"Shipwreck of the Minotaur," by J.M.W. Turner.

Three articles in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle with a Huntington, Long Island, dateline succinctly tell the story of Elvin Darling, a ship captain whose wife liked sailing with him, their tragic 1899 accident and the grim voyage’s aftermath.

___________________________________

January 31, 1898: “Mrs. Darling a Sailor.”

Captain and Mrs. Elvin Darling left here to-day for New York, where his schooner, the James E. Baylis, is making ready to go to Norfolk, Va. There he takes a cargo of coal for Vera Cruz, Mexico. For return freight he goes up the Mexican coast some miles above Vera Cruz, where he loads with mahogany. Mrs. Darling seemed as much pleased at getting aboard ship again as her husband.

February 20, 1899: “Wreck of the Baylis–News Reaches Huntington of the Loss of Captain Darling’s Schooner–Fate of the Crew in Doubt.”

A telegram received in this village this morning tells of the wreck of the schooner James E. Baylis of Port Jefferson, of whcih Captain Elvin Darling of this place was master, and Frank Conklin, second mate. Captain Darling’s wife was also on board. The telegram says that the schooner was sighted off Cape Charles, Va., Saturday, by the steamer Foyle, bound from Brazil to New York. The Baylis was bound from Tuxpan, Mexico, to New York, loaded with mahogany and cedar. When sighted her masts were gone and her decks were awash and the cargo was floating about the seas. No signs of life were visible on the craft. Relatives of the men here hope that the crew were saved by a passing vessel. The Baylis was owned by the captain and by New York and Port Jefferson parties. She was built at Port Jefferson in 1874 and registered 360 tons. Captain Darling, who is known as an able captain, has been in a number of shipwrecks, but always escaped without the loss of any of his crew.

February 24, 1900: “Captain Darling Getting Married.”

Captain Elvin H. Darling was in town this week, accompanied by Mrs. Darling. Captain Darling, it will be remembered by Eagle readers, was master of the ill fated schooner James E. Baylis of Port Jefferson, which was wrecked off the Virginia capes a little over a year ago, and whose crew suffered so intensely from exposure. The captain’s wife died from exposure on the wreck before they were rescued. The present Mrs. Darling was a Philadelphia woman and they were married in that city last Saturday.