Joseph Baldwin Reed , Capt.

!Died: Lost at sea, South East of Cape Hatteras, while Captain of wrecked brig A.G. Jewett. From Reed family bible. Also imprinted upon his tombstone monument in Orrington (viewed by Lonnie Chrisman on Aug 9, 1993). These give a death date of 24 Feb 1884, but in the newspaper account taken from the lone survivor, James Bruce Pratt (1849-1901), it Capt. Reed and the cook went down with the ship when it sank on 23 Feb 1884 (see below). !Marriage: Listed in family bible owned by Clyde and Virginia Reed. !Marriage(Intention): In Orrington Town Records Marriage Intention Book B, p.76, entry #116, reads: "Orrington June 14th 1855. This day Mr. Joseph B. Read of Bucksport and Miss Hannah A. Bartlett of Orrington entered their Intention of Marriage in the Records of the town of Orrington. Attest Simeon Fowler, Town Clerk." !Birth place: In family bible, listed as Bucksport, Maine. However, on the birth certificate of Grace B. Reed, found in the Orrington Town Records, he reports his birthplace as Orrington. His birth record was not found in the Orrington town records. (The same holds for Maria A. Bartlett). !Tombstone: A large ten foot tall marble monument is shared by several members of his wife's family. One side reads: "Capt. Joseph B. Reed, Born March 11, 1831. Lost at Sea, Feb 24, 1884." On another side the monument reads: "Capt. Joseph B. Reed 1831-1884, Maria A. Bartlett, his wife, 1837-1905, Grace Reed Goss, 1869-1950". !Family: Listing of Children on pg. 404 of Orrington Town Records. !Census (1860): Bucksport, Hancock Co., Maine, p. 56, enum 12 Jun 1860, household 557, fam 471: Littleton Reed, 67, $1750/$1658, Mass. Cynthia, 61, Mass. Charles D., 23, Farmer, --/$400, Maine Henry, 21, Farmer, Maine Mary N., 19, Maine George W. Reed, 26, Sea Capt., $500/$1700, Miane Sarah, 19, Maine Joseph B. Reed, 28, Sea capt., Maine Annett, 23, Maine Joseph, 2, Maine !Census (1870): Brewer, Penosbcot Co., Maine, enum 6 June 1870, house 68, fam 78: Reed, Joseph, 39, master mariner, $2300, ME --, Maria, 32, keep house, ME --, Jospeh, 12, ME --, Harry [sic], 6, ME { Note: It clearly says Harry, not Henry } --, Walter, 3, NY --, Eva, 9/12, ME, born in March. !Census (1880): Brewer, Penobscot Co., Maine, T9-0486 p.566A Reed, Joseph B., age 49 b. ME, sea captain, married, white, par b. ME/ME --, Maries A., wife, 42 ME, keeping house, par ME/ME --, Henry C., son, 16 ME, occ=at sea, single, ME/ME --, Walter B., son, 13 NY, single, ME/ME --, Grace E., dau., 10 ME, at home, single, ME/ME ----------------------------------------- [My thanks to Janine Chinn for sending me these newspaper articles] From the "Daily Kennebec Journal", Augusta, Me., August 26, 1884 New York, March 25 The brig A. G. Jewett of Belfast, Me., Captain Reid from Philadelphia, Feb., 20th, for Matanzas was recked the 24th inst., southeast of Hatteras, during a heavy gale and foundered. The captain and cook went down in the vessel, but the rest of the crew, six in number, took to a boat which was in a bad condition so she was half full of water all the time. Five of the men died from exposure and only one survivor, James Pratt, the second mate, was picked up after being fifty-four hours in the boat by the bark Edward Cushing from Boston for Aspinwall and landed at that place, from which he was transported to this port. James Pratt, late second mate of the brig A. J. Jewett of Belfast, Me., who arrived in New York Tuesday in the Pacific Mail steamer Acapuico, from Aspinwall, gives the following particulars of the loss of his vessel. On the evening of Feb. 22d, in the Gulf Stream, latitude and longitude unknown, a violent gale commenced from the southeast, soon shifting to the southwest, in which the vessel labored fearfully. During the night of the 22d, the cargo shifted and the vessel sprung a leak. At 4 o'clock in the morning of the 23rd an attempt was made to wear the ship, but it failed, and at 5:30 A.M. she was struck by a very heavy sea and thrown of her beam ends, her mates being driven with the water. Soon after another sea struck her, washing off the crew from the weather side and turning her bottom side up, when she sank. The captain and the cook disappeared when she capsized. The rest of the crew succeeded in reaching on the boats that floated off when the brig went down. The boat was stove in and filled with water, but fortunately a spar to which she had been lashed(?) on deck still remained attached and this served to help keep her afloat. She had no sails or oars and the men were without provisions or a drop of water. The weather was very cold and as they had to stand up in the boat and hold on to the gunwales which were just above the water with the sea constantly breaking over them, their sufferings were intense. The mate and 2 seamen soon became exhausted and died during the afternoon of the 23d. Two more died the next day and the last one in the afternoon. As soon as the men died their bodies were thrown overboard to lighten the boat. The sole survivor, Pratt, was alone in the boat from the afternoon of the 24th, when after drifting in all, fifty-four hours, he saw a vessel heading directly towards the boat. He was too much exhausted to make any signal, but he was seen from the vessel, which proved to be the barkentine Edward Cushing, Capt. Bickmore of Camden, Me., bound to Aspinwall. He was soon rescued, a rope being fastened to him and he was hauled on the vessel more dead than alive, but with the kind treatment he received, he began to recover and regain strength. He arrived at Aspinwall on the 14th(?) inst. By that time he had recovered and upon reporting to the United States Consul., was sent home, Leaving Aspinwall on the 18th. Pratt hails from Gardiner, Me., for which place he will start as soon as possible. From the "Daily Kennebec Journal", Augusta, Me., August 28, 1884 A letter from Capt. Bickmore of the bark Edward Cushing at Aspinwall from Boston, was received yesterday, and confirmed the picking up at sea, in a boat alone, of Mr. Jas. B. Pratt of Gardiner, Me., a second mate of the brig A.G. Jewett of Belfast. Mr. Pratt informed Capt. Bickmore that had only shipped in the vessel a few days before her loss and hence does not know the names and residences of those aboard, but the mate's name he was sure was Clarke, and he belonged at Ellsworth, Maine and one of the seamen hailed from Bath, Maine. The mate and tow sailors died the first night in the boat and two others the next day. Capt. Bickmore states that Mr. Pratt was nearly exhausted when discovered.