Thanks to this Philadelphia Inquirer article, we know Yacht Neptune was named after “this city’s Neptune Club.” I’ve been trying to determine which Neptune Club it was and who the members were, but it turns out people loved naming things “Neptune” in the late 1800s and so there were many search results.
I did receive a good lead from someone who suggested it could be the Neptune Club of the Schuylkill Navy. It turns out there is a Klemm associated with this club, but it’s the wrong “Klemm,” which took a trip to a cemetery in Philly to figure that out. (I know, weird.) I promise to get into that in a later “Klemm” post.
I’ve narrowed the Neptune club search down to these four articles.
Jan 1873: Fancy Neptune Club
June 1873: Tracking the Neptune Club’s movements
June 1873: A Dramatic Day for the Philadelphia Neptune Club in AC
July 1873: A Less Dramatic Day for the Philadelphia Neptune Club in AC
Logically, the fishing club that travels to Atlantic City makes more sense than the fancy Neptune Club in Philadelphia. Captain Sam would have had more chances to meet the club members and name a boat after it. Or it’s the same club and they decided to have a fancy party. At the moment, I have no way to determine this.
But here’s what I’m fixated on at the moment the one articles it mentions these are “notable” Philadelphians. Wouldn’t it be nice if we knew who these notable Philly people were? Was one of them Walker Williams, the sugar refiner mentioned in Captain Sam’s obit? Or was one of them William Klemm or John Klemm?
Okay, I’m gonna go look up more stuff, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.