Buzzards Bay, MA Yacht Mystery Wreck, Aug 1883 - The Victims

THE VICTIMS OF THE MYSTERY.

MR. ROBERT H. HAWKINS'S BODY REACHES THIS CITY.

The body of Mr. Robert H. Hawkins, one of the passengers on the yacht Mystery, which went down with all on board in Buzzard's Bay, arrived in this City yesterday and was taken to a Brooklyn undertaker's establishment, where it will remain until removed to Yaphank, Long Island, for burial early next week. It was closed in a hermetically sealed casket. The body was accidentally found on a little island off Pocasset, in Buzzard's Bay, by a farmer named Jesse Barlow, who was out huckleberrying. It was imbedded in the long sea-grass which grows in profusion all about that vicinity. Mr. Barlow knew nothing of the loss of the Mystery or of the reward offered for the recovery of young Hawkins's body until he was notified by the Selectman of Pocasset, to whom he reported his discovery. the old man seemed perfectly bewildered when Mr. Burlinger's representative gave him the $100 reward, as he had probably never had so much money at any one time in his life. The possession of the money made him the lion of the town for a time. No traces of the bodies of Messrs. Leicester Sargent or Joseph P. Bartlett have yet been discovered and fears are entertained that the bodies will not be discovered. The body of Mr. Rupert Sargent will probably be interred in New-Haven, Conn.

BOSTON, Mass., Aug. 25.---A New-Bedford dispatch says: "The yacht Mystery, recently lost and towed to this port, was hauled upon the beach at Crow Island this afternoon at low water and examined. Her bottom is in good condition with the exception of a small hole on her port quarter, just above the water-line, which was probably done in towing her to port or else stove while in the water after filling. The personal effects of the Sargent brother were found as well as the charts, &c. One life preserver was also found, showing that but three had been made use of. A calendar clock in the cabin had stopped at 6:44 with the indicator at 12, showing that the disaster occurred on the 12th inst. Something startling must have happened, for, when found, she had all sail set, jib and flying jib, and the tender to beach her. The most plausible theory is that she capsized, as no mark of her going on rock appears. The vessel is over-sparred and carried too much sail. No other body has yet been found, though the shores have been patrolled continually. The body of Rupert Sargent will be taken to New-York for interment."

The New York Times, New York, NY 26 Aug 1883

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THE LOSS OF THE MYSTERY.

NEW-BEDFORD, Mass., Aug. 26.----The friends of Leicester Sargent and Joseph W. Bartlett, the missing men of the yacht Mystery's party, are still here making every possible effort to find the bodies. It is the opinion of those best informed that unless the bodies are found in a day or two, they will not be recovered.

The New York Times, New York, NY 27 Aug 1883