In August of 1800, the naval ship USS Ganges captured two illegal U.S. slave ships, Phebe and Prudent, off the coast of Cuba. After a spectacular rescue, both ships were brought to the port of Philadelphia because of the city’s well-known anti-slavery sentiments. 

By an absolute miracle, families that had once been torn apart and stolen from Africa, were reunited in America as free citizens. The survivors took the surname of Ganges and were taken in by abolitionist families across the state of Pennsylvania.

HISTORICAL REFERENCES

thegangesfamilies.com
Historical Research Blog by Michael Kearney, Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant

The Lazaretto
Historical Research Blog by David S. Barnes, Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania