Articles relating to the Mary Celeste
THE REGISTER
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1912
The Mystery of the Mary Celeste
(Digby Courier)
Capt. Oliver E. Deveau died at his home in Brighton on Tuesday,
the 10th inst,
aged 76 years. The deceased was born at Cape St. Marys,
moving to Brighton
when he was a young man. He was an old time sailor, a thorough
officer and a
man capable of sailing a ship to any part of the world. His last
voyage was to
Cuba some four or five years ago when he was obliged to leave his
ship owing
to illness and return home. He is survived by a widow, one son,
James Deveau,
who holds a responsible position with the telephone company in
Springfield,
Mass., and two daughters, Mrs. Jessie Melanson, of Plymouth,
Mass., and Miss
Addie A., at home. The funeral was held from his late home on
Friday with
interment in the St. Croix cemetery at Plympton. The Courier
extends its
deepest sympathy to the bereaved ones.
The death of Capt. Deveau recalls to memory the mystery of the
brigt. Mary
Celeste which has called forth during the past 40 years many
columns of
newspaper stories, magazine articles and even dime novels. The
facts of the
strange affair are as follows:
On Nov. 15th, Capt. Oliver E. Deveau sailed from New York for
Gibraltar, chief
officer of the brigt. Del Gratia. After a rough passage of 26
days they
reached the Western Isles after which the weather became very
moderate. On
Dec. 4th, in latitude 38 20 N., and longitude 17.15 W., they fell
in with
another brigantine which was under moderate sail and appeared to
be steering a
very peculiar course. They bore down on her and found the strange
acting
vessel to be the brigt. Mary Celeste, of New York, abandoned. She
was boarded
and Capt. Deveau was placed in charge. The captain of the Del
Gratia furnished
him with two men which he styled as captain and cook. These
three, working
night and day, took the strange vessel to port, reaching
Gibraltar Dec. 13th,
making the run of 600 miles in nine days in heavy weather,
working their 200
ton craft successfully but under great difficulties. She was
bound to Genoa,
Italy, with $80,000 worth of alcohol.
While all kinds of stories have been imagined as to what became
of her
original captain and crew and why they abandoned their vessel,
the whole
affair still remains a mystery.
Capt. Deveau has been interviewed by hundreds of newspaper men
during the past
forty years. He related the entire story to the editor of the
Courier in the
cabin of the old tern schr. Xebec of Bear River more than thirty
years ago,
when Capt. Deveau was chief officer of that vessel and the editor
"a small
cabin boy."
It was thought that Capt. Deveau and his men would be well paid
for his heroic
work in saving the Mary Celeste and her valuable cargo, but the
whole affair
got involved in litigation and the captains share became a
small one.
The captain of the strange vessel had his wife and child on board
besides his
crew of eight men. The sewing machine had been recently used. The
captains
clothing and watch were hanging up in his state room. The
vessels boat and
papers were gone. The entire crew appeared to have left in great
haste taking
practically nothing with them. Marine men from all parts of the
world put
forth different ideas as to why the vessel was abandoned, but
Capt. Deveau
could always explain by referring to some circumstance in
connection with the
way the vessel was found that they were wrong. Capt. Deveau
himself could not
account for their strange disappearance, nor could anyone else
from that day
until the present time, and we very much doubt if the mystery
will ever be
solved.
Berwick
Register,
Wednesday Evening, December 15, 1915
A Mystery Ship.
Mr. Clarence Ward, in his Old Times articles in the St. John
Globe,
unearthed an 1852 newspaper account of a mystery ship that was
found off
Gaspe. He says:
The case of the "Marie Celeste," found abandoned in the
Mediterranean
some years ago, with everything on board in order, even to
prepared food
on the cabin table, and in pots in the gallery, and every
evidence of
peaceable occupation by officers and men, carried on without
interruption of any kind, boats in place, sails and rigging in
good
order, but not a sign of officers or crew on board, has ever
remained an
ocean mystery. One of our city papers of February 28, 1852,
contains an
account of a somewhat similar case, occurring off our own shores,
except
that in this case the vessel had suffered some slight damage.
Miramichi February 23: - The courier from Perce to Restigouche,
has
informed me that when he left below, there was a large barque in
the ice
off Gaspe. The barque had her fore-top-sail and jib set. Two men
by
means of a small skiff, got on board the barque, and found her
laden
with red pine. There were sixty bags of bread and twenty barrels
of
four, also the ships papers on board. There appears nothing
wrong with
her but the loss of her rudder, and part of bow-sprit. A crew of
men are
going on board, with the intention of working her out of the ice,
and
taking her to some port in Nova Scotia, or Newfoundland; if they
cannot
clear her, to remain on board till the warm weather sets in.
There was
not a soul to be found on board, yet strange to say, none of the
boats
belonging to the ship were gone, all being in their proper place,
so
that what has become of the crew remains a mystery.
Berwick Register,
June 27, 1934
One Of The Greatest Mysteries Of The Sea
Why was the Nova Scotia vessel Marie Celeste deserted by her
officers
and crew in December, 1872?
There is not one word in her log-book or elsewhere to give any
reason
why the ship should be deserted; and the finding of the vessel
some time
later, still intact and under sale, but without a soul on board,
has
given rise to one of the greatest sea mysteries within the memory
of
living men.
After sailing from New York early in November, 1872, the Marie
Celeste
was not sighted by any other vessel until December 5, when the
Del
Gratia which had left New York on November 15 for Gibraltar,
hailed the
ship but got no answer. Men climbed on board, to find the vessel
deserted. The only living thing was a cat contentedly sleeping on
a
locker.
The Marie Celeste had sailed about a week earlier than the Del
Gratia,
also bound for Gibraltar, but when found, about 600 miles from
that
port, was actually sailing in the opposite direction.
The Marie Celeste built at Advocate Harbor, Nova Scotia
was a
staunch brigantine of 236 tons burden, and seemed to be in
excellent
condition when found in mid-Atlantic without a soul on board.
Everything about the deck was in good order. There was not a
trace of
trouble. Most of her sails were neatly furled, and the ship was
sailing
off the wind though not steering a steady course.
All the captains effects clothing, books, etc.
were found in the
cabin. There was an entry in the log-book dated November 24 and
an
entry on the log-slate dated November 25, showing that they had
sighted
the Island of St. Mary (Azores).
The boarding party did not find the ships register or
similar papers
concerning the ship, but only some letters and account books. The
dishes and the remains of a meal were still on the table in the
cabin.
A dress which the captains wife was making for her small
daughter, who
accompanied them, was found unfinished in the captains
cabin.
The crews clothing was all left in the forecastle
their oilskins,
boots and even their pipes, as if they had left in a great hurry.
The
ashes in the galleys range were still warm, yet not a
living soul was
found on board and no ships boat was visible anywhere on
the ocean.
Here, surely, was a mystery if ever there was one.
The Vice-Admiralty Court of Gibraltar investigated the case.
Enquiries
were made far and wide, while the authorities waited anxiously
for word
of the missing captain, his wife, daughter and crew. But no word
ever
came. No word has come to this day. Not one of the missing men
was
ever seen again.
Berwick Register,
November 23, 1938
The Story of The Mary Celeste
(By C. W. Moffatt in Maritime Advocate and Busy East)
The Story of the Nova Scotia brigantine Mary Celeste,
one of the
mystery ships of the Atlantic, has been written and dramatized
but to
this day the mystery surrounding her remains unsolved.
The ship was built by Joshua Dewis, of Spencers Island,
Cumberland
County, and launched in 1860 as the Amazon. Seven
years later she
went ashore on the rugged coast of Cape Breton Island near Port
Morien.
Refloated and repaired she sailed again only to meet a similar
fate on
the coast of Maine.
An American syndicate purchased the grounded ship, made her
seaworthy
and changed her name to the Mary Celeste. Taken to
New York she was
loaded with alcohol and set sail for Genoa on November 7th, 1872.
Her
departure was well remembered by the people on the dock at New
York that
November morning for there stood with them a seventeen-year-old
girl who
had recently married First Mate Albert G. Richardson, a native of
Maine. With tears in her eyes she stood there waving a fond
goodbye to
her husband of less than a month. On board the Mary
Celeste Captain
Benjamin Briggs stood on the bridge looking out to sea while his
wife
and young daughter joined the First Mate in waving farewell to
the
lonely girl on the dock. As the brigantine spread her sails and
disappeared from sight the spectators and the young bride on the
dock
turned away little knowing that they had seen the crew of eight
and the
Captains wife and daughter for the last time.
On December 4th, twenty-eight days later, the Captain of the
Dei
Gratia sighted the Mary Celeste off the Canary
Islands. She was
drifting in a light breeze with sails set and apparently no one
at the
wheel. The Dei Gratia sent out a boat and the Captain
and members of
the crew boarded the brigantine. They found everything ship-shape
with
the exception of a loose hatch-cover which was stained with
blood. Near
by lay a sword smeared with blood. There was a broken rail, but
everything else was in first class condition. In the
Captains quarters
breakfast was on the table untouched. The sextant and chronometer
was
missing. The ships log revealed that the last entry had
been made on
November 24th at noon, but offered no solution to the enigma.
The Captain of the Dei Gratia was not troubled by the
mystery, the
seas abound with them, so he took the Mary Celeste
into Gibraltar
where she was manned by a new crew.
After the ship had docked at Gibraltar many stories were
circulated as
to what had happened. Since then many explanations of the mystery
have
been offered. The most generally accepted belief is that on some
morning between the 25th of November and the 4th of December,
while the
Mary Celeste was sailing along quietly and the
captain and his family
were at breakfast, there was a terrific explosion. This explosion
may
have resulted from an accumulation of alcoholic fumes in the
hold. To
account for the blood on the hatch cover and the sword, it is
thought
that a sailor must have been near the hatch with a sword in his
hand
when the explosion threw the hatch cover up at him causing the
sword to
pierce his body. It is further supposed that the suddenness of
the
explosion created a panic and in a few moments everyone including
the
Captain and his family were crowded into a single boat and
lowered into
the sea, the rail having been broken in the rush. As they pulled
away
from the Mary Celeste with great haste expecting she
would instantly
be blown to the winds by further gas explosions, a stiff breeze
sprang
up and carried her away. Too late they realized their mistake.
They
could see her in the distance sailing fast away. With the boat
overcrowded and a gale rising, they presumably all met death by
drowning.
After she had been manned by a new crew at Gibraltar and
delivered her
cargo of alcohol at Genoa the Mary Celeste returned
to the United
States. For the succeeding twelve years she was idle for want of
cargo. In 1885 she sailed from Boston, Massachusetts, for Port au
Prince and was wrecked off the coast of Haiti. $30,000 cargo
insurance
is said to have been collected by her owners.
There were eight persons beside the captains wife and
daughter on board
the Mary Celeste as she sailed from New York on her
ill-fated voyage.
They were: Capt. Benjamin Briggs, his wife and daughter, of
Marion,
Massachusetts; Mate Albert G. Richardson, a native of Maine;
Andrew
Gilling and Edward William head, of New York City; Volkert
Lorenzen,
Arian Harbens, Bos Lorengo and Gottlieb Goodschaad, all of
Germany.
Today the only authentic painting of the brigantine
Amazon or Mary
Celeste hangs in the Fort Beausejour Museum, which is
located near
Sackville, New Brunswick. The question of what took place on
board the
Mary Celeste on that fall day, sixty-six years ago
remains unanswered,
a dark mystery of the sea.