30 –105-107

lornajarrettblanchard September 14, 1903

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 8-31-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

105-107 Blanchard tally based on State and Maritime breakouts below.

— 125 Boston Daily Globe. “Forty Probably Lost.” Sep, 19-1903, p. 3.[1]

–105-107 Onshore and Maritime Total. Blanchard tally based upon State breakouts below.

–102-103 Maritime. Blanchard tally based upon State breakouts below.

— 57 NWS FO, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts…,” Oct 17, 2005.

— 57 Rappaport and Fernandez-Partagas 1995. (Cites the New York Times, no date.)

— 4 Land losses in CT (1), NJ (2) and NY (1). (Electrocutions.)

Summary of State Breakouts Below

Connecticut ( 1)

Delaware ( 5)

Maine ( 16)

New Jersey (30-32)

New York ( 7)

North Carolina ( 16)

Virginia ( 30)

Total 105-107

Connecticut ( 1)

–1 Hartford, Sep 16. Electrocution by downed electric wires; Richard O’Brien, 9, Caton St.[2]

Delaware ( 5)

— 05 schooner Hattie A. Marsh at Delaware Capes.[3] Roth and Cobb. Virginia Hurricane History.

Maine (16)

–15 George L. Edmunds. Boston Daily Globe. “Fifteen Sailors Are Lost.” Sep 18, 1903, p. 1.

–15 Gloucester schooner George F. Edmunds, Sep 16. Sheedy. Out of Gloucester.[4]

–15 Maritime. The World. “Summary…Death…Disaster…Worst Storm of Years,” 9-18-1903.

–15 Snow. “The Pemaquid Shipwrecks.” Great Storms & Shipwrecks of New England. 195-196.

–14 schooner George F. Edmunds.

— 1 two-masted coaster Sadie and Lillie. (Also Boston Post of 9-18-1903, p. 1.)

–15 Boston Post. “Death List in Storm Grows Fast. Fifteen Lives Lost at Pemaquid, Me.” 9-18-1903, 1.[5]

–14 schooner George F. Edmunds.

— 1 two-masted coaster Sadie and Lillie.

— 1 Sadie and Lillie two-masted coaster wrecked off Pemaquid, ME.

New Jersey (30-32)

— 20 Edith J. Peterson fishing schooner lost Five Fathom Bank, NJ. (US Live-Saving Svc.)

— 5 Red Dragon (yacht). Boston Daily Globe. “Cruised to Death.” Sep, 19-1903, p. 3.

–3-5 Spartan, schooner. Cause not noted. Brandywine Shoal [NJ], Delaware Bay.

–5 Philadelphia Inquirer. “Ships Sink And Lives Are Lost In Wild Gales.” 9-17-1903, pp. 1-2.

–3 U.S. Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of…FY 1904, p. 384.

— 1 Carlstadt. Electrocution; Mrs. Hander Sonntag, struck by downed live trolley wire.[6]

— 1 Plainfield (electrocution). Savadove/Buchholz. Great Storms of the Jersey Shore. 1993, 33.

New York ( 7)

— 7 Blanchard tally from breakouts below.

— 4 The World, NYC. “Summary of Death and Disaster…Worst Storm of Years,” 9/18/1903, 2.

— 1 Queens. Gustav Wickman killed “by being struck by a broken trolley wire.”[7]

— 2 M. A. Baston. Fishing smack of the Fulton Market fishing fleet; Capt. John Morgan.[8]

— 3 Ester Anita. Fishing smack of the Fulton Market fishing fleet, NYC; Capt. Silas P. Latham.[9]

— 1 Geneva Mertis, fishing smack; Portuguese sailor named Maxwell, out of NYC.

North Carolina (16)

–16 British tanker Mexicano. NYT. “Castaways’…Seven…Mexicano’s Crew….” 9.18.1903.[10]

Virginia ( 30)

— 40 Schooner Beatrice. Boston Daily Globe. “Forty Probably Lost.” Sep, 19, 1903, p. 3.[11]

— 30 “ Roth, David and Hugh Cobb. Virginia Hurricane History.

Specific maritime losses:

— 2 M. A. Baston, fishing smack, Fulton Market fishing fleet, NYC.

Capt. John Morgan and Edward Petersen

— 30 Beatrice. Fishing schooner lost several miles off Chincoteague, VA.[12]

–30 NCEP, NOAA. Early Twentieth Century. “September 15-17, 1903.”[13]

–30 Roth and Hugh Cobb. Virginia Hurricane History. “Early Twentieth History.”

— 20 Edith J. Peterson fishing schooner lost Five Fathom Bank, NJ. (US Live-Saving Svc.)

— 3 Ester Anita. Fishing smack of the Fulton Market fishing fleet, NYC; Captain, two crew.

— 1 Geneva Mertis, fishing smack; Portuguese sailor named Maxwell out of NYC.

–14-15 George F. Edmunds. Gloucester schooner wrecked on Pemaquid Rocks, ME.

— 5 Hattie A. Marsh schooner (off Delaware Breakwater, Breakwater, DE)

— 16 Mexicano, British tanker presumed to have foundered to the north of Cape Hatteras.

— 5 Red Dragon. Yacht out of Atlantic City lost off Long Beach NJ; bodies and wreck ashore.

— 1 Sadie and Lillie two-masted coaster wrecked off Pemaquid, ME.

— 5 Spartan, schooner. Cause not noted. Brandywine Shoal [NJ], Delaware Bay.

General

NWS FO, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts…,” Oct 17, 2005:

“Sep 16…1903… A hurricane that formed NE of Puerto Rico moved relentlessly NW, making landfall at ACY [Atlantic City] then continuing into the Great Lakes. ACY had a wind gust estimated at 80 mph from the SE. Cape May, NJ, measured a gust to 63 mph from the NE, and
Delaware Breakwater, DE, gusted to 90 mph from the NE. Even far to the N, New Haven, CT, gusted to 81 mph from the S. All the wind gusts were the strongest wind recorded at those places in 1903. PHL [Philadelphia] received 0.41” of rain on the 16^th, followed by 0.52” on the 17^th. NYC set a daily rainfall record of 1.63” for the 16^th. The hurricane was responsible for 57 deaths, putting this hurricane on The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492 to Present, list. (More than 25 deaths needed to make the list) (NHC[14])(EAH[15])(PHL[16])(NYC[17])(NCC[18]).”

Roth and Cobb: “September 15-17, 1903: This deadly hurricane struck the New Jersey shore. It was considered the worst storm in forty years at Ocean City, MD. Salisbury saw several schooners break from their moorings, smashing themselves downstream. President Theodore Roosevelt experienced the hurricane firsthand while aboard the naval yacht Sylph, as winds increased to 65 mph in Long Island sound. Other than a drenching, all aboard fared well. At the Delaware Capes, 80-mph winds lashed the schooner Hattie A. Marsh, dashing the vessel upon the rocky shore; five perished. The torpedo boat destroyer Lawrence took on a foot of water while fighting the storm from Atlantic City to Norfolk.

“In Virginia, a strange scene unfolded. As the cyclone passed northeast of Old Point Comfort, a shower of dead birds, most feathers plucked off by the wind, fell from the sky. Hundreds of birds, about the size of a wren, were downed around Old Point Comfort. The foremast of a schooner was claimed by a squall near Cape Henry around 3:30 a.m. the 17^th. A few small craft were thrown ashore. The fishing schooner Beatrice disappeared into the cyclone several miles north of Chincoteague with a crew of 30 ($25,000). In the District of Columbia, heavy rains washed out a baseball game between the Washington Senators and the Detroit Tigers. Strong west winds accompanied the deluge as it flooded the field.” (Roth and Cobb. VA Hurricane History.)

Sep 18, “Summary of Death and Disaster in the Worst Strom of Years.” The World, p. 2:

“In greater New York – Four killed; twenty seriously injured, three probably fatally; more than one hundred painfully injured; at least two persons missing.

“In New Jersey – Four killed; twelve seriously injured.

“Off Delaware Coast – Three sailing masters drowned; twenty-eight sailors known to be drowned; one schooner, one tug, two fishing boats, three coal barges already reported wrecked.

“Off Florida Coast – British steamship Mexicano sank, and of her crew of twenty-five only seven are known to have escaped.

“Off Maine Coast – Two schooners wrecked on Pemaquid and fifteen drowned.

“Other Wrecks – Between Hell Gate and Norton’s Point, 150 sailing craft. Forty-four boats of the Brooklyn Yacht Club. The entire fleet of the New York Canoe Club. Nearly 500 boats of all descriptions in Jamaica Bay. City Island and Larchmont; yacht Hildegarde suck at City Island to save the Columbia, and the cup defender Reliance seriously damaged. Twelve boats were pounded to pieces on the Staten Island shore. Fifteen yachts were beached at City Island.

“Plate-glass insurance companies report biggest loss at one time in their history.” (The World, NY. “Summary of Death and Disaster in the Worst Storm of Years.” 9-18-1903, p. 2.)

Delaware

Delaware Bay (between Delaware and New Jersey, ending in Philadelphia]

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of…FY 1904, p. 384:

“Sept. 16 ]1903]…Spartan…American steamer…358 [tons]…Salem, Mass. [Port sailed from]… Philadelphia, Pa. [Port bound to]…Total [loss]…Ballast [Nature of cargo]…15 [crew]…3 [Lives lost]…Delaware Bay[19] [Place of disaster].”

Sep 17, The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Wind, cyclonic in force, swept over the city and river yesterday morning, doing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage and performing freaks hitherto peculiar to the prairie regions of the West. While the city suffered greatly from the devastating wind, the Delaware River and capes were the scene of a death-dealing hurricane such as has seldom been witnessed.

“At least half a dozen schooners and many more barges sank beneath the turbulent waters during the gale. Captain J. B. Mahaffey, of the schooner Hattie A. Marsh, and four of his crew were drowned early in the morning just outside the new breakwater [which is on the Delaware side of the Delaware River].

“The ocean tug Spartan was sunk on Brandywine Shoal [NJ side of Delaware Bay, close to Delaware side]. Ten of the crew were rescued, but drifted out to sea in a small boat, captain and mate and three others.

“With the first sweep of the wind, borne with driving rain at a velocity of eighty miles an hour, telegraph poles and wires were blown down and communication with the city from almost all points was cut off.

“It was not until 6 o’clock last evening that any report of the wrecks in and about the Breakwater were received. These were very meagre as to details, and, though they record but five drownings, it is believed in maritime circles that many more sailors sank with their ships. More than half a score [10] of barges are known to have been buffeted about until the waters swept them under. What became of the crews of the sunken boats has not yet been discovered. At least three barges are known to have sunk off Brown Shoal.

“Captain Mehaffey’s schooner, the Hattie A. Marsh, was the first to be caught in the hurricane. The Marsh hailed from New London, Conn., and was bound from Painter’s Point, Maine, for Philadelphia with a cargo of paving stone. She was caught in the terrific windstorm outside the new stone breakwater. Captain Mahaffey tried to reach the Harbor of Refuge, but before he could do so the vessel had to anchor and try to ride the storm. Her anchors did not hold, and the schooner, with her dead weight of stone, was dashed on the rocks off the harbor. The steam pilot boat Philadelphia went to the rescue, but only succeeded in saving Mate Norman Campbell and one seaman. Captain Mahaffey and the four other sailors were lost in the fury of the lashing waves….

“It is reported that three coal barges were sunk in the ocean off the capes, and that their crews are probably lost….” (The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Ships Sink And Lives Are Lost In Wild Gales.” 9-17-1903, pp. 1-2.)

Maine

Sheedy: “Sch. George F. Edmunds, 149.27 tons gross, 110.31 tons net, built in Essex in 1887 and owned by Capt. Willard G. Pool, went ashore at Pemaquid Point, Me., September 16, 1903 while engaged in mackerel seining fishery, and went to pieces. Valued with outfits at $10,000 and insured by the China Mutual Insurance Company for $8500. Four of the crew attempted to reach the shore for assistance, but their boat was overturned in the breakers and only two saved their lives, the remaining 15 men of the crew, including the master, being drowned, as follows:

Willard G. Pool, master, 64, native of Damariscotta, Me., left widow and two children
Simon Delorey, cook, 42, native of Wellfleet, left widow
Clayton Spinney, 36, native of Argyle, N. S., left widow and three children
Antoine G. Herstrom, 34, native of Sweden, left widow and one child
William Hickey, 52, native of Maine, left widow and two children
William R. Parks, 48, native of Canso, N. S., left widow and four children
Reinard Peterson, 37, native of Norway, left widow
Peter Merchant, 48, native of Arichat, N. S., single
Horace E. Taylor of Attleboro, 52, native of East Harwich, widower
John F. Pool, of Rockport, 48, single
Lewis R. Perry, 30, native of Barrington, N. S., single
Charles A. Parsons, 40, native of this city, single
Mannel Lopez, 25, native of Pico, Western Islands, single
Arthur Evans, 22, native of English Harbor, Fortune Bay, N. F., single
Peter Richards, 24, native of Arichat, N. S., single

(Sheedy, R. “The George F. Edmunds.” Out of Gloucester.)

Snow. “The Pemaquid Shipwrecks.” Great Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. 195-196:

“A gale which caused great damage all along the Eastern seaboard hit New England September 17, 1903. Two shipwrecks occurred at Pemaquid Point, Maine, both of them resulting in loss of life. The George F. Edmunds of Gloucester hit on the east side of the rocks. Her captain, Willard F. Poole, was master and owner. The schooner had left Gloucester seven weeks before, but ran into bad luck, catching less than a barrel of mackerel. Finally deciding to return home, Captain Poole sailed by Monhegan[20] and was headed for Boothbay Harbor. He missed the way in the gale, however, crashing on the ledges of Pemaquid. He and thirteen of his men were lost, only two of the sailors being rescued.[21]

“The other vessel was the little two-mased coaster, Sadie and Lillie, which hit close by. Weston Curtis of Pemaquid, who saw the wreck, managed to get a line out to the schooner, and two men made their way safely to shore. The last to leave his ship, Captain William S. Harding, of Prospect, Maine, began the hazardous trip over the lines. Just as the captain was buried in the swirling seas halfway to shore, the lines snarked and jammed, and Captain Harding drowned before the eyes of the helpless watchers ashore.”[22]

Sep 18, Boston Post: “….Pemaquid, Me., Sept. 17. – Fifteen lives were lost and the bones of two staunch schooners were scattered along the rugged shore of Pemaquid Point as the result of the terrific storm which swept the Maine coast late last night and today. The wrecked schooners were the mackerel seiner George F. Edmunds of Gloucester, Mass., and the little two-mased coaster Sadie and Lillie of Machias. A list of the dead…as learned from the four survivors of the crew of the two vessels, is as follows:

Dead

“From schooner George L. Edmunds:

Captain Willard G. Pool, Gloucester, Mass., leaves widow and two children.

Simon De Lorry, Wellfleet, Mass., single.

William Parks, Gloucester, widow and five children.

Clayton (or Charles) Spinney, Gloucester, widow and three children.

Anton Hanson, Gloucester, widow and three children.

John H. Reinard, Gloucester, widow.

William Hickey, Gloucester, widow.

Peter Merchant, Arichat, N. B., single.

F. (or E. P.) Taylor, North Attleboro, Mass., single.

Samuel Sarts, Gloucester, single.

John F. Poole, Rockport, Mass., single.

Lewis R. Perry, Pubnico, N. S., single.

Edward (or B.) Parsons, Gloucester, single.

“From schooner Saia and Lillie:

Captain Harding, Prospect, Me., wife and three children.” ….

(Boston Post, MA. “Death List in Storm Grows Fast. Fifteen Lives Lost at Pemaquid, Me. 9-18-1903, p. 1.)

New Jersey

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of…FY 1904, p. 384:

“Sept. 16 [1903]…Red Dragon…American sloop…8 [tons]…Atlantic City, N.J. [Port sailed from]…Fishing banks [Port bound to]…Total [Loss]…Ballast [Nature of cargo]…5 [Crew]…5 [Lives lost]…Off Little Egg Harbor Inlet, N.J. [Place of disaster].”

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of…FY 1904, p. 384:

“Sept. 16 [1903]…Edith J. Peterson…American schooner…106 [tons]…New York City [Port sailed from]k…Fishing trip [Port bound to]…Total [loss]…Ballast [Nature of cargo]…20 [Crew]…20 [Lives lost]…Five Fathom Bank [NJ] [Place of disaster].”

Sep 16, Boston Daily Globe: “New York, Sep 16….At Plainfield, N.J., Joseph Wall Jr was killed by stepping on a high power electric wire which had been blown down….” (Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Three Killed By Live Wires.” 9-17-1903, p. 1.)

Sep 17, The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Frightful Storm of Hurricane Velocity Leaves Ruin on Atlantic City’s Beach Front. Special to The Inquirer.” 9-17-12903, pp. 1-2:

“Atlantic City, N.J., Sept. 16. – A cyclonic gale of wind and rain beat down over the resort for four hours this morning, rocking the big buildings to their foundations and creating apprehension for the safety of some of the hotels and apartment houses. Frightened visitors in the resort were fearful of a catastrophe as the wind reached the tremendous velocity of over seventy miles an hour. The crash of breaking windows along the ocean front, which caught the full force of the hurricane, was constant while the intensity of the gale lasted.

“A half dozen hotels were unroofed and 500 tenants in two of the big apartment houses were driven panic-stricken from their rooms at 7 o’clock through the havoc wrought to the buildings by the fury of the gale.

“The boardwalk is littered and blocked with the debris of wrecked pavilions and few hotels or stores escaped without the loss of plate glass windows or window panes.

“The damage is surprisingly small considering the record the cyclone made of being more violent than the great storm of 1889, when hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost. The aggregate loss to-day will exceed $50,000, but will not be over $75,000…”

Sep 19, Boston Daily Globe: “Atlantic City, N.J., Sept. 18 – The yacht Red Dragon, which left here Tuesday on a long fishing cruise, was wrecked in the storm of Wednesday morning. The bodies of Capt. Dewitt Clark and sailor Daniel Murdock were found today on the shore at Beach Haven,[23] and the hull of the Red Dragon went ashore at Harvey Cedars.[24] Three other Men were in the party.” (Boston Daily Globe. “Cruised to Death.” 9-19-1903, p. 3.)

New York

Sep 17, Boston Daily Globe: “New York, Sept. 16 – Gustav Wickman of Queens borough, was instantly killed during the heavy part of the storm by being struck by a broken trolley wire.

“Mrs. Hander Sonntag of Carlstadt, N.J., while crossing a street in that town, was struck on the had by a live trolley wire that had been blown down by the wind. Death occurred instantly….” (Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Three Killed By Live Wires.” 9-17-1903, p. 1.)

Off North Carolina Coast

Sep 18, NYT. “Castaways’ Awful Tale. Seven…Foundered Mexicano’s Crew Rescued.”

“The steamer Vidar, Capt. Sorrensen, arrived last night from Caribarien [sic], having on board six of the crew of the British steamer Mexicano, which foundered during a gale on Tuesday night….One of the survivors, August Osterlind…tells the following story:

About 4 o’clock on Sept. 15 we encountered a severe hurricane, blowing from the south. About 12 o’clock it shifted to north-west and blew with tremendous force. A heavy sea swept the steamer from stem to stern, carrying away the lifeboats and ventilators, flooding the engine rooms, and putting out the fires. The steamer then became unmanageable and was soon in the trough of the sea.

She rolled about for a little over an hour, when she sank stern first. The men in the forecastle were called out and told to be ready to save themselves the best way possible when the steamer went down. The boatswain refused to leave his bunk, saying if he had to die he would rather die in his bunk than in the sea. Two firemen refused to leave the stoke-room, preferring to take a chance on the steamer standing out the storm.

We were on the bridge with the officers and jumped overboard just as the steamer went down. Just before I jumped I heard two pistol shots, and I think some of the officers shot themselves, preferring that kind of death to drowning.

We drifted about for several hours, doing our best to keep together, but when daylight came there were but seven of us together. The second mate was about exhausted. He took off his lifebuoy, handed it to one of the sailors, said good-bye to all of us, and went down. We had about given up hope when we sighted the steamer.

“The Mexicano was a tank steamer, and carried a crew of twenty-two men besides Capt. King….The Mexicano…sailed from Marcus Hook, Sept. 14, for Vera Cruz….” (NYT. “Castaways’ Awful Tale. Seven…Foundered Mexicano’s Crew Rescued.” 9-18-1903.)

Virginia

Sep 19, Boston Daily Globe. “Forty Probably Lost.” Sep 19, 1903, p. 3:

“New York, Sept. 18 – The most tragic feature of today’s storm’s news was the virtual admission by the officials of the Atlantic fisheries company that the mossbunker fisherman Beatrice, which has not been seen since the gale of Tuesday night, is probably lost. The Beatrice, was a steamer, carrying a crew of 40 men. She was in charge of Capt. W. C. Lehland, and her crew were mostly negroes. She was on the menhaden grounds off cape Charles when last seen. Capt. Russell of the sister steamer Atlantic fears the Beatrice has gone down with all hands. She was 10 miles off Chincoteague point, Va, when the gale struck.

“It is estimated that in all 125 lives were lost along the Atlantic coast Tuesday night and Wednesday.

“All but two of the Fulton market fishing fleet has been accounted for tonight. The smacks missing are the Emily P. Wright, Capt. Albin Bjorkelund, owned by Herbert M. Rogers, and carrying 14 men, and the Edith Peterson, commanded by Capt. Harry Peterson and manned by the same number as the Wright.”

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of…FY 1904, p. 384:

“Sept. 15 [1903]. Beatrice…American steamer…159 [tons]…Lewes Del. [Port sailed from]… Cape Charles, VA [Port bound to]…Fish [Nature of cargo]…28 [Crew]…28 [Lives lost] Near Chincoteague, Va. [Place of disaster].”

Sources

Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Cruised to Death” [Yacht Red Dragon]. 9-19-1903, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=161902113

Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Fifteen Sailors Are Lost.” 9-18-1903, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=161902083

Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Forty Probably Lost” [Schooner Beatrice]. 9-19-1903, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=161902113

Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Storm Victims On Sea And Land.” 9-17-1903, p. 1-2. Accessed 8-31-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-sep-17-1903-p-1/

Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Three Killed By Live Wires.” 9-17-1903, p. 1. Accessed 8-31-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-sep-17-1903-p-1/

Boston Post, MA. “Death List in Storm Grows Fast. Fifteen Lives Lost at Pemaquid, Me. 9-18-1903, p. 1. Accessed 8-31-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-sep-18-1903-p-1/

National Centers for Environmental Prediction, NOAA. Early Twentieth Century. “September 15-17, 1903.” Accessed 8-31-2024 at: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/roth/vaerly20hur.htm

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts for the Philadelphia/Mt. Holly, NJ Forecast Area.” Mount Holly, NJ: NWS FO, Oct 17, 2005 update. Accessed 1-4-2018 at: https://www.weather.gov/phi/hist_phi

New York Times. “Castaways’ Awful Tale. Seven of the Foundered Mexicano’s Crew Rescued.” 9-18-1903. Accessed at:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0D12FC3F5D11738DDDA10994D1405B838CF1D3

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

Roth, David (Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, Camp Springs, MD) and Hugh Cobb (National Weather Service Forecast Office, Wakefield, VA). Virginia Hurricane History. “Early Twentieth History.” Accessed 1-5-2018 at: http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/roth/vaerly20hur.htm

Savadove, Larry and Margaret Thomas Buchholz. Great Storms of the Jersey Shore. Down the Shore Publishing, 1997.

Sheedy, R. “The George F. Edmunds.” Out of Gloucester. Accessed 7-23-2011 at: http://www.downtosea.com/1901-1925/georgef.htm

Snow, Edward Rowe. Great Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. Boston: Yankee Publishing Company, 1943.

The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Frightful Storm of Hurricane Velocity Leaves Ruin on Atlantic City’s Beach Front. Special to The Inquirer.” 9-17-12903, pp. 1-2. Accessed 8-31-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-sep-17-1903-p-1/

The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Ships Sink And Lives Are Lost In Wild Gales.” 9-17-1903, pp. 1-2. Accessed 8-31-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-sep-17-1903-p-1/

The World. “Captains Courageous and Men of the Fishing Fleet Lost.” 9-18-1903, p. 2. Accessed 8-31-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/world-sep-18-1903-p-2/

The World, NYC. “Summary of Death and Disaster…Worst Storm of Years,” 9-18-1903, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=137364262

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1904. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed 8-30-2024 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=mvtEAQAAMAAJ&q=Beatrice+schooner+1903+chincoteague&pg=PA384#v=snippet&q=Beatrice%20schooner%201903%20chincoteague&f=false

[1] Notes that three vessels were missing, the Beatrice with a crew of 40, the Emily P. Wright, with a crew of 14, and the Edith Peterson, with a crew of 14, for a total of 68, if all three boats were lost with no survivors. Otherwise the estimate of 125 lives lost is early speculation.

[2] Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Boy Dead At Hartford.” 9-17-1903, p. 2.

[3] Cape Henlopen Region

[4] Sheedy’s list of fatalities differs in several respects from the list of fatalities in the Boston Post of 9-18-1903, p.1.

[5] Differs in several respects from Sheedy’s list of fatalities. See Maine section below for both lists.

[6] Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Three Killed By Live Wires.” 9-17-1903, p. 1.

[7] Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Three Killed By Live Wires.” 9-17-1903, p. 1.

[8] The World. “Captains Courageous and Men of the Fishing Fleet Lost.” 9-18-1903, p. 2. Also Edward Petersen.

[9] The World. “Captains Courageous and Men of the Fishing Fleet Lost.” 9-18-1903, p. 2. The other two were Peter Barr and a fisherman names Wilcox.

[10] This NYT article does not note where on the coast the Mexicano went down. For that information we rely on Wrecksite.eu, “SS Mexicano (+1903),” which includes statement “The British tanker Mexicano, on passage Philadelphia to Vera Cruz, ran into heavy weather and foundered NE of Cape Hatteras.” Cites as reference: Hocking, C., Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam. “NE of Cape Hatteras” does not necessarily place the Mexicano off the NC coast as opposed to Virginia or Delaware, but it is the best we can derive.

[11] Not using the number 40 in that it is speculative and not supported by other sources we cite.

[12] There was a Boston Daily Globe report on 9-19-1903. P. 1 of “probably” 40 lost, but this was speculative.

[13] “The fishing schooner Beatrice disappeared into the cyclone several miles north of Chincoteague with a crew of 30 ($25,000)”.

[14] National Hurricane Center.

[15] Early American Hurricanes: Ludlam.

[16] Philadelphia weather records beginning with Center City readings, then continuing Dec 1, 1945, with readings from Philadelphia International Airport.

[17] New York City records.

[18] National Climatic Center

[19] A Philadelphia Inquirer article of 9-17-1903, p. 1, allows us to more precisely locate the loss: “Captain J. B. Mahaffey, of the schooner Hattie A March, and four of his crew were drowned early in the morning just outside the new breakwater.” (The Delaware Breakwater is just to the north of Dewey Beach, DE, jutting from a promontory

[20] Monhegan is a small rocky island ten miles from the nearest mainland – to the northeast is the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. (Monhegan Island Maine. “Welcome to Monhegan Island.”)

[21] Cites The Boston Post. September 18, 1903.

[22] Cites The Boston Post. September 18, 1903.

[23] Beach Haven is a borough on the barrier island if Long Beach located about 17 miles to the northeast.

[24] Harvey Cedars is also on Long Beach Island, about 12 miles to the northeast of Beach Haven.