THE PEARY ARCTIC CLUB
“To reach the Farthest Northern Point on the Western Hemisphere; to
Promote and Maintain Exploration of the Polar Regions.”
1898–1902
The history of The Peary Arctic Club divides itself, first, into that of
the subscribers sustaining the 1898–1902 Expeditions, and second, of the
incorporators of the Club, in 1904, under the laws of the State of New
York. The subscribers met for the first time at No. 44 Pine Street, N.
Y., Jan. 29, 1899, and having before them Commander Peary’s letters and
reports from Etah, North Greenland, Aug. 12, 1898, adopted the name of
“The Peary Arctic Club” and a Constitution, setting forth that “the
objects of the Club are to promote and encourage explorations of the
Polar regions, as set forth in Lieutenant R. E. Peary’s letter dated
January 14, 1897, and to assist him in securing additional information
regarding the geography of the same; to receive and collect such objects
of scientific interest or otherwise as may be obtainable through
Lieutenant Peary’s present expedition or other expeditions of like
nature; to receive, collect and keep on file narratives and manuscripts
relative to Arctic explorations; to preserve such records and keep such
accounts as may be necessary for the purpose of the association; and
further to command in its work the resources of mutual acquaintance and
social intercourse”; declaring that contributors to the expedition,
including those absent, were Founders of the Club and elected the
following officers: President, Morris K. Jesup; Vice-President,
Frederick E. Hyde; Treasurer, Henry W. Cannon; Secretary, Herbert L.
Bridgman. Alfred C. Harmsworth (Lord Northcliffe) was elected an
Honorary Member of the Club in recognition of his gift of the _Windward_
to Commander Peary.
The Club despatched the steamer _Diana_, Captain Samuel W. Bartlett of
St. John, N. F., in command of its Secretary, H. L. Bridgman, from
Sydney, C. B., on July 27, 1899, whither she returned on September 15th,
having in the meantime successfully accomplished her mission in
depositing at Etah her stores, effecting a junction with Commander Peary
at Etah on August 12th, and returning with her consort, the _Windward_,
which had wintered at Cape D’Urville, Ellesmere Land. The _Windward_,
preceding the _Diana_ one week in her departure from Etah, arrived at
Brigus, N. F., two days earlier, having on board the scientific records
and personal effects of each officer and man of the Lady Franklin Bay
Expedition; the sextant abandoned in 1876 by Lieutenant, now
Rear-Admiral, Albert Beaumont, R. N. at Cape Britannia, Greenland, and
copies of the Nares-Markham records from the cairns of Norman Lockyer
and Washington Irving islands, all recovered by Commander Peary in 1898
and 1899. The personal effects were subsequently distributed by the Club
to the survivors and next of kin of the deceased, and the relics of the
Royal Navy deposited, through the Lords of the Admiralty in the Royal
Naval Museum, at Greenwich.
The Club sent the _Windward_, repaired and improved and in command of
Captain Samuel W. Bartlett, North in the following year, 1900, with Mrs.
Peary and Marie Ahnighito Peary on board, leaving Sydney, C. B., on July
21st, with instructions to proceed to Etah, and failing to find there
Commander Peary, to cross Smith Sound to Cape Sabine and press forward
as far as might be necessary to open communication with him. The
_Windward_ failing to return, the Club in 1901 chartered the _Erik_, and
despatched her in command of Secretary Bridgman from Sydney, C. B., July
18th, with instructions to proceed first to Etah, and then to act as
circumstances suggested. The _Erik_ arrived at Etah on August 5th, where
Commander Peary and the _Windward_ were found, all on board well, the
ship having wintered in Payer Harbour under Cape Sabine, where she was
joined on May 6th, by Commander Peary from Fort Conger. The _Erik_ and
_Windward_, after the greater part of August in the north waters,
returned, the former to Sydney, C. B., September 15th, with Commander
Peary’s report of his delineation in 1900 of the northern end of
Greenland, and Lockwood and Brainard’s original record from their cairn
in 1882 at their farthest, and the _Windward_ to Brigus, September 24th.
New boilers and engines having been installed in the _Windward_, she
sailed a third time for the North from Sydney, C. B., July 20th, 1902,
with Mrs. and Miss Peary on board; effected a junction with Commander
Peary on August 5th at Cape Sabine; and, after a stay of less than a
day, brought away the expedition with the record of 84.17 North (the
highest on the Western Continent), in May, 1902. The party, library,
instruments, and all the remaining equipment of the Lady Franklin Bay
Expedition arrived at Sydney, C. B., September 5th.
The founders of the Club were: Morris K. Jesup, Henry W. Cannon, James
J. Hill, John M. Flagler, Frederick E. Hyde, E. C. Benedict, H. Hayden
Sands, A. A. Raven, Henry Parish, Eben B. Thomas, James M. Constable,
Herbert L. Bridgman, Henry H. Benedict, and Eliphalet W. Bliss.
Full contributing members, Edward G. Wyckoff and Clarence W. Wyckoff, of
Ithaca, N. Y., and Grant B. Schley, of New York, were in 1899 elected to
membership in the club, and President Charles P. Daly, of the American
Geographical Society, to its executive committee, in recognition of the
contribution by the Society.
1904–190–(?)
The Charter of the Peary Arctic Club, April 19, 1904, recites that the
objects of the incorporation are “to aid and assist in forming and
maintaining certain expeditions to be placed under Commander Robert E.
Peary, U. S. N., with the object of continuing his explorations of the
Polar Regions and completing the geographical data of the same,
receiving and collecting such objects of scientific interest as may be
obtainable through such expeditions; collecting, receiving, and
preserving narratives and manuscripts relating to Arctic explorations in
general; soliciting and administering funds for the maintenance of such
expeditions, and, in general, providing funds for Commander Peary’s
efforts to reach the farthest northern point on the Western Hemisphere,
and to coöperate with any other association for the same purpose,” and
names as incorporators:
Morris K. Jesup
Anton A. Raven
Herbert L. Bridgman
John A. Flagler
Henry Parish
Robert E. Peary
Immediately upon incorporation, the Club addressed itself to the
construction of a ship for its work, plans for which were designed,
based upon the experience of former expeditions of Commander Peary.
Contracts were made with the late Captain Charles B. Dix of Bucksport,
Me., where her keel was laid October 15, 1904, and the ship launched and
christened _Roosevelt_ by Mrs. Peary, March 23, 1905. Installation of
machinery at Portland occupied the next two months, and early in July,
the _Roosevelt_ arrived under her own steam at New York, whence in July
of that year, she was despatched to the North, paying President Jesup of
the Club a parting call at Bar Harbour, Me. On arriving at Sydney, C.
B., Captain Robert A. Bartlett assumed command and on July 26th she
departed for the North. The auxiliary collier _Erik_ accompanied the
_Roosevelt_ as far as Etah, whence on August 16, 1905, the _Roosevelt_
began her battle with the ice, and the _Erik_ returned to St. Johns, N.
F.
The subsequent movements of the Club’s expedition are contained in the
preceding pages.
The list of the contributors to the present Peary Arctic Club is as
follows:
Appalachian Mountain Club
Archer, George A.
Bellows, H. M.
Bement, L. C.
Benedict, H. H.
Benjamin, Julian A.
Berri, William
Bourne, F. G.
Bridgman, Herbert L.
Brockway, R. M.
Bryant, Henry G.
Cannon, H. W.
Chamberlain, Leander
Cheney, Mrs. Charles P.
Church, Alfred W.
Clapp, Henry Lyman
Clarkson, Banyer
Close, Frances H.
Colgate, Jas. C.
Coolidge, J. R.
Crane, Zenas
Crocker, George
Delafield, L. L.
Dodge, Cleveland H.
Doughty, Ella
Drexel, Mrs. Joseph
Ford, Simeon
Geographical Society, American
Gilder, R. W.
Heilprin, A.
Hobson, Richmond P.
Holbrook, L.
Hubbard, Thomas H.
Huntington, A. M.
Huyler, John S.
Jesup, Mrs. Morris K.
Jesup, Morris K.
Jones, Walter R. T.
Kerr, W.
Kimball, A. R.
Kinnicutt, Dr. and Mrs.
Kleybolte, Rudolph
Knapp, Dr. Herman
Low, William G.
Merrill, Fullerton
Mitchell, S. Weir
Moss, Charles H.
Noyes, Henry T., Jr.
Parish, Henry
Parsons, John E.
Perkins, W. H.
Phillips, Dr. John C.
Pyne, M. Taylor
Rae, Samuel
Raven, Anton A.
Reynolds, Edward C.
Robbins, Chandler
Robbins, Harriet L.
Schieren, Charles A.
Schiff, Jacob H.
Schiff, Mortimer L.
Schott, C. M., Jr.
Smith, J. H.
Squires, Grant
Torrance, H.
Trevor, John S.
Upton, Frank S.
Vaill, D. L.
Van Post, H. C.
Victor, J. A.
Wallace, D. H.
Ward, Joseph M.
Williams, G. A.
H. L. Bridgman, Secretary and Treasurer,
Peary Arctic Club.
MONTHLY MEANS OF BAROMETRIC READINGS AT CAPE SHERIDAN, 1905–1906
(Regular barometric readings were taken at 7 A. M., 2 P. M., and 9 P. M.
daily)
Mean for 27 days in August, 1905 29.920 inches of Hg
„ „ „ „ „ September, 1905 29.848 „
„ „ „ „ „ October, 1905 30.122 „
„ „ „ „ „ November, 1905 29.897 „
„ „ „ „ „ December, 1905 29.796 „
„ „ „ „ „ January, 1906 30.012 „
„ „ „ „ „ February, 1906 29.955 „
„ „ „ „ „ March, 1906 30.035 „
„ „ „ „ „ April, 1906 29.801 „
„ „ „ „ „ May, 1906 30.245 „
„ „ „ „ „ June, 1906 29.816 „
„ „ first 6 days in July, 1906 29.664 „
MONTHLY MEANS OF THERMOMETRIC READINGS AT CAPE SHERIDAN, 1905–1906
(Regular thermometric readings were taken daily at 7 A. M., 2 P. M., and
9 P. M.)
Mean for 27 days in August, 1905 +36.86 °F.
„ „ „ „ „ September, 1905 +12.66 „
„ „ „ „ „ October, 1905 –8.40 „
„ „ „ „ „ November, 1905 –17.24 „
„ „ „ „ „ December, 1905 –21.83 „
„ „ „ „ „ January, 1906 –29.55 „
„ „ „ „ „ February, 1906 –31.14 „
„ „ „ „ „ March, 1906 –32.28 „
„ „ „ „ „ April, 1906 –0.40 „
„ „ „ „ „ May, 1906 +19.34 „
„ „ first 17 days in June, 1906 +32.18 „