The New York Times from April 8, 1853, announced that there was some concern felt about the fate of the Independence: “There was much anxiety felt for the safety of the Vanderbilt steamship Independence, from which nothing had been heard, though she was thirty days beyond her time. She had a large number of passengers on board. She was to have connected with the steamship Northern Light, from New-York, Jan. 20, and was last seen on the 15th of Feb., off Cape St. Lucas. Hopes were entertained that she had put into some intermediate port. The steamer Sea Bird has gone in search of her.”

Ship Name: Independence 

Year Built: 1849

Tonnage: 900 Tons 

Nationality: United States of America 

Ship Type: Wooden-Hulled Steamship 

Year Wrecked: 1853

Location Wrecked: Isla Santa Margarita, Mexico 

Reason for Wreck: Struck Reef, Caught Fire 

Lives Lost: 127

Sources: 

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/04/26/297733022.html?pageNumber=3

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-adventures-of-the-real-tom-sawyer-35894722/

https://books.google.com/books?id=KB1RAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=nicaragua+line+1850+independence+steamship&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://books.google.com/books?id=bSkzAQAAIAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=california+1850+independence+steamship&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/04/08/87851371.html?pageNumber=1

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DAC18530820.2.2&srpos=11&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-captain+sampson-ARTICLE---1853---

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/04/26/297732902.html?pageNumber=1

https://books.google.com/books?id=TY-6xUtVLUAC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=shipwreck+independence+1853+california&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/161105901/16376278

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/05/09/87853202.html?pageNumber=3

https://newspaperarchive.com/crawford-county-courier-may-03-1853-p-2/