The story of Capt. John A. Cook and his wife, Viola, is told by Josef Berger — writing pseudonymously as Jeremiah Digges — in Cape Cod Pilot (1937), pages 248-249. Captain Cook commissioned the Viola, a 125-foot brigantine, in 1909. A voyage completed in 1916 included a filmmaker, according to “A Seafaring Heritage,” by James J. Theriault of King Hiram’s Lodge. In September 1918, Capt. Joseph Luis set out on the Viola from New Bedford, with his wife, their 5-year-old daughter and a crew of 24. They were never heard from again.
