If you peruse the list of survivors published in the Pennsylvania Gazette, you find two names – one Gustavus and the other Thomas. Turns out they were both brothers, and they survived the treacherous swim to shore. If they were injured it wasn’t recorded through a family record. I swim in the Atlantic every summer miles north of the site of Faithful Steward. The coastal mid-Atlantic region can be a dangerous place to swim if you are unwise. A storm of unknown proportion blew in that fateful night – September 1, 1785, and I may have found historical evidence of where the storm had been. Speaking of Gustavus, on January 30, 1786 nearly five months after the shipwreck, he returned to the port of Derry on the St. James following a thirty-four day passage. Why did he return? We have record of his praise of the captain of the ship signed at Moville or Moville Bay, along with many other ship passengers. They faced a dangerous passage – again. Gustavus and another brother, Hugh, became very closely aligned in merchant business with one of the wealthiest men in the world. Thomas chose a mariner’s life. There is a lot more but you’re going to have to read the book to find out.
Harry Allen Wenzel 