1849 — Oct 6, gale, brig St. John grounds, Minot’s Ledge ~15M SE Boston Harbor MA–92-143

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 7-18-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–92-143 Blanchard. Brig St. John grounds Minot’s Ledge about 15M SE of Boston Harbor.

Blanchard note: We have not been able to locate a definitive account of the loss of life for the St. John. Perley writes that there were 164 onboard and Richards that there were 143. Perley notes 143 fatalities and others note various other numbers: 123 (Richard), 122 (Fraser), Boston Post of 12-12-1849 according to Clare County, Ireland, Library, 99 (Noble) and 92 (Clare County Library, Ireland, posting compilers). Thus a range of 92-143. We choose not to arbitrarily decide that one account is correct and the others incorrect.

–143 Perley, S. Historic Storms of New England. Salem, MA: The Salem Press, 1891, p. 301.

–143 Snow, Edward Rowe. Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. 1943, p. 123.

–123 Richard. “123 Died in Wreck of Irish Famine Ship Off Massachusetts Coast.” wbsh.com, 7-11-2023

–122 Fraser. (Out of 143 crew and passengers, 9 crew and 11 passengers survived.)

–102 Clare County Library (Ireland). “The Shipwreck of the St. John. List of survivors and…”

[Listing of names from Boston Post of 10-12-1849. The Clare County compilers note errors]

— 7 crew

— 5 cabin passengers

–90 steerage passengers

— 99 Noble 2008. “The Coast Guard along the North Atlantic Coast.”

— 92 Clare County Library (Ireland).

Narrative Information

Fraser: “The worst shipwreck off Cohasset was [that of] the Irish immigrant brig St. John in 1849. She was one of many bringing people fleeing the great Potato Famine in Ireland to a new life in America. While she is called a brig, a two-masted vessel with square sails on both, an Irish historian claims she was a full-rigged ship, a three-masted vessel with square sails on all, and that she had been built in 1844 at St. John, New Brunswick, and was named for that Canadian port.

“Under Captain [Martin] Oliver, the St. John left Galway, Ireland, with 143 persons aboard. As the vessel approached Boston on Sunday morning, October 7, 1849, a storm was raging. The captain realized he would miss the harbor and be wrecked on Nantasket Beach, so the St. John was turned to try for Scituate Harbor. But this was found to be impossible to reach. Then, another brig was seen, anchored inside the unlit iron Minot’s Light. In desperation, the St. John’s anchors were dropped.

“Hardly had the anchors grabbed the bottom than the chains snapped. The St. John was driven onto the Grampuses, a group of low-lying rocks some one and one-half miles west of Minot’s Light. The rocks held the ship firmly as the waves battered her to pieces. Most of the Cohasset townspeople were on the shore by now. Boats were launched into the surf to help the drowning Irish, but the waves tossed these boats back. Because the St. John was in such a dangerous position, there was nothing that could be done. The Cohasseters had to stand around helplessly and watch the people drown.

“Of those on the St. John, only nine of the crew of sixteen and a total of eleven passengers were saved. And of all those drowned, only forty-five bodies ever washed ashore. They were buried in a trench-like common grave in Central Cemetery; a Catholic priest [Father John T. Roddan] from Quincy officiated. The grave is still unmarked. In 1915 the Ancient Order of Hibernians erected a large stone Celtic cross in this graveyard to the memory of the St. John loss. It is, however, not near the gravesite.

Noble: “The rocks along the coast of Cohasset, Massachusetts, claimed many ships and many lives in the early part of the 19th century. Between 1830 and 1840, 40 ships sank in this treacherous area. Perhaps the greatest tragedy came shortly before a lighthouse was completed when the steamer St. John ran aground in an October, 1849 storm and 99 people were lost, mostly Irish immigrants.” (Noble 2008)

Perley. Historic Storms of New England: “Chapter LXIX. The Storm of October, 1849.”

“At about six o’clock on the afternoon of Saturday, October 7, 1849, rain began to fall along the New England coast, the wind blowing freshly from the east. At twelve o’clock, a violent gale was blowing from the northeast, and the rain fell in torrents. It continued all day Sunday, and did great damage along the shore, a considerable number of vessels being driven upon the land or bilged. Telegraph wires were prostrated, and communication was interrupted. In Chelsea, Mass., one of the walls of the brick church, belonging the Universalist society, which was being built on Chestnut street, was blown down with a terrific crash.

“The gale is most noted for the wreck of the brig St. John on Minot’s ledge, off Cohasset, Mass. The vessel was commanded by Captain Oliver, and had sailed from Galway, Ireland, with emigrants for Boston, September 5. At about five o’clock on the afternoon of Saturday, October 6, they passed Cape Cod with a light southeast wind. The weather being very thick, they hove to, heading northeast. At four o’clock the next morning they wore ship and stood south. At half-past six, they made Minot’s ledge, and, seeing the British brig Kathleeen there, they ran inside the ledge and anchored. But the violence of the wind and the heavy sea caused the vessel to drag the anchors even there. Fearful that they would all be driven on the rocks, and dashed to pieces, they cut away their masts. But the gale continued to increase, the anchors again failed to hold, and the vessel was cast upon the ledges. The terrible scene was witnessed from the Glade house, but the people found it impossible to do anything. The sea ran mountain high, and as soon as the brig struck, the waves swept over her, washing the unfortunate men, women, and children into the raging ocean. The deck was crowded with the emigrants and a dozen at a time they were carried into the surges.

“Shortly after the brig struck, the ringbolt that supported the stern of the jolly-boat in its accustomed place alongside, broke, letting it fall into the water. The captain, second mate, and two boys had but just jumped into it to clear it from the vessel, when about twenty-five passengers also followed them, and it was immediately swamped by their weight. All of the twenty-nine perished, except one boy and the captain, the former swimming back to the wreck, and the latter being saved, by catching hold of a rope that was suspended over the quarter, being pulled on board by the first mate.

“The long-boat was then detached, but hardly had this been done when a heavy sea swept over the vessel and carried it away. A number of passengers jumped into the angry waters to swim to it, and they all perished. Afterward, the captain, first mate, eight of the crew and two passengers swam to it in safety, and in it reached the shore, landing at the Glades….

“The other passengers that were saved floated ashore on pieces of the deck; but some of those that were rescued from the water alive soon after died from the effects of the bruises that they then received.

“The new of the wreck spread, and in the storm during that Sunday afternoon the shore was lined with people. They were active in assisting the saved, and recovering the dead bodies as they came near the shore. One man came very near losing his life in taking remains out of the surf, many of which were horribly mangled and disfigured. They were laid in a row as they were recovered, presenting a most melancholy sight. Those that attracted the most attention perhaps were the bodies of a woman and her lifeless child of about two years of age securely clasped in her arms. Others were thrown upon rocks, but before they could be secured the sea would carry them back again. Late in the afternoon they began to come ashore in large numbers, two being taken from pieces of the wreck.

“The whole number of people on board was about one hundred and sixty-four, of whom fourteen, mostly women and children, were cabin passengers. Forty-five of the passengers were women, and there were fifteen or eighteen children. Of all this great number, only twenty-one persons were saved, and of the one hundred and forty-three that were lost, the bodies of only twenty-seven were recovered, of which there were three of men, twenty-one of women, and three of children.” (pp. 299-301)

Rappaport and Fernandez-Partagas. Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones. 1995, Appendix 1:

“116 [No. 116 in listing of fatalities from highest to 25.]. Massachusetts 6 Oct 1849. 143 [deaths]. (p.23)^[1]

Richard. “123 Died in Wreck of Irish Famine Ship Off Massachusetts Coast.” 7-11-2023:

“On Sunday, October 7, 1849, the brig St. John struck rocks at Grampus Ledge off the coast of Cohasset, Massachusetts during a violent storm. The wreck claimed the lives of more than 100 passengers, including many children who were escaping the Great Famine in their native Ireland.

“According to the Clare County (Ireland) Library, many shipwreck victims were from Ennostymon, Lahinch and Kilfenora.

“The St. John, a 200-ton vessel built in 1844 in St. John, New Foundland, Canada sailed out of Galway, Ireland on September 7, 1849, bound for Boston, under Captain Martin Oliver. There were 143 people onboard.

“Robert Fraser writes in Savor of Salt, ‘The Captain realized he would miss the harbor and be wrecked on Nantasket Beach, so the St. John was turned to try for Scituate Harbor.” Fraser says the St. John was “driven onto The Grampuses.’

“Fraser wrote, ‘Only nine of the crew of sixteen and a total of eleven passengers were saved. And of all of those drowned, only forty-five bodies ever washed ashore.’….” [9+11=20. Subtracted from 143 total complement = 123.]

Snow: “The Immigrant Ship Saint John

“The most serious shipwreck to occur in the outer reaches of Boston Harbor was that of the British brig Saint John in the year 1849. One hundred and forth-three persons perished in this disaster, which took place inside of Minot’s Ledge October 7 of that year. The Saint John had left Galway, Ireland, for Boston, September 5, running into heavy weather off Cape Cod a month later….”

Newspapers

Cambridge Chronicle, MA. “Dreadful Shipwreck!” 10-11-1849, p. 3:

“During the severe gale on Sunday morning, the brig St. Joh, Capt. Oliver, from Galway, Ireland, struck on Grampus Ledge, and soon went to pieces. The captain states that he made Cape Cod Light about 5 o’clock on Saturday evening, Scituate Light about 1 o’clock on Sunday morning; about daylight he came inside of Minot’s Ledge; both anchors were thrown over, which dragged; her masts were then cut away, but about 7 o’clock she struck upon the rocks.

“The scene is described as heart-rending in the extreme. The vessel held together not more than fifty or sixty minutes. The jolly boat, which was not clear, was swamped, and twenty-five passengers, the mate and two boys perished. The long boat broke her fastening and floated from the vessel, when the captain and several others swam to her and landed in safety. A few others escaped upon pieces of the wreck, making in all 21 saved. The captain states there were 120 passengers, of whom 99 were thus consigned to an untimely fate. Up to yesterday noon only twenty-eight bodies had been recovered from the surf.—Every aid within their e was cheerfully rendered by the citizens of Cohasset. It is stated that the captain congratulated the passengers on Saturday afternoon, that that night would be their last on board the St. John, he nor they little thinking of the sadly prophetic import of his words.

“Twenty-seven of the bodies of those lost in the brig St. John, were buried at Cohasset on Tuesday after appropriate funeral ceremonies. A large concourse of people followed them to the grave.” [Note: Captain Oliver does not indicate the number of crew aboard nor crew deaths.]

Boston Post. “Brig St. John of Galway, Ireland,” 10-12-1849: Go to Sources for Clare County Library and click on the URL to access names of saved and lost crew and passengers. We have not been able to locate this Boston Post article, though we have access to Boston Post papers during this year. Interestingly the Clare County page notes that it is the October 12, 1849 paper from which the names of the lost and saved have been collected, but the narrative which follows is that “Although five weeks had elapsed since the tragedy, the list bears signs of hasty compilation. There are obvious errors in the names both of persons and of places, and in the numbers of people involved.” The sinking of the St. John was on Oct 7. Five weeks later would have been something like November 11, not October 12. Perhaps the Clare County compilers meant November 12, 1849 for the date of the Boston Post article from which they draw. We have searched Boston Post archives through to November 13 without locating the article referenced.

Sources

Cambridge Chronicle, MA. “Dreadful Shipwreck!” 10-11-1849, p. 3. Accessed 7-17-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cambridge-cambridge-chronicle-oct-11-1849-p-3/

Clare County Library (Ireland). “The Shipwreck of the St. John. List of survivors and…” Accessed 7-18-2024 at: https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/passlist_stjohn.htm

Fraser, Robert. “Wreck of the St. John.” CohassetCentralCemetery.com. Reprinted from Jacqueling M. Dormitzer. Savor of Salt, Town of Cohasset, MA 2006, pp. 130-132. Accessed 7-16-2024 at: https://cohassetcentralcemetery.com/articles/51-wreck-of-the-st-john-the-tragic-wreck-of-the-irish-famine-ship-st-john

Noble, Dennis L. “The Coast Guard along the North Atlantic Coast.” Coast Guard History. United States Coast Guard, July 21, 2008 Update. Accessed at: http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/h_NEcoast.asp

Perley, Sidney. Historic Storms of New England. Salem, MA: The Salem Press, 1891. Google Preview accessed 7-17-2024 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=twkAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf

Richard, Barry. “123 Died in Wreck of Irish Famine Ship Off Massachusetts Coast.” wbsh.com, New Bedford, MA. 7-11-2023. Accessed 7-18-2024 at: https://wbsm.com/cohasset-wreck-saint-john-brig/

Snow, Edward Rowe. “The Fire on the Steamer Lexington,” pp. 108-121 in Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. Boston Printing Co., 1943.

[1] Cites: Snow, E. R. Great Storms and Famous Shipwrecks of the New England Coast. The Yankee Publishing Company, Boston, 1943, 338 pages..