Powhattan (1837) Explained

The Powhattan or Powhatan was an American ship that is best remembered as one of the New Jersey shipwrecks with the greatest loss of life. The number of victims varies, according to sources, between 200 and 365.^[1]

The Powhattan was an emigrant ship transport of 598 tons gross. It was registered as a new vessel on February 2, 1837, with W. Graham as owner and D. Griffith as master (captain). The ship was built in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1836–1837 and made several trips across the Atlantic from England, France and the Netherlands to the ports of Baltimore and New York.

About the first of March 1854, the Powhattan sailed from the port of Le Havre, France, destined for New York City.^[2] It was carrying more than 200 German emigrants.^[3] After encountering a storm off the New Jersey coast it went aground about 5:00 p.m. on April 15, 1854, on the shoals near Harvey Cedars, New Jersey^[4] (latitude 39 33 00 North −74 13 00 West ^[5]), about six miles south of the Harvey Cedars Lifesaving Station.^[4] The ship remained afloat until the following day, April 16, 1854, whereupon it broke apart resulting in the deaths of the entire crew and passengers. At the time of the accident, the ship was commanded by Captain James Meyers (or Myers) of Baltimore.^[6] The victims washed onto the beach as far south as Atlantic City, where they were buried in three cemeteries. Fifty-four were interred in a mass grave at Smithville Methodist Church and 45 were buried in Absecon. The majority of the bodies, about 140, washed ashore at Peahala on Long Beach Island. These victims were buried in pauper's graves in the Baptist cemetery in nearby Manahawkin. The cemetery now includes "The Unknown from the Sea" monument erected by the State of New Jersey in 1904 honoring all the victims of the Powhattan shipwreck.^{[7] [8]} The Powhattan disaster served as an impetus for the purchase of the site for the Absecon Lighthouse later in 1854.^{[9] [10]}

Voyages from 1837 to 1854

Departure date	Port of departure	Arrival date	Port of arrival	Master	Purpose
July 25, 1837	Le Havre, France	September 4, 1837	Baltimore?	Griffith	Transport British and Irish immigrants
Unknown	Mobile, Alabama	October 13, 1837	Baltimore?	Griffith	Unknown
Unknown	Liverpool, England	May 2, 1838	Baltimore	Griffith	Unknown
Unknown	Liverpool, England	June 21, 1846	Baltimore	Haydon	Irish and British immigrants^[11]
Unknown	Le Havre, France	January 1, 1847	New Orleans	Stone	207 passengers ^[12]
Unknown	Le Havre, France	July 31, 1847	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown^[13]
Unknown	Liverpool, England	Dec 2nd, 1847	Baltimore	???	Irish immigrants ^[14]
Unknown	Le Havre, France	May 5, 1848	New York	Unknown	German immigrants ^[15] ^[16]
Unknown	Le Havre, France	April 2, 1852	New York	Unknown	French, Swiss ^[17] ^[18]
Unknown	Rotterdam, Netherlands	November 29, 1853	New York	Myers	Dutch and German immigrants ^[19] ^[20] ^[21]

Sources

• Great Storms of the Jersey Shore, by Larry Savadove and Margaret Thomas Buchholz, published by Down the Shore, 1993
• The New York Times April 21, 1854
• The Baltimore Sun, April 21, 1854, Friday morning edition
• The Daily Alta California, May 19, 1854 ^[22]
• A Heavy Sea Running: The Formation of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, 1846–1878 By Dennis R. Means, Winter 1987, Vol. 19, No. 4 ^[23]
• Brigantine Beach, New Jersey website ^[24]
• New Jersey Museum of Boating, Inc., Bay Head, New Jersey
• Maritime Heritage Project www.MaritimeHeritage.org, Post Office Box 2878, Sausalito, California, 94966 ^[25]
• Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
• Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, 1884, published January 17, 1884, page 82–83 ^[26]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Lure of Long Beach. George B.. Somerville. January 17, 2018. Long Beach Board of Trade. 73. January 17, 2018. Google Books.
2. News: The Wrecks At Absecom: Total Loss of the Powhattan. The New Times. April 20, 1854.
3. The University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Letters and Science, Max Kade Institute, New Acquisitions, Fall-Winter 2003, Subject Collection, Karl Althoff, "The Shipwreck of the Powhattan: Tragedy for Emigrants from Budenthal in 1854." The Palatine Immigrant, vol. 28, no. 3, June 2003, pp. 26–29. https://web.archive.org/web/20060901151627/http://mki.wisc.edu/library/newacqs/2003/NewAcqsFall2003.htm
4. A Heavy Sea Running: The Formation of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, 1846 - 1878. Means. Dennis R.. Winter 1987. Prologue Magazine. 11617965. 19. 4. 223–43. National Archives.
5. Shipwrecks off the New Jersey Coast by Walter and Richard Krotee, Middle Atlantic Underwater Council, Underwater Society of America, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1966 edition
6. Web site: Jonathan Pitney, M. D.: Fifty years of progress on the coast of New Jersey. Internet Archive. November 23, 2015. Brown. Allen Henry. Daily Advertiser Printing House. 1886.
7. http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/ocean/cemetery/omanahaw01.txt
8. Web site: The Powhatan Tragedy. www.RogerKreuz.com. January 17, 2018.
9. Web site: New Jersey Lighthouse Society - Absecon Lighthouse. www.NJLHS.org. January 17, 2018.
10. Web site: Absecon Lighthouse - Cyberlights Lighthouses. www.Cyberlights.com. January 17, 2018.
11. Web site: ISTG Vol 6 - Ship Powhatan. Al. O'Brien. ImmigrantShips.net. January 17, 2018.
12. Web site: New Orleans Ship Arrivals 1847 part 2 . 2009-09-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090505062733/http://www.theshipslist.com/1847/NewOrleansShips1847b.htm . 2009-05-05 .
13. Web site: National Archives . Manifest Header Data File, 1834 – ca. 1900: Manifest 46237: Powhattan . Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Germans to the United States, created ca. 1977–2002, documenting the period 1850–1897 . November 24, 2015.
14. Web site: Ship Powhatan; Liverpool, England to Baltimore, Maryland; 2 December 1847 . Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild . Transcribed by Janice Peterson . June 6, 2005 . November 24, 2015.
15. Web site: National Archives . Manifest Header Data File, 1834 – ca. 1900: Manifest 46820: Powhattan . Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Germans to the United States, created ca. 1977–2002, documenting the period 1850–1897 . November 24, 2015.
16. Web site: Castle Garden. www.CastleGarden.org. January 17, 2018.
17. Web site: National Archives . Manifest Header Data File, 1834 – ca. 1900: Manifest 6848: Powhattan . Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Germans to the United States, created ca. 1977–2002, documenting the period 1850–1897 . November 24, 2015.
18. Web site: Castle Garden. www.CastleGarden.org. January 17, 2018.
19. Web site: ISTG Vol 9 - Powhatan. Harry. Green. ImmigrantShips.net. January 17, 2018.
20. Web site: NARA - AAD - Display Full Records - Manifest Header Data File, 1834 - ca. 1900. AAD.Archives.gov. January 17, 2018.
21. Web site: Herman Joseph Meiring. RogerKreuz.com. January 17, 2018.
22. Web site: Archived copy . 2009-09-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110720073752/http://cbsrfs.ucr.edu/batches/LSTA_20070531.00_beaver/sn84031933/00000000047/1854051901/0544.pdf . 2011-07-20 .
23. Web site: A Heavy Sea Running. August 15, 2016. Archives.gov. January 17, 2018.
24. Web site: Brigantine Beach NJ History Brigantine Shipwrecks . brigantinebeachnj.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20020617230500/http://www.brigantinebeachnj.com/history_shipwrecks.html . 2002-06-17.
25. http://www.maritimeheritage.org/PassLists/js051854.html
26. Web site: Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society. New Jersey Historical. Society. January 17, 1885. New Jersey Historical Society. 82–83. January 17, 2018. Google Books.