Since our fishing shacks washed away in January, I’ve had several opportunities to talk with Richard Holt, a fisherman who once used one of the shacks at Fisherman’s Point. Richard is descended from a long line of fishermen and sea captains. We take a look this week at the interesting life of his grandfather, Capt. Clyde Young, a longtime resident of Pine Street on Meeting House Hill in South Portland.

Clyde G. Young was born in 1875 in Cushing, Maine (south of Thomaston), the son of Julian and Martha Gay Young. The Young and the Gay families were seafaring families. Both Julian’s father, George Young, and Martha’s father, Robert Gay, were fishermen and sea captains.

Clyde started out as a fisherman, but his career path led him to specialize in the command of very large, steam-powered pleasure yachts. When he married Mary Etta Marshall on Christmas Day in 1906 (Mary was also originally from Cushing), he was actively working as a mariner and she had been a teacher, now living in South Portland with her widowed mother, Rachel.

Mary’s dad, Capt. George Marshall, was lost overboard back in 1891 leaving Rachel with two children. Rachel had bought the home at 294 Pine St., South Portland, in 1905 (the home was known as 270 Pine St. back then; the street was renumbered during WWII). With Clyde gone at sea for long stretches, Mary continued to live with her mother as she raised their two daughters – Hilma and Vera.

Not long after they were married, Clyde was working aboard the steam yacht Wacouta, owned by the railroad magnate James J. Hill. According to the James J. Hill House, a museum of the Minnesota Historical Society, “The Wacouta was 240 feet long and 32 feet wide, and had a three-masted rig. In addition to a steaming speed of 14 knots, under sail its maximum speed was 6 knots. It took a crew of up to 45. The yacht contained a formal dining room, saloon and social hall, all furnished with oak paneling, parquet flooring, elegant furniture, and Venetian tile fireplaces. Ten staterooms for family and guests, a four-room owners’ suite on the main deck, four staterooms for servants, six bathrooms, and eight water closets completed the non-crew areas. Hill sailed to his fishing lodge in Québec each year, and the Hill family spent many August yachting seasons on board the Wacouta sailing the east coast from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Washington, DC.”

In July, 1908, Clyde wrote home to Mary from the Wacouta with the news that he was in Quebec for the tercentenary celebration (300th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City) and that the Prince of Wales (later King George V) had just boarded his ship to sail for England. He wrote home to Mary again in August, 1908, postmarked from Brooklyn, saying that he was happy to have just received two of her letters.

During World War I, Clyde served in the Merchant Marine. He worked aboard the SS Lake Lida. The steamship Lake Lida was built by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in Wisconsin. The 251-foot steel cargo ship was launched on April 4, 1918, and was requisitioned by the United States Shipping Board.

In 1920, Clyde Young was in command of the steam yacht Owera. At that time, the Owera was owned by U.S. Sen. Peter Gerry of Rhode Island. The Owera had been commissioned by the US Navy during WWI and used as a patrol boat (called the USS Owera). The Navy decommissioned the boat in 1919.

One of the tasks undertaken by the crew in 1920 was to remove the war paint from the yacht and return her to her civilian appearance. In a log book that dates from May 1 to Nov. 29, 1920, Capt. Young kept a daily account of the goings-on on this 194-foot yacht (the yacht measured 194 feet 8 inches overall). During this time, the yacht was pulled up alongside Tebo’s Yacht Basin in Brooklyn, New York. Except for Sundays and holidays, the crew was kept busy every day with cleaning and painting the giant yacht.

The following summer, starting in August, 1921, Capt. Young had moved on to command of the 164-foot steam yacht Athero. The Athero had been built in 1913 as the Gem and, like the Owera, had been commissioned by the US Navy in 1917 for use as a patrol boat (the USS Gem) during WWI. After being decommissioned in 1919, the boat was purchased by Jesse Lauriston Livermore of New York and renamed the Athero.

Livermore was the legendary stock trader of Wall Street, considered the pioneer of day trading. In Capt. Young’s log book, he detailed every activity, recording every time that Mr. Livermore used the yacht either by himself or accompanied by his wife or guests. Livermore frequently traveled between Great Neck (Long Island, New York) and the Battery (Manhattan). The Athero would drop anchor and passengers would travel by launch to go ashore.

Over the years, Clyde Young developed an excellent reputation and handled many of these super-sized yachts owned by well-to-do Americans. Some other large vessels he commanded include the Juniata, a 139-foot, 6-inch motor yacht owned by George W. Elkins, a business mogul from Philadelphia. He also commanded the 240-foot steam yacht Vanda owned by Ernest B. Dane, the noted banker and president of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Clyde retired from the sea in 1933 and lived the rest of his days here in South Portland. During WWII, although he was in his late 60s, he did his part for the war effort by serving as a guard/watchman at the Marine Railway/Maine Shipyards Corp. shipyard on Front Street in Ferry Village. He died in 1964 at the age of 89 and his wife Mary died in 1969. They are buried together at the Village Cemetery in Thomaston, Maine.

South Portland Historical Society offers a free Online Museum with nearly 17,000 images available for viewing with a keyword search. You can find it at https://sphistory.pastperfectonline.com and, if you appreciate what we do, feel free to make a donation by using the donation button on the home page. If you have photographs or other information to share about South Portland’s past, we hope you will reach out to us. South Portland Historical Society can be reached at 207-767-7299, by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com, or by mail at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society. She can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.