Back out at sea, 30 survivors were clinging to a makeshift raft, going without food or water for three days. Finally, with hope all
but gone, they were rescued by the Henry Camerdon, a schooner bound for Wilmington.
One account says the survivors included a Mr. Ridge and a Miss Onslow.
Mr. Ridge made a raft from an old sail, pieces of furniture and an empty
cask. After climbing aboard, he saw Miss Onslow struggling in the water.
He helped her onto his raft and begged one of the lifeboats to make room
for her, but she refused to leave him. The report states they were taken with
each other’s courage and fortitude, and became engaged while floating in
the middle of the Atlantic.
After they were rescued, Mr. Ridge offered to release Miss Onslow from
the engagement. His entire net worth, some $25,000 in gold coins, was
lost with the Pulaski. Miss Onslow wouldn’t hear of such a thing. She
might have been prepared to live with her new love in poverty, but she
didn’t have to. She was a wealthy heiress worth $200,000.
The tale of Mr. Ridge and Miss Onslow is a wonderful, romantic
love story. But that’s not what got the attention of treasure hunters. It
was the realization that his gold coins, along with those of the other
wealthy passengers, were still at the bottom of the sea.
“This was a really fast luxury vessel,” Webb says. “This particular
trip had an extreme amount of the country’s wealthiest folks on
board. They carried large amounts of wealth with them, and jewelry
because it was a status symbol. From what we estimate, there were
150,000 different coins on board. Pesos, British, U.S.”
Right, from top: An 1836 $5 gold half eagle, featuring the “Classic
Head” design in use from 1834-1839, from the Pulaski after being
conserved by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, (NGC). The first
coins recovered from the wreck site.
Diver Rodney Grambo holds what Blue Water Ventures believes
is a piece
of rare Cobalt Clover stoneware, circa 1800s, inside
a white dinner service saucer, both recovered from the Pulaski
during the second week of June 2018. The stoneware piece
bears the name MYERS & BOKEE. Henry Myers and John C.
Bokee were Baltimore pottery merchants. A March 2017 auction
catalog description of a two-gallon stoneware jar says only a few
pieces of signed Myers & Bokee stoneware are known.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com
CLARK DOZIER
BLUE WATER VENTURES
NUMISMATIC GUARANTY CORPORATION
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