King Iron Works/samuel Gibson ~ Shipbuilding History

King Iron Works/samuel Gibson

Buffalo NY

Most recent update: June 6, 2018.

Samuel Gibson was a builder of wooden ships who made the transition to iron and steam with the assistance of King Iron Works. His shipyard appears to have changed hands several times, having previously been Woodward & Warner (1857-1859), O. B. Woodward (1860-1861), Hitchcock & Gibson (1861-1870) and finally Gibson & Craig (1870-1876). It was said to have been on the west side of the Evans Ship Canal and this may have been where he built wooden ships, but when he transitioned to iron ships, he apparently built them in the facility operated by King Iron Works, which occupied a whole block on the west side of Chicago Street, between Miami and the waterfront. Confusingly, some of the ships Gibson built are listed as having been built by King Iron Works: presumably, some customers felt more secure doing business with King as the prime contractor. Exactly who built what in the table below is far from clear.

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	O/N	Name	Customer	Type	GT	LOA	Built	Notes
Built by Hitchcock & Gibson
	120172	Fanny White		yacht	31		1862	burned off Saginaw 1877
	11860	H. P. Smith		tugboat	37		1864	burned & sunk 1872
	17032	Maria Melvin		tugboat	24		1865	wrecked 1870, recovered, abandoned 1883
	2109	Bridgewater		bark	706		1865	wrecked and burned 1875, rebuilt 1880 as US 14452
	1496	A. C. Van Raalte		tugboat	177	96	1867	later Ashland, abandoned 1937
	2145	Benton		freighter	418	146	1867	burned 1909
	23354	St. Joseph		freighter	473	151	1867	later Frank B. Stevens (Canada ON 134517), sunk off Ashtabula 1919
	13874	J. V. Taylor		schooner	473	151	1867	built in Winneconne WI, abandoned 1928
	10998	George Hand		tugboat	24		1868	burned off Oscoda 1888
	24785	Thomas A. Scott		steamer	1,159		1869	collision and sunk 1880
	85194	Gibson		schooner	327		1870	wrecked 1875
Built by Gibson & Craig
	105135	Alaska	Erie & Western Transportation	passenger cargo	1,288	212	1871	built by Shepard IW, barge (Canada) 1936, scrapped 1947
	100008	India	Erie & Western Transportation	passenger cargo	1,239	210	1871	later City of Ottawa 1907 (Canada ON 122018), India 1927, Sault Ste. Marie 1929, India 1930, scrapped 1945a
	5792	China	Erie & Western Transportation	passenger cargo	1,239	210	1871	built by King IW, City of Montreal 1905 (Canada ON 117073), Westerian 1913, Sula 1921, Westerian 1923, hulked 1925, scuttled 1935
9	75323	Japan	Erie & Western Transportation	passenger cargo	1,239	210	1871	later City of Hamilton 1910 (Canada ON 126526), City of Walkerville 1927, Roy K. Russell 1929, Japan 1930, Roy K. Russell 1932, scrapped 1936
		Eureka		canal boat	122		1871
	125028	Cuba	Holt & Ensign	passenger cargo	1,526	232	1872	built by King IW, Ionic 1906 (Canada ON 116954), Maple Branch 1920, scrapped 1947
	75388	Java	Holt & Ensign	passenger cargo	1,525	232	1872	sank 1878
	110063	Russia	Holt & Ensign	passenger cargo	1,501	232	1872	foundered 1909
	105254	Arabia	Erie & Western Transportation	passenger cargo	1,395	222	1873	later Bickerdike (Canada ON 121784) 1906, Maplebrook 1920, City of Windsor 1926, Belleville 1930, scrapped 1938a
	115271	Scotia	Holt & Ensign	passenger cargo	1,502	232	1873	grounded 1884
	115145	Schuylkill		schooner	472	151	1873	wrecked 1889
	8882	Eliza Williams		tugboat	37	63	1872
		Oliver Gordon		tugboat	60		1873
		Calumet		tugboat	37	58	1873
		Richard J. Karney		barge	397		1873
	72720	Thomas H. Nasmith		tugboat	49		1873	scrapped
		Salty Jack		tugboat	28		1874
	80531	William R. Crowell		tugboat	56	74	1875	built by Gibson & Osman, foundered 1893
	85501	George B. Dickson		tugboat	33	60	1876	later Henry 1892, laid up 1915
	115479	Siskiwit		tugboat	37	58	1876	sunk 1879, raised 1880, to Canada (ON 92287) 1883
	14452	Keystone		freighter	722	164	1880	wrecked and burned 1898
	145193	T. H. Fulton		tugboat	14	41	1880
	110578	Red Cloud		tugboat	40	62	1883	foundered 1899
	140649	Lorenzo Dimick		tugboat	42	66	1883	abandoned at Grand Haven 1920
	85976	George Nester		schooner	751	206	1887	built in Baraga MI, lost off Huron Is. 1909
	141020	Leona		tugboat	14	39	1889	built in Tonawanda NY, Mohawk, abandoned at Chicago 1914