Edward Hamlin Adams
(1860-1950)
Edward Hamlin Adams, a life-long resident of Durham, N.H., was the oldest son of Joseph Martin Reuter Adams and Olive Esther Libbey Adams. In 1885, he married Martha Francis Harvey. Edward Adams served as one of the last gundalow* skippers on the Piscataqua River. After the use of gundalows died out in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, Edward built two: The Fannie M (1889) and The Driftwood (1950). Edward Hamlin Adams died in 1950 shortly after the launch of The Driftwood.
*Gundalows are low built boats with lateen riggings which were used primarily for shipping cargo. They were peculiar to the Piscataqua region.
Photograph of Edward Hamlin Adams, 1902.

The Fanny M carrying over 40 cords of wood across Great Bay, ca. 1900.


The Fanny M run aground in 1925, after being taken out with the ice during the winter.


The Driftwood in the making at Adams Point, Durham, N.H. (between 1930-1950).


The launching of The Driftwood, 1950.