Henry Goodsell and the scattered bones of the Oriental (1844)

One person, three discoveries

A skull appeared at Longport in 1995, further bones at Margate in 1999, and additional remains at Ocean City in 2013. The unidentified person became known as “Scattered Man.” Ramapo College’s genealogy researchers linked DNA relatives to Connecticut ancestry and then searched historical shipwreck reports.

Two December 1844 newspaper accounts described the schooner Oriental, carrying marble to Philadelphia for Girard College. The ship was lost near Brigantine Shoal with all five aboard, including 29-year-old captain Henry Goodsell. The newspapers suggested a leak; that remains a historical report rather than a newly established technical finding.

The family comparison

State Police collected a reference sample from a great-great grandchild on March 7, 2025, and confirmed Goodsell’s identity on April 8. The public announcement followed in May. The case resolved a long-standing identification problem and recovered maritime history; it did not reveal a previously hidden murder.