In Peril on the Sea: The Forgotten Story of the William & Mary Shipwreck

IntroductionKenneth SchaafOur life’s journey sometimes takes us to places we never intended to go. We set our destination, establish our route, and make our reservations. But then the unexpected occurs, there is a delay, an accident, a reroute, a complete change of plans. This certainly was the case for a hapless band of Dutch travelers on their trip to America during the late winter and spring of 1853. A few turned back before it began. Others would soon regret not having done likewise. But like many journeys, once begun, there are few opportunities to go back or start over.It is through a rich collection of found journals, letters, personal papers, nineteenth-century maps and nautical charts, period travel literature, and a host of newspaper accounts from both sides of the Atlantic that we follow a group of emigrant travelers on their perilous voyage, from their tightly woven Frisian heritage into a new American tapestry.Accounts of life journeys have been around for as long as our race has felt compelled to move from one location to another, as in the Biblical account of the wanderings of the children of Israel, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Longfellow’s Tales of the Wayside Inn, and even our contemporary travelogues. For the duration of the journey, there is an intersection of lives, a cultural exchange, a common shared experience. Then, suddenly, the trip is over, our travelers go in different directions, and their stories, repeated less and less often, are soon forgotten.In Peter H. Wood’s thorough study of Winslow Homer’s painting, “Gulf Stream,” he wrote, “There is no older or richer artistic image than that of a boat and its occupants at the mercy of the mighty sea.” With that analogy, he went on to suggest, “We are each lost at sea in the modern world; we are ignored by remote ships and buffeted by passing squalls, and we have as much hope of controlling our fearful destiny as [Homer’s] luckless mariner . . . it will take Divine Providence to save us.”You and I are on our once-only life journey, traveling through time over unfamiliar seas. Our experiences, though common to all, are our adventures, our challenges. Although we sometimes think we are better equipped than generations past to handle what may come, our twenty-first century intellect and technology still appear inadequate to safely see us through what we are presented in life. We make choices along the way, and we like to believe we are in control. But where we begin, when, and with whom, are not of our volition. Our Creator, in His wisdom and knowledge, has determined the where, when, how, and with whom. Like the band of Frisian travelers who left their homes so many years ago, we are called to trust Him to pilot us through the journey, from start to finish.Jacob E. NyenhuisEditor-in-Chief, Van Raalte PressRelying on broad reading and focused research, Kenneth Schaaf constructs a narrative that is part detective story, part drama, and part character study as he recounts the fate of ninety-two Frisians who set out for America in 1853. He draws upon maps and charts, personal journals, letters, shipping schedules, brief newspaper accounts, and interviews with descendants of the survivors, but he also learned the process of ship building and the history of the development of the British railway in the 1830s and 1840s, studied a painting of Liverpool from that era, and traced the lives of each of the crew members and passengers. At once individual and universal, In Peril on the Sea should appeal to a broad audience. The epilogue, appendix, bibliography and index also provide invaluable detail for genealogists and scholars.Robert P. SwierengaEighty-six Frisians boarded the William & Mary, en route to America. After weeks of sailing, they found themselves abandoned at sea by captain and crew aboard their sinking vessel. Readers interested in transatlantic passages under sail will not be able to put this book down.