Background

Based out of New Orleans, Louisiana, the Peter Lowell came under new ownership in 1860. In February of 1860, the ship made its way to Liberia, where it met with a larger ship operating as a slave market at sea, carrying about 1,000 captive Africans near the Congo River. Because the slave trade had been outlawed in the United States in 1807, the Peter Mowell was operating as slave ship illegally. ^[20] Ironically enough, the fear of getting caught led the crew to change course, causing the ship to wreck. Because they were close to shore, those aboard were able to climb to land and were then rescued by wreckers.

Material Culture

In July 2012, the interdisciplinary team searching for the Peter Mowell found a “shipwreck consisting of ballast stones, iron spikes, copper fasteners, copper sheathing, and sheathing tacks,” ^[21] where they predicted the wreck was likely to be located based on historical records. Bricks, nails, and concretized metal were also found.

Interdisciplinary Involvement

Historical research provided a likely location for the shipwreck, and in 2012, after five years of collaborative research, archaeologists from both the Florida-based MFMHS and the Bahamas Antiquities, Monuments, and Museums Corporation teamed up with volunteers to search for the ship. Additional research has shed light on those
associated with the Peter Mowell, and genealogy has made it possible to trace the descendants of
the Africans and crew aboard – and those involved in the rescue. ^[22]

Museology

Located in Nassau, the Pompey Museum of Slavery & Emancipation, named for a slave named Pompey who led a successful revolt, hosts a permanent exhibit titled, “Wade in the Water: Peter Mowell, the Last Slave Ship in the Bahamas.” Traveling displays share the story throughout The Bahamas, and the Peter Mowell is also included in “Spirits of The Passage,” Mel Fisher’s traveling museum exhibition.

Historical Significance

After making it from the ship onto the island of Lynyard Cay where the Peter Mowell crashed, 390 Africans and eight crew members were rescued by nearby wreckers and brought to the authorities in the Bahamas. The Africans were made to serve six years of indentured servitude under British colonists and were then granted freedom and able to become Bahamians in 1866. ^[23] The crew was jailed since the trade was illegal, although they were later released.

Although archaeologists have since discovered connections between other slave wreck survivors and their descendants, “These connections are the first known instances of people in the present day being able to link their family heritage to the site and remains of an actual slave ship.”^[24] Post-excavation research provides us with names, histories, and contributions of those involved with the Peter Mowell, including Charles “Chance” Harvey, who was kidnapped near
from the Congo River at just 13 years old. He became a house carpenter in Providence with descendants living in Florida and the Bahamas. ^[25]

20. “The Peter Mowell, 1860,” Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, accessed November 13, 2024, https://www.melfisher.org/copy-of-peter-mowell-1860.

21. “The Peter Mowell, 1860,” Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

22. “The Peter Mowell, 1860,” Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

23 “The Peter Mowell, 1860,” Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

24 “The Peter Mowell, 1860,” Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

25 “The Peter Mowell, 1860,” Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.