SS Central America - Eliphalet Remington Merry, I
Replies: 2
Re: SS Central America - Eliphalet Remington Merry, I
| Teri MIchelle (View posts) | Posted: 9 Jun 2006 8:26AM GMT |
Classification: Query
Surnames: Maury, Merry, Burt, Oliagne, Johnsen, Birch, Easton, Mills, O'Conner, Dawson, Manlove, Hawley, Badger, Monson, Herndon, Authur, Ashby, Frazer, Lee, Bowley, Jones, Chase, Taylor, Caldwell
For years, I have followed the SS Central America which has been the subject of continued litigation in the US District Court (Eastern Division) (styled Columbus-Discovery Group, Inc. v. Unidentified, Wrecked and Abandoned Sailing Vessel) The case law and court records provide a brief descriptive history and other historical resources, specifically: “Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper published in New York for October 3rd, 1857,..., it carried 492 passengers exclusive of the crew. Of that number, 166 were rescued and 336 lost their lives....â€
“The New York Journal of Commerce, in an article of September 23, 1857, said that the exact number of saved and lost would probably never be known, but that it was generally agreed that when she left Havana, she had on board nearly 600 and that the number saved varied between 166 and 187.â€
The court also mentions a report to the Secretary of the Navy, Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury, USN, under date of October 19, 1857, which stated â€that there was on board 575 persons and about two million in gold. He further reported that the information concerning the sinking had been compiled from newspaper reporters who had obtained much information from the survivors.â€
The website, www.shipofgold.com also provides historical information. ( “Ship of Gold†is also the name of a book authored by the salvors of the shipwreck) Another website, www.sscentralamerica.com contains a narrative of the many “legs†of the ill-fated voyage which may attribute to your difficulty locating your Mr. Merry. (He may have disembarked prior to the sinking, or sailed from Panama or Cuba, not San Francisco)
The passengers were shuttled from the SS Sonora which left the Vallejo Street Wharf in San Francisco on Thursday, August 20, 1857 to Panama City, Panama. On September 3, 1857, the SS Sonora reached Panama City where the passengers were transferred to the Panama Railroad for the four-hour journey by land to the Aspinwall dock in Colon, Panama where the SS Central America (formerly the SS George Law) sailed to Havana, Cuba and departed for New York on September 8, 1857 subsequently encountering the hurricane and sinking around 8pm September 12, 1857 off the coast of Charleston, SC
The brig “Marine†of Boston en route to Norfolk, Virginia, commanded by Captain Hiram Burt, assisted the sinking ship and took on 100 passengers. All the women were transferred to the lifeboats. All the 29 children aboard were saved except Adolphe Oliagne, a Peruvian boy whose 21-year-old brother was also on board.
The Norwegian bark, Ellen, commanded by Captain Anders Johnsen, en route to Norfolk, Virginia, saved another 50 passengers from the water after the SS Central America sank.
The above mentioned websites mention several passengers and crew, specifically
Billy Birch, the 26-year-old star of the famous San Francisco Minstrels and first-cabin passenger, his vivacious wife, Virginia who had exchanged wedding vows the day before.
Adeline “Addie†and Ansel Easton, a honeymooning couple arriving from their morning wedding. Addie was the sister of the banker Darius Ogden Mills, who later founded the Bank of California.
Henry T. O'Conner, a printer, and his widowed mother.
George Dawson, a free African American who had been working as a hotel porter
Oliver Perry Manlove, 26 years old, a veteran of three adventurous years in the gold fields
Ada Hawley
Captain Thomas Badger
Jane Badger
Judge Alonzo Castle Monson
Commander Herndon, b. Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 25, 1813, William Lewis Herndon entered the Navy in 1828 and was commissioned lieutenant in 1841. From 1842 to 1847 he served at the United States Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office in Washington, D.C. Herndon was survived by his wife Frances Hansbrough Herndon, and one daughter, Ellen Lewis Herndon, who later married Chester A. Arthur. (She died, however, before Arthur became the 21st president of the United States and his cousin and brother-in-law, Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury "the father of modern oceanography"
Chief Engineer George Ashby
Second Officer, James Frazer
Barney Lee
Angeline Bowley
Frank Jones
William Chase
John C. Taylor
Mr. Caldwell
I would be glad to assist you as I have other resources. Please contact me directly at TeriMichelle7@aol.com
Teri Michelle
“The New York Journal of Commerce, in an article of September 23, 1857, said that the exact number of saved and lost would probably never be known, but that it was generally agreed that when she left Havana, she had on board nearly 600 and that the number saved varied between 166 and 187.â€
The court also mentions a report to the Secretary of the Navy, Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury, USN, under date of October 19, 1857, which stated â€that there was on board 575 persons and about two million in gold. He further reported that the information concerning the sinking had been compiled from newspaper reporters who had obtained much information from the survivors.â€
The website, www.shipofgold.com also provides historical information. ( “Ship of Gold†is also the name of a book authored by the salvors of the shipwreck) Another website, www.sscentralamerica.com contains a narrative of the many “legs†of the ill-fated voyage which may attribute to your difficulty locating your Mr. Merry. (He may have disembarked prior to the sinking, or sailed from Panama or Cuba, not San Francisco)
The passengers were shuttled from the SS Sonora which left the Vallejo Street Wharf in San Francisco on Thursday, August 20, 1857 to Panama City, Panama. On September 3, 1857, the SS Sonora reached Panama City where the passengers were transferred to the Panama Railroad for the four-hour journey by land to the Aspinwall dock in Colon, Panama where the SS Central America (formerly the SS George Law) sailed to Havana, Cuba and departed for New York on September 8, 1857 subsequently encountering the hurricane and sinking around 8pm September 12, 1857 off the coast of Charleston, SC
The brig “Marine†of Boston en route to Norfolk, Virginia, commanded by Captain Hiram Burt, assisted the sinking ship and took on 100 passengers. All the women were transferred to the lifeboats. All the 29 children aboard were saved except Adolphe Oliagne, a Peruvian boy whose 21-year-old brother was also on board.
The Norwegian bark, Ellen, commanded by Captain Anders Johnsen, en route to Norfolk, Virginia, saved another 50 passengers from the water after the SS Central America sank.
The above mentioned websites mention several passengers and crew, specifically
Billy Birch, the 26-year-old star of the famous San Francisco Minstrels and first-cabin passenger, his vivacious wife, Virginia who had exchanged wedding vows the day before.
Adeline “Addie†and Ansel Easton, a honeymooning couple arriving from their morning wedding. Addie was the sister of the banker Darius Ogden Mills, who later founded the Bank of California.
Henry T. O'Conner, a printer, and his widowed mother.
George Dawson, a free African American who had been working as a hotel porter
Oliver Perry Manlove, 26 years old, a veteran of three adventurous years in the gold fields
Ada Hawley
Captain Thomas Badger
Jane Badger
Judge Alonzo Castle Monson
Commander Herndon, b. Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 25, 1813, William Lewis Herndon entered the Navy in 1828 and was commissioned lieutenant in 1841. From 1842 to 1847 he served at the United States Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office in Washington, D.C. Herndon was survived by his wife Frances Hansbrough Herndon, and one daughter, Ellen Lewis Herndon, who later married Chester A. Arthur. (She died, however, before Arthur became the 21st president of the United States and his cousin and brother-in-law, Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury "the father of modern oceanography"
Chief Engineer George Ashby
Second Officer, James Frazer
Barney Lee
Angeline Bowley
Frank Jones
William Chase
John C. Taylor
Mr. Caldwell
I would be glad to assist you as I have other resources. Please contact me directly at TeriMichelle7@aol.com
Teri Michelle