Part II – The Sloop Sea Gull

The Youle billhead is particularly interesting in that what it itemizes. The purchaser was the Sloop Sea Gull dated December 18, 1822. Youle put one set of sleigh shoes on the sloop and also charged for cartage. The billhead is signed by Mr. George Youle, Jun.

The Sea Gull was built as the river steamer built Enterprise by the Connecticut Steam Boat Company of Hartford CT. It was launched in November, 1818. In December, 1822 it was purchased by the US Navy for $16,000 for use as a shallow water operating against pirates along the coast of Cuba. It was renamed the Sea Gull, only the second steamship in the US Navy and the first to serve actively as a warship. The Sea Gull served as a dispatch boat in Commodore Porter’s “Mosquito Fleet,” employed in the West Indies for the suppression of piracy in 1823-1824.

The Sea Gull served in the West Indies looking for pirates until 1825, when she was declared unfit for service and fitted out as a receiving ship in Philadelphia until she was sold in 1840 for $4750.

I believe that the Sea Gull mentioned on the Youle billhead is one and the same. First, the sloop throws me off a little, but the fact that it was purchased and outfitted in New York, and Youle was a well-known and top notch founder makes it likely that his firm might have done some work on the steamer to make it fit for service in the Navy. The December, 1822 date of the billhead is right on the money for when the Sea Gull was in the city being retrofitted.

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Baking Powder Billheads

In 1843 the first modern version of baking powder was discovered and manufactured by Alfred Bird, a British chemist. In 1846, Justus Von Liebig in Germany experiments with yeast made from sodium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid with explosive results. In 1885, Eben Horsford and George Wilson manufacture chemicals which eventually became the Rumford Chemical Works. Horsford formulated and patented Rumford Baking Powder, the first calcium phopshate baking powder. In 1889, William Wright and chemist George Rew developed a double-action baking powder marketed under the name Calumet Baking Powder. Below find some examples of baking powder billheads.

Billhead of the Month: Schmit Bros trunks Oshkosh WI

I picked up this Schmit Brothers billhead recently in Eau Claire. I currently have it for sale on ebay right now. It is a nice triple graphic billhead. Here is my ebay write up: 1895 billhead for The Schmit Brothers Trunk Company manufacturers of trunks, traveling bags and valises of Oshkosh Wisconsin. Great header graphics with three images. Left side is the firm’s mill at Summit Lake, middle is the firm’s factory and left side is the firm’s warehouse. Billhead has creases. Peter Schmit was born in 1840 in Prussia. He emigrated to the U.S. in June 1854 and located inRacine WI. He was engaged in farming until 1861 when he enlisted in Company D, 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He engaged in the battles at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Mine Run, Bull Run, Gettysburg, Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah. He was mustered out in June 1865. He came back to Racine and kept a hotel until 1866 when he joined his brother Henry’s trunk business. Henry had established the bus...

Newest edition to my collection - Widdicomb Furniture Co.

Lately, I can't help but buy some U.S. letterheads and billheads. I have an affinity for billheads / letterheads / receipts from the 1870s. Here is a recent purchase for the Widdicomb Furniture Co. of Grand Rapids Michigan. For 145 years, the Widdicomb name has been recognized in the furniture world. The earliest Widdicomb company was organized in 1857, by George Widdicomb, a British trained cabinet maker, employing 12 men, plus his four sons Harry, William, George Jr., and John. Except during the Civil War, a Widdicomb furniture firm was run by the family until 1916. The John Widdicomb Co. was founded in 1897 when John left the parent company to form his own firm. Though he died in 1910, that firm continued under his name until the 1990’s, and purchased the title of the original company in the 1970’s.

THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

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