1855 — June 30, steamer Lexington boiler explosion, fire/sinks, OH Riv., ~Stephensport KY– 30

Blanchard on location.*

— ~30 Blanchard estimated death toll.**

–25-~40 New York Daily Times. “The Explosion of the Steamer Lexington.” July 5, 1855, p. 3.
— 35 Daily State Journal, Madison, WI. “Steamboat Explosion.” July 4, 1855, p. 2.
— ~35 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, p. 326.***
— 35 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 99.
— <35 Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “Steamboat Explosion, July 4, 1855, p. 3. -- 30 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 252. -- 30 Board of Supervising Inspectors. Rpt. …Sec.…Year Ending June 30, 1855. 1856, 437. -- 30 Gould, E. W. Fifty Years on the Mississippi… 1889, p. 437. -- 30 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of…[U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 237. -- 30 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 683. -- 30 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, 284. -- 24 Firefighterclosecalls.com. “Firefighter History 6/30.” -- 14 Pittsburgh Gazette, PA. “The Loss of the Lexington.” 7-6-1855, p. 1, col. 5. * Blanchard on location: In that the Lexington was going upriver and Rome, IN is slightly more upriver than Stephensport, KY, on the opposite shore, the explosion occurred somewhat closer to Rome, IN than to Stephensport, KY. However, the boundary between the two states runs within the Ohio River -- and almost entirely on the KY side. By looking at maps of the area one can see that the boundary runs along the Indiana shoreline. Thus, for the Lexington to be in navigable waters, it would have to had been within the Kentucky side of the river. ** Blanchard estimated death toll. We suspect that Lloyd’s estimate of about thirty-five deaths derived from newspaper reporting estimates at the time. As we note below, he only identifies sixteen deaths and notes “eleven others, names unknown” died. This, however, supports a death toll of twenty-seven, not thirty-five, even accepting that eleven unknown people died. Given that Lytle and Holdcamper (noting 30 deaths) are generally a very reliable source, and several others also report thirty, such as the Board of Supervising Steamboat Vessel Inspectors (U.S. government), we choose to report a death-toll of approximately thirty. If there was less ambiguity and more agreement among the sources on the death toll we would write “30” exactly, but such is not the case, thus the use of the approximate sign (~). *** Lloyd identifies sixteen fatalities by name or position and notes “eleven others, names unknown, making a total of about thirty five.” His sixteen plus eleven, however, come to twenty-seven. Narrative Information Berman: “Lexington…312 [tons]. 1850 [built]. Jun 30, 1855. Exploded. Rome, Ind. 30 lives lost.” (Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 252.) Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats, US Dept. of the Treasury: “On the 30th day of June last, at about three o'clock in the morning, while under way the boilers of the steamer Lexington exploded, when near Stephensport [KY], on the Ohio river, by which disaster thirty lives were lost, about one-half the number being of the crew, and the remainder passengers. The boat took fire from the explosion, then upset and sank. “The engineer on watch was killed, and the cause of the disaster is not yet known, as no portion of the boilers and machinery has been raised, and no sufficient testimony could be elicited to warrant a decision. It is, however, supposed, from the circumstances of the case, and the testimony which was obtained, that the cause was an inadequate supply of water in the boilers. “At the time of the accident the boat was on her passage from St. Louis to Louisville, and was inspected and registered at the former place.” (Board of Steamboat Inspectors 1856, p. 437.) Lloyd: “This disaster occurred at six o’clock, A.M., on the first day of July, 1855 [sic., June 30], about ninety miles below Louisville, on the Ohio river. Every person on board, except those of the crew who had been appointed to keep the night watch, were in their berths. Three boilers exploded at the same moment, demolishing the whole of the upper works forward of the wheel house, and hurling many of the sleeping crew and passengers into the water, without any premonition of danger. The steamer was under way at the time of the accident, and the engine had been working steadily without intermission, for two hours. There were about fifty cabin passengers, exclusive of eight ladies, one child, and a nurse, who, together with the officers and crew and deck passengers made a sum total of one hundred and thirty persons. “The explosion produced a deafening report and the wreck immediately took fire. ‘Then,’ says an eye-witness, ‘was presented a dreadful harrowing scene…Many persons were blown into the river, a few of whom swam ashore; many fell on the boat, and were mingled in awful confusion with the fragments of the wreck; all was lit up by the blazing timber, which, in that dead hour of the night, cast an unearthly gleam on the hideous spectacle….’ “The second mate, Peter Edds, ordered the anchor to be thrown overboard as soon as possible, and the steamer dragged for two miles down the stream. The scene of the disaster was near some wood-choppers’ cabins, on the Kentucky shore. These people, as soon as they discovered the misfortune which had befallen the Lexington, came in their skiffs, and took off the surviving passengers. The ladies were generally saved. The males, with very few exceptions, were more or less injured. “Killed. – W. C. Larkins, Madison, Ind.; Mr. Phillips, Liberty, Mo.; Henry Lewis; John Taylor, colored porter; Thomas Baldwin, and William Harrison, colored; James Miller, second clerk, Nashville; M. R. Fairchild, bar keeper; P. Willis, second engineer, Smithfield; M. Bernard, pilot; Samuel Lowery, colored; two brothers, names unknown; Mr. Haines, carpenter; a German deck hand; a colored fireman, and eleven others, names unknown, making a total of about thirty five. “Wounded. – [We omit the listing of 21 “and others, names not mentioned.” “The boat turned bottom upward, and sunk near Stephensport. The steamer D. A. Given took charge of those passengers who had been carried to the Kentucky shore by the wood choppers. It is remarked as a singular circumstance that few persons were scalded by this explosion. Most of the wounded were badly bruised or had their limbs broken. Many were drowned, of whom no account will ever be given, as the books and papers, and all the baggage, except that in the ladies’ cabin, were destroyed. “Capt. J. V. Throop, the commander of the Lexington, has been engaged on the river for twenty-five years. He is a prudent and experienced officer, and this is the first accident that ever befell a boat under his command.” (Lloyd, James T. “Explosion of the Lexington.” Pp. 324-326 in Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856.) Way: Lexington. Sidewheel wood-hull packet, built in 1850 in Jeffersonville, IN, at 310 tons. “…Was running St. Louis-Louisville, Capt. Throop, when she exploded boilers at Rome, Ind., opposite Stephensport, Ky., on the Ohio River, June 30, 1855, with loss of 30 lives. She was upbound at the time, under headway. The D. A. Given was in the area and came to assist, taking survivors and wounded to Stephensport. The John C. Fremont took some to Louisville. Capt. Throop was precipitated from the upper deck to the forecastle, but the mate caught him in his arms and broke the impact of the fall.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, p. 284.) Newspapers – Chronological June 30: “From the Louisville Democrat Extra. Louisville, Saturday, June 30, 1855 – 10 P.M. “By the J. C. Fremont, just arrived in port, we learn the terrible and harrowing particulars of the explosion of the steamer Lexington, on her way from St. Louis to this port. “The accident occurred about 3 or 4 o'clock this morning, about five miles from Stephensport. Her entire works forward of the wheel were blown away, the boat then took fire and burned to the water’s edge, and then turned bottom up. Skiffs and flatboats put off from the shore as soon as possible, and succeeded in saving considerable numbers. “The D. A. Given was coming up, a short distance behind her, and came in sight in time to see the burning wreck, and saved all she could pick up. She then went back to Stephensport to bring a doctor up for the wounded that were ashore. The J. C. Fremont came up behind the Given, and rendered all the assistance that could possibly be given…. “The explosion occurring as it did, before day, and no one being up about the boat except the pilot, the watchman, and the engineer, with two or three firemen, the engineer being lost, or supposed to be, and the pilot, too, there was no one to give information of the cause of the disaster.” (NY Daily Times. “Particulars of the Loss of the Steamer Lexington.” 7-6-1855, 8.) July 2: “From the Louisville Courier, July 2. This terrible disaster occurred near the town of Rome, Indiana [across the river from Stephensport], one hundred miles below this city…. “The boat, it is supposed, exploded all her boilers with a terrible noise, causing death and destruction to all around. The upper works of the boat, forward of her water wheels, were blown to fragments, throwing the sleeping passengers and the crew about like ‘chaff before the wind,’ many of them falling in the river, and others alighting among the fragments of the burning boat and the red hot furnaces on the lower deck, as the boat, almost on the instant of the explosion, caught fire, thus exposing the survivors of the wreck to the horrors of being either burnt alive or drowned…. “The J. C. Fremont, with eight of the survivors, all wounded, reached this port [Louisville, KY] Saturday evening…. “The boat turned bottom upward, and sunk near Stephensport…. “The Lexington lacked only a few days of being five years old…and the boat was quite old enough to be condemned….” (New York Daily Times. “Additional Particulars.” 7-6-1855, p. 8.) July 4: “Thirty-five people were killed on Sunday morning last, by the explosion of the steamer Lexington, on the Ohio River, near Stephensport, Kentucky. About 100 persons were on board, a large portion of whom were more or less injured. None of the ladies on board wore hurt.” (Daily State Journal, Madison, WI. “Steamboat Explosion.” July 4, 1855, p. 2.) July 4: “The packet Baltimore arrived here from the scene of the wreck, with twenty officers and passengers of the ill-fated steamer, including Captain Throop and Mr. Davidson, the 1st Clerk, both wounded. The Captain thinks not more than 35 were killed….” (Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “Steamboat Explosion, July 4, 1855, p. 3.) July 4: “The explosion of the steamer Lexington, previously reported, occurred near Stephensport during the up trip on Sunday last, and out of the whole number on board only one escaped uninjured, excepting the ladies, all of whom were saved. About forty are reported to have been killed. Another Account. “Louisville, Wednesday, July 4. The steamer Lexington was bound from St. Louis to Louisville, and her boilers exploded at 3 A. M. on Saturday, four miles from Rome. The wreck burned with great rapidity to the water's edge. The D. A. Given came to the assistance of the Lexington, and succeeded in saving all the ladies and children on board. “It is believed that as many as 25 lives were lost and 20 or 30 others injured, among the latter Capt. Throop was badly scalded. The boat was an old one, and her cargo consisted of 250 bales of hemp.” (New York Daily Times. “The Explosion of the Steamer Lexington.” July 5, 1855, p. 3.) July 6: “The Louisville Journal [date not noted] gives the following account of this disaster, which we have previously reported: “The Lexington, Capt. Throop, left St. Louis on Wednesday evening [27th] for this port. On Saturday morning [June 30] before daylight she passed the D. A. Given near Stephensport where the latter landed. Capt. Wood noticed the Lexington was running very slow, and was under the impression that something was not right. The D. A. Given is a stern-wheeler and there was no competition between the boats, as the Lexington had sidewheels and was much larger and had probably double as much power as the Given. We state this from the fact of the boats being close together, some might infer that they were racing. When about four miles above Stephensport, the Lexington exploded all her boilers, the explosion carrying with it the whole cabin forward of the wheel-house and the texas. Most of the passengers were asleep in their berths, and also the officers and crew except those detained on watch. All on the forward part of the boat were blown up with the cabin, some falling in the river, and others on the wreck. Many were so seriously hurt, as to be altogether unconscious, and they do not know how they were saved, while others managed by catching pieces of planks and fenders on which they swam ashore. Capt. Throop fell from the hurricane deck, but was caught by the second mate, who was standing on the forecastle, before he reached the deck, otherwise he would have been killed instantly. This mate, though immediately forward of the boilers, sustained no injury. The clerk found himself in the river with his desk close beside him. But we cannot relate all the hair-breadth escapes of individuals. Not a soul in the cabin back of the wheel-house was injured. But few of the deck passengers were wounded. Immediately after the explosion the boat took fire, but the ready assistance rendered by the D. A. Given, which was only half a mile off, and by persons from the shore with flatboat and skiffs, saved the lives of most of them. Some little baggage was saved, but very many escaped with nothing but their night clothes. “The D. A. Given then took most of the passengers back to Stephensport to procure medical assistance. “After the D. A. Given left the J. C. Freemont came along and took on board several of the wounded and others. The Fremont reached here [Louisville] on Saturday night….Among the wounded on the D. A. Given, was Capt. Thomas White, of this city, and he is in a dangerous condition. Mr. Badger, one of the pilots of the Lexington, who was asleep when the explosion occurred it is feared will not survive….Mr. W. W. Johnston, of Madison, was also suffering severely…. “It is somewhat strange that but very few persons were scalded. Those wounded were bruises, contusions and broken limbs. The boat was running when the explosion occurred, and from this it is generally inferred that there could have been little if any water in the boilers. The second engineer, who was on watch was killed…. “The hull of the boat floated down to Stephensport where it was caught and moored…. “She was an old boat, and the steamboat inspectors had notified her former owners that this was the last season she could be run… She was then under the jurisdiction of the St. Louis board of supervisors. “All the books and papers having been lost, it was impossible to ascertain the precise number of persons lost. Several passengers, however, took the matter in hand, and made up a list as complete as could be got. List of Killed and Missing _____ Phillips, Liberty, Mo., missing. Henry Lewis, killed. Jos. Miller, second clerk, Nashville, Tennessee, missing. Poney Willis, second engineer, killed. M. Fairchild, missing. _____ Haynes, carpenter, missing. John Taylor, colored, missing. _____ Baldwin, colored. New Albany, missing. _____ Harrison, New Albany, missing. Samuel Lowry, colored, killed. Two brothers, names not known, got on board at Smithland, supposed to be from Georgia; one killed and the other missing. Two Irish deck hands missing; supposed to be burnt. “Among the persons wounded, is T. W. Fundersmith, assistant engineer, of Pittsburgh, slightly wounded. This is the only person we see named from this region.” (Pittsburgh Gazette, PA. “The Loss of the Lexington.” 7-6-1855, p. 1, col. 5.) Recap of those noted above as killed: 1. Baldwin, Thomas New Albany 2. Bernard, M. Pilot 3. Fairchild, M. R. Bar keeper 4. Haines of Haynes Carpenter 5. Harrison, William New Albany 6. Larkins, W. C. Madison, IN 7. Lewis, Henry 8. Lowery, Samuel 9. Miller, James Second clerk Nashville, TN 10. Phillips, Mr. Liberty, MO 11. Taylor, John Porter 12. Willis, Poney 2nd Engineer Smithfield 13. German Deck hand 14. Unidentified Fireman 15. Unidentified male, name unknown, one of two brothers killed. 16. Unidentified male, name unknown, 2nd of two brothers killed. 17. Unidentified person, 1st of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 18. Unidentified person, 2nd of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 19. Unidentified person, 3rd of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 20. Unidentified person, 4th of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 21. Unidentified person, 5th of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 22. Unidentified person, 6th of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 23. Unidentified person, 7th of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 24. Unidentified person, 8th of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 25. Unidentified person, 9th of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 26. Unidentified person, 10th of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” 27. Unidentified person, 11th of eleven others noted by Lloyd as “others, names unknown.” Sources Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972. Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats. “Report of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats,” 10-14-1855, pp. 431-476 in: United States Department of the Treasury. Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Year Ending June 30, 1855 (U.S. Senate, 34th Congress, 1st Session, Ex. Doc. No. 2). Washington: Beverly Tucker, 1856. Google digitized; accessed 9-26-2020 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=OCYSAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Daily State Journal, Madison, WI. “Steamboat Explosion [Lexington].” 7-4-1855, p. 2. 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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 York Daily Times. “Particulars of the Loss of the Steamer Lexington.” 7-6-1855, p. 8. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=3087056 New York Daily Times. “The Explosion of the Steamer Lexington.” 7-5-1855, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2778304 Pittsburgh Gazette, PA. “The Loss of the Lexington.” 7-6-1855, p. 1, col. 5. Accessed 9-26-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/pittsburgh-daily-pittsburgh-gazette-jul-06-1855-p-1/ 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). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1999. Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “Steamboat Explosion! 35 Persons Killed!, July 4, 1855, p. 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=34931868