1857 – Jan 18, blizzard, bark Tedesco hits Long Rock ~Galloupes Pt., Swampscott, MA– 12
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 9-8-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–12 Gove, Bonnie Kehoe Gove “Tedesco Seaman Unknown.” Find a Grave. 8-24-2018.
Narrative Information
Gove, Bonnie Kehoe Gove “Tedesco Seaman Unknown.” Find a Grave. 8-24-2018:
“This Seaman was aboard the Barque Tedesco when she wrecked on Jan. 18, 1857. His body washed ashore on Whale Beach May 4, 1957 [1857].
“The following is taken from the website Patch.com:
“The most famous shipwreck in Swampscott was the Tedesco but there have been others including the Lucia Porter in 1915 and the Fred Bliss in 1869. Jan. 18, 1857, the bark Tedesco of Portland, Maine wrecked in waters behind what is now Marian Court College after the ship struck a boulder. The boat’s cargo was sherry wine, salt and raisins. ‘All 12 aboard, the crew and captain, were lost,’ Swampscott historian Lou Gallo said. ‘Their bodies came ashore at Whale Beach.’ The crew is buried at the Swampscott Cemetery.
“According to the book Storms and Shipwrecks of New England [Snow] the Tedesco was lost when a blizzard swept the coast after an unusually calm day…..
“Today, you can find what is believed to be one of two Tedesco anchors near Fisherman’s beach. The anchor is a memorial to Swampscott mariners who lost their lives at sea and is in the park above Fisherman’s Beach near the boulder dedicated to Marine Corps Lieutenant General John C. Chaisson.
“Inscription: In Memory of
CAPT. HERMON PETERSON
BENJ. E. JACOBS, MATE
AND TEN OTHER SEAMEN
WHO WERE DROWNED
NEAR OUTER LEDGE, SWAMPSCOTT,
BY THE WRECK OF THE BARQUE
TEDESCO OF PORTLAND, ME.
JAN. 18, 1857.”
Snow, Edward Rowe. Great Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. 1943, p. 244:
“The American bark Tedesco, hailing from Portland, Maine, homeward bound with a cargo of sherry wine, salt, and raisons, went ashore on Long Rock, about 300 feet east northeast of Galloupe’s Point, Swampscott, Sunday night, January 18, 1857. It had been a furious blizzard that swept the coast late in the evening after an unusually calm day. The sea had been so smooth when the fishermen came in that afternoon that they had left their dories just a little above the highwater mark. In the morning nothing but splintered remains could be found.
“Capt. Peterson of the Tedesco had been sailing between Pig Rock and Egg Rock Light in a moderate northwest wind late that afternoon. The wind hauled to the northeast and a furious gale began shortly afterwards. The residents on shore had the impression that the Tedesco sailed on up the bay.
“The storm was so severe that few people knew of the shipwreck until late in the afternoon when residents discovered the shore strewn with wreckage, including many casks of wine. Every person on the Tedesco perished in the surf. Later the bodies of the sailors came ashore on Whale Beach, where townsmen brought them to the Methodist Church. After an impressive funeral, the men were buried in the Swampscott Cemetery….”
Sources
Gove, Bonnie Kehoe Gove “Tedesco Seaman Unknown.” Find a Grave. 8-24-2018.Accessed 9-9-2024 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/177459214/tedesco_seaman-unknown
Snow, Edward Rowe. Great Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. Boston: Yankee Publishing Company, 1943.