William Ward
William Ward died in 1901 in San Francisco.
Hong Kong
2 May 1893
DISTRICT AND PORT OF SAN FRANCISCO
SEPARATE LIST OF CHINESE PASSENGERS
Act May 6th, 1882
I, William Ward, Master of the Amer SS Peru do solemnly, sincerely, and truly swear that the following List or Manifest, subscribed by me, and now delivered by me to the Collector of the Customs of the Collection District of San Francisco, is a full and perfect list of all Chinese passengers taken on board the said vessel at Hong Kong and Way from which port said vessel has now arrived, or that have been taken on board the said vessel at any foreign port or place, and of all such passengers now on board said vessel, and that on said List is truly designated the names and other particulars, as shown by their respective certificates. So help me God.
Sworn to this 3 day of May 1893 before me, Robert Ware, Deputy Collector of Customs
Separate List or Manifest of all the Chinese Passengers taken on board the SS Peru whereof William Ward is Master, from Hong Kong, burthen 2540 tons.
On the morning of February 22, 1901, the Pacific Mail Steamer Rio de Janeiro was feeling her way toward San Francisco in one of the famous coastal fogs. She was inbound from Hong Kong with 227 passengers. Visibility was zero. Captain William Ward paced the bridge as crew stared blindly into a damp, gray void.
Shortly after five o'clock, the liner neared the Golden Gate. They had sailed with a crew that was mostly Chinese. Of the 84 crewmen only two spoke English and Chinese. During the long voyage orders were given by using signs and signals and it seemed to work fairly well. It was known that the ships equipment and lifeboat launching apparatus were in good working order and should have been able to be lowered in less than five minutes. One of these crewmen was caught breaking into a cabin and accosting two female passengers. He was chained below deck for 18 weeks prior to the wreck. The whole time he shouted and cursed at the crew and passengers of the Rio. He promised that everyone aboard would rot on the bottom.
He was almost right, for in the early morning hours of February at final count, only 81 people survived; 129 had perished, among them the Captain, who had gone down with his ship. His headless body was found washed up on the shore near Baker's Beach on July 12, 1902. He was identified by the numbers on a watch he was wearing and which was purchased from a local jeweler.
