"Who or what really killed William Babbitt Haynes?" One can only speculate
By W. F. Twyman, Jr.
For those readers who are following Gotterdammerung, the story has reached a defining moment. “Who or what really killed William Babbitt Haynes?” We are left with speculations, according to a commentator.
Ship wrecks were not uncommon in the early 1800s. According to Chat GPT-4, “there were numerous shipwrecks around the world” in the 1800s. Shipwrecks happened near South Carolina in the late 1830s. There are hundreds of shipwrecks off of the coast of South Carolina. One notable shipwreck was the Schooner Home, which sank in 1837 near Cape Romain, South Carolina. Ship wrecks happened for all sorts of reasons — Storms and rough weather, Navigational errors, Mechanical failure, Human error, Collisions. See the recent close encounter of the Francis Scott Key Bridge with a cargo ship in the Baltimore Harbor.
There are many natural and accidental reasons why the ship William Babbitt Haynes was traveling on might have wrecked. Perhaps, the presence of William Babbitt Haynes on his ill-fated ship was coincidence.
Even if one suspects foul play, how would one prove murder in the late 1830s? There were no surveillance cameras in 1838 or 1839. Law enforcement could not wire up cooperating witnesses. See the Wire Heck, there weren’t even cell phones or telephones in the late 1830s. How would one investigate a crime scene at the bottom of the ocean? Is there a paper trail of incriminating evidence? Presumably, smart men in the business of crime would cover their tracks.
All we know are the facts. William Babbitt Haynes was the first black law clerk in U.S. history. He was on the path towards becoming the first black lawyer. He was a passenger on a ship in South Carolinian coastal waters. Something, or someone, wrecked William’s ship. And he perished in a watery grave.
All the rest is speculation.