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Braus, Jerome

Alias used by a seaman living at the Squarerigger Hotel in San Francisco, California,[1] in 1871. (July 11, 1825 – March 4, 1902)[2]

A former shipmate of Paul Carthew, living under the assumed name of one of the dead crew of the Flying Scud.[1]

In November of 1870,[2] the seaman shipped out of the Dutch East Indies with Carthew and others on a pearl fishing voyage[1] aboard the Currency Lass.[2] While making a very profitable haul[1] two months later,[2] a Dutch cutter gave them chase. They lost their pursuers in a fog but shipwrecked on a reef. The crew was able to make it forty miles to Midway Island in a small boat and light a signal fire.[1] In February,[2] the Flying Scud spotted their signal and took them aboard, but their rescuers learned about their haul of pearls and wanted the entire treasure for themselves. A fight ensued, resulting in the seaman and his shipmates killing the entire crew of the Flying Scud to protect their valuable pearl shipment. The seaman and his shipmates ran the Flying Scud onto a reef back at Midway where a British man-of-war found and rescued them. To conceal the killing aboard, the castaways pretended to be the crew of the Flying Scud, the seaman taking the name of Jerome Braus, a ruse they were forced to maintain even once the man-of-war brought them to San Francisco.[1]

In December of 1871,[2] Bret and Bart Maverick bought the wreck of the Flying Scud for $21,000 at auction and attempted to find any member of her crew to discover why the ship had been bid to such a high price. Bart found Jamie Craven in a waterfront dive and bribed him for information leading him to a Jerome Braus at the Squarerigger Hotel. Bart investigated the hotel room, but was knocked out from behind by Carthew. The seaman wanted to kill Bart to keep the secret of the Flying Scud, but Carthew stopped him, convincing him Bart and Brother Bret had only bought the shipwreck for salvage.[2]

See: The Wrecker