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 the writer of a Connecticut cemetery.

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

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

Two men were yet hanged for the sidesplitting but had Haven's grateful skipper truly returned the young sailor's assemblage thousands of miles to his household for burial successful the East Haddam plot?

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

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

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

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

It had arrived successful San Francisco with 200 tons of lumber successful July 1849 arsenic the authorities was gripped by the California Gold Rush and its skipper Charles B. Small decided to permission it successful Sacramento portion helium joined the thousands of prospectors trying their lucks successful the hills and gullies of the Sierra Nevada.

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

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

He besides picked up 4 caller unit members who determined to bargain the cargo earlier the vessel had adjacent near port.

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

Captain Small and archetypal 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 aboriginal the skipper was awoken successful his compartment by the dependable of musket occurrence and a outcry of 'murder' from Havens connected the precocious deck.

Rushing extracurricular helium discovered that the 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' portion they took power of the ship.

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

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

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

The US Navy transported the 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 the New York Herald successful 1850, had an nonfiction and it stated that Asa was wrapped successful a broad and buried astatine oversea disconnected the seashore of Chile,' said Dr Stofko.

But had the skipper truly conscionable tossed his loyal lieutenant overboard and continued connected his way?

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

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

'And the footstone had his initials connected it. And that benignant of indicated that, 'Yes determination was a burial there'. 'That got america talking.'

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

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

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

'Asa was the talk,' Beatrice said.

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

Dr Stofko remained a sceptic.

The amateur historiographer and nonrecreational dentist thought the substance was settled erstwhile helium tried probing the sedate with a agelong alloy rod and recovered the crushed was unyielding.

'That means the crushed was ne'er dug up,' helium said.

'Most graves you tin probe reasonably easy with a probing rod due to the fact that the world has been dug up.'

But the 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 with his invaluable cargo.

'They couldn't recognize wherefore anybody would enactment up a sedate marker if determination wasn't anybody successful the ground,' Stofko said.

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

The radar suggested the crushed had been disturbed astatine immoderate clip successful the distant past, but Beatrice said the ungraded investigation enactment the substance beyond doubt.

The world beneath the aboveground showed a wide delineation betwixt the acheronian topsoil and the lighter sandy-colored subsoil indicating that the 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 household and interred successful the North Plain Cemetery. Asa was fixed to the depths of the sea.'

'We were truly hoping that we were going to find something,' helium added. 'We truly wanted to find something.

'But it was fun.'