Montezuma Dry Dock

In a previous post, you saw an image of the Port Byron dry dock. Not far to the west was this dry dock. Note the gangway lying on the deck in the foreground? Also, just beyond the barge are two small pleasure boats, I presume. Was George Taylor the vessel name? Also, note the word…

will van dorp

January 19, 2025

1–2 minutes

In a previous post, you saw an image of the Port Byron dry dock. Not far to the west was this dry dock.

Note the gangway lying on the deck in the foreground? Also, just beyond the barge are two small pleasure boats, I presume.

Was George Taylor the vessel name? Also, note the word “builder” on the starboard side of the stern.

I wonder who G. E. O’Meil and son were, what their business was, and what’s going on in the shed to the left of the O’Meils.

Any help?

Thanks to Bill Hecht for cleaning up the image.

3 responses to “Montezuma Dry Dock”

tugster

January 20, 2025 at 4:42 pm

I’m very grateful that my friend Mike Riley sent this detailed answer to some of the questions, delving into local scandal and economy. I’m pasting it in as is. “As October 26, 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the grand opening of the Erie Canal along its entire length, we will be featuring canal stories and news all year long. The towpath version of the canal was a large factor in the lives of our ancestors and certainly impacted their lives in both large and small ways.

Trail #6 in the Montezuma Heritage Park [https://townofmontezuma.org/visit-the-park/] you lead you to the pit that was once the local dry dock and boat yard. The business was opened by William Thorn and Joshua Martin around 1867. The census of the period show that Thorn may have been the financial backer of the business and Martin was the manager of the yard as Thorn was busy running the village and his grocery business. Martin is listed as a boat builder in Seneca Falls in 1860, and a boat builder in Montezuma in 1870. The business appears in an article from 1881 that states it employed five men.

The drydock was purchased by George Meil of Verona, NY, in 1894, and was named George Meil and Son. The Meil family had been in the business of boating for many years and must have seen some value in moving to Montezuma. The Meil and Son Drydock business employed fifteen men and appears to have been quite successful. Newspaper articles show that they built canal boats, steamers, and “flag boats.” Flag boats were used during the in the harvest of cattails in the wetlands. George died in 1902 and the business passed to his son, Solomon G. Meil. Solomon was by all accounts a fine upstanding man and well spoken of by the community.

In January 1909, the 47 year old Solomon married the 32 year old Christina McGregor shortly after the death of his second wife. By September he was dead and his new wife was at the center of a scandal that would grip the village and county.

The new Mrs. Meil had met Solomon after she had been called to Kipps Island by Francis Mitchell. Francis was a 82 year old retired music who had quite career. After being born in Maine, he moved to San Francisco. The paper called Mitchell a musical genius who had preformed as a soloist at meetings held by the minister Thomas Starr King. It is said that Starr King had kept California in the Union during the Civil War and was, “the orator who saved the nation.” However, after King’s death in 1864, and (as I was told by a family genealogist) being chased out of the city by his Sheriff father-in-law for fooling around with one of his music students, Francis made his way to Brooklyn, NY, where he continued to teach music.

For whatever reason, in 1903, Mitchell purchased hundreds of acres on Kipps Island in the Seneca River and had set up his home there. In 1908, he asked Christina to come and be his nurse or likely what we would call today, a care-giver. This was a bit odd as Christina operated a grocery store in the city. Soon after her arrival, she married Solomon. And then soon after that, she had Francis move into the Meil home.

Francis’ health was failing fast. On June 10th, a will or power of attorney was drafted by Mrs. Meil and was signed by two local witnesses. One witness was a house guest of the Meil’s who had followed them to Montezuma from Verona. The other witness was a worker at the drydock. The will left all of Francis’ money and land to Mrs. Meil, completely cutting out Mitchell’s two children who lived in San Francisco and had not seen their father in twenty years. On June 12th, Francis was dead.

There may have been no questions about this will if all went well. It may have been a case of a lonely man leaving his money to a younger woman that he considered to be his daughter. However, the District Attorney was suspicious and wrote to the two children, and then opened an investigation. The law said that since the will did not exempt the children, they were the heirs of the estate valued at $150,000. The villager’s suspicions were further raised when Solomon Meil died at age 47 on September 14, 1909. The village residents asked for an investigation. For the next two years the Mitchell case was investigated by the court and the papers. Was the will signed by Mitchell or forged by Mrs. Meil? Why did she have an employee of the drydock and a house guest sign the will when a clergy man lived right next door? Was Solomon involved? Did the doctor see an unsigned will on the table after Mitchell’s death? How did Solomon die? Was Mitchell crazy? All these questions played out in the Auburn and Syracuse papers. But in the end, Mrs. Meil got all the money and left the village forever.

And as for the drydock, it does appear that the family kept it open for awhile, perhaps to finish up orders, but it was closed soon after. In 1910 and with the end of the canal era in sight, no one would purchase the business. The old bays can still be seen in the park and a bird-watching platform sits on the site of the old drydock shops.”

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Lee Rust

January 21, 2025 at 2:22 am

It’s stories like this that keep the original Erie Canal alive, if only in our imaginations. Thank you!

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tugster

January 21, 2025 at 6:13 am

Mike Riley’s comment also shows I made an error in interpreting the sign; it’s Geo. Meil, not G. E. O’Meil. Thanks again, Mike.

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