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EMMA HARVEY


Dual mast schooner, length=37 feet, beam= 14 feet; and hole depth 6 feet.


Built in the 1891 by Casimer Harvey in Biloxi, MS. Named for youngest daughter, Emma Agnes Harvey

Owned by Ulysses (Lee) Desporte- operated later 1890’s to 1979 (Presumed destroyed by Hurricane Frederick).


George Duggan was the captain of the schooner EMMA HARVEY when he and a crew of 7, including his son Arthur and nephew Lawrence Bennett, set out from Biloxi to Chandeleur Island on a shrimping trip on July 4, 1916. The following evening, a hurricane with winds estimated at 125 mph struck and the EMMA HARVEY disappeared from her anchorage at the island. None of the crew, which also included John Helm, John McDuffy and Jack Atkinson, were ever found. However, the EMMA HARVEY was discovered on August 12, 1916 floating bottom side up about 25 miles from Pensacola, FL. She was salvaged and over the years served as trawler, charter boat, ferry boat and schooner races. At one time, when owned by a Miami man, she was used to transport illegal Cuban alcohol (rum running) but was seized by Coast Guard and sold at auction, thus resuming her more legitimate roles.

According to residents of Alabama, blew the EMMA HARVEY into the Mon Island marsh or Portersville Bay area west of Cedar Point. As the schooner was never recovered, it is generally held that the Biloxi built vessel was destroyed by Hurricane Frederick in September 1979.

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