Schooner Frances E. Waters ~ 23 October 1889

SHIPWRECK LOG
Life-Saving Station: Nags Head; Dist. #6

• Date of Disaster - October 24, 1889
• Name of Vessel - Francis E. Waters
• Rig & Tonnage - Two mast sch. 141.20/100 tons
• Hailing Port & Nationality - Baltimore, MD; USA
• Age - 7 years
• Official Number - 120072
• Name of Master - Capt. L.S. Tall
• Names of Owners - G.F. Seward & T.J. Seward
• Where From - George Town, S.C.
• Where bound - Philadelphia, Pa.
• Number of crew, including Captain - 6
• Nature of cargo - Lumber & shingles
• Estimated value of vessel - Eight thousand dollars
• Estimated value of cargo - Three thousand dollars
• Exact spot where wrecked - 2 miles and 3/4 of a mile North of this station
• Direction and distance from station - NNW 2-3/4 miles
• Supposed cause of wreck (specifying particularly) - Gale wind anchored back of the reaf & rolled over
• Nature of disaster, whether stranded, sunk, collision, etc. - Stranded in gale wind, come to the beach bottom up
• Distance of vessel from shore at time of accident - not known
• Time of day or night - I suppose between 9 p.m. and midnight October 23
• State of wind and weather - Heavy gale wind and rain
• State of tide and sea - high tide and rough sea
• Time of discovery of wreck - About 6 a.m.
• By whom discovered - A.B.L. Tillett from Kill Devil Hill station
• Time of arrival of station crew at wreck - About 8:30 a.m.
• Time of return of station crew from wreck - 11 a.m.
• Was life-boat used? - No
• Was surf-boat used? - No
• Was life-raft used? - No
• Was mortar, Lyle gun or rocket used? - No
• Was heaving stick used? - No
• Was life car used? - No
• Was breeches-bouy used? - No
• Was life-saving dress used, and how? - No
• Number of lives lost, with names and residences - 6 lives lost, names and residence not known
• State fully the circumstances of the loss of each life - Supposed all washed off the wreck and drowned
• State damages, if any, to boat or apparatus - none
• Was vessel saved or lost? - lost
• Estimated value of cargo saved, and its condition - $1000, one thousand, fair condition
• Estimated value of cargo lost - $2000
• Amount of insurance on vessel - none
• Amount of insurance on cargo - not known
• Number of persons found after death and cared for - one

Remarks:
     Elisha Twine No. 5 surfman went north on Patrol from midnight to 3 a.m. met his man from Kill Devil Hills Station and returned.  Twine stated that he saw lots of sumthing [sic] drifting in the surf all the way on his beat but the night was so dark he could not tell but very little about what it was. Samuel T. Forbes No. 2 surfman went north on Patrol from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. he returned to the station about 7 a.m.  Forbes said the surf run over the beach so he did not get to the end of his beat and did not meet his man and did not see any wreck but saw lots of lumber and shingles.  As soon as Forbes returned to the station I sent T.T. Toler north on Patrol thinking there must be a wreck north of this station.  A few minutes after Toler left the station the Keeper of Kill Devil Hills Station cauld [sic] this station by telephone and reported a wreck on the north end of our beat bottom up and no one to be seen any where about the wreck.  Keeper and crew all but W.G. Tillett who had gone south on Patrol left the station about 7:30 a.m. with a Government horse and cart also tuck [took] the Medicine chest and bag of blankets and went for the wreck.  We met Toler coming back to report the wreck.  We all went on to the wreck and found her bottom up in the surf at the beach a totle [total] wreck.  All was gone.  We looked along the beach for drowned bodies was all we could do.  We found one man in the rigging that was hanging to one of the mast.  We tuck [sic] him to the station and made a box and Buried him.  Patrol was kept on the beach through the day expecting to find others but did not find any more.

Date of Report: October 30, 1889
/s/ V.B. Etheridge, Keeper

Schooner Florence C. Magee ~ 25 February 1894

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894:

Stranded and sunk on the evening of the 25th instant. Called Nags Head crew by telephone, and went to her with beach apparatus about 1 a.m. Crew of 10 persons were in the rigging. Tried to use the beach gear, but although three shot lines were placed on board, the swift current prevented the successful working of the apparatus. Finally launched the surfboat, the keeper of the Nags Head Station accompanying the Bodie Island crew. At about the same time a fishing smack ran down the beach outside the breakers and had taken off four of the crew when the surfboat reached the schooner. The life savers took off the remaining 6 persons and received into the surfboat the four men who had got into the smack. Landed them safely, and succored them two days at the station and provided clothing. The captain remained at the station 9 days. (See letter of acknowledgement.)

BODIE ISLAND, NORTH CAROLINA, February 28, 1894

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: We, the undersigned, master and mariners of the schooner Florence E. Magee, wrecked on this beach on the night of the 25th instant, desire to testify to the great bravery and exertion exhibited by Captain Jesse T. Etheridge and his gallant crew of Life-Saving Station No. 15 (Bodie Island) in rescuing us from our perilous position on the wreck. They worked from the time the wreck was discovered, at 12.40 a.m. the 26th, until 4 p.m., when we were landed. Having used every effort to shoot a line across the wreck, and succeeding in this, found it impossible to land us on account of the long distance the vessel was stranded from the beach; launched the surfboat, and at great peril of his life and crew came to us and rescued us. For this rescue and the efforts put forth to accomplish it we desire to express in this matter our appreciation of his kindness in rescuing us and the very kind treatment which we have received during our stay at the station. Yours, truly, HENRY C. ROGERS, Master ; SAMUEL G. BLACK, Mate ; JOHN RUBY, Second Mate ; FRANK KNIGHT, Cook ; ANDREW STRIGH, Engineer, MICAL ANTON, Seaman ; GUNDER KISTENSEN, Seaman ; JOHN MARTINSEN, Seaman ; HARRY HANSEN, Seaman ; THOS. MESSENA, Seaman

Schooner Flora Rogers ~ 23 October 1908

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1909:

Driven ashore by a NE. gale, 1 mile N. of Bodie Island, and 6 miles ESE. of Nags Head station, and discovered at 1:45 a.m. by the Bodie Island lookout. The Nags Head crew was notified, and the surfmen from both stations immediately proceeded to a point on the beach abreast of the wreck—which was 600 yards offshore. The sea was too high to launch a surfboat, so a line was shot across the schooner, and a whip and hawser were sent off, but through some misunderstanding on board, the whip was lost. A second attempt was more successful. The hawser, however, was fastened too low on the shrouds—only 12 feet above deck—and the shipwrecked party, 7 men and a woman, had to be hauled through the surf. They were taken to Bodie Island station, and furnished with dry clothing from the supplies of the Blue Anchor Society. The survivors were afforded meals and shelter at the stations named for 11 days. The vessel was a total wreck.

Schooner Harvest ~ 18 November 1825

Lieutenant Grimke, his wife, their only child and the child’s nurse boarded the Harvest on November 17, 1825. They were accompanied by 5 other passengers and a crew of 6. The Harvest was bound from Norfolk to Charleston and carried a mixed cargo.

     That afternoon, soon after passing Cape Henry, the schooner ran into a strong northwest gale, and at two o’clock the next morning she stranded. Both anchors were immediately let go and her stern swung around toward the distant beach, though not until her hatches had washed off and water had begun pouring into her hold. In the darkness the passengers were gathered onto the quarter deck, where the women and child were wrapped in the mainsail to protect them from the wind and waves which by then were sweeping all the way across the vessel.

     At dawn the ship’s boat was launched, and the captain, mate, two crewmen and several passengers succeeded in reaching shore. Later some residents of the area (possibly Nags Head) attempted to row out to the wreck in a fishing dory, but they were overturned in the surf. Not until the sea subsided in mid-afternoon were they able to get through to the stranded vessel. By then, Lieutenant Grimke was stretched out on the deck, suffering from injuries and exhaustion. He was quickly lowered into the dory, followed by the remaining survivors. He died before reaching the breakers. Soon after the dory was swamped in the surf and four more people were drowned—Lieutenant Grimke’s child, the child’s nurse, the cabin boy and cook.

     Mrs. Grimke reached shore safely, suffering from severe shock. A second passenger—an unnamed German—was so moved by the experience that he was reported in a deranged condition. While Mrs. Grimke and the German were escorted to Norfolk by a physician, the captain of the Harvest supervised the removal of the cargo and managed to save approximately two thirds of the material aboard the vessel. The bodies of Lieutenant Grimke, his child and nurse were never found.

Schooner Hattie Lollis ~ 7 April 1889

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889:

Another sacrifice to the fury of the gale of April 7th in the 6th Life Saving District was the schooner Hattie Lollis, of Wilmington, DE, which while on her way from Washington, NC, to Hartford, CT, lost her sails, sprung a leak and drove ashore one and a half miles north-northwest of the Nag’s Head Station, coast of North Carolina.
     An active patrol being kept on account of the storm and fog, she was immediately discovered and her situation was as quickly as possible reported to the keeper. No time was lost at the station in getting started with two carts taking besides the beach apparatus, a quantity o blankets and the medicine chest. Having a pair of horses to assist them they were able to make very good time, notwithstanding the wind was dead ahead and the beaches were flooded by the extremely full tide, and arrived near the schooner within an hour from the time of the accident. She had worked in close to the beach and her crew of 5 men had already landed. One of them, however, was badly used up by the hardships he had undergone.
     Stimulants were administrated and the man was warmly wrapped, placed in the cart and with his companions taken to the station, where their wet clothing was soon exchanged for dry and their comfort well looked after. All were hospitably cared for until the 12th, when the keeper took them to Manteo, whence they proceeded to Norfolk by steamer. Two days later the vessel broke up and became a total loss, but the anchors, chains, rigging and a small portion of the cargo of lumber had been saved, the surf men assisting in the work. The captain upon leaving the station, handed the keeper the following of thanks:

I desire to return my sincere thanks to Captain Etheridge and crew, of Nag’s Head Station, for their promptness in rendering aid and assistance in rescuing and providing for myself and crew stranded April 7th, 1889. CHAS. W. SHARP, Master of Standed Schooner Hattie Lollis

Steamer Huron ~ 24 November 1877

The Huron and her two sister ships were the last American naval vessels to be built of iron rather than steel. Equipped with sails to supplement her steam engines. Navigational error caused ship to be caught on a lee shore in heavy seas. 103 were killed.

The Loss of the USS Huron
 
Following repairs at New York, the Huron left Hampton Roads, VA Friday, November 23, 1877 on a voyage to Havana, Cuba to survey the surrounding coast. On her first night out to sea, the ship encountered a heavy storm blowing from the southeast. The storm combined with a small error in the ship's compass to cause the Huron to run aground off Nags Head at 1:30 a.m., November 24.

Even though the Huron was only 200 yards from the beach, the heavy surf, strong currents and cold temperature prevented most of the crew members from attempting the swim to shore. Most of the crew tried to remain on the ship in the hope that help would arrive. However, no one came to the aid of the sailors; lifesaving stations had been closed until December. The elements eventually took their toll on the storm battered men. Many lost their strength and were washed overboard by waves. One huge wave swept at least 12 sailors away at one time. In all, 98 men lost their lives during the night.

The federal government was severely criticized for its failure to provide adequate funding for the United States Lifesaving Service. Two months after the wreck of the Huron, the steamship Metropolis ran aground twenty-three miles to the north, with the loss of 85 lives. These two disasters prompted Congress to appropriate funding to build additional lifesaving stations along the North Carolina coast and increase their months of operation.

Daily Kennebec Journal
Maine
November 26, 1877

TERRIBLE DISASTER -- STEAMER WRECKED.

THE U.S. STEAMER HURON LOST.

THE VESSEL A TOTAL LOSS.

ONE HUNDRED PERSONS DROWNED.

MEASURES TAKEN TO GIVE ASSISTANCE.
ONLY FOUR OFFICERS AND THIRTY MEN SAVED -- THE CAUSE OF THE DISASTER.
A LIST OF THE OFFICERS SAVED AND THOSE LOST.
ANXIOUS INQUIRIES AT THE NAVY DEPARTMENT BY THE FRIENDS OF THE MEN ON THE HURON, TO OBTAIN INFORMATION OF THE DISASTER.
A SERF BOAT SWAMPED AND FIVE MEN DROWNED.

Engraving of the sinking of the USS Huron /
U.S. Naval Historical Center

Washington, November 24 -- The observer at Kitty Hawk reports the United States steamer HURON struck two miles north of No. 7 station.
     At 1:30 A.M., the foremast and mainmast were gone. The steamer will be a perfect wreck. Assistance is needed immediately. The sea to breaking over her and several bodies have already washed ashore of the drowned. The number on board was one hundred and thirty five.
She had no cargo.
     The navy department has no advices of the disaster to the Huron beyond that received from the signal office. The department authorities are taking measures to get prompt information, the assistance may be rendered. The Huron was under command of Commander GEORGE P. RAVAN.
     A signal despatch from Ripley House, South Carolina, says the steamer Huron has gone to pieces and thirty persons were saved and one hundred drowned.Norfolk, November 24. -- Information was received today that the steamer Huron with one hundred and thirty four souls, went ashore this morning about one o'clock, off life saving station
No. 7, near Oregon Inlet on the North Carolina coast. The wrecking steamer Resolute was despatched to her assistance. Admiral Treachard sent the United States steamer Swatara and the tug Fortune to render assistance.
     Later information says she has gone to pieces under unusually heavy sea. No names of the victims or survivors are known.
     The Huron left Fort Monroe yesterday, on a cruise to the West Indies. The storm signals were flying three days and it is thought strange that this warning should have been disregarded. There was a fierce storm raging all night along the coast, the wind having blown about seventy miles an hour.
     Those who knew the Huron say she was not a first class job. She was built at Chester, Pa., and was first christened the "Alliance" but was afterwards named Huron. She was a third rate screw five hundred and forty one tons, and when she went ashore she had a crew of 149 men and 11 officers. She carried four guns and was schooner rigged.
     The theory of those well acquainted with the coast is as follows. The Huron got caught in the height of a gale, and while trying to hold on head to the wind, her machinery gave way, her sails were useless and she drifted ashore.
     It appears that there was no assistance rendered the crew from the shore life saving station not having been manned.
     The signal observer at Kitty Hawk reports as follows: Among those saved were E. F. WERBORTEN of Pennsylvania, cadet, engineer; LUCIEN YOUNG of Kentucky, engineer; GEORGE R. RYAN; JOSEPH MURPHY, ship's cook; CARY N. SANDERS of Pennsylvania, passed assistant paymaster; PATRICK KANE, seaman. The other names are now withheld.
Assistance is wanted immediately. The men were only half clothed. Only four officers and thirty men saved. The captain perished. Capt. PALMER a name is not given. The Huron is completely under water and is a total loss.     In conversation among naval officers, ideas are advanced as not improbable as to what rendered the steamer so helpless as to drift upon dangerous shoals. No one just now can satisfy himself with any theory, though several believe her engines must have broken down. If such was the case, she would of sheer neccesity dropped her anchor, and this it is thought among some naval officers she certainly did, but the cable being unable to stand the strain must have parted, with the awful result that the telegraph from Kitty Hawk publishes.
     The fate of the unfortunate captain and officers and crew of the Huron is sadly discussed throughout the city. The officers were nearly every one of them well known here, and were all regarded in every particular as capable and energetic navigators and seamen. Telegram from Kitty Hawk, at 8 P.M., says: Have just returned from wreck. Distance eight miles down. No men at work at present. Walked there and back with medicine and such other articles as I could carry. No horse was available this morning. This morning the chief officer refused to give the names of those lost or saved. He feared to break the news too suddenly in the relatives.
     The steamer Chowan left this evening under Lieutenant Watson, with stores and men for the relief of the survivors of the Heron disaster.
     Ensign YOUNG, senior surviving officer of the ill fated ship is at Nagshead, N.C., and confirms the report that thirty men and four officers were all that were saved. He says no assistance could be rendered from the shore.
     Washington, November 25 -- The secretary of the navy and the chief clerk of the department, were both on duty today, awaiting telegrams from near the scene of the Heron wreck. Excepting a brief telegram received over the wire belonging to the signal office, the department is unadvised of anything further than the knowledge of last night.
     Secretary Thompson has been applied to from many quarters by the friends of the Huron's officers and crew, for information, and in all instances replied, giving whatever news was to his possession, and say, encouragement that was proper and possible with the light that guided him.
     Hope is not dead within the hearts of many, who are constrained to think that others in addition to the names mentioned among the saved are ashore lower down on the desolate, barren beach, and that some days may yet elapse before all that escaped may be gathered up. The Huron had a good compliment of ships' boats, and it is probable that others may be heard from. The following officers were saved: Master CONWAY; Ensign YOUNG; Cadet Engineer WERBARTON; Assistant Engineer DEERING.
     The following is a list of officers lost: Commander RYAN; Lieut. SIMONS; Lieut. PALMER; Ensign DANNER; Paymaster SANDERS. Two officers, Master WRIGHT and Master FRENCH believed to have been on board, are not yet accounted for.
     The cause was thick weather and a fresh gale directly on shore. The fore and aft sails were set, the rear fore sail and main sails were bent and the fore storm stay sail was stuck between one and half past one in the morning.
     The boats washed from the boat davits were lowered first, with the caller which swamped ten minutes later.
     Lieutenant PALMER was drowned about the time the Captain was. The living saved themselves by swimming ashore. There was no aid from shore except when near the beach.
The man of war Powhattan and Swartara and the brig Fortune are anchored abreast of the wreck. Flag communication was opened with them through the steamer D. & J. Baker. No assistance can be rendered from the steamer as the surf is still very heavy. The survivors will go to Norfolk this evening.
     The signal observer at the scene of the wrecked Heron reports at 5:25 P.M., the surf boat of the wrecking steamer D. & J. Baker, in attempting to land, was swamped with nine men on board. JAS. S. JACKSON, STEPHEN BELL, DENNIS McCAY, WILLIS WALKER and Capt. J. J. GUTHRIE, paymaster of the Life Saving Service, were lost. The bodies have not been recovered. J. M. WRIGHT; K.W.S. FRENCH; E. W. LOOMIS; J.J. BURKE were all lost from the Huron. Their bodies are not yet recovered.

Boston, November 25. -- Intense interest here at the news of the loss of the Huron. Her commander, GEORGE P. RYAN, being a native of this city, and very highly esteemed by a large circle of friends. He left his wife and four children here but ten days since, expecting to be absent only a few months.

Officers Lost:

Commander GEO. P. RYAN.
Lieutenant SIDNEY A. SIMONS.
Lieutenant L. G. PALMER.
Ensign F. W. DANNER.
Master J. M. WRIGHT.
Master W. S. FRENCH.
Passed Assistant Paymaster C. N. SANDERS.
Captain's Clerk GILLETT.
Cadet-Engineer E. N. LOOMIS.
Surgeon GEO. S. CULBRETH.
Chief Engineer E. M. OLSON.
Draughtsman JOHN J. EVANS.
List of Men Lost:
THOMAS ARMSTRONG, Seaman.
WM. L. BARRETT, Second Class Fireman.
WILLIAM BOYLE, Bayman.
THOMAS M. BROWN, Second Class Fireman.
FRANK BURNS, Seaman.
WM. BUDER, Landsman.
PATRICK BANKS, Landsman.
A. W. CAREY, Landsman.
ALFRED CARSON, Machinist.
CHAS. CARSON, Landsman.
WM. CHADWICK, Quartermaster.
CHAS. CHAPMAN, Paymaster's Yeoman.
ALEX. M. CHILDS, Chief Gunner's Mate.
DAVID CLAYTON, First Class Fireman.
PATRICK COLLINS, First Class Fireman.
JAMES COOPER, Ship's Corporal.
R. J. COOPER, Landsman.
JAMES COUCH, Captain Forecastle.
JOHN CURRY, Second Class Fireman.
JOS. N. CLARK, Landsman.
ALMA DAVIES, Baker.
EDWARD DONNALLY, First Class Fireman.
H. F. EMERSON, Quartermaster.
W. S. ENTWISTLE, Engineer's Yeoman.
HERMAN FUESS, Cook's Mate.
MATTHEW GREEN, Chief Boatswain's Mate.
WILLIAM GREEN, Yeoman.
CONRAD H. HAHN, First-Class Fireman.
JOHN HAYES, Ordinary seaman.
MATTHIAS HAYES, Wardroom Cook.
GEORGE HAMILTON, Machinist.
ELIAS HARRIS, Landsman.
HUGH HARRITY, Boilermaker.
WM. HODGE, Ordinary Seaman.
ROBT. INGHAM, Boatswain's Mate.
GREEN JACKSON, Coal Heaver.
GEO. JONES, Wardroom Officer's Cook.
CHAS. W. KEITHLEY, Captain afterguard.

THOMS. LOUGHRAN, Quarter Gunner.
MONROE, Apothecary.
JOHN MAHON, Bugler.
GEORGE MALCOLM, Machinist.
JOSEPH MARTIN, Cabin Steward.
FRANK McCALLUM, Quartermaster.
HENRY McCOURT, Machinist.
THOS. McFARLANE, Coppersmith.
CHAS. McLANCE, Seaman.
JNO. M. MERRILL, Chief Quartermaster.
GEO. W. MILLAR, Cabin Cook.
ACMAN OVERBAUGH, Landsman.
JAS. F. PIERCE, Carpenter.
CHAS. POOLER, Armorer.
GEO. W. PRICE, Ship's writer.
GEORGE PYNE, Landsman.
ADOLPHUS PONTEFLET.
GUSTAV C. RIVOLA, Steerage Steward.
GEORGE ROBERTS, Jack of Dust.
O. F. RATHJE, Seaman.
JESSE ROLL, Ordinary Seaman.
BERNARD ROGERS, Landsman.
ALBERT SAILOR, Quarter Gunner.
CHAS. SCHNEIDER, Cockswain.
WILLIAM STANTON, First Class Fireman.
DAVID STRINGER, Captain Hold.
J. W. SULLIVAN, Wardroom Officer's Steward.
JOHN TIERNEY, Landsman.
JOHN TWOOMEY, Cockswain.
HENRY WATERS, Second Class Fireman.
JEREMIAH YUGER, Landsman.

Officer Survivors:

Master WILLIAM P. CONWAY.
Assistant Engineer ROBERT G. DENNING.Enlisted Men Survivors:

EDWARD AARONBURG, Private Marine.
HARRY W. AVERY, Second Class Fireman.
W. W. BROOKS, Second Class Painter.
DANIEL BURGAN, Ordinary Seaman.
SAMUEL CLARK, Second Class Fireman.
JOHN COLLINS, Captain Forecastle.
THOMAS CARLEY, Landsman.
PETER DUFFY, Second Class Fireman.
MICHAEL DURKIN, Landsman.
DANIEL DEVOY, First Class Fireman.
DENNIS DEASEY, Cooper.
FREDERICK HOFFMAN, Ordinary Seaman.
W. L. HOUSEMAN, Carpenter.
JOHN E. HOLLAND, Master At Arms.
JOSEPH HYNES, Master At Arms.
PATRICK KANE, Ordinary Seaman.
MICHAEL KENNEDY, Landsman.
AUGUST LINDQUIST, Coxswain.
JOSEPH MURPHY, Ship's Cook.
FRANK MAY, Landsman.
WILLIAM McHUGH, Ordinary Seaman.
HARRY NELSON, Landsman.
DOM. O'DONNELL, Ordinary Seaman.
THOMAS PRICE, Landsman.
J. J. ROBERTSON, Ordinary Seaman.
ROBERT SAMPSON, Landsman.
E. P. TRAINOR, Seaman.
MICHAEL TRAINOR, Captain of Guard.
FRANK WATTS, First Class Fireman.
ANTONIO WILLIAMS, Seaman, Medal of Honor Recipient.

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878:

This recommendation receives peculiar emphasis and cogency from the recent loss of the U.S. steamer Huron on the coast of North Carlina. By this dreadful disaster the nation has lost one of its vessels of war and nearly all of her gallant officers and crew. Incident to this calamity, the Life-Saving Service has also to deplore the fate of one of its bravest and most zealous and efficient officers, Capt. J.J. Guthrie, the superintendent of the 6th life-saving district, who perished in the endeavor to render assistance to the unfortunate victims of this terrible shipwreck. The Huron stranded in a heavy gale, at 1.30 a.m. on the morning of November 24, 1877, at a point between 200 and 300 yards from the shore, three miles south from station No. 7 (Nag’s Head, North Carolina), and in a few hours went to pieces. As serious shipwrecks are comparatively infrequent upon that part of the coast so early in the season, legislative provision has not hitherto been made for opening the life-saving stations in that locality before the 1st of December of each year. A necessity so exceptional could not, of course, be foreseen, but if the limits of the appropriation had permitted the neighboring stations to be in operation at the time, the stranding of the Huron would have been discovered soon after its occurrence, and it is probable that most or all of the lost would have been saved.

Built in Chester, PA a decade after the Civil War, the USS Huron was constructed during a period of transition between the old and new navy. She was a 1020-ton Alert Class screw steam gunboat and was commissioned in November 1875. During her brief career she cruised the Caribbean area and visited ports in Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia, Key West, Mobile, Charleston, Norfolk, Boston, New York and Washington, DC. However, it was the tragedy of the Huron's sinking on November 24, 1877, that brought the ship to national attention.

USS Huron ~ Crew Bios

Seaman Antonio Williams was born in 1825 in Valletta, Southern Harbour, Malta and joined the U.S. Navy after emigrating to the United States. He served as a Seaman and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery on 24 Nov 1877, "For courage and fidelity displayed in the loss of the USS Huron". 

     The steam gunboat USS Huron had been driven aground off the coast of Nags Head, NC by heavy weather after departing from Virginia on a scientific cruise of the coast of Cuba. Early in the morning of November 24, after the crew had made efforts to free her, the weather and sea worsened, the ship overturned, and 98 members of the officers and crew perished. 

     Seaman Williams left the ship, going into the dangerous waves to run a safety line to the shore. Despite being bruised, battered and nearly drowned when his small life raft capsized four times, he managed to pull four of his fellow crew members out of the churning sea when the vessel finally overturned. 
     He was awarded the U.S. Navy Peacetime Congressional Medal of Honor in 1879 for his efforts to try and save the ship and crew. After he was discharged in 1891, he married an Englishwoman and moved to Bristol, England where he died on 21 Jul 1908 and is buried at the Greenbank Cemetery.
     The wreck of the USS Huron lies 200 yards from the Nags Head beach and is a protected wreck site on the National Register of Historic Places.
     Seaman Williams was interviewed by The Sailors Magazine in 1889. You can read that story by clicking HERE. Learn more about Steve Lovell's quest to restore Williams' dilapidated grave by clicking HERE.

Thanks to Steve Lovell for sharing Seaman Williams' heroic story.

Ensign Fredrick William Danner was born on 7 Oct 1851 in Wedowes, Alabama. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy 15 Oct 1874 and later lost his life when the the USS Huron sank off the coast of North Carolina on 24 Nov 1877. He is buried at the Hillside Cemetery in Cortlandt Manor, NY.
     Even though the Huron was only 200 yards from the beach, the heavy surf, strong currents and cold temperature prevented most of the crew members from attempting the swim to shore. Most of the crew tried to remain on the ship in the hope that help would arrive. However, no one came to the aid of the sailors: lifesaving stations had been closed until December.    
     The elements eventually took their toll on the storm battered men. Many lost their strength and were washed overboard by waves. One huge wave swept at least 12 sailors away at one time. In all, 98 men lost their lives during the night.

Thanks to Gene Baumwoll for finding Ensign Danner.

Schooner Laura Nelson ~ 30 March 1895

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895:

Overtaken by squall; attempted to tack, but missed stays and was driven ashore 2-1/2 miles from station, where she filled and sunk. Started for wreck with beach apparatus, but, wind moderating so as to permit use of surfboat, returned and got it, rescued crew of 12 men, with their personal effects, and succored them at station two days. Crew of Nags Head Station brought their team of horses and assisted to transport surfboat to and from wreck.

Schooner Milton ~ 27 April 1898

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898:

Sprung a leak in NE. gale and was run ashore as a last resort, about a mile S. of station. Keeper called up Nags Head Station for assistance, and both crews hastened to the scene with beach apparatus. Two attempts failed to lay the shotline across the wreck, but the third was successful, and the whipline and hawser were soon set up and the crew of 7 were brought ashore, one by one, in the breeches buoy. The ship was broken in two and the foremast and main topmast went by the board before the last man was landed. The castaways were all taken to the station and provided with necessary dry clothing from the stores of the Women’s National Relief Association.

Schooner Patriot and the Mystery of Theodosia Burr Alston ~ January 1813

Theodosia Burr Alston was the wife of Governor John Alston of South Carolina and daughter of former vice-president Aaron Burr. Her life grew difficult in 1804 when the relationship between her father and Alexander Hamilton (former Secretary of the Treasury) disintegrated and resulted in a duel in Weehawken, NJ on July 11, 1804. Burr fatally shot Hamilton who died the next day. During her father's subsequent murder trial, Theodosia traveled to New York several times and fully supported her father.

Acquitted but still politically ambitious, Burr purportedly schemed to convince several western states to secede and make him the head of the government. In 1807, he defended himself against a conspiracy charge and again Theodosia fully supported him. After a year long, difficult trial, Aaron Burr once again won acquittal and left the United States for exile in Europe. 

When Theodosia returned to South Carolina, her health had become more fragile and when her son died of malaria in June 1812, she collapsed. She wrote her father, "Less than a fortnight ago your letter would have gladdened my soul. Now there is no joy, and life is a blank. My boy is gone-forever dead and gone!"

Newly returned from Europe and deeply worried about his daughter, Aaron Burr convinced Theodosia to come to New York for the holidays. Joseph Alston couldn't leave South Carolina and felt uneasy about Theodosia's voyage. The United States and Great Britain were at war, Theodosia's health continued to deteriorate and rumors about pirates along the North Carolina Outer Banks circulated around the Carolinas.

Granting his wife's request, Joseph Alston wrote a letter to the British Navy blockading the coast, asking for safe passage for his wife. Aaron Burr sent a trusted friend and doctor, Timothy Green, to make the voyage with Theodosia and on December 30, 1812 Theodosia, Dr. Green and a maid climbed aboard the schooner Patriot which lay moored in Charleston Harbor. It sailed out of Charleston Harbor, bound for New York City under the command of Captain Overstocks, with an old New York pilot as sailing master.

The schooner Patriot had just returned from several months of West Indies privateering raids for the United States government with a hold filled with booty from these raids. In order to disguise the ship’s true identity, the captain stowed the guns below and painted over the ship’s name on the bow. The sailors lifted Patriot's anchor in late afternoon and the captain set a course for the open sea. Theodosia Burr settled in her cabin with several chests filled with her wardrobe and accessories. Some stories say that she also carried a recent portrait of herself that she intended to give her father as a Christmas gift. 

The journey to New York normally took five or six days. After two weeks had passed with no sign of the Patriot, Burr and Alston became frantic. Alston wrote, "Another mail and still no letter! I hear too rumors of a gale off Cape Hatteras at the beginning of the month. The state of my mind is dreadful!" In New York, Burr had already reached the inevitable conclusion. When a friend offered hope that Theo was still alive, Burr replied, "No, no, she is indeed dead. Were she still alive, all the prisons in the world could not keep her from her father."

Theodosia Burr Alston, her fellow passengers and crew, and the Patriot itself were never seen again. The Patriot had disappeared without a trace. Later it was learned that the British fleet had stopped her off Hatteras on January 2. Governor Alston's letter worked, and the schooner was allowed to pass. Later that night, a gale arose and scattered the British fleet. Beyond that clue, no more was known. Burr sent searchers to Nassau and Bermuda with no success. Why he neglected to send them to the Outer Banks remains a mystery for it is there that Theo met her fate.

Suggested Explanations

Following the Patriot's disappearance, rumors immediately arose. The most enduring was that the Patriot had been captured by the pirate Dominique You aka "The Bloody Babe"; or something had occurred near Cape Hatteras, notorious for its wreckers. Her father refused to credit any of the rumors of her possible capture, believing that she had died in a shipwreck. But the rumors persisted long after his death and, after around 1850, more substantial "explanations" of the mystery surfaced, usually alleging to be from the deathbed confessions of sailors and executed criminals.

One story considered to be somewhat plausible was that the Patriot had fallen prey to the wreckers known as the Carolina "bankers". The bankers populated the sandbank islands near Nags Head, NC, pirating wrecks and murdering both passengers and crews. When the sea did not serve up wrecks for their plunder, they lured ships onto the shoals. On stormy nights the bankers would hobble a horse, tie a lantern around the animal's neck, and walk it up and down the beach. Sailors at sea could not distinguish the bobbing light they saw from that of a ship which was anchored securely. Often they steered toward shore to find shelter. Instead they became wrecked on the banks, after which their crews and passengers were murdered.

In 1833 an Alabama newspaper, the Mobile Register, reported that a man "residing in one of the interior counties of this state" made a deathbed confession that he had participated in the capture of the Patriot, the murder of all those on board and the scuttling of the vessel "for the sake of her plate and effects."

In relation to this, a Mr. J.A. Elliott of Norfolk, VA made a statement in 1910 that in the early part of 1813, the dead body of a young woman "with every indication of refinement" had been washed ashore at Cape Charles, and had been buried on her finder's farm.
Writing in the Charleston News and Courier, Foster Haley claimed that documents he had discovered in the State archives in Mobile, AL, said that the Patriot had been captured by a pirate vessel captained by John Howard Payne and that every person on board had been murdered by the pirates including "a woman who was obviously a noblewoman or a lady of high birth". However, Haley never identified or cited the documents he had supposedly found.

The most romantic legend concerning Theodosia's fate involves piracy and a Karankawa Indian chief on the Texas Gulf Coast. The earliest American settlers to the Gulf Coast testified of a Karankawa warrior wearing a gold locket inscribed "Theodosia." He had claimed that after a terrible storm, he found a ship wrecked at the mouth of the San Bernard River. Hearing a faint cry, he boarded the hulk and found a white woman, naked except for the gold locket, chained to a bulkhead by her ankle. The woman fainted on seeing the Karankawa warrior, and he managed to pull her free and carry her to shore. When she revived she told him that she was the daughter of a great chief of the white men, who was misunderstood by his people and had to leave his country. Before dying in his arms, she gave him the locket and told him that if he ever met white men he was to show them the locket and tell them the story.

Another myth about her fate traces its origin to Charles Etienne Arthur Gayarre's book Fernando de Lemos: Truth and Fiction: a Novel (1872). Gayarre devoted one chapter to a confession by the pirate Dominique You. In Gayarre's story You admitted having captured the Patriot after he discovered it dismasted off Cape Hatteras following a storm. You and his men murdered the crew, while Theodosia was made to walk the plank: "She stepped on it and descended into the sea with graceful composure, as if she had been alighting from a carriage," Gayarre wrote in You's voice. "She sank, and rising again, she, with an indescribable smile of angelic sweetness, waved her hand to me as if she meant to say: 'Farewell, and thanks again'; and then sank forever."

Fifteen years later, another former pirate, "Old Frank" Burdick, confessed a similar story on his deathbed. He told a horrifying story of holding the plank for Mrs. Alston, who walked calmly over the side, dressed completely in white. He said she begged for word of her fate to be sent to her father and husband. He went on to say that once the crew and passengers had been murdered, they plundered the ship and abandoned her under full sail. He also mentioned seeing a portrait of Theodosia in the main cabin.

Because Gayarre billed his novel as a mixture of "truth and fiction" there was popular speculation about whether his account of You's confession might be real, and the story entered American folklore. The American folklorist Edward Rowe Snow later put together an account in Strange Tales from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras incorporating the Gayarre story with later offshoots. For example, on February 14, 1903, one Mrs. Harriet Sprague issued a sworn statement before Notary Freeman Atwell, of Cass County, MI claiming to corroborate the details of You's confession in Gayarre's 1872 novel. Mrs. Sprague described the contents of an 1848 confession by pirate Frank Burdick, an alleged shipmate of You's when the Patriot was discovered. The pirates left most of Alston's clothing untouched, as well as a portrait of Alston.

Perhaps the most intriguing evidence to support this theory revolves around that painting. In 1869, a Dr.William G. Poole of Elizabeth City, spending his summer vacation at Nags Head, was called to the bedside of an ailing old Banker woman. The woman, Mrs. Polly Mann, was related by marriage to families who had once made their living by plundering vessels wrecked along the beaches.

The doctor noticed a stunning portrait of a young woman dressed in white hanging on the wall of the woman's shack. When he commented on the beauty of the subject, the old woman offered an astonishing explanation. She told Dr. Poole that one night "during the English war" a pilot boat had drifted ashore at Nags Head at the height of a winter's gale. The boat was abandoned with all sails set, and the name on the bow had been painted over. In the main cabin, the Bankers had found several trunks and women's belongings scattered everywhere. They also found the portrait, which one of the looters took as a gift for the old woman. The ailing woman had no money with which to pay Dr. Poole, so she offered him the painting instead.

Poole became convinced the portrait was of Theodosia Burr Alston, and contacted members of her family, some of whom agreed, though Poole conceded "they cannot say positively if it was her." None of them had ever seen Theodosia in life. The only person who had actually known Theodosia that Poole contacted was Mary Alston Pringle, Theodosia's sister-in-law. To his disappointment, she could not recognize the painting as one of Theodosia.

In the years that followed, considerable publicity was given to this theory and in 1888 editor R.B. Creecy, of the Elizabeth City Economist, reported that he had interviewed a woman named Stella E.P. Drake, a descendent of the Burrs, who ha come to Elizabeth City to see the portrait. "We were startled by her close resemblance to the portrait in question," he said.

The following year Mrs. Drake wrote a letter to the Washington (DC) Post, recounting the details of her visit to the home of Dr. Poole. Describing her entrance into the Poole home, she said, "As I turned to go through the door I saw upon the wall above the mantelpiece a portrait of a young woman in white. That is the picture," I exclaimed. "I know it is, because it bears a strong resemblance to my sister."

The picture she saw was approximately 12" x 18" in size and painted on mahogany. It's been reproduced many times and is, together with accounts of pirate confessions and the story of Mrs. Mann, the strongest link in the thread of evidence concering Theodosia's fate. There is no record today of what Theo carried aboard the Patriot that fateful day. It certainly would be in keeping with her devotion to her father to have such a fine portrait in her possession as a gift to him.

A popular (though very improbable) local story in Alexandria, VA, suggests that Theodosia Burr Alston may have been the Mysterious Female Stranger who died in Alexandria at Gadsby's Tavern on October 14, 1816. She was buried in St. Paul's Cemetery with a gravestone inscription that begins: "To the memory of a / FEMALE STRANGER / whose mortal sufferings terminated / on the 14th day of October 1816 / Aged 23 years and 8 months."

A less romantic analysis of the known facts has led some scholars to conclude that the Patriot was probably wrecked by a storm off Cape Hatteras. Logbooks from the blockading British fleet report a severe storm which began off the Carolina coast in the afternoon of January 2, 1813, and continued into the next day. James L. Michie, an archaeologist from South Carolina, by studying its course has concluded that the Patriot was likely just north of Cape Hatteras when the storm was at its fiercest. "If the ship managed to escape this battering, which continued until midnight," he has said, "it then faced near hurricane-force winds in the early hours of Sunday. Given this knowledge, the Patriot probably sank between 6 p.m. Saturday [January 2] and 8 a.m. Sunday [January 3]."

The irony, however, is inescapable. Somewhere along this shore, where her father's nemesis had erected a lighthouse to save her, Theodosia Burr Alston lost her life on a stormy January night. And although we may never know exactly how that happened, a suicidal poet may have touched on why.

In 1894, a very young Robert Frost came to Kitty Hawk. Suffering from acute depression, he felt the need to get away from the pressure of life, and as many similar people do, he came to the Outer Banks. One night, he crossed over the Kitty Hawk beach and walked with a member of the local lifesaving crew on patrol. The patrolman told him Theo's story, and it moved him deeply. Years later, he would recount the experience and her tale in one of his lesser-known but moving poem, Kitty Hawk:

"Did I recollect how the wreckers wrecked Theodosia Burr off this very shore? 'Twas to punish her but her father more."

Victoria ~ 23 October 1845

North Carolina Star, November 12, 1845

Schooner Wm. H. Shubert ~ 16 February 1903

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903:

At 10 p.m., during a fresh SW. gale, weather thick and rainy, sea rough, this vessel went ashore 2 miles N. of Bodie Island station. The N. patrol discovered her at 11 p.m. and flashed a Coston signal to apprise the crew of assistance at hand, then returned to station and reported to keeper, who called up Nags Head station by telephone, mustered his crew, and proceeded to a point abreast the wreck, the Nags Head crew arriving at the same time. The life savers soon fired a shot line to the schooner and got a hawser aboard, but the gear became fouled and could not be cleared until daylight, when all hands, 8 men, were safely landed in breeches buoy and taken to the Bodie Island station, where they were succored for three days. The schooner and her cargo of soft coal were a total loss.