We also just learned that the December 2011 edition of the Maine Coastal News gave a description of the Boundary as having two masts and dimensions 79' x 22' x 9'. The article mentions that the Boundary was built in 1825 by Robert Huston and that John Shackford was it's first master.
We know that on June 26,1826, Capt John Shackford, commander of the Schooner Boundary appeared before the Boston Board of Alderman regarding a case of alleged breach of the law to prevent the introduction of paupers from foreign ports.
The May 9, 1828 edition of the Eastern Argus announced that the Schooner Edward Preble, the Thomas Rogers, and the Schooner Boundary, 142 tons with John Shackford, master will be running between Eastport and Boston, stopping at Portland both directions.
We then find many newspaper articles that mention the Schooner Boundary arriving or departing Eastport or Boston with a Captain Shackford at the helm.
Although we've found all these sources, we still are dreaming of a trip to the libraries and museums in Eastport and Portsmouth in the future to find any other sources that document John Shackford's travels as a sea captain.
ance with them, and during his long experience as shipmaster never had occasion to call upon his underwriters for a dollar. The "Boundary", his last packet, so well known as the swiftest vessel on the coast, was driven off the route on the introduction of steamships, when she was twenty-one years old; but for twenty years after she was a staunch craft, engaged in the coasting trade.
REFERENCES
"ARRIVED," Boston Post (Boston, Massachusetts), 16 October 1832; digital images, Newspapers. com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 June 2014
Boyd Amos, "Launching Details from Way Downeast," Maine Coastal News, December 3011; online archives, Maine Coastal news (http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1uxd9/MaineCoastalNews2011/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.free.yudu.com%2Fitem%2Fdetails%2F446326%2FMaine-Coastal-News--2011-12 : accessed 23 June 2014).
"CLEARED," Boston Post (Boston, Massachusetts), 9 May 1832; digital images, Newspapers. com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 June 2014
Eastern Argus 1828-05-09 page 4
Kilby William Henry, Eastport and Passamaquoddy: A Collection of Historical and Background Sketches (Eastport, Maine: Edward E Shead & Company, 1888), page 157, 447; digital images, Google eBooks (http://books.google.com : accessed 13 June 2014
Maine, Washington County, Probate Case Files, Samuel Shackford; "Maine, Washington County Courthouse Records, 1795-1950," digital images, FamilySearch (FamilySearch.org: accessed 14 June 2014); Probate records, Probate, 1835-1839, v. 9 (p. 1-400), page 181, Image 183
Smith Jerome V. C., M. D., editor, The Boston News-letter and City Record Vol II. From July 1826 to January 1827 (Boston: Abel Bowen, 1826), page 11; digital images, Hathi Trust (www.babel.hathitrust.org : accessed 3 March 2014; City Record, Sunday, June 17, 1826