1848 — May 27, Str. Clarksville burns, MS Riv., ~Island 75/Ozark Isl. ~Napoleon AR –21-41

— 50 US House of Reps. Hearings. “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” 1935.
–39-41 Star and Banner, Gettysburg, PA. June 9, 1848, p. 2.
–38-40 Dixon, Joan M. National Intelligencer Newspaper Abstracts 1848, Vol. 22. 2007, 197.
— ~32 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters.
–21-31 Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “Dreadful Steamboat Disaster,” June 14, 1848, p. 3.
— 30 Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine 1888. “Every Day’s Record, May.” 1889, p. 776.
— >30 Little. Cyclopedia of Classified Dates, with an Exhaustive Index. 1899, p. 165.
— 30 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 98.
–20-25 Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Burning of the Clarksville-20 Lives Lost!,” Jun 8, 1848, 2.
— 21 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 275.
— ~21 Bragg. Historic Names…Places…Lower Miss. R. “Island No. 75, Mile 579,” 1977, 119.
— 21 Maritime Quest. “Daily Events for May 27.”
— 21 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 681.
— 21 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of…[MS Riv.]… 1999, 100.

Narrative Information

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 1848 the steamboat Clarksville caught fire at Ozark Island, and again there was a heavy loss of life. About 21 people were said to have perished in the flames, or were drowned in their effort to reach the island.” (Bragg. Historic Names…Places on the Lower Miss. River. “Island No. 75,” 1977, p. 119.)

Dixon: “The steamer Clarksville was burnt, near Ozark’s Island, on May 27: the captain & crew, 8 or 10 in number, & 30 deck passengers were lost. The cabin passengers were saved.” (Dixon 2007, 197.)

Lloyd: “The popular and beautiful steamer Clarksville, a regular packet boat between New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee, was destroyed by fire near Ozark island, on the 27th day of May, 1848; thirty deck passengers, nearly all the crew, and the commander, Capt. Holmes, lost their lives. The cabin passengers were all saved. We have ob¬tained the following particulars of this melancholy event:

“As soon as the alarm of fire was given on board, the pilot steered for the island. At the moment her head touched the shore, the flames burst into the cabin, one of the boilers burst simultaneously, and, to aggravate the calamity still more, three kegs of gunpowder, which were among the freight, exploded at the same instant. Governor Poindexter, of Tennessee, who was one of the passengers, received some injuries. Most of the passengers lost their baggage, and none of the officers or crew saved anything. Captain Holmes acted most nobly throughout the trying scene, who, after swimming ashore with his wife, returned to the boat, and met his death in the honorable discharge of his duty. His first impulse was to save the female passengers. Racing to the ladies’ cabin, he prevailed on the affrighted occupants to take the chairs, with the life-preservers attached to them, and commit them¬selves to the water. He then threw the baggage, &c., overboard, to lessen the combustible material, and being now exhausted by his ex¬ertions, and half suffocated with smoke, he attempted to jump over¬board, but striking against the lower guard, he fell among the burning ruins, and there perished.

“The following details were furnished by a gentleman who was one of the surviving passengers of the Clarksville: The fire by which this noble boat was destroyed, was first discovered when she was about half a mile below Ozark island, at half-past 5 o’clock, P. M. Within a few minutes after the discovery of the fire, the boat reached the island to which the pilot had directed her course. The head of the steamer struck the ground, and all the passengers might easily have passed over the forecastle to the island, and many of them were saved in this way; but others, being apprehensive of an explosion, remained in the cabin until they were driven from thence by the progress of the flames, which had, by this time, cut off all retreat by the forward part of the boat. All that could now be done by the persons who remained aft, was to throw themselves into the river, as the stern of the boat lay out from the shore. Governor Poindexter and his lady were both injured, the former slightly, and the latter severely. The first clerk escaped without hat or coat, but saved the books of the boat and the money. The fire originated immediately over the boiler, under the social hall, and made such rapid progress fore and aft, that all efforts to extinguish the flames were unavailing. The steamer Chalmetto took of the surviving passengers….” (Lloyd 1856, 169-173.)

Maritime Quest: “May 27, 1848 the sidewheel steamer Clarksville burned off Ozark Island near Napoleon, Arkansas. The Clarksville was built in 1845 in Louisville, Kentucky and was 484 tons. Not much else is known about this ship or the 21 people who died that day. Even the town of Napoleon no longer exists being consumed by the mighty Mississippi River in the 1860’s.” (Maritime Quest)

US Congress: “May 27, 1848…Clarksville…50 [lives lost]…Explosion…Ozark Islands…” (U.S. Congress, House of Representatives. Hearings. “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” 1935, p. 246.)

Newspapers

June 8: “We learn from Captain Williams, of the Chalmetto, just from New Orleans, of the burning of the Nashville and New Orleans packet Clarkesville, which took fire at the foot of Ozark Island, four miles below Napoleon, on Saturday afternoon, about 4 o’clock. She caught fire under the hold floor and among the wood. In a moment she was a sheet of flame. The pilot on watch, Mr. Brown, run her for the foot of the Island, where she was completely consumed. So quickly did she burn, that in spite of the efforts made to save them, about twenty or twenty-five persons were burned to death or drowned! Among them were two women and two children – the rest being all…[African Americans], with the exception of Capt. Holmes.

“Capt. Holmes acted nobly, and died a brave man. As soon as he discovered the boat’s perilous condition, he told all to take care of themselves, and then placing his wife and niece on the forecastle, rushed back to the ladies’ cabin thro’ the smoke and flames to save other ladies.—The last lady, after being deserted by her rightful protector, was saved by the Captain. He threw overboard a large trunk, and bade her leap into the water and seize it, which she did. But in throwing himself overboard, he received an injury and was lost.

“The books and money of the boat were saved, but nearly all the passengers lost their baggage. Gov. Poindexter and lady are among the injured. The Chalmetto took the crew and passengers respectively to Napoleon and Memphis.

“The Clarksville was a large and fast steamer, and had formerly been in the Memphis trade. She was owned by Capt. Holmes and Mr. Irwin, and insured to the amount of $10,000.—Cairo Delta.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye (IA). “Burning of the Clarksville—20 Lives Lost!,” 6-8-1848, 2.)

June 9: “The steamer Clarksville was burned near Ozarks Island, on the 27th ult. The Captain and crew, eight or ten in number, and thirty deck passengers were lost. The cabin passengers were all saved with great difficulty.” (Star and Banner, Gettysburg, PA. June 9, 1848, p. 2.)

June 14: “The steamer Clarksville, from New Orleans for Nashville, was burnt to the water’s edge, four miles from Napoleon [AR], about five o’clock on Saturday evening last. The Captain, B. F. Holmes, and twenty or thirty of the deck passengers and crew perished. The circumstances of this distressing event, were dreadfully appalling. The Clarksville was a first rate and most comfortable boat. At the time of the accident, she was proceeding up the river, at a very rapid rate. The boilers had become unusually heated, and no doubt, caused the ignition of the boiler deck just under the Clerk’s office.

“The fire might easily have been extinguished if timely means had been used. But the hose was out of order, and it was with difficulty and delay that a few buckets of water could be thrown upon the flames. In the meanwhile, the whole vessel presented one continuous scene of alarm, confusion, and dismay. Most of the cabin passengers rushed to the forecastle, and succeeded in landing in that direction, from the boat, which had, in the progress of the conflagration, been driven ashore by the efficient and skillful pilot. The remaining cabin passengers finding it impossible to penetrate the flame and smoke, sprang into the river, from the vicinity of the wheelhouse – Captain Holmes, who perished in the attempt, among them — and succeeded in reaching the island No. 75, at the lower extremity of which, the bow of the boat had now become firmly fastened…. Gov. Poindexter and lady, of Mississippi, were on board, and narrowly escaped, with the loss of Sam, his favorite body servant. Arnold Russell, Esq., of Vicksburg, who was on board with his family, lost six servants, a carriage and horses. Several servants attached to the cabin were either drowned or burnt to death…

“One of the boilers, and several kegs of gunpowder, exploded during the conflagration, producing an effect beyond conception… (St. Louis Republican, 3d inst.).” (Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “Dreadful Steamboat Disaster,” June 14, 1848, p. 3.)

Sources

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

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

Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Burning of the Clarksville—20 Lives Lost!,” June 8, 1848, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=136908776

Dixon, Joan M. National Intelligencer Newspaper Abstracts 1848, Vol. 22. Heritage Books, 2007. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=sHZJRoa9tWgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine 1888. “Every Day’s Record,” Vol. XLIII, January to June 1888, 1889. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=nLURAAAAYAAJ

Little, Charles E. Cyclopedia of Classified Dates, with an Exhaustive Index. NY and London, Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1900. Accessed 8-18-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cyclopedia_of_Classified_Dates_with_an_E/cacwcniAIWoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=steamer+clarksville+burns+1848&pg=PA165&printsec=frontcover

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

Maritime Quest. “Daily Event for May 27.” Accessed 4-4-2009 at: http://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2006/may/27_ss_clarksville.htm

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.

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

Star and Banner, Gettysburg, PA. [Clarksville Steamer Fire] 6-9-1848, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=9549938

United States Congress, House of Representatives. Hearings Before the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, United States Congress (74th Congress, 1st Session). “Safety of Life and Property at 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

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). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1999.

Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “Dreadful Steamboat Disaster” [Clarksville], June 14, 1848, 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33314913