In early January 1866, a schooner wrecked off of Martha's Vineyard,
Massachusetts. Some contemporary newspaper accounts give her name as
CHRISTINA, some as CHRISTIANA. Her point of origin was New York City,
probably in mid- to late-December 1865. Is there a record of
New York departures from that period that could give me the definitive ruling
on the name of this ship?

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 29 Sep 2003 20:36 PDT

Mccook --

I have an excellent source for ship arrivals and departures from that
era, but also know from genealogical research that newspaper records
are far from authoritative.  I'd be glad to look for ship arrival and
departure information from January 1866 if that's enough to further
your research. . .

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Clarification of Question by mccook-ga on 30 Sep 2003 16:36 PDT

Omnivorous-ga: Thanks for the request for a clarification and
apologies for the delay; for some reason Google has stopped sending
e-mails notifying me about clarifications and answers. I'm not sure
why. I didn't ask them to stop. Know whom I should talk to about this?

Any information from New York would be helpful. Our newspapers split
about 50/50 on the name of this vessel, and anything primary that tips
it one way or the other will be of great usefulness. As noted, based
on sailing times, my guess is that the vessel departed New York
sometime between mid-December 1865 and the first couple of days of
January 1866.

Many thanks,
McCook-ga

Hello.

It was the Christiana.

From the New York Times, January 13, 1866:

Disaster to the Schooner Christiana.
Holmes' Hole, Friday Jan. 12.
The schooner sunk near Cape Page is the Christiana, of Yarmouth, Me.
The mate Charles Tallman, of Osterville, was taken off yesterday with
his feet and hands badly frozen. Capt LEACH and the remainder of the
crew were frozen to death. The bodies of the unfortunate men have been
recovered.
source: The New York Times, January 13, 1866, page 8.

search strategy:
My local library has a trial subscription to the historical New York
Times archive. I searched the 1865 & 1866 issues for schooner

I hope this helps.

Boy, are you good at what you do. 

Thanks also to boquinha-ga for the help with the notification issue.

Hello mccook-ga!

I've let the editors know about the notification issue. Hope it clears up shortly!

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga

No problem. I've received word from them that they are on the case! 

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga