Abby Connolly
With useless crew members and a sick captain, the ship’s fate was suddenly in the hands of a pregnant teenage Mary. Mary set the course and navigated the ship while nursing Joshua back to health.
She was very brave and so busy trying to balance all these duties that she claimed to be unable to change her clothes for 50 days.
When the ship arrived in San Francisco with its cargo, Mary was praised for her hard work and courage.
She brushed the heroic act off as the duties of a doting wife, but in reality, she saved thousands of dollars worth of cargo and her husband’s life.
Mary was written about in newspapers upon her return from the sea and was rewarded $1,000 for her efforts. Not long after her voyage, Mary gave birth to a son named Joshua, after his father.
Unfortunately, Mary and her husband did not live long after their adventures. Joshua died in July 1857, and Mary died of tuberculosis four years later, in March 1861, just before her 24th birthday.
Although she did not live a long life, Mary will always be remembered for her bravery and for proving that women are truly just as capable as men when it comes to sailing the sea.
