As we have undertaken research into all of South Portland’s various shipyards, certainly the most prominent family in our community’s shipbuilding past was the Dyer family. With help from my research partner, genealogist Jackie Dunham, we have pieced together a history that covers nearly two centuries. While there is always more research to be done, I’ll share here some history related to some of the earlier Dyers at work in our community.

To take a simplistic look at the Dyer family, there were two descendant lines of Dyers in South Portland (known then as Cape Elizabeth). There was the line descended from Ezekiel Dyer who ran the Dyer Shipyards that were located on the waterfront near the intersection of High and Pine streets.

The yard was just to the west of Pine Street, on the water. There was also a line of Dyers descended from Caleb Dyer, which included his son Nathan Dyer, his grandson Nathan Randall Dyer, and even great-grandsons – this line operated the Portland Ship Building Company and the Marine Railway on Front Street – where you’d find the Saltwater Grille and Aspasia Marina today.

It seemed more than coincidence that we had two lines of Dyer families in South Portland, running two different shipyards in Ferry Village; Jackie was able to work her genealogical magic and went back yet another generation to find the link.

The two patriarchs of the families – Ezekiel Dyer of the Dyer Shipyards and Caleb Dyer of the Portland Shipbuilding family – were, in fact, brothers. Both were sons of Micah Dyer and Hannah Marriner, both of whom lived here in the 1700s, back when South Portland was part of the old town of Falmouth. Micah was born in Truro, Massachusetts, in 1728, the son of Jonathan and Susanna Dyer. He later moved here to Falmouth where he married Hannah in 1749. Micah and Hannah had a very large family. Of the children we were able to find, they had Micah Jr. in 1751, David in 1754, Hannah in 1755, Susanna in 1757, Caleb in 1758, Martha in 1761, Ezekiel in 1763, Nathan in 1765,

Mary in 1767, and Joanna in 1772. With such a large family, and with the common naming of babies after parents and siblings, it is no surprise that as one goes down a generation or two, finding the “right” Nathan Dyer can be difficult.

Micah’s son Ezekiel is an important figure in our community’s history. In 1810, while living in Portland with his son Lemuel Dyer (also a shipbuilder), Ezekiel was over here in Ferry Village constructing ships. Two 1810 advertisements indicate that he was building ships here with “Caleb Dyer, Jr.” – they were reportedly working on a ship of 240 tons in February, and a brig of 155 tons in June. The only confirmed launch in 1810 thus far has been the brig Cordelia (185 tons). The Cordelia enjoyed a long life for a wooden brig, engaging in more than 90 voyages before finally being condemned and broken up after 39 years.

The year 1812 started out as business as usual. In March, Ezekiel Dyer had a 110-ton, high deck vessel ready for launch at his yard in Ferry Village. On May 4, he had another ship ready to go, this time a pink stern boat (a pink stern boat was one with a narrow stern and a flat bottom that allowed it to navigate in shallow waters and was typically faster than ships with deeper hulls). When the War of 1812 broke out in June, Ezekiel Dyer would turn out to play a role in American and world history with his shipbuilding.

He built one of the first American privateers of the war. William Jordan gave a good description in his book, “History of Cape Elizabeth:”

“Within five weeks of the day her keel was laid, the Dart was ready for sea. She was long and low with a pinky stern but carried two naval guns and a sizeable crew of approximately 46 men. Her masts were hinged just above the deck to facilitate concealment should it be necessary to hide from some resolute pursuer in a secluded cove or inlet. The Dart also carried long sweeps [oars] to furnish a ‘white ash breeze’ should the vessel find itself becalmed at an inopportune moment. Her owners were Joseph Cross, and others, of Portland, and her first skipper was Capt. John Curtis, also of Portland.”

The history of privateers is fascinating itself. These were essentially legalized pirates. The government would authorize these privately-owned ships to capture any vessels that were flying the colors of the enemy country.

During the War of 1812, any merchant or fishing ship in Casco Bay that was flying an enemy flag was open season for an American privateer like the Dart. The privateer had need for a large crew because when they captured a vessel, they would assign one of their own men to captain the “prize” ship and sail it back to Portland, while the privateer continued on in search of new vessels.

The captain and crew of a privateer would receive shares of the proceeds of any captured ship and its cargo. Of course, there were British privateers in Casco Bay, as well, and the Revenue Service (precursor of the Coast Guard) operated cutters (sailing ships) to keep an eye out and engage any British privateers that they encountered.

Capt. Curtis and his crew sailed out of Portland on July 27, 1812, in search of merchant ships in the Canada -West Indies trade route. One of the first they encountered turned out to be an American fishing boat, the Five Sisters, which had been captured by a British privateer, but which the Dart recaptured and sent back to Salem, Massachusetts. The Dart was also chased by an English frigate when they were off of Halifax, but was able to avoid capture.

On Aug. 22, the Dart captured the English brig Howe, off the coast of Newfoundland, and Mr. Eben Sweat was given command of the vessel to sail her back to Portland. The following day, the Dart encountered and captured the brig Hector, of Dublin, and again, put one of their own men in command to send her back to Portland. Around Aug. 25, the Dart captured another small vessel, then, with so many prisoners now on board, they sent most of the prisoners ashore with provisions, so that the Dart could continue on. On Aug. 27, they captured the brig Eliza of Lancaster, England, and put Stephen Veazie in command to take her back to Portland.

The next ship they encountered was the one that brought fame to the Dart. On Aug. 31, they captured the brig Dianna, on her way from London to Quebec with 212 puncheons (17,808 gallons) of rum on board. William Thomas was given command and sailed the Dianna back to Portland where the cargo would be sold off. This rum turned out to be of the finest quality and took on the name “Old Dart Rum” by locals. There was enough of it that it took two generations of connoisseurs (buying at inflated retail prices, due to its reputation) to make their way through the immense volume.

Capt. Curtis and the Dart had returned to Portland in September 1812 to resupply before setting out again. Unfortunately, she was never heard from again. Because there were no reports that she was captured, it is believed that she went down with no survivors.

Ezekiel Dyer continued building ships long after the War of 1812. We found a May 1813 advertisement for a 38-ton schooner that Ezekiel had just completed in Ferry Village. William Jordan had recorded that the schooner Hound, 31 tons, was launched by Ezekiel late in 1813. It appears that that was the end of Ezekiel’s building in Cape Elizabeth. He instead went back to building in Portland where his son Lemuel had a shipyard at Clay Cove, near the foot of India Street (this was before the waterfront of Portland was filled in to create Commercial Street).

Ezekiel Dyer ran a marine railway right next to Lemuel’s shipyard. Marine railways were typically used for ship repair. They provided a way to haul a ship up out of the water to do the repairs. I’ll pick up the Dyer story in a future column, when Ezekiel’s grandson, Joseph, moved the shipbuilding operation back to Cape Elizabeth.

Note to readers: The South Portland Historical Society needs your financial support. If you are not currently a member, or if you have not paid your dues for 2020, we encourage you to find a way to help. Membership information is available on our website at www.sphistory.org (a family membership is $25) and you can donate online at our Online Museum website at https://sphistory.pastperfectonline. The society can also be reached at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106, by phone at 207-767-7299, or by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com. Thank you.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society.

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