Connecticut's Tragic Maritime Ties

Written by Leah Marie, 2 May 2025.

Updated 7 June 2025.

Connecticut is a coastal state. Throughout its history, men (usually men) have sailed, commanded, and serviced ships. This land is also abundant with lakes and rivers - another potential peril. In the cemeteries in and near coastal cities and towns, you can find many reminders of the area's treacherous maritime history. There are epitaphs that reference drownings, deaths while maintaining the more modern machinery of ships, and those who were lost at sea. (Those lost at sea technically have cenotaphs memorializing them, rather than tombstones.) There are also several people who survived shipwrecks - some of the most historic sea disasters in history. If you know where to look, you can find those who lived to tell tales of the Titanic, Lusitania, and Morro Castle. 

Soldiers and Sailors Lost at Sea

"This Stone is Erected by JASON GOULD in memory of his honored Father Col. ABRAHAM GOULD who fell in defence of his country at RIDGEFIELD April 27th 1777 aged 44 years

And of his deceased Brothers JOHN BURR GOULD died at Sea June 2d 1784 aged 20 years HEZEKIAH GOULD drowned at NEW YORK Oct. 30th 1789 aged 30 years and 

DANIEL GOULD drowned on the coast of FRANCE Dec. 28 1796 aged 20 years"

Old Burying Ground, Fairfield

"In memory of Capt. NATHANIEL BURTON of Trumbull, who departed this life at the Island of Antigua June 10, 1801 whilst master of the schooner Liberty, of Bridgeport; aged 38, & is there intered.

Also of Mrs. NANCY, relict of Doct. Stephen Middlebrook of Trumbull, Formerly wife of said Burton who died Oct. 5, 1823, & is here intered, aged 57."

Long Hill Burial Ground, Trumbull

"In memory of CAPT. CHRISTOPHER SMITH aged 40 years; a native of Hanson Massachusetts, who was lost from on board the sloop Eliza Nichols on her passage from New Bedford to New York on the 4 of Jan. AD. 1823" 

Old Burying Ground, Fairfield

"CAPT. AARON HAWLEY

Eldest son of Stephen & Tempe Hawley 

who died at sea Aug. 19th and found a sailor's grave 

Aug. 20, 1847. 

AE 31.

JOHN W.

Son of Aaron & Mary Ann Hawley

Born March 31, 1844,

Died Dec, 20, 1884."

Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport

"Sacred to the memory of ROBERT ANDREWS who died at sea Apr. 25 1853 Ae. 38 Yrs. 1 Mo. & 3 D's & interred at Acapulco, Mexico.

Also MARTHA DOWNS wife of Robert Andrews who died May 4 1875 Ae. 54 Yrs. 5 Mo. & 12 D's."

Willowbrook Cemetery, Westport

USS Hartford, decommissioned 1926

Launched in 1858, the Hartford was a sloop-of-war steamer that served in several prominent campaigns during the Civil War.  She was decommissioned in 1926, and she was left to eventually deteriorate. She sank in her berth in 1956. (Information from Wikipedia.)

"GEORGE H. LOUNSBERY,

was killed at Vicksburg.

July 15. 1862,

AE. 27 Y'rs.

He was an Officer on board of the U.S. Flag Ship Hartford commanded by Admiral Farragut and fell with his face to the Enemy in defence of his Country. "

Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport

"In memory of FREDERICK F.

son of SAMUEL & MARY A. CLARKE

Born at Westport.

May 22, 1844.

Died at sea.

Aug. 13, 1870.

Aged 26 years."

Christ and Holy Trinity Church Cemetery, Westport

Drowned

On November 19, 1801, David Brinsmade Wilcockson was returning home from Derby. Supposedly, while crossing the Housatonic River via Leavenworth's Bridge, he was thrown from his horse. His body was found the next day in the river, his horse still standing on the bridge.

"This Monument is Sacred to the Memory of Mr. DAVID BRINSMADE WILCOCKSON A Masonic Brother who unfortunately Drowned Nov.r 19th 1801 in the 26th year of his age. he was graduateed at yale College in the year 1788. he possessed while Living every virtue to make Life happy and talents to make it agreable. by his Death his Relatives acquaintance & Society Sustains a real Loss."

East Village Cemetery, Monroe

"SACRED

to the Memory of

CHARLES BALDWIN

Aged 14 y'rs. & 6 mo's.

Born in New Orleans.

December 9, 1833

Drowned in Monroe. May 29, 1847

I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."

Monroe Center Cemetery, Monroe

"Horace Clark drowned Aug. 23, 1859 Ae. 20 y'rs & 3 mo." The rest of the inscription is mostly illegible. 

Putney-Oronoque Cemetery, Stratford

Freddie R. Boothe (1874 - 25 January 1882; buried on the Lewis plot)

According to the Connecticut Western News (published in Salisbury, CT), February 1, 1882 edition, "Freddie Boothe, aged 8, fell into the sound at Bridgeport last Tuesday, and drowned."

Union Cemetery, Stratford

Perils in the Pursuit of Industry

The steamer United States

I was unable to locate any information on the United States.

Online research revealed to whom this stone belonged. The top half was nowhere to be found.

Ephraim Wooster: 

Sept. 14 1764 - Sept. 11, 1830

"who was killed by the explosion of a 

steam boat boiler Sept. 11, 1830 

and buried in New York aged 66.

Also his son Joseph D. Wooster

died at New Iberia Jan. 26 1832

and buried on the island of Belize aged 31.

Mary daughter of..."

Mary was the daughter of 

Ephraim and Mitty (Vose) Wooster.

She died August 29, 1805, aged 3 months.

(From Connecticut Marriages and Deaths 

1792-1837:

"At New York Harbor: 

Mr. Ephraim Wooster, 

of Derby, Conn., ae. about 60 years:

died, as result of explosion on board 

steamer UNITED STATES, 

near Blackwell`s Island.")

Great Hill Cemetery, Seymour

USS Chicago, decommissioned 1926

Launched in 1885, the first USS Chicago was a protected cruiser of the United States Navy, the largest of the original three authorized by Congress for the "New Navy" and one of the U.S. Navy's first four steel ships.  She was decommissioned in 1923 and in 1936, she "foundered" in the Pacific while being towed from Honolulu to San Francisco.  (Information from Wikipedia and Naval Encyclopedia.)

"Erected by his Shipmates on the U.S.F.S. Chicago to the memory of HARRY OAK who was killed while in discharge of duty in Portland, Me. Sept 7, 1891" He was 51 years and 6 months old. 

Cause of death on record listed as "accident (crushed)". 

Department of Navy Records of Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action:

"USS Chicago steamer being lowered into cradles when hook carried away and killed Harry Oak. 7 Sep. 1891."  

Lakeview Cemetery, Bridgeport

Maritime Catastrophes

The schooner Speedwell, capsized 3 March 1898

Caught in a squall, 9 people drowned

(The above photo is of another schooner built by the Collier Family, the Eureka. I could not locate a photo of Speedwell.)

While on a voyage to Key West, Speedwell was caught in a squall off the Marquesas. The ship capsized, and all those below deck were trapped and drowned. This included the entire Nichols family and three young sons of the captain, Bill Collier. Captain Collier, two deckhands, and another passenger were swept into the sea, but managed to return to the ship and tie themselves to the rigging. Once the storm had calmed, they cut loose a dinghy, bailed it out with a hat, and rowed three miles until they were rescued by a fishing sloop.

Bradley Nichols (born 1832),

his wife, Sarah Louisa Pardee (born 1833),

their son, Warren Bradley (born 1856),

Warren's wife, Ida Augusta Giddings (born 1864),

and their children, Bradley Giddings (born 1889) and Charlotte Augusta (born 1895)

were all drowned in the shipwreck. 

A third child of Warren and Ida was not present on the ship.

The Nichols family has a monument in Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport. 

Information taken from the Virginia Chronicle, Daily Star, Volume 5, Number 952, 4 March 1898

RMS Titanic, sank 15 April 1912

Struck an iceberg, 1503 souls lost

The Titanic, billed as the largest and most luxurious ship to ever ply the oceans, was considered by many to be unsinkable. On her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York, she struck an iceberg and sank 370 miles off Newfoundland.

"Oscar Leander Johansson Palmquist

1885 - 1925

Survivor of RMS Titanic"

Palmquist was a Titanic survivor and murder victim. He was a third-class passenger on the RMS Titanic (1912). He jumped from the ship as the liner slid into the ocean. He had tied two life belts around his waist in an effort to fight against the powerful suction created by the sinking ship. Palmquist clung to a stateroom door in the freezing water for more than five hours before being rescued by the Carpathia. He was assisted by a young woman in one of the lifeboats who let him hold onto her shawl like a rope, helping to keep him afloat.

While working as a tool maker at A. H. Nilson Co. (Bridgeport), Palmquist befriended a co-worker. He then began an affair with the man's wife. On 27 March 1925, Palmquist told acquaintances he was going to a party. He withdrew some money from the bank and stopped at a local barbershop. That was the last record of his whereabouts. On 18 April 1925 (almost 13 years exactly from the sinking of the Titanic), his body was found in Bunnells Pond, Beardsley Park, Bridgeport. His death, at the time, was reported as an accidental drowning. It is now commonly believed that he was murdered by the jealous husband. The local undertaker told Palmquist's brother and sister that he had found no no water in his lungs, and therefore Oscar did not drown. He also stated that the decomposition of the body was more consistent with lying on land than in water. Oscar's brother, Amandus (buried elsewhere in Mountain Grove), later said that he had searched for Oscar when he went missing, but had been warned to stop asking questions, and was threatened with the same fate as his brother. Oscar's nephew, Robert Palmquist, said that "Oscar never went near the water after the Titanic disaster. He also was a strong man and would not have drowned in a pond." Bunnells Pond was shallow – about 5 feet deep. Oscar was buried in an unmarked grave in Mountain Grove until a grave marker was placed in 2013. (Appreciation to Encyclopeida Titanica for filling in the gaps.)

Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport

RMS Carpathia, sank 15 July 1918

Rescued survivors of the Titanic disaster

The Carpathia, launched in 1902, became famous as the rescue ship of the Titanic's survivors. In 1918, she was torpedoed by German submarine, SM U-55 near Ireland and sank. 218 of 223 passengers and crew survived.

SKIDMORE

Lewis Palmer Skidmore (1877 - 1955) and Emily Cordelia Vinton Skidmore (1884 - 1959).

The Skidmores were passengers on the Carpathia when the Titanic struck an iceberg. The Carpathia was the only ship to heed the Titanic's distress call and rescued the doomed ocean liner's survivors. Jack Thayer, who was brought aboard the Carpathia, described the sinking to Skidmore, who drew sketches detailing the disaster. Notably, the sketches show the Titanic breaking in two before plunging below the waves, a fact most people did not believe until Robert Ballard found the wreckage in 1985. According to one report, "Lewis Skidmore had to buy fresh shirts and collars, as his own had been given to survivors."

Union Cemetery, Stratford

RMS Lusitania, sank 7 May 1915

Torpedoed, 1193 souls lost

The Lusitania, launched in 1906, was steaming from New York to Liverpool during World War I. She was struck by a torpedo fired from German U-boat, U-20. Of the 1,960 souls onboard, 767 survived. 

MacFarquhar

Father, John (1856 - 1926) - killed in an explosion on Christmas Day.

Mother, Jane (1862 -1942) and daughter, Grace (1898 - 1979) both survived the sinking of the RMS Lusitania on 7 May 1915. 

Union Cemetery, Stratford

Isaac Blair Trumbull

(4 Nov. 1882 – 7 May 1915)

President of the Trumbull Motor Company in Bridgeport. By early 1915, the company was producing 300 cars a month. Trumbull boarded the RMS Lusitania with 20 “Trumbull cars”, on his way to England. He held ticket 8568, and he stayed in cabin B-1. Trumbull was killed in the attack on 7 May 1915. His body was recovered and identified (No. 137) and sent to New York onboard the S. S. New York.  The Trumbull Motor Company ceased production after Isaac’s death. (Information from The Lusitania Resource and Wikipedia.)

Trumbull has a cenotaph in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport. I hope to have photos soon.

SS Morro Castle, burned 8 September 1934

Destroyed by mysterious fire, 137 souls lost

Morro Castle, launched in 1930, was an ocean liner that traveled from New York to Havana. On a return voyage from Cuba, 8 September 1934, a fire was detected in a utility closet. A series of mechanical and crew errors allowed the fire to spiral out of control. In all. 137 people succumbed to smoke, fire, or drowning, before the burning ship beached itself at Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Many historians agree the fire was deliberately set by radio operator, George White Rogers. Two years after the fire, Vincent Doyle suspected Rogers of setting the fire on Morro Castle. (Rogers had a criminal history, including suspicious fires.)  Rogers attempted to kill Doyle with an explosive device. Doyle was injured and Rogers was sent to prison, released in 1942. In 1952, William Hubbell loaned Rogers some money. Hubbell began to pressure Rogers to repay the loan. In 1953, Hubbell and his daughter were found bludgeoned in their home. Rogers was found guilty of their murders and sentenced to life in prison. 

Rogers had also not been fond of Morro Castle's captain, Robert Rennison Willmott, who told his officers that someone was trying to kill him. Captain Willmott died mysteriously hours before the blaze.

William Wright (1917 - 2001) was a wiper in the engine room of Morro Castle on its last voyage. Wright escaped aboard one of the six lifeboats (No. 10) which had been lowered from Morro Castle.  (Thanks to Peter's Morro Castle Page for the information.) William Wright is buried in Bethel Cemetery - Elmwood Section in Bethel.