The Immigrant Ship Saint John

By Shannon Webber (Summary and Analysis)

Nineteenth century sea travel was a HOT mess.

We all know the story of the Titanic, a ship travelling from England to New York City that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912. That being said, very few people know about a shipwreck that happened sixty-three years earlier off the coast of Cohasset, Massachusetts in 1849 that led to the deaths of forty-five Irish emigrants coming to America to start a new life.

The ship in question, the St. John, was travelling from Galway, Ireland to Boston, Massachusetts when it encountered a massive storm off of the coast of New England on October 7, 1849. The ship’s Captain tried to anchor near Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse off of the coast of Cohasset for safety. Unfortunately, the storm was too strong and the waves too powerful for the ship’s anchors, and soon the St. John and her passengers were swept up in the mighty storm. The ship was quickly filled with water and crashed into the large rocks of Grampus Ledge in Cohasset Bay. Those onboard the ship tried to save themselves, but tragically many lost their lives (Snow, 90-95).

After the storm subsided, the bodies of the dead that could be found were brought to shore and put in a mass grave in Cohasset Central cemetery. In 1914 a large memorial of a Celtic cross was erected above the grave to honor those who lost their lives as a result of the sinking of the St. John. The text on the memorial reads as follows,

“This cross was erected and dedicated May 30, 1914 by the A.O.H [Ancient Order of Hibernians] and the L.A.A.O.H [Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians] of Massachusetts to mark the final resting place of about forty five Irish emigrants from a total company of ninety nine who lost their lives on Grampus Ledge off Cohasset October 7, 1849 in the wreck of the brig St John from Galway Ireland R.I.P.” (Cohasset Central Cemetery).

The people of Cohasset made a continued effort throughout the twentieth century to continue the remembrance of the sinking of the St. John. For in October of 1999 there was a two-day commemoration for the 150^th anniversary of the incident (Government in Northern Ireland).

Interestingly however, the person who has best preserved the memory of the sinking of the St. John is neither Edward Rowe Snow nor any of the people of Cohasset, but Massachusetts native and famous American author Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau’s 1864 book entitled Cape Cod which entails “essays based on observations [he]…made during three walking tours of the Cape he undertook between 1849 and 1855” opens with a chapter entitled “The Shipwreck” which discusses Thoreau’s experience with the St. John (Schneider, 463). The author witnessed the aftermath of the shipwreck and upon seeing the dead asked himself,

“Why care for these dead bodies? They really have no friends but the worms or fishes. Their owners were coming to the New World, as Columbus and the Pilgrims did, --they were within a mile of its shores but, before they could reach it, they emigrated to a newer world than ever Columbus dreamed of…” (Thoreau, 14).

This story is supremely valuable because it is a potential starting point for a discussion of the Irish in America in the middle of the nineteenth century. During the time of the shipwreck there was a great famine occurring in Ireland which led to many Irish seeking a new home elsewhere. Many of them came to the land of opportunity, the United States. Ships like the St. John were commonly known as “Famine Ships” and between the years of 1846 and 1851 are thought to have brought over “more than one million Irish” (Schneider, 467). In fact, at the time of the shipwreck the population of the greater Boston area was seventeen percent Irish, around 35,000 people (Schneider, 466). And a sizable portion of today’s American population are descendants of Irish famine survivors.

While the history of the Irish famine may be dark and often heartbreaking, it is an important event that greatly influenced the history of both Ireland and the United States. Every American History textbook features a line or two on the famine, but exploring the topic through the non-traditional lens of the tragic shipwreck of the St. John will only provide more depth to the subject and how it shaped the history of the United States.

Sources:

"Government in Northern Ireland; A Home for Boston's Irish Culture; Cross-Atlantic Business Booming; Irish Arts Play Prominent Role; Past Tragedies Remembered." The Boston Irish Reporter, Jan 01, 2000. Proquest. http://ezproxy.neu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.neu.edu/docview/367397044?accountid=12826.

Schneider, Ryan. “Drowning the Irish: Natural Borders and Class Boundaries in Henry David Thoreau’s ‘Cape Cod.’” ATQ 22, no. 3 (September 2008): 463–76. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.neu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=hlh&AN=34757932&site=ehost-live&scope=site.\

Snow, Edward Rowe. Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. Updated by Jeremy D’Entremont. Foreword by William P. Quinn. 1943. Reprint, Carlisle, MA: Commonwealth Editions, 2003.

“The History of Cohasset Central Cemetery: 14. Celtic Cross.” Cohasset Central Cemetery. https://cohassetcentralcemetery.com/history.

Thoreau, Henry David. Cape Cod. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1904. HathiTrust. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044046683355&view=1up&seq=11.

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AMERICA: AMERICA (From the Boston Evening Journal, Oct. 8.) A severe gale from N.E. commenced on Saturday evening, and raged with great fury during the whole of the night and throughout the day on Sunday. Sad, indeed, is the devastation which the gale has wrought upon the coast, and our worst fears are more than realized in the heart-rending accounts which we are called upon to chronicle below—and yet we fear that all has not yet been told. Below we give the particulars, so far as we have learned them. The British brig St. John, Captain Oliver, from Galway, Ireland, anchored inside Minot’s ridge about 6 o’clock a.m. on Sunday, dragged her anchors and struck on the Grampus rocks about 9 a.m. The captain, officers, and crew (with the exception of the first mate) took to the boat, and landed safe at the Glades. The passengers who were saved got on pieces of the wreck and landed near Whitehead, north end of Cohasset harbor. The number of passengers on board was about 164, out of which about 145 are supposed to have been lost. There were 14 cabin passengers, mostly women and children. Another account states, that the captain took to the jolly-boat, which soon swamped, and he swam to the long-boat, and was saved with 10 others. The second mate, two men, and two boys were lost. The remainder of the crew were saved. Captain Beals, of the steamer Mayflower, gives us the following particulars. He understood that the brig struck on the rocks known as the Sea Ledges, a little to the west of Minot’s ledge light, about one mile from the shore, and immediately went to pieces. There appear to be different statements in relation to the number of passengers on board. The captain says there were but 114, while the passengers who were saved say there were 150. Of those saved and arrived at Cohasset, 10 in number, seven were females and three males. Six of them were provided with quarters at the house of Captain Abraham II Tower, and the other four at Mr. Lathrop’s. All of these came ashore on pieces of the wreck. Two of the women, it is thought, will not survive, one being badly cut on the head by a piece of the wreck. The other woman, it is said, has a husband residing in this city. She had three children on board with her, all of whom were lost. Another gentleman, from Cohasset, informs us that the brig first went ashore about half-past six o’clock yesterday morning, and shortly after her masts were cut away to ease her. The captain and ten of the crew then took to the long-boat, and landed safely near the Glades. Previous to this, however, one of the mates with two of the crew and several of the passengers, attempted to leave the brig in the small boat, but she swamped alongside, and all were lost. The brig soon drifted on to the Grampus rocks, and almost immediately went to pieces, strewing the beach with fragments. The life-boat was manned, and every exertion made to save those floating in the surf on the pieces of wreck. Only ten, however, were saved, as stated above. Between 20 and 25 of the bodies of those lost had been recovered this morning when our informant left the spot. Preparations were making by the coroner to have them decently interred. As near as we can ascertain among the many conflicting stories there were 21 saved in all—19 passengers and the captain and 10 of his crew, who came ashore in the long boat. The number lost it is impossible to ascertain. According to the captain’s story there were 120 on board, including the crew. If this is true, there were 99 lost. The passengers who were saved maintain, however, that there were 150 passengers on board, which, if true, would swell the number of lost to 143! The captain and one of the mates, we are informed, arrived in the city from Cohasset in the noon train to-day. The following statement is from Captain Oliver himself:-- “Saturday, 5 p.m., passed Cape Cod with a light S.E. wind; weather thick; hove to with head to the N.E.; at 4 a.m. were ship and stood south; at half-past 6 made Minot’s ledge. Not having room to wear ship ventured to run where we saw a brig at anchor, inside of the light. The violence of the gale and heavy sea caused us to drag our anchors, when we cut away the masts, and held on for a short time. The gale increasing, she dragged again, struck and thumped heavily for about one hour before she broke up. Previous to breaking up the jolly boat was hanging by the tackles alongside, when the stern ringbolt broke, and the boat fell into the water. The captain, second mate, and two boys, jumped into her to clear her, when about 25 passengers jumped in and swamped her. The passengers, together with the second mate and two boys, perished. The captain caught a rope hanging over the quarter, and was drawn on board by the first mate. The long-boat was got clear shortly after, and a heavy coming on board cleared her from the vessel, when a number of passengers jumped over to swim to her, but all perished. The captain, first mate (Mr. Cummerford) eight of the crew, and two passengers, swam to the boat, and reached the shore in safety. The others, seven men and eight women, came ashore on part of the deck. Total loss of life, 99, saved, 21. 25 bodies have washed ashore this morning.” ~ Source: Newspapers.com ~ Creator: Glasgow Herald (Glasgow, Scotland) ~ Date: October 26, 1849

The Wreck of the St. John: The Wreck of the St. John ---------------- The American mail has brought further particulars of this disastrous wreck, an account of which appeared in The Morning Chronicle of the 23d ult. It will be recollected that the St. John struck on Grampus Rock, on the American coast, near Boston, on the morning of Sunday, the 7th ult. A letter, dated Cohasset, Monday, seven o’clock, p.m., says: “When Captain Oliver left the brig, he passed within hailing distance of a life-boat, in charge of Captain Prouty, which had put out to the assistance of another vessel at anchor in the cove; but he did not give information of the peril in which he left his vessel, and the life-boat proceeded on her way, the bold hearts who manned her not knowing that so many human beings in their immediate vicinity were about to be swallowed in the raging waters. It is, we understand, the unanimous opinion of the men in the life-boat, that had not Captain Oliver been criminally negligent, or actuated by selfishness or fear, a large proportion of the ill-fated passengers would have been saved. “The beach is strewed with fragments of the wreck; and the sight of dead bodies, as, one by one, they are dashed upon the shore by the foam-capped waves, forms a heart-rending and most fearful picture. We have no time to enlarge upon this most melancholy subject, but must leave it to the imagination of our readers. A large proportion of the bodies washed ashore were females, and among them several beautiful children, who, in death, retained the sweet, innocent, and confiding expression which knocks so forcibly at the heart. “Patrick Swany, whose body was recovered, lost eleven children, washed from the wreck by the same wave which carried him into the surge. Being a good swimmer, he attempted to save his youngest child, whom he held in his arms as the timbers parted, and struck out for the boat in which Captain Oliver and the crew were making for the shore; but no car was open to his cries for succor, and the strong man and his helpless child went to join those who had gone down but a few minutes before. “One remarkable incident, however, I will mention. A fine looking, bright boy, whom I have just been conversing with, not more than fourteen years old, sprang from the wreck into the boiling sea, struck out boldly and manfully in pursuit of the boat containing the captain and crew, and after swimming for some time in the wake of the boat was picked up and saved! His two sisters met a watery grave. Mr. Sarsfield O’Gorman has proceeded to Boston, for the purpose of inviting Bishop Fitzpatrick to assist at the obsequies pose of inviting Bishop Fitzpatrick to assist at the obsequies of the dead. The last rites will be performed to-morrow (Tuesday) afternoon, at two o’clock, the Rev. Messrs. Osgood and Reed, of this town, also being present, and taking part in the solemn exercises.” ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS. —The Boston Mail, of the 11th ult., contains the following particulars of the loss of the brig St. John, at Minot’s Ledge, on the 9th: -- “The following list, comprising the crew and passengers on board the St. John when she was lost, has been prepared with care, and is principally obtained from Captain Oliver and others of the survivors. As there are some conflicting statements in regard to the number of passengers on board, J.B. Monroe, Esq., our commissioner of alien passengers, has taken steps to obtain from Ireland a duplicate list of the passengers shipped in the St. John, if any is in existence, and otherwise to obtain all information possible upon the subject. The following names make the whole number on board (including the crew), one hundred and twenty: -- “Crew Saved. —Capt. Oliver; sailors: Benjamin O’Brien, Thomas Walker, Michael Kennelly, James Flaherty, 1st Mate Henry Cummiford, John Larkin, Andrew Forrest, Isaac Cummerford. “Crew Lost. —Antonio McDonough, William Angers, William Thompson, Edward Kennelly, Michael Conners (apprentices). “Passengers Saved. —Austin Kearn, Catherine Flannigan, Betsy Higgins, Mary Kane, Michael Fitzpatrick, Michael Gibben, Barbary Kennelly, Mary Slattery, Michael Rootching, Honora Counlin (she lost three children, and is now lying very sick, and suffering from her injuries, at the house of Mr. Lothrop, in Cohasset), Marv or Honora Burke (she also lost three children, and is at Mr. Lothrop’s, sick; her husband is in Ireland). “Cabin Passengers Lost. —Mary Flannigan, Nancy Flannigan, Margaret Flannigan, Bridget Quinn, Eliza O’Brien. “Steerage Passengers Lost. —Ann Slattery, Bridget Slattery, Bridget Kennelly or Counlin and three children, Patrick Sweeney, Mary Sweeney, Patrick Sweeney, jun., Miles Sweeney, Joseph Sweeney, Sally Sweeney, Thomas Sweeney, Cath. Sweeney, John Sweeney, Bridget Sweeney, Mary Sweeney, Peter Greally, James Greally, Patrick Cormorn, Miles Sweeney 2d., Michael Hannigan, Patrick Lahiff, Thomas Riley, Bridget Maddigan, Hugh Glynn, John Belton, Patrick McMahon, Bridget McMahon, Catherine McMahon, John Dolan, Mary Dolan, his wife, Thomas Fahey, Nappy Fahey, Bridget Fahey, Martha Fahey, Thomas Donnelly, Mary Freeman and child, Mrs. Michael Eagan, Mrs. Honora Eagan, Miss Bridget Eagan, Jeremiah Murphy, Hames Morgan, Margaret Keenan, Mrs. Brooks, Honora Mullen, Catherine Heniff, -- Heniff, sister to Catherine, Mary Cahill, Patrick Noonan, Martin Sexton, Daniel Byrnes, Michael Griffin, Catherine Byrnes, Peggy Malley, Mary Nolan, Ellen Hasset, Patrick McGrath, James McGrath, Minny Galvin, Mary Galvin, Margaret Kane, Mary McNamara, Mary Landsky, Mary Frowley and child, Bridget Doherty, Peggy Mullen and sister’s child, John Butler, Thomas Burk (mother saved), Eliza Burk ditto, Patrick Burk ditto, -- McDerratt, Miss McDerratt, Mary Joyce and child, Catherine Fitzpatrick, Bridget Mulligan, Bridget Burk, Peggy Purky, Martha Purky, Thomas Lahiff or Kwen, John Lahiff or Kwen, Mary Curtain, three Mulkennan children. “Summary: Whole number of passengers, 106; crew, 14; total, 120. Saved of the passengers, 11; crew, 9; total, 20; making the total number of souls lost by the wreck 100.” ~ Source: Newspapers.com ~ Creator: The Morning Chronicle (London, Greater London, England) ~ Date: November 1, 1849

Monument to St. John Dead. Granite Cross in Memory of 45 Immigrants Lost on the Cohasset Coast in the Storm of Oct 7, 1849. : Monument to St. John Dead. Granite Cross in Memory of 45 Immigrants Lost on the Cohasset Coast in the Storm of Oct 7, 1849. Saturday the State officials of the A. O. H., and the Ladies’ Auxiliary, with Gov Walsh for the principal speaker, will dedicate a magnificent Celtic cross of granite, which has been erected in Cohasset Cemetery as a memorial to 45 Irish immigrants who lost their lives when the brig St John was wrecked on the ledges Oct 7, 1849. The cross will be unveiled by Miss Teresa St John, a relative of the only survivor of the wreck still alive, and it is announced that 7000 members of the Order of Hibernians from all over Massachusetts will attend the ceremony. The words “St John” occupy an oddly prominent place in the story of this memorial, for it was the brig St John, bound for St John, N B, which was wrecked; one of the survivors, a woman, married Mr St John of Cohasset, and it is their descendant, Miss St John, who will unveil the memorial. Oct 7, 1849, was a Sunday, and one of the worst storms recorded in the history of Cohasset was blowing from the eastward. Two vessels had anchored inside Minot’s Ledge for shelter, but the wind blew so hard that one of them, the brig Kathleen, began to drag her anchors just before daylight. She came ashore a little to the southward, and the life-savers went to her assistance. While they were away the St John also dragged and came on to the beach. She was from Galway, Ire, with a passenger list of 99, many of them children. She had 22 of a crew. Her passengers had left Ireland in flight from the famine, which began in 1848, and from which the country was not yet recovering. The first wave that came aboard after the brig struck tore scores of people from her deck, and in 15 minutes all were gone. Here and there one would drift ashore, clinging to a bit of wreckage, and Charles Studley of Cohasset became the hero of the day by going repeatedly into the furious water to help these survivors to the beach. All the crew except the first officer were saved. Only 27 bodies came ashore, and these were buried in one big grave in a corner of the Cohasset Cemetery, a grave 20 feet long, 9 feet broad and 6 feet deep. Credit for starting the movement for a memorial is due to Michael Sweeney of Cohasset, who took up the work because his father’s dying injunction commanded it. He interested Dennis Slattery of Weymouth, State treasurer of A. O. H., who in turn placed the idea before State Pres Cannon. For several years the various organizations of the A. O. H. and the Ladies’ Auxiliary have been receiving subscriptions. Rev F. A. Brogan, pastor of the St Anthony’s Church, Cohasset, and his assistant, Rev Fr Herlihy, have taken deep interest in the project, and Fr Brogan was largely responsible for the success of the movement. With these men, as a committee of arrangements, have been associated Rev James J. Chuttick of Hyde Park, John Donovan, Patrick Murphy and Michael Sweeney. Michael Slattery will be the master of ceremonies at the dedication exercises, and Rev Edward Fitzgerald of Springfield the chaplain. The memorial is in the form of a Celtic cross, 19 feet in hight. It was designed by Francis J. Markahm of Quincy, and was cut and erected by Patrick J. Tagney of Quincy. The memorial consists of a base, a sub-base and a die surmounted by the cross, elaborately carved on front and back. On the front of the pediment is a shield containing the emblem of the A. O. H. On the back is a shield with the emblem of the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the A. O. H. Below the shield, on the front die, is carved the following inscription: “This cross was erected and dedicated May 30, 1914, by the A. O. H., and the L. A., A. O. H., of Massachusetts, to Irish emigrants from a total company of 99 who lost their lives on Grampus ledge, off Cohasset, Oct 7, 1849, in the wreck of the brig St John, from Galway, Ireland, R. I. P.” ~ Source: Newspapers.com ~ Creator: The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) ~ Date: May 24, 1914

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Shannon Webber (Summary and Analysis), “The Immigrant Ship Saint John,” Histories or Stories? The Power of Historical Narratives, accessed April 26, 2024, https://dh2020.rawhistories.com/items/show/3.

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Published on Jan 28, 2020. Last updated on Feb 15, 2020.

The Immigrant Ship Saint John

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