The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine documents the rich and deep maritime history of the region and the town that was famous for its ship captains. The museum has a wonderful set of on-line, searchable, photography collections documenting the area’s ships, boats and the people who sailed them.  One such collection is a series of close to 500 glass plate negatives from Ruth Montgomery, a sea captain’s daughter from Boothbay that document her life and travels.

The Ruth Montgomery Collection at the Penobscot Marine Museum

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From the Penobscot Marine Museum website:

Ruth was born in 1880 in East Boothbay. Her mother died in 1881, when Ruth she was 3 years old. Adelbert remarried in 1884, when Ruth was about 4 years old, to Mary A. “Mame” Thorpe, a school teacher in the town of Deering. Ruth first went to sea at the age of 5, and she and her brother Frank, who was a few years older, accompanied their parents on almost every voyage thereafter. It is believed that she was schooled by “Mame” while at sea.

In 1895, Ruth’s father took command of the bark Carrie Winslow when Ruth was 15 years old. It was around this time that Ruth began making taking photographs. Her photographs capture the three voyages to South America in 1899, 1901 and 1903. Through her photographs one gets to know her family and see the faces of her relatives as well as view scenes from sea and her exotic travels to Buenos Aires and Rosario. She continued to make photographs on glass plates until 1916.