John Minturn

John Minturn was a three-masted packet ship that was lost on February 14, 1846. The ship left New Orleans headed for New York carrying $80,000 in goods and crew and passengers totaling 51 individuals. Captain Dudley Stark was Master of the ship.[1][2] Her commander was Dudley Stark, who was a native of Stonington, Connecticut.[3] When the weather got bad, John Minturn took on pilot boat Blossom's Pilot Thomas Freeborn who tried to guide the ship to port.[4]

Wreck of the ship John Minturn by Nathaniel Currier
History
United States
NameJohn Minturn
OwnerNew York Pilots
OperatorDudley Stark, Thomas Freeborn
Out of serviceFebruary 14, 1846
HomeportNew York
FateWrecked February 14, 1846
General characteristics
Class and typepacket ship
Propulsionsails
Sail planSchooner-rigged

Construction and service

The John Minturn was a three-masted packet ship. Captain Dudley Stark was Master of the ship. She was used as a passenger ship from New Orleans. She had accommodations for cabin, second cabin and steerage passengers.[5]

End of service

The ship was caught in a gale off Mantoloking in Ocean County, New Jersey shore, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Sqwan inlet.[6] Thirty-eight lives were lost aboard the ship. This represented the largest loss of life from the storm which claimed upwards of 60 victims.[7] The disaster was immortalized in an 1846 hand-colored lithograph, Pilots' Monument, by Currier and Ives.[8]

Later, newspapers reported widespread plundering of the dead.[9] The reports prompted the New Jersey Senate to appoint a commission to investigate the validity of the claims. In a March 20, 1846, report by the commission to the Senate, the commission found the claims to be unwarranted.[10]

Pilots' Monument to Thomas Freeborn, Pilot, 19th-century engraving by James D. Smillie.

The 1846 wreck sparked the development of the United States Life-Saving Service, an agency that would assist shipwrecked crews and passengers.[11] That service would eventually merge with the United States Coast Guard.[12]

In 1847 the New York Pilots constructed the Pilots' Monument in memory of their comrade pilot Thomas Freeborn (1808-1846). It is located at the top of Battle Hill in the Green-Wood Cemetery.[13][14]

References
  1. "Interesting Details of the Late Storm–Inhospitality–Barnagat Pirates". The New York Herald. Vol. XII, no. 40. 19 February 1846. p. 1 – via Library of Congress.
  2. "Terrible Storm". The Spirit of Democracy. Vol. II, no. 51. 28 February 1846. p. 2 – via Library of Congress.
  3. Undiminished Violence: The John Minturn Storm of 1846, Thomas G. Clark, 2017, ISBN 978-1521133675
  4. Russell, Charles Edward (1929). From Sandy Hook to 62°. New York: Century Co. pp. 65–66. OCLC 3804485.
  5. "Passage For New Orleans". New-York Tribune. New York, New York. 24 Mar 1843. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  6. Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea; Or, Accounts of the Principal Calamities on the Ocean, which Have Occurred During the Present Century. Milner and Sowerby. 1 January 1863. pp. 267–269. Retrieved 2021-06-23 – via Google Books.
  7. "The Terrible Storm, On Saturday night and Sunday morning – Tremendous Loss of Life and Property – Ten Vessels stranded on Sqwan Beach – Sixty Human Beings Perished!". The New York Herald. 17 February 1846. p. 2 – via Library of Congress.
  8. Currier, N. "Wreck of the ship John Minturn: (Capt. Stark) on the coast of New Jersey in the terrible gale of Feby. 15th. 1846, 3 o'clock a.m. with 51 persons on board" – via Library of Congress.
  9. "Civilization and Barbarism". The Democratic Pioneer. Vol. 1, no. 27. 20 March 1846. p. 1 – via Library of Congress.
  10. "Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society". New Jersey Historical Society. 1 January 1879. p. 58 – via Google Books.
  11. Martin, Carolyn; and Hasset, Victoria. The Wreck of the John Minturn; The disastrous shipwreck off Mantoloking helped lead to the founding of the United States Lifesaving Service.", Point Pleasant Historical Society. Accessed December 31, 2016. "The wreck of the John Minturn off Mantoloking over a century and one half ago is among the most significant events in local history. The shipwreck and several others that year so shocked the nation that the United States Life Saving Service was created."
  12. Tracey, Sara (16 June 2016). "Captain's passion for wrecks sparks N.J. maritime history tome". The Press of Atlantic City.
  13. Rider, Fremont (1916). Rider's New York City and Vicinity, Including Newark, Yonkers and Jersey City. p. 446. Retrieved 2021-06-23. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. "Monument To Thomas Freeborn, Pilot Lost In The Ship John Minturn, February 15, 1846, Greenwood Cemetery". The Mariners' Museum and Park. 17 Feb 1846. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
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