A DOCTOR AT ALL HOURS – October 7, 1886 – 135 years agoThe following excerpt is from Dr. David S. Kellogg’s diary:
Oct. 7 – A report published in the Morning Telegram today stated that some divers from Boston were at Port Jackson and were going immediately to work to investigate the Royal Savage, Arnold’s boat sunk near Valcour Island in October 1776. I communicated with John Martin, at the Customs House and he thought nothing could be done. However, the United States law was very clear on that subject – the penalty being imprisonment and a fine of not over $5,000. So Emmet Armstrong and I, John Martin and Charles H. Spear, both deputies from the Customs House, John Henry Myers and Colonel George F. Nichols started for Valcour. The deputies went by order of William Reed, Collector of Customs at this port.
There was one diver and he was then partly in his diving apparatus. He had on a covering continuously over his body and extremities as far up as his neck. Around his neck was a kind of an iron band. Over his whole garment, the diver put something like pants and a frock and also he put on mittens and heavy shoes weighted with iron. His copper headpiece, something like a large iron kettle with glass on four sides, was fastened to the iron neckpiece. To his headpiece was fastened a rubber tube not unlike an inch garden hose, which was fastened to an air pump on the scow. As soon as the headpiece was fastened on, the men began to pump and immediately the diving garment began to swell out on all sides. After this was full, with two robes in his hands – one for signal and one for tying around any material he might get hold of – he was let down into the water with a rush. The pump was kept constantly in motion while he was under water, and we could easily trace his path by the bubbling of air to the surface. He was then in 35 feet of water.
While we were at the house for lunch, the men rowed they scow up south where the remains of the Royal Savage lie. We followed them after lunch and saw the diver bring up what was probably part of a gun carriage. Then we rowed alongside, and Mr. Martin asked who was in charge of the expedition. One of the strangers said that Captain Duncan, the diver, was. Then Mr. Martin told him he was sent there by the Collector of the district, that that was United States property he was handling and read the law on the subject to him. The diver said he had had a good deal to do with the United States, that he had been in the business a good while. After some further conversation, we pulled away. The strangers on the scow said they were getting these things to sell, and that they were not sent by any society, that some people would pay a large price for these relics. I hope they will not return. He only got a few pieces of timber, some shot and a spoon.
A more complete story can be found in the Plattsburgh Sentinel of Oct0ber 16, 1886, at: http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/.../1886-10-16/ed-1/seq-1/
Thankfully, there are more stringent regulations about exploring wrecks on our lake and people are more aware of the best archaeological practices. Also, there are more eyes on the lakeshore that would notice anything untoward going on with our precious heritage and would be willing to report it. We do have pieces of the Royal Savage at the museum. The canes, purportedly made from wood from the Royal Savage, were donated to CCHA by Dr. and Mrs. Philip Barton in 1946.
Dr. Kellogg’s diary, edited by Allan Everest, and published in 1970, can be found for sale at our museum, on ebay and at bookfinder.com.
--The Clinton County Historical Association Facebook Page. February 16, 2021.
The above excerpt was from an original clipping my family has saved for many years. It is the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Stukley Arnold and Lovicey Lobdell Arnold. They were married February 19, 1829.
They too received a piece of the "Royal Savage" for an anniversary present. So interesting. The article is much longer. I wonder where the Arnold family cane is now?
