1845 — Dec 18-19, Steamer Belle Zane snags/capsizes, Miss. River, Island No. 75, AR–40-76

Blanchard on location.*
Blanchard on date of loss.**
–40-76 Blanchard on death toll***

— 76 Lloyd. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters…Waters. 1856, 266. [Jan 8, 1845]
— 75 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 158. [Jan 8, 1845]
— 75 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 680. [Jan 8, 1845]
— 75 House Cmt. on Merchant Marine… “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” 1935, p246. [Jan 8]
— 74 Bragg. Historic Names and Places on the Lower Miss. River. 1977, 119. [1840s]
— 65 Milwaukie Semi-Weekly Gazette (Milwaukee, WI). Jan 27, 1846, p. 1, col. 3.
— 50 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 98. [Jan 8, 1845]
–25-50 Hunter. Steamboats on the Western Rivers. 1994, footnote 5, p. 273. [1845]
— 50 Guernsey Jeffersonian, OH. “Terrible Steamboat Disaster,” 1-8-1846. [Dec 18, 1845]
— <40 Childs 1886, 121. [Jan 8; year not noted] -- >40 Everhart, J. F. History of Muskingum County, Ohio…, 1882, p. 114. [Jan 8, 1845.]
— 40 Gould. Fifty Years on the Mississippi…, 1889, p. 476. [Dec 1845]
— 40 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…1994, 46. [Dec 19, 1845]
— 30 Alton Telegraph (IL). Jan 17, 1846. [Not used in our death toll estimate.]
–16-20 Boston Post, MA. “Melancholy steamboat disaster.” 1-5-1846, p. 1. [Dec 19, 1845]
–18-20 Peppler. “The Sinking of the Belle Zane from the History of Muskingum County.” [Dec 19]

*Blanchard on location. It is noted that the Belle Zane snagged 12 miles below the mouth of the White River, or where the White empties into the Mississippi. In that Island No. 75 no longer exists we use a rough reckoning of distance on Google Maps and estimate that this would have been close to where Sanders Lake Bayou is on the Arkansas side and Rosedale on the Mississippi side. In that accounts note survivors were picked up on the Arkansas side, we place the location within the Arkansas side of the Mississippi.

**Blanchard on date of loss: We highlight dates below to show the confusion on the date of loss. It appears to us from newspaper accounts, Peppler and Way’s Packet Directory that the loss was either December 18 or 19, 1845. Apparently the snag took place sometime after midnight, in the early morning hours of Dec 19.

***Blanchard: If we were to use a single number for the death toll, we would use the number 75, based on Berman, Nash and the House of Representatives Hearings on Safety of Life and Property at Sea in 1935. However, since the death toll estimates from the sources we cite cover such a very large range, we choose to fall back on a range of fatalities, ignoring the two sources which place the loss of life at sixteen to twenty or thirty. Given the large number of sources which cite forty or more deaths we choose the range of 40-76.

Narrative Information

Berman: “Belle Zane; sank, Mississippi River, Jan 8, 1845, 75 lives lost.” (Berman 1972, 158)

Bragg: “Island No. 75 was often called Ozark Island, and it originally lay in the middle of the Lower Mississippi. The navigation channel that ran past the island was filled with snags. In the 1840’s the steamboat Belle Zane had a bizarre accident at Island No. 75. The boat hit a snag, and for reasons that were never understood, promptly turned upside down. Of the 90 people on board, contemporary accounts estimated that about 50 made it to the safety of the island. It was a cold, bitter winter night, and when rescuers found the survivors the next morning it was said that only 16 people remained alive.” (Bragg. Historic Names and Places on the Lower Miss. River. “Island No. 75, 1977, 119.)

Childs: “On the night of the 8th of January, the steamboat Belle Zane, while on her way from Zanesville, Ohio, to New Orleans, struck a snag in the Mississippi, and immediately capsized. Of the ninety persons on board, only fifty escaped drowning, and many of those who succeeded in reaching the shore were afterwards frozen to death. Others suffered amputation of their limbs, which were badly frozen.” (Childs 1886, 121)

Everhart: “The ‘Belle Zane’ was built a short time previous [to Muskingum in Zanesville in 1945], and intended for the trade between Zanesville and New Orleans. During the night of January 8th, 1845, twelve miles below the mouth of White River, in the Mississippi, she struck a snag and sunk. Out of Ninety passengers, only fifty escaped drowning, and a number of those who reached the shore froze to death. Munroe Ayers was Captain and David Hahn engineer of the ill-fated boat – they survived.” (Everhart, J. F. History of Muskingum County, Ohio…, 1882, p. 114.)

Gould, from unidentified newspaper account, notes that the accident occurred “…about twelve miles below the mouth of the White River, and [the boat] immediately turned bottom upward.”

Gould goes on to state that “This accident took place in the middle of an exceedingly cold night. Of ninety persons who were on board…only fifty escaped drowning – and many of those who succeeded in reaching the shore were afterwards frozen to death. At the time the boat was snagged, the passengers were all in their berths; those who were able to extricate themselves when the boat suddenly turned over, had scarcely any clothing to protect them from the inclemency of the weather. No situation could be more wretched than that of the people who escaped to the beach, almost naked, unsheltered and drenched with water on a freezing night in December. They remained in this miserable situation for nearly two hours, when the steamboat Diamond came down and took off all who remained alive, sixteen in number. There were five ladies on board, all of whom were saved in the yawl…” (Gould 1889, 476)

Lloyd: “On the eighth of January, 1845, the steamboat Belle Zane, while on her way from Zanesville, Ohio, to New Orleans, struck a snag in the Mississippi, about twelve miles below the mouth of White river, and immediately turned bottom upward! This terrible accident took place in the middle of an exceedingly cold night. Of ninety persons who were on board a moment before the disaster, only fifty escaped drowning—and many of those who succeeded in reaching the shore were afterwards frozen to death. At the time the boat was snagged, the passengers were all in their berths; those who were able to extricate themselves when the boat suddenly turned over, had scarcely any clothing to protect them from the inclemency of the weather. No situation could be more wretched than that of the people who escaped to the beach, almost naked, unsheltered and drenched with water on a freezing night in December. They remained in this miserable situation for nearly two hours, when the steamboat Diamond came down and took off all who remained alive, sixteen in number. There were five ladies on board, all of whom were saved in the yawl. The feet and hands of some of the survivors were so badly frozen that amputation was necessary.

“The following is a list of those who perished, as far as their names could be ascertained:—Dr. Brant, Ohio; Abner Jones, C. Banks, Mrs. Williams, two daughters and a colored slave, Miss. Hettie Frazier and cousin, name unknown, Boston; Edward Bossing and son, Illinois; Mrs. Wilkes and family, consisting of eight persons; seven deck hands, fourteen slaves, and thirty other names unknown. Sixteen bodies were picked up, including four ladies, and buried on the banks of the Mississippi.” (Lloyd. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, pp. 265-266)

Peppler: “The “Belle Zane” was built at the California boat yard on the Monongahela river. The boat was owned at Zanesville and it was a regular packet in the Zanesville and Pittsburg trade, capacity 300 tons. It made a few trips to Cincinnati and to St. Louis. The “Belle Zane” was a fine model and one of the fastest boats at that time. In December, 1845, the boat was loaded at Zanesville with a miscellaneous cargo, consisting of flour, empty molasses barrels to be filled on the Louisiana coast with molasses for the Zanesville wholesale trade. At Marietta there were taken aboard 700 turkeys and a large number of chickens for the New Orleans market. About thirty cattle and 600 bushels of corn were added to the load at Madrid, Mo. The cabin was well filled with passengers and the boat had all the load it could carry. The rivers were very low and there was slow traveling on account of the low stage of water. John Brazure, of Cincinnati, was commander, and the other officers were Zanesville men, viz. Clerk, Edward Matthews; mate, Monroe Ayers; engineers, David Hahn and Joseph Howland. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bowen and son, and Mr. and Mrs. Wyncoop and son, were passengers from Zanesville. Mr. Bowen was a prominent citizen then engaged in the grocery trade. He had represented the county in the Ohio legislature. Mr. Wyncoop was also a well-known citizen. Many friends were at the landing when the boat lines were handed in and a large crowd were at the lock and remained waiting until the boat passed around the bend below Moxahala.

“On the 17th, four sunken boats were seen that had been snagged. The night of the 18th and morning of the 19th of December the weather was very cold, the thermometer was near zero, and ice was rapidly forming. At two o’clock in the morning, soon after the first watch had left their places, there came a crash, a heavy shock, and the boat turned on its side; the boilers rolled into the river. A snag was struck, and the boat was sinking. The roof floated off, with Victor Fell, of Zanesville, on it. He was saved. David Hahn, Monroe Ayers and another man made a raft of the gang-plank and went ashore, and ran down the shore a distance and found a yawl, which they took and made for the boat, and commenced rescuing the passengers. When the snag was struck and the boat careened, there were a number drowned, and among their number were Mr. and Mrs. Bowen and their son. The crew of the boat worked like heroes. The cabin broke loose from the hull, and floated down the river several miles, with human beings clinging on the wreck. Mrs. Wyncoop and her son were rescued about two miles from the place of the disaster. Others were taken off as rapidly as the men in the yawl could relieve them. Robert Burns, of Cincinnati, a steamboat engineer, froze to death.

“Miss Jane Conner was without shoes when taken off the wreck. One of the engineers pulled off his and gave them to her.

“There were no other Zanesville people lost except the Bowen family. Their bodies were never found. The passengers and crew that escaped found shelter in the negro huts on the shore.

“The cabin floated as far as Island 74, where it struck the ground; the people yet clinging to it were saved. Mr. Wyncoop was rescued at this place. From all obtainable information, eighteen or twenty passengers were lost, but all the crew escaped. The citizens of Napoleon, which town has itself been washed away by the “Father of Waters,” had a social, and raised many things for the unfortunate victims of the wreck. Some of them went to New Orleans, others took passage for home. Mr. and Mrs. Wyncoop and son went to Vicksburg.” (Peppler, Jane. “The Sinking of the Belle Zane from the History of Muskingum County.”)

Simonds: “1845, Jan. 8, Belle Zane capsizes in Mississippi River, 50 drowned…” (Simonds, W. E. The American Date Book, p. 98.)

Way: “Belle Zane…Zanesville, Oh., [built] 1844. 128 tons….that December she loaded out for New Orleans and 12 miles below White River was snagged. Turned bottom –side up, night of December 19, 1845. The death toll was placed at 40 lives. Many of the bodies were buried along the river bank.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994…Steamboats…Miss. River System…(Rev. Ed.). 1994, 46.)
Newspapers

Jan 5, 1846, Boston Post: “Melancholy steamboat disaster. — The steamer Diamond, Capt. M’Connell, which arrived in port last evening [Dec 23, 1845], reports that at about 1½ o’clock on the morning of the 19th ult., the steamer Belle Zane, Capt. Braxier, from Pittsburg, bound to this port [New Orleans], struck a snag 12 miles below the mouth of White river, and immediately sunk, the cabin separating from the hull. The Diamond took on board, at two points on the Arkansas side, sixteen of the persons who had been on the Belle Zane, and carried them to Napoleon, where the remainder of those saved, who were landed on the Arkansas side, were assembled. They represented that the passengers and crew numbered ninety persons, and that over fifty of them were saved. The greater number of the passengers were asleep at the time the accident occurred, and unable to secure even their clothes, and had only such covering as they could draw from the cabin after it had separated from the hull. The night being very cold, many who reached the shore died after having been landed, from the effects of their exposure.

“The following are the only names of those which were lost that had been ascertained: Mr. Brower, lad and child, of Zanesville, Ohio, and Robert Rymes, of Newport, Ky., who died after reaching the shore. The captain and crew all landed safely. The Diamond brought down a number of passengers, and landed them at various points on the river….

“The latest accounts of this melancholy disaster lead us to suppose that the number of persons who were drowned or died from exposure, is from sixteen to twenty. — N. O. Bulletin, Dec. 24.” (Boston Post, MA. “Melancholy steamboat disaster.” 1-5-1846, p. 1.)

Jan 8, 1846, Guernsey Jeffersonian: “From N.O. [New Orleans] Picayune. Great Loss of Life. – From the officers of the Diamond, arrived yesterday, we learn that, on the night of the 18th inst., the steamboat Belle Zane, Capt. Brazier, while on her way from Zanesville, Ohio, to this city, struck a snag about 12 miles below the mouth of White river, on the Mississippi and immediately turned bottom up. It was about 12 o’clock when the accident occurred, and the night was bitter cold. Out of some 90 souls on board at the time, upwards of 50 perished by this terrible accident – some of the unfortunate victims only escaping being drowned to freeze to death after reaching the shore. At the time of the disaster, of course, the passengers were all asleep in their berths, so suddenly did the boat careen and go over that such as made out to release themselves were only able to snatch a blanket on counterpane from their beds; they had no time to save, much less put on their clothing.

“The Diamond came a short time after the accident, and discovered the wreck of the Belle Zane bottom up. The officers of the former boat picked up sixteen of the passengers of the latter at two different points on the Arkansas side. The unfortunates, after suffering incredibly from the cold, were finally landed at Napoleon, where the balance of those saved on the Arkansas side had previously assembled. It seems that immediately after the accident, the cabin separated from the hull, on which those who were saved floated….” (Guernsey Jeffersonian (Washington, OH). “Terrible Steamboat Disaster,” Jan 8, 1846, p. 3.)

Jan 17, 1846, Alton Telegraph: “But few additional particulars in relation of the loss of the steamer Belle Zane, have reached us…It seems that she was owned in Zanesville, Ohio; and among those who perished was a Mr. Bower, of that place, his lady, and one or more children, who were all drowned in the cabin. The number of lives lost, does not, it is now supposed, exceed thirty. No blame is attached to the Captain or other officers on account of the accident.” (Alton Telegraph (IL). Jan 17, 1846.)

Jan 27, 1846, Milwaukee Semi-Weekly Gazette: “The passengers on board the steam-boat Belle Zane have published a card in the New Orleans papers, in which they express the opinion that about sixty-five persons perished by the sinking of that boat. There were one hundred and twenty-five persons on board at the time of the accident; and of that number sixty-four reached the shore, four of whom were frozen to death.” (Milwaukie Semi-Weekly Gazette, WI. Jan 27, 1846, p. 1, col. 3.)

Sources

Alton Telegraph & Democratic Review. [Belle Zane] 1-17-1846, p. 2. Accessed 8-9-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/alton-telegraph-jan-17-1846-p-2/

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

Boston Post, MA. “Melancholy steamboat disaster.” 1-5-1846, p. 1, col. 6 bottom. Accessed 8-9-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-jan-05-1846-p-1/

Bragg, Marion. Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River. Vicksburg, MS: Mississippi River Commission, 1977. Accessed at: http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/pao/history/MRnames/MissRiverNames.htm > Also at:
http://www.mvd.usace.army.mil/Portals/52/docs/MRC/MRnames%28Intro-end_final2%29.pdf

Childs, Emery E. A History of the United States In Chronological Order From the Discovery of America in 1492 to the Year 1885. NY: Baker & Taylor, 1886. Google digitized. Accessed 9-4-2017: http://books.google.com/books?id=XLYbAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Everhart, J. F. History of Muskingum County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Pioneers. Columbus, OH: J.F. Everhart & Co., 1882. Accessed 8-9-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Muskingum_County_Ohio/237HDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=belle%20zane

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

Guernsey Jeffersonian, Washington, OH. “Terrible Steamboat Disaster,” 1-8-1846, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=6389067

House of Representatives. Hearings Before the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, United States Congress (74th Congress, 1st Session). “Safety of Life and Property as Sea.” Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1935. Accessed 8-9-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Safety_of_Life_and_Property_at_Sea/l9xH_9sUuVAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=belle%20zane

Hunter, Louis C. and Beatrice J. Steamboats on the Western Rivers: An Economic and Technological History. NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 994, 684 pages.

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

Milwaukie Semi-Weekly Gazette, Milwaukee, WI. [Belle Zane] Jan 27, 1846, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33449147

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

Peppler, Jane. “The Sinking of the Belle Zane from the History of Muskingum County.” Accessed 8-9-2020 at: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~peppler/genealogy/belle.html

Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC

Way, Frederick Jr. (Author and Compiler), Joseph W. Rutter (contributor). Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America (Revised Edition). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1994-1999.