1850 — Dec 17, steamer South America burns, Mississippi River, Morgan’s Bend, LA–27-30

–27-30 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

–30-40 Daily Chronicle and Sentinel, Augusta, GA. “Loss of the South America.” 12-24-1850, p. 2.
–17 soldiers
— ~40 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, p. 261.**
–17 soldiers
— 7 crew (including wife of ship carpenter)
— 4 passengers specifically identified
— 40 Putnam, G. P. (Ed.). The World’s Progress: A Dictionary of Dates. 1851, p. 706.
–30-40 Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Still Another” [Steamer Disaster], 12-23-1850.
–30-40 Weekly National Intelligencer, DC. “Yet Another Steamboat Disaster.” 12-21-1850, p.1.
— 37 Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. “Steamboat Disasters,” 1-4-1851, p. 2.
— 30 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 191.
— 30 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 682.
— 30 U.S. Congress, House. Hearings. “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” 1935, p. 246.
— 27 Elyria Courier, OH. “Steamboat Catastrophes and Incidents,” 1-7-1851, p. 2.
— 27 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p.230.
— 27 Twaintimes. “1850.”
— 27 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, 429.
— 26 New Albany Daily Ledger, IN. “Steamer South America Burnt.” 12-23-1850, p. 3, c. 1.
— 25 Savanah Daily Republican, GA. “Another Terrible Disaster.” 12-25-1850, p. 3, col. 4.
–17 soldiers
–~7 deck passengers and crew
— 1 wife of crew member

* Blanchard estimated death toll. Though we show sources noting a range of 25-40 deaths, a reading of the sources, specially those which attempt to identify by name or type (passenger, crew, soldier), leads us to the opinion that there were at least 27 deaths, and possibly up to 30. Sources showing 30-40 deaths, or about 40 deaths, seem to be based on speculative newspaper accounts which do not provide breakouts of fatalities to support the number of deaths noted. Lloyd, who notes about forty deaths, only specifically describes 28. We have attempted a newspaper search for additional details, such as the death of an injured person, or identification of an unnamed crewmember, for about a month afterwards, without success. Thus our range of 27-30.

**Though noting “about forty” lives lost, Lloyd specifically notes the deaths of twenty-eight.

Narrative Information

Lloyd: “Burning of the South America. This steamer was destroyed by fire on the Mississippi river, nine miles above New Orleans, December 17th, 1850. About forty lives were lost. Sixteen of those who perished were United States soldiers; the rest were deck hands, and persons belonging to the boat. One woman was killed, viz: Mrs. White, the wife of the carpenter. In order to save her from the flames, her husband threw her into the river and then sprung after her, but could not save her.

List of Killed. – Jackson Knowles, head cook; William Sheppard, porter; a young man from Elizabethtown, Ill., name unknown; three firemen; a collier, wife and child; the following United States soldiers, viz.: Gilder, Hunt, Franks, Rean, Rosendale, Drury, Dumont, Dailey, Duyer, Gerard, Hyer, Johnston, Kimble, Loomis, Werther, Lind, and Donnie; several deck passengers, names unknown, were also lost.

“All the baggage belonging to the passengers, and the boat’s books and papers, were destroyed.”
(Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, p. 261.)

Twaintimes: “Steamboat South America burned (27 dead), 17 December.” (Twaintimes. “1850.”)

Way: South America. Sidewheel wood-hull packet, built at Elizabethtown, PA in 1846, at 288 tons. “….Burned Dec. 17, 1850, nine miles above New Orleans with loss of 27 lives, including some U.S. soldiers returning from Texas. She was en route from New Orleans to Cincinnati.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System… (Revised). 1999, p. 419.)

Newspapers

Dec 18: “Baton Rouge, Wednesday, Dec. 18. – The steamboat South America, Capt. Logan, from Cincinnati, was destroyed by fire yesterday afternoon, at Morgan’s Bend, fifteen miles above Bayou Sara. The boat was totally destroyed in less than twenty minutes from the moment of the discovery of the fire. The hull sunk our of sight within about three hours. The fire originated in the wood on the guard near the furnace. The boat was immediately turned towards the shore, on arriving at which she was made fast, bow on.

“By this catastrophe thirty or forty lives were lost. The progress of the flames was so rapid that many persons were compelled to jump overboard, and were drowned within forty feet of the shore. Among the missing are the carpenter’s wife and the porter of the boat. There were about 200 souls on board, including 100 U.S. soldiers on their way to Texas. Of these seventeen perished. The remainder of those who lost their lives were deck passengers and deck hands. All of the officers of the boat escaped. The passengers los6t all their baggage.

“All the passengers, crew and officers, except the captain, who remains in Pointe Coupee to made out a protest, were taken on board the steamer Rockaway, Capt. Davis. [signed] J. H. Rinhart.” (Daily Chronicle and Sentinel, Augusta, GA. “From the N.O. Picayune. – By Telegraph. Loss of the South America.” 12-24-1850, p. 2, col. 6.)

Dec 23: “The Steamer South America took fire near Bayou Sayra [sic], on Tuesday afternoon, and in a few minutes was a sheet of flames. It is supposed that some 30 or 40 lives were lost.—There were about 200 passengers on board, including 100 U.S. soldiers on their way to Texas, seven of whom perished. So rapid was the fire that a number of persons jumped overboard and were drowned. The boat is a total loss, and the passengers lost all of their baggage.” (Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Still Another” [Steamer Disaster], 12-23-1850, p. 4.)

Dec 25: “From the New Orleans Bulletin. Another Terrible Disaster. – Burning of the Steamer South America – Twenty-five Lives Lost. – The excitement occasioned by the explosion of the Knoxville had not subsided yesterday, when a dispatch reached the city, announcing the loss by fire of the steamer South America, on Monday evening, with a heavy loss of life.

“The steamer South America, Capt. Logan, from Cincinnati for this port, with a full cargo of flour, whiskey, bacon, lard, etc., and about two hundred passengers, including one hundred and five U.S. Recruits, from Newport Barracks, Ky., took fir in the woodstack, alongside of the boilers, on Monday afternoon, between 3 and 4 o’clock, when near Morgan’s Bend, about fifteen miles above Bayou Sara. The Pilot, Mr. C. B. Brazier, immediately run her into the bank, head on, and never quitted the wheel, until he was almost enveloped in the flames, and only saved himself by jumping overboard from the hurricane deck.

“By the time the boat struck the bluff, the flames had enveloped the whole forward part, driving the passengers and crew aft, and affording no other means of escape than by the yawl boat.

“The cabin passengers, thirty-two in number, were all saved, with the exception of Mrs. Logan, the Engineer’s wife.

“The U.S. Recruits were under the command of Lieut. Williamson, and were en route to San Antonio; — the following are the names of those lost, (Lieut. Williamson, having lost his papers, could not give their names in full.)

“Gildermeister, Hunt, Frank, Reaser, Rosendale, Drury, Dumont, Daily, Dwyer, Girard, Hyer, Johnston, Kimble, Loomis, Werther, Lindpainter, Downie.

“The others who were lost believed to be about 7, belonged to the crew and deck passengers. – Michael Doran, a deck hand, was badly burned, and is now in the Charity Hospital. There were also on board three ladies, all of whom were saved. One of them is Miss Sarah Hooper, of Newport, Kentucky.

“The passengers, officers and crew lost all their baggage. The boat’s books and papers were also all destroyed.” (Savanah Daily Republican, GA. “Another Terrible Disaster.” 12-25-1850, p. 3.)

Jan 4: “The steamboat South America was totally destroyed by fire on the 17th ult., near Bayou Sera. There were 100 U. States soldiers and 100 other passengers on board at the time,–seven of the soldiers and about thirty of the passengers and crew perished in the flames or were drowned by jumping overboard. All of the passengers’ baggage and the cargo of the boat were lost.” (Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. “Steamboat Disasters,” 1-4-1851, p. 2.)

Jan 7: “…the South America was burned near Bayou Sara, by which the loss of life numbered 27, some 17 of them soldiers, new recruits for the 3d Regiment of Infantry in Texas and Mexico.” (Elyria Courier, OH. “Steamboat Catastrophes and Incidents,” 1-7-1851, p. 2.)

Sources

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

Daily Chronicle and Sentinel, Augusta, GA. “From the N.O. Picayune. – By Telegraph. Loss of the South America.” 12-24-1850, p. 2, col. 6. Accessed 10-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/augusta-daily-chronicle-and-sentinel-dec-24-1850-p-2/

Elyria Courier, OH. “Steamboat Catastrophes and Incidents,” 1-7-1851, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=29967161

Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. “Steamboat Disasters,” 1-4-1851, p. 2, col. 1. Accessed 10-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-sentinel-jan-04-1851-p-2/

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

Lytle, William M., compiler, from Official Merchant Marine Documents of the United States and Other Sources; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. “The Lytle List.” Mystic, CT: Steamship Historical Society of America (Publication No. 6), 1952. Accessed 8-16-2020 at:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018039084&view=1up&seq=8&size=125

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.

New Albany Daily Ledger, IN. “Steamer South America Burnt.” 12-23-1850, p. 3, c. 1. Accessed 10-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-albany-daily-ledger-dec-23-1850-p-3/

Putnam, G. P. (Ed.). The World’s Progress: A Dictionary of Dates. NY: G. P. Putnam, 1851. Digitized by Google: http://books.google.com/books?id=qz9HAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Still Another.” 12-23-1850, p. 4, col. 4. Accessed 10-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/gettysburg-republican-compiler-dec-23-1850-p-4/

Savanah Daily Republican, GA. “Another Terrible Disaster.” 12-25-1850, p. 3, col. 4. Accessed 10-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-daily-republican-dec-25-1850-p-3/

Twaintimes – A Time Line of Events in the Life of Samuel Langhorne Clemens – Mark Twain. Accessed 11/16/2008 at: http://twaintimes.net/page2.html

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

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 National Intelligencer, Washington, DC. “Yet Another Steamboat Disaster.” 12-21-1850, p. 1, col. 6. Accessed 10-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/weekly-national-intelligencer-dec-21-1850-p-1/