The British schooner Asp, captained by Captain Prossey, met a tragic fate on October 10, 1820. The schooner, which was bound from Newark to Kingston, encountered a severe storm while off Long Point on Lake Ontario. The vessel, a wooden schooner of unknown tonnage, was laden with lumber and had eleven individuals on board, including passengers and crew members.
During the storm, the Asp was driven onto the bar at Salmon River, near Mexico Bay, New York. The violent waves and treacherous conditions made rescue attempts challenging. A man aboard the schooner signaled for help, but initial efforts to reach the wreck were unsuccessful due to the sea breaking over it.
Finally, when the wind somewhat subsided around 1 o’clock, rescuers managed to board the wreck. They saved two survivors: James Young, a seaman, and Miss Jane Gibson, an Irish lady who was a passenger on the ship. Miss Gibson was found lashed to the windlass, unconscious and badly bruised. Young, kneeling by the hause hole with a turn of cable around his waist, was also in a state of exhaustion and suffered injuries, including broken fingers and bruising. Tragically, they were the only survivors of the eleven souls who had left Fort George just a few days earlier.
The lady, who was returning from Queenston, Upper Canada, to Quebec en route to Ireland, had managed to save her gold watch, which she carried in her bosom. However, the cabin had been washed open, and the sea had shattered the deadlights, resulting in the likely loss of all the passengers’ baggage. Miss Gibson, 24 years old, revealed that several other passengers had been on board, and five of them, including a man, his wife, and their child, had perished in the cabin before the schooner righted.
Further details about the Asp’s loss and the circumstances surrounding it emerged in subsequent accounts. It was suggested that Captain Prossey might have been imprudent by pressing too much sail during the storm, leading to the vessel’s capsizing and subsequent wrecking. The schooner suffered extensive damage, with its masts and spars entangled in rigging, its deck swept clean, and its hull split and planks torn off.
Local authorities, including the Coroner of Richland County, took possession of the wreck as required by law and salvaged what they could. The vessel’s condition was described as deplorable, and it was deemed practically worthless except for its irons. Some rigging, the anchor, and cable were saved, along with staves that had been in the hold. The majority of the deck freight, along with items recovered from the captain’s pockets and trunk, were collected along the shore.
The loss of life on the Asp was significant. The bodies of seven victims were found and given a decent burial, but two individuals, including a young man and a little girl, remained missing. The survivors, Miss Gibson and James Young, owed their rescue to the courageous efforts of six men who repeatedly braved the raging sea to reach them.
The tragedy of the Asp’s shipwreck deeply affected those who learned of the incident. Levi Tryon composed a lamenting poem about the events, expressing sorrow, prayers, and reminders of the need for repentance and spiritual preparedness in the face of uncertain fates at sea.
Newspapers reported the distressing shipwreck, recounting the details provided by eyewitnesses and survivors. The accounts highlighted the harrowing conditions faced by those on board, the valiant rescue attempts, and the ultimate loss of life, leaving only two survivors
Here are the sources and references related to the schooner ASP (formerly the Canadian Merchantman ELIZABETH) on February 1, 1813:
1. Donald V. Baut Notes Great Lakes Ships
2. John E. Poole notes, Bowling Green State University
3. “Steamboat Era in the Muskokas” by Richard Tatley
4. Kingston Gazette, June 30, 1815 (For the sale of the schooner)
5. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume 1, page 68 (For ASP’s naval history)
6. “Hist., of the Great Lakes” by Mansville (Reference to ELIZABETH)
7. “The Town of York” by Edith G. Firth, page 290 (Mention of ELIZABETH)
8. Oswego Palladium, October 19, 1820 (Report on the wreck of the ASP)
9. Kingston Chronicle, October 20, 1820 (Report on the wreck of the ASP)
10. Letter from the Coroner of Rickland U.S. to Thomas Racey of Niagara, November 3, 1820 (Details about the wreck)
11. “Liverpool, (Onondago County) N. Y. Oct. 16” (Additional information on the wreck)
12. “Cleveland Weekly Herald,” Tuesday, November 14, 1820 (Account of the loss of the ASP and its passengers)
These sources provide information about the history, capture, and subsequent events related to the schooner ASP (formerly ELIZABETH) and its fate during a shipwreck.
