Keith Holland and some of the divers who helped recover the cargo of The Maple Leaf, which was sunk by a mine on the St. Johns in April 1864, discussed the excavation at the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society recently.
The Maple Leaf was a side-wheel Union steamboat used during the war to ferry troops and equipment. Four crew members were killed in the sinking.
Gabriele Dempsey, museum organizer of exhibits, said the historical society has displayed artifacts from the Maple Leaf before, but this is the first time the divers have been part of the exhibit. She said what interests her about the exhibit is the glimpse into a soldier’s life it provides.
“These are all personal belongings of three regiments of Civil War soldiers,” she said.
Derek Morse, a visitor at the museum, was there with his wife and in-laws. He said he’s very interested in history.
“It’s really cool there’s something so close to home with such historical significance.”
The Maple Leaf was sunk about a mile south of where the Buckman Bridge now spans the St. Johns. Because it was covered in mud devoid of oxygen, the shipwreck’s hull and everything inside it has been preserved, Holland said.
He researched historic shipwrecks on the St. Johns and settled on the Maple Leaf after he became interested in diving. At the time, Holland was a practicing dentist in Jacksonville and would spend weekends hunting for the Maple Leaf.
He used old maps and government photos of the area to pinpoint where he thought the shipwreck could be. Then he found it, but it was 24 feet underwater and buried about 7 to 8 feet in mud.
“I was excited about finding the shipwreck,” he said. “I was gravely disappointed it was beyond my reach, but I did not give up. I just realized I was going to have to work a little harder.”
For the next several years an army of volunteers dug down into the mud until it was possible to remove some of the cargo. Holland said his team has removed about one ton of material, but that represents less than 0.5 percent of what could be inside the Maple Leaf.
The dives stopped year ago as money dried up – some of it was state grant money but some of it came from Holland’s own pocket.
Steve Michaelis worked on the salvage as a diver starting in 1989. History didn’t excite him until he started diving with Holland.
“It just got more interesting seeing how people lived years ago,” he said.
Holland is proud of what he pulled from the St. Johns. He remembers holding items inside the hull under the water and realizing he was the first to do so in more than 120 years.
“It’s a powerful feeling,” he said.
He hasn’t been back to the shipwreck since the mid-’90s.
He would love to see more material recovered from the shipwreck, but it won’t be him. He still thinks about what’s left in the mud.
“The Maple Leaf is going to be there forever,” he said. “Eventually somebody will recover more material.”
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AP-WF-07-22-14 1416GMT
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