Story of Cannibalism Aboard Somers Point Ship

History can teach us many valuable lessons.

And sometimes, it can really freak us out.

Ship from Somers Point involved in some real life or death stuff

A post shared on the Somers Point Historical Society Facebook Group tells the story of a very unsettling tale of what happened aboard a Somers Point ported ship.

Warning: the contents of this story could be offensive to some.

The year was 1878 and the story was shared at that time in the Philadelphia Times newspaper.

Apparently the ship had just returned from a voyage, pulled into port by another boat that had found her near Bermuda.

When they found the ship, it's flag was flying upside down, the signal of distress.

All crew members were still aboard the ship, but food had run out, and they were very ill.

Well, all crew members but one. He died (or was killed) on the boat, and some of his remains were kept aboard.

As the story goes, part of his flesh were kept in a barrel with salt to preserve it - and some of his flesh had reportedly been consumed by others.

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Captain of the ship tells his side of the story

When the boat was returned to Somers Point, a newspaper reporter was able to track down the captain of the ship, the Steelman. The captain was identified as S.G. HIgbee.

According to the article, Higbee freely talked about what happened on the boat's voyage.

The vessel was carrying a load of cargo when it ran into bad weather, and much on the ship was lost in storms.

Eventually all the food ran out and several men on the ship got sick.

The men had been separated by race, and the captain said that one of the "colored" man was shot, and died.

Ultimately flesh was cut off the dead man, and others attempted to broil the flesh on a fire.

Here's what the captain said, according to the article, "I ate a piece as large as my two fingers only. It was handed to me as it was taken off the fire and I covered it on both sides with mustard. I tasted nothing but the mustard, but that night I felt bad effects from it."

It was shortly thereafter that the other boat, the Speedwell rescued the Steelman and returned her and her crew to Somers Point.

Here's a photo of the original article from the Philadelphia Times.

You'll find a lot of other very fascinating articles on the Historical Society's Facebook Group page here.