Faithful Steward Survivors

 The first notice of the wreck of the Faithful Steward appeared in the Pennsylvania Packet  of 12 September 1785:

"A most melancholy catastrophe occurred on Thursday the 1st instant, near the Capes of Delaware. The ship Faithful Steward, captain McCasland, from Londonderry, bound to this port, with 240 passengers on board, standing into the Bay, unfortunately ran on a shoal to the southward of Cape Henlopen, about 150 yards from dry land. The captain, and some others, got ashore, but the surge being very violent, the boats were unable to return to the ship, which lay till the next day, and then beat to pieces.

"Painful as it is to tell the dismal story, we are nevertheless obliged to mention, that of the 240 passengers, about sixty only were saved, by laying hold of pieces of the vessel, and driving to the shore; the rest perished with the ship, in sight of the miserable survivors, who were the unhappy witnesses of this tryly lamentable and disastrous shipwreck, which is still more afflicting, as the passengers consisted chiefly of families, who had previously defrayed every expense of the voyage, with a design of settling in this country."

On 4 January, 1786, the Pennsylvania Packet listed the names of the survivors of the Faithful Steward . The Londonderry News of 21 February 1786 apparently copied the list, according to research done by the Genealogy Centre of Londonderry. There are some differences in the manner of listing, and in several of the names in the latter journal. The Londonderry News version, when it differs from that of the Pennsylvania Packet, is in brackets, except I did not correct M' , which is another way of writing Mc.

"For the information and satisfaction of the relations and friends of the passengers who were on board the ship Faithful Steward, capt. Con. M'Causland from Londonderry, bound to this place, with 249 people on board, when he was cast away in September last, near the Capes of Delaware. The Subscribers think it necessary to give a list of the passengers, which is as correct as they have been able to make it out; some others may also have been saved of which they have not yet had any account."