"Down to the Sea in Ships"

SEA FEVER

I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.

To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

                                                   --John Masefield

This page is dedicated to all our brave and fearless ancestors who lost their lives to the restless waves.

William G. Strople died October 25, 1886.  From the CAPE ANN BREEZE:

The Sch. Alice M. Strople arrived this morning from the Grand Bank with her colors at half mast for the loss of Capt. William Strople and George Stone, one of her crew, who were lost on Oct. 25 while attending trawls.  The crew to a Breeze reporter this morning tells the following concerning the accident.  While to an anchor on the southern part of the Grand Bank, blowing hard from the N.N.E. the captain ordered the crew to get the trawls;  an effort was made, but the crew all returned, with the exception of one dory, unsuccessful.  The captain thought that he would be able to get the trawls, and called for a volunteer to go in the dory with him.  George Stone quickly responded, remarking that he could live as long under the water as any one on board.  Joining the skipper, they left the vessel on their dangerous mission.  They were watched by the crew from the vessel while their frail craft buffetted the waves, but when some distance from the vessel a huge sea struck the dory, capsizing her and throwing the occupants out, who seizing the dory held on, when a dory manned by the crew put off from the vessel in hopes of rescuing the unfortunate men, but before they arrived at the scene the men were washed from the dory and drowned.  Capt. Strople was a brave and determined young man, one of our most successful skippers, a native of Guysboro, N.S., and leaves a widow and four children residing at NO. 10 Perkins Street.  Capt. Hall of the Sch. Alert of the port boarded the Strople on the Bank, finding her without a captain, and as both vessels go from the same firm Capt. Hall after consulting the crew and thinking there might be a division among them, put Charles Olson, one of his crew on board who brought the vessel home.

William G. Strople was survived by his wife, Lizzie Stone Strople, two sons, Edward and William, and a daughter, Alice May.  Both Edward and Alice May died in 1890.  The son, William, married Emma Gott of Rockport.

It is believed that William's daughter, Alice May Strople, was the namesake for the ship Alice M. Strople of which her father was captain.  The ship sank in 1890.  The records indicate that William G.Strople was survived by a wife and four children.  The identity of the fourth child has not been determined.  Often a pregnancy was counted as a child in the death notices and this fourth child may have been stillborn.

Lineage of William G. Strople:  George Strople (the Loyalist Soldier)>John George Strople>Thomas Robert Strople (m. Maria Callahan)>William Strople b. 1854 d. October 25, 1886 (m. Lizzie Stone*) (*Lizzie Stone Strople later married William's younger brother, Charles S. Strople.)

This article was graciously submitted by Mary Strople of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

"Believe me, my friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

from  The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

- Illustration by Inga Moore