The Last Generation:
A History of a Chesapeake Bay Shipbuilding Family
by Geoffrey M. Footner
Photographs by A. Aubrey Bodine, Morris Rosenfeld, Edwin Levick, Robert Knudsen, Frank A Moorhead, Jr., N. L Stebbins, and others

This is the story of five generations of a Chesapeake Bay shipbuilding family named Davis, four of whom built classic wooden commercial baycraft - pungies, sloops, ships, brigantines; and of the fifth generation, Clarence E. Davis, who, when faced with falling demand for wooden commercial freighters in the 20th Century, and noting a rise in the popularity of sailing yachts among the wealthy, taught himself and his perfectly trained workers the art of constructing the finest yachts built on the east coast of the United States. Designers who brought their clients to Davis - or visa versa - included Philip Rhodes, John Alden, Olin J. Stephens, Charles D. Mower, and William H. Hand, Jr.

Clarence died young and on his drafting table at that time, 1937, were the drawings of MANITOU, an early design of Olin Stephens. Davis's artisans, under the watchful eyes of Rod Stephens, completed this fine yawl which was still winning important races twenty five years after delivery. Her last private owner donated MANITOU to the U. S. Coast Guard in 1956. After some months in the White House, President John F. Kennedy notified his staff that he needed to find relaxation aboard a sailing yacht, one large enough to go offshore and small enough for him and his friends to handle comfortably without assistance of a crew. After a search, he chose MANITOU.

"Little has been written about John F. Kennedy's days aboard her. The arrangements were elaborate involving the Secret Service, the Navy, and the Coast Guard. There was little press coverage of those days of private relaxation at the helm of the old yawl. To insure security at sea a certain amount of secrecy was necessary. A Coast Guard crew, two Secret Service men, and Kennedy's friends or family sailed aboard MANITOU. The only other regular member of the official party was a White House photographer [Robert Knudsen], who took hundreds of wonderful photographs of the photogenic president. A part of John F. Kennedy, like most others who seek freedom and pleasure at the helm of a sailboat, was reserved for the sea. It is a passion that puts a person on a higher level the moment the foot crosses the gap between a stable dock and a floating deck. Under way a sailor must interpret the wind and the will of the sea. To accomplish this, he shifts the focus of his senses to catch the changing notes of nature's songs. Kennedy knew well those tunes." The Last Generation, page 149.

"The author utilizes seventy percent of of this book to describe the yachts built by M. M. Davis & Son's yard in Solomons, and it is a worthy description. These boats are a part of yachting history now, as are their sailors, owners, and designers. It is the last generation who built them and left us their heritage. This work is a fine reference and an especially notable history of a most important shipbuilding sector of Chesapeake Bay," Thomas C. Gillmer, naval architect and reviewer.

193 pages, notes, index, appendices and 83 photographs
Solomons, MD., Calvert Marine Museum, 1991
Price: $37.50; including shipping (USA) and handling.
Books will be individually autographed on request