon married Adaline Annolia Bailey (1850-1930), and together they had at least seven children. One of their sons, Cpt. Charles Russell Bacon (1871-1937), continued the family tradition of captaining ships on the river, and after working his way up, was best known for commanding the SS Hartford, which ran between New York City and Hartford until 1931, when it was retired and scrapped.