Discover your family's story.Start with your name.

Start Now

New London, CT Fishers Island Drowning 1788

July 2d, 1788, Capt. John Chapman and nine other persons, chiefly emigrants from Ireland, were drowned within twenty rods of the shore of Fisher's Island. The disaster was occasioned by the upsetting of two boats; one of them being deeply laden, was filling with water, and her people all seizing hold of the other, that also filled and sank. Capt. Chapman had just arrived with a company of emigrants, (probably about twenty,) and some of them being sick, he was attempting to land them on the island, where a tent was to be erected, in which they might perform the necessary period of quarantine. Capt. Chapman had served in the Revolutionary War, both in a naval and military capacity. He was a brother of Major James Chapman, who fell at Harlem Heights, in 1776, and of Lieut. Richard Chapman slain in Fort Griswold, in 1781.

History of New London, Connecticut: From the First Survey of the Coast in 1612 to 1860, page 577
__________________

Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!

Search for more information on this disaster and other train wrecks, fires, accidents, etc. in historical newspapers in the Newspaper Archive. Over one billion newspaper articles online!
Search for your ancestors among the billions of names at ancestry.com Find death records, census images, immigration lists and genealogy other databases for your surnames. Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.
Start Your Family Tree It's FREE and easy. Start with yourself, your parents, grandparents and you're on your way to building your family history! Get Started Now and build your family tree at ancestry.com. It's Free!

Find Your Ancestors For Free!

Take advantage of a free trial and start finding more information on your ancestors!

Military Records - 7 days for FREE! Fold3 Civil War, World War I, World War II, and more

Birth, Death, Marriage & Divorce Records, Obituaries - 7 days for FREE! Find genealogy records at archives.com

Census Records, Vital Records, Old Newspapers - 14 days for FREE! Trace your families history at ancestry.com Search millions of records.

Yearbooks, Death Records, Histories, Obituaries, - 3 days for FREE! Search huge database of Records at worldvitalrecords.com


Family Old Photos
| Old-Yearbooks.com | Old Photos & Genealogy Blog

gendisasters.com is a genealogy site, compiling information on the historic disasters, events, and tragic accidents our ancestors endured, as well as, information about their life and death. Database and records searchable by surname. Compilation, design, artwork and concept covered by copyright. Copyright ©2006-2011, All rights reserved. Contact me. Privacy Policy.