Paper Collectibles Show

Shortly after discovering our wonderful treasures and the stories behind them, my mom found an advertisement for a historical paper collectibles show about 40 minutes from home. Being the enthusiastic mom-and-daughter duo that we are, we thought it would be a fun field trip, with my other sister, to take the book and telegram and see what we could learn.

Upon entering the convention center, we were directed into the exhibit hall to meet the “expert,” a dealer/exhibitor named John Heleva (who wasn’t exactly the Antiques Roadshow type). I was young at the time, but my mother pulled out her journal recently, and here is how our conversation with Mr. Heleva went...

We showed him the book.

“Hmmmmm....a thousand dollars, maybe” he said.

My mother was honestly surprised. It seemed more important than that to her, but, she figured: what do I know? We realize now, that was exactly what he was thinking: “What does she know?” There she stood, with me and my sister, Ashley, in a wheelchair; she was obviously “just a mom”.

We showed him the telegram. “Wow”, he whispered, in spite of himself.

Silence.

“Is it worth more than the book do you think?”

“Naaah. I’d sell them as a set. Four to five thousand.”

That makes it worth more than the book if my math is correct, thought Mom. This was the first sign that everything wasn’t quite right here.

“Sell to whom?” she asked.

“I know the guy who bought out all the Central America treasure. Dwight.”

“Really? Can you tell me how to reach him?” It was a lead at least to someone who might care more than this guy.

His answer shocked us. “No”, he replied after a long pause, “You’ll have to deal through me.”

“I see. Fine...thank you for your time.”

The next time we saw him, as we were leaving the show, he was sitting at his booth, his back to us, stuffing down a sandwich. His pants were too low, and we had to avert our eyes.

Before we left the show however, we stopped at a stamp collection booth, something I was into as a little girl. As I was looking at the stamps, my mom was looking at an original art piece of a side-wheel steamer. She struck up a conversation about the art piece with the dealer.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. “My grandfathers captained paddlewheel steamers in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, that’s why I’m here. My third great-grandfather was the 2^nd officer on the S.S. Central America and I have some artifacts with me connected to the shipwreck.”

We showed him the things.

There was a wonderful pause.

“Wow,” the exhibitor and a nearby patron responded in unison. “You know what you ought to do with that?” said the exhibitor with excitement. “Take it over to the F.U.N. show at the Orlando Convention Center—just down the street here. Ask for David Bower, booth 400 something, section E, left hand side of the aisle, I think.”

We felt the thrill of inner confirmation though we had no idea what F.U.N. stood for. The exhibitor went on to explain that the F.U.N Show was the biggest coin collector show in the nation.

Of course! we realized. The Central America was a sunken gold mine, recovered in 1989; the treasure had just begun entering circulation! Who would be more interested in our artifacts than…TA! DA!...coin collectors!

And there they were – all those numismatic enthusiasts -- all together that very weekend – right across the street...

Survivor

“Will you go down with me?”

“Yes, Captain.”

Even though James had a young wife, and two small children at home in Brooklyn, he agreed to stay at his captain’s side until the end. They both dressed in full uniform and stood together on the wheelhouse – waiting for their inevitable doom. All of the sudden the ship made three great lurches as it started to go under. A massive wave engulfed the ship and tore James from Captain Herndon’s side.

As he splashed into the sea, James instinctively threw off his boots and coat and swam away from the crowd of drowning men and the whirlpool effect created by the sinking vessel.

He then spent several hours in the open ocean, throughout a dark, stormy night, desperately holding onto a chair. Close to complete exhaustion, James came upon one of the ship’s passengers, Dr. Obed Harvey, who was using a door as a floating device. Even though it was a risk to his own life, Harvey agreed to share his door with James. Dr. Harvey is later quoted with saying:

“The man said his name was Frazer and that if he were lost at sea, he would leave a young family in New York destitute. ... I told him ... that we would sink or survive together."

In the very early morning, they were rescued together by another ship, the Norwegian bark Ellen. At his first opportunity, in the port at Norfolk, Virginia, James sent his wife the precious telegram we found in the box.

“Ship foundered at sea. Will be home as soon as I can. J.M. Frazer”

After learning more about our ancestor’s history and connection to the notorious event, our family heirlooms (the book and telegram) became even more of a treasure to us. We handle them carefully like the cherished objects they are; considering them more precious than gold…

Now….if only we could have gotten our hands on some of that sunken gold….Oh wait, we did!

To be continued…

The Telegram

Just when we thought our Mary Poppins-like box had run out of surprises, one last dive into the unknown unearthed a folded, yellowed piece of paper.

See image:

It was a telegram! - a telegram sent from my forth-great grandfather, James Monroe Frazer, to his wife in Brooklyn, New York!

“Ship foundered at sea…”???

What did THAT mean? The telegram was sent September 18, 1857, just six days after the sinking of the SS Central America!

Was my grandfather a part of that historic event?!
WHY was he on the ship? And HOW did he survive?

Little did my mother and I realize that the search for answers to these questions would occupy us for the next several months -- even years. We searched and analyzed every possible resource: newspapers, books, websites, forums, historical societies, and even traveled to New York City - all in our quest to discover more.

Of course, we first assumed that James was one of the passengers on the Central America. But shiver me timbers! Imagine our surprise when we discovered that he was actually an OFFICER! but not any officer! he was the captain’s 2^nd mate! and not only 2nd mate, but the highest ranking officer to survive the sinking!

Because of this, his official deposition of the incident was recorded in all the country’s major newspapers. His survival story was also recorded.

After a fierce three-day battle with a foundering (sinking) ship in the middle of a tremendous hurricane, the captain, Lt. William Lewis Herndon, directed the transfer of all one hundred women and children to the brig Marine, another vessel five miles off. Once all of the women and children were safely on board the Marine (a heroic feat for the Captain, his officers, and crew), Captain Herndon turned to my grandfather and asked: “Would you like to go down with me?”

And my grandfather answered...

To be continued…