The Wreck of the St. John (Event Over)

On September 7th, 1849, a "famine ship" (a ship full of Irish immigrants) left Galway. One month later it was smashed up against a rocky ledge known as Grampus Rock off the coast of Cohasset. 100 people lost their lives. Author Henry David Thoreau, heading to Cape Cod for the first time, witnessed the horror firsthand as he was traveling along the Massachusetts' coast. Thoreau's thorough recollections of the wreck were published later under the title The "Shipwreck" in an 1855 issue of Putnam's Magazine. Three years after Thoreau's death in 1862, the piece would be re-printed as one of his more captivating and horrific stories in his book "Cape Cod". Join New England folklorist John Horrigan as her returns to Ventress to discuss this shipwreck and other ship wrecks off Massachusetts' South Shore coast. The presentation is at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, September 10th at Ventress Memorial Library, 15 Library Plaza, Marshfield, MA 02050. The phone number is (781) 834-5535 or log on to www.ventresslibrary.org for more details.