1838 — Dec 3, stmr. Augusta boiler explosion, MS Riv., about 11m north of Natchez MS– ~10

–10 Blanchard note on fatalities.*

–20-30 Logansport Herald, IN. “Another Explosion.” 12-20-1838, p. 3.
— 20 American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1840. 1839, p. 119.
— 10 The Madisonian, Washington, DC. “Awful Explosion.” 12-22-1838, p. 2, col. 4.
— 7 Gould. Fifty Years on the Mississippi; or, Gould’s History of River Navigation. 1889, p. 437.
— 7 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, pp. 168-169.
— 7 Southern Marksman, Clinton, MS. “Another Awful Steamboat Explosion.” 12-11-1838, p2.
¬¬– >4 US Patent Office. Report…Commissioner of Patents…steam boiler explosions. 1848, p59.

* Blanchard note on fatalities. Though there is one account of twenty fatalities and one noting twenty to thirty, we suspect such numbers derived from reports that only eight of twenty-eight deckhands and firemen could be “mustered” afterwards. This does not mean, however, that twenty of these men were killed, only that they were not able to be called out, perhaps due to injuries. Ten fatalities are described in The Madisonian account, and thus this is the number of deaths we note. We put an approximate sign in front of the number ten in the heading in that it is conceivable that one or more deckhands and/or firemen were blown overboard and drowned, thus accounting for their failure to “muster.”

Narrative Information

American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1840: “Augusta… 1838…Explos. boilers…20 [killed], 12 [wounded]…Mississippi River.” (p. 119)

Gould: “1838…Augusta…7 [lives lost].” (Fifty Years on the Mississippi; or, Gould’s History of River Navigation. 1889, p. 437.)

Lloyd: “The Augusta left Natchez, December 3d, 1838, for Vicksburg, with the ship Jeannette in tow. On the voyage the ship got aground, when the Augusta separated from her, and proceeded to a wood-pile, where she took in some fuel, and was making her way to another pile, when the pilot, seeing some floating timber ahead, rang the bell as a signal for the engine to be stopped. The machinery was accordingly stopped until the float had passed, when the bell was again rung as a signal for the engine to be put in motion. The engineer discovered, at this mo¬ment, that the engine was at the dead point, and he immediately ran back to turn the bar, but before he had time to return, the explosion took place, laying a great part of the boat in ruins. The boilers and all the machinery were broken to minute pieces; the social hall, with all its appurtenances, was shattered, according to the common phraseology, ‘into atoms,’ and nearly all the cabin was swept away; a small part of it adjoining the ladies’ cabin was all that was left.

“The extent of the devastation proved that the force of the explosion was tremendous. Fortunately the Augusta had but few passengers on board, otherwise the loss of life would have been very great. The names of all the victims are not known. Five dead bodies were found on board, and doubtless others were blown into the water. A con¬siderable number were hurt; some to that degree that the physicians were hopeless of their recovery. The pilot at the wheel, Mr. Lacha¬pelle, with his pilot box, was blown overboard, the box being broken into two pieces during its transit. By using one of these pieces for a float, Mr. Lachapelle contrived to reach the shore….

“The captain was never seen after the explosion, and there can be no doubt that he lost his life, being probably blown overboard and drowned….The barber was so badly hurt that he died on the following day….

“Twenty-eight deck-bands and firemen were on board; when they were called together, sometime after the explosion, only eight could be mustered. There was but one female passenger, and she escaped unhurt. When an examination was made of the pieces of boiler found ‘ on deck, no doubt remained that this explosion was the result of cul¬pable negligence on the part of the engineer.” (Lloyd 1856, 168-169.)

United States Patent Office: “The Augusta, in December, 1838, burst her boilers, which, with the machinery, were broken to pieces. Nearly the entire main cabin was swept away, including the social hall and its appurtenances, a small portion next to the ladies cabin being all that was left. The captain missing, clerk dead, the two pilots slightly wounded, the first engineer was killed, the second one wounded. Barber killed. Of the 28 deck hands and firemen belonging to the boat, after the explosion only eight could be mustered. The pilot, with his pilot box, at the wheel was blown upwards of 50 feet: he contrived to get ashore on one side of his pilot box. There were no ladies on board.” (United States Patent Office. Report of the Commissioner of Patents, to the Senate of the United States, on the subject of steam boiler explosions. 12-30-1848, p. 59.)

Newspapers

Dec 11: “From the Natchez Courier.”
“Another Awful Steamboat Explosion.”
“Steamer Augusta Blown Up and Many Lives Lost.”

“Before we have had time to know the full extent of the calamitous destruction of life and property by the explosion of the Gen. Brown, it becomes our painful lot to record another melancholy event, scarcely we believe, less destructive, viz: an explosion on board the Steamer Augusta.

“The following is a hastily gathered collection of details:

“The Augusta left this port [Natchez] on Monday evening for Vicksburg with the ship Jeanette, in tow. Before she had proceeded many miles the ship [Jeannette], bot aground, when the Augusta left her and made her way to a wood pile. At one place she supplied herself with four or five cords of wood and was making for another, when the pilot seeing some floating timber ahead, rung the bell to stop the engine. The engine was stopped till the boat passed, and the pilot again rung as the signal to go ahead. The engineer here discovered that the engine was at the dead point and he immediately run back to turn the bar, but before he had time to return, the dreadful explosion took place.

“The Augusta is one of the most frightful fragments of destruction we have ever seen. The boilers and whole machinery are rent into trifling pieces; the social hall and its appurtenances are shattered into atoms and nearly the entire main cabin is swept away; a very small portion of it next to the ladies’ cabin, being all that is left, and that in such a split no condition as to tell us plainly the dreadful extent of the explosion.

“The names of some of the passengers dead and missing are not yet known; the Augusta was, however, not very full of passengers. She came down yesterday morning in tow of the Hail Columbia, and we found there were 5 persons on board dead, and their bodies woefully mutilated; and 12 persons more or less wounded, of whom the medical gentleman whom we consulted thinks that not more than 3 or 4 will recover; some it was thought, could not outlive yesterday.

“The five persons found dead, are

Leonard Brown, Clerk.
Wm. Henderson, 1st Engineer.
Geo. Ward, Merchant, Troy, Miss.
John Wilson, Deck hand.
Robert Smith. do. [ditto]”On whose bodies a Coroner’s Inquest has been held, and death by accidental explosion reported.

“Besides these, the following account is ascertained:

The Captain missing – supposed dead.
Wm. Taylor, 2d Engineer – slightly wounded.
Barber – mortally wounded.
Wm. McDonald, Watchman – badly scalded.
Henry Smith, deck hand, slightly wounded.
Wm. Johnson, fireman, badly scalded.
Jas. White, deckhand, do
Jas. Innis do do
Unknown name, fireman, do
Lewis Lachapelle, pilot, slightly injured
Mate (Davies) and Barkeeper, escaped uninjured.

“Twenty-eight deck hands and firemen were onboard, and when they called them together, sometime after the explosion, only 8 could be mustered.

“The pilot at the wheel (with his pilot box) was blown upwards of fifty feet and contrived to get ashore by using one side of the pilot box. The bodies of those dead and wounded are much discolored and disfigured, presenting a heart-rending spectacle.

“There was one female passenger onboard, who escaped unhurt.

“On examination of the pieces of the boilers found on deck, no doubt is entertained that this explosion was the result of culpable negligence on the part of the Engineer.” (Southern Marksman, Clinton, MS. “Another Awful Steamboat Explosion.” 12-11-1838, p. 2, col. 2.)

Dec 22 report: “Awful Explosion.”

“Steamboat accidents are again horribly numerous, the ink is scarcely dry with which we recorded the frightful loss of lives on board the Gen. Brown, ere we have to tell of another explosion.

“The steamer Augusta, George W. Day, Captain, bound from New Orleans to Vicksburg, stopped at Natchez on Monday evening, Dec. 3, and left, having in tow ship Jeanette, which was left aground one mile above Natchez. After this, the Augusta proceeded eleven miles, and stopped to take in wood – when one of the most destructive explosions on record occurred. Never was there a more complete wreck made of a boat, and the destruction of human life was awful.

“The following is the list made out in the hurry and confusion of the disaster:

“The persons found dead are: — Mr. Ward, of Yalobusha (passenger who had a large amount of freight on board); Mr. Bodley, of Grand Gulf; Mr._____, of New York, for Fort Gibson; Leonard Brown, Clerk; William Henderson, 1st Engineer; George Ward, merchant, Troy, Miss.; John Wilson, deck hand; Robert Smith, do. [ditto].

“On whose bodies a Coroner’s inquest had been held, and death by accidental explosion reported.

“Besides these, the following accounts is ascertained: The Captain, missing, supposed dead; Wm. Taylor, 2d Engineer, slightly wounded; Barber, mortally wounded; Wm. McDonald, Watchman, badly scalded; Henry Smith, deck hand, slightly wounded; Wm. Johnson, fireman, badly scalded; Jas. White, deck hand, badly scalded, Jas. Innis, do., do.; Jas Johnson, do. do; unknown name, fireman, do. do.; Lewis Lachapelle, pilot, slightly injured; Mate (Davies) and Barkeeper, escaped uninjured.

“Twenty-eight deck hands and firemen were on board, and when they called them together some time after the explosion, only eight could be mustered…” (The Madisonian, Washington, DC. “Awful Explosion.” 12-22-1838, p. 2, col. 4.)

Sources

American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1840. Boston: David H. Williams. NY: Collins, Keese, and Co. Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait, and Co. 1839. Accessed 2-22-2021 at:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044097927297&view=1up&seq=7&q1=augusta

Gould, E. W. Fifty Years on the Mississippi; or, Gould’s History of River Navigation. St. Louis: Nixon-Jones Printing Co., 1889, 750 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed 2008 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=udyywXOVBvsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Lloyd, James T. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. Cincinnati, Ohio: James T. Lloyd & Co., 1856. Digitized by Google. Accessed 2-22-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JlYqAAAAYAAJ

Southern Marksman, Clinton, MS. “Another Awful Steamboat Explosion.” 12-11-1838, p. 2, col. 2. Accessed 2-22-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/southern-marksman-dec-11-1838-p-2/

The Madisonian, Washington, DC. “Awful Explosion.” 12-22-1838, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed 2-22-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-madisonian-dec-22-1838-p-2/

United States Patent Office. Report of the Commissioner of Patents, to the Senate of the United States, on the subject of steam boiler explosions. (30th Congress, 2d Session Executive Document No. 18). 12-30-1848.) Accessed 2-21-2021 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=chpLAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false