It's a Docent's Life for Me!

The Mary E (1906 Bath-built schooner)

October has arrived! In Bath that means the high season is about to end. On this chilly, fall day there’s a ghost pumpkin sitting next to an orange pumpkin at my front door, and for the first time I’m lamenting that the tourists are leaving. In case you’re wondering why I’m emphasizing the word first, I’ll clarify. Last spring, I decided to become a volunteer at the Maine Maritime Museum. For two weeks in the middle of May, the museum’s curator, volunteer coordinator, and veteran docents taught me volumes about our shipbuilding history, and I was amazed by the treasure our city has to offer visitors from around the globe. After completing my training, I wanted to be a docent at a cornucopia of exhibits, including the Mary E, the oldest Bath-built, wooden schooner still afloat, but I felt I would be a better docent if I committed my heart to only one exhibit. And then I had an epiphany! If I volunteered at the Donnell House, I would be delving into Bath’s shipbuilding history as well as its rich architectural history. Two for the price of one is a bargain in any century! Besides, if you’ve read my novel, Daughters of Long Reach, you know that I have an affinity for seafaring, shipbuilding, family love stories, and the drama of the Donnell family supports that affinity!

A stencil found on the attic floor at the Donnell House

It’s not a secret, but only a handful of people know that docents at the Donnell House receive a special tour. During our training, a member of the staff takes us up to the second and third floors – where visitors are not permitted – and we are shown the more private spaces of the house! Family sagas are the most intriguing part of maritime history. And I must admit that the Donnell story – brimming with joy and heartache – captivated me all summer long. I have never hesitated to extend my shift to tell one more story about the Donnell family: William T., Clara, Harry, Gussie, William R., and Addiella. My tours usually begin at the front staircase because I like to point out the stunning gas light that was electrified in the 1890s. It rests on a handsome Newel post at the foot of an 1840s bannister that calls forth all the people who have slid their hands along its smooth surface for almost 180 years.

The key keeper at the MMM gift store

Since June, I have been jumping in my car and heading south on Washington Street every Tuesday to report for duty at MMM. I usually arrive a tad after twelve, so I have to circle the parking lot to find a spot, and I’m always rushing to the gift store to pick up the key. The shop is busy at noon, but I rarely have to wait more than a minute for a fellow volunteer in a navy-blue polo to recognize me. There’s no password or secret hand shake. As long as I’m wearing my polo with my name tag attached, I’m greeted with a smile and the key to the historic home of William T. Donnell, the nineteenth century shipbuilder whose charming and gregarious family brought Bath’s social scene to the south end. In today’s vernacular, the Donnell family was popular!

            I have taken visitors from as far away as Switzerland and as close as Brunswick through the Donnell House. And after showing it to hundreds of people, I have concluded that the parlor is my favorite room because it has a wall of family photos. Whenever I describe the families that occupied this simple Italianate that was was updated in 1892 to an Eastlake style, I feel history come alive. It isn’t flat, like the page of a textbook; it’s three dimensional and palpable. William and Clara Donnell married in 1860, and they had five children between 1863 and 1880, but only four would survive infancy, and only three would live to enjoy adulthood. The youngest daughter, Addiella, died when she was twenty-four years old due to an infection that occurred after an appendectomy. She was engaged to be married, and her untimely death shows how difficult it was to grow old before the invention of antibiotics! The photos of Addiella are beautiful and haunting at the same time. All of the visitors, whether they come from Germany or Hawaii are affected by Addiella’s story. I can see it in their faces. Our common humanity shows!

The Donnell House at 279 Washington Street 

Even though William T. Donnell experienced great sorrow in his lifetime, I believe he was born under a lucky star, and I know he married well. His wife, Clara, was the daughter of Martha and Henry Hitchcock. The Hitchcocks owned the shipyard on the south end of Washington Street, but in 1856, while still in his forties, Henry died at the port of New Orleans. His wife Martha managed to hold on to their home and shipyard until their middle daughter, Clara, married William T. Donnell in 1860. Martha then sold the yard to William T. in 1869 which was three years after he opened the Deering & Donnell shipyard. His partnership with Gardiner Deering lasted for twenty years. Together they produced seventy schooners, and William T. went on to build eleven more vessels. The Donnell yard closed in 1901 after building its one and only steamer, the ferry Hockomock. The era of wooden ships was coming to an end. Percy & Small rented the yard in 1907 to build a five-masted schooner, and then the yard was closed  until 1917 when it was sold to the Pendleton Brothers. From the opening of Peleg Sprague’s yard in 1804 to the closing of the Pendleton Brother’s yard in 1919, a total of 115 vessels were built on the site best known as the Donnell shipyard.

Where the tour begins!

Family sagas are the most intriguing part of maritime history. And I must admit that the Donnell story, brimming with love and loss, has captivated me. Truth be told, the Maine Maritime Museum is an enchanting place. I tell almost everyone I meet that they should go to the museum and experience the stories of our shipbuilders, sea captains, sailors, and lobstermen. At a time when many of us are looking for inspiration, and wondering where all the heroes have gone, the stories of Live Yankees may encourage us to stay the course. At the end of the day, I think we are drawn to what we need most.

A family love story at MMM - a gift

In reviewing my training manual from MMM, I learned that the museum was founded as the Marine Research Society of Bath in 1962. The society published its first book, A Maritime History of Bath by William A. Baker in 1973. And the Maine Maritime Museum published Live Yankees with Tilbury House in 2009. I read both of these scholarly tomes before writing my novel, and I reference them in my book. As fate and Bath would have it, the copyeditor for Live Yankees, Genie Daley, was the editor of Daughters of Long Reach, as well. Affinities may be hard to explain, but they do exist.
See you next season, or maybe sooner, at the Maine Maritime Museum!