DAVID BELL

Buffalo NY

Most recent update: October 15, 2016.
David Bell, an immigrant from Scotland, was an engine builder first and a shipbuilder second.  He started in business in 1845, as Bell & McNish, later becoming Bell's Steam Engine Works.  In 1858 he started building ships under his own name and in 1862 built the Merchant, the first coal-powered, propeller-driven, iron-hulled ship to be built on the Great Lakes.  The company's plant was on the east side of the Evans Ship Canal (which was where the north-south stretch of Erie Street is now), roughly where the western side of the Marine Drive Apartments complex is today: see the site from the air on Google here.  If anyone can add to the table below, please e-mail me at timcolton@aol.com
Hull # O.N. Original Name Original Owner Type GT Feet Built Disposition
4991 City of Buffalo   Cargo Ship 149   1859 Barge 1871, no record after 1893
19684 Philo S. Bemis   Tug 29   1859 Abandoned 1879
16332 Merchant Anchor Line Cargo Ship 721   1862 Wrecked 1875
10664 Glen Iris   Cargo Ship 119   1863 Later Mary O'Riorden, abandoned 1951
6147 Dexter   Tug 36   1866 Abandoned 1911
na Metropolitan City of New York Police Boat 149   1867 Abandoned 1867
18092 Nellie Cotton   Tug 37   1867 Abandoned 1929
20142 Philadelphia Erie & Western Tptn. Cargo Ship 1,463   1868 In collision and sank 1893
1734 Ariadne   Tug 34   1868  
100042 Ivanhoe   Sidewheeler 282   1869 Burned 1899
Douglas   Tug     1870  
90701 Mary Bell   Yacht 34   1870 No record after 1907
na Albert Gallatin U.S.R.C.S. Cutter 250   1871 Later Gallatin, sank 1892
202921 Alexander Hamilton U.S.R.C.S. Cutter 250   1871 Later Hamilton, sold 1906 as Pilot, later Keechi
8882 Eliza Williams   Tug 37   1872  
125149 Cayuga   Tug 27   1872 Later S.S. Mac 1941, abandoned 1963
205203 George S. Boutwell U.S.R.C.S. Cutter 151   1873 Later Boutwell, sold 1907 as E. T. Chamberlin
90792 M. D. Carrington   Tug 64   1875 Scrapped 1949
145074 Titania   Yacht 73   1875 In collision 1908
110275 Rosaline   Yacht 28   1876 Later Volanta
G. W. Gardner   Yacht     1876  
Esperanza   Yacht     1876  
105784 Arundell Cole & Holt Cargo Ship 306   1878 Burnt 1911, rebuilt as barge 1916, cargo ship Brewster 1920, in collision and sank 1922
Flora   Yacht     1879  
Vanderbilt   Yacht     1879  
Angelique   Yacht 27   1880  
106025 A. W. Colton M. T. Huntley Tug 92   1881 Abandoned 1945
100302 Ina   Yacht 14   1881 Later Service 1919, abandoned 1929
25243 Uarda Dow and Wesson Yacht 16   1881 Abandoned 1921
110536 Robert H. Cooke   Tug 157   1882  
207088 Sand Beach U.S. Army CoE Tug 10   1885 Later Lorene 1909, foundered 1945
145439 Theseus   Yacht 54   1886  
Seneca Chief   Yacht     1887  
81211 Waller   Yacht 56   1887  
200702 City of Buffalo City of Buffalo  Fire Tug 133   1887 George R. Potter 1903, sold 1932, Liberty 1940, deleted in 1980s
150462 Phil Sheridan   Tug 35   1888 Scrapped 1923
Florence Rice     19   1889  
116305 Spalpeen   Tug 29   1889  
161014 Keystone   Tug 95   1891 Abandoned 1033
150524 Pilgrim   Cargo Ship 261   1891 Burned 1937
150536 Paddy Miles   Tug 33   1891  
Neversink   Yacht     1892  
200703 John M. Hutchinson John M. Hutchinson Fire Tug 90   1893 Later Drag 1934, scrapped 1951
252202 Calumet U.S.R.C.S. Tug 170   1894 Later Tioga 1934, WYT 74 1942, sold 1947 as John F. Drews, William J. Dugan 1967, Spany Pane
William McKinley   Yacht     1894  
161077 Katharine T. Wilbur   Tug 54   1895 Later Cortland 1903, to US Army 1916, sold 1919, Courageous 1973, deleted 1977
Primrose   Yacht     1895  
Sandusky   Yacht     1896  
107227 Alert George Moon Fish Tug 102   1896 Later Douglas M (Canada) 1917, Black Hawk 1980
96399 Harvey D. Goulder L. P. & J. A. Smith Tug 156   1896 Later A.T.S. Tug No. 7 1920, Frederick T. Kellers 1922, no record after 1960
81738 W. J. Warwick Joseph B. Blake Tug 21   1901 Later Susanne S
117072 Shaun Rhue   Tug 79   1901  
127678 Capt. Hemens   Passenger 34   1902 Later A. B. Sutherland (Canada O.N. 130330), scrapped 1957