The data here is generally gleaned from published sources. I have had only a few contacts so far with descendants of USS Vandalia crew, and one of those as you will see below has a mystery surrounding it. In all cases, the information presented here is given in good faith but should not be considered as factual without independent verification.
If you have any data, and especally images, of USS Vandalia's crew and you would like to share this with the world, or at least, those interested in the Samoa Hurricane, please feel free to contact me.The images below are from American Naval History and Heritage Command unless attributed elsewhere.
Please Note: Any visitors to this site who object to the images of family members being portrayed, please contact me and I will remove the images, and/or the details, immediately.
Where there is a photograph of a crew member, please DO NOT use the image for anything at all, without first asking my permission using the contact form. If I do not know the family contact, then I will not be able to give permission for its use. If I do know of a family contact, I will ask them if they give permission, so in the contact form, please give details of how and why you wish to use the image. If they are agreeable, or indeed if not, I will then reply to your enquiry. This is not intended to be awkward or unfriendly, I think it is simply good courtesy to ask first.
Quick links:
Born June 1,1835 in Norwich, Connecticut to the Reverend Hiram Phelps Arms and Lucy Ann Wadhams Arms. Paymaster Arms was supporting his injured commander, Captain Schumacher, along with Lieutenant Frank E Sutton and Pay Clerk John Roche on the deck of the stricken USS Vandalia when all four gentlemen were washed from the vessel into the raging surf, and all four drowned together.
"Paymaster Arms was appointed from Connecticut in 1864, and had been on duty on the Vandalia since May, 1887. His family reside at the Crawford House, New London."
His body was repatriated to the United States in June, 1891, and buried in Annapolis.
Sources: The Los Angeles Herald, 31 March 1889, and San Francisco Call, Volume 70, Number 25, 25 June 1891.
Additional details and image courtesy of Jennifer McNeil.
James W. Carlin was born in 1844 in a log cabin that is thought to have stood on the southeast corner of the square in Carthage, Illinois. In 1862, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the 118th Regiment and fought in the Civil War, inlcuding the battle of Walnut Hills. In 1864, he received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, graduating in 1868.
Commander Carlin served for over 30 years in the navy. A high point in his career was his bravery during the hurricane at Apla, Samoa in 1889, as an officer serving in the USS Vandalia. Carlin died of typhoid fever on December 13, 1900.
If family members object to me using this image, they should contact me and I'll remove it immediately.See more about this officer at this web-site, from which these details and the image were obtained.
"One of the lost, Ben Davis, is understood to be a relative of a wealthy family somewhere in the East, but was disowned for marrying a girl his inferior in social position. When his wife died Davis came on to San Francisco, and only a few weeks ago [before the storm] signed as a seaman on board the Vandalia."
What a sad story.Source: The Los Angeles Herald, 31 March 1889.
He was a short, stout man. He was a mason, and Odd Fellow, and a Red Man and visited the different lodges while in Vallejo. He was described as being very jovial, good-natured, and full of jokes and stories.
His body was repatriated to the United States in June, 1891, and buried with 18 others in a row at the Mare Island Navy Cemetery.
Sources: San Francisco Call, Volume 70, Number 25, 25 June 1891 and Find a Grave.
"George Gorman, one of the crew of the Vandalia, was well known among Pacific Coast seafaring men. He has a family living, it is thought, either in Vallejo or Benicia."
Source: The Los Angeles Herald, 31 March 1889.
His birth date is unknown, but his first naval appointment was his commission as a Third Assistant Engineer from New York on 17 February 1860. His details on the American Naval History and Heritage Command web-site (NH 72209) were contributed by presumably a relative, but strangely do not mention his time on USS Vandalia. He died 8th March, 1896.
If family members object to me using this image, they should contact me and I'll remove it immediately.Details courtesy of American Naval History and Heritage Command.
This very brave man volunteered to try and swim a line ashore from USS Vandalia and drowned in the attempt.
The name on the memorial is "Hammar"; JP Dunning's account and Admiral Kimberly's Report both quote "Hammer" and I found a newspaper article that quoted "Hammet". I presume they all refer to the same person - I hope one day a visitor will be able to resolve the issue of this gentleman's name.
"John Manchett was recently employed on one of the ferryboats running across San Francisco bay, and signed as a recruit of the Vandalia."
I cannot find this name on the memorial, and presume it should read John Hantchett and that the source is in error.
Source: The Los Angeles Herald, 31 March 1889.
His body was repatriated to the United States in June, 1891, and buried with 18 others in a row at the Mare Island Navy Cemetery.
Source: San Francisco Call, Volume 70, Number 25, 25 June 1891.
Intriguingly, it is possible that Ah Keau from USS Vandalia actually survived the storm. I have had an e-mail from a Samoa family, whose tradition has it that an ancestor, whom they knew as Ah Kiau, swam to shore from USS Vandalia when she sank, liked what he found, and decided to stay and start a family. I guess he may have realised the American Navy would not take a very tolerant view of that idea, and to allow himself to be presumed drowned shows great presence of mind to me!
Details courtesy of Lani Young
"John and Thomas Kelly were employed in the navy some time before going to Samoa. It is believed that their relatives reside in this city [Los Angeles]."
This seems to imply they were related, possibly brothers.
Source: The Los Angeles Herald, 31 March 1889.
His body was repatriated to the United States in June, 1891, and buried with 18 others in a row at the Mare Island Navy Cemetery.
Source: San Francisco Call, Volume 70, Number 25, 25 June 1891.
"Charles Kranz was also known here, and previous to entering the navy it is believed that he worked as a deck hand on one of the steamers plying between San Francisco and Yaquina."
I haven't been able to find this name on the memorial, and wonder if it should be C.H. Kraus.
Source: The Los Angeles Herald, 31 March 1889.
His body was repatriated to the United States in June, 1891, and buried with 18 others in a row at the Mare Island Navy Cemetery.
Source: San Francisco Call, Volume 70, Number 25, 25 June 1891.
Naval Cadet John Archer LeJeune became a Marine Corps officer and was later the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1920-1929. Today, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, bears his name. He was recorded in Admiral Kimberley's report as quoted in Lieutenant Carlin's report as "...These young officers did their duty in the most commendable manner, distinguishing themselves for coolness, zeal, and pluck..." (The other officers mentioned were Naval Cadets L.A. Stafford and H.A. Wiley).
If family members object to me using this image, they should contact me and I'll remove it immediately.Learn more about this officer at this web-site, from where I also obtained the image. I could find no way of contacting the site to ask permission to use it; if there is an issue with me doing so, contact me and I'll remove it immediately.
He took command of USS Nipsic when she returned to Hawaii after the temporary repairs effected at Apia.
His body was repatriated to the United States in June, 1891, and was reported in the source link below as being buried with 18 others in a row at the Mare Island Navy Cemetery. However, this link: Find A Grave suggests he was buried in a separate plot.
Source: San Francisco Call, Volume 70, Number 25, 25 June 1891.
I have no data on this gentleman, other than his grave reference: Find a Grave.
"Paymaster's Clerk John Roche was appointed from Ilion, N. Y. He was 28 years of age and a man of athletic build. His nearest relative is J. Jeffrey Roche, who is a poet and assistant editor of the Boston Pilot."
The name on the memorial is "Roach" and is, I think, an error.
His body was repatriated to the United States in June, 1891, and buried with 18 others in a row at the Mare Island Navy Cemetery.
Sources: The Los Angeles Herald, 31 March 1889, and San Francisco Call, Volume 70, Number 25, 25 June 1891.
Captain Schoonmaker is shown far left, c.1880/1881. The men in the photograph around his grave near Apia (soon after the storm, his body was later repatriated to the States) are (from left to right): Mr. Hart, news correspondent; Mr. J.P. Dunning, Associated Press correspondent, who reported on the storm; Unknown; Ensign John H. Gibbons, of USS Vandalia; Chief Engineer Albert S. Greene, of USS Vandalia; two unidentified men; and Captain Norman H. Farquhar, Commanding Officer of USS Trenton. I would suspect one of the unidentified men to be the U.S. Vice-Consul, William Blacklock, and another is thought to be Lieutenant Carlin of USS Vandalia.
Details courtesy of American Naval History and Heritage Command.
Cornelius M. Schoonmaker was born on 2 February 1839. He was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in September 1854 and, following graduation in June 1859, served for about two years off the African west coast. In May-September 1861, during the first several months of the Civil War, he was a junior officer on the steam frigate Minnesota and participated with her in the capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark. From late 1861 until after the end of the Civil War in 1865, Lieutenant Schoonmaker was Executive Officer of several ships, including the gunboats Wyandotte and Octorara, monitors Manhattan and Catskill, and the cruiser Augusta. While in the Manhattan, he took part in the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864 and in the subsequent campaign to capture Fort Morgan.Details courtesy of American Naval History and Heritage Command.
Henry Percy Stalman was born in 1865 in Clerkenwell, London, and was just 23 years old when he died in the Samoa Hurricane. His father, also Henry Percy, emigrated from England in 1871, and was a painter and sign-writer. Our Henry's grandfather Edmund was a theatre manager. The name Stalman suggests that they are of German descent but the family have been able to trace them back to the north of England to around 1200 when the name appears as Stalmyn. This branch of the family seem to have been very unlucky after reaching California: Henry Percy Snr died about 4 years after arriving, aged 34, leaving a wife, Bertha, and a young family.
Details courtesy of Diana Dunkley.
"Lieutenant of Marines Francis E. Sutton (whose name was erroneously given as Hilton) was appointed to the Naval Academy from New York in 1877. He graduated sixth in the class of 1881 [see note], and, after his course, returned to the academy for examination for promotion and passed second. On his application he was appointed Second Lieutenant of Marines, being the first graduate of Annapolis to enter the marine force. He was promoted to be First Lieutenant, March 9, 1888, and been stationed at Mare's Island. He had just been detailed to command the Marine Guard of the Mohican, but the Vandalia sailing suddenly for Samoa before the arrival of her commanding marine officer, Lieutenant Sutton took his place expecting to fall in with the Mohican on the cruise. His father is a resident of Rome, N. Y. At the Navy Department Lieutenant Sutton was regarded as having been one of the brightest and most intelligent officers of the Marine Corps, and his loss is greatly deplored."
Francis Erskine Sutton was born in Illinois.
Source: The Los Angeles Herald, 31 March 1889. Source data quoted a graduation date of "1877" which has been amended to "1881" thanks to information supplied by correspondent Winn Price, Captain USNR, retired. Image source NH67335
| E. Ambrose | Seaman | Feet terribly cut by ratlines. |
| F. H. Arms | Paymaster | Drowned. |
| H. Baker | Landsman | Drowned.l |
| W. E. Bowen | Machinist | Leg probably fractured. |
| C. Boyle | Seaman | Inflammation of hand. |
| W. Brisbane | Cabin Sterward | Drowned. |
| W. Brown | First Quatermaster | Drowned |
| J. W. Carlin | Lieutenant | Later Commander |
| Carole | Private of Marines | |
| M. Cashen | Corporal of Marines | Drowned. |
| J. Coleman | Sergeant of Marines | |
| Dr. F. J. B. Cordeiro | Past. Assistant Surgeon | Dislocated knee cap. |
| M. Craigin | Captain After-Guard | Drowned. |
| A. E. Culver | Lieutenant Junior Grade | |
| Pen Dang | Landsman | Drowned. |
| B. F. Davis | Yeoman | Drowned. |
| T. G. Downey | Paymaster's Yeoman | Drowned |
| C. Eggart | Captain of Top | Badly injured on right side. |
| M. Erickson | Ordinary Seaman | Drowned. |
| H. C. Gehring | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
| J. H. Gibbons | Ensign | |
| A. Goldner/Goldne | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
| G. Gorman | Carpenter | Drowned. |
| N. B. Green | Bayman | Drowned. |
| A. S. Greene | Chief Engineer | |
| J. Griffin | First Class Fireman | Drowned. |
| E. Hammar/Hammer/Hammet | Seaman | Drowned. |
| J. Hantchett/Manchett | Sergeant of Marines | Drowned. |
| Dr. J.H. Harvey | Surgeon | |
| F. R. Heath | Lieutenant Junior Grade | |
| Yee Hor | Ward Room Cook | Drowned. |
| W. Howatt | Coal Heaver | Drowned. |
| Jensen | Ordinary Seaman | Eyes inflamed by sand. |
| F. Jones | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
| S. G. Jordan | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
| M. H. Joseph | Engineer's Yeoman | Drowned. |
| Ah Keau/Kiau/Kean | Cabin Cook | Recorded as drowned, but probably survived. |
| J. Kelly | Ordinary Seaman | Drowned. |
| T. Kelly | Second Class Fireman | Drowned. |
| N. Kinsella | Corporal of Marines | Drowned. |
| C. H. Kraus/Kranz | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
| H. Krayden | Quarter Gunner | Foot badly cut. |
| J. A. Le Jeune | Naval Cadet | Later Commandant of the Marine Corps |
| H. W. Lyon | Lieutenant-Commander | Later Admiral. Transferred at some stage from USS Trenton. |
| T. F. Lissman | Sergeant of Marines | Drowned. |
| Melville | Fireman | |
| J. Mohl | Seaman | Injured knee. |
| A. Montgomerie | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
| E. Moole Jnr. | Naval Cadet | |
| G. Murrage | Bayman | Drowned. |
| P. Neilson | Ordinary Seaman | Foot Cut. |
| E. O'Neil | Seaman | Cut in arm. |
| Ah Pack | Seaman's Cook | Drowned. |
| T. Riley | Landsman | Drowned. |
| C. S. Ripley | Ensign | |
| J. Roach/Roche | Pay Clerk | Drowned. |
| M. C. Schoonmaker | Captain | Drowned. |
| J. Sims | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
| L. A. Stafford | Naval Cadet | |
| H. P. Stalman | Bayman | Drowned. |
| C. E. G. Stanford | Landsman | Drowned. |
| A. Steen | Fireman | Arm badly lacerated. |
| F. E. Sutton | Lieutenant of Marines | Drowned. |
| H. Webster | Past. Assistant Engineer | |
| A. Welch | Captain of Top | Bad wound in right foot. |
| C. H. Wells | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
| H. A. Wiley | Naval Cadet | Later Vice Admiral |
| J. Willford | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
| G. Williams | New York Times | |
| J. C. Wilson | Lieutenant Junior Grade | |
| H. Wixted | Private of Marines | Drowned. |
Sources: JP Dunning account dated February 1890 (Do a "FIND" for Samoa); Admiral Kimberly's Special Report dated 16th April, 1889; Alexandria Gazette, Volume 90, Number 204, 19 August 1889.
