34. Shipwrecks and Genealogy

 

On a dark and stormy night in 1875, the good ship SS Pacific floundered in high seas after a collision with another vessel and went to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Washington, complete with over 300 passengers and a secret cargo.  Only two people survived this maritime disaster.  The secret cargo proved to be one of gold bullion, worth an estimated $100 million today.

 

Fast forward some 147 years and the remains of the SS Pacifichave finally been found by a group of maritime salvage experts using the most modern of deep-sea exploration equipment, underwater rovers, and side scanning radar.    

 

The ship had departed Olympia, Washington on that fateful day in November 1875 (long before Washington was declared a state), picking up wealthy passengers along the way.

 

Of course, the salvage team had to seek jurisdictional approval to reap any rewards for their efforts (i.e., bringing gold bullion to the surface).  However, officials also required that the salvagers exert some effort on behalf of the descendants of the passengers who died on that terrible night.  They must determine the ownership of any personal valuables retrieved and return those to the descendants.  Hence, our salvagers must now also become genealogists to satisfy the provisions of their license.

 

Think of it!  Grab a passenger list and start working on those 300 or so family trees, seeking to find living ancestors of the rich and famous who were on board the SS Pacific when she sank.  What a great project!  

 

Ron Gilmore

Email:         rvg3@me.com

Website:     https://www.rgenealogy.ca