The Fastest Slow Guy You Know: SUNKEN AND FORGOTTEN. - The San Francisco Examiner 31 Aug 1890, Sun

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

SUNKEN AND FORGOTTEN. - The San Francisco Examiner 31 Aug 1890, Sun - Page 13

You may know this story:

From S.F. sewer work must navigate around buried ships

Here's the story of how they got there, from Fred Lawson, the guy who sank many of them:

SUNKEN AND FORGOTTEN. Sun, Aug 31, 1890 – 13 · The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

SUNKEN AND FORGOTTEN.

A List of the Vessels That Lie Buried in San Francisco.

HOW TITLES TO WATER LOTS WERE ESTABLISHED IN THE EARLY DAYS.

Not the Globe, but the Cordova, Unearthed on Davis Street - A Chart of the Different Ships Still Buried Beneath the Streets of This City - Exciting Times on the Water Front Away Back in the Fifties.

"Why, say! This is a mistake, sure," said Captain Fred Lawson, as he laid down a copy of the Examiner, in which he read the account of an old vessel being uncovered on Davis street a short time ago.

The speaker was a rather spare man, slightly above medium height, whose long gray beard and snowy locks indicated that over seventy years had passed over his head, yet his blue eye was clear and bright, and he had the appearance of a man of forty-five.

"That could not have been the old ship Globe that was found, for the Globe was bought and cut up for wood and copper by Charley Hare in '51. He hired several Chinamen to do it, and he made a pretty good thing of it. Wood was scarce in those days. She had a large globe for a figurehead and was painted black. If you notice the color of this ship just found you will see that she was painted a lead color. She's the old Cordova, that's what she is."

Captain Lawson, a Norwegian by birth, landed at New York In 1837, and when the gold excitement broke out crossed the isthmus and arrived in San Francisco in the fall of 1849. Three months spent in mining gave him enough of it, and he returned to San Francisco and secured the contract to grade Montgomery street and raise the clapboard shanties that lined it to the proper level. This work accomplished, at a profit to himself of several thousand dollars, though he paid his workmen $16 a day, Lawson began squatting on water lots. At that time the old International Hotel stood on a bluff bordering the beach, the water reached Kearny at Jackson, aud the site of the Grand Hotel was an immense sand dune.

One day a young man in rags, without shoes on his feet or a coat upon his back, applied to Lawson for assistance. Lawson set him up in the real-estate business, and was so well pleased with his shrewd business abilities that he took him into partnership within a few weeks. The young man was Hiram Pearsons, the now deceased millionaire. The partnership existing between Lawson and Pearsons was not made public, and it was generally supposed that Lawson was alone in the venture.

The new firm purchased three blocks of water lots of Dr. Peter Smith, who seized much of the water front in default of a judgment for $300,000 secured by him against the bankrupt town. The first block was bounded by Vallejo, Broadway, Front and Davis, the second by Pacific, Jackson, Davis and Drumm, and the third by Washington, Clay, East and Drumm. Most of the property consisted of thirty-five feet of water, where were located slips for the entrance of vessels.

"Yes, sir; that's the old bark Cordova," said the Captain, his eyes glistening at recollections of the old days, "and I helped to sink her. She was an American vessel and was bought by Captain Bowman from Goodall & Nelson for Palmer, Cooke & Co. Goodall &, Nelson used her for a water ship. where vessels and housekeepers could get a supply of good water. Water sold for $1 and $2 a bucket in those days.

"Do I know of any other sunken vessels? Well, I should imagine so, when I had something to do with sinking nearly all of them. Oh, I was in the ship-scuttling business in those days, and it was somewhat lively work sometimes. You see, there were a lot of hulks in the bay, representing different nationalities, whose crews had deserted them to go to the mines. Some of them had no owners that could be found, and those and others I gobbled up, for I had good use for them. At one time there were so many of them that they were a nuisance and were in the way of incoming vessels. When Pearsons and I bought the water lots of Dr. Smith at the rate of $3,600 a block we were not the only one who laid claim to the property, and about the best way to get a perfect title was to float a ship in and sink her on the spot.

"I had been engaged in sending ships to their last resting place for some time, and when I asked $5,000 for the job of sinking the Cordova and Garnet, Palmer, Cooke & Co., whose bank was located on the present site of the Bella Union Theatre, wouldn't pay that price and got another man to do it for $700. He took the Job, towed the Cordova in and went back for the Garnet. When he brought the Garnet in the Cordova was missing and where she had gone no one knew. Strange things happened in those days, you know, and two or three days later the truant vessel was sighted on the other side of Goat Island. However, both were at last sunk, with my assistance, but the firm failed to name the exact place where they were to rest. The mistake cost them an even $100,000, for they encroached on land belonging to the Pacific and Broadway Wharf Companies and were compelled to buy their whole block at that price.

"Just about fifteen feet in the rear of the Cordova lies the Garnet. She was an American brig that I paid Captain Morgan $400 for, and sold to Palmer, Cooke & Co.

"The first vessel I sank was the English bark Elizabeth. We gave $600 for her, and she now lies about 100 feet along East street between Clay and Merchant. She settled in about thirty-five feet of water.

"The next one was the hulk of the ship Noble. She was used as a storage ship. I put in plenty of ballast and scuttled her, and she now can be found somewhere in the block bounded by Pacific. Jackson, Davis and Drumm streets, with her bow near Pacific She cost me $500. I slipped her in very quietly one bright moonlight morning about 3 o'clock. Before I could drop her to the bottom the Pacific Wharf Company had the Antelope astern, and before 1 could prevent it she had fastened a line to my boat and began to steam away. She didn't take me manv feet though, for with a cutlass I cut the line and with pistol in hand ordered them to keep off. They did so. There was a large crowd on the wharf and I expected bloodshed, but luckily there was no cause to fire any shots.

"About twenty feet from the Noble and directly opposite Clark street is the English brig Hardie. She was a large, fine vessel, and I bought her of Captain Ames for $800. Ween I sunk the Noble the Pacific Wharf Company objected so strongly that we made a sort of compromise, and I brought in the Hardie to help remove the Noble from her position. The company furnished the men for the work, and besides their pay they received all the free drinks they wanted. "The first day the tide was too low to move her and on the night of the second day a norther came up and somehow," said the Captain, with a twinkle in his blue eye, "the old Hardie had to sink, and that settled my title to the property. "

I don't remember what I paid for the Inez when I bought her of Jim Fairfall and Tom Jones, but she lies at the northwest corner of Pacific and Drumm street, on the line of Drumm, with her bow toward Pacific. The Pacific Wharf Company naturally didn't care to have the ship used by them spoiled, so when my men drove piles for buildings in the slip in the daytime they had them yanked out at night. I got a little tired of this, so one dark night I floated the Inez in, ran her up to where I wanted her and she was on the bottom in a few minutes. She was so close in to the wharf that her short bowsprit struck the wharf as she was settling and broke short off. She sank so rapidly that one of my men had to swim for it and was almost drowned. The crash apprised the opposition of what was going on, but they were too late in finding it out to do any good.

"Then there was the English ship Bethel that is buried at the corner of Drumm and Clark streets. Her bow points toward Drumm. She cost me $450. We exchanged a few shots before she went down. That is, I mean the Wharfinger and myself did. I had a line fastened to the wharf to steady her, and he started to cut it so she would drift away. I yelled at him to drop the knife, but he didn't so a bullet took it out of his hand. But he cut the rope first. No, there wasn't anybody hurt at that time; but there might have been. It was on election day, and the crowd, hearing the shooting, came rushing down to see what the matter was. Six-shooters were drawn, but no more firing was done. I stayed with the Bethel until she sank, when I rowed away from her; but I didn't get her in the right place. She got on to Miller, Hough & Cassly's property, so I sold her to them.

"A little while after that I had my men at work driving piles between Broadway and Vallejo. It was in the night time and about four hundred men were working. Suddenly we were fired upon and one man was instantly killed. Only a few of my men were armed, but we returned the fire, being guided by the flashes to be seen when the others fired. I don't know whether we hit anybody or not. Before the firing ceased another man on our side was struck and that was me. Just put your finger at this spot," said the Captain, indicating his cheek. On either side a hole could be found large enough to admit the end of the little finger.

"That's where I got a bullet," he continued. " The doctor said I must have had my mouth open giving orders, and I guess I did, for it went clean through my mouth without touching a tooth. You see my beard hides the wound. Next day I wore a handkerchief about my face and all the boys thought I had the toothache. I found it necessary to cut the chains of five vessels that night to get them out of the slip. They belonged to the wharf company.

"The ship Rome was a big Russian hulk that cost me about $1,000. She was used for a coal ship and sunk by me at the southwest corner of Market and East streets, under where the Ensign saloon was. Her bow touches the edge of Market street. I sank her for Joseph Galloway, and I had to do it in a hurry. Galloway bought a block of Smith. One morning he came running up to me and excitedly asked if I had a ship. I told him yes, that I had the Rome. He told me an injunction was to be served to prevent him having any more piles driven, but that if he could have the ship scuttled before 1 o'clock he would be all right. Before 1 o'clock my tow-boat took the Rome in to where he wanted it and down she went. I got $5,000 for that job.

"I helped to haul the ship Niantic in and sink her at the northwest corner of Clay and Sansome in the fall of '49. There is a house built over her now. Her bow is toward Montgomery. She was used as a hotel for a long time. A hollow pile was driven down through the stern below the salt-water line and about the best water in the town was pumped from that well. Good water was hard to find.

"The ship Apollo lies on Front street between Commercial and Sacramento with her stern towards Front street and is parallel with Sacramento. In '51 and '58 she was occupied for a boarding-house and restaurant kept by Lawrence & Co. She was partly burned, as also was the Niantic.

"Opposite the Niantic, on the corner of Sansome and Clay, the large ship General Harrison rests in an angling position. This vessel was also used for a storage ship for a time.

"The ship Thomas Bennett contained a grocery store. She is at the southwest corner of Sacramento and Front with a building over her. She lies parallel with Sacramento with her bow pointing toward Battery street. A similar well was put down through her as the Niantic, but the water was not so good.

"At the northwest corner of Pacific and Front was for a long time a vessel that went under the name only of the 'old ship.' She was used for a large liquor store.

"On Davis near Market the Callao was cut up for her wood and copper.

"A white-painted ship that has been much written about is the Alida. She lays on Davis street, between Washington and Jackson, and was owned before she sank by Ogden & Hayne, who sold her to Colonel Jones. He had her settled on his property. Two Norwegians brought her into port originally.

"We had a Methodist church in the Panama, on Davis street between Washington and Clay, and Father Taylor was the minister. He had a real pretty wife and I think that was the reason that the boys chipped in so liberallv. We paid Dr. Smith $300 for the space taken up by the ship, and helped the preacher out besides. When religious services were no longer held there she was taken to Beale aud Mission and cut up.

"Nearly all these vessels were sunk between '50 and '53."

Captain Lawson has had charge of a large stock ranch near Tomales, Marin county, for the past seven years and it was there "that he was seen by an Examiner representative yesterday. At one time he owned the property upon which the Grand Hotel is located, for which he paid $25,000, but later lost it through a defective title.

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Frederick Lawson 1820 - 1914, buried in San Rafael, CA