My Great Grandfather's "Schooner"

Sadly, I cannot claim any direct relationship to the folk of Lunenburg County, although the name Guptill (derived from Gubtael) is not unknown here. The Guptills were my mother's clan, and they hailed from Grand Harbour, Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick. This island is the largest in the Grand Manan Archipelego. My ancestor was William Guptill of Machias, Maine, who followed the fish rather than the ideals of the American Revolution. His descendants included two Judson Guptills and my grandfather, Chester Leeman Guptill. It was Judson Junior who commissioned the building of the Grace Darling at Selmach, Nova Scotia, in 1901 (the date is sometimes given as 1904). She did not look like this at this stage, the shortened masts and wheelhouse being subtractions and additions which came some time after her creation.