The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1956-08-17

crew hopelessly trapped on board.
But in the gloom, lighted only by
fire from flares and rockets sent
up from the deck of the rescue
vessel MARINE" the 152 women
and children who were safe on the
deck of the "Marine" saw a soul
stirring sight which for sheer
majesty has seldom since been
equalled in naval history. With his
officers cap raised in a salute,
resplendent in his full-dress uni
form, they saw Capt. Herndon dis
appear with his vessel as the
Central America" slid under the
waves forever stern first.
The Central America" went
down off Hatteras at about pm.
on September IL, 1857 on the
outer edge of the Gulf Stream
directly off the cape. Later that
night 49 of her passengers and
crew who had survived were pick
ed up by passing Norwegian
bark, the" Ellen" and landed at
Norfolk, Va. The ninth day after
the Central America" went down
an English brig picked up several
others who had drifted a distance
of $50 miles with the Gulf Stream
in one of the steamers life boats.
A Presidents Wife
Several weeks later one of the
survivors of the sinking of the
Central America" called on Capt.
Herndon's widow and little daugh-
ter, the latter who was later in
life to become the wife of Chester
A. Arthur, 21st President of the
United States. He gave them
Capt. Herndon's gold watch which,
he said, was what the master of
the ill-starred vessel had asked
him to do during the last few,
heroic minutes of his life.
The "Central America" was
wooden side-wheel steamer with
three decks each 272 feet long. A
3,000-ton vessel, she had three
masts with auxiliary sails to sup
plement her steam power. Built in
New York by William H. Webb
her keel was laid on March 25,
1852, and when she was launched
on October % of that year she
was first named the George Law"
in honor of prominent shipping
magnate of those days. When she
was put on the New York-Panama
mail run in 1857 her name was
changed to Central America"
Capt. Herndon, master of the
Inflated Central America" was a
native of fredericksburg, Va,
where he had been born on Octo-
Der 25, 1913, the son of Dabney
and Elizabeth Hull Herndon. Left
an orphan in early childhood he
enlisted in the United States Navy
when he was only Is years of age
and was commissioned a lieutenant
in 1841. His first sea duty had
been aboard the frigate "Guer-
riere" in the Pacific Ocean. In
1886 he was married to Frances
Elizabeth Hansbrough, a cousin of
Matthew Fontaine Maury, the
noted Virginia-born oceanograph-
er, who has become known as the
Pathfinder of the Seas"
A Distinguished Career
In August, 1850, while COM
mander of the USS "Vandalia" ly-
ing at anchor in the harbor at
Valparaiso, Chile, the Navy De-
partment ordered him to make a
cruise of exploration of the ANA
ION River, largest in South Amer
lea. At that time the United States
government was interested in de-
veloping the trade, natural re-
sources and becoming better ac-
quainted with the inhabitants of
settlements along this great river.
Herndon and his men were the
first Americans to traverse the en-
tire 4,000-mile length of the ANA
zon from its headwaters in Peru
to it's outlet in the South Atlantic
Ocean. AS result of this voyage
; he wrote book entitled "Explora-
ton of the Valley of the Amazon"
in which he described this then
little-known region of Latin Amer
lea in great detail.
Raised to the rank of command
err in 1856 he had been granted a
leave of absence by the Navy De-
partment in order to become cap
tain of the new Pacific Main
steamship Central America" The
California gold rush was in full
swing in those days and hundreds
of men who had made small for
tunes in the fabulous West were
returning to their homes in the
east by way of the Isthmus of
Panama. 1t was after two years of
almost routine duty sailing the
seas between New York and Pana-
ma as master of the "Central
America" that Capt Herndon saw
his fate written in the wind and
on the waters off Cape Hatteras,
Today a white marble obelisk
| with onI,y ono xr,n,d ssIarndon0 and