Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 2, 1990 TAG: 9004020252
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard B. Kellam hears opening arguments in the dispute between treasure hunters and insurance companies over the millions in gold that sank with the sidewheel steamer on Sept. 12, 1857.
On one side are more than 100 investors in the Columbus America Discovery Group that used space age technology to locate and recover the treasure. They claim the gold was abandoned and belongs to them by the rights of salvage.
On the other side are 45 insurance firms that have filed suit contending they have ties to the 19th-century companies that paid more than $1.2 million in claims after the ship sank.
Lost in the legal wranglings over the fortune is the story of the SS Central America and the valor of its sailors and passengers.
The ship left from what is now Colon, Panama, after picking up passengers and mail from California. Among its cargo were gold bars and freshly minted "double eagle" gold coins from the San Francisco mint.
Four days later, the ship ran into a hurricane and sank in 8,000 feet of water 200 miles off South Carolina. Reports at the time put the number of dead at between 362 and 423 of the 578 people aboard and the value of the gold at $1.6 million.
Not all the ship's gold was recovered in salvage expeditions last year, and its exact value has yet to be determined. The ship was carrying about three tons of gold, which would be worth about $450 million at today's prices.
In addition, many passengers were carrying fortunes they had made in California, so the total treasure could be worth up to $1 billion, experts have said.
Herndon had rallied his crew to keep the vessel afloat through the two days the ship tried to ride out the storm. He kept order on the deck as the women and children were loaded into the four lifeboats.
A nearby ship took on survivors. When a lifeboat returned to the sinking ship, a witness said that Herndon ordered the boat to keep off, fearing it would be swamped by the Central America. It was his final order.
Among the passengers were Capt. Thomas Badger and his bride, Jennie. Badger and his brother John had left Virginia years earlier to find their fortunes in California, said Curtis Badger, a great-great-grandnephew.
"Apparently, he was returning with about $20,000 in gold. The story goes that when the women were put in lifeboats, Jennie wrapped the gold in towels and packed it in a carpetbag. She threw the carpetbag into the captain's cabin and left the ship," Badger's descendant said.
Jennie Badger survived and was taken to New York City. Her husband later was pulled from the sea, having clung to a piece of wood for many hours.
History may hold a lesson for the current gold seekers, Curtis Badger said.
Thomas and John Badger found their fortunes in the gold fields and both lost them in their lifetimes, Curtis Badger said.
"After the war, [John] returned to the family farm and lived out his life as a farmer and fisherman along the barrier islands. Thomas lost it all and died without much," he said. "Perhaps it was John who found the only true fortune."
by CNB