Bequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie, 2023.17.8, Connecticut Museum of Culture and Hist…

Images(2)

Schooner TOM BEATTIE building Connecticut River jetty at Saybrook

Date17 April 1914

MediumPhotography; Kodak safety film nitrate negatives

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width): 2 7/16 × 2 7/16in. (6.2 × 6.2cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineBequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie

DescriptionBlack and white photographic negative, view of employees of John Beattie Granite Works with the schooner, TOM BEATTIE, building a jetty at Saybrook on the Connecticut River, 17 April 1914. Two men, John Walker [left] and Fred Chapman [right], stand on a stone jetty as a block of stone is lowered from the Tom Beattie. Three men stand on the schooner, two of the men, John Corbett [left] and Joe Josephson [right] stand near the hoist, and John Larkin stands towards the stern facing the men on the jetty. The men’s names and the date, April 17, 1914, are written on the lower portion of the original image. Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse is visible in the far background.

Object number2023.17.8

CopyrightPublic Domain

Markings"KODAK SAFETY FILM" on left edge of negative.InscribedHandwritten on lower left corner of original image in two columns: "[left column] L TO RIGHT / 1 JOHN WALKER / 2 FRED CHAPMAN / [right column] 3 JOHN LARKIN / 4 JOHN CORBETT / 5 JOE JOSEPHSON / SCHOONER / TOM BEATTIE"

Handwritten on lower right of original image: "April 17 / 1914"

Typed on envelope: “Schr. TOM BEATTIE / Building Connecticut River jetty at / Saybrook, Connecticut April 17, 1914 / The schooner has her mainmast removed / and temporairily [sic] rigged as a lighter with / steam hoisting gear and derrick boom / rigged on the foremast. For jobs of long / duration it was more economical to tow the / vessels from the quarry to the job, place / the stone and tow back to the quarry. / Photo taken from the gallery of the light- / house on the end of the jetty by US Army / Engineer Corps”NotesSubject Note: John Beattie's granite quarry, situated in Guilford on the Long Island Sound, was well-positioned to distribute granite via a fleet of schooners to locations in Connecticut and New York. Notably, granite from Beattie's quarry was used in the pedestal at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

The quarry operated from 1869, when Scottish immigrant Beattie purchased 400 acres of land on Leetes Island, until about 1918, when Beattie's sons closed up shop 20 years after his death. At its height, the quarry employed 700 people, many of them immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, England, Finland, Sweden, and Italy.

Subject Terms