Built in 1850, the merchant packet DANIEL WEBSTER was built by the renowned Donald McKay of East Boston. The mainsail bears a large black letter T, for the Train Line of Ships. Owned by Enoch Train, the Train Line packets ran between Boston and Liverpool. As with all of McKay's ships she was known as a fast ship as well as a sturdy one- well built for carrying mail, cargo and passengers between American and England.
Packets were originally vessels that went between ports on a regular schedule on the "Packet Trade" - carrying parcels and mail between government posts and embassies, colonies and settlements. These ships often carried cargo and passengers as well, an important side business, but their main function was usually considered to be mail of some secrecy, urgency or importance, safe transportation of valuables and so on. Over time a packet came to mean any ship that ran a regularly scheduled passenger route.
