Dear kofeee-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
The vessel “Dei Gratia” was known as a “Barque” (or “bark”, in
Norwegian). It is called this because of the way the rigging is
constructed. A typical “bark” had three masts, a square-rigged
foremast and mainmast and a fore-and-aft rigged mizzenmast. In this
way the rigging of a Bark differed somewhat from the rigging of a
Ship, and normally required fewer crew members, but each vessel was
commonly re-rigged if necessary in order to become useful in service
as the other.
You can see a depiction of a typical Bark vessel here:
NORWAY HERITAGE
http://www.norwayheritage.com/images/bark.jpg
Here are some statistics and characteristics of the Bark Dei Gratia
Weight: 273.5 kl (551 tons)
Date built: 1849
Location: Rotterdam, Holland
Ship’s owner: F. Lundin, Skudenæshavn, Norway
NORWAY HERITAGE
http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=deigr
In 1866, the 551-ton Bark Dei Gratia, is known to have been piloted by
Captain E. Berg and had only 17 crewmembers. It departed in ballast
from Bergen on May 14, 1866 with carrying 266 steerage passengers
(passengers berthed in the empty cargo hold in makeshift rooms made of
portable partitions) and 29 cabin passengers and arrived at Quebec
June 17, 1866.
NORWAY HERITAGE – BARK DEI GRATIA
http://www.norwayheritage.com/ships/dei-grat.htm
I do wish to pint this out. In doing your own research, I recommend
you steer clear of this document which is a fictional account based
largely upon speculation and imagination concerning the facts. This
link provides a lengthy, 21-page read on the account of Dei Gratia’s
1873 (the date indicated in this document) towing of the derelict,
170-ton brigantine Mary Celeste (changed to Marie Celeste, by the
author):, “owned by White, Russell & White, wine importers” of
Gibraltar. This information is offered pertaining to passengers and
crew:
“Captain J. W. Tibbs was an old servant of the firm, and was a man of
known ability and tried probity. He was accompanied by his wife, aged
thirty-one, and their youngest child, five years old. The crew
consisted of seven hands, including two coloured seamen, and a boy.
There were three passengers, one of whom was the well-known Brooklyn
specialist on consumption, Dr. Habakuk Jephson, who was a
distinguished advocate for Abolition in the early days of the
movement, and whose pamphlet, entitled "Where is thy Brother?"
exercised a strong influence on public opinion before the war. The
other passengers were Mr. J. Harton, a writer in the employ of the
firm, and Mr. Septimius Goring, a half-caste gentleman, from New
Orleans. All investigations have failed to throw any light upon the
fate of these fourteen human beings. The loss of Dr. Jephson will be
felt both in political and scientific circles."
This document also mentions “…Captain Dalton, of the Dei Gratia, an
able and intelligent seaman…”, These are entirely fictional
characters.
THE CAPTIAN OF THE POLESTAR BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Arthur_Conan_Doyle/The_Captain_of_the_Polestar/J_Habakuk_Jephsons_Statement_p1.html
The above account was certainly embellished a by Doyle for
entertainment purposes, and it doesn’t represent the true facts at
all. This, however, is what is officially known of the events:
On 7 November 1872, the ship (Mary Celeste) Marie Celeste sailed from
New York for Genoa in Italy with a cargo of 1701 barrels of American
Alcohol, shipped by Meissner Ackermann & Co., valued at roughly
$35,000, the purpose of which was to fortify wine. The value of the
freight on the alcohol was $3,400 and the ship herself $14,000. Her
Captain was an American, Benjamin Spooner Briggs (37), accompanied by
his wife Sarah Elizabeth Briggs (30), young daughter Sarah (aka,
“Sophia”) (2) and a crew of eight (including Briggs himself):
CAPTAIN BENJAMIN SPOONER. BRIGGS 37
ALBERT C RICHARDSON MATE AMERICAN 28
ANDREW GILLING 2ND MATE DANISH 25
EDWARD W HEAD STEWD & COOK AMERICAN 23
VOLKERT LORENSON SEAMAN GERMAN 29
ARIAN MARTENS SEAMAN GERMAN 35
BOY LORENSON SEAMAN GERMAN 23
GOTLIEB GONDESCHALL SEAMAN GERMAN 23
MARY CELESTE MANIFEST
http://homepages.tesco.net/~jimwatt/crew.htm
Just over a month after she left port, on December 5, 1872, the ship
was discovered deserted and adrift halfway between the Azores and the
Portuguese coast by the British cargo ship Dei Gratia (while on an
unknown venture of it’s own), and towed to Gibraltar.
Captain David Reed Morehouse, of the Dei Gratia later reported that
his crew had found half eaten meals in Marie Celeste’s mess hall, one
lifeboat missing and evidence that the ship’s crew had left suddenly.
Under maritime law of the time, Morehouse stood to make about $80,000,
a fortune sum in those days, by rightfully claming a percentage of the
abandoned vessel for having salvaged it from the sea. Investigators
eventually began to suspect Morehouse and his crew of murdering the
passengers and crew of the Mary Celeste upon learning that Morehouse
had dined with Mary Celeste’s Captain Briggs the night before their
departure. Since the evidence was circumstantial at best, (and
Morehouse was known to have been a personal friend and professional
acquainted of Briggs) all concerned were acquitted and no more was
ever learned of the Mary Celeste crew’s fate. After much moral
consideration and personal debate, Morehouse reluctantly accepted
about two thousand dollars in compensation for his salvage efforts,
much less than he was entitled to under the law.
These are the known crewmembers of the Dei Gratia that I found:
CAPTAIN DAVID REED MOREHOUSE, NOVA SCOTIAN
OLIVER DEVEAU, CHIEF MATE (1ST MATE)
JOHN WRIGHT, 2ND MATE
JOHN JOHNSON, CREW MEMBER
CHARLES LURD, CREW MEMBER
AUGUSTUS ANDERSON, CREW MEMBER
It wasn’t unusual, as I said, to have a small crew onboard a Bark, so,
I suppose, that is that…or is it?
The Mary Celeste mystery and surrounding events was somewhat of a
ghost story of the time. May people tried to capitalize on the tragedy
and some were more believable than others. If you are inclined to
speculate yourself as to the facts, consider this – you might find it
quite interesting:
Some years after the incident, William Foyle, a known liar and con man
who would not otherwise have been privy to certain information began
telling people a tall tale. He claimed to have been aboard the Mary
Celeste the night of the fateful events leading up to it’s
abandonment. Foyle said that he had stowed away on the ship (as he was
known to do) and hid in the cargo hold. One night, according to Foyle,
he woke up and heard a rumbling sound. It appeared to be coming from
the barrels in the hold (alcohol). He said he ran on deck and saw that
the crew had abandoned the ship and gotten into the lifeboat for fear
the cargo would explode. They were training the ship tethered by a 330
yard long rope. Foyle said he begged and pleaded to be allowed into
the lifeboat but the Captain refused to come near the ship. In his
anger, Foyle said he took and axe and cut the line, setting the
lifeboat adrift. He said he fell to his knees and prayed and
eventually the cargo settled down and stabilized. In time Foyle says,
the Dei Gratia came alongside and a boarding party came aboard the
Mary Celeste. Wanting to claim the drifting ship for himself,
Morehouse agreed to take Foyle back to shore in exchange for his
silence. Outnumbered by the Dei Gratia crew and afraid for his life,
Foyle said he agreed.
This may all sound like just another one of Foyle’s fascinating
stories but it is rather odd that he would know so many details if it
were not true. In addition, supposedly, at the court of inquiry,
witnesses said an 'unaccounted-for crew member left the Dei Gratia and
went to England.' His name was never recorded. (May be true, maybe
not? Who knows?)
I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If
you have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
THE MARY CELESTE CONNECTION
http://www.taxitalk.co.uk/pages/issue63/mary_celeste_connection.htm
GRAIL
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/015.html
BBC NEWS – “Famous ghost ship found”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1482337.stm
MARY CELESTE – A CLASSIC SEAQUAKE ENCOUNTER
http://www.deafwhale.com/maryceleste/
GHOSTS & THE UNEXPLAINED
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Metro/7669/lilspage21.html
MARY CELESTE
http://www.francescograssi.com/adv/2002_09_08_02.htm
NORWAY HERITAGE
http://www.norwayheritage.com/images/bark.jpg
http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=deigr
http://www.norwayheritage.com/ships/dei-grat.htm
THE CAPTIAN OF THE POLESTAR BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Arthur_Conan_Doyle/The_Captain_of_the_Polestar/J_Habakuk_Jephsons_Statement_p1.html
MARY CELESTE MANIFEST
http://homepages.tesco.net/~jimwatt/crew.htm
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
MARIE CELESTE
MARY CELESTE
DEI GRATIA
Alternatively used with these, the terms “Morehouse”, “Briggs”,
“Deveau”, “documents”, “inquiry”, “enquiry”, “testimony” |
