Uncle Kjostal

In 1885 my great, great, great uncle, Kjostal Larsen, a shipwright, launched the Samson.  This vessel had an interesting history.  In 1914, the Samson was one of two ships that saw but failed to respond to the Titanic's distress flares.  The captain absconded rather than investigate, on account of hull-full of seal his crew had just poached in Canadian territorial waters.  The truth did not come out until the 1960s.

Two years later, the Samson was involved in a less ignominious episode.  She rescued Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance from South Georgia island.

Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer (and Scandinavian 78 luminary), sailed on the Samson in 1927.  Impressed by her sturdiness, he recommend her to Admiral Byrd, who refurbished the hull, rechristened her City of New York, and sailed her on his 1929 voyage to the south pole.

In 1933, City of New York was exhibited at the World's Fair.

Great uncle Kjostal's ship finally ended her career Nova Scotia, where she ran aground and burned in 1952.  Several houses in nearby Yarmouth were reputed built from her remains.   

The wheel, bell and other items related to the Samson were auctioned in 09 in Dallas Texas.  Not among these, unfortunately, was the figurehead (?), which was carved by my grandfather's grandfather, Aanon Abrahamsen.  It "might well be sitting at the bottom of the sea."      

I have all this information from my mother, who tells the story better than me.  So far, the only detail I have verified is that a ship called the Samson did indeed fail its opportunity to save the lives of any of the doomed passengers of the Titanic. 

I'm still staggering from the surreality of all this.  That I could have lived 40 years without knowing about these details of family history.  That not one, but two of my distant relatives were connected to this historic ship.  That none of this seems to be as well known as it seems it ought to be.  Surely this late discovery is synchronicity--the universe informing me that I'm on a good path, and must continue, and pick up the pace.       

I wonder if, when the Scandinavian 78 is published abroad, I'll discover fourth and fifth cousins in Norway.   The fantasy is both pleasant and oddly unsettling. 

I believe "Kjostal," by the way, is pronounced something like "hew-stel."

"The only shame that [the crew of the Samson] should feel," quipped a co-worker, on hearing the story, "is for the movie Titanic."

Amen.