Williamsburg City, New York - LAUNCHED.- Mr. A. Patterson launched from his yard, foot of North Eighth-street, at 11 o'clock yesterday, the ship Francis B. Cutting, owned by E.D. Hurlburt & Co., and intended for their line of Antwerp Packets. She is 154 feet long, 36 feet beam, 23 feet deep, and 1,000 tons burden. She is to be commanded by Capt. Rockwell.
The ship wasn't even a year old, having been launched only 10-months earlier on March 6,1854 from Williamsburg City, a borough of Brooklyn, New York. It is likely that this would have only been its second or third voyage transporting immigrants from Antwerp to New York.
At this time little is known about their seven week journey. One death, Philipp Febrey, 51 years of Scherzheim, Germany, and one birth, a boy named Thomas Becker, occurred on the voyage.
They arrived at the Port of New York on Wednesday, March 1, 1855.
The New York Daily Times reported the ships arrival in its March 2nd edition: "New-York, Wednesday, March 1 - Arrived - Ship Francis B. Cutting. Rockwell. Antwerp Jan. 10, with mdse. and 280 passengers to Post, Smith & Co. Had 1 death and 1 birth on the passage."
The Manifest of Passengers was filed by Captain Rockwell with the Collector of the Customs for the City of New York on March 11th, 1855.
From the Liess Family History:
My grandfather, Herby Liess, told me that his grandfather, Christian Jr., said that whales kept charging the ship, rocking it violently. To keep them away from the ship, the crew threw the dead people overboard. Many people were said to have died. The weather was stormy and the sea was very rough. When there were no more dead people on board, Christian said that the 20 people who were “beyond help” were also thrown overboard. Finally, the whales left the ship alone.
NOTE: It is not known if it was actually whales that attacked the ship, or if it was sharks or other large fish. The passenger list for this voyage only mentions one death during the voyage. Perhaps the fact that these people were in a very strange and frightening situation, and were a long way from home; dealing with unknown circumstances, and heading for a very uncertain future, made this a somewhat exaggerated story. Its hard to say. I did contact some historians and asked them if the idea of whales attacking the ship could have been legitimate. I was told that it was not likely, and would certainly have been an usual occurrence; but, possibly could have happened. (Liess Family History, written compiled by Roger Liess)
From the Fessler Family History:
NOTE: The man who died and was buried at sea was Philipp Febrey of Scherzheim.
The follow are the nine deported families of Scherzheim and the four deported families of Lichtenau who traveled to America aboard the Francis B. Cutting.
Passenger # Name Age on Journey
The following people are from the town of Scherzheim, Germany:
The Family of Philipp Febrey
1. Philipp Febrey - 51 years
2. Dorothea Febrey - 51 years
 |
| Page 1 - Passenger #1-43 |
4. Matheus Febrey - 17 years
5. Phillip Febrey - 14 years
6. Michael Febrey - 11 years
7. Christina Febrey - 7 years
The Family of Johann Weber
8. Johann Weber - 52 years
9. Catharina Weber - 47 years
10. Catharina Weber - 21 years
11. Dorothea Weber - 19 years
12. Christina Weber - 17 years
13. Salomea Weber - 15 years
14. Johann Weber - 11 years
15. Jacob Weber - 9 years
16. Christian Weber - 4 years
17. Michael Weber - 9 months
The Family of Andreas Kirschemann´s widow
18. Marianna Kirschemann - 47 years
19. Andreas Kirschemann - 22 years
 |
| Page 2 - Passenger #44-97 |
21. Salomea Kirschemann - 18 years
22. Mathias Kirschemann - 16 years
23. Anna Kirschemann - 11 years
The Family of Christian Bauer
24. Christian Bauer - 54 years
25. Magdalena Bauer - 51 years
26. Christian Bauer - 25 years
27. Georg Bauer - 24 years
28. Jacob Bauer - 22 years
29. Michael Bauer - 18 years
30. Mathias Bauer - 20 years
31. Christina Bauer - 13 years
The Family of Jakob Kapp
32. Jacob Knapp - 55 years
33. Maria Knapp - 49 years
34. Christina Knapp - 19 years
35. Christian Knapp - 13 years
 |
| Page 3 - Passenger #98-151 |
36. Dorothea Febrey - 58 years
37. Carolina Febrey - 30 years
38. Catharina Febrey - 28 years
39. Salomea Febrey - 3 years
40. Carl Febrey - 1 years
41. Mathias Febrey - 26 years
42. Anna Febrey - 24 years
43. Dorothea Febrey - 20 years
The Family of Mathias Spielmann
44. Mathias Spielmann - 56 years
45. Juliana Spielmann - 58 years
46. Salomea Spielmann - 25 years
47. Anna Spielmann - 22 years
48. Mathias Spielmann - 19 years
The Family of Christian Ließ
49. Christian Liess - 44 years
50. Magdalena Liess - 41 years
51. Christian Liess - 14 years
 |
| Page 4 - Passenger #152-206 |
53. Frederich Liess - 9 years
54. Salomea Liess - 6 years
The Family of Jacob Kientz
58. Jacob Kientz - 38 years
59. Catharina Kientz - 35 years
60. Jacob Kientz - 11 years
61. Friedrich Kientz - 9 years
62. Christian Kientz - 7 years
63. Catharina Kientz - 6 years
64. Salomea Kientz - 3 years
The following people are from the town of Lichtenau, Germany:
The Family of Jacob Eisenstein
65. Jacob Eisenstein - 57 years
66. Dorothea Eisenstein - 51 years
67. Jacob Eisenstein - 31 years
68. Dorothea Eisenstein - 25 years
 |
| Page 5 - Passenger #207-260 |
70. Carl Eisenstein - 18 years
71. Ludwig Eisenstein - 17 years
72. Carolina Eisenstein - 11 years
73. Wilhelm Eisenstein - 10 years
74. Friedrich Eisenstein - 7 years
75. Carolina Eisenstein - 6 months
The Family of Jacob Marz
76. Jacob Marz - 54 years
77. Catharina Marz - 51 years
78. Jacob Marz - 19 years
70. Friedrich Marz - 20 years
80. Friedrica Marz - 18 years
81. Carolina Marz - 16 years
82. Ludwiga Marz - 17 years
83. Wilhelm Marz - 11 years
84. Sophia Marz - 10 years
85. Solomon Marz - 7 years
86. Christina Marz - 6 years
87. Catharina Marz - 26 years
 |
| Page 6 - Passenger #261-295 |
The Family of Christian Fessler
88. Christian Fessler - 42 years
89. Barbara Fessler - 42 years
90. Christian Fessler - 18 years
91. Barbara Fessler - 11 years
92. Ludwig Fessler - 10 years
93. Carolina Fessler - 7 years
94. Wilhelm Fessler - 4 years
95. August Fessler - 4 years
96. Juliana Fessler - 6 years
The Family of George Mann
97. George Mann - 41 years
98. Dorothea Mann - 43 years
99. Dorothea Mann - 16 years
100. Ludwig Mann - 11 years
101. Magdalena Mann - 10 years
102. Carolina Mann - 9 years
103. Friedrich Mann - 7 years
104. Salomon Mann - 5 years
105. Christian Mann - 6 months