Ralph Munroe

Ralph Middleton Munroe (April 3, 1851 – August 20, 1933) was an American yacht designer and early resident of Coconut Grove in south Florida. His home, now The Barnacle Historic State Park, is the oldest house in Miami-Dade County still standing in its original location.

Ralph M. Munroe
Ralph Munroe
Born(1851-04-03)April 3, 1851
New York City
DiedAugust 20, 1933(1933-08-20) (aged 82)
Coconut Grove, Florida
NationalityAmerican
OccupationYacht designer

Early life

Munroe was born to Thomas and Ellen Middleton Munroe at their family home on 22nd Street near 4th Avenue in New York City on April 3, 1851. Munroe's grandfather was William Munroe who made the first American lead pencils in 1812. In 1854, the Munroe family moved to Clifton, Staten Island where Munroe spent his childhood. He lived in a large home at 104 Townsend Avenue. Growing up near the sea, he became fascinated with the boats that were essential to island life. The New York Yacht Club America's Cup Race was held near his childhood home in Clifton. While a student at Eagleswood Military Academy, [1] near Perth Amboy, New Jersey, from 1861 to 1864, he purchased the "Hornet" for a mere $2.00, the first of many boats he was to own.[2]

After briefly attending Columbia University in New York City, Munroe participated in a number of lucrative business ventures as well as yachting adventures. In 1874, he encountered William Brickell off of the coast of Staten Island, a meeting that changed his life. It was from him that Munroe learned more of Biscayne Bay, which he visited for the first time in 1877.[3]

At age 28, Munroe married Eva Amelia Hewitt in 1879 and established his permanent home at Great Kills, Staten Island. Two years later, she gave birth to a daughter, Edith Munroe. The joy of his daughter's birth was met with tragedy, however. Within the next few months, Eva contracted tuberculosis and in the hopes of recovery, Munroe brought Eva; her sister, Adeline, also tubercular; and their brother to Biscayne Bay. His daughter Edith died in her grandmother's care shortly after their departure. Eva died in April 1882. She is buried on the grounds of the Coconut Grove Library. This is the oldest marked grave in Miami.[4] A devastated Munroe soon returned to Staten Island.[5]

Move to Florida

Between 1882 and 1886, Munroe returned to Biscayne Bay several times, spending winters with Charles and Isabella Peacock, who were then building the Bay View House, Dade County's first hotel, later renamed the Peacock Inn. He returned to summer in Staten Island each year. In 1886, Munroe decided to make Coconut Grove his permanent home, and purchased the future site of The Barnacle Historic State Park, which was at the time 40 acres (160,000 m2) of bayfront property. He paid $400 in cash in addition to one of his yachts, the Kingfish, which he valued at an additional $400. Two years later, in 1888, he sold his home in Staten Island to remain year round in Coconut Grove.

With his new home began a new life. Munroe built his boathouse directly on the bay in 1887 with living quarters on the upper floor and a workshop on the lower floor. He continued designing yachts, fifty-six of which he completed over the course of his lifetime. His most famous design was Egret, a 28 ft, double-ended sharpie lifeboat which he designed for himself. He obtained a wrecking license from the State of Florida to salvage ships on Biscayne Bay, which were numerous due to the surrounding reef and shallow waters.

After he had settled into his various careers, the always social Munroe founded the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club in 1887. He was the club's first Commodore, a position he held for twenty-two years.

Fully established in every regard but one, Munroe decided to start the construction of his house, "The Barnacle", in 1891. He met his second wife, Jessie Wirth, on a sailing trip in 1894, and they married a year later in 1895. Jessie gave birth to a daughter, Patty, (1900), and a son, Wirth, (1902) who also became a yacht designer. The family took frequent cruises on the bay and the children learned to sail at a very young age.

In 1903, he and his friend Tom Hine established a resort on the property called Camp Biscayne. Guests included Ruth Rowland Nichols, William Grigsby McCormick, and Alexander Graham Bell. Many who wintered at Camp Biscayne later settled in the area permanently as Munroe had.

Munroe's autobiography, The Commodore's Story, was published in 1930. Written with the assistance of Vincent Gilpin, it is one of the few first-hand accounts existing of pioneer days in Miami-Dade County.

Munroe was a very good friend of Captain Nat Herreshoff, America's preeminent yacht designer. Herreshoff spent the last winters of his life residing at a cottage at the Barnacle.[6]

Photography was another important aspect of Munroe's life. He was an accomplished amateur photographer. During his lifetime, many of his photographs were used in magazines, newspapers, and books as illustrations. Three illustrations in Willoughby's Across the Everglades are credited to Munroe.[7] His photographs are the only record of what pioneer days looked like in early Miami. Many of these photographs were published in the book The Forgotten Frontier.[8]

Munroe died on 20 August 1933 at age 82. He was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts. He was survived by his wife and two children who, with his other descendants, continued to occupy The Barnacle until 1973 when the family sold it to the state of Florida.

Vessels designed

Proas
Proa First owner Builder Where built Launch date
Proa (1) Biscayne Bay Yacht Club Ralph Middleton Munroe Coconut Grove 1898
Proa (2) Biscayne Bay Yacht Club 1903
Proa (3) Ransom Everglades High School 1903
Proa (4) Anderson 1908

Yachts

[9][10]

Yacht First owner Builder Where built Launch date
ALICE Henry Howard A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1924
ALLAPATTA Kirk Munroe A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1888
Anemone (aka Domino) Gilbert Haight A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1882
Arlega Archie B. Gardner S.B. Gedney Miami, FL 1914
Biscayne
Buckeye W.B.Shattuc Ralph Middleton Munroe Miami, NY 1905
CARIB Arthur S. Haigh Ralph Middleton Munroe Coconut Grove, NY 1901
CARIB II (aka Billy II) M. (Max) Mauran A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1924
CERO Henry Hovey A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1899
CRESCENT Pres. Crescent Bicycle Co. of Syracuse, NY A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1899
Cyclone E.B. Underhill Ralph Middleton Munroe New York, NY 1876
Dragon H.L. Park A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1907
E.B. Underhill Ralph Middleton Munroe Ralph Middleton Munroe New York, NY 1872–1873
Egret Ralph Middleton Munroe A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1886
EVANGELINE Bancroft C. Davis Geo. Lawley & Son Corp. Neponset, MA 1915
Florence W Richard (Dick) Carney Brown, W -- 1887
Fornella Waters S. Davis Ralph Middleton Munroe Miami, FL 1903
Fornella II Waters S. Davis Peck & Bailey 1903
GRANATZA (aka Rita) N.M. George A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1902
HOLGAZANA Walter H. Browne A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1887
J.P. Musere [11] Ralph Middleton Munroe A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1878?
Kingfish Ralph Middleton Munroe A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1883
KONA F. Gray Griswold Nilson Yacht Building Co. Baltimore, MD 1909
Loon W.J. Matheson Huntington New Rochelle 1904-06
MELODY Ralph Middleton Munroe Munroe & C. Brown Miami & Coconut Grove, FL 1905
MICCO Arthur M. Merriman[12] A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1891
NETHLA Edward A. & Thomas A. Hine A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1888
NEW DAWN Murrough Armstrong-MacDonnell Murrough Armstrong-MacDonnell Devon, England 1981
Nicketti Jean d'Hedouville (Count) A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1889
NORMONA S.M. Taylor A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1903
NOVIA George Van Vleck, Toledo A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1904
ORIOLE Commodore T.B. Austen A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1888
Pelican Edward A. & Thomas Hine A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1885
Petrel Ralph Middleton Munroe Ralph Middleton Munroe nr. Townsend's Dock, Staten Island 1879
PRESTO [13] Ralph Middleton Munroe A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1885
SAVALO F. Gray Griswold A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1901
Savanilla John Price Wetherill Greenwich Piers Marine Railway Co. Greenwich Piers, NJ 1904
Scallop Louis Quint Jones Gas Engine & Power, & Charles L. Seabury & Co. Morris Heights, NYC, NY 1906
Skipperee 1881
Star Clemson Peck & Bailey Miami, FL 1903
Sunset Ralph Middleton Munroe Ralph Middleton Munroe Coconut Grove, FL 1923
Tommy Traddles Vincent Hubbell Gas Engine & Power & Seabury Morris Heights, NY 1906
Totem Thomas A. Hine A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1907
TRAMP Bancroft C. Davis F.F. Pendleton Wiscasset, ME 1914
UTILIS Ralph Middleton Munroe A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, NY 1894
UTILIS II Montgomery 1901
UTILIS III Winslow Not built Designed 1902
WABUN [14] Will McCormick[15] A.C. Brown & Son Tottenville, S.I., NY 1892
YUMA Ralph Worthington Miami Boats Works Miami, FL 1904
?#1 Higgs Not built 1894
?#2 Thornton, W. Not built 1899
?#3 Not built 1903
?#4 Camden Not built 1905
?#5 Griswold Not built 1906
?#6 Park Not built 1906
?#7 Matheson Not built 1907

Note Those in CAPITALS are PRESTO style boats.

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References
Notes
  1. Munroe 1930, p. 20.
  2. Munroe 1930, p. 23.
  3. Munroe 1930, p. 69.
  4. Junior League 1987, p. 20.
  5. Munroe 1930, p. 109.
  6. Herreshoff 1996
  7. Willoughby 1898
  8. Parks 1977
  9. Lloyds
  10. Munroe 1930
  11. A.C. Brown
  12. Munroe 1930 p. 221
  13. Beebe 1988
  14. Beebe 1988
  15. Munroe 1930 p. 268
Bibliography
  • "A. C. Brown & Son, Tottenville NY". Shipbuildinghistory. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  • Blank, Joan Gill. Key Biscayne. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1996.
  • Coulombe, Deborah A. and Hiller, Herbert L. Season Of Innocence. Miami, FL: The Pickering Press, 1988.
  • Lloyd's Register of American Yachts.
  • Gilpin, Vincent. The Good Little Ship. Narberth, PA: Livingston Publishing, 1961.
  • Herreshoff, Lewis Francis. Capt. Nat Herreshoff, the wizard of Bristol. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Sheridan House, 1996.
  • Howard, Henry. The Yacht Alice. Boston: Charles E. Lauriat, 1926.
  • Junior League of Miami. Historic Coconut Grove. Miami, FL: Junior League of Miami, 1987.
  • Munroe, Ralph Middleton and Gilpin, Vincent. The Commodore's Story. New York, NY: Ives Washburn, 1930. OCLC 001615563.
  • Parks, Arva Moore. The Forgotten Frontier. Miami, FL: Banyan Books, 1977.
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