1797 — Sep 8, Gale, slave ship General Nichols founders off FL/GA coastal border — 132

–134 Fraser. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. 2006, p.33.
–122 slaves “men, women, and children…chained…below decks…” went down with ship.
— 12 Yawl with Cpt. Morrison, six whites, and five blacks never seen again.
–132 Columbian Museum and Savannah Advertiser, GA. “Savannah, Sept. 15.” 9-15-1797, p.3.
–122 slave “cargo” going down with the ship.
— 10 Yawl with Cpt. Morrison, Mr. Morris, five whites and three blacks.

Narrative Information

Fraser: “The summer of 1797 was a busy one for topical storms. One in particular was of interest to Savannah merchants trading in slaves. On September 8 the armed New Providence ship General Nichols, bound for the port of Savannah with a cargo of more than 150 slaves, encountered a ‘heavy gale’ off the upper Florida and lower Georgia coasts. Because of the violence and suddenness of the storm, Captain Michael Morrison was unable to save the ship. The General Nichols ‘foundered’ almost immediately.

“The crew barely had time to launch ‘the long boat and yawl’ but not time enough to save the slaves. The ship ‘went down with 122’ men, women, and children, who remained chained together below decks. Five whites and thirty-five ‘negroes’ jumped into the longboat. Captain Morrison, six whites, and five blacks scrambled aboard the yawl. In the turbulent sea, the yawl ‘parted company…immediately with the long boat.’ Those aboard the longboat survived in the storm-swept ocean for twenty-four hours without food or drink before picked up by the schooner Exuma, which sailed into the Savannah River with the survivors on September 12. Apparently the occupants of the yawl never reached land. ”

Johnson: “….Furthermore, in September 1797 the British armed ship General Nichols of Granada with twenty-four gun mounting evidently developed mechanical problems…” (p. 165, Google Snippet view.) [We do not know if this is a coincidence or a reference to the storm-sunk ship.]

Newspaper

Sep 15, Columbian Museum: “Savannah, Sept. 15.

“On the 12th inst. [current month] arrived at Cockspur, the Schooner Exuma, Capt. Daniel Callaghan, from New Providence. The 9th inst. in lat. 29, 39, long. 79, 42, picked up the long boat of the armed Ship General Nichols, Capt. Michael Morrison, belonging to Grenada. The General Nichols, left New-Providence on the 2d inst. with Negroes, supposed for this port, and in a heavy gale of wind, on the 8th, foundered. The long boat and yawl, had hardly time to get from her, when she went down with 122 of the cargo. In the long boat were saved 5 whites and 35 negroes, and when they got along side the Exuma, had nothing to eat or drink. The yawl (having sails), with the Captain, Mr. Peter Morris, supercargo, five other whites and three negroes, parted company with the other boat, immediately after leaving the ship, and has not yet been heard of. It is hoped from the favorable weather a few days past, that they may have made some port to the southward.” (Columbian Museum and Savannah Advertiser, Savannah, GA. “Savannah, Sept. 15.” 9-15-1797, p. 3.)

Source

Columbian Museum and Savannah Advertiser, Savannah, GA. “Savannah, Sept. 15.” 9-15-1797, p. 3. Accessed 12-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-columbian-museum-and-savannah-advertiser-sep-15-1797-p-3/

Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. Athens and London: University of Georgia Press, 2006. Google preview accessed 8-16-2017: https://books.google.com/books?id=4iDbukwvWL0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Lowcountry+Hurricanes&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj60M2Tgd3VAhXH54MKHfaeC_QQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=Lowcountry%20Hurricanes&f=false

Johnson, Whittington Bernard. Negro Laboring Classes in Early America, 1750-1820. University of Georgia press, 1970. Accessed 12-8-2022 at: https://www.google.com/search?q=ship+%22general+nichols%22+1797&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=lnms&tbm=bks&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiajJjotuv7AhW0NlkFHWLfDaA4ChD8BSgBegQIARAL&biw=1123&bih=772&dpr=0.98