ABSTRACT
The subsequent life of Mary Celeste is uncertainly known. One of her most recent biographers suggested that she ‘rotted on the wharves where nobody wanted her’, but this certainly wasn’t the case. From the surviving records it seems clear that Sylvester Goodwin, Daniel T. Samson and Sampson Hart, who apparently had lent Captain Briggs monies with which he’d bought Mary Celeste, all sold their shares to James H. Winchester, who was briefly the sole owner. On 10 October 1873 he sold a quarter share to J.Q. Pratt, who became the ship’s new skipper, but the partnership was short-lived and on 3 February 1874 Mary Celeste was sold to a consortium consisting of Frederick H. Harrison and David G. Cartwright, who owned four eighths, John B. Wilson, two eighths, John Birkbeck one eighth and Edward Crabb one eighth. They appointed a non-shareholder, E.M. Tuthill, as captain. The consortium remained owners of Mary Celeste from February 1874 until February 1880, when they sold her to a man named Wesley A. Grove, who appointed T.L. Fleming as the captain. Grove quickly went into partnership with four other men, Andrew W. Martin, Charles A. Grant, John S. Weeks and Sidney F. Whitehouse. T.L. Fleming remained in command until 25 June 1884, when he was replaced by Gilman C. Parker.
