Haunting 1850s Photos Recovered From 'Ship of Gold' Wreck- Calif. Gold Rush, Financial Panic of 1857

[appalachiablue]

- A daguerreotype photograph of a young woman found in the wreck of the ship. ('Mona Lisa of the depths').
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- BBC News, 'SS Central America: Haunting photos recovered the 'ship of gold' wreck on ocean floor.' March 26, 2022.

In 1857, the SS Central America, also known as the "ship of gold", sank off the coast of the US state of South Carolina, along with some new-found riches from the California Gold Rush. It was a hurricane that sealed the fate for 425 people returning to the US east coast. They went down with an estimated 21 tonnes of gold coins and nuggets from prospectors who had struck it rich on the west coast, but some passengers were also carrying something of more personal value - photographs.

Salvaged from the ship's wreckage in 2014 were daguerreotypes, the first successful commercial form of photography - a one-off picture held on a metal plate - and ambrotypes, a type of glass plate photography. The photos are only being published this year.

The shipwreck was first located in 1988, and there were missions to recover its sunken wealth over the subsequent years. The photos were recovered over a decade ago, but there was a "tortuous legal battle" over the gold found with the vessel on the ocean floor, said Bob Evans, the former chief scientist and historian of the SS Central America Project, which led the search and salvage mission for the wreck. That caused the delay in the release of the images, which were still intact even after lying on the seabed for more than a century.

Mr Evans has been researching the SS Central America since 1983, calling it "an interesting piece of lost United States history". "It's an amazing time capsule moment to see that these were the things that were important [to the passengers] - their money and their photographs," he said. "So when it comes down to, 'OK, what are the last things I want to hang on to here? That was it.'" In the 1850s, photography became hugely popular, and people who had gone in search of gold in California would send photographs to loved ones back home. "There were a dozen photography studios in San Francisco at the time."...https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60866212
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- SS CENTRAL AMERICA, known as the Ship of Gold, was a 280-foot (85 m) sidewheel steamer that operated between Central America and the eastern coast of the United States during the 1850s. She was originally named the SS George Law, after George Law of New York. The ship sank in a hurricane in September 1857, along with 425 of her 578 passengers and crew and 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857.

Sinking: On Sept. 3, 1857, 477 passengers and 101 crew left the Panamanian port of Colón, sailing for New York City under the command of William Lewis Herndon. The ship was laden with 10 short tons (9.1 t) of gold prospected during the California Gold Rush. After a stop in Havana, the ship continued north. On Sept. 9, 1857, the ship was caught up in a Category 2 hurricane while off the coast of the Carolinas. By Sept. 11, the 105 mph (170 km/h) winds and heavy seas had shredded her sails, she was taking on water, and her boiler was threatening to fail.

A leak in one of the seals between the paddle wheel shafts and the ship's sides sealed its fate. At noon that day, her boiler could no longer maintain fire. Steam pressure dropped, shutting down both the bilge pumps. Also, the paddle wheels that kept her pointed into the wind failed as the ship settled by the stern. The passengers & crew flew the ship's flag inverted (a distress sign in the US) to signal a passing ship. No one came...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Central_America
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- Bank run on the Seamen's Savings' Bank during the Panic of 1857.

- THE PANIC OF 1857 was a financial panic in the US caused by the declining international economy & over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph by Samuel F. Morse in 1844, the Panic of 1857 was the first financial crisis to spread rapidly throughout the US. The world economy was also more interconnected by the 1850s, which also made the Panic of 1857 the first worldwide economic crisis. In Britain, the Palmerston government circumvented the requirements of the Bank Charter Act 1844, which required gold and silver reserves to back up the amount of money in circulation. Surfacing news of this circumvention set off the Panic in Britain.

Beginning in September 1857, the financial downturn did not last long, but a proper recovery was not seen until the onset of the American Civil War in 1861. The sinking of SS Central America contributed to the panic of 1857, as New York banks were awaiting a much-needed shipment of gold. American banks did not recover until after the Civil War. After the failure of Ohio Life Insurance & Trust Company, the financial panic quickly spread as businesses began to fail, the railroad industry experienced financial declines, & 100s of workers were laid off. Because the years immediately preceding the Panic of 1857 were prosperous, many banks, merchants, & farmers had seized the opportunity to take risks with their investments, &, as soon as market prices began to fall, they quickly began to experience the effects of financial panic...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1857#:~:text=The%20Panic%20of%201857%20was,rapidly%20throughout%20the%20United%20States.

[lagomorph777]

1. How did photographs survive 160 years underwater?

That is a mystery!

[appalachiablue]

2. From the BBC article: These 1850s photos had cases

which helped preserve the images, fortunately.
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Part of the reason the images are so well preserved is, due to photography methods at the time, they were sealed off from the watery environment in a case. Those were made from a variety of materials, including wood covered in leather. And as with many things, quality matters.

"It all depends on how well the cases were made, and how well the images were made," said Mr Evans.

While it's a harsh salty and high-pressure environment at the bottom of the ocean, another factor that preserved the photos was the cool temperature of the Atlantic waters.

[lagomorph777]

3. Wood and leather won't keep the water out.

I'm going to have to research this further...