1847 — Dec 29, Steamer A. N. Johnston boiler explosion, OH River, ~Maysville KY –60-80
–60-80 Childs, Emery E. A History of the United States in Chronological Order… 1884, 126.
–60-80 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, 152.
— 74 Gould, E. W. Fifty Years on the Mississippi. 1889, p. 437[1]
— 74 De Bow. “Steamship Explosions in the West.” De Bow’s Review, V. 2, Is. 3, Sep 1866.
— >70 Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, PA). “Terrible Explosion,” Jan 4, 1848, 4.
— 60 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 271.[2]
— 60 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 681.[3]
— 60 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 98.
— ~60 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…MS River System. 1994, 2.
— ~45 Collins and Collins. History of Kentucky, Vol. 1. 1882, p. 56. (Has date as Dec 30.)
Narrative Information
Childs: “On the 29th of December, the steamboat A. N. Johnson exploded her boiler, on the Ohio, about twelve miles above Maysville, Ky., killing from sixty to eighty persons, and injuring many others.” (Childs 1884, 126)
Lloyd: “This destructive and fatal accident took place on the Ohio river, about twelve miles above Maysville, Ky., on Wednesday, the 29th day of December, 1847, at 2 o’clock, A.M. The steamer, at the time of the explosion, was in the act of rounding from the shore, having just discharged some passengers on the wharf-boat at Manchester. After the explosion, she was burned to the water’s edge. No circumstantial account of the accident is given, except that a great many persons were killed and wounded….
“One of the boilers was blown into a corn-field two hundred yards distant; another boiler was blown a hundred yards further into the same field. There was supposed to be one hundred and sixty passengers on board, of whom from sixty to eighty were killed or missing. Many others were wounded. All the ladies on board, six or seven in number, and four or five children, were saved. The steamer Boone went from Maysville to the scene of the disaster, and brought away thirty-seven of the dead and wounded. Some others were taken to Cincinnati. Many were so badly wounded that there were no hopes of their recovery….
“The engineer, just before he died, stated that he had tried the boilers a short time before the explosion, and found a sufficiency of water ; but one of the clerks reports that he heard the engineer complain several times after they left Cincinnati that the pumps did not work well….” (Lloyd 1856, 151-153)
Way: “A. N. Johnston. SW p wh [sidewheel packet, wood hull] Hull built at Murraysville, Va. and completed at Wheeling, 1847. 199 tons. Upbound, Cincinnati to Wheeling, exploded boilers near Manchester, Oh., at 2:00 a.m., Dec 29, 1847, with big loss of life, probably 60. Capt. Jos. Nixon, Pittsburgh, was among those who survived, badly injured.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…MS River System. 1994, 2.)
Newspaper
Jan 4: “The Baltimore Patriot, of Thursday, has the following startling intelligence by telegraph:
“Cincinnati, Dec. 29—1 P.M. …An accident occurred on the river yesterday of the most melancholy character, and which has thrown a deep gloom over the community. The steamer A. N. Johnson, on her trip from Cincinnati to Wheeling, and when near Maysville, burst her boiler, completely destroying the boat, and creating a terrific loss of life. There were one hundred and sixty passengers on hoard, of whom seventy were instantly killed, and thirty so badly scalded and otherwise injured, that it is feared they cannot survive.—The boat took fire immediately after
the explosion, and was burnt to the water’s edge. This added to the horrors of the scene, and prevented many from being saved, who otherwise would have been rescued from the wreck by boats, and various crafts which went to their assistance.—This is one of the most awful visitations which has happened in this section of the country for many years past, and will long be remembered as such.” (Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, PA). “Terrible Explosion,” Jan 4, 1848, p. 4.)
Sources
Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.
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 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=XLYbAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Collins, Lewis and Richard H. Collins. Collins’ Historical Sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky By the late Lewis Collins, Judge of the Mason County Court. Revised, Enlarged Four-Fold, and Brought Down to the Year 1874, by his son Richard H. Collins (Vol. I). Covington, KY: Collins & Co., 1882. Accessed 2-16-2015 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=xMM6AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
De Bow, James Dunwoody Brownson (Ed.). “Steamboat Explosions in the West,” Debow’s Review. Vol. 2, Is. 3, Sep 1866. At: http://www.pddoc.com/skedaddle/049/steamboat_explosions_in_the_west.htm
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 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JlYqAAAAYAAJ
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.
Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Terrible Explosion.” 1-4-1848, 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2904311
Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC
Way, Frederick Jr. (Compiler). 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.
[1] Gould has the year of lost as 1846 and the name of the boat as H.W. Johnston.
[2] Berman has the boat name as the A. N. Johns.
[3] Nash incorrectly has the name as A. N. Johns.