The _Mary Whitridge_ became one of the most famous of the clippers launched in 1855. She was built in Baltimore, where she was owned by Thomas Whitridge & Co., and was commanded by Captain Robert B. Cheesborough, also of that port. She was 877 tons register; length 168 feet, breadth 34 feet, depth 21 feet. On her first voyage she made the remarkable run of 13 days 7 hours from Cape Charles to the Rock Light, Liverpool. She was engaged for many years in the China trade under the command of Captain Benjamin F. Cutler and bore the reputation of being the finest and fastest ship sailing out of Baltimore. At this time an important development took place in the California trade. It had been found that the fertile soil of the Pacific slope could be made to yield other treasures than gold, and in May, 1855, the barque _Greenfield_, Captain Follansbee, loaded the first consignment of wheat exported from California, consisting of 4752 bags. She was soon followed by the _Charmer_, commanded by Captain Lucas, which loaded a full cargo of 1400 tons of wheat for New York at $28 per ton freight. The export of wheat in sailing vessels rapidly increased, enabling ships to earn freights out and home, and this continued for many years. In 1855 Donald McKay built three fine medium clipper ships, the _Defender_, _Amos Lawrence_, and _Abbott Lawrence_, which remind us that a number of Boston ships bore the names of her distinguished citizens. There were the _Thomas H. Perkins_, _Rufus Choate_, _Starr King_, _Edward Everett_, _R. B. Forbes_, _Enoch Train_, _John E. Thayer_, _George Peabody_, _Samuel Appleton_, _Robert C. Winthrop_, _Russell Sturgis_, and perhaps others now forgotten. There were already a ship, a barque, two brigs, and two schooners named the _Daniel Webster_, besides several steamboats and tugs and a pilot-boat; hence, the owners of ships who were desirous of honoring the great statesman were obliged to adopt some other means of expressing their admiration, and since Webster was known as the Defender of the Constitution and also as the Expounder of that document, there were two ships named the _Defender_ and the _Expounder_. Some one suggested that the latter ship might, perhaps, have been named in honor of Yankee Sullivan, a noted prize-fighter then retired from the ring. The _Defender_ was 1413 tons register, and carried a splendid full-length figurehead of Daniel Webster. She was owned by D. S. Kendall and H. P. Plympton, of Boston, and was commanded by Captain Isaac Beauchamp.