John Finley
John Finley, misspelled Fernie in most newspapers, was a second-class passenger on leave from the US navy on his way to Seattle. The misspelling caused a lot of confusion due to another man, J. Fernie, a somewhat prominent person in British Columbia was mistakenly reported as dead on the Valencia. When J. Fernie was found to be alive and well, there was a scramble by many newspapers to correctly identify this man. The Victoria Daily times on 24 January, 1906 wrote:
"The identity of J. Fernie, bound for Victoria is not known. W. Fernie, of this city, says he knows of no relative of that initial. A traveler by the name of Fernie, representing a Montreal firm, occasionally visits the coast, and it is thought the passenger on the Valencia may be this traveler."
Several days later his true identity was revealed as John Finley, a U.S. navy man on his way to Bremerton, Washington to his new posting on the U.S.S. Philidelphia. Very little other information about John Finley is known, however Unites States navy records list him conclusively as one of five navy men lost on the Valencia:
"Merchant ship SS Valencia wrecked on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Five personnel on leave were drowned: Ordinary Seaman John Finley, Coal Passer Harman Fisher, Ordianry Seaman Clyde William Knight, Ordinary Seaman Charles Uhler and Coal Passer John Sidney Widmer. 23 January 1906."
The Armed Forces Journal on 4 Feb 1906 listed John Finley as among the dead on the Valencia:
Four enlisted men of the Navy lost their lives on board the steamer Valencia which was wrecked on Jan 22 resulting in the loss of more than a hundred. The men were all from the training station at San Francisco and were on their way to report to the U.S.S. Philadelphia at Bremerton. The names of the men reported lost are: John S. Widmer and Harman Fisher, coal passers, and John Finley and Charles Uhler, ordinary seamen.
John Finley’s body was recovered and later identified after yet more confusion. The San Francisco Call on 6 Feb 1906 reported on two bodies in Seattle:
"With the bodies of D.M. Peters of San Francisco, and of a young man supposed to be Jack Finley, of this city, in his charge J.M. Butterworth, of Butterworth & Sons, the local undertakers arrived in the city this morning from Victoria. The body of Mr. Peters has been fully identified, but the other, thought to be that of young Finley is not positively known. Mrs. Finley, the mother of the dead boy with identify the remains this afternoon, if they are those of her son. From descriptions sent from California the body was almost identified as that of Robare Brown, of California, but Mr. P.J. Cassen, the brother-in-law of Brown, yesterday viewed the body in Victoria and immediately pronounced it that of young Finley."
Was John Finley on the Turret Raft?
Specific details of John Finley’s time on the Valencia is unknown for certain, however he is very likely the “unidentified sailor” that died of exposure on what came to be known as the Turret Raft.
What is known about the unidentified sailor are that he was a young U.S. Navy man on leave and that he was friends with Harvey Gnegy, another passenger on the life raft. Gnegy and the unidentified man were always reported as “two U.S. Navy men on leave”. Gnegy, it would be later discovered was not on leave, but recently discharged from the navy, which is why he is not listed with Finley and the others in the official navy reports of Valencia deaths. One significant clue that indicates that the unknown man was John Finley was that his body was recovered. Among the U.S. navy men on the Valencia that did not survive, only the bodies John Finley and Harvey Gnegy were recovered and identified. This is an important clue because the bodies of the men that did not survive the Turret Raft were all found and identified except the unknown man. Two of the men went crazy and jumped off the raft and one died of exposure and was pushed off. Their bodies were found because they were in an easily accessible area of the coast for boats to patrol. Where the Valencia wrecked the coast was surrounded by breakers that kept rescue boats well away from the shoreline and too far out to find bodies. As Finley and Gnegy were the only two navy men identified, it seems likely that the unidentified man on the Turret Raft was Finley. If Finley was the unidentified sailor on the raft, we can piece together the horrific last few hours he endured.
Valencia’s Life Rafts
The Valencia wrecked just before midnight on Monday, January 22nd, 1906. Nearly 34 hours later, on Wednesday morning the situation on the Valencia was deteriorating rapidly. Battered by waves, the ship was breaking apart and settling lower with every crashing wave that slammed into her. About 80 survivors remained clinging to the few upper parts of the ship still above water.
Rescue ships had appeared in the distance, however no attempt at rescue had been made. Thomas Carrick, first assistant engineer on the Valencia later recalled, “The first ship that hove in sight was the Queen. The weather was nice until that time, but the wind shifted and a choppy sea set in. The Queen stood off about a mile and a half. I saw two boats swinging from the davits as if they were in readiness to be lowered.” Sam Hancock, the chief cook on the Valencia remembered, “The Queen came within a reasonable distance and stopped. A short time after two other vessels came in sight. The Queen apparently spoke the vessels and a tug came towards us, but turned around immediately and went away. No boat was lowered by any of the vessels.” Joseph McCaffrey, a passenger would later testify in the Valencia inquiry, “When the steamers Queen, Salvor and Czar came in sight he thought that it would be a matter of only a short time before all were rescued. He thought the Czar might have come within 200 yards of the ship at the outside and drifted a raft down the vessel.” Knowing the ship could collapse under the waves at any moment, the crew decided to launch the last two life rafts and try to get to the rescue ships. The rafts were launched about twenty minutes apart and suffered very different fates. The first raft launched would become known as the Turret Raft and the second the Topeka Raft. The rafts are designed to float and remain stable, however those on board would be partly submerged and constantly soaked from waves crashing over the sides. The survivors on the Valencia were already freezing cold, hungry and thirsty and most refused to jump into the terrifying ocean below to get on the rafts.
Valencia's First Raft Departs Successfully
The first raft to be launched was not quite full, with just ten men on board. There were several reasons for this. First, it was doubtful the fragile and hard to maneuver rafts could survive in the churning ocean for long even if they could clear the breakers to get to the open ocean. Second, boarding the rafts was terrifyingly difficult. As the raft rose and fell in the enormous ocean swells it had to be kept a few metres from the Valencia to avoid it being smashed against the ship. To get on one of the rafts, you had to jump from the ship from a considerable height into the freezing ocean, avoid drowning or getting thrown against the ship, and swim your way to a raft. Yet another powerfully motivating reason was that many on the Valencia still hoped for outside rescue to come. With ships so close, some form of rescue had to be soon coming.
10am Wed 24th Jan: Leaving the Valencia
The first raft left with only ten men at somewhere between 9:30am-10am. In charge of the raft was third assistant engineer Robert Nelson. Also on board were, chief cook Sam Hancock, waiter Frank Connors, fireman Max Stensler, fireman George Long, waiter John Wallace, passenger Adam Rolph, passenger W. Wilson, and two passengers on leave from the US Navy, Harvey Gnegy and another man name unknown but believed to be John Finley.
Sam Hancock later recalled:
About 9am Wednesday morning a big wave broke over the ship. It was then concluded to launch the life rafts which were all ready. Finding we were on the point of sinking the chief officer came to him to organize a party to man the rafts. Most all declined to go, even his 2nd and 3rd men and chief baker, none of the engineers but Nelson came.
The three men Hancock refers to as his 2nd, 3rd men and chief baker were second cook James Cameron, third cook John Johnson and baker Charles Fluhme. James Cameron would not survive when the Valencia finally collapsed into the sea about two hours after Hancock and the others departed on the first life raft. John Johnson and Charles Fluhme survived on the second life raft that departed soon after the first raft and was rescued by the City of Topeka at 1pm, just three hours after it left the Valencia.
Valencia Second Life Raft Rescued by City of Topeka January 24th, 1906
The ten men on the first life raft rowed as best they could toward the Queen, however the current relentlessly dragged them up the coast, away from the ship. The huge ocean swells and bad weather made them practically invisible to nearby ships even if they were looking for them. Which, incredibly, by about 11am they were not. The Queen had been ordered back to Victoria and was steaming into the distance. The two smaller vessels the Salvor and the Czar, afraid to approach the Valencia as they feared wrecking themselves, departed to Bamfield to send a rescue party by land. Another vessel, the City of Topeka was to relieve the Queen and stay in the vicinity of the Valencia, however a miscommunication caused the Topeka to not find the Valencia.
4pm Wed 24th Jan: First Man Dies of Exposure
Drifting hopelessly up the coast, by 4pm, they had been on the raft for six hours and were close to succumbing to the cold. Around this time the US navy man with the unknown name, though likely John Finley died of exposure. Reporter, R.P. Dunn, who interviewed Sam Hancock two days later, wrote in the Victoria Daily Times:
“So poignant was the disappointment that one of the passengers, who was of more delicate appearance than the others, and whose vitality was unequal to the mental and physical strain gave up the unequal fight and in a few minutes passed away. The others, knowing that every unnecessary pound of weight on their slight craft reduced their chance of surviving, dropped his body overboard.”
Little is known about this man except that he was in the navy and friends with fellow passenger Harvey Gnegy. What is known for sure is that his friend Gnegy was opposed to having his body thrown overboard. He particularly resented Hancock for the incident, which suggests that Hancock directed this action.
5pm Wed 24th Jan: "I saw him dashed against the rocks..."
Still being dragged up the coast by the current and their last hope, Cape Beale Lighthouse fading in the distance, the nine men barely alive on the raft gave up hope. They gave up on rowing and having no idea where they were, they floated aimlessly north. Soon another passenger Adam Rolph, driven mad from the helpless agony of drifting nowhere, jumped overboard and drowned. From his interview with Hancock, R.P. Dunn wrote about what drove Adam Rolph to jump from the raft.
“Who can place himself in such a position and imagine the dreadful strain upon the castaways in their struggle for life, mental and physical, and not acknowledge that the outcome was most natural? Those not inured to the hardships of the sea either sank benumbed with the extreme cold or else became so frenzied with despair as to reach a condition bordering upon insanity. The latter was the fate of a fashionably dressed passenger. He was best with all kinds of illusions. Finally, he swore that there was an island a few feet off and that he could swim the distance easily. Suiting the action to the word he precipitated himself into the sea and was never seen again. Probably the body reported to have been found on an island in the neighbourhood will, when identified, prove to be that poor fellow’s remains.”
Adam Rolph was a passenger on the Valencia heading back to his wife and five children in New Westminster where he lived for twenty years. The Daily Colonist reported that Rolph had recently resigned his position as bookkeeper at the St. Mungo Cannery, Fraser River, and went to San Francisco to engage in a business venture there. Mrs. Rolph received a letter from him that his plans had miscarried and that he was returning on the Valencia. Frank Connors, also on the raft with Rolph, later recalled, “I saw him dashed against the rocks, we were unable to help him.” Rolph's body was found a couple days later, washed ashore not far from where he jumped from the raft.
5pm-6pm Wed 24th Jan: W. Wilson Leaped into the Sea
Probably around 5 or 6pm they drifted into Barkley Sound and the scattering of islands of the Broken Group. Distant islands appeared around them, though they had given up hope and had no strength left to row. Even if they could muster the strength to row, they felt hopeless against the relentless current. At this point the eight remaining survivors on the raft had endured about eight hours of agony, soaking wet with freezing seawater, W. Wilson leaped into the sea and swam toward one of the far away islands. He drowned in the attempt, leaving only seven desperate men on the raft.
11pm Wed 24th Jan: Reach Land After 14 Hours
The current dragged them as they watched helplessly, now in darkness, as distant shadows of islands passed them on either side. There was suddenly renewed hope when they found themselves drifting toward an island. Of the seven men on the raft, three were so close to death they barely moved. The other four, Sam Hancock, Max Stensler, George Long and Frank Connors manned the oars and struggled closer and closer. Probably between 11pm and midnight, Wednesday, January 24th, after fourteen hours of hell they landed on Turret Island. The four men managed to pull the raft above the high water mark and collapsed to the ground exhausted. The other three men, third assistant engineer Robert Nelson, waiter John Wallace and passenger Harvey Gnegy barely moved. Gnegy and Nelson were nearly dead from exposure and Wallace was probably already dead.
12am-5am Thurs 25th Jan: Grnegy Attacks Hancock
At some point during the night, Harvey Gnegy sprang to life apparently possessed with the idea that Hancock was “a wild dog and good to eat.” Gnegy jumped on the sleeping Hancock and began choking him. Hancock and the others woke and overpowered Gnegy who had lost his mind. Apparently the first man on the raft to die, the unknown navy man that the others pushed into the sea was a close friend of Harvey Gnegy. The others would later speculate that this was the cause of the hate directed at Hancock. After the attack, Gnegy shrank back and collapsed. He never moved again.
5am Thurs 25th Jan: Search for Help
In the morning at about 5am, with daylight approaching, Hancock, Stensler, Long and Connors woke. They had no idea where they were, but finally on solid ground they could walk in search for help. They were sure that John Wallace was dead, but believed that Harvey Gnegy and Robert Nelson were still be alive, though barely. They hoped to find help and return to the raft for Gnegy and Nelson when they do. Wandering into the forest they soon lost their way back to the raft and focussed on just moving forward.
9am Thurs 25th Jan: Connors Splits from Group
After a few hours wandering through the forest, they decided it was best to walk along the shoreline as close as possible. It was now about 9am, 23 hours since they left the Valencia, and it seems Frank Connors was beginning to lose his mind. He insisted that in the other direction they would find Cape Beale Lighthouse. The others ridiculed this idea and Connors set off on his own into the forest along. Hancock, Stensler and Long continued along the coast while Connors headed inland and disappeared. Along one stretch of beach the trio found oranges that must have drifted in from the Valencia. The greedily ate them and then searched around for anything else edible. They found some sort of vegetation along the forest and tried digging for clams, but found none.
12pm Thurs 25th Jan: Hancock, Stensler and Long Found
At about noon on Thursday January 25th January Sam Hancock, Max Stensler and George Long found by the sister of Charlie Ross, a first nations policeman. They were taken to a small settlement on the island and a few hours later, at about 9pm they were picked up by the Shamrock, a small steamer, and taken to Toquart, the nearest settlement along Ucluelet Arm. They arrived at Toquart at 10:40pm and were cared for at the house of Government Lineman H.J. Helliers.
9am Fri 26th Jan: Survivors Report Connors Still On the Island
Friday morning, January 26th the Salvor in Bamfield received news that survivors had been found on Turret Island. The Salvor rushes to Toquart and picks up the three Turret Raft survivors. Sam Hancock, Max Stensler and George Long were taken aboard the Salvor at about 9am and the Salvor learns that "waiter Connors" is possibly still alive somewhere on Turret Island. "Waiter Connors", is mistakenly reported in many newspapers as "Walter Connors", which is why you see this incorrect name frequently. The Salvor then rushed from Toquart to Turret Island to search for Frank Connors.
Hancock and Long Boarding the Salvor
2pm Fri 26th Jan: Connors Found on Turret Island
2pm Friday Jan 26th: The boat that set off from the Salvor along the coast in an easterly direction found Frank Connors after about one mile laying on a log in the sun.