Joseph Doherty
Joseph Doherty was a second-class passenger on the Valencia and lost his life at some point during the disaster. His body was washed ashore in the days following the wreck. The San Francisco Call newspaper on January 25th reported, “San Jose Man Loses Brother. Joseph Doherty Had Recently Paid a Visit to Garden City. Among the passengers on the wrecked steamer Valencia was Joseph Doherty, who for the past six months had been in this city visiting his brother, Robert A. Doherty, a local engraver. Joseph Doherty resided in Seattle, where he has another brother, and he also has a brother in New York City. Both brothers were notified this morning by Robert that Joseph had taken the steamer for Seattle and was in the wreck.” The San Francisco Call, on 26 January reported that Joseph Doherty’s body was found with, “a small ikon in a small case, a little image of a Russian saint about three quarters of an inch long, a gold watch engraved with the letter “D” on the case, a purse with a small sum of money, eyeglasses and case of business cards, two spools of silk and a card of Jack D. Wassen of Los Angeles.”
When Joseph Doherty’s body was found, he was identified as Louis Gripenstraw due to business cards with that name with the body. When it was discovered that Gripenstraw was alive in California, it was realized that the body was that of Joseph Doherty, who had met with Gripenstraw in California and was known to have some of his cards with him. Another newspaper report in Victoria on the 27th of January attributed Joseph Doherty’s body to William Doherty, a crewman on the Valencia. The mistake was due to the similarity of names, however William Doherty survived the Valencia shipwreck on the Topeka raft.