Bell's Steam Engine Works, David Bell

Bell's Steam Engine Works, David Bell, Buffalo NY

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 info@navalmarinearchive.com.

Most recent update: 15 October 2016.

O.N.	Original Name	Original Owner	Type	GT	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

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