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LOCAL MAN HAS RARE COLLECTION OF PICTURES OF LAKE VESSSELS
Harry G. Ellsworth Began His Hobby 10 years Ago-Now Has 1,800 Pictures
[Welland Tribune, 6 November 1943]
One of the finest collections of pictures of vessels, old and new, which have in years gone by plied the Great Lakes or are familiar today on the lakes, is owned by Harry G. Ellsworth, King Street, Port Colborne. Mr. Ellsworth started his collection some ten years ago with two pictures of old vessels, since lost or scrapped, and now has some 1,800 pictures of about 1,500 different boats. They include many lost in the big storms of 1913 and 1906, after which many vessels which now, changed, rebuilt or altered in some way bear a different name and would not be recognized by most who had known them years ago.
VARIED COLLECTION
Mr. Ellsworth’s collection contains a picture of Lake Superior’s “Flying Dutchman,” for the Great Lakes has its “Flying Dutchman” too. It was the steamer Bannockburn lost with all hands in 1906 of which the only trace ever found was an oar. The Russia, Prussia, Ocean and other boats of the time, few pictures of which exist are among the collection. There are schooners, steam boats, with auxiliary sail and the more modern vessels of more recent years. And Mr. Ellsworth’s collection is becoming known all over the continent. He is continually seeking new prints of still other vessels to add to his collection.
Since starting his hobby of vessel pictures, Mr. Ellsworth has received requests for many pictures from magazines, for papers and other collectors and has exchanged photos, prints, engravings or photostatic copies with men in both Canada and the United States. Some of his pictures recently found their way into Western University for copies.
Pictures of the Pearl and the Pennsylvania vessels well known in Lake Erie some years ago, started Mr. Ellsworth on his hobby of collecting vessel pictures. Other collectors heard he had these prints and wanted them and in correspondence with them, he says he “got the bug” to make his own collection. Since that time he has secured or exchanged pictures with a dozen men in as many different places. He has supplied pictures for various periodicals and magazines including the Huron Institute.
NATIVE OF WAINFLEET
Mr. Ellsworth, a native of Wainfleet, the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Wesley Ellsworth, worked with the late M.J. Hogan, as a dredgeman for some 15 years after coming to Port Colborne from nearby Wainfleet in 1900 and in that work gained an intimate knowledge of the ships which piled the lakes. This was probably the start of his collection, although he did not realize at the time that he had learned to love ships. He has been in the employ of International Nickel Co. Ltd. for the past 25 years.
The Tribune plans to publish a series of articles illustrated by pictures of some of the boats which have the most interesting histories in Mr. Ellsworth’s collection. This article launching the series.
*Mr. Ellsworth passed 21 February 1945
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