The wreck of the John Minturn on the New Jersey coast at dawn, February 15, 1846 — the ship beached and broken, wreckers approaching, bodies visible on the sand

The wreck of the John Minturn, February 15, 1846

1846-02-15

Manasquan beach, New Jersey (approx)

The wreck of the packet ship *John Minturn* on the New Jersey shore at dawn, February 15, 1846. Bound from New Orleans to New York; caught in a February northeaster; driven onto the beach at Squan; broken in two overnight; thirty-eight dead, including the captain's wife and their small daughter. The scandal that followed — over shore "wreckers" accused of plunder — was what pushed Congress to act.

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Wrecks and Rescue — minturn-1846 (image)

Item record

Title: The wreck of the John Minturn, February 15, 1846
Date: 1846-02-15
Source: Placeholder — stand-in for period newspaper illustration.
Contributor: ATH placeholder
Rights: Placeholder — replace before publishing
Slug: wrecks-and-rescue-minturn-1846

Verification: placeholder item — metadata and image will be replaced with archival material before publication.

Cite this item

The wreck of the John Minturn, February 15, 1846 (1846-02-15). Placeholder — stand-in for period newspaper illustration. The Highlands History Project, https://history.abovethehook.com/archive/wrecks-and-rescue-minturn-1846/.