Ship HOWADJI, 1853 (was: ship named HAWARDJI??)
Michael Palmer
> In Germans to America I found this ships name (in caps, just as I wrote
> it)listed as sailing from Antwerp to New York, arriving 18 Nov., 1853.
> Could someone please tell me if they have ever heard of this ship? My
> ggrandfather, Friedrich ALTVATER and his brother Adam were supposedly on
> board.
The vessel in question is the ship HOWADJI, of Newburyport, Massachusetts,
George E. Balch, master, which arrived at New York on 16 November 1853
(the passenger manifest is dated two days later), from Antwerp 17
September, and Flushing 8 October, with merchandise and 259 passengers, to
Funch & Meincke. According to contemporary New York newspapers, "The H
has experienced heavy westerly gales the entire passage; 17 deaths has
[sic] occurred during the passage." (The fact that the vessel tarried for
three weeks at Flushing suggests that fever may have broken out among the
passengers almost immediately upon departure from Antwerp, but the
contemporary New York newspapers make no mention of this.)
Note that the transcripts in _Germans to America_ are notoriously
inaccurate, so you should check the printed information on Friedrich and
Adam Altvater against the microfilm copy of the original passenger
manifest, which you will find on National Archives Microfilm Publication
M237, roll 134. You can borrow a copy of this microfilm through Heritage
Quest (http://www.heritagequest.com), any LDS (Mormon) Family History
Center (Family History Library microfilm #0175490), or Interlibrary Loan.
I know relatively little about the HOWADJI other than that she was a
3-masted, square-rigged ship, 695 tons, built at Newburyport most
probably in 1852 [New York _Herald_, 13 November 1857, p. 8f], although
possibly as early as 1845 (John Robinson and George Francis Dow, _The
Sailing Ships of New England, Series Two_, Marine Research Society, 5
[Salem, Massachusetts: Marine Research Society, c1924), plate 408]. The
word "howadji" comes from the Arabic for "merchant; rich (in particular,
European) gentleman". The vessel was owned by William Balch & Son, of
Newburyport, and was commanded in the 1850's by George E. Balch. Although
she made at least one voyage to Antwerp, and was lost on a voyage from
Boston to Liverpool, she appears to have been engaged primarily in the
coastal trade, sailing between New York, Philadelphia or New England and
New Orleans: 1853 she was advertised as sailing in the Eagle Line of
coastal packets between New York and New Orleans, and in 1854 as sailing
in the Philadelphia & New Orleans Line of coastal packets between
Philadelphia and New Orleans [Carl C. Cutler, _Queens of the Western
Ocean; The Story of America's Mail and Passenger Sailing Lines_
(Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, c1961), pp. 519, 541]. On 3
November 1857, on a voyage from Boston to Liverpool, she was struck by
lightning, and burned at sea. The following is an account of her
destruction, taken from the New York _Herald_, 13 November 1857, p. 8e-f:
DESTRUCTION OF THE SHIP HOWADJI, OF NEWBURYPORT, BY FIRE
--The ship HOWADJI, Capt. George E. Balch, sailed from Boston 30th
ult[imate] for Liverpool, with a cargo of cotton, hemp, oil cake, &.
She was 693 tons burthen. Nothing out of the usual course occurred
until Nov 3, at 5 PM, when the ship was struck by lightning, knocking
down the second mate and several of the men, and setting fire to the
ship in the lower hold. The small of burning cotton was immediately
perceived, and the hatches were opened, but the locality of the fire
could not be discovered. Finding the smoke issuing freely, the
captain closed the hatches, making all tight, with the purpose of
stifling the fire. The ship was then headed for Sable Island,
distant about one hundred miles. The weather was light, but breeze
NW and squally. At 8 1/2 o'clock a ship was discovered standing to
the westward, and finding the fire progressing fast, the captain
deemed it advisable to run for her. Her attention was attracted by
blue lights and rockets, and at 9 1/2 o'clock she was spoken, and the
condition of the HOWADJI stated, with the request that she should
keep with the ship, which she did. The fire, however, progressed
fast, and finally she was, by request, hove to and the crew of the
HOWADJI taken on board at 11 PM. The small boat made half a dozen
trips, saving the chronometer and the personal effects, in part, of
all hands. The deck and masts were at this time very hot, and much
smoke was forced out. The captain saw the impossibility of saving
the ship, and reluctantly abandoned her at 2 AM of the 4th.
Immediately on leaving the ship, the flames burst out, and shortly
after the ship went down in about lat 42 50 N, lon 61 40 W, the
mizzenmast standing. The ship GUTTENBURG, Capt Meyers, from Hamburg
bound to New York, was the one that rescued the crew, and Capt Balch
commends his prompt answers to his signals, his keeping company as
requested, and his final hoving to and rescuing himself and crew.
Capt Meyers showed his unfortunate guests every attention and
kindness, and they wish publicly to thank him and his people for
their uniform kindness and good will.
[The HOWADJI was a fine vessel of 700 tons, built at Newburyport
in 1852, and rated A1. She cleared Oct 23 from Boston for Liverpool,
loaded with 1299 bales cotton, 500 bales hemp, 1359 bags oil cake, 36
bales rags, 4200 staves, 22 hhds tallow, 10 bbls tallow, 10 bales
rags. Value of cargo estimate, $92,000; freight $9000; vessel
$35,00--total loss, $135,000. She is insured in Boston for $142,000,
as follows: Merchants' office $27,500, Boston $21,000, American
$20,000, China $17,000, Boylston $17,000, National $16,000, Mercantile
$8500, Alliance $10,000, Franklin $5000; New England Mutual $700,
and Neptune $400. The H was owned by Wm Balch & Son, of
Newburyport.]
For more information on the HOWADJI, contact the
Peabody Essex Museum
East India Square
Salem, MA 01970
http://www.pem.org
John Robinson and George Francis Dow, _The Sailing Ships of New England,
Series Two_, Marine Research Society, 5 (Salem, Massachusetts: Marine
Research Society, c1924), plate 408, reproduces an oil painting by S. J.
Cresey, of Newburyport, of the destruction of the HOWADJI. I attach a
scan of this picture, in .JPG format. I do not know the present location
of the original, but the Peabody Essex Museum should be able to give you
this information (indeed, it may now have the original among its
collections).
Michael Palmer
--
Michael Palmer
Claremont, California
mpa...@netcom.com