She was captained by 24-year-old Robert E. Cockram. This was his first command after a promotion only two weeks before the incident. Immediately under him was ship’s mate Charles L. Lacey, a black American man who spoke French and Spanish. Newspapers at the time described him as “unusually intelligent” and indicated he was well versed in several languages and seamanship.
The rest of the crew was made up of six men from the West Indies, two of whom spoke English. Two others were only 17 years old. It was this group of men that sailed the Sumner by Wrightsville Beach on the afternoon of September 7, 1919.
Although large sailing ships were still common sights soon after World War I, swimmers and sunbathers stopped to notice the ship sailing perilously close to shore. Its sails hung sloppily and untrimmed as it made its way north. “Everybody who saw this thing going up the shoreline realized it was too close to shore to be able to get around the shoals,” said Nathan Henry, North Carolina Underwater Archeology Branch conservator at Fort Fisher. “Apparently it maneuvered around Rich’s Inlet shoals but ran aground at New Topsail Inlet shoals. And right now, the rest of the wreck is still out there.”
According to Ship’s Mate Lacey, it was 8 p.m. that night, a Sunday, that the Sumner accidentally ran aground. At 6 a.m. the following morning, two shots were heard and the captain was found dead in his cabin. Lacey did not travel to Wilmington until Tuesday, September 19, to telegraph company officials and to report the suicide of Captain Cockram.
One day later he and the crew were jailed. Lacey was charged with mutiny and murder and sent to Federal Court to defend his life. His trial was set for November 19. Newspapers described the unusually large amount of blood that remained in the cabin just before the ocean washed it away. One bullet went through the cabin’s window. Another was lodged in a bulkhead.
Much scientific evidence was removed by nature. Ocean water washed away the blood and moved the captain’s body. The day after his body was moved the ship broke in half. Salvagers began to recover the cargo, and locals removed much of the rigging. Soon after that, the Coast Guard, which considered the Sumner a “menace to navigation,” blew up the wreck.
During the fist-degree murder trial, some of the crew said the mate and captain were friends. Others said the mate was jealous of the captain’s recent promotion. Morale was low. The main staples of beans and rice had been exhausted several days before the wreck occurred. A sign saying, “If you want to know who’s boss, start something,” hung over the captain’s door.
Three days after the trial, the jury voted seven to five for conviction. Lacey had his choice of accepting a lesser charge or waiting in jail for an appeal. His decision to wait meant the crew also had to be jailed until the next court date, in May 1920.
There, prosecutors argued there were no powder burns on the captain. And two shots had been fired. The mate’s attorney countered that the death was by suicide, and many captains throughout history have chosen to go down with their ships. After a 10-minute deliberation, the jury declared Lacey not guilty.
As he left the courtroom, Lacey told a reporter he intended “to catch the first thing that smoked for Alabama.”
In September 2009, the wreck of the William H. Sumner, or what’s left of it, slowly revealed itself on the beach near 730 N. Topsail Drive in Surf City.
Information about this schooner was found at www.starnewsonline.com / Amy Hotz
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