Name/Title
12 Pounder Cast Iron Cannon | 1760-1770 | Located in front of Shead High School, Eastport, MaineDescription
From the Quoddy Tides newspaper, Eastport, Maine, May 11, 2001:
Shead students restore historic cannon
by Susan Esposito
A 2,240-pound piece of Eastport history is once again in public view. With the assistance of local high school students and teachers, businesses and historians, an 18th century 12-pounder naval deck cannon has been mounted on a granite slab in front of Shead High School.
“It was a lot of fun for our students,” reports Shead teacher Nick Gamertsfelder, who was heavily involved in the cannon restoration and relocation project.
According to Wayne Wilcox of Eastport, who researched the cannon’s history, the cannon was constructed between 1760 and 1770 from a single cast of iron. “It probably came to the area on a British merchant ship, Britannia, that was shipwrecked in 1798 off Head Harbour, Campobello,” says Wilcox, who points out that two 12-pounder cannons were among the items salvaged from the vessel.
Sometime between 1807 and 1814, it was acquired by Seward Bucknam of Eastport. He had the cannon placed in front of his new mansion house at Bucknam Head in the south end of town, and he used it to fire salutes on public occasions.
After the July 11, 1814, capture of Eastport by the British, the Bucknam house was occupied by Lieut. Col. Joseph Gubbins, the second commander of the British troops, and he made use of the cannon. Wilcox discovered that, after the Bucknam house burned down in 1833, the cannon was moved to the corner of Washington and Water streets, buried muzzle down and used as a hitching post for few years.
Reconditioned, the cannon was used for a time to fire salutes from Fort Sullivan. However, people lost interest in the cannon, and it was stored in a stable at the head of Boynton Street. Its next home was a spot next to Capt. John Shackford's windmill, overlooking Shackford's Cove, where it was used to fire salutes. After Shackford's death, the cannon was neglected, and the gun carriage fell apart. Unwanted the 12-pounder was considered the property of the Town of Eastport.
Local industrialist Upham S. Treat, in about 1850, received permission from the town council to have the cannon moved to his home on Allan’s Island, now known as Treat’s. Again it was used to fire salutes on special days. But, after the death of Mr. Treat, once again the canon was neglected.
In 1971, the cannon was brought back to Eastport and, after a few years, put on display with a new gun carriage at Overlook Park. However, the carriage eventually fell apart, and the cannon became a public nuisance. It was moved to the city garage property, where, in February of 1996, it was rediscovered by local historians. It was stored for a time in the industrial arts building at Shead, before being move to Maine Aqua Foods.
“I was talking with Wayne WIlcox and John ‘Terry’ Holt about the cannon, and the three of us thought that it would be a good project for the history students,” recalls Gamertsfelder. A site in front of the high school was selected by Gamertsfelder, Shead Principal Bernie Peatman and custodian John Mealey and, during the fall semster of 2000 Troy Cox, Billy Curtis, Donnell Dana, Gerald Holmes, Derrick Kilton, Brad Smith and Santanna Tucker, students in Brian Duffy's work experience class, levelled the site, put in white marble chips, and did the landscaping. Nicky DelMonaco of Thomas DiCenzo Inc. was contacted and, free of charge, the company removed a nine-ton granite slab from its quarry, transported it to Eastport and placed it on the prepared site.
With the assistance of Federal Marine's forklift operator Tommy Critchley,, thecannon was removed from Maine Aqua and taken back up to Shead. A sandblasting unit was rented, and Gamertsfelder’s military history students, Ryan Bassett, Phillip Brame and Alesia Kilton, went to work. Over the winter eight coats of black enamel were painted on to preserve the cannon. “We asked Federal Marine on several occasions to move it for us, and they were very cooperative,” he adds. “Tommy Critchley deserves special praise.”
Finally, in late April, Brian Duffy’s outdoor recreation class, which included some of his former work experience students as well as Teddy Cummings, Ben Toney and John Chevrier, created a form, mixed and poured concrete and mounted brackets.
“On Monday [April 30], we got the cannon, thanks again to Federal Marine, and set it gently into its current mounting,” report Gamertsfelder. “And Leslie Bassett and Bradley Smith performed some touch-ups.”
Although it once had a three-mile trajectory, the cannon is too brittle ever to be fired again, and its barrel will be plugged to prevent it from being filled with debris. It will spend the remainder of its days pointed in the direction of Deep Cove.
“A whole lot of people with an interest in local history were involved in this project,” points out Gamertsfelder. “I hope the cannon outlives us all.”
Additional Note from Wayne Wilcox, Eastport, Maine:
The British Naval cannon was taken off the wrecked British mast ship “Britannia” but it was not a “British Naval cannon”. It was cast by the British East India Co. for its ships in the East India trade. At times this company made cannons for the British Navy. The “crown” near the end of the cannon (on top) is the mark of the British East India Co. not the regular mark “crown” of British military equipment made for the British military. This information was researched by Bob Dallison of Fredericton, New Brunswick, retired Lieut. Col. Canadian Army, law degree in history, a noted New Brunswick historian. He was puzzled by the “crown” on this cannon because as he said it's not the British quartermaster's mark that's on military equipment. One of his friends researched the “crown” and discovered it was from the British East India Co.
Additional Material from Wayne Wilcox, Eastport, Maine:
Email from Harold Skaarup (hskaarup@rogers.com) to Bob Dallison (dallison@nbnet.nb.ca), January 15, 2020:
Hi Bob, good to see you again this morning, gun data from Eastport attached here:
The Fort Sullivan gun in front of Shead High School is a Cast Iron 12-pounder smoothbore muzzleloading gun, weight 20-0-0 (2,240 obs), crown over P on the barrel, SOLID on left trunion, corroded letter on right trunnion, mounted on a concrete stand in front of Shead High School.
The Crown over a “P” engraved on top of the guns is a mark used to show that this gun was proofed at Woolwich in the UK. This mark is usually preserved for the guns for foreign governments, or for certain institutions such as The East India Company, or the Post Office. This gun was probably cast some time in the second quarter of the 19th century. By this period there are not many British companies capable of casting these guns, they are usually either Walker and Company, Bailey Pegg and Co, or Low Moor. (Ruth Rhynas Brown)
The legent ‘SOLID’ on the trunnion shows that this is a gun bored out of the solid, therefore at the time, both up-to-date and expensive. These SBML guns have been observed by this author marked with the letters B, F, W and Z on the right trunnion in various models. The letter this gun is corroded, but if it is a B, it would stand for the Bersham, near Wrexham in north Wales, showing that this gun was cast by John Wilkinson his foundry there. These guns are based on what became known as the ’Armstrong pattern’ which was introduced into British military service in 1729 and was current up until 1787. The gun can be dated to ca. 1773 (when the ‘B-SOLID’ trunnion mark makes it sfirst appearance) to 1796. The last known reference to Wilkinson supplying guns dates to 1796, when the final guns definitely marked with ‘B-SOLID’ were proofed on 9-10 May for Wiggins and Graham. These were not guns for government service, as they have no royal badge (although this one has a crown of the letter P (proofed). Guns of this type were cast by gunfounders for the civilian market, usually for smaller merchant ships, coastal communities or landowners who wanted some defence but also wanted something lighter and cheaper than a normal gun. (Dr Brian G. Scott)
