 boat building boat building ray mon 4122010 1345 biloxi boats   model biloxi catboat  biloxi maritime and seafood museum  model biloxi trawler   biloxi maritime and seafood museum  model biloxi schooner   biloxi maritime and seafood museum  biloxi rowing skiff   biloxi maritime and seafood museum  biloxi sailing skiff   biloxi maritime and seafood museum  biloxi schooners   he gumbel   henry clark   august   back bay shipyards   biloxi boat timeline   1855  the daily picayune february 20 1855 p 5  1880 on saturday january 3rd the castelaro  a fine schooner was  launched at point caddie it was built by marsh ridgeway for messrs lopez co and is intended to be used in the oyster business  she is a fine craft and the builder deserves credit for the workmanship manner in which the craft is built wine flowed freely and the launch will long be remembered by may 1880  castelaro was employed in bringing oysters from outside and planting them on the bedding grounds of lopez dukate these gentlemen intend to keep well supplied with oysters and be ready to meet the demand when the trade opens again the pascagoulademocratstar biloxi items january 30 1880 p 3 and may 21 1880 p 3  1890 captain john boardman was running the  relief  a steamer to ship island from biloxi for daily excursionist the steamer left biloxi at 900 am visitors were given two hours to visit fort massachusetts and the ship island lighthouse before returning to the mainland a new mathushek piano was on board the vessel for those who enjoyed music the relief  could also be chartered to make trips to other points along the coast at reasonable rates  the biloxi herald june 28 1890 p 4 and july 19 1890 p 4    1891 the old keno has come back beating the baucalache   and may h this week the keno is a 16foot roundbottom cat boat and is the fastest of her size on the coast having won 51 races of 56 sailed the biloxi herald june 20 1891 p 4 casimer harvey herve built the emma harvey in 1891 from russell barnesseptember 2020  1892 captain charles t tuero   18341909 the wellknown boat builder has just finished a beautiful catrigged boat which was launched yesterday on back bay the nina is the name of the new craft which is 26 feet at the keel 11 feet 4 inches beam with a draught of only 18 inches the nina was for sale in december 1895 the biloxi daily herald october 221892 p 4 and december 4 1895  1894 in may 1894 the new 18foot catboat  rosina  built by frank taltavull 18511930 was for sale by wallace montross of the montross hotel asking price 65 the biloxi herald may 26 1894 p 8  1895 the schooner queen of the fleet  owned by biloxians was conveyed for 1100 to mrs lj bidwell of pass christian she plans to use the vessel as a cruiser the biloxi herald august 24 1895 p 8  1896 in early may a sloop is launched and rigged at wn johnson s shipyard in biloxi and sailed to southern yacht club as joanne  the biloxi herald may 2 1896 p 8 and the daily picayune may 11 1896  frank taltavull  18511930 wellknown back bay ship buildrer has moved his plant to deer island  the biloxi herald august 22 1896 p 8  1897 nydia  a 30foot cabin sloop with a 9foot beam and built by william nels johnson  18611914 of biloxi mississippi was at the southern yacht club in new orleans and owned by john a rawlins  18671944 the vessel was built with oak frames and planked with 78 inch choice cypress the biloxi herald may 8 1897 p 5 the rowena  a stern wheel steamer built for lopez dunbar sons and company and costing about 5000 was under construction by frank taltavull  the vessel was to be utilized as a steam dredge with the capacity for 150 barrels of oysters the biloxi herald july 31 1897 p 8  1899 on 11 july 1899 w nels johnson launched jean for thomas sully new orleans architect at his back bay shipyard the motor yacht had two masts and was 42feet in length with an 8foot beam the biloxi daily herald july 13 1899 p 8 the lillie w was launched on september 2 1899 at the johnson shipyard on back bay for james s wentzell 18571936 the biloxi daily herald september 3 1899 p 8  1900 fabacher s yacht  semper idem  is here for the regatta  the biloxi daily herald august 26 1900 p 14  1901 two frank taltavull  18511930 built vessels the schooner    a gerdes and brother  and the steam tug  julius elbert  became involved on may 29 1901 captain antoine v bellande 18291918 was in command of the schooner in the mississippi sound en route to ocean springs the sevenman crew was below preparing for bed with a green sailor at the helm the weather roughened and his inexperienced allowed the vessel to capsize captain bellande and his crew were found by the  julius elber t  clinging to their stricken ship they were rescued and having lost all their possession to the sea the biloxi daily herald may 29 1901 the taltavull shipyard on back bay launched a large schooner for lopez dukate on october 1st yet to be named the vessel was 62 feet in length with an 18foot beam this was the second schooner built for them this year by taltavull the biloxi daily herald october 1 1901 p 8  1902  tony copaitich of biloxi drowned when his skiff capsized on the pass christian reef he was working for the dunbar canning company of bay st louis from the belle casino with captain toney bunicich at the helm the biloxi daily herald march 29 1902 p 4  1903  joe fountain s viola rose was launched at north biloxi in early september the biloxi daily herald september 3 1903 p 6 the wilda l and noretta l recently measured joined the fishing fleet of lopez dukate  the biloxi daily herald september 14 1903 p 6  julia l   biloxi s boat carpenters built 21 large vessels  in 1903 among them were  julia l for lopez dukate by wn johnson  henry for martin fountain sr by martin fountain sr  cayuga for william gorenflo by louis gorenflo  mayflower for martin fountain by martin fountain  noretta l for lopez dukate by wn johnson  wilda l for lopez dukate by wn johnon  anna k for lopez dukate by lopez dukate  kangaroo for august a bellias jr by pb hand  cairo for ec joullian by ec joullian  ollie ford for foster brothers by mike frazer  oxalis for ec joullian by ec joullian  oneida for william gorenflo by louis gorenflo  louisiana for gw dunbars sons by wn johnson  intrepid for g w dunbar sons by wn johnson  edna d for gw dunbar sons by wn johnson  clara l for arnaud lopez by frank taltavull  e lbert d  for wkm dukate by wn johnson  nemesis for elder bradford by wn johnson  viola rose for joseph fountain by mj caperal the daily herald november 17 1903 p 6  1904   wyandotte  probably moored at the wf gorenflo factory on back bay at main street another casimer harvey  18451904 built schooner depicted in this vintage postcard was the wyandotte  the  wyandotte  was constructed in 19031904 for william f gorenflo 18441932 pioneer biloxi seafood magnate and philanthropist the gorenflo factor y was situated on back bay near main street the vessel was measured by vincent j tucei deputy collector of customs in late january 1904 like the  emma harvey  the  wyandotte  was a victim of the 1916 july storm she was capsized and beat to pieces in back bay while owned by od gunn the biloxi daily herald january 27 1904 p 6 and the daily herald july 7 1916 p 7 the indian girl was launched in july at lazarus north biloxi by the trochesset brothers  the biloxi daily herald july 19 1904 p 5   the tulip built by mack flechas for ec joullian was measured at biloxi in october the biloxi daily herald october 10 1904 p5 southern yacht club commodore  john a rawlins sold nydia to a baldwin wood 18791956 in december  the daily picayune december 14 1904 p 12  1905 in late october the ethel redding built by jake covacevich for charles redding and the charles buckingham built by frank taltavull for himself were measured at biloxi the biloxi daily herald ocotber 31 1905 p 4 in 1905 the taltavull rerecich shipyard was in operation at 402 east back bay avenue it was sold by bernard taltavull to george melvin in august 1908 casimero rerecish 18581918 was an 1896 austrian probably croatian immigrant harco ms chattel bk 10 p 216 the sarah kennedy  a biloxi schooner recently built by martin fountain departed for the louisiana marshes on her maiden voyage the biloxi daily herald december 28 1905 p 1  1906 in early september  austrian girl  a new schooner was measured by vj tucei deputy collector of customs she was built by william n johnson for nick skrmetta the biloxi daiy herald september 5 1906 p 4  losses to back bay shiyards from the september 1906 storm were as follow martin fountain 500 bernard taltavull 400 and john brander 300 the goldbug  a schooner owned by peter eskald sank in front of the ways of brander s shipyard the biloxi daily herald september 28 1906 p 1  jc brander son boat builders was founded on back bay near main street in 1906  1907 a late september storm caught several biloxi boats shrimping in the louisiana marshes those driven ashore were the william coates owned by tony rosetti and dauntless of louis gorenflo other boats in the area were  henry m   nels johnson  and indian girl of the barataria canning company  wilda l and elbert d of lopez dukate  jolly traveler owned by willie bullock and dorenza of henry diaz the biloxi daily herald september 30 1907 p 1  1908 the new schooner  volunteer  built by casmir j harvey for louis gorenflo measures 488 feet x 179 ft x 34 ft and 15 tons gross the biloxi daily herald august 12 1908 p 2  1909 the power boat jerry owned by dunbars lopez dukate and two days out of morgan city louisiana sank in 70 feet of water in the gulf of mexico while headed for biloxi with 4000 cases of oysters the jerry was a duplicte of the tom  the was 80feet long and its twinscrews were powered by two 35hp globe engines the jerry was mained by captain rf gillen master robert nurse enginneer julius collins cook and george foretich of morgan city and peter harvey of biloxi the crew rowed a lifeboat to the ship shoal light the biloxi daily herald may 14 1909 p 8  j covacevich completed the ernestine d  a gasoline screw for ulysse desporte  it was measured in september 1909 as follows length 515 feet beam 178 feet and depth 38 feet the vessel s displacement was 19 gross tons and 10 net tons the daily herald september 9 1909 p 4 the september 1909 hurricane destroyed seven schooners and three men drowned at bay st louis when the watercraft were driven by strong windsy and trapped against the l n rr bridge and smashed reported lost were  clementine running for u desporte with charles lanston at the helm and adam kosczky drowned running for lopez dukate  jj cowar t owned by bernard taltavull lost with two negro crewmen  faultless owned by mrs dulion  margaret kennedy owned by kennedy kennedy with captain j christ and working for desporte  sidonis  ld byrd owner and sailed by cook seymour  fannie   v simonich owner running for desporte and the champion working for charles torch proprietor of the peerless seafood factory at bay st louis which was severely damaged the daily herald september 24 1909 p 3  1910   1911 in september 1911  john jelusich  18711945 was captain of the apache and was working in the louisiana marsh near white grass island for the gorenflo factory when his crew discovered the corpse of a young man tied to a stake they believed the body was placed there to be retrieved by parish officials  the daily herald september 6 1911 p 8    1912 jack covacevich recently completed the nellie l for arnaud lopez to be used in the shrimp and oyster industry the daily herald march 7 1912 p 8 in early july the eveline desporte recently built by anson holley  18821967 for ulysses desporte ran a trial race with the jennie johnson a similar schooner the holleybuilt biloxi schooner did well and when fitted with top sails should be competitve in sailing races the daily herald july 8 1912 p 8  1913 marine news william gorenflo sold gladiola  a schooner to louis gorenflo new licnse issued to the mercedes baltar  owned by martin fountain jr rigging of the g frentz was changed from schooner to gasoline screw george d long master and edgar s balthrope owner schooner ida may h  matteo surdich 18861973 master schooner  clara lacoste raymond barber master and gladiola frank perez master the daily herald march 7 1913 p 1  marine news schooner ethel sold by da ramsay to chris lawrence and walter h latimer  austrian girl sold by nick skermetti sic to marco and john skermetti sic change of masters schooner winchester lewis ryan schooner velma b john gabriel schooner  austrian girl rudolph santa cruz schooner annie strong john jelusich schooner eva foster paul fountain schooner reflector john tapper schooner lillie w wh williams schooner  new design tony stanovich schooner  ethel emil carron schooner  ruthie stip mihojevich schooner pawnee tony rosetti schooner foucher d  francis ryan schooner  alina pj trochessett gas screw tom harry chatham gas screw peerless perry winchester and gas screw mabel nelson joseph fountain license renewals gas screws  osage and mattie j  and sea lion  a schooner barge the daily herald april 13 1913 p 2  john charles brander  18431913 native of nova scotia and biloxi resident since 1906 passed at his home at 421 copp street in june 1913 he came to biloxi from pascagoula mississippi where was engaged in shipbuilding the daily herald june 16 1913 p 8  1914 william nels johnson  18611914 biloxi s master boatwright died at nola on june 26th johnson had relocated to nola circa 1909 and built boats in the crescent city the daily herald june 26 1914 p 1  henry brasher s wonder on starboard tack passing the byc the brasher brothers  isom brasher and henry brasher  ship carpenters in north biloxi completed two schooners  miracle and wonder  respectively in july both vessels were 57 feet in length with a beam of 18 feet and a hold depth of 4 feet the daily herald july 16 1914 p 2  1915 on july 2 nd  augustus gussie fountain   18831926 registered his newly built  clara fountain   a fishing schooner with lewis e curtis us deputy collector of customs the large vessel was named for gussie s spouse  clara noble  18871939 the clara fountain  was 537 feet long 18 feet at the beam and 14 feet deep it went to work for the fosterfountain packing company who already had the schooners  mercedes baltar   and leroy  in their fishing fleet  the daily herald july 3 1915 p 8   in august  fred moran completed a 30foot motor launch for dunbars lopez and dukate to be used to tow vessels at their brunswick georgia factory  the daily herald august 4 1915 p 2 the  american girl  sank with a load of oysters near half moon island st bernard parish louisiana in middecember captain peter parker was fishing for the desporte brothers he was accompained by captain james parker master of the  new resident  when the incident occurred the  eccentric  a gasoline boat was sent to salvage the oyster catch but she also sank the  american girl   was raised and working again in short time the daily herald december 18 1915 p 1 decemebr 23 1915 p 2 and december 30 1915 p 2  1916  in june the following schooners and thier masters were listed by the deputy collector of customs  ida may h  luka kuljis  esther reddin gwalter seymour  evelyn desporte vincent gospodonivich  wonder jake rosetti  marvel sam marinovich  mercedes balta rgeroge misko 18781971  ocean queen martin fountain jr  anne mabey joe benezue  edna d james spindler  margerie d license renewed  commanche peter wescovich  lillian c js creel  irma d  gasoline screw rudolph santa cruz  algonquin delmas lattimer  mettle arnie blodenich  regina edna frank barhonvich  american girl joe kriss apacheeugene tiblier  clara fountain augustus gussie fountain 18831926  valley reddin gjohn cox and winiford b  hudson johnson the daily herald june 10 1916 p 3  jf joullian filed suit requestins 3000 in damages against the l n rr for alleging that the company sawed his schooner in half and burned it after it was beached on thier tracks at lake shore by virtue of the september 1915 hurricane the daily herald november 24 1916 p 1 in december  jd jackiejack covacevich  18751962 completed the young champion for john sumich of nola the vessel was a gasoline screw 503 feet long 155 feet at the beam with a depth of 38 feet and valued between 3000 and 4000 dollars the daily herald december 18 1916 p 3  1917 the international shipbuilding company was chartered in january by henry piaggio 18741921 of gulfport barney e eaton 18781944 of gulfport and dr mcinnis of orange texas the daily herald february 3 1917 p 2  lewis e curtis  deputy collector of customs said that at least fifty boats have been built in biloxi shipyards in the last two months the majority of these vessels were constructed for the sea food industry among those building watercraft in biloxi were  francis brander  18861965  martin fountain   jacob d jackiejack covacevich  18751962  isham brazier   henry brazier   anson holley  18821967 and the moran shipyard  these new vessels are usually 25 to 30 feet in length and average about 200 per boat the daily herald january 31 1917 p 1 the brander shipyard is negotiating with the us goverment to build a submarine chaser every two months the 130ton vessels would be 110 feet long 15 feet at the beam with a depth of 14 feet the daily herald april 5 1917 p 1 the biloxi shipyard and box factory was chartered in june 1917 by francis brander   18861965  mrs jc  emma  brander  18621925 and j frank stuard  18661941 of gulfport harrison co mississippi chattel bk 18 p 379  lewis e curtis  deputy collecor of customs measured the sarah ford  a schooner built by anson holley 18821967 for mrs ji ford of pascagoula as 28 gross tons and 17 tons net 58 feet long with a 194fot beam and depth of 38 feet the vessel has been leased to the cb foster packing companty to be used for shrimp and oyster haresting the seafood company has four schooners being built by the biloxi shipyard and box factory which will between 1800 and 2300 the fountain brothers are building a schooner for themselves and anson holley is constructing another schooner for mrs ji ford the daily herald july 7 1917 p 5 and july 12 1917 p 1  henry e gumble  in 1917 the seafood company built four biloxi schooners for their fishing fleet these four nearly identical watercraft were constructed on biloxi s back bay at the biloxi shipyard and box factory the first three boats were  i heidenheim   he gumbel  and louis goldman  the fourth schooner was called anna may  their measurements were as follows length545 feet breadth188 feet depth44 feet gross tonnage28 tons and net tonnage19 tons the daily herald september 13 1917 p 3 russell barnes a biloxi author model builder and schooner historian relates that these four boats were designed by jackie jack covacevich and were built right along side each other at the biloxi shipyard and box factory owned by the branders these were a bit different from the traditional biloxi schooner in that they were all spoon bowed instead of clipper bowed otherwise they were fairly typical centerboard schooners on the admeasurement papers i found in the national archives jackie jack is listed as the builder on two of the schooners  i heidenheim and l goldman  while francis brander is listed as the builder on the other two  anna eve and he gumbel it is fairly obvious that jackie jack cut the half model and lofted the boat himself he then created the templates for each piece of the hull frame and then cut four copies of everything so that four schooner could be simultaneously and to the exact same measurements email february 29 2010 in september  anson holley completed the edna may for the cb foster packing company the vessel was measured by lewis e curtis us deputy collector of customs as followes length 563 feet beam 194 feet hold depth 42 feet the daily herald september 18 1917 p 3  1918 in january 1918  international shipbuilding company at pascagoula had four vessels of which the frames were nearly completed they were driving piling to construct a new set of ways  international was building a company town on its land as fast as materials could be procured the housing erected was for their employees the dierksblodget company also at pascagoula also had the frames for four ships nearly finished  the first vessel to be launched would be called the pascagoula  the daily herald january 22 1918 p 2 in january 1918 the gulf ship company of pascagoula acquired the shipyard of george frentz  18411928 for 7500 mr frentz had decided to sell because he had reached retirement age the gulf ship company was owned by af dantzler   bg boaz  and hh colle  18791955 the ln dantzler lumber company owned fifteen vessels which could utilize this shipyard for overhauls and repairs   the daily herald january 22 1918 p 2 and january 30 1918 p 6  devittclark packing company borrowed 25000 from charles redding and listed their boats as follows schooners  joe lawrence   ocean queen   henry clark  and lilly rose  barge  black box  motor boats sunny boy zuzudora hunter cuba and cracker jack trawlers no 1 thru no 5 skiffsfifteen and nine large seines the daily herald april 23 1918 p 5 the elizabeth ruth  a 193foot schooner  was launched on june 15th catherine lopez daughter of julius lopez had the honors the large vessel was built on back bay by the mississippi shipbuilding corporation and designed by zona w carter  18791953 a biloxi resident and named for the daughter of englishman william hasketh lever  18511925  lord lever  founder of soap manufacturers lever brothers   the daily herald june 12 1918 p 1 june 15 1918 p 1 and june 17 1918 p 3  1919 in january the joseph leopold  a fourmasted schooner built for jf stewart of gulfport was measure by customs agent lewis curtis as follows length180 feet beam38 feet and depth13 feet gross weight668 tons net weight573 tons the joseph leopold was built by jd covacevich at the biloxi shipyard and box factory on back bay the daily herald january 23 1919 p 1 in february the first schooner built by the biloxi drydocks and shipbuilding company was sailed to portugal with a cargo of lumber by captain frank castanera for delivery the vessel was 100 gross tons 700 net tons and the first of seven contracted the boatyard employed about 160 men and managed by claude daughdrill  hd money was president of the company the daily herald february 19 1919 p 1 and april 11 1919 p 1 the second ship launched by the international shipbuilding at pascagoula was city of biloxi  an auxuliary barkentine the daily herald april 22 1919 p 1  1920 the following factory schooners were entered in the 1920 annual biloxi regatta cb foster packing company  edna may and the sarah ford  dunbardukate company  marjorie d and the willie ewing  seafood company  louis goldman   henry gumbel  and i heidenheim  the daily herald july 1 1920 p 3  1921 the biloxi shipyard and box factory filed for bankruptcy on june 15th the end of the shrimp and oyster season as well as a declining market for boats and lumber were blamed for the approximate 23000 insolvency of the company the daily herald june 16 1921 p 8 in july the frentz shipyard had a large boat on the ways the el rito of new orleans was in the yard for repairs the daily herald july 26 1921 p 3  henry piaggio  18741921 1882 italian immigrant from genoa and founder of international shipbuilding at pascagoula mississippi  expired at mississippi city harrison county mississippi on december 19 1921  margaret piaggio 18781955 his ohio born spouse died on march 7 1955 their corporal remains were interred in the evergreen cemetery at gulfport the daily herald december 20 1921 p 1  1922 fred moran s shipyard launched the biloxi  a 41foot 11foot beam  cabin cruiser for a nola cotton broker  the vessel had a 6075 hp scripps 6cylinder engine six pullman berths and the capacity for fifty people the naomi   utilized in the supper tourist trade was overhauled for captain ernest moran sr   ojo ohr was having a runabout built powered by a pierce arrow automobile engine capable of 2025 miles per speed and planned to be raced in the july biloxi regatta  the daily herald june 20 1922 p 3  1925 the silver moon  a 53foot pleasure craft built owned by edwin l moran  18881951 and designed by jack covacevich   18751962 was launched in midjune on back bay it was powered by a 125 hp sterling engine and was touted as the fastest pleasure boat on the mississippi coast the silver moon was moored at the riviera pavilion and had the capacity to carry an estimated 150 passengers to the barrier islands the daily herald june 22 1951 p 10 on the eve of july 5 1925 the isle of caprice resort opened for business  fun seeking tourists departed for the resort from landings at the biloxi yacht club white house riviera pavilion and wachenfeld s pier the silver moon   commanded by ed l moran 18881951 the brother of ap fred moran 18971967 of ocean springs   jolly jack   charles redding   and margaret  provided transportation in the new pavilion music was made by the buena vista orchestra  the daily herald july 6 1925 p 3         the daily herald july 31 1925 p 3    1926  in june  captain peter skrmetti  master of the pan american   a converted biloxi schooner made excursion trips to the isle of caprice and the other barrier islands the vessel had a length of 66 feet with a 22foot beam and a seating capacity of 200 and a maximum passenger capacity of 300 there was also a small dancing platform on the boat it made two trips daily from desporte s pier for the isle of caprice   the biloxi news may 30 1926 p 1 and june 6 1926 p 20    captain ernest l moran  18881951 son of francis d moran and elizabeth l vanderpool and brother of ap moran 18971967 of ocean springs commanded the iona louise   a biloxi charter boat in september 1926 he announced that his vessel would discontinue daily trip to ship island instead it would make the voyage to the isle of caprice departing at 145 pm from the buena vista and biloxi yacht club piers the iona louise left the islet at 600 pm  the daily herald september 1 1926 p 2   additional marine transportation service to the isle of caprice was provided by the silver moon operated by captain ed moran 18811951 and the water witch of captain foster swetman 18931953   the biloxi news may 30 1926 p 1    schooner helen   now lavengro  this is the schooner yacht helen  built for the denegre family by jackie jack covacevic h in 1926 i will have to see who owned her in 1947 but i know she was still local today she is named lavengro and is in seattle owned by the northwest schooner society i think that is the name of the group per russell barnes february 16 2020  1927 the altha of the desporte packikng company returning from the oyster grounds of louisiana ran aground in the fog near ship island   captain caanan and his five crewman swam to the island and were provided food and warm clothing by ship island lighthouse keeper captain clarisse  the altha lost about 0nehalf of her harvested oysters the daily herald march 8 1927 p 1 when placed into service in may 1927 the nonpareil was the largest pleasure craft ever used in the barrier island service of the mississippi gulf coast the vessel had been acquired from the us government and had served as a pilot boat the nonpareil was 100 feet in length with a 19foot beam and had the capacity to carry about 250 passengers to the isle of caprice or for fishing charters power generated from two wolverine 4cycle full diesel 70s of the ellis type costing 12000 drove the vessel at about 15 mph the nonpareil was captained by mb spottswood and peter harvey while captain lee bosarge located fish for the clientele the craft was refurbished at the frentz brothers shipyard on back bay for the isle of caprice amusement company led by promoters walter h hunt and arbeau caillavet  the daily herald may 6 1927 pp 12   1928  after the 1927 tourist season had ended hunt and caillavet had the  nonpareil   completely overhauled and refurbished at the brasher shipyard in north biloxi the brashers created the  new  nonpariel   by removing the superstructure of the vessel and replacing it with new decks glassenclosed cabins and dance floor and a new pilothouse the relatively new diesel engines were not replaced and the vessel s passenger capacity was increased to 350 persons it appears that the nonpareil was motored to the frentz brothers shipyard on back bay at biloxi for her finishing touches when the elmer packing company which was situated to the east of the shipyard burned to the ground on january 31 1928 the   nonpareil  was almost completed and fortunately was not damaged by the large conflagration the daily herald january 19 1928 p 2 and january 31 1928 p 2   1929 covacevich sons at their back bay shipyard are completing the mary jane  a spoon model schooner similar to the i heidenheim   l goldman   anna eve  and he gumbel built for the sea food company in 1917 the vessel was 69 feet in length wih a 19foot beam the daily herald may 9 1929 p 8  jack covacevich  18751962 will launch a new schooner on may 29th at his shipyard on back bay near oak street the vessel was 57 feet long with a 18foot beam and was built for the biloxi canning company and is the 217th watercraft built in biloxi by mr covacevich and his two sons the boat will be rigged for the gulf schooner championship race to be held at the biloxi yacht club in july the daily herald may 28 1929 p 3  jack covacevich  18751962 completed the american beauty  a 48foot gas screw for vincent rosetti it was owered by a 25 hp palmer engine the daily herald august 17 1929 p 1  jules galle completed the eunice c  a 44foot oil screw for william cruso it was powered by a 24 hp lathrop engine the daily herald august 17 1929 p 1  ai fountain finished the thelma b  a 44 foot x 15 foot x 4 foot oiler powered by a 24 hp lathrop engine at north biloxi for n byrd the daily herald august 17 1929 p 1  peter skrmetti was delivered on time from a pascagoula shipyard the daily herald august 17 1929 p 1  mike halat  18791929 drowned in lake borgne when fell off the arcadia run by captain steve rodolfich halat s body was found near the rigolets by captain vincent kuluz of the annie long  the daily herald august 31 1929 p1  1930 the mercedes williams  a biloxi launch was captured near galveston texas in april 1930 by the uscg and charged with engaging in illicit trade and failing to heave to when challenged after 14 shots were fired the vessel was built biloxi by ed lebatard and was licensed at gulfport in september 1928 in the name of dejean packing company the mercedes williams was found stranded on a reef in galveston bay circa 1929 with liquor valued at 75000 in her hold  the vessel was sold by the federal government on december 23 1929 the daily herald april 21 1930 p 2 the  jennie johnson  an auxiliary schooner owned by louis o johnson received fire damage amounting to 150 on april 20 1930 captain hub terrell was burned on his arm and torso from the fire which emanated from the ignition of gasoline vapors in the vessel s cabin when terrell lit a match the  jennie johnson  had just returned from the outside oyster reefs with a hold laden with mollusks and was moored at the johnson canning company wharf biloxi firemen were called to the vessel and performed admirably saving the boat and its cargo the cabin was burned as well as some of the decking and the mainsail was badly damaged by the conflagration the daily herald april 21 1930 p 2 on may 17 1930 the indian girl owned by kuluz brothers packing company while fishing in louisiana waters blew up and burned near mitchell sic island  captain vincent visco kuluz  18991987 was badly burned and the crew rescued by the uscg loss estimated at 5000 matthew kuluz md on july 26 2016 the biloxi daily herald july 19 1904 p 5 the daily herald may 18 1930 and august 17 1929 p 1  1931   1932 whilomena  a power boat owned by marko skrmetti of the deer island fish oyster company and operated by captain henry green ran aground off west beach between fayard and caillavet streets the daily herald may 6 1932 p 2  1933   1934 in june the albatross  a 75000 sailing yacht that had been designed and built for the uscg  was making daily trips to ship island from the buena vista pier the recreation center on ship island owned by the joe graham post of the american legion at gulfport had a restaurant casino beer garden located on the parapet walls and in the interior of old fort massachusetts there were also sleeping quarters in the fort the daily herald june 26 1934 p 2 on august 12 1934  jj ben o keefe  18941954 christened the   big ben o keefe   a 40foot fishing vessel built for the cruso canning company of william cruso  the boat was built by adolph toche  19001988 at the parker shipyard on back bay and was the seventeenth of the cruso fleet big ben o keefe had a 17foot beam and could haul 175 barrels of oysters captain pete wescovich chose to honor mr o keefe the daily herald august 13 1934 p 8  adolph toche commenced building boats on biloxi s east beach  1936 about 100 boats were built at biloxi in 1936 on back bay   jules galle built twelve boats among these his ship carpenters built one for visko viskorich of empire louisiana and one for john mixad at the fred moran boatyard joe and hypolite fountain built the golden hope  a 45foot trawler at the foot of holley street  ursand a parker  18781960 launched a 57foot lugger for john evonich on lee street near back bay benney yeager and jc yeager his son completed the elda louise  for james powell and wk skinner a 40foot trawler for lyman yeager was to be launched in ten days jc yeager was building a 26foot trawler for himself the yeagers were starting a 42foot craft for pe lamey and a pleasure craft for wg gerrard was being built  oral fatty jack covacevich on back bay at the foot of crawford street launched the eva marie  a 53foot fishing boat for grego taliancich 19121988 and matteo taliancich of 3rd street and working for the kuluz brothers on east beach  the toche brothers boatyard situated between cedar and pine street was the largest shipyard on the mississippi coast presently building three shrimpoyster boats maitre pitalo was expected his 49foot boat in midseptember and about the same time mavar fish oyster company would get a 47foot lugger william cruso had a two month wait for his 55foot shrimp boat the toche brothers had just completed the buda  a 52foot fishing boat for peter sekul the anna williams  a 47footer for peck williams and the antonia margare t  a 52foot boat for the mavar fish oyster company louis and sydney manuel built a workpleasure vessel on the lawn of louis manuel on roy street it was launched into back bay at holley street the daily herald august 29 1936 p 1 collector lewis curtis us customs registered the following boats at biloxi in the first eight months of 1936  annie l   dudley lang  cecile  miss elizabeth misko  cal williams  dejean packing company  doris m  martin fountain sr  dorothy t   mrs hm toche  della moore  mr and mrs lb moore  evelyn k  pf pevrie of gulfport  irisbeverly  dubaz brothers  lucky bill  henry green  mary b  mrs mary braneki  miss roumania  john cocojar  milna  philipich brother  progress  arthur baker  pearl s   pearl stanovich  pete pitalo  mateo pitalo  queen mary  antonio pitalo  rose  joe berry  ronald boy  ophelia williams  rose marie  mrs lillian krohn  rose mar y  roland creel  sea queen  ralph baker  silver king  john e graham of coden alabama  wallace s  steve c sekul  buda  peter sekul  anna williams  carroll williams jr  anthony boy  tony baricev  antonia margaret   mavar fish oyster company  eva marie  grego and matthew taliancich  elda louise  james f powell and william k skinner and golden hope  mrs agnes fountain the daily herald august 29 1936 p 1 in late august he liberty bell  a 38foot by 114foot power boat which took three months to build by sydney manuel and louis manuel was launched and put into service for the dorganmcphillips packing company the liberty bell was powered by a red seal continenetal motor equipped to burn parafin she had a top speed of 10 mph and hed the capacity to carry 80 barrels of shrimp and 150 barrels of oysters the daily herald september 2 1936 p 5 the dejean packing company launched a new type vessel the eustis mcmanus  the boat was built at the covacevich shipyard and was 48feet long with 15foot beam and was powered by a 24 horsepower lathrop engine the daily herald november 2 1936 p 5  1937  the daily herald may 29 1937 the  pan american clipper  a 15000 diesel powered excursion boat recently completed by toche brothers shipyard on east beach has been operating for several weeks between biloxi and ship island with captain peter skrmetta at the helm the vessel was built for the mavar fish and oyster company and runs at 12 mph the boats runs from her main landing at the foot of delaunay street baltar pier and makes stops at the buena vista hotel biloxi and white house piers  on its regular schedule of three trips daily  the daily herald march 30 1937 p 3 may 29 1937 p 6 and june 25 1938 p 3 on june 19th the  covacevich ship yard lauched the seawanhaka ii   for eddie keep a retired nola banker the vessel was 30 feet in length with a 7 foot beam buckingham of biloxi made the sails for the marconi rigged sloop which was to compete in local regattas the daily herald june 19 1937 p 6  francis brander  18861965 launched the catherine pitalo for alex pitalo the vessel was 54 feet long 164 feet at the beam and powered by a 36 horsepower lathrop engine this was the twelfth boat constructed at the brander yard on back bay adjacent to the southern shell packing company factory mr brander and willie bowen are now laying the keel for a 54 foot by 16 foot power boat for john mixad they are also building a 40 foot by 12 foot vessel for t creel which will be launched in ten days the daily herald july 12 1937 p 5 in september the covacevich ship yard began work on a new 64foot yacht for ew reed of magnolia mississippi the vessel to be called mary ellen ii had a 17foot beam and 5foot draft and was powered by a 200 hp diesel mr reed sold the mary ellen to bs d aantonio captain eddie cannette will sail and maintain the vessel for ew reed the daily herald september 30 1937 p 2  henry fountain completed the jean fountain  a 565foot by 164foot motor vessel for the biloxi canning company the jean fountain  was to dredge oysters with her 36 hp engine the daily herald november 16 1937 p 2  1938 ingalls shipbuilding was organized by robert ingersoll ingalls sr  18821951 robert i ingalls jr 19061968 monro bannister lanier 18871970 and wr guest the ingalls yard was situated at the mouth of the east pascagoula river on the site of the 1917 international shipbuilding yard of henry piaggio 18741921 et al the daily herald february 25 1959 p s10  1940 on new year s day  felix olier  19071940 native of lafayette louisiana  drowned when he fell from the clara lopez  owned by jack lopez and working for the cruso canning company the daily herald january 2 1940 p 1 on february 7th  a fire at the jd covacevich shipyard on back bay  which was investigated by alonzo l gabrich police chief and evon swetman asst fire chief and determined to be arson caused 6000 damage to the hull and deck of a 64foot freight boat  the vessel was under construction for the burwood packing company  the frame of a boat being built for stamps farrar  nola attorney received about 100 from the conflagration the daily herald february 8 1940 p 1 the seajoy corporation was operating three vessels from the riviera hotel pier for deepsea fishing boat rides and swimming parties to the barrier isalnds  captain l j herrman ran the sea queen  a 58foot long watercraft which could sleep fourteen two chris craft deluxe clippers were also used for charters the daily herald may 13 1940 p 3  august carl hartman  19121940 died suddenly on may 13th while aboard the june rose  a 42foot trawler owned by laz quave and roy rosalis the vessel was located between main pass and chandeleur island when hartman expired the daily herald may 14 1940 on june 8th  ingalls shipbuilding  at pascagoula launched the   exchequer   an 18000 ton an  allwelded ship  the daily herald june 8 1945 p 1  1941 in early february the louis goldman with captain joseph spanner 18991980 at the helm caught fire and sank in the biloxi channel west of the biloxi lighthouse  the vessel valued at 4000 was enroute to the pass christian oyster reefs with a crew of six it had left the biloxi canning company on back bay the captain and crew were rescued from the water by nettie  a boat that also belonged to the biloxi canning compnay the daily herald february 3 1941 p 1 captain eddie ford and the bonnie yvonne   a power boat again brought artifacts from a sunken vessel that he had disocvered fifteen miles south of bay st louis in the st joe s channel  captain ford had recovered in his trawl  a musket 3 cannon balls and other relics  which he brought to biloxi the daily herald february 12 1941 p 8  corbett summerlin  18921941 native of theodore alabama and crewman on the lillian holley which was run by captain joe wilson  drowned on march 7th near the southern shell fish company factory on back bay  the daily herald march 8 1941 p 1  westergard shipyard  far left  the biloxi port commission accepted the 43322 bid of general contractor currie corley of hattiesburg mississippi to erect a steel building  18486  to be used as a boat plant at the foot of holly street sic on east back bay albert j ragusin was awarded the plumbing contract 3549 ray v pisarich electrical  1522  and roofing  1365  to biloxi roofing and sheet metal  the daily herald april 16 1941 p 1  elmo kates  19171941 son of malisso kates  drowned five miles southwest of bay st louis when he fell from the maybelle   a 12ton oyster schooner  working for the johnson canning company  the crew consisted of captain jack shoemaker walter barnes carl king and edwin king the daily herald april 21 1941 p 1  ernest lee jahncke  18771960  native of nola former asst secretary of the navy and former biloxi summer resident  and wellknown gulf coast yachtman  has accepted the post of special representative of the bureau of ships gulf area for the us navy  the daily herald may 19 1941 p 8  ingalls launched the ss african comet on june 28th the  4099000 vessel was four hundred eightynine feet long  had a sixtynine foot beam and a twentyseven foot draft it was built for the american south african lines  the daily herald june 14 1941 p 1 a twelve mile match race between the  bill cruso sailed by larney summerlin 18971955 for the cc canning company against the  cal williams with captain thornton of dejean packing at the helm was contested on august 11th the two hour contested ended with the bill cruso winning by 20 seconds  the daily herald august 12 1941 p 5  ingalls ship building  aj grassick general manager at pascagoula contracted with the us maritime commission for 150000000 to build thirtyone ships in the next two years the allwelded steel vessels would be cargo passenger and a combination cargopassenger ship s and finished by the end of 1943 the daily herald september 13 1941 p 1 in early september the us navy awarded westergard boat works a contract to build two wooden vessels  the daily herald september 19 1941 p 1  by midseptember the 16month efforts of the biloxi port commission and from city officials and leading biloxi citizens were nearly realized with the completion of the westergard boat works on back bay at the foot of lee street   i daniel gehr  18951959 local architect supervised the construction of the warehouse fabricating buiulding loft and drafting buildings general offices and work sheds the larger strutures were of fabricated steel construction with concrete foundations while the smaller buildings were modern frame structures  currie corley of hattiesburg mississippi was the general contractor while other employed to erect the shipyard were iron steel products company  albert j ragusin plumbing   ray v pisarich electrical   and roofing biloxi roofing and sheet metal  the jackson county dredge built the channel into the boatyard which had a 400foot frontage on back bay   the daily herald september 20 1941 p 3 in early october a strike at ingalls shipbuilding in pascagoula was averted when afl union welders walked off the job due to a disagreement in the pay scale  shipyard management and the afl union reached a quick agreement and the shipyard lost little time working on allwelded cargopassenger vessels for the american south african line and the us maritime commission  the daily herald october 2 1941 p 1 and october 3 1941 p1 on october 21st  ingalls laid the keel for uss monitor  the first of four submarine net layers to be built at th eyard for 50000000  the vessels were about the same size as the c3 cargo ships  496 feet in length with a 69foot beam the daily herald october 21 1941 p 1article acclaimed that this was the first warship ever built in mississippi   the westergard boat works laid the keel for a us navy submarine chaser on october 21st the second submarine chaser  of the two boat navy contract was  commenced in early november 1941   frederick d lawley  18781953  boston naval architect  designed the vessels the daily herald october 22 1941 p 1 and november 5 1941 p 1  1942 ingalls launched the ss pass christian on november 20th it was the 4th vessel named for a mississippi coast community the ss pass christian was renamed uss fred c ainsworth in 1943 the daily herald november 21 1942 p 1 on december 1 1942 the  westergard boat works was recognized again for its excellence in building boats  and barges 8 th district naval headquarters awarded the plant with the navy e pennant with two white stars the boatyard was first lauded for its work in february 1942  the daily herald november 30 1942 p 6    ingalls launched the   ss sea hound   an all welded cargo ship   on december 19th it was the 17th c3 ship vessel built the ss sea eagle had been recently completed the daily herald december 21 1942 p 1  1943 the uss biloxi  cl80 was launched 23 february at newport news virginia by katherine g braun   18921983 spouse of biloxi mayor louis e braun 18901951 construction began 9 july 1941 in february 1943 the heirsatlaw of claudia g vick dacey 18691937 and marguerite dacey 19001942  executed a oneyear lease with an option to purchase to officials of the westergard boat yard william p kennedy ii 18731951 victor b pringle 19091977 thomas n pringle 19061970 james w pringle 19141971 and wb goodman a copartnership on three tracts of land situated on rhodes point on the back bay of biloxi  these three contiguous tracts which were bisected by bayview avenue ran north for over 800 feet to back bay and were for the part 185 feet in width the lease ran from february 20 1943 to february 20 1944 and cost 1200 per year if the option were executed during the lease period the dacey heirs would sell their three parcels for 8000 harrison co chancery court land deed bk 255 p 69  ss sea darter  later renamed uss henrico  apa45 image made during vietnam era  ingalls shipbuilding at pascagoula mississippi launched the ss sea corsair and ss sea darter on march 31 1943 the daily herald march 30 1943 p 1 on june 18th  westergard launched its 2nd composite oil barge  the  2000000 contract called for the construction of thirty oil barges to haul petroleum products from texaslouisiana to jacksonville florida via the intracoastal waterway the hydrocarbons were offloaded to other barges for shipment to cities on the atlantic seaboard the barges were 160 feet long 34 feet wide and 10 12 feet deep with the capacity for 6000 barrels james w pringle was superintendent of the boatyard and connie collins supervised construction the daily herald june 19 1943 p 1 the uss gulfport  pf20 a 303foot frigate was launched on 21 august at the american ship building company yard in cleveland ohio  the vessel was christened by mrs john c chambers nee porter of gulfport mississippi the ship s sponsor mrs pat harrison sr was the matron of honor during wwii the vessel served convoy duty between america and north africa  she was sold for scrap at seattle washington in november 1947  the daily herald august 27 1943 p 1 the ss sea owl was launched at ingalls on october 29 1943 the daily herald october 21 1943 p 7  ingalls shipyard1940s  the ingalls ship building company at pascagoula mississippi was praised for its war efforts by the director of the us maritime commission the daily herald november 4 1943 p 3  william l stallings  18951943  foreman at the westergard boat works  died suddenly at his home on december 11th the daily herald december 13 1943 p 2 the ss sea perch was christened and launched at ingalls on december 17 1943  the daily herald december 16 1943 p 10  ingalls shipyard at pascagoula was awarded the gold star for its production  the daily herald december 20 1943 p 1  1944 in late february  westergard boat works launched the uss pehewah   a 110foot navy tugboat miss elizabeth betty eileen burns sponsored the vessel  she was a 1940 bhs graduate and was secretary to warren b goodman  purchasing agent for the boatyard the daily herald february 25 1944 p 1  westergard boat works launched another 110ft harbor tugboat on march 3rd betty burns again broke the champagne bottle on the bow  about 75 workings days are required to fully equip these vessels  before they are sent to nola for assignement the daily herald march 2 1944 p 1 and march 4 1944 p 6  collen c scholtes  19171996 wife of l   joseph scholtes  19171994  westergard boat works employee launched  another  110ft navy harbor tugboat in  march two more boats expected to be launched next month the daily herald march 20 1944 p 6 on april 8 1944 the aw covacevich shipyard on back bay launched the matthew kulu z  a streamlined cabin type trawler  for the kuluz brothers  a 100 hp caterpillar engine powered t he vessel which was 58feet in length had a 16foot beam and hold depth of 4 12 feet with the capcity of 180 barrels of shrimp  marie kuluz  b 1933 daughter of anthony kuluz 18911956 and annie mozaro kuluz 19011979 sponsored the shrimp boat covacevich has now has two boats under construction a 52foot trawler for the biloxi canning company and a 55foot vessel for louis thornton   frank broussard   alex mccaleb  and gene ryan assisted aw covacevich in the vessel s vonstruction the daily herald april 10 1944 p 7 marjorie mounger sponsored the uss pitchlynn  ytb 283 a 110foot 400 ton  navy harbor tugboat launched in may 1944 at the westergard boat works the daily herald may 23 1944 p 1  1945   ingalls shipbuilding at pascagoula planned to build a railroad locomotive  the statesitem april 30 1945 p 7b and the morning advocate october 3 1945 p 6a on its fifth annversary  ingalls shipbuilding launched its 70th ship the ss sea scorpion   the daily herald june 8 1945 p 1  westergard boat works on back bay launched the second 65foot allsteel trawler two other similar trawlers are under construction at the yard  the trawlers are completed in six weeks from keellaying to delivery the shrimp hold for these vessels is 14 feet by 24 feet  the daily herald june 22 1945 p 5  1946 the ss mormacdawn was launched on january 4 1946  the first ship of the new year and the 77th ship to be built at ingalls shipyard  the ss mormacdawn was the third in a series of seven vessels for the mooremccormack line to be launched in two months the daily herald january 5 1946 p 1  del norte  a 17000 ton allwelded vessel built for delta lines and the first postwwii luxury liner was launched on january 11 1946 the daily herald january 7 1946 p 1   the daily herald april 4 1946 p 1  after wwii francis a brander  18861965 master ship builder returned to biloxi from galveston texas where he built many vessels for the us navy and us army with homer b fayard  19122004 his soninlaw they began building the brander deep sea trawlers on east back bay and lee street in 1946 the ocean springs news may 30 1957 p 8  gulf clipper the gulf clipper was launched at the tony jack covacevich sy on back bay she was built by oral covacevich for marko skrmetta for the family ship island tour business the boat was 60feet in length with a beam of 23feet and of 63 gross tons with the capacity for carrying 250passengers  peter skrmetta was to captain the vessel the watercraft was sold to captain   ben l herndon  19122004 of corpus christi texas in july 1952 it was used to haul tourists to padre island from corpus christi the daily herald june 1 1946 p 2 and july 31 1952 p 2 and the corpus christi callertimes august 17 1952 p 29  kennedymoran enterprises boat works moved into the abandon westergard shipyard on back bay in october 1946 and had built 830 boats during its first year of operation moran had nine basic boat designs ranging in length from eight to seventeen feet the joseph moran et al built boats were distributed locally by belbru sporting goods at 112 east howard avenue the daily herald november 1 1946 p 7 and september 13 1947  1947 lewis e curtis sr  deputy collector of customs announced that biloxi s boat builders had completed 56 watercraft in 1947  as compared to 68 in 1946  the daily herald january 3 1948 p 1 the roy rosalis  a 50foot fishing boat  owned by union fisheries of biloxi burned to the waterline in a fire which occurred march 22nd about ten miles south of gulfport arthur landry was captain of the vessel and mr comeaux his crewman escaped injury roy rosalis of union fisheries said that the boat was built for 11000 and that its salvage value was estimated at 800 there was no insurance coverage the daily herald march 31 1947 p 3 the biloxi boatwrecking company owned by bt jones of memphis tennessee whose business was the dismantling and scrapping an lci at the moran boat works inc suspended operations in midseptember because of his illness jones had purchased about 25 lcis and 2 lsts and they were in storage at lake charles louisiana he planned to bring them to biloxi for scrapping jones employed about 25 people in his operations the daily herald september 13 1947  1948 anton brother francis moran  18821948 lifelong biloxi boat builder  died on february 12 1948 he had been associated with the moran boat works founded recently and during ww ii was emplyed at the westergard boat works  anton was the brother of fred moran eddie moran and felix moran and the spouse of frances bayer  18871967 the daily herald february 13 1948 p 5 in february and march  ingalls shipbuilding acquired a 5 million dollar contract to convert a 24000 ton troop ship into a luxury liner and a 2 million dollar contract for the daily herald february 28 1948 and march 19 1948 the wild duck  a new 65foot yacht owned by william p kennedy ii  while on its shakedown cruise exploded and burned east of ship island about seven miles off biloxi in early december mr kennedy and wife with their guests  mr and mrs william c gould of detroit michigan paddled a skiff from the derelict watercraft to deer island and saved themselves the daily herald decemebr 6 1948 p 1  1949 the arnold v walker  19122005  shipyard at pascagoula which was establised in 1944 has four vessels under construction valued at 700000 the daily herald march 17 1949  john adolph toche and joseph adolph toche  his son  proprietors of quality boat works of biloxi  have began construction of all cypress skiffs  their boats weigh between 60 and 80 pounds the 80 pounders have a bait well and are about 8 inches wider than the 60 pound skiff aj tony creel city commissioner recently acquired an 80 pound skiff that was nine feet in length and thirtyeight inches wide quality boat works is also building a 22000 trawler for ao suarez probably meant armindo o soares this vessel is 55feet long and powered by a 165 hp gm engine the daily herald april 7 1949 sec 2 p 1  1951  in early june  brander shipyard completed the henry barnett  a 62foot deepsea trawler powered by a 165 hp gm diesel for crawford packing company of palacios texas branderr  planned to soon launch a 72foot trawler  and t wo 70foot trawlers for shrimp packers at corpus christi texas the daily herald june 8 1951 p 8 in june the buccanier  a 42foot pleasure boat was completed for jh rouse  the  10000 vessel was built by otis eleuterius for 10000 and was powered by a 225 hp diesel ebgine anson holley built the cabin the daily herald june 29 1951 p 11 the  clara foutain     owned by carey galle and  warren galle  owned by cecil galle both sank in the chandeleur islands in middecember victims of a strong nortwester the water pump on the  clara fountain  which was manned by  carey galle   and  cecil galle   broke and the  warren galle  with  moze hebert  and  nickie hebert  aboard went to her aid when both vessels got caught in a winter storm and sank in shallow water the fishermen were rescued by the  nike  a uscg cutter the daily herald december 17 1951 p 1  1952  in october  the covacevich ship yard contracted to build 7 boats two 55foot party boats and and five 70foot deep sea trawlers the party boats were for florida and the shrimp boats for an alabama client the daily herald october 4 1952 p 6  1953 zona w carter  18791953 naval arhcitect and designer and a native of nola and long time biloxi resident expired on november 20th the daily herald november 20 1953 p 7  1956 toche boat builders and repair yard inc chartered in jackson county mississippi in june 1956 four hundred shares of stock with a par value of 100 per share incorporators john adaulph toche joseph adaulph toche william rogers toche and john anthony toche jxco ms charter bk 3 pp 9398  robert ingalls yacht   rhonda iii  one of the largest yachts to dock at the biloxi inner harbor arrived in early july the vessel was built at the ingalls facilities at pascagoula and birmingham alabama the vessel was 96 feet long and had a cruising range of 2500 miles and top speed of 13 knots the rhonda ii burned in 1955 the daily herald july 6 1956 p 9  1958 the socrates  a 40000 62foot long and 19foot wide deep sea trawler built for the liberty fish and oyster company of galveston texas was launched in late february at the brander sy this is the first of four vessel to be constructed for liberty in mississippi by mr brander but he had built boats for them in texas the daily herald february 25 1958 p 10  1959 the savannah   the world s first nuclear powered merchant vessel  was launched by 1st lady mamie eisenhower 18961979 at camden new jersey on july 21st  the daily herald july 21 1959 p 1   the ss james lykes  the first of 53 new cargoliners to be built by ingalls for lykes brothers steamship company at a cost of 500000 each  was launched on december 12th  at pascagoula mississippi the daily herald december 12 1959 p 1  1960 in january 1960 the covacevich shipyard completed the charmaann  a smack boat built for cook fisheries of panama city florida she was 50 feet long with a 16foot beam and was a snapper fishing boat the shipyard also finished the moreno queen  a party boat for c kelly of destin florida she was 65 feet in length with a 24foot beam the daily herald january 18 1960 p 14 in march  covacevich shipyard completing the island belle  a 57foot snapper boat  for charles e hawkins of palmetto florida the daily herald march 16 1960 p 19 the maritime administration was studying the bid of ingall s shipbuilding company to construct four cargo vessels for lykes brothers steamship company at an estimated cost of 36 million  bethelem steel corporation of sparrows point maryland was the other bidder the daily herald june 17 1960 p 2  1962 in july  cabana club inc  a jake mladinich family enterprise that operated the fiesta   sea sirloin restaurant   trader john s and the cabana beach motel on west beach acquired for 8600 a river boat from the us corps of engineers at tuscaloosa alabama the 158foot long with a 30foot beam paddlewheeler was built in 1925 at charleston sc the mladinichs planned to use the vessel as a floating museum or touring boat the daily herald july 23 1962 p 5  1964 mrs joe w brown nee dorothy dorsett   18961989   had her new 100000 56foot long luxury yacht brought down the mississippi river to her new 35 million broadwater marina in late august  the vessel was built by roamer yachts of the chriscraft corporation at holland michigan  the daily herald august 25 1964 p 21 the gemini  a 71foot snapper boat built by the covacevich yard for quality foods of bayou labatre  alabama was launched in late august the daily herald september 2 1964 p 9 with photo  ingalls to build four cargo ships costing 55 million for american president lines the daily herald december 23 1964 p 1  1965 francis a brander  18861965 master boat builder expired on may 18 1965 burial in the biloxi city cemetery the daily herald may 18 1965 p 2  ingalls shipbuilding corporation planned to build for litton industries leasing corporation six supercontainer ships of 910foot length with a speed of 27 knots the daily herald october 27 1965 p 39  1967  three vessels have recently been launched at toche boat builders in ocean springs all three boats are 72 feet long and 22 feet wide and are steel shrimp trawlers owners of these watercraft are le and fuller childress of fairhope alabama alton fabre of barataria louisiana and the george engine company of harvey louisiana a 45foot wooden shrimp boat was also launched for john martinez of st bernard louisiana two keels are being laid at toche for two 75foot steel trawlers and another 72foot steel trawler is being built for clarence billiot of marrero louisiana ww swan of new orleans is having the shipyard build a 50foot yacht the daily herald august 3 1967 p 24  1968   toche industries cumberland trail  from the daily herald march 14 1968  on june 12th toche industries released the blue angel  a 73foot 86000 steel hull shrimp trawler  to stewart stevenson of palacios texas she was the sixth vessel completed by toche in 1968 with eight steel vessels and two wooden boats under construction in the shipyard the daily herald june 13 1968 p 23 the  intial site work and dredging to build the new 130 million west bank shipyard for ingalls at pascagoula  mississippi commenced in june the daily herald june 14 1968 p 1  1969 aw tony jack covacevich  19071997 launched two steelhulled vessels on march 1st the david hall  a 75foot trawler was built for the dejean packing company while big bill  an 85foot fishing boat was built for the kennedy family the daily herald march 3 1969 sec ii p 15  ingalls  a litton subsidary  planned to enter the business of overhauling submarines  the daily herald april 16 1969 sec ii p 21  1970 jules jerome galle   18821970 master boat builder of commercial fishing watercraft died on july 16 1970 some of his vessels were  deborah built in 1929 of 38feet and ten tons for ronald b broussard  miss linda in 1946 for henry l windham of 50feet and 38 tons  paw paw in 1949 of 52feet and 28 tons for waletr venoit folse  1975 ingalls shipbuilding company announced the laying off of 600 management and production personnel commencing november 14th the daily herald november 7 1975 p a2  1976 oral v covacevich   19021976 biloxi boat builder expired on april 11 1976  1977   1980 the mr cheramie  a 65foot tug boat with a 22foot beam and powered by two 400 hp engines and built for manny j cheramie inc golden meadow louisiana by toche boat builders ocean springs mississippi was delivered in early august the daily herald august 13 1970 p 25  1984 jim h mcmanus  19292000 acquired a 60ft cypress shrimp boat  which had been built in the 1940s by jake mladinich sr and called freda may  mcmanus renamed the vessel  jefferson davis i  and planned to put it in service to conduct tours up the biloxi and tchoutacabouffa river the daily herald june 3 1984 p c3  1988 john adaulph toche  19001988 biloxi and ocean springs boat builder and the son of joseph a toche 18721960 and olevia ryan 18721953 died october 16 1988 buried at biloxi city cemetery the ocean springs record november 22 1972 p 7 and the ocean springs record october 20 1988 p 3  1997 anthony w tony jack covacevich  19071997 long time biloxi ship carpenter  expired on february 3rd the sun herald february 1997 p  2011 nelious clarence neil covacevich   19202011 last of a long time family of biloxi boat builders expired on april 6th neil s last vessel was the  mike sekul  a biloxi schooner created for the biloxi seafood and maritime museum the sun herald april 10 2011 p a and april 11 2011 p a4 the sandy point  a 163foot menhaden fishing boat working for omega protein  moss point mississippi sank in 25feet of water off the west end of ship island after colliding with the  eurus london  a 660foot container ship en route to freeport texas three seamen from the fishing vessel were missing after the tragedy the sun herald may 20 2011 p a1  final fantasy  a 54foot sports fisherman caught fire and sank in the gulf of mexico about 150 miles off of biloxi and 7 miles north of the ursa oil platform  ursa field is located in mississippi canyou block 854 at n 28154 latitude and w 89103 longitude in about 4000 feet of water and is operated by shell oil from a tensionlegged platform  edison chouest offshore company rescued jamie sablich his two sons and jordy pitalo and his son the sun herald june 20 2011 p a4 both the glenn l swetman and the mike sekul were not sailing biloxi s waters as they were both in dry dock for repairs the sun herald june 24 2011  huntingtoningalls was awarded a 98 million costplus fixedfee advance procurement contract modification for long lead materials for lpd 27 the 11th amphibious transport dock ship of the uss san antonio lpd 17 class the first contract was awarded in october 2010 the sun herald july 15 2011 p d6 built in the early 1970s by gene weems and family and bill ross the owner and all biloxians the lady vera is being restored by dale nelson  b 1929 and miral nelson his son  with the idea of putting the old lady back to work in the gulf the sun herald july 28 2011 p b7  huntingtoningalls was awarded a 698 million contract to build an arleigh burkeclass aegis guided missile destroyer shipyard has work to keep workers busy into 2016  the sun herald september 27 2011 p a1 and october 5 2011 p a9 the national security cutter 3 the uscg nsc 3 captain dorothy stratton  was delivered to the us coast guard by ingalls shipbuilding  on october 7 2011 the sun herald october 8 2011 p a4  vt halter marine dedicates first of four egyptian  fast missle craft ships the sun herald october 26 2011 p a5  bill holland  master wooden boat builder launched the miss ashley  a 15foot biloxi catboat on may 17 2013 the boat was built for a nola man the sun herald may 16 2013 p a1  cat boats  once work boats in the seafood industry are coming back to mississippi sound jerry ellis bill holland glenn ellis jeff broussard and buddy jumonville are making it happen in biloxi a race will be organized the first cat boat race in 26 years the sun herald june 9 2013 p 10f  references   the biloxi herald latest city news august 22 1896 the biloxi daily herald city news march 29 1902 the biloxi daily herald shipbuilding november 17 1903 the biloxi daily herald aftermath of great storm september 28 1906 the biloxi daily herald big storm in gulf 1907 the biloxi daily herald city news august 12 1908 the daily herald new boat measured september 9 1909 the daily herald crew of biloxi boat saw corpse in marsh september 6 1911 the daily herald new schooner makes good showing july 8 1912 the daily herald maritime news march 7 1913 the daily herald brander funeral this afternoon june 16 1913 the daily herald captain johnson goes to beyond june 26 1914 the daily herald new boat built at biloxi yard december 18 1916 the daily herald fifty boats built in winter months january 31 1917 the daily herald the charter of incorporation of the international shipbuilding company february 3 1917 the daily herald to build schooners july 7 1917 the daily herald new schooner built at biloxi july 12 1917 the daily herald brander shipyard at biloxi may be used to build submarine chasers april 5 1917 the daily herald september 13 1917 the daily herald trustee s sale april 23 1918 the daily herald biloxi schooner  joseph leopold  measure bu us january 23 1919 the daily herald city of biloxi launched april 22 1919 the daily herald schoners for entering regattat july 1 1920 the daily herald biloxi shipyard sued as bankrupt june 16 1921 the daily herald henry piaggio answers summons december june 20 1921 the daily herald handsome boat launched june 20 1922 the daily herald schooner will be launched tomorrow in bay of biloxi may 28 1929 the daily herald new biloxi boat ready may 6 1928 the daily herald boat released january 19 1932 the daily herald to start daily boat service to ship island june 26 1934 the daily herald boat building industry is working overtime in biloxi august 29 1936 the daily herald dejean packing company launch new boat november 2 1936 the daily herald launches new boat july 12 1937 the daily herald  mary ellen no 2 being built by reed jeptember 30 1937 the daily herald 6000 loss to big boat on back bay february 8 1940 the daily herald schooner louis  goldman destroyed by fire in biloxi channel february 3 1941 the daily herald biloxi boats in a romance story written by elmer wescovich february 19 1941 the daily herald boatman corbett summerlin 18921941 drowns in back bay march 8 1941 the daily herald biloxian elmo kates drowns in fall from boat april 21 1941 the daily herald launch allwelded passenger ship june 14 1941 the daily herald  bill cruso wins biloxi match race august 12 1941 the daily herald to christen ship october 21 1943 the daily herald ingalls yard comes in for praises by maritime director november 4 1943 the daily herald william stallings died suddenly december 12 1943 the daily herald to launch sea owl at ingalls on friday december 16 1943 the daily herald first ship of 1946 launched at ingalls pascagoula shipyard january 5 1946 the daily herald ingalls to launch new line friday january 7 1946 the daily herald 33foot craft  janalyce of charles gaskin is launched at ingalls october 31 1946 p 13 the daily herald moran boat works makes 830 boats during past year september 13 1947 the daily herald suspending scrapping of boats at biloxi september 13 1947 the daily herald fiftysix boats completed in biloxi january 3 1948 the daily herald 4 biloxians escape as yacht burns december 6 1948 the daily herald av walker shipyard has big backlog of orders march 17 1949 the daily herald build allcypress skiff at quality boat works in biloxi april 7 1949 the daily herald 62foot shrimp trawler built for texas duty june 8 1951 p 2 the daily herald four fishermen rescued after two boats sink december 17 1951 the daily herald ingalls yacht at biloxi port during cruise july 6 1956 the daily herald brander launches deep sea trawler for texas waters february 25 1958 p10 the daily herald ingall s symississippi s largest industry february 25 1959 p s10 the daily herald biloxi s oldest shipyard wn johnsonjd covacevich one of busiest on coast february 25 1959 p s12 the daily herald brander s shipyard in biloxi february 25 1959 p 20 the daily herald toche boat builders operate only travel lift on gulf coast february 25 1959 p s24 the daily herald build two boasts at covacevich s january 18 1960 the daily herald ingalls bid on lykes ships being studied june 8 1960 p 1 the daily herald ingalls to build four cargo ships of 55 million december 23 1964 the daily herald francis a brander may 18 1965 the daily herald sign contract to start new shipyard ingall s west bank june 14 1968 the daily herald two steel hull trawlers join shrimping fleet march 3 1969 section ii p 15 the daily herald jefferson davis i open for river tours june 3 1984 the ocean springs news brander s ship yard at biloxi aid in proseprity of this area specializes in deep sea trawlers may 30 1957 the sun herald tony jack looks back on lifetime of boat building january 3 1993 the sun herald homer b fayard sr may 20 2004 p a5 the sun herald nellus c covacevich april 10 2011 and april 11 2011 the sun herald biloxi schooners in dry dock june 24 2011 the sun herald huntingtoningalls wins 98 million navy contract july 15 2011 p d6 the sun herald looking beyond ingalls using composites to build deckhouses shipbuilding july 17 2011 p c10 the sun herald the lugger lady vera poised to make a comeback july 28 2011 p b7 the sun herald the last schooner  helenlavengro  august 10 2011 p c9 the sun herald ingalls awarded 697 million destroyer contract september 27 2011 p a1 the sun herald ingalls shipbuilding will have work to 2016 october 5 2011 p a9 the sun herald ingalls delivers first cutter to coast guard october 8 2011 p a4 the sun herald ingalls shipyard workforce earns praise october 19 2011 p a7 the sun herald vt halter dedicates first of four egyptian ships october 26 2011 p a5 the sun herald management issues cost ingalls november 11 2011 p a5 the sun herald sailing miss ashley may 17 2013 p a1  shipyards the westergard biloxi boatyard incorporated  19411945 the westergard biloxi boatyard incorporated known locally as the westergard shipyard was chartered by the state of mississippi in march 1941 axel m westergard rockport texas rob roy rice sr aransas pass texas and william p kennedy jr biloxi mississippi were its original founders the shipyard was located on biloxi s back bay at the head of lee street and initially comprised about oneacre with a back bay frontage of 205 feet the daily herald march 28 1941 p 9 and harrison co mississippi land deed bk 244 p 177 the westergard shipyard was one of the many militaryindustrial complexes that were created prior to america s entry into world war ii against japan and the axis powers in early december 1941 keesler field and gulfport field both us army air corps facilities were commenced in 1941 this shipyard was created to build and repair watercraft for the us maritime commission an entity of the federal government which funded and administered the largest and most successful  merchant shipbuilding  effort in world history producing thousands of ships including  liberty ships   victory ships  and others notably  type c1   type c2   type c3   type c4  freighters and  t2 tankers  most of the c2s and c3s were converted to navy auxiliaries notably  attack cargo ships   attack transports  and  escort aircraft carriers  and many of the tankers became  fleet replenishment oilers  the commission also was tasked with the construction of many hundred military type vessels such as  landing ship tank  lsts and  tacoma class   frigates  and large  troop transports  by the end of the war us shipyards working under maritime commission contracts had built a total of 5777 oceangoing merchant and naval ships  https enwikipediaorg wiki unitedstates wiki unitedstates maritimecommission  ingalls the only other shipyard of consequence in regards the military on the mississippi gulf coast was the ingalls shipbuilding corporation in 1938 it was organized by robert ingersoll ingalls sr 18821951 robert i ingalls jr 19061968 monro bannister lanier 18871970 and wr guest the ingalls yard was situated at the mouth of the east pascagoula river on the site of the 1917 international shipbuilding yard of henry piaggio 18741921 et al the daily herald february 25 1959 p 10 in october 1940 ingalls delivered the first allwelded watercraft to the maritime commission it was the ss exchequer and she was transferred to the norfolk navy yard as a seaplane tender by a pascagoula crew and renamed the uss pocomoke av9 by late december 1940 ingalls had been awarded a 50000000 us navy contract to build four 500foot vessels that were also allwelded rivetless ships before ww ii and ended in 1945 ingalls shipbuilding corporation had launched more than 70 ships the daily herald december 20 1940 p 1 and rf couch journal of mississippi history 1964 pp 192200  am westergard axel munch westergard  18891954 was born in halden frederikshald viken county norway on april 3 1889 he entered the united states in january 1907 at el paso texas and found his way to san pedro california were he made his livelihood as an independent boat builder at terminal island california here axel married addie armida mcvay 18671941 a native of atlanta georgia and the widow of mr hart and mother of olive m hart ww i draft registrationlos angeles 1917 in addition to his involvement with the biloxi shipyard am westergard was associated with the westergardrice brothers and company shipyard at rockport texas and the brownsville shipbuilding corporation at brownsville texas  brownsville texas before february 1942 mr westergard had resigned from westergardrice brothers and company to devote his full time with his westergard boatworks in brownsville texas the aransas pass progress february 19 1942 p 1 at brownsville am westergard was called captain westergard and titled naval architect and marine engineer this shipyard s first military contract was for 400000 and let by the us army air corps to build four triple screw offshore aircraft rescue ships these watercraft were 105feet in length and drew 6feet of water power was supplied by 600 hp gasoline engines the brownsville herald november 22 1941 p 1 ocean springs mississippi was selected as a crash boat base site by the us army air corps the facility was a seagoing emergency rescue operation located on the south side of hellmer s lane and on the northwest shore in the inner harbor at ocean springs during the final years of ww ii it was manned by personnel of squadron v 3rd air force bomber command us army air corps from the gulfport army air field at gulfport mississippi the base was erected in early 1944 to house crash boat officers and crews as well as ancillary personnel who manned the small post the mission of the local boat base was to rescue downed aviators tow targets and patrol bombing ranges in the mississippi sound and gulf of mexico us air force historical agency maxwell afb alabama and the jackson county times january 15 1944  r r rice rob roy rice 18961972 was born in apalachicola florida to captain stephen e rice 18381919 and emily irvine pickett 18481938 both alabama natives he married emily clara buzhardt 18871944 a south carolinian in franklin county florida in december 1909 four sons were born from this union rob roy rice jr 19101989 john chapman rice 19141993 steppie irving rice 19151985 m joseph f house and bryson m filbert 19151990 and joel key rice 19242005 the rice children were all born at apalachicola florida in florida r r rice was an oyster canner circa 1926 the family relocated to rockport texas near corpus christi and opened a seafood cannery specializing in shrimp processing rr rice with his son rob roy rice jr judge ja steele and af buchanan of rockport texas formed rice brothers and company after the departure of mr westergard for his brownsville shipyard their success at rockport was assured in early 1942 when the us maritime commission ordered an additional eight submarine chasers at this time the navy department also laude the rice brothers boat works by awarded them the navy blue e pennant for their progress quality of workmanship safety and general morale the aransas pass progress february 19 1942 p 1  w p kennedy jr william patrick kennedy jr 19051967 was a native biloxian and the son of william p kennedy sr 18731951 and fantie wright kennedy 18761969 he married beatrice hardisty 19061995 a native of illinois their children were mabel patti kennedy 19242015 m william e courson 19221989 and edward j bellman 19202009 william p kennedy iii 19261975 m josephine kelly 19302008 thomas morgan kennedy 19282010 m jane vickery 19301998 mr kennedy was an early biloxi entrepreneur having experience in real estate as well as animal husbandry and gardening with the bay flour and seed company he is perhaps more familiarly associated with the kennedy brothers engine company and kennedy engine company the daily herald june 30 1967 p 2 and  http kennedyenginecom history   biloxi boatyards although biloxi was never a major shipbuilding center it has been noted for its wooden boat construction since colonial times in december 1720 jeanbaptiste le bouteux french artist created a sketch of nouveau biloxy new biloxi illustrating the camp of the john law concession among the many activities of the french colonists is wooden boat construction a small barge or skiff and a chaloupe or biscayenne are two of the watercraft depicted by le bouteux copy biloxi public library as biloxi grew from a village to become the sea food capitol of the planet in the dawn of the 20th century fishing schooners and ancillary watercraft were in demand 19th century spanish immigrant families from spain and the balearic islands had established shipyards on back bay s north shore among them were foretich sanchez taltavull quave perez santa cruz and cannette the fountain and harvey hervai families of french descent also proved to be capable craftsmen for biloxi s shipbuilding industry in later times herman kelly and the brasher brothers henry and isom made valuable contributions to the local fishing fleet with their swift schooners by the 1920s the majority of biloxi s boatbuilding industry had located to the biloxi peninsula with shipyards on back bay and point cadet back bay from lameuse street to oak street featured ship carpenters like fred moran henry and martin fountain jr anson holley jc and francis brander jules galle the frentz brothers and ua parker on point cadet the toche brothers were the primary boat builders louis gorenflo and zona carter on west beach were building specialty watercraft on a small scale on land lots during and after ww l probably the largest wooden boats ever built at biloxi were constructed on back bay the  elizabeth ruth  a 193foot schooner was launched on 15 june 1918 catherine lopez daughter of julius lopez had the honors the large vessel was built by the mississippi shipbuilding corporation and designed by zona w carter 18791953 a biloxi resident and named for the daughter of englishman william hasketh lever 18511925 lord lever founder of soap manufacturers lever brothers the daily herald june 12 1918 p 1 june 15 1918 p 1 and june 17 1918 p 3 in january 1919 the  joseph leopold  a fourmasted schooner built for jf stewart of gulfport was measure by customs agent lewis curtis as follows length180 feet beam38 feet and depth13 feet gross weight668 tons net weight573 tons the  joseph leopold  was built by jd covacevich at the biloxi shipyard and box factory on back bay the daily herald january 23 1919 p 1  biloxi port commissionfounded 1940 before any military watercraft could be built at biloxi obviously for our entry into ww ii or for loan to our european allies england and france it was necessary that a port commission be created to manage the erection and supervision of port facilities and insure that a deepwater channel be dredged to provide sufficient water depth for naval vessels to operate a 100000 bond issue to finance the deepening of the present back bay channel was a salient issue in regards winning future military contacts the daily herald april 25 1940 p 1 to establish a port commission it was necessary for the mississippi state legislature to adopt a resolution submitted by local representation at this time howard a mcdonnell 19091992 a biloxi attorney criminologist and recently elected floater representative for harrison county and jackson county was delegated this task the newly created biloxi port commission had its first meeting on september 25 1940 at the baltar realty office members were john e swetman 18671958 r hart chinn appointed by paul b johnson governor and jacinto baltar appointee of the harrison county board of supervisors the daily herald september 25 1940 p 2  new management team in march 1941 although retaining the name westergard the management of the nascent shipyard came under local control when axel m westergard rob roy rice and frank kennedy resigned and relinquished their stock holdings the new officers of the imminent biloxi shipyard were william p kennedy jr president thomas pringle vicepres and victor b pringle secretarytreasurer  growth and inflation with the news of a potential us army air corps field to be located in the naval reserve park and the westergard biloxi boat works in the process of initiating construction biloxi s small town atmosphere began a metamorphosis was an uber boom about to commence with a population of about 17000 people biloxi could soon expect a large work force approaching 12000 people to descend and change it forever a us army engineer from ohio was quoted as in the face of present situation biloxi hasn t got enough saws and hammers in its hardware stores no matter how much stock its other stores have it is not going to be adequate i don t care how many cots your hotels have they haven t enough in anticipation of the coming flow of people and dollars local barbers on april s fools day raised the price of adult haircuts to 50 cents and 35 cents for children the tonsorial aficionados were no fools the daily herald march 26 1941 p 7  building the boat yard westergard biloxi boat works this local shipyard was created from bare ground in the spring of 1941 with local management and labor and was able to produce for the splinter fleet wooden boats for the us navy and lend lease allies france and england located on biloxi s back bay near lee street the yard produced sub chasers sea going tug boats and mine sweepers before it closed in august 1945 from october 1941 the boat yard had built for the us navy two submarine chasers 300000 ten mine sweepers 4000000 and four harbor tugs 1500000 for the us army the shipyard had built eighteen oil barges 1020000 in addition three steel trawlers were erected for the seafood industry 25000 during its almost four years of production the facility had a payroll exceeding 4000000 and employed about 500700 biloxians who worked on construction contracts exceeding 75 million william p kennedy jr 19071967 biloxi native was president of the organization in early april 1941 the preparation and clearing of the site for biloxi s newest shipyard was hampered by large blocks of concrete left there when the 1926 biloxid iberville was erected dynamite was used to demolish and reduce the size of the relic materials leaving the air vibrating with loud and obnoxious noise the daily herald april 10 1941 p 2 the biloxi port commission accepted the 43322 bid of general contractor currie corley of hattiesburg mississippi to erect a steel building 18486 to be used as a boat plant at the foot of holly street sic on east back bay albert j ragusin was awarded the plumbing contract 3549 ray v pisarich electrical 1522 and roofing 1365 to biloxi roofing and sheet metal the daily herald april 16 1941 p 1 by midseptember the 16month efforts of the biloxi port commission and from city officials and leading biloxi citizens were nearly realized with the completion of the westergard biloxi boat works on back bay at the foot of lee street i daniel gehr 18951959 local architect supervised the construction of the warehouse fabricating building loft and drafting buildings general offices and work sheds the larger structures were of fabricated steel construction with concrete foundations while the smaller buildings were modern frame structures currie corley of hattiesburg mississippi was the general contractor while other employed to erect the shipyard were iron steel products company albert j ragusinplumbing ray v pisarich electrical and roofingbiloxi roofing and sheet metal the jackson county dredge dug the channel into the boatyard which now had a 400foot frontage on back bay the port commission had paid currie corley 43322 for their efforts the daily herald april 16 1941 p 1 and september 20 1941 p 3  us navy contracts in early september 1941 the us navy awarded westergard boat works a contract to build two wooden vessels both submarine chasers they would be named uss pc 650 and uss pc 651 the daily herald september 19 1941 p 1  union contract on 22 october 1941 william p kennedy jr president of the westergard boat works of biloxi incorporated completed a twoyear closed shop allunion contract with officials of the american federation of labor this agreement set pay scales as follows skilled craftsmen 107 per hour labors 50 per hour apprentices 54 cents per hour for the initial year and an increase of 5 cents per hour every 6 months thereafter the work week was 40 hours and overtime payment was 1 and ½ times regular wages the daily herald october 23 1941 p 6  labor force the majority of the workmen who built ships harbor tugs and oil barges at the westergard biloxi boatyard were native biloxians and from surrounding communities many were ship carpenters and fishermen who in a show of patriotism joined the cause to defeat the axis threat in western europe james briley jb richmond sr 19252014 biloxi entrepreneur published a thorough study of the westergard biloxi boat works in 2009 titled world war ii combat wooden boats built at biloxi westergard boat works of biloxi inc researched in detail it is the salient historical source for this shipyard thank you mr richmond for your contribution to biloxi s maritime chronology per mr richmond the westergard boat yard was organized as follows general superintendent anthony w tony jack covacevich 19071997 assistant neil covacevich 19202007 paint shop bowman brodnax 19071991 and mack hall 19171952 machine shop william bill hubbell 19021983 and assistants george williams willie dale 18991990 joe scholtes 19171994 and frank duvic 19001974 caulkers fred frentz 18951964 and assistants anthony fountain joe ables leon dalgo 18961953 joe montgomery 18921972 and eddie moran 18861960 loft hull layout zona w carter 18791953 and kenneth p trochesset 19181990 electrical c arnold skinny davidson 19011971 j wesley compton 19201995 and james jimmie cook 19201997 heavy timbers keels beams stringers and clamps jd jack covacevich 18751962 martin fountain jr 18821963 earlis champaigne 19281981 joe trochessett and louis manuel mill cabinet henry manuel 18961968 jesse wells 19101963 willie crabtree 19031972 l b camp uriel ray kennedy 19171995 and frank broussard  planking henry fountain sr charles trochessett jerry burdine george burton curtis fountain fitz fountain elvin cannette anthony pickich jr melvin roberts sox fountain wilfred fountain son moore   tool shop eddie thomas   planner randolph fountain   lumber checkers percy garner   security pop walker   first aid william p kennedy sr and dr riley burnett   keels laid the westergard biloxi boat works laid the keel for a us navy submarine chaser on 21 october 1941 the second submarine chaser of the twoboat navy contract was commenced in early november 1941 frederick d lawley 18781953 boston naval architect designed the vessels the work was supervised by navy commander gw thompson from the ingalls shipbuilding corporation pascagoula biloxi resident supervisor was leonard mallory formerly captain of the north wind yacht of nola cinema magnate fv richards the daily herald october 22 1941 p 1 and november 5 1941 p 1  1942   frederick d lawley by may 1942 frederick damon lawley a naval architect and 1900 graduate of the massachusetts institute of technology mit had arrived at biloxi with his spouse minnie josephine cole 18791965 both boston natives they settled into the tivoli hotel mr lawley was of the third generation of prominent massachusetts boat builders george f lawley sr 18231915 english grandfather and george w lawley 18621940 father had started the george lawley son shipbuilding in 1866 the yard closed in 1945 of note is that the lawley s built two defenders of the america cup puritan 1885 and mayflower 1886 the boston herald december 24 1953 and the boston traveler january 7 1965  uss sc 650 westergard launched its first combat craft the uss sc 650 a 110foot submarine chaser on april 30 1942 victor b pringle master of ceremonies related that this navy vessel was the first combat ship ever constructed at biloxi the traditional champagne bottle was cracked across the bow officially send the ship down the ways into back bay mrs william p kennedy jr was the honored launcher biloxi dignitaries present were mayor louis braun and r hart chinn of the port commission the navy was represented by the daily herald may 1 1942 pp 13 the keel for the first of ten minesweepers was laid on 30 april 1941 the daily herald may 1 1942 p 1  uss sc 651 the second 110foot submarine chaser the uss sc 651 was launched on may 14 1942 in a lowkey ceremony by minnie j cole lawley 18791965 spouse of frederick fred damon lawley 18781953 naval architect and superintendent of construction at the biloxi shipyard victor b pringle was master of ceremonies biloxi dignitaries present were mayor braun and r hart chinn of the port commission the navy was represented by lt commander g c whiting of pascagoula and captain ls border superintendent fd lawley gave a short speech the daily herald may 15 1942 p 5  launching uss pc 650 on april 30 1942 this 110foot submarine chaser was first combat ship to be constructed at biloxi it was sent down the ways into back bay from the westergard biloxi boat works by beatrice hardisty kennedy 19061995 spouse of the companies president william big bill p kennedy jr 19071967 this small but industrious boat yard would by 1945 build submarine chasers minesweepers harbor tug boats and oil barges for the american armed forces and their european allies manned chiefly by indigenous boat carpenters and fishermen westgard s laborers and management would be recognized by the usn several times with its e pennant in recognition for its excellent construction lr victor b pringle frederick damon lawley minnie j cole lawley lt lindholm col arthur e brock jr r hart chinn thomas pringle lt comm ff daly col william j hanlon col robert m goldrick lt comm gc whiting beatrice h kennedy william p kennedy jr biloxi mayor louis braun  1942 the navy e pennant westergard biloxi boat works was recognized by the 8 th district naval headquarters on several occasions for its excellence in constructing naval combat vessels and oil barges with efficiency and celerity the first kudo from the us navy occurred in february 1942 when frank knox navy secretary telegrammed the management that   on this occasion of the award of a special recognition of your outstanding accomplishment in war time shipbuilding for the united states permit me to offer congratulations and profound thanks to the men and management of the plant   the navy e pennant was sparsely awarded because of its high standards at this time only 16 companies of the us navy s 174 defense contractors had received the honor the daily herald february 16 1942 p 9 and february 19 1942 p 1 and p 6 on december 1 1942 the westergard boat works was again recognized by the us navy for its excellence in building boats and barges 8th district naval headquarters awarded the plant with the navy e pennant with two white stars each white star affirmed that the shipyard had continued their excellence an additional six months the daily herald november 30 1942 p 6 and december 8 1942 p 1 in february 1943 victor b pringle 19091977 westergard s secretary and perennial master of company held ceremonies proudly related to the audience that the plant again had been recognized by the us navy for its efficiency and workmanship and presented with another us navy e pennant the occasion was the launching of byms 2059 its fifth minesweeper the daily herald february 9 1943 p 1 the work force at westergard continued its excellent wok and the navy e award arrived again in august admiral cc block wrote to wp kennedy jr as follows   the men and women have received a signal honor by continuing their splendid production record the management and employees of the plant have indicated their solid determination and abilities to support our fighting forces by supplying equipment needed for the ultimate victory   the daily herald august 26 1943 p 1 in may 1944 the fourth star was added to westergard s us navy e pennant for meritorious services and high standards in shipbuilding the daily herald may 13 1944 p 1  biloxi defense vocational school on july 4 1942 the new vocational school was dedicated at the porter avenue campus the intent was to provide youths 18 years and older with the opportunity to learn manual skills needed at the westergard biloxi boat works initially three disciplines were taught pro bono carpentry sheet metal fabrication and marine pipefitting ship carpentry classes with the capacity for 80 students per day were held in the biloxi high school gym and the discipline taught by fa moran and rf chambers the sheet metal shop was led by dc rutledge it could accommodate 60 men daily for instruction marine pipefitting was under the supervision of af cauzabon and al jacquet the course was limited to 72 men daily these courses were held on porter avenue in what had once been the west end school but now used by the american legion the daily herald july 3 1942 p 2 for an unknown reason this initial effort at biloxi s manual training school did not work in early september 1942 leonard mallory 18991970 navy inspector wp kennedy jr westergard president george w ditto 18951975 biloxi school superintendent and cl charbonneau of the state department and foremen and leaders from the shipyard met and discussed and planned to reorganize the vocational training effort a new school was planned with the following courses of instruction ship carpentry and blue printing reading as related to carpentry shipboard electrical circuits and pipefitting classes were open to biloxians and current westergard employees who wanted to learn another manual discipline mr charbonneau left the group with this caveat equipment now in biloxi has a value of 6000 if it is not utilized immediately it will be shipped to another location the daily herald september 10 1942 p 7 response to the reopening of the vocational school was very positive more than 50 interested individuals most of them employees of westergard demonstrated an interest in enrolling in the program registration was held on 15 september with classes meeting 2 12 hours in the evening three nights each week the daily herald september 14 1942 p 10 in midseptember director leonard mallory announced that the defense vocational school would now offer women eighteen years and older the opportunity to learn a skill associated with the war effort blueprint reading a special course in tracing and blueprint interpretation would be taught three nights each week at the lopez elementary school on west howard avenue a minimum of 15 applicants were required to commence a new class jesse l weeks an employee of westergard would instruct the ladies in addition mr mallory related that school had 42 men engaged in the ship carpentry class and 47 in the advanced blueprint reading class for shipboard pipefitter and electricians the daily herald september 17 1942 p 6 and september 25 1942 p 19 in early december 1942 leonard mallory 18991970 director of the school announced that a new class machine shop practice would be offered he cautioned the public that with the paucity of interest in this facility that this might be the last attempt to provide a free vocational education to young biloxians instructors selected were leon joseph joe scholtes 19171994 and james r mcelroy 18861963 both local and wellrespected machinists and also in the employ of westergard the instructions were presented at the american legion hall on porter avenue in such a manner that any student after completing the 75 hours of class time could be hired as a machinist helper mcelroy and scholtes intents was to share their extensive knowledge of the following tool handling how to set up machinery in the shop sharpening and grinding of cutters measuring as applied to machines pipefitting and fabrication boiler making and blueprint interpretation the daily herald december 5 1942 p 3 only 11 people enrolled in the machine shop practice class at the legion hall on porter avenue more students were anticipated as entry level positions in the machine shop at westergard and elsewhere were in demand among the enrollees were le capuano otis cates rp cox ej derouen rp eskald curtis r harrison herron kennedy elliot miller norman schonewitz albert strangi and rambaut williams the classroom was equipped with lathes grinders drill presses and other machine shop tools germane to the education of an apprentice in this field of endeavor westergard furnished rough stock and other materials to the school in appreciation for the efforts of local educators to provide this service to the community the daily herald december 8 1942 p 8 when the boat building class also situated in the american legion hall finished its first project the legionaires donated it to the local boy scouts december 8 1942 p 8  plant expansion in september 1942 with continued development at the shipyard westergard petitioned the army corps of engineers at mobile to erect two boat launching ways the se structures were 12 feet wide and extended about 150 feet in biloxi s back bay the daily herald september 18 1942 p 7 the navy e pennantwestergard biloxi boat works was recognized by the 8 th district naval headquarters on several occasions for its excellence in constructing naval combat vessels and oil barges with efficiency and celerity the first kudo from the us navy occurred in february 1942 when frank knox navy secretary telegrammed the management that   on this occasion of the award of a special recognition of your outstanding accomplishment in war time shipbuilding for the united states permit me to offer congratulations and profound thanks to the men and management of the plant   the navy e pennant was sparsely awarded because of its high standards at this time only 16 companies of the us navy s 174 defense contractors had received the honor note the navy e pennant drapped across the bow of j 858 a minesweeper almost ready for launching into back bay workmen are preparing the dedication platform in anticipation of the future occasion  third boat launching the first anniversary of the japanese attack on pearl harbor saw margaret woodley pringle 19111997 wife of victor b pringle biloxi attorney westergard investor and master of ceremonies at the shipyard s public functions christen byms 2055 the first of ten minesweepers built at the westergard plant these wooden watercraft participated in operation overlord the june 1944 invasion of normandy by clearing the english channel of german mines the daily herald december 8 1942 p 1  mayor braun appreciated in middecember outgoing mayor louis j braun 18901951 was presented a 1941 plymouth coupe and war bonds by james s love jr manager of the buena vista and white house hotels in appreciation for his outstanding service to the city of biloxi during his recent term during braun s four years as biloxi s mayor the citizens saw the following accomplished keesler field biloxi community house uso building westergard boat works a twolane beach drive a new sewer and water works system and the fillingin of low lands in eastern biloxi with channel spoil the daily herald december 16 1942 p 1  twin launching westergard experienced its first dual launch on 15 january 1943 sponsors for the watercraft were nell goodman 19051995 spouse of warren b goodman 19011971 and marjorie robertson of chicago she was the sister of lt hugh robertson jr usn the daily herald january 16 1943 p 1  1943 minesweeper launched and navy e pennant westergard had its fifth minesweeper launched in early february victor b pringle perennial master of ceremonies proudly related to the audience that the plant again had been recognized by the us navy for its efficiency and workmanship and presented with another us navy e pennant helen harvey hubbell 19051989 a schoolteacher and spouse of william f hubbell 19021983 supervisor of the yards machine shop was the honoree of the champagne bottle the daily herald february 9 1943 p 1  oil barges in midapril 1943 a 2 million dollar boat contract was announced by westergard s management the army engineers at philadelphia had requested that 30 composite oil barges be built by the biloxi yard these vessels were utilized to transport gasoline from texas and louisiana refineries via the gulf intracoastal waterway to florida s west coast where a pipeline would carry the refined products to jacksonville here barges would be reloaded and deliver their hydrocarbon contents to the atlantic seaboard via the atlantic intracoastal waterway the project required five additional boat ways and the construction would be under the aegis of the army district engineer at mobile the daily herald april 14 1943 p 1 the oil barge contract called for an additional 800feet of back bay frontage the new plant would be managed by james w pringle and connie collins was named construction superintendent the daily herald april 14 1943 p 1 in addition the moss point shipyard was also awarded a us army barge contract in april they were asked to build 20 wooden barges 169 feet by 34 feet with a depth of ten feet four new boat ways were needed as well as an additional work force of between 70 and 175 men the shipyard had 325 men on the payroll before the new barge work was ordered the daily herald april 17 1943 p 7  uss pc 651 was the second vessel completed by westergard biloxi boat works she was launched 14 may 1942 only 2 weeks after her sister ship uss pc 650 slid down the ways in back bay the keel was laid 14 november 1941 for this 110foot wooden combat vessel the crew consisted of three officers and 25 sailors after commissioning in august 1942 pc 651 was given to the british royal navy and participated in dday the allied invasion of france in june 1944  barge yard land acquisitionleases in order to procure the necessary acreage to build the us army oil barges the biloxi port commission began acquiring leases west of the existing plant on back bay  dacey lease in february 1943 the heirsatlaw of claudia g vick dacey 18691937 and marguerite dacey 19001942 executed a oneyear lease with an option to purchase to officials of the westergard boat yard william p kennedy ii 18731951 victor b pringle 19091977 thomas n pringle 19061970 james w pringle 19141971 and wb goodman a copartnership on three tracts of land situated on rhodes point on the back bay of biloxi these three contiguous tracts which were bisected by bayview avenue ran north for over 800 feet to back bay and were for the part 185 feet in width the lease ran from february 20 1943 to february 20 1944 and cost 1200 per year if the option were executed during the lease period the dacey heirs would sell their three parcels for 8000 harrison co chancery court land deed bk 255 p 69  fountain lease in early march 1943 frances fountain roberts ethel fountain helen fountain fluker and gussie e fountain jr the heirs of gussie fountain sr entered into a lease agreement with the westergard boat works this lot had 62 feet on back bay and ran south 600 feet to bayview avenue it was bounded on the east by the braun canning company and the west by the biloxi port commission and the people s bank of biloxi the rent was 400 for the first year with the lessee given a purchase option of 3600 after that had been concluded harrison co chancery court land deed bk p 73  people s bank of biloxi lease the people s bank ease to westergard boat works was very generous and extremely patriotic as it was a mere 20 per month with 62 feet on biloxi s back bay and ran south across bay view avenue 450 feet to the property of oris danice the gussie fountain heirs were to the east and the dacey heirs to the west harrison co chancery court land deed bk p 73  braun lease the braun canning company entered into a lease with the westergard boat works late march 1943 the rent was 500 each month until october 1943 when it decreased to 400 per month the tract had 114 feet on back bay east by city of biloxi south by bay view avenue and west by the heirs of gussie fountain harrison co chancery court land deed bk p 76 the braun canning company and shell crushing plant has been closed and the property leased to the westergard boat works the company moved to another location on back bay the daily herald may 4 1943 p 2 the braun canning company and shell crushing plant has been closed and the property leased to the westergard boat works the company moved to another location on back bay the daily herald may 4 1943 p 2  barge launch on june 18th westergard launched its 2nd composite oil barge the 2000000 contract called for the construction of thirty oil barges to haul petroleum products from texaslouisiana to jacksonville florida via the intracoastal waterway the hydrocarbons were offloaded to other barges for shipment to cities on the atlantic seaboard the barges were 160 feet long 34 feet wide and 10 12 feet deep with the capacity for 6000 barrels james w pringle was superintendent of the boatyard and connie collins supervised construction the daily herald june 19 1943 p 1  employee housing as biloxi was witnessing exponential population growth at this time public and residential housing was in demand in late july the federal housing authority approved that 100 family dwellings be erected at biloxi for civilian defense employees at keesler field and the westergard biloxi boat works bay view homes a biloxi public housing complex had 50units allotted for keesler laborers as the airbase work declined 40units at bay view homes were to be occupied by westergard employees the new construction sixplexes was to be south of harrison court i daniel gehr biloxi architect was involved in the project the daily herald july 26 1943 p 1 and august 4 1943 p 1  barge reduction in early september the management of the us army corp of engineers at philadelphia reassessed their oil barge construction progam and determined that they had overestimated the number of vessels needed their contract with westergard biloxi boat works was reduced the corps district office at mobile related that this act was no reflection upon the quality of the watercraft that had been built by the biloxi shipyard three oil barges under construction would terminate this program the daily herald september 21 1943 p 2 to be continued to be continued  boat builders   north biloxi d iberville    manuel sanchez the federal census circuit court and chancery court land deed records of harrison county mississippi indicate that manuel sanchez  18061877 a spanish immigrant arrived in the united states circa 1823 he probably came through the port of new orleans and married a louisiana woman phillipine or phillipa 17911879 before settling at back bay d iberville probably in 1833 or 1834 manuel sanchez was naturalized on march 4 1846 it can be deduced from the deed records that he bought three arpents fronting 576 feet on the north shore of the back bay of biloxi from dominique ladner prior to october 1834 harco ms circuit court natutalization bk 1 p 126 manuel sanchez was a ship carpenter and probably was the first to operate a shipyard at what became known as shipyard point at back bay bill holland s unique wooden boatyard on central avenue in d iberville is at or near the same location today the other sanchez land on the back bay was the site of the former st theresa catholic school just east of bill holland and south of the old catholic church manuel sanchez built the first catholic chapel at back bay during the war of the rebellion 18611865 he erected a large wooden crucifix on the shoreline which was later replaced with an iron cross forged at handsboro it became a local legend that this cross was planted by iberville 16711706 the frenchcanadian soldier of fortune who landed on biloxi bay in february 1699 bremer 1931 the sanchezs apparently had no children of their own but appear to have left their land to charles manuelsanchez 18451897 a black man who was probably their slave until immancipation charles sanchez sold a lot of land 89 x160 to bishop francis janssen of the diocese of natchez in april 1884 harco ms land deed book 20 pp 8889 this sale resulted in the construction of st theresa s catholic church 18841979 charles sanchez appears to have reared israel sanchez who he may have adopted emotionally if not legally when charles sanchez passed in july 1897 he legated his estate to israel sanchez in his will charles sanchez averred that he had raised israel from a child harco ms chancery court will bk 2 p 43 in march 1927 mrs victoria r sanchez sold her ½ acre of land at bayou puerto situated in the ne c of lot 2 section 13 t7sr9w to wj engbarth 18871957 and h gladney 19001978 she was residing in harrison county at the time of the conveyance mrs sanchez had moved to the back bay section of biloxi about 1921 and found work in the seafood industry she expired in july 1961 and her remains were interred in the martin ryan memorial cemetery on bayou puerto jxco ms land deed bk 60 p 237 and  the daily herald july 24 1961 p 2    joseph santa cruz   john santa cruz   john foretich   antoine fountain antpoine fountain 18481916   ship carpenter in 1900 son of francois fountain and julienne ladner married willamine young 18481910 in 1870  casmir j harvey   18451904  casimir boy jacob harvey jr   martin fountain probably one of the most acclaimed boat builders of the mississippi coast  martin fountain  18561938 got his start at point st martin he was born in the area the last child of francois fountain c1798c1885 and julienne ladner 1815c 1876 in 1882  the biloxi herald  of may 7 1892 announced that martin fountain and s ladnier of jackson county are building a fine shipyard for their own use though outsiders can also be accommodated fountain built many biloxi schooners his home was located on what later became known as birdsell s hill after charles m birdsell the biloxi herald may 7 1892 p 4 martin fountain moved to biloxi about 1903 and continued his shipbuilding skills there other boat builders of note in the area were willie fountain 18821963 j henry cannette 18871969 who was known for his catboat construction and herman kelly 18811948 who built shrimp trawlers on the fountain beach after ww ii  references   the biloxi herald point st martin may 7 1892  casimir j harvey   casimir jacob harvey  18451904 was the son of pierre harvey  18101893 and zeline moran  18111883 both french appellations have been slightly anglicizedharvey from hervais or herve and moran from morin the 20th century ap moran 18971967 family of ocean springs can trace its roots here via back bay d iberville and biloxi casmir j harvey was reared at back bay on harvey hill an area north of present day goodman road several current historians obviously do not realize that this was the homestead of sailor pierre harvey not the bayshore drive location of his son casimir which is often given in error living at back bay in the mid19th century were some of the pioneer shipwrights of the mississippi coast dalmatian john baptiste foretich 18131875 spanish born nicholas voivedich 18221896 and spaniards manuel sanchez 18061871 bernard taltavull 18291870 and jose santa cruz 18091886 young casimir chose marine carpentry as his trade and probably apprenticed himself to senor santa cruz in october 1867 casimir j harvey married rosina hosli 18521937 an 1856 immigrant from canton glarius switzerland the casimir j harvey home and shipyard were located on the waterfront of back bay just west of the i110 bridge here the harveys reared their family casimir j harvey jr 18681957 margaret h mulholland 18701900 maria r harvey 18731876 caroline h saujon 18751918 pauline h clifford 18781967 claurine h holloway 18811940 peter harvey 18851904 emma agnes harvey 18891968 and ida h santa cruz 18921964 hurricane camille 1969 destroyed the harvey home which was a onestory wood frame acadian cottage its threebay front was capped by a hip roof casimir j harvey s granddaughter h mercedes holloway guffey 19101998 resides today on the old home site at 3387 bay shore drive with her daughter joan guffey the second post office at back bay may have been located here as casimir harvey succeeded annie mallette quave 18281904 as postmaster in april 1886 casimir j harvey operated his shipyard a few hundred feet west of his home casimir s skill as a boat builder was boldly exhibited in his white winged queens the biloxi schooner he and casimir j harvey jr built many of these sleek fishing vessels for the pioneer seafood operators of biloxi among their schooners were  emily montross  1878  ht howard  1889  fairy queen  1890  emma harvey  1891  ida mae harvey   carroll clifford   wyandotte  and  white wing  all 1904  algonquin  1905  tuscarora  1905 and  sioux  1906 the  emma harvey  and crew were lost in the july storm of 1916 at schooner harbor in the chandeleur islands see  the ocean springs record the emma harvey a tale of the july storm july 7july 21 1994   for nearly three decades the  fairy queen  was a familiar sight to residents of coastal west jackson county as it plied the waters of fort bayou and back bay ww branigar brother of harvey w branigar 18751953 a founder of gulf hills in 1926 organized the fairy queen ship company in 1927 it served that verdant resort as a pleasure craft to entertain guests in march 1890 a reporter for  the biloxi herald  visiting back bay related in that venerable journal  casmere harvey s store is the first place that one strikes when disembarking the ferry and it is one that everybody can feel at home at he carries a good stock of groceries and general merchandise as well as ship chandlery casmere has a tamed wild goose and it is a beauty for its kind this webfooted customer follows cass around like a dog and when cass is annoyed too much with its company he says go home and don t make a goose of yourself the goose goes  with the shipyard busy and a prosperous retail store in operation casimir harvey appears to have needed a place to relax and celebrate his success with his neighbors and inlaws in december 1890 the harrison county board of police granted him a license to retail vinous and spirituous liquors in quantities less than one gallon the license was good for twelve months in his barroom situated at the south end of wells road now boney avenue about where said road intersects the back bay of biloxi harrison county ms board of police minute book 4 p 80 casimir j harvey and his young brother philip harvey 18511918 were involved in local horse racing and trading phil harvey especially developed a reputation as a knowledgeable horseman at back bay and point st martin where he later resided and operated a store there appears to have been two excellent horseracing tracks in the north bay area at the turn of the century present day race track road owes its descriptive appellation to the sport of kings several reports in  the biloxi herald  of march 1890 related the harvey brothers involvement in this activity  casmere harvey is proud in the possession of one of the fleetest horses on the coast and clara p for symmetry and beauty of proportion in limb and length is hard to beat   casmere harvey has sold his celebrated racer cannon ball     in horse trading mr phillip harvey has no rival no equine beauty passes his critical eye without a bid and he invariably like the notorious eli gets there   phil harvey had a good trip of over thirtyfive miles in the country in the early part of the week after a runaway horse he got his strayed animal and did some profitable horse trading at the same time nothing slow about phil  the emma harvey according to the indigenous people of coastal mobile county alabama the high tides and strong winds of hurricane frederick on september 12 1979 blew this casmir harvey built schooner into the wide expanses of the mon island marsh or portersville bay to the west of cedar point the fate or position of the  emma harvey  is presently unknown but it is generally held that the biloxi built schooner was destroyed by hurricane frederick   emma harvey a tale of the july storm 1916 the recent near miss of tropical storm alberto on july 3 1994 reminded me of an incident that happened on the mississippi coast seventyeight years ago almost to the day it is a true story well documented in the journals and lives of the people of that time  ocean springs in the humid morning of july 6 1916 railroad agent john drysdale 18691934 walked slowly across the l n railroad bridge from ocean springs towards biloxi soon he would announce to the world the fate of his little town on the eastern shore of the bay of biloxi during the early morning hours a hurricane struck the mississippi coast roaring through ocean springs with wind gusts up to 125 mph destruction wrought by the tempest was manifested in roof fence chimney tree and shed damage no one was seriously injured but plumber george dale 18721953 got a good scare when the knights of pythias hall which he was occupying during the storm got blown off its foundation the colored baptist church was heavily hit by the strong wind force and had to be demolished in the days following the storm in the country the rose farm north of fort bayou reported severe damage at the ce pabst 18511920 pecan orchards some of the older trees were damaged more fortunate was theo bechtel 18631931 reporting only slight ruin to his potential crop  biloxi at biloxi l n agent drysdale found that city in great suffering the hurricane had struck there also with unrelenting fury the back bay and point cadet areas were especially hit hard it would be days and even weeks before all the news of the great natural disaster would be known at the time many ships were operating in the mississippi sound these vessels weren t outfitted with the communication and weather reporting devices we have today consequently most of the sailors and their vessels were caught unprepared many of the biloxi schooners were fortunate in that they were working near the partially sheltered louisiana marshes other mariners sought haven in the lee of the offshore barrier islands those not so fortunate rode the storm out at sea most seamen made it home to their port one small biloxi schooner wasn t so fortunate it was the  emma harvey  and her story follows courtesy of russell barnesseptember 2020  the emma harvey the  emma harvey  was a biloxi schooner utilized in the tourist shrimp and oyster industry of the mississippi and louisiana marshes in the early years of the 20 th century she was built by casimir j harvey 18451904 at his back bay now d iberville shipyard probably in 1891 and was named for his youngest daughter emma agnes harvey 18891968 the physical dimensions of the emma harvey as reported on its master carpenter s certificate of novemebr 1891 are as follows length 37 feet beam 14 feet and hole depth 6 feet it is also documented that casimir harvey conveyed a schooner on may 25 1889 to ht howard the boat was called the  ht howard  and was thirty six feet in length fourteen and two sixteenth feet in breadth three feet deep and weighed eight and thirteen one hundredths tons from biloxi regatta entries the emma harvey competed as a schooner in the under 40foot class chancery court harrison co mississippi chattel book 2 p 232 and the biloxi daily herald august 19 1900 p 8 the  emma harvey  participated in some of the early biloxi schooner races in the 1901 biloxi regatta she withdrew before finishing the first round because of heavy seas after the days of the white winged queens had passed the  emma harvey  was converted to a charter boat and trawler she was last seen about 1978 in a canal at cedar point alabama north of dauphin island every ship has a tale to tell the  emma harvey  has many and is an unusual craft as will be demonstrated the biloxi daily herald july 7 1901 p 1 on tuesday morning the fourth of july 1916 the  emma harvey   owned by ulysses lel desporte 18611927 a biloxi commercial oyster dealer departed back bay on a shrimping trip to chandeleur island unknown to captain george duggan and his crew who consisted of arthur duggan lawrence bennett john helm 18931916 john mcduffy and jack atkinson an englishman a category three hurricane was poised to strike the mississippi gulf coast the following afternoon july 5th  the july storm the july storm as it is known in the annals of gulf coast meteorology came ashore between ocean springs and pascagoula mississippi during this tropical cyclone several barometers in biloxi registered 2808 of mercury although this was the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded to this date it was relatively high when compared to the tornadolike camille of august 1969 which had a record low pressure for any storm to that time of 2658 of mercury hurricane wilma 2005 is now the record holder with a pressure of 2605 of mercury in the early hours of the tempest the wind direction of the july storm was northeast but shifted to the west where it remained until it abated in the early hours of the morning of july 6 a wind velocity of 90 miles hour was recorded at biloxi the  emma harvey  reached chandeleur island and was at anchor in schooner harbor on the west side of the island this fact was corroborated by captain robert williams of the schooner  lagoda  also a victim of the furious storm other ships in the immediate area were the schooners  laguna    lagonia and the  beulah d   the crews of these vessels were rescued in the days immediately following the hurricane by boats from biloxi a vivid description of the harrowing experience in the chandeleurs aboard the   beulah d  is given by louis largilliere 18611950 in the july 10th 1916  the daily herald  pp 1 and 3 he stated that    he never wanted to go through such an experience again and he is grateful that he reached the mainland again the   beulah d   was caught in the storm while at anchor in chandeleur sound near north keys after the blow had overtaken them they put out two anchors but they were of no avail and the schooner was carried about the gulf for a distance of thirty five miles after the masts had both blown out by the gale during the drifting of the boat the members aboard were compelled to remain below most of the time as the wind was so strong that had they attempted to walk on deck they would have been blown overboard and lost forever the hatches of the boat were blown away and canvas had to be tacked down to keep out the torrents of rain   wyandotte another casimer harvey 18451904 built schooner depicted in this vintage postcard was the wyandotte  the  wyandotte  was constructed in 1904 for william f gorenflo 18441932 pioneer biloxi seafood magnate and philanthropist the gorenflo factory was situated on back bay near main street like the  emma harvey  the  wyandotte  was a victim of the 1916 july storm she was capsized and beat to pieces in back bay the biloxi daily herald january 27 1904 p 6 and the daily herald july 7 1916 p 7  search in the days and weeks following the great blow lel desporte sent out motor vessels primarily the  ursula c  captained by johnny duggan or boy bennett with other relatives of the missing crew they made a complete search of cat island the chandeleurs cryhoe bay point comfort earl island bird island breton island taylor s pass north keys battle door southwest keys and neptune louisiana this valiant search of the western sector discovered the abandoned schooner    segura  and the schooner barge  hussler  both from biloxi at cryhoe bay in the louisiana marshes at taylor s pass they located a drowned fisherman the only physical sign of the  emma harvey  after the great storm in the chandeleurs was reported by captain gl fields of the schooner  beulah d  who stated that when his crew went ashore on the island to search for signs of the  emma harvey  they found nothing but a small meat board and small pieces of rope that had drifted ashore from some boat during the gale they could see in the sand where the  emma harvey  was believed to have dragged her two anchors in her journey across the island to the east during the blow by late july the hunt for the missing schooner continued aboard the  ursula c   now captained by floyd lanius 18861936 henry and fred duggan son of captain george duggan were also aboard the search party now concentrated its relentless efforts to the east combing horn petit bois dauphin and lesser islands in that area they also went to pascagoula mobile and the west florida coast seeking information and leads there were some sightings in the eastern gulf which gave hope for locating the missing crew and boat the coast guard cutter  tallapoosa  reported on july 11 that it had passed a schooner s mast twelve feet out of the water at latitude 2918 n and longitude 8655 w approximately 100 miles southeast of pensacola about the same time the private yacht  shirin  of new orleans passed a vessel within six miles of grant s pass near dauphin island with its right side up an unusual event occurred on august 2 when martin lomax a teenage lad from biloxi found a bottle with a note in it on the south side of deer island the note read   help help on an unknown island   signed george duggan and crew some thought the note a hoax while others believed john helm had written it since he always carried an empty flask in his pocket when at sea to be prepared for the emergency of a shipwreck  john henry helm  18931916  john henry helm  18931916 young helm was a crewman on the illfated  emma harvey  on that july 5 th day of 1916 he was a nola native of german ancestry john helm had the reputation of carrying a vial or bottle to sea he envisioned that in an emergency situation a message could be written placed in the sealed vial and thrown overboard to be carried by winds and tides hopefully to be discovered someday revealing his fate in august 1916 the overturned hull of the ravaged  emma harvey  was found south of santa rosa island near pensacola florida helm s remains of those of his shipmates have never been located  found the destiny of the vanished  emma harvey  was revealed to the world on august 12 when the lost schooner was located by two fishing boats from pensacola she was found floating bottom side up about twentyfive miles from pensacola other reports point to a location of seventy five miles no sign of captain duggan or any members of his crew were ever found the derelict vessel was towed to a mooring point near the perdido wharf in pensacola by the tug  william flanders  mr bruce s weeks deputy collector of customs at pensacola stated in his report of the incident the following    there are absolutely no indications that the crew of the   emma harvey  was saved and he expressed the opinion that the men from biloxi who went to the chandeleur islands on july 5 were lost in the hurricane which swept over the gulf on that date no indication of crew and there does not seem to be much probability that they ever got away in the boats the crew evidently cut away the rigging on the starboard side but failed to cut it on the lee side first and apparently the rigging went over the port side hung and the vessel simply turned over the anchors appear to have been out but only a short length of chain   the biloxi schooner  emma harvey  was deemed worth saving by captain rocheblane of the towing vessel  william flanders  but because of the great salvage and towing expense lel desporte decided to dispose of her in pensacola the precedent information was assimilated from  the daily herald  in the issues july 7 1916 through august 29 1916  frank j duggan a personal perspective of the incident is given by frank j duggan 19122000 who is the sole surviving son of the skipper of the  emma harvey  george duggan frank duggan resides at 344 fayard street in biloxi on the site that his family moved to circa 1905 previously the duggans lived at 747 reynoir as frank duggan was only four years of age when his father george brother arthur and cousin lawrence bennett drowned that stormy july 5th evening east of the chandeleurs it wasn t until years later at the dinner table or while drinking beer with his older brothers charlie and fred duggan that he would hear the familial version of the  emma harvey  disaster the following narrative is a summary of the tale of the  emma harvey  as told to me by frank j duggan on december 17 1990  the voyage to chandeleur commenced as a suggestion from johhny mcduffy when he told george duggan hey cap they re slaughtering shrimp out there and getting redfish with them in the seine captain duggan mustered his crew but son fred had disappeared to parts unknown when the anchor was weighed fred duggan was replaced by his brother arthur a newly wed arthur was eager to earn good wages for his new family situation   fred duggan who had sailed on the   emma harvey   many times with his father never liked the little vessel and thought it unsafe in rough weather he referred to it as a deathtrap and admonished charlie duggan to never sail on her fred preferred the larger schooner    cavalier  and could never understand his dad s love for the smaller boat the tragedy of the july storm of 1916 has remained with the duggan family through the years as one would expect from such a sudden loss of loved ones    after the   emma harvey   was towed into pensacola and salvaged a miami man bought it from salvagers he had it towed to southern florida and refurbished it with a new cabin engine and trawls the us coast guard became suspicious of the vessel since it never seemed to utilize it fishing gear when they boarded the craft a cargo of illicit cuban spirits was discovered in the hole the rum runner was confiscated and sold at a sealed bid auction in miami as a victim of the prohibition enforcement years 19191933 the purchaser an alabama man returned the   emma harvey   to the gulf coast probably to bon secour alabama    cedar point alabama a trip by the author to cedar point and dauphin island alabama on december 31 1990 resulted in telephone conservations with sadie mae collier serra and john henry lamey sadie serra is the daughter of frank collier according to her frank collier obtained the emma harvey from a bon secour man in a trade the man may have been john steiner or budgey plash collier gave 800 worth of fine oysters for the vessel mrs serra the tenth of eleven collier children told of her father s success as a business man in mobile county frank collier and two associates owned twentyfive boats a canning factory and grocery store on dauphin island and an ice plant at mobile a disastrous fire at the ice plant and the great depression combined to bring the colliers to financial chaos they moved to cedar point circa 1933 with only 75 cents in the family treasury frank collier began life anew by oystering in the bay his wife opened the mollusks and sold them this mom and pop operation slowly grew and the collier children were integrated into the operation as their age allowed sadie mae serra said that the collier fortunes improved rapidly after the emma harvey acquisition initially the old biloxi schooner was put to work as a ferryboat transporting people mail automobiles and cattle from cedar point to the island the colliers ran a herd on the west end of dauphin island prior to world war ii the emma harvey would take day charters to the snapper banks during the war years fear of german submarines caused captain collier to ply the coastal and bay waters for trout he would take as many as twenty people out for 30 per day and give them a delicious fish fry after the trip during the september 1947 hurricane the emma harvey was trapped by low tide at her mooring in the cedar point canal the collier family left for higher ground when they returned the next morning they found the valiant little lady on high ground adjacent to their store during the night of fierce winds and violent seas the vessel had stood as a barrier to protect the colliers building from storm tossed flotsam and other debris john henry lamey a neighbor to sadie mae serra at alabama port worked as a deckhand on the emma harvey in the 1940s and 1950s with weldon doc collier the brother of sadie serra he vividly recalls the search and discovery of the wreckage of a national airlines dc6 airliner which crashed into the gulf about twelve miles south of fort morgan the accident occurred in february 1953 the commercial aircraft was en route to moissant airport now louis armstrong international at new orleans from tampa when it went down as the result of turbulent weather  emma harvey  july 1971 in july 1971 lottie duggan foretich 19051994 visited this canal site at cedar point alabama where the schooner emma harvey was moored her father george duggan and brother arthur duggan died in the 1916 july storm and their corporal remains were never found according to the indigenous people of coastal alabama the high tides and strong winds of hurricane frederick on september 12 1979 blew the casimir harvey built schooner into the wide expanses of the mon island marsh or portersville bay to the west of cedar point the fate or position of the  emma harvey  is presently unknown but it is generally held that the back bay biloxi built schooner was destroyed by hurricane frederick image from h john gutierrez myfamilyinfoinfo after the dauphin island causeway was completed in the 1950s the emma harvey plied the bay and gulf waters as a shrimp trawler according to the indigenous people of coastal alabama the high tides and strong winds of hurricane frederick on september 12 1979 blew the casmir harvey built schooner into the wide expanses of the mon island marsh or portersville bay to the west of cedar point the fate or position of the emma harvey is presently unknown but it is generally held that the biloxi built schooner was destroyed by hurricane frederick  cedar point alabama a trip by the author to cedar point and dauphin island alabama on december 31 1990 resulted in telephone conservations with sadie mae collier serra and john henry lamey sadie serra is the daughter of frank collier according to her frank collier obtained the  emma harvey  from a bon secour alabama man in a trade the man may have been john steiner or budgey plash collier gave 800 worth of fine oysters for the vessel mrs serra the tenth of eleven collier children told of her father s success as a business man in mobile county frank collier and two associates owned twentyfive boats a canning factory and grocery store on dauphin island and an ice plant at mobile a disastrous fire at the ice plant and the great depression combined to bring the colliers to financial chaos they moved to cedar point circa 1933 with only 75 cents in the family treasury frank collier began life anew by oystering in the bay his wife opened the mollusks and sold them this mom and pop operation slowly grew and the collier children were integrated into the operation as their age allowed sadie mae serra said that the collier fortunes improved rapidly after the  emma harvey  acquisition initially the old biloxi schooner was put to work as a ferryboat transporting people mail automobiles and cattle from cedar point to the island the colliers ran a herd on the west end of dauphin island prior to world war ii the  emma harvey  would take day charters to the snapper banks during the war years fear of german submarines caused captain collier to ply the coastal and bay waters for trout he would take as many as twenty people out for 30 per day and give them a delicious fish fry after the trip during the september 1947 hurricane the  emma harvey  was trapped by low tide at her mooring in the cedar point canal the collier family left for higher ground when they returned the next morning they found the valiant little lady on high ground adjacent to their store during the night of fierce winds and violent seas the vessel had stood as a barrier to protect the colliers building from storm tossed flotsam and other debris john henry lamey a neighbor to sadie mae serra at alabama port worked as a deckhand on the  emma harvey  in the 1940s and 1950s with weldon doc collier the brother of sadie serra he vividly recalls the search and discovery of the wreckage of a national airlines dc6 airliner which crashed into the gulf about twelve miles south of fort morgan the accident occurred in february 1953 the commercial aircraft was en route to moissant airport now louis armstrong international at new orleans from tampa when it went down as the result of turbulent weather after the dauphin island causeway was completed in the 1950s the  emma harvey  plied the bay and gulf waters as a shrimp trawler according to the indigenous people of coastal alabama the high tides and strong winds of hurricane frederick on september 12 1979 blew the casmir harvey built schooner into the wide expanses of the mon island marsh or portersville bay to the west of cedar point the fate or position of the  emma harvey  is presently unknown but it is generally held that the biloxi built schooner was destroyed by hurricane frederick  pierre hervai pierre harvey 18101893 was born in france about 1810 he is the patriarch of the harvey family of the mississippi gulf coast it is not known precisely when pierre harvey came to the united states or from which french city or department that he immigrated it is very likely that he arrived in the back bay north biloxi community in the 1830s here the young french seaman met and married celina morin 18111883 on february 20 1840 the name morin is now spelled moran the marriage of pierre harvey and celina moran was recorded in the book of marriages volume 8 18401842 folio 103 of the archives of the st louis cathedral at new orleans pierre harvey and spouse had settled on the 46 acres in section 17 t7sr9w he had acquired from his fatherinlaw joseph moran ii in 1842 he sold 37 acres to jl lastinger reserving 9acres which was probably the harvey homestead as one can see from the topographic map of the area it was well named as it was called harvey hill the city of d iberville recently placed a historical marker for harvey hill on march 2 1846 monsieur harvai made the following statement in the circuit court of harrison county  this day being a day of the term of said court the second day of march ad 1846 personally came and appeared in open court pier sic who being duly sworn and solemnly acclaim that it was his bonafied intention to become a citizen of the united states of america and to renounce forever all allegiance to any foreign state prince or sovereignty whatsoever and particularly to louis phillip king of the french he has heretofore been a subject  minutes of the harco ms circuit courtbook 1 p 116 pierre harvey became a citizen of the united states of america on march 6 1848 this act took place at the harrison county circuit court at mississippi city and was recorded in the minutes of the harco ms circuit courtbook 1 page 183 pierre and celina harvey lived on the back bay of biloxi near her father joseph moran ii here he made his livelihood as a seaman and fisherman harvey probably toiled in the coastal schooner trade naval stores salt lumber and charcoal were produced locally and shipped to new orleans and mobile the traders returned with food staples tools and cloth the morin moran family of the mississippi coast originated at st pierredusud quebec canada here joseph morin was born of denis morin and madeleine boulet he settled at cat island and married louise ladner the daughter of nicolas ladner and marie anne pacquet in 1778 all of their children were born and reared at cat island pierre harvey died on september 30 1893 celina moran harvey preceded him in death she expired on september 21 1883 their remains were probably interred in the moran cemetery at d iberville mississippi to my present knowledge ocean springs and jackson county residents with direct familial connections to the  emma harvey  through its builder casimir j harvey 18451904 are former ward iv alderman philip phil i harvey 19412012 and family carroll l clifford jr 19252006 former jackson county board of supervisor from gautier and family and myself  epilogue ocean springs mississippijuly 7 1994 today i receive a telephone call from bobbie bond helm who resides at 309 live oak in ocean springs she tells me that her husband joseph o helm jr is the nephew of john henry helm 18931916 who was a crew member of the emma harvey  mrs helm further details the helm family relating that there were four helm brothers and a sister conrad 18901914 martin 18911954 john henry 18931916 joseph o 18961968 and rita 1898 their father john g helm 18671949 of german ancestry was born at new orleans while their mother was josephine molero 18581914 of st bernard parish the moleros were from the canary islands all the helm men were born at new orleans and died at biloxi except john who was lost at sea east of the chandeleurs on july 5 1916 frank j duggan 19122000 the son of captain george duggan the skipper of the illfated  emma harvey  resided at biloxi and was married to carrie mae voivedich 19132001 she spent her formative years at ocean springs mrs duggan s father nichcolas voivedich owned a store on washington avenue about where miner s toys is now located the voivedich brothers store closed in the mid1920s familial connections to the emma harvey through its builder casmir j harvey 18451904 are former ward iv alderman phil harvey carroll clifford jackson county board of supervisor from gautier and myself phil harvey is as direct descendant of pierre harvey jr 18411878 and victoria koehl 18501904 mr clifford descends from the builder casmir harvey and rosina husley 18521937 and i am a descendant of marie harvey 18401894 and antoine victor bellande 18291918 marie was the eldest child of french immigrant pierre harvey probably hervais or herve 18101880 and celestine moran 18111883 casmir pierre jr and marie harvey who were born at back bay present day d iberville were siblings  willie fountain  18821963 died june 25 1963 married tamelia fossier 18791963 located at harrison county north of fountain cemetery  references  viola moore cannetteaugust 1996  j henry cannette   18871969 built catboats on west side of avery point  herman kelly  18901948 built boats on fountain beach after ww ii  william t holland   19432005 boat yard located on the historic site of manuel sanchez and john foretich at 9362 central avenue graduate of biloxi high school  reference  the biloxid iberville press    a part of south mississippi s history   october 4 1995 p 13  francis a taltavull francis a taltavull  18511930 married mary margaret bertheaud 18601904 on march 19 1879 she was the daughter of benjamin bertheaud d pre 1866 and anna marie abbley 18421917 the bertheauds were married by justice of the peace berry wells 18121876 on october 23 1858 in harrison county their other children were rosalie bertheaud b1862 and mary victorine bertheaud b 1865 after the death of benjamin bertheaud anna marie married joseph santa cruz 18091886 on july 10 1866 anecdotal history relates that there were eight children born to this union but only four sons survived fritz santa cruz 18701952 rudolph santa cruz 18721932 adolph santa cruz 18811972 and randolph santa cruz 18821971 joseph santa cruz was born at palma on the island of majorca in 1880 francis and margaret taltavull were residing at back bay now d iberville next to her mother mrs joseph santa cruz both men are ship carpenters the children of francis a taltavull and marie marguerite bertheaud were mary maggie t moran 18801948 wife of we moran william bernard taltavull 18821948 francis a taltavull 18831950 alphonsine taltavull 18851885 and margaret t venus 18881966 wife of joseph venus frank taltavull learned the spanish language and the art of shipbuilding from his father bernard on the shores of north biloxi his father took him to cuba during the civil war and he later worked for the brooklyn boat works at new york city where he learned large shipbuilding methods in march 1880 frank taltavull bought a tract of land in a state tax sale for 320 it was formerly owned by william sylvester the land was located on the north shore of back bay and had one arpent 192 feet on the water and was one mile deep pierre quave was to the east and joseph moran to the west there is a high degree of certitude that taltavull located a shipyard here this is corroborated by the biloxi herald of march 19 1892 the journal announced that the new schooner emma r clemens owned by john moran was launched from frank taltavull s shipyard home belles who attended the ceremony were laura quave coline harvey virginia and theresa moran edna studebaker lena and josephine newman and melissa and viola seymour harrison county ms land deed book 17 p 370 frank taltavull advertised his business in the biloxi herald of october 5 1893 as follows  back bay   ship yard f taltavull practical ship carpenter and boat builder  vessels built hauled out and repaired on short notice and at reasonable prices the yard is supplied with all the modern appliances necessary to do first class work and vessels also hauled out by steam  p 4 c 3 the october 1893 hurricane washed away taltavull s shipyard on back bay probably as a result of losing his business and to locate closer to the seafood canneries on the south shore of back bay frank taltavull moved to biloxi in 1894 and resided on reynoir street by 1895 he was operating a shipyard on back bay mr taltavull was known for constructing fast sailboats schooners steam launches and tugs in may 1894 the new 18foot catboat  rosina  built by mr taltavull was for sale by wallace montross of the montross hotel asking price 65 the biloxi herald may 26 1894 p 8 two frank taltavull built vessels the schooner  a gerdes and brother  and the steam tug julius elbert became involved on may 29 1901 captain antoine v bellande 18291918 was in command of the schooner in the mississippi sound en route to ocean springs the sevenman crew was below preparing for bed with a green sailor at the helm the weather roughened and his inexperienced allowed the vessel to capsize captain bellande and his crew were found by the julius elbert clinging to their stricken ship they were rescued and having lost all their possession to the sea the biloxi daily herald may 29 1901 in 1905 the taltavull rerecich shipyard is in operation at 402 east back bay avenue it was sold by bernard taltavull to george melvin in august 1908 casimero rerecish 18581918 was an 1896 austrian probably croatian immigrant harco ms chattel bk 10 p 216 frank taltavull was beset with eye disease in his old age described as paralysis of the eye he visited an eye specialist at new orleans in march 1928 with some relief the daily herald march 26 1928 p 2 mrs taltavull died on july 12 1904 mr frank taltavull passed on january 6 1930 remains of both are interred at the biloxi cemetery  references  charles dyer along the gulf biloxi reprinted by the women of trinity episcopal church pass christian mississippi1971 brother jerome lepre the santa cruz family lepre new orleans louisiana1990 pp 4952 and p 59 the biloxi city directory volume 11905 the biloxi daily herald printery biloxi mississippi1905 p 49 and p 138 biloxi cemetery records book e francis taltavull sr microfilm biloxi public library p 214 the biloxi herald launching of the new schooner emma r clemens march 19 1892 p 4 the biloxi herald terrific gale october 5 1893 p 1 the biloxi herald local happenings may 26 1894 the biloxi daily herald may 29 1901 the biloxi daily herald morantaltavull january 26 1905 p 5 the biloxi daily herald venustaltavull november 26 1908 p 1 the daily herald casimero reresich obit february 8 1918 p 3 the daily herald returns from new orleans march 26 1928 personal communication rusty barnesnovember 1996 jane taltavull smithnovember 1996  peter quave shipyard  commenced either by pierre perrique quave 18081889 or his son peter simon quave 18261862 or raymond j quave 18511908 perrique quave left the area for st tammany parish louisiana circa 1859 peter s quave was killed at mobile circa 1862 during the civil war raymond the father of seymour the quave shipyard was located on the northshore of the back bay of biloxi its location is described in the land deeds books of harrison county mississippi in one conveyance as ninetyeight feet on the bay east by the old ferry landing and west by christopher quave deceased another deed states that john foretich is to the east john mally to the west and the quave house to the north this location present day would probably be between the gollott factory and holland s shipyard the quave shipyard was leased by pierre s quave s widow anna mallette quave 18281904 to jose aval in september 1867 it included the shipyard houses and all appurtenances situated on the tract the lease was for five years at 100 per year rental harco ms land deed bk 10 p 281 in december 1867 the quave shipyard was leased to to pedro perez 18231886 a spanish immigrant and ship carpenter peter perez was married to josephine gollott 18411897 son antonio perez 18591893 lost his life in the 1893 hurricane with boy balius aboard the schooner antonio p jr harco ms land deed bk 10 p 450 and  the biloxi herald   october 7 1893 p 1   quave shipyard bought lumber from fewell lilly in 1870 their sawmill was probaly located in section 18 t7sr9w this is in the oldfield point area west of goodman road the quave shipyard was still in existence by 1890s as in january 1892  the biloxi herald  announced that peter quave 18631936 is putting his shipyard in firstclass order  the biloxi herald   january 30 1892 p 1   the quave shipyard is busy two bages were launched yesterday and sevral other boats are being repaired the biloxi herald december 1 1893 p 1 peter quave was the grandson of the widow anna mallette quave he was married to alphonsine boney 18631900 and a merchant in 1900 peter quave built a seafood factory here later it lasted into the depression years  references    the biloxi herald  october 7 1893 p 1 the biloxi herald    back bay   january 30 1892 p 1 the biloxi herald    back bay items   december 1 1893 p 1  biloxi boat builders   john c brander john charles brander  18431913 a native of nova scotia and a resident of biloxi for the past seven years died at his home at 421 copp street sunday morning at 130 o clock after an illness of several weeks duration he was 70 years old before coming to biloxi he resided in pascagoula where he was engaged in the ship building business since his removal to this city he has been proprietor of brander s shipyard on back bay where he has done a prosperous business having built many of the boats plying in these waters for the various local canning factories he was associated in the ship building business with his son francis the only son surviving him he leaves also his wife and six daughters mrs francis taltavul and misses maggie lena alma gertrude and velma brander all of biloxi miss lena brander is a teacher in the biloxi schools the family is prominent in business and social circles in this city and have numerous friends in pascagoula and at other coast points who will be grieved to learn of the death of mr brander he was a man of sterling qualities unquestionable integrity and always manifested a patriotic interest in everthing that concerned the home of his adoption the funeral was held at 330 o clock this afternoon from his late residence with interment at the biloxi cemetery services were conducted by rev wm meggison pastor of the prebsyterian church the daily herald june 16 1913  francis a brander   references  7809 views  