Sad Drowning Accident | Southampton | December 1897

 

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Phyrrhus Concer

On May 8, 1848, Captain Mercator Cooper, aboard the ship Manhattan, left Sag Harbor for a whaling voyage in the Northern Pacific that had unanticipated consequences. His boat steerer for the voyage was Pyrrhus Concer, a former slave belonging to the Pelletreau family who went to sea at the age of 18.

from Southampton Magazine | c 1913

The signal even of that voyage was recounted in Concer's obituary, which appeared in The Southampton Sea-Side Times of August 28, 1897:

"As the vessel neared the Island of St. Peter's, a few degrees south of Nipon, a number of shipwrecked Japanese were discovered. At first the Japanese were fearful that they would be massacred by Captain Cooper, but they were soon made to understand that they would not be harmed. Mr. Concer said that the Japanese showed a friendship for him, while they expressed great fear of the other members of the crew.

from Southampton Magazine | c 1913

from Southampton Magazine | c 1913

The shipwrecked Japanese, eleven in number, were taken aboard the whaling ship and carried to Japan. While en route they picked up another lot of shipwrecked Japanese, whom they also conveyed to their homes. The rescue of these Japanese afforded the crew of the Manhattan the privilege of obtaining a sight of Japan, which up to that time had not been viewed by foreigners."

Southampton Historical Museum Archives and Research Center