Wrecked Emigrant Ships in The Bahamas: The Wreck of the Barque William and Mary

The Bahamian archipelago is strategically located between the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea. However, the hidden reefs and shoals, the changing sandbanks, and the unpredictable winds and currents, especially in the hurricane months, all conspired to make Bahamian waters the terror of navigators and the delight of wreckers during the age of sail. This article explores the wrecks of four emigrant ships in The Bahamas in the early 1850s. The European passengers were leaving poverty-stricken Europe to pursue the American dream but did not reach their destination without enduring the combined perils of weather and the hazards of Bahamian waters. Fortunately, they were rescued by humane Bahamian wreckers and assisted by inhabitants of Nassau and Governor Gregory, who organized their onward journey. In particular, the wreck of the William and Mary exposes the greed and lack of care that ship owners and captains showed in attempting to carry hapless passengers from Europe to the United States of America.


Introduction
The entire Bahamas archipelago is strategically located at the gateway to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the entire Central American region (see, for example Lawlor, 2018). The Northeast Providence Channel was the single body of water through which significant numbers of merchant sailing vessels had to pass to go to New Providence or to access the Florida Gulf for destinations farther south. In the days of sail, the north-east winds and uncertain currents drove many a vessel onto the notably dangerous spots: the windward coasts of North Eleuthera, Harbour Island and Abaco, Great Stirrup Cay, the Gingerbread Grounds, the Bimini Cays and the west end of Grand Bahama (Lawlor & Lawlor, 2008, p. 155; see Figure 1). Wrecking vessels patrolled these areas in search of floundering ships to rescue passengers, salvage cargoes, and gain large rewards in both goods and money.
The growth of commerce in the 1800s was a great boost to the wrecking industry. American industrial expansion began in the early 1820s, before the time of interconnecting roads and railways. New Orleans became an important transhipment port between towns upriver on the Mississippi River and Europe and the Eastern Seaboard of America. By the mid-19th century, the wrecking industry of The Bahamas had mushroomed into a thriving business due to American expansion west and increased trade, which resulted in more wrecks. In 1850, the total imports for The Bahamas were valued at £92,756; imports from wrecked

Figure 1 Map of Currents and Depths in The Bahamas
Note. From The Story of The Bahamas, by P. Albury, 1975, p. 2. Copyright 1975 goods were valued at £16,768 or 18% of total imports. By 1852, the total imports for The Bahamas were valued at £139,563 and imports from wrecked goods were valued at £46,515 or 33% of total imports (Lawlor & Lawlor, 2008, p. 173).
The early 1850s is an interesting period to study as it encompasses not only the dying days of the sailing ship and the early days of the steamship but also the rise of large numbers of emigrants from Europe to the United States of America. With poverty prevalent in many parts of Europe, many people sought a better life in the booming economy of the United States of America. These four wrecked passenger ships can inform us greatly about life and conditions in the mid-19th century. First, the contrasting conditions in Europe and America explain why impoverished peoples of Europe would pursue the American dream of financial success in the New World. Second, they show the importance of the maritime highway of channels through The Bahamas to reach either the Gulf of Mexico or the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Third, they illustrate the dangers faced by ships sailing through the Northeast and Northwest Providence Channels into the Straits of Florida. Fourth, they reveal the burden placed on the Government of The Bahamas and Britain and the kindness of inhabitants of Nassau to provide food and shelter to the passengers of the wrecked vessels. Fifth, the wreck of the William and Mary exposes the greed and lack of care that ship owners and captains showed in attempting to carry hapless passengers from Europe to the United States of America.

Context
As has been well established, mid-19th century Europe, particularly Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany, was going through extreme economic hardship. People living through the years 1843 to 1853 had suffered from bad harvests, epidemics, and the aftereffects of adjusting to new surroundings in the search for a better life. In Ireland, famine and disease killed over a million people for the six years up to 1851, and a million more emigrated and spread disease and death in places where they settled. In England, Scotland, and Wales, jobs and accommodation were scarce, and, when work was found, the conditions were appalling. Desperation forced some people to resort to criminal activity, hoping that they would be judged guilty and transported to a colony or sent to prison where they would be fed, clothed, and have a roof over their heads (Hoffs, 2016, p. 2).
The Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette of October 23, 1852, quoted an essay portraying the American dream: America is to modern Europe … the land of aspirations and dreams, the country of daring enterprise and the asylum of misfortune, which receives alike the exile and the adventurer, the discontented and the aspiring and promises to all a freer life and a fresher nature. The European emigrant might believe himself as one transported to a new world governed by new laws and finds himself at once raised in the scale of beingthe pauper is maintained by his own labour, the hired labourer works on his own account and the tenant is changed into a proprietor, while the depressed vassal of the old continent becomes co-legislator and coruler, in a government where all power is from the people and in the people and for the people. (Hoffs, 2016, p (Reindeers, 1964, pp. 36, 41, 49).
The area relied on foreign agricultural workers, and, by 1850, the city of New Orleans had 20,200 Irish immigrants from Liverpool and German immigrants from Le Havre, Bremen, and Hamburg working as unskilled labour (Reindeers, 1964, p. 18). Many more immigrants passed through New Orleans to other parts of the United States. During the winter season, there were as many as 200 sailing vessels in the harbour of New Orleans, mainly coastal packet lines from New York but some also destined for ports on the Gulf Coast and California (Reindeers, 1964, p. 36 The wrecking boats took all 300 emigrants to Bimini where they lodged for two nights before leaving on Monday. Then a wrecking vessel carried them to Nassau, arriving on Saturday, the fifth of April. Captain Robinson remained close to the wreck to oversee the removal of the luggage. Scantily dressed men, women, and children wandered through the streets of Nassau without food or shelter. Captain Robinson sent a letter with one of the passengers to Mr. Krislebaum, the American Consul, in Nassau, asking him to provide food, shelter, and passage to New Orleans for the passengers. In his report, Governor Gregory praised the inhabitants of Nassau: The benevolent kindness of all classes of the people of Nassau toward the shipwrecked emigrants in the first day of their arrival was peculiarly sterling and while I gratefully acknowledge the charitable and humane conduct of the white portion of the inhabitants … the negro portion came forward one and all with offerings of bread baked for the number of children and provided tea and coffee. (CO23/138/131, Governor Gregory to Earl Grey, 14th April 1851) Two brigs and a schooner that were lying in the harbour took about 180 adults off by the end of the week and a further 60 departed on one or two other vessels (CO23/138/131, Governor Gregory to Earl Grey, 14th April 1851).
The second emigrant ship to wreck in The Bahamas was the Ovando. The German and French passengers on the Ovando lost all their luggage and property and about 130 individuals were wandering utterly destitute around Nassau without food or shelter. Governor Gregory felt he could not neglect them, so he kindly ordered them food from the Commissariat Department and accommodation in the military barracks. The 10 French passengers were taken care of by the French Vice Consul in Nassau. The Vice Consul of the Hanseatic Towns could not take care of the other 139 emigrants as they did not belong to the towns he represented. Governor Gregory used some Crown Funds from the sale of waste lands to send the emigrants to America (CO23/140/254, Governor Gregory to Sir John Pakington, 7th December 1852).
Following the third wreck, the American ship Osborne off Grand Bahama, over 200 Irish and English passengers were taken to Nassau by a fleet of wrecking schooners. Governor Gregory again showed compassion and housed them in the empty artillery barracks and provided food from the commissary, which was to be repaid by the Master of the Osborne under a guarantee of the American Vice Consul. Fortunately, a large ship, the Polar Star, in the harbour at the same time and bound to sail the following week for New Orleans, was able to take the emigrants to their destination (CO23/143/147, Governor Gregory to Duke of Newcastle, 2nd April 1853).
The fourth wreck, the William and Mary, was built in 1852 at Harward Yard in Bowdoinham, Maine. Bowdoinham was the foremost place for the building of ships in Maine in the 1850s. John Harward built the ship and was part owner along with 32-year-old Captain Timothy Reirdan Stinson, Stinson's father-in-law, and several others (Hoffs, 2016, p. 18). Harward named the boat William and Mary, which seemed to be a popular name in America in honour of King William and Queen Mary, who inherited the throne of England in 1688. "She was insured in Boston for 26,000, at the following offices, New England, 10,000 dollars, City, 8,000 dollars, and Hope, 8,000 dollars" ("Wreck," 1853, p. 2).
On January 4, 1853, the three-masted sailing ship William and Mary, under the command of Captain Stinson, sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, bound for Liverpool, England, fitted out for the emigrant trade. This was her first voyage across the Atlantic. Apart from the port of Liverpool, vessels from America sailed to London, Glasgow, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Londonderry (Hoffs, 2016).
Although Liverpool had the reputation for handling the greatest number of ships, it was considered the lowest for the treatment of passengers. The fare was inexpensive, but the passengers had poor accommodations, small, overcrowded cabins with little space to store baggage (Hoffs, 2016, p. 17). Irish and German agricultural labourers were the majority of the 20,000 emigrants who sailed from Liverpool each month to pursue the American dream (Hoffs, 2016, p. 22).
Not only were the passengers treated badly on the voyage, but they were also misled before the journey. The agent handling passengers at Liverpool was James Chambers, who advertised the William and Mary as a 1,500-ton vessel, about three times larger than its true 512 tons. There were only five lifeboats on the William and Mary, nowhere near enough for the over 200 passengers and crew (Hoffs, 2016, p. 70). There was no doctor hired to accompany the 80 German passengers, who intended to settle a tract of land they had purchased together in Illinois, or the other emigrants, who were English, Scottish, and Irish; Irish were the largest national group ("Wreck," 1853).
The barque William and Mary, under the command of Captain Stinson, embarked from Liverpool on March 24, 1853, and sailed across the Atlantic toward New Orleans. The progress was slow due to stormy weather and then a hurricane. The passengers were stricken with violent sea sickness; the suffering was so bad that their quarters below deck could not be cleaned of vomit (Hoffs, 2016). The captain ordered reduced provisions, as the food had run out and the ham had rotted. There was no ship's surgeon to treat the resulting illnesses, and 14 passengers died on the journey. Conditions worsened as the voyage continued and a further reduction of food and water was ordered by Captain Stinson. The voyage across the Atlantic took two months (Hoffs, 2016, p. 58).
On May 31, they entered the dangerous Northeast Providence Channel under a dark cloudy sky. A strong southeast wind was blowing and there was a heavy sea. At 7:00 a.m. the barque safely passed the Hole-inthe-Wall lighthouse, Captain Stinson steered for Stirrup's Cay, and at noon he was about 12 miles away from his next landmark. The weather worsened with increased clouds and an increased wind. "The vessel kept on her course …, but at 8:30 she struck on a sunken rock, where she remained for 15 mins, receiving extensive damage" ("Wreck," 1853, p. 1). With the setting sun in his eyes, it appeared that Captain Stinson lost sight of the Cay, mistakenly headed south, and did not discover his mistake until the barque struck ("Wreck," 1853).
The passengers and crew were terrified, but after 15 minutes the ship cleared but struck another rock. The water rushed into the ship so rapidly that the pumps couldn't cope despite the frantic efforts of the crew. By midnight, there was four feet of water in the hold; at 4:00 a.m. it had risen to eight feet and by daybreak it was 10 feet and the pumps were abandoned ("Wreck," 1853).
The passengers later gave their written accounts of their terrible ordeal. One passenger, Broer Baukes Haagsma, explained the difficulty of entering the Northeast Providence Channel as the wind was strong. Then, on passing the lighthouse at Hole-in-the-Wall, they knew they were in that Channel which was only 20 feet deep and the draft of the William and Mary was 17 feet. Haagsma recognized the great danger posed by the shallows of the Great Bahama Bank where the Northwest Providence Channel meets the Straits of Florida (Hoffs, 2016, p. 64).
Sjoerd (Bekins) Bekius described the atmosphere of panic and terror of the 200 passengers and 12 sailors when they heard what sounded like a clap of thunder and a severe shock as the ship struck a rock. They were stranded as the ship rolled with the rising wind and water leaked into the ship. Rockets were fired high into the sky to signal their distress (Hoffs, 2016, p. 66).

Robert Silcock wrote:
All around us as far as we could see by the starlight, was one sheet of foam. To windward were the gigantic breakers coming on with race-horse speed, … lifting [the ship] up and letting her fall again on the coral rock, crunching it beneath her and the water rushing over the side, nearly washing us away as we clung to the ropes and belaying pins. … every crunch went through us like an electric shock. Wet and frightened, we spent the hours until daylight in misery and wretchedness. (Hoffs, 2016, p. 69) Izaak Epkes Roorda testified that as daylight slowly broke, the passengers saw a lifeboat lowered into the sea. The captain, two steersmen, and six sailors had abandoned ship. Hendrik Jans Kas reported that the captain turned and called, "Friends, may you fare well" (Hoffs, 2016, p. 76).
The five lifeboats had been unshipped from the davits, but three were swamped. Captain Stinson and the crew manned one lifeboat and about 30 passengers manned the second of the remaining two lifeboats, leaving the rest of the passengers on board the sinking ship screaming for help ("Wreck," 1853).
Luckily, the waters around The Bahamas and the relatively nearby coast of Florida formed part of a busy shipping route-a general highway to vessels bound to and from America.
Captain Stinson, the first and second mate, and six crew members in one lifeboat were picked up by the brig Reuben Carver, commanded by Captain Edward Cobb, which was sailing from Saqua la Grande to New York ("Wreck," 1853). Captain Stinson made a report in America that the small boat and crew had been rescued but that the 200 passengers died in the waves (Hoffs, 2016, p. 124). The passengers, especially Haagsma, thought that Captain "Stinson had deliberately left them on the wreck to die" (Hoffs, 2016, p. 82 Captain Stinson's report of the death of the passengers was a lie and probably wishful thinking, as there would be no one to report his gross negligence and cold-hearted actions. Back on the sinking William and Mary, at dawn on May 5, the passengers sighted a ship on the horizon, and they shed tears of joy as it headed toward them. Captain Robert "Amphibian" Sands, his nickname reflecting his tremendous ability as a swimmer, guided his wrecking schooner, the Oracle, toward them (Hoffs, 2016). Sands and his crew were family men and skilled sailors with vast experience in saving lives and were deeply sympathetic to frightened passengers on wrecked ships. It took five hours for the crew of the Oracle, under William Sands, to transport the women and 50 children the 25 miles to Grand Bahama. They ensured the comfort of Susannah Diamond, who had lost her one-year-old daughter, her husband, and her newborn child during the voyage; Captain Sands personally lifted her carefully from the sinking ship into the Oracle (Hoffs, 2016, p. 108).
Governor Gregory's report to England praised Captain Robert Sands as a shining example of practical humanity as the moment he sighted the wrecked ship he instantly went to the rescue. Captain Sands had no thought of the cargo or salvage but rescued as many women and children as the 41-ton burthen Oracle could carry. Captain Sands and five of his crew remained on board to help the remaining passengers pump out water that was rushing into the sinking ship (CO23/143/321, Governor Gregory to Duke of Newcastle, 28th May 1853).
After five hours, the Oracle returned to the William and Mary and found another wrecking vessel, the Contest, alongside her. The two wrecking crews worked together to take the majority of the remaining passengers on board, but there was no room for cargo. When everyone was taken off the William and Mary except two old men, the ship sank bow first. Fortunately, the two old men floated up and were rescued by the wreckers. The passengers were taken to a sandy shore on Grand Bahama where they suffered dreadfully with mosquito bites (Hoffs, 2016, p. 111).
The wrecking ships the Oracle and the Contest visited a few settlements and after eight days arrived in Nassau. The inhabitants of Nassau rallied together to provide time, money, food, and clothes to the survivors. The Nassau Guardian reported "we have much pleasure in recording the benevolent acts of a committee of ladies of our town, who have been administering to the necessities of the unfortunate emigrants wrecked in the Am. ship 'William and Mary'" (Hoffs, 2016, p. 119).
Governor Gregory had the emigrants housed in the empty barracks and food provided from the commissary. He also subscribed £20 from crown funds and collected £90 from private donations toward assisting the poor passengers, who had lost so much in the shipwreck. Clothes were provided by the Archdeacon and clergy (CO23/143/321, Governor Gregory to Duke of Newcastle, 28th May 1853).
Governor Gregory enclosed a petition from the Captains of the Oracle and the Contest requesting compensation for their loss of time and their expense of feeding the emigrants from the sinking vessel in the passage to Nassau. Captain Robert Sands claimed £131 for wages and expenses.
Governor Gregory suggested "a small token of the Queen's approbation" (CO23/143/321, Governor Gregory to Duke of Newcastle, 28th May 1853) be presented to Robert Sands, the man who first went to the rescue of the sinking ship. The Governor hired three small vessels, the Time, the Rover, and the Clyde, "outfitted appropriately with plentiful food and water," for the purpose of sending the emigrants to their destination of New Governor Gregory praised the wreckers and boat builders of Abaco: The wrecking vessels are a fine class of sailing schooners, many of them beautiful models, the most superior of them built at Green Turtle Cay, Abaco, where the genius of the people is manifested in their shipbuilding, the timbers being principally of native cedar or horse flesh mahogany of a very durable nature and the planking of a beautifully grained yellow pine from North Carolina, one of the southern states of America. The wrecking business is conducted on the whole very creditably, and these small vessels and their hardy crews skilled in diving in deep water are the means of saving annually much valuable property from vessels stranded on various reefs, shoals and coasts of the The Life-boat, the journal of the British-based National Life-Boat Institution, featured the article published in the Nassau Guardian on November 2, 1853, which reported the presentation and speeches (Nesbitt, 1853).

Lt. Governor Nesbitt praised Captain Sands:
Your disinterested conduct on this occasion has attracted very general attention, not only in England but in America, and, contrasting so strongly as it did with the discreditable abandonment of those passengers by the master of the William and Mary, it has reflected great honour upon yourself. ("Medals," 1854, p. 87) Furthermore, it was noted that the awards from the Royal National Shipwreck Institution were usually limited to shipwrecks on the coasts of the United Kingdom: Major D'Arcy spontaneously made the representation which has elicited from the Royal National Shipwreck Institution (whose rewards are usually limited to shipwrecks on the coasts of the United Kingdom), the silver medal which I am about to present to you, in admiration of your humane and prompt exertions on the occasion; and the Committee of Management of that Society congratulate you on having been made the happy instrument, under Divine Providence, in rescuing from inevitable destruction so large a number of your fellow-creatures. ("Medals," 1854, p. 87) Major d'Arcy told Captain Sands and his crew that their service [was] not limited to the saving of life, in the particular instance, but enhanced by the example of generosity and courage shown to the numerous body of [their] fellow-colonists engaged in an occupation so trying to the character as that of wrecking. ("Medals," 184,p. 87) He also referred to an article he had published "as an incitement to others to act, in the true spirit of Christian philanthropy exhibited by you, on similar occasions of distress" ("Medals," 1854, p. 87).
Captain Sands expressed his thanks and gratitude for the medal and kind words. He said he felt proud that wreckers would now be viewed with greater appreciation. He said that "he acted upon feelings which arose out of sentiments early inculcated by the example of his parents" ("Medals," 1854, p. 87). Captain Sands was referring to the tarnished reputation of the wrecking industry caused by tales of Bahamian wreckers doing all the following: colluding with American captains to purposely wreck their ship at a certain location for a share in the salvage proceeds; lighthouse keepers intentionally not switching on their lights at night; and wreckers placing lights on the beach to mislead trading ships.
The people of Harbour Island and Abaco were very incensed at the erection of the lighthouse at Elbow Cay and condemned the lighthouse keeper for preventing many wrecks. In wrecker's philosophy, the furnishings from the bilged or stranded vessels were not a part of the cargo. Many homes in Harbour Island were furnished with salvaged mirrors, clocks, chests of drawers, chairs, tables, and even beds from the cabins of these ill-fated vessels. These undeclared items were regarded as trophies of the wrecking adventure (Lawlor & Lawlor, 2008, p. 125).

Conclusion
The passengers on the Cato, the Ovando, the Osborne, and the William and Mary were escaping destitution in Europe. They had no knowledge that to pursue the American dream, they would have to bear physical discomfort and a near-death experience. The voyage of the William and Mary started out in Liverpool and the ship was not adequate for the journey. The passengers suffered violent weather and sea sickness across the Atlantic. The inexperienced captain was not up to the task of navigating the ship through the hazardous channels of The Bahamas in foul weather and the ship was wrecked. In the lore of the sea, a captain must stay with his ship and care for his passengers. Captain Stinson callously deserted his ship and left the passengers to die. Luckily, they were rescued by wrecking Captain Sands and crew, who took great care to guarantee their safety. The generosity of Governor Gregory and the inhabitants of The Bahamas ensured they were housed, fed, and clothed, and Governor Gregory organized transport to their intended destination.
An article in The New York Times severely condemned Captain Stinson of the William and Mary but he never faced prosecution for his cowardly and callous actions (Hoffs, 2016, p. 140). Captain Sands was the first Bahamian to receive the prestigious silver medal and would deservedly go down in history for his humane actions, whereas Captain Timothy Reirdan Stinson would gain notoriety (Hoffs, 2016, p. 139).