F.N. Jones, Shipbuilder in Tonawanda, New York

F.N. (Franklin N.) Jones was a prominent shipbuilder based in Tonawanda, New York, an area well-suited for shipbuilding during the 19th century due to its strategic location along the Erie Canal and Niagara River. This region became a focal point for Great Lakes and canal-based maritime trade, leading to a flourishing shipbuilding industry that supported commercial navigation on both the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal.

Tonawanda’s location offered shipbuilders like F.N. Jones access to regional timber resources and direct routes for launching vessels onto Lake Erie. This setting was ideal for constructing durable wooden vessels, which were the standard for shipping and transportation at the time.

Types of Vessels Built by F.N. Jones

F.N. Jones specialized in constructing wooden schooners, barges, and other cargo vessels typical of Great Lakes and inland navigation in the 19th century. His shipyard produced vessels like the COLONEL BRACKETT, a schooner-barge that played an essential role in transporting materials such as lumber and ice—staple cargo for Great Lakes vessels due to the area’s booming logging industry and the demand for ice transport before refrigeration.

Vessels built by Jones were crafted to withstand the heavy loads and challenging conditions of the Great Lakes and nearby waterways. Given the harsh weather conditions often encountered, his ships were built with robust construction techniques to improve durability.

Notable Vessels and Incidents

• Colonel Brackett: Built in 1869, the schooner-barge Colonel Brackett was one of F.N. Jones’s notable vessels. It served in lumber and ice transport but faced numerous challenges, including financial difficulties and operational incidents. The vessel was eventually lost in a storm on Lake Huron in 1890.
• Bunker Hill was a wooden sidewheel steamer constructed in 1835 by shipbuilder F.N. Jones in Black River, Ohio. As a sizable vessel with a length of 154 feet, a beam of 28 feet, and a depth of 12 feet, the Bunker Hill had a tonnage of 457 tons. This steamer was designed primarily as a towing vessel, operating on the river and serving the bustling maritime activities of the Great Lakes region.
• Eclipse was a wooden-hulled propeller-driven steamship built primarily for package freight and passenger transport on the Great Lakes. It was part of a class of vessels that included its sister ships: COMET, ROCKET, SUN, EQUATOR, and EQUINOX. These vessels were essential to the mid-19th-century shipping industry, facilitating the movement of goods and people across Lake Erie and other Great Lakes routes.
• Equator was a wooden-hulled, screw-propelled steamer, built for freight and passenger service on the Great Lakes. It was a duplicate of other vessels constructed by F.N. Jones, including the ECLIPSE, EQUINOX, and SUN. These vessels were part of the New York Central Railroad’s shipping operations, linking Buffalo, Toledo, and Chicago.
• Equinox was a wooden-hulled, screw-propelled steamer, built for freight and passenger transport on the Great Lakes. It was one of a series of sister ships, including the ECLIPSE, EQUATOR, and SUN, constructed for New York Central Railroad Co. to move goods and passengers between Buffalo, Toledo, Chicago, and Milwaukee.
• John Sweeney was a three-masted bark made of wood. Barks were typically used for cargo transport, particularly when the ship was designed to handle heavy loads like lumber, which was one of the most commonly shipped commodities across the Great Lakes. This type of ship was a popular choice for longer hauls, such as the one between Muskegon and Chicago.
• General Taylor (1848)was built for service in the grain trade between Buffalo, New York, and Chicago, Illinois. It was one of the earlier propeller-driven vessels on the Great Lakes, offering greater efficiency and power compared to traditional paddle steamers.
• J.F. Tracy Was a 2-mast wooden schooner built in 1855 by F.N. Jones in Buffalo, New York. The ship was 102 feet (31 meters) long, with a beam of 24 feet (7 meters) and a depth of 8 feet (2.4 meters), and had a gross tonnage of 139 tons. In her early years, the J.F. Tracy had a reputation for being difficult to handle and was considered unseaworthy by the time of her loss. In fact, she was un-insurable due to her condition, and her history was marked by struggles in heavy weather. In 1866, the TRACY became notorious for taking 11 days to travel from Detroit to Conneaut, Ohio in stormy conditions, leading some to believe she had been lost during that voyage.
• Three Bells was a wooden two-masted schooner, built in 1854 by F.N. Jones in Buffalo, New York. Measuring 123 feet in length and weighing 197 tons, the vessel was used for transporting cargo, including lumber and timbers, across the Great Lakes. The Three Bells was well-suited to the demands of the time, with a large cargo capacity and a sturdy construction typical of 19th-century Great Lakes schooners. At the time of her loss, the Three Bells was carrying a cargo of oak timbers. The schooner was in a storm on December 1, 1884, when the weather conditions worsened, causing the vessel to sink in the waters off Good Harbour, Michigan, along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
• Troy was a wooden-hulled sidewheel steamer, built in 1845 by F.N. Jones in Maumee, Ohio. She was designed as a passenger and package freight vessel, operating routes on the Great Lakes. Owned by the Buffalo & Lake Huron Railroad, the vessel played a role in early rail and lake transport connections. She transported passengers, goods, and mail between Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, and Canadian ports along Lake Huron.
• Tuscola was a wooden-hulled schooner, built in 1851 in Buffalo, New York, by F. N. Jones. She served as a Great Lakes cargo vessel for nearly three decades, primarily transporting bulk goods such as stone, lumber, grain, and coal between ports in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
• L.C. Woodruff was built in 1866 in Buffalo, New York, by F.N. Jones as a three-masted bark, intended for bulk cargo transport across the Great Lakes. The vessel primarily carried grain, coal, lumber, and other freight between major lake ports, particularly Chicago and Buffalo. Like many wooden sailing ships of the time, the L.C. Woodruff faced numerous challenges from the unpredictable weather on the Great Lakes.
• Young America was originally built as a brig in 1853 by F. N. Jones in Buffalo, New York. She was later converted into a two-masted schooner, a common modification for older brigs as the Great Lakes sailing trade evolved.

Shipbuilding Legacy and Economic Impact

The shipbuilding industry in Tonawanda, supported by shipbuilders like F.N. Jones, was essential to the regional economy in the mid-to-late 1800s. Shipbuilders like Jones were instrumental in the development of Great Lakes trade routes and the growth of industries that relied on water transport, such as lumber, coal, and agricultural products.

The decline of wooden shipbuilding and the shift towards iron and steel vessels in the latter part of the 19th century reduced demand for wooden shipbuilders. As steel hulls became more prevalent, wooden shipyards like Jones’s faced increasing competition from larger, industrial shipbuilders, leading to a gradual decline in traditional shipyards around Tonawanda and other areas.

Legacy

F.N. Jones and his contributions represent the era of wooden shipbuilding in the Great Lakes, reflecting the ingenuity and adaptability of 19th-century shipbuilders who helped shape maritime trade in the region. Although less documented than larger shipyards, Jones’s work reflects the small, skilled shipbuilders who supported critical industries and maintained the flow of goods across the Great Lakes.

For further information, the following resources may provide additional historical context:

• • Maritime History of the Great Lakes: Maritime History of the Great Lakes Archive
• • Library of Congress – Historic American Newspapers: Chronicling America
• • New York State Archives: For historical records related to New York’s shipbuilding history and Great Lakes commerce