1824 — Sep 14-15, offshore and coastal GA Hurricane, landfall near St. Simons, GA –>169

–>169 Blanchard tally of Georgia and maritime losses as noted below.
— 147 Georgia on-land fatalities by locality as noted below.
— 22 Maritime losses by vessel as noted below.
–>150 Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Savannah in the Old South. 2003. Appendix.
— 100 Rappaport and Partagas 1995.
Breakout of GA fatalities by locality where sources have been specific:
— 11 Captain Hudson’s plantation. Drownings of slaves. Fraser. Low Country Hurricanes. 2006, 90.
— 4 Colonel’s Island. Edward and Philip Bacon and two slaves.
— 8 Creighton Island, John Miller plantation. Thomas Miller, the overseer, a worker 5 slaves.
— 33 Darien surrounding area. Blanchard tally from breakouts below.
— 1 Mr. Nephew’s place. Darien Gazette, GA. “Disastrous Hurricane.” 9-21-1824, p.3.
— 7 Capt. Hudson’s place; worker drownings. Darien Gazette, GA. “Disastrous Hurricane.” 9-21-1824, p. 3.
–11 Mr. White’s place; worker drownings. Darien Gazette, GA. “Disastrous Hurricane.” 9-21-1824, 3.
–10 J. Snow plantation; drownings. Wife’s sister, his child, 2 young brothers, R.R. Merrell; 5 slaves.
— 1 The Thicket mills; drowning. Darien Gazette, GA. “Disastrous Hurricane.” 9-21-1824, 3.
–>3 Mr. Chisolms place “family of negroes…killed.”
— >3 Elba Island, Savannah River. “slave cabins collapsed…and some ‘valuable negroes’ drowned.”
— >3 Elliott’s Plantation. “…several valuable negroes, number not ascertained…drowned.”
— 18 Patterson’s Island. Mrs. Lafong, 12 of her slaves, Mr. Chase, his wife, child and two slaves.
— >3 Sapelo Island. 6-ft wave washed over island; “people in less-protected cabins…did not [survive].”
— 2 Sapelo Island. Children of a Mr. Gould torn from his arms and carried away by the sea.
— 9 Sapelo Island, Thomas Spalding plantation; drownings; six slaves, overseer’s two sons & father.
— 83 St. Simons Island. Sandrik and Landsea (NOAA). “Chronological Listing of Tropical…” 2003.
Breakout of maritime fatalities by vessel, where noted:
— 2 Ship Albion, of London. Seaman washed overboard. Mate drowned, line to rescue ship broke.
— 6 Ship John and Mary of Liverpool; chief mate, carpenter, four seamen swept overboard.
— 6 Ship Martha Forbes of Boston, 50-60M SE of Savannah; 5 crew washed off; Cpt. died lashed to mast.
— 2 British brig Wilding off Charleston; two seamen, one cabin boy drowned when she fell on her side.
— 6 Small boat carrying Raymond Demere and 5 slaves, capsized between Darien and St. Simons.
— ? Unknown and unspecified losses.

South Carolina (0)

Narrative Information

Fraser: “1824 September 14-15…Major hurricane…Offshore/coastal waters of Ga. And S.C. Landfall near St. Simons and Darien…150+ [deaths est.]…Financial losses in Darien $18,207,920…Vessels, crops, and farm animals lost.”

NOAA: “Year: 1824
“Date(s): 14-15 September
“Principle Affected Area(s): Upper Georgia – major hurricane
Upper Georgia coastal waters – major hurricane
Lower Georgia – major hurricane
Lower Georgia coastal waters – major hurricane
Northeast Florida – hurricane
Northeast Florida coastal waters – major hurricane
“Landfall Point(s): Near Darien and St. Simons Island; The eye moved directly over the town of Darien, Ga.

“Remarks: Center probably skirted north of Caribbean islands and along the outer Bahamas. Exceeded 1804 storm in flooding and damage. St. Simons Island completely overflowed. 83 persons killed on this island. (not listed in Georgia by Dunn and Miller and is only indicated as being “Along the Georgia coast” by Tannehill. Well documented by Ludlum.

“William Page had 245 acres under cultivation on St. Simons Island and it was reported that this hurricane did extensive damage to his holdings on that island. “…as the sea dashed around them with all…[its] fury…until it had leveled to the earth the hospital, storehouse…cotton and corn-house, with many out buildings, crushing their carriage, carts and wagons, drowning their cattle an[d] other stock and spreading wild confusion…” John Couper’s losses were estimated to be between 50 and 60 thousand dollars. Thomas Spaulding of Sapelo island reported a wall of water six feet high sweeping across the island and losses of 40 to 50 thousand dollars. The lighthouse on the south end of Sapelo was destroyed, with the sea running from 6 to 8 feet inside the structure. The beacons on Wolfs Island were likewise destroyed. The keeper of the Wolf’s Island beacon reports the door “Stove in, the sea breaking from 10 to 12 feet, which destroyed the whole of the oil.”

“William Carnochan’s Sugar Mill and rum distillery near Darien (at the Thicket) was destroyed and never rebuilt. “The islands on the coast were all under water. On the mainland at Carnochan’s flat, where Mr. [Richard L.] Morris and Mr. [T.P.] Pease now reside, at the Hudson place, and at Colonel Harrison’s (a continuation of the same flat ground) the tide rose over ten feet above the surface.”

“The eye passed directly over the town of Darien, “The wind was first from the north and east. It blew with the greatest violence between eleven and twelve o’clock at night, after which it suddenly ceased. For half an hour it was nearly calm. Then it shifted to the west, and for some hours it blew more fiercely than ever. Under this change of direction the water fell rapidly, and many captives in trees and homes were permitted to come down and out. The Savannah Georgian, of 25 September 1824, reported, “The storm at Darien, and its neighborhood. Exceed that of 1804, both in violence and destruction.” This is confirmed by reports from the Darien Gazette over the next two weeks. The beaches of Cumberland Island, near the St Johns bar and at St Augustine were covered with wreckage.

“Summary: Storm Tide values support major status and based on the storm’s track from the Bahamas to Darien, will list as a major hurricane for Upper Georgia, Lower Georgia, and all of the coastal waters and as a hurricane along the northeast Florida coast.” (Sandrik, Al (National Weather Service) and Christopher W. Landsea (NOAA/Hurricane Research Division). Chronological Listing of Tropical Cyclones affecting North Florida and Coastal Georgia 1565-1899. May 2003 update.)

Rappaport and Fernandez-Partagas: “Georgia…14-15 Sep 1824…100 , 83 .”

Rubillo on South Carolina: “The flood of 1824. While escaping a direct hit (the hurricane struck somewhere between Savannah, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida), antebellum residents of South Carolina learned first-hand about the secondary effects of tropical cyclones in the middle of September 1824.

“As this storm traveled inland, it dumped tremendous quantities of rain in the Piedmont. In Sumter County near the middle of the state, 9.1 inches of water fell during the storm. Mature crops ready for harvesting were destroyed. On the plantation of famous South Carolinian Wade Hampton, crop damage exceeded $35,000. His was only one of hundreds of farms and plantations in the midlands of the state. That water then flowed downhill and downstream, flooding fields throughout the Lowcountry. Agricultural loss were in the millions when all the damage across the state was computed.” (pp. 72-73.)

Newspaper

Sep 21, Darien Gazette, GA: “Last Tuesday afternoon [14th] the weather was uncommonly dark & gloomy, the wind fresh from the N. E. with frequent showers. At 8 P.M. the wind increased to a violent gale; at 9 P.M. to a hurricane, accompanied with noise resembling a heavy surf upon the beach, or breakers upon a reef – this lasted until about 11 or 12 at night, when a pause of about half an hour, almost to a calm ensued. At half past 1 A.M. the wind shifted to S.E. and blew a hurricane of redoubled violence, accompanied by tremendous gusts and a noise like that at the Falls of Niagara. This lasted in all its fury, with heavy rain, until about 4 A.M. when it gradually subsided, and at day light the weath4r was mild and pleasant. But who shall describe the wreck and ruin that presented itself to our view when day appeared? Houses, chimneys, trees and fences prostrate; some unroofed, some tottering and nearly all without windows. Two vessels, the schooner Thorn and a sloop, upon the wharves. Fortunately no lives were lost in the city; but as the tide was six feet above the high water mark, it is to be feared the most dreadful consequences have befallen our surrounding neighbors….

“We believe there were not six houses in town that escaped without serious injury….

“Mt. Nephew’s barn and stables down and one negro killed.

“Capt. Hudson, 7 negroes drowned, and all his cotton houses and scaffolds gone.

“Mr. White, 11 negroes drowned, and all his buildings swept off.

“Mr. Snow, all his houses swept into the river; his wife’s sister, his own child, two young brothers and Mr. R. R. Merrill, drowned. He and his wife save themselves by clinging to a tree.

“Mr. William Carnochan, at the Thicket, lost all his buildings, except the dwelling house, and all his crop, on Hurd’s Island, and the buildings swept off and the cotton totally destroyed; one negro drowned….

“Mrs. Lafong and all on Patterson’s Island are lost, with the exception of one person….

“This was the most furious and most disastrous hurricane, in its results, ever remembered to have visited this part of Georgia and which seems evident from the number of old Live-Oaks torn up by the roots. It was more like a combination of tornadoes than a regular hurricane, the trees being prostrated in every different way – and roofs separating and scattered in opposite directions….” (Darien Gazette, GA. “Disastrous Hurricane.” 9-21-1824, p. 3.)

“….Mr. Miller on Creighton Island, his overseer and four negroes killed. The buildings, crop, cattle and every thing swept off, the water was ten feet deep on the Island….” (Darien Gazette, GA. “Further Distressing Particulars.” 9-21-1824, p. 3.)

Sources

Darien Gazette, GA. “Disastrous Hurricane.” 9-21-1824, p. 3. Accessed 12-6-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/darien-gazette-sep-21-1824-p-3/

Darien Gazette, GA. “Further Distressing Particulars.” 9-21-1824, p. 3. Accessed 12-6-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/darien-gazette-sep-21-1824-p-3/

Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Low Country Hurricanes. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2006.

Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf

Rubillo, Tom. Hurricane Destruction in South Carolina: Hell and High Water. Xharleston: History Press, 2006.

Sandrik, Al (National Weather Service) and Christopher W. Landsea (NOAA/Hurricane Research Division). Chronological Listing of Tropical Cyclones affecting North Florida and Coastal Georgia 1565-1899. May 2003 update. Accessed 12-6-2022 at: https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/history/index.html

Savannah Republican, GA. “The Hurricane.” 9-18-1824, p. 4. Accessed 12-6-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-republican-sep-18-1824-p-4/

Savannah Republican, GA. “The Hurricane.” 9-28-1824, p. 3. Accessed 12-6-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-republican-sep-28-1824-p-3/