My Heritage
My family is like any other, not perfect, but they had a purpose in life. Some were Godly, and most cared about others.
One of the great days I had searching for a Verity Skiff happened at Southard's Boatyard in Babylon. I was there to look at a free Verity in their yard. I dove in and found it.
To document my heritage, I used the second edition (2000) of Richards's book.
THE SEAFORD (or Verity) SKIFF
According to George L. Weeks, "Recollections of Seaford," Long Island Forum, January 1969, page 6, the Seaford skiff was originally designed by William Gritman and was in use for over one hundred years in the Seaford area. Mrs. Ruth A. Baird of Keosaqua, IA, in a letter of July 1997, stated that Samuel Gritman, born 1814, perhaps the son of Benjamin, married Mahala Althouse [Mahala's mother was Hannah Verity], received a patent for the "Verity Skiff'' and that it was on file in a Los Angeles library. Correspondence with both the Los Angeles library and the United States Patent Office proved negative. In a subsequent letter of 18 August 1997, Mrs. Baird enclosed a copy of a letter written 26 July 1966, by her father, Claude Jones Greensword, he the grandson of Harriet Buck and William Schweitzer Gritman:
"The local baymen and guides were constantly looking for an improved type of small craft with good speed and comfort that would hold two men - guide and a 'Yorker.' Samuel Gritman had built many skiffs, the early boats being flat bottomed with straight sides and flat decks, also some of common sharpie design. In 1870 Gritman designed an improved type which became known as the 'Seaford Skiff.' It was shallow draft, flat bottomed along the keel gradually curving up to the side. The deck had a removable floor. The gunwhale had a rise of about six inches and was constructed with an open rail so that salt hay could be placed therein to create a blind when hunting salt water game. The craft had a centerboard, rudder and, for service in vvinter on the ice, a pair of iron runners which permitted the boat to glide swiftly and easily over the ice and be launched into the leads of open water. The runners were spaced out on either side of the keel on the flat bottomed part. The mast was removable so that not to interfere ,,7ith rowing or shoving. The sail was a sprit type with boom.
Most of these skiffs were from 12 to 14 feet long- some 18 feet - built largely of Long Island cedar with a small amount of oak. Here was a craft that was ideal for the peaceful waters of the Great South Bay and its steams and coves. At high tide they would skim over water-covered meadows. In the early days, the cost of one of these boats was $35. Today [1966] the price is about at least $200 to $350.
The above information is from Small Boats Nation. Printed with permission.
I have fond recollections of the late 1890s and early 1900s when my father took me fishing and gunning in a Seaford Skiff. We would start down Seaford Creek shortly after sunrise, past the shell banks where the Indians had once launched their canoes, and we would see fishermen's nets drying. The skiff would glide along the peaceful stream with meadow hens appearing along the banks and in the thatch, then emerge into the open channel where flocks of snipe and other birds were flying about and alighting on the mud flats exposed at low tide. The water would be alive ·with baymen and hunters sailing along in their skiffs - a sight that has long since passed from the scene - out for a catch of shellfish, snipe, bluefish or weakfish.
Gritman started building these skiffs in a shed erected at the intersection of Smith Lane and Washington Avenue, in Seaford. He was left-handed and his son William, who helped him, was right-handed. The shed was open on the south end and they had work benches, one on either side of the opening, so that both men would have the advantage of the sunlight. The skiffs were put to hard usage. Some were brought to the shed for repairs and many new ones were built. After the death of Samuel Gritman, William continued the construction of this type of boat. Charles Verity, of Bellmore, was another builder who held strictly to the original design. John Southard and his brother Parmenius (known as Minus) also built Seaford skiffs. George L. Weeks, Sr., built many of these boats in his boat yard on lower Seaman Neck Road, Seaford."
Freeport Historic Photographs, Freeport Historical Society, Freeport Historic Photographs, Freeport Historical Society & Museum, 2009-07-30. “Viking Boats”
https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15281coll12/id/3960/rec/100
The following is a list of Veritys known to have been boat builders; some were well known builders of the Seaford skiff and probably one reason that it also became known as the Verity skiff:
Charles Verity, of Bellmore, 1830-?, son of Richard Henry and Annie (Eldred)
Verity.
Edward Verity, not further identified. He had a blacksmith shop on Merrick
Road, Seaford
Ephraim Verity, 1874-?, of Seaford, son of Townsend and Sarah Verity.
Gilson Verity, 1856-1934, of Baldwin, son of William and Nettie (Verity)
Verity. SEE BELOW
Leonard Verity, 1835-1919, of Baldwin, brother to Charles,
above. Oscar Verity, 1867-1944, brother to Ephraim, above.
Samuel Verity, 1868-1950, brother to Charles, above.
Louis (hike) Verity Jr, Died March 1962
New York Capt. Wilbur Verity, "Readers' Forum: Sam Verity's Skiffs," Long Island Forum, April 1977, 63:
"The Veritys, Charles, Gilson and Lenard (sic), were early settlers of Baldwin and acquired large acreage of land near the bay, now Baldwin Harbor, at the foot of Cherry Lane (now Verity Lane). It was there they built their homes and did some farming, but fishing and boat building became their main occupation. All of Charles' sons built boats and houses in the off season. Sam was the eldest, the others being Charles Henry, Louis (Hike) (my grandpa), and Richard, known as Dicky Rich.
Later, when fishing petered out, Sam acquired quite a reputation as a boat builder. He built boats in a shop at the rear of his home on Thomas Avenue. The boats were so popular that they were sold all over the country. In Sam's later years, his son-in-law (sic), Nip Jackson who had worked with him, took over the boat building".
I worked for Louis in his boat shop...."
Below is the continuance of the article printed in Long Island Forum April 1977.
I was able to buy a copy.
Verity, W. R. (1997, April). Readers forum. Long Island Forum, XL(4), 63.
Viking V
In Montauk NY., Grandpa captained for the Viking Fleet, Built Skiffs, and was a commercial fishermen.
Dave Edwardes Collection, Montauk Library Archives. (n.d.). 669.151. Home | New York Heritage. https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15281coll78/id/1720/rec/1
With excitement of finding a Verity, I started knocking on doors. This older gentleman approached me, who I believe was Paul Southard's, and we started talking. Having worked in very old boat yards, I knew I was in the presence of my past, and he was an elder to be respected. We talked briefly about the free skiff and he told me of his encounters with my grandfather. He spoke of my Grandpa going out at night in slush ice to find another long overdue fisherman. He said when Grandpa found the submerged boat, without thinking, he jumped in and pulled the fisherman out. Then, Grandpa put him in the bow of his skiff, removed his wet cold clothing, and wrapped him in burlap. Then grandpa still being wet, pushed the skiff to get the fisherman back to shore for medical help. We talked for as long as he wanted to talk. I told him I would be in touch. The stories were great, even better was a bond over the past. Getting that boat failed to work out because I had to move South to care for a grandmother in-law
It was so great to hear good things about my family from someone out of the family circle. I learned again how this was more than a boat search.
There are two types of Verity Skiffs
1. Sailed and rowed
2. Larger power skiffs
The below information is from Small Boats Nation. They have the greatest information that is true to course. They did a wonderful article about the Verity Skiff. Printed with permission.
Seaford skiffs first appeared in the shallow marshes around the New York town of Seaford, Long Island, in the early 1870s. They are an evolutionary product of skiffs commonly used by local baymen for hunting waterfowl, digging clams, and fishing. Boatbuilder Samuel Gritman is credited as the primary originator of the Seaford type, but other builders such as Paul Ketcham of Amityville, and Charles Verity and his son Sidney of Seaford, built many and contributed their own modifications to the design from its inception through the 1950s. https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/seaford-skiff/
(1961, January 1). Williams Marine. Motor Boating, (Special Boat Show Annual), 192, 334. https://books.google.com/books?id=C5euBnmfrX4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
The Verity Family
of
Long Island, New York
by
The following is from The Verity Family of Long Island pages 215 - 218.
Permission to use this material was given by Richard Baldwin at a family reunion
back in year 2000-ish for a college paper.
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