Fascinating mystery of sailor 'murdered by mutineers' in 1850 is solved by Connecticut cemetery sleuths

The chilling words connected a toppled gravestone disturbed passers-by for generations arsenic they peeped up done nan writer of a Connecticut cemetery.

'Asa H. Havens, mate of Barque Glen was murdered by mutineers Sept 17, 1850, aged 37', nan epitaph flatly stated.

The young sailor had been gunned down by crewmates arsenic he fought their attempts to prehend a cargo of copper successful nan desolate waters disconnected Chile.

Two men were yet hanged for nan sidesplitting but had Haven's grateful skipper really returned nan young sailor's assemblage thousands of miles to his family for funeral successful nan East Haddam plot?

Now group of section veterans has yet solved nan enigma that puzzled nan municipality for astir 2 centuries.

'I ne'er really questioned it,' section historiographer Dr Karl Stofko admitted. 'But a batch of different group did.'

The Glen was a 287-ton sailing vessel which plied nan engaged American shipping routes erstwhile steamships were still successful their infancy.

It had been built conscionable 230 miles up nan seashore successful Freeport, Maine, but it was successful California that nan young New Englander is thought to person stepped aboard for nan first time.

It had arrived successful San Francisco pinch 200 tons of lumber successful July 1849 arsenic nan authorities was gripped by nan California Gold Rush and its skipper Charles B. Small decided to time off it successful Sacramento while he joined nan thousands of prospectors trying their lucks successful nan hills and gullies of nan Sierra Nevada.

Weeks later he returned to his vessel empty-handed earlier welcoming Havens connected committee arsenic portion of his caller unit for nan 14,000-mile travel backmost to New England.

With nary golden to capable his hold, nan skipper stopped successful Valparaiso, Chile, to prime up a cargo of copper ore worthy $12 cardinal astatine today's prices, on pinch 2,000 bales of cinchona bark utilized to make nan anti-malarial remedy, quinine.

He besides picked up 4 caller unit members who wished to bargain nan cargo earlier nan vessel had moreover near port.

Havens had remained connected committee aft being promoted to 2nd mate and was fortunate to flight being poisoned arsenic nan ship's navigator targeted nan officers' food.

Captain Small and first mate George Waite fell violently sick aft eating connected a repast of turtle crockery conscionable days aft leaving Chile.

The brace managed to retrieve but 2 weeks later nan skipper was awoken successful his compartment by nan sound of musket occurrence and a outcry of 'murder' from Havens connected nan precocious deck.

Rushing extracurricular he discovered that nan ship's armory had been seized by his mutinous crew, and Havens clinging mortally wounded to a mooring post.

The navigator and different sailor ordered him astatine gunpoint backmost to his compartment threatening to 'blow his brains out' while they took power of nan ship.

But nan plotters had overlooked nan captain's stash of cutlasses and Small grabbed a beard earlier escaping retired of his compartment model and charging nan ringleader.

First mate George Waite joined him, and nan brace managed to overpower nan mutineers to retake nan ship.

Havens was dead, Waite was severely injured and astir of nan unit was successful limb irons leaving nan skipper to sail nan vessel almost single-handedly backmost to Valparaiso wherever he handed nan conspirators to nan US Consul.

The US Navy transported nan arrested men successful a sloop of warfare to New York wherever their proceedings became a media sensation.

Edward F Douglass and Thomas Benson were convicted of Havens' execution aft a mutineer turned state's grounds and some were executed successful July 1851.

But what had go of their murdered shipmate?

'A newspaper, I deliberation it was nan New York Herald successful 1850, had an article and it stated that Asa was wrapped successful a broad and buried astatine oversea disconnected nan seashore of Chile,' said Dr Stofko.

But had nan skipper really conscionable tossed his loyal lieutenant overboard and continued connected his way?

The ship's insurers awarded $500 to Havens' mother and an awesome marble slab was erected adjacent to nan different graves successful nan East Haddam cemetery.

'His gravestone had a ft stone,' archaeologist Ken Beatrice told nan Hartford Courant.

'And nan footstone had his initials connected it. And that benignant of indicated that, 'Yes location was a funeral there'. 'That sewage america talking.'

Three years agone nan town's VFW station appealed for volunteers to study nan East Haddam's cemeteries for seasoned graves that had fallen into disrepair.

The volunteers dubbed themselves nan 'Cemetery Troopers' and began nan painstaking activity of documenting thousands of graves successful nan town's 23 cemeteries.

They discovered much than 230 unmarked seasoned graves making love backmost to nan War of Independence, but were intrigued by nan stark epitaph connected nan sailor's tombstone.

'Asa was nan talk,' Beatrice said.

'We were ever talking astir him. And past we yet did immoderate investigation connected him and that's what sewage my interest.'

Dr Stofko remained a sceptic.

The amateur historiographer and master dentist thought nan matter was settled erstwhile he tried probing nan sedate pinch a agelong alloy rod and recovered nan crushed was unyielding.

'That intends nan crushed was ne'er dug up,' he said.

'Most graves you tin probe reasonably easy pinch a probing rod because nan world has been dug up.'

But nan Troopers were unsatisfied. It was not uncommon for bodies to beryllium preserved successful a tube of spirits aft dying connected agelong oversea voyages and Havens was a leader who had saved his skipper on pinch his valuable cargo.

'They couldn't understand why anybody would put up a sedate marker if location wasn't anybody successful nan ground,' Stofko said.

The Troopers began restoring Havens' headstone and Beatrice called successful favors from aged colleagues successful nan Office of Archeology to person ungraded study conducted connected samples from nan tract and deploy crushed penetrating radar connected nan enigma grave.

The radar suggested nan crushed had been disturbed astatine immoderate clip successful nan distant past, but Beatrice said nan ungraded study put nan matter beyond doubt.

The world beneath nan aboveground showed a clear delineation betwixt nan acheronian topsoil and nan lighter sandy-colored subsoil indicating that nan 2 had ne'er been mixed up arsenic they would person been if a sedate had been dug.

'The Asa Havens enigma has been solved,' Beatrice concluded.

'He was not brought location to his family and interred successful nan North Plain Cemetery. Asa was fixed to nan depths of nan sea.'

'We were really hoping that we were going to find something,' he added. 'We really wanted to find something.

'But it was fun.'