He  died  before  February  24,  1748,  as  on
that  date  Cooper,  who  was  one  of  his  execu-
tors, applied  for  a  new  lease  in  his  own  name,
to  run  until  Francis  Rawle,  son  of  William,
should  attain  his  majority  and  be  able  to  un-
dertake the  business  for  himself.  The
younger  Rawle  got  the  lease  for  himself  in
1755,  and  as  he  was  also  dead  at  its  expira-
tion, in  1763,  it  was  awarded  to  his  widow,
Rebecca  Rawle,  and  his  executors  paid  the
rental  up  to  March,  1769.
William  Cooper,  son  of  Daniel  and  grand-
son of  William,  in  1 723  came  into  posses-
sion of  all  the  Roydon  lands,  and  in  1744
conveyed  to  his  son  Daniel  one  hundred  acres
of  land,  including  the  site  of  the  Federal
Street  ferry.  The  site  of  the  old  ferry  was
a  little  south  of  the  foot  of  Cooper  Street,
and  was  probably  abandoned  about  1755  or
1760,  as  it  was  not  mentioned  even  in  the
deed  from  William  Cooper  to  his  son  Jacob
in  1764,  which  conveyed  to  him  the  property
on  the  river  between  a  point  a  short  distance
north  of  Cooper  Street,  south  to  near  Arch
Street.  The  history  of  the  ferries  will  be
given  under  their  different  names.
The  primitive  boats  of  the  settlers  were
small  skiffs,  but  as  the  demands  of  transpor-
tation increased,  they  were  succeeded  by  the
wherries.  These  were  capital  craft  and  most
admirably  adapted  to  their  work.  They
were  from  twenty- five  to  forty  feet  long,  with
a  beam  of  one-third  their  length,  were  clink-


NAVIGATION  AND  SHIP-BUILDING.
365


er-built,  and  their  long,  sharp  prows  were
shod  with  iron,  which  protected  them  from
being  cut  through  when  they  were  driven
against  the  floating  ice  in  the  winter  passages.
