1859 — Feb 27, steamer Princess boiler explosion/fire, MS River, near Baton Rouge, LA– ~70

— ~70 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

— 200 (lost/missing). NYT. “Terrible…Disaster — Explosion…Princess…[MS],” 3-1-1859.
–>200 North Western Times, Viroqua, WI. “Terrible Disaster on The Mississippi!” 3-2-1859, 2.
–>200 Paterson Daily Press, NJ. “Steamboat Disasters.” Aug 29, 1883, p. 2.
–~100 Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. “Dreadful Steamboat Explosion,” March 7, 1859, p. 2.
–~100 Bragg. “Duncan or Conrad Point, Louisiana, Mile 333.5 AHP, Map 47…,” p. 212.
— 100 Banner of Liberty, Middletown, NY. March 23, 1859, p. 9.
— ~70 Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA. “Booklet Records BR Steamboat Disaster.” 10-26-1996, 2b
— 70 Berman, Bruce D. ENCYCLOPEDIA of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 187.
— 70 Debow’s Review. “Steamboat Explosions in the West,” Vol. 2, Is. 3, Sep 1866.
— 70 Gould. Fifty Years on the Miss.; or, Gould’s History of River Navigation 1889, p. 437.
— 70 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 249.
— 70 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 684.
— ~70 Sternberg. Along the River Road. 2001.
— 70 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]…1999, 378.
— 25 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 100.
— 15 Galveston Weekly News, TX. “Explosion of Steamer Princess.” March 8, 1859, p. 1.

* Blanchard estimated death toll. *There appears to be a consensus amongst the sources dealing with maritime matters as to a death toll of seventy or approximately 70. The exception is Bragg, who appears to reflect newspaper reporting at the time, which was frequently alarmist and based on statements from survivors.

Narrative Information

Berman: “Princess. St. p. [Steam, side-wheel]. 715 [tons]. Feb 28, 1859. Exploded. Baton Rouge, La. 70 lives lost.” (Berman 1972, 187.)

Bragg: “The steamboat Princess was one of the best-known and most popular boats of her time. When she left Vicksburg for New Orleans one cold, wet day in February, 1859, she was, as usual heavily loaded with both passengers and freight.

“On the morning of February 28, the Princess passed Baton Rouge, traveling slightly behind schedule. It had been a difficult trip down because of heavy fog on the river, and it was said later that the boat’s officers were doing their best to make up for the lost time. One of the engineers was reported to have declared that he would get the boat to New Orleans by a certain hour ‘or blow her up.’

“Whether the engineer ever actually made the remark was never proved. As the boat approached Conrad Point, there was one tremendous explosion and the engineer on duty was one of the first to die. The Princess caught fire, and those who had not been killed or injured in the explosion were soon trying desperately to escape the flames.

“The boat was said to have been carrying more passengers when the accident occurred than she had ever carried before. Survivors were picked up by the steamers Natchez, Sunny South, R.W. McRae, Vixen, Kate Dale, and Empress – all of which happened to be in the vicinity at the time. So many of the injured were taken to so many different towns for medical assistance that it was difficult afterward for authorities to determine who had survived and who had not. Eventually it was estimated that about 100 persons had died in the tragedy, and that another 100 had suffered severe injuries.

“So persistent were the rumors that blamed the accident on the boat’s officers that a grand jury was asked to investigate the matter and determine who was responsible for the disaster. The jury was unable to fix the blame on any individual or individuals, for all of the people who might have had positive knowledge about the situation in the engine room at the time of the accident had been killed.

“The explosion and fire that destroyed the Princess was not the first disaster associated with the name. She had been No. 5 in a line of boats that all bore the name. The Princess No. 3 and the Princess No. 4 had also burned….” (Bragg, USACE. “Duncan or Conrad Point, Louisiana, Mile 333.5 AHP, Map 47…,” pp. 211-212.)

Sternberg: “In 1859, the steamboat Princess, heavily loaded with passengers and freight on a voyage to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, exploded in midstream off Conrad Point. Other steamboats in the area picked up survivors, who were taken to many different towns in the area for medical attention. About seventy are thought to have died as a result of the accident.” (Sternberg 2001)

The Advocate, Baton Rouge, 1996: “Black smoke billowing from her twin stacks, the riverboat Princess edged from the dock at Baton Rouge pushed by her powerful side wheels. It was 10 a.m. on Feb 27, 1859, a year before the agony of the Civil War would rack the nation. More than a quarter of the 250 people on board would never know the strife of that war. They were about to perish in an agony of their own.

“After 137 years, the Princess has been all but lost from the collective memory of Baton Rouge, but the fate of that riverboat will soon be part of a federally funded booklet on the history of the city’s riverfront. The Princess’s remnants, now buried under feet of river sediment, are causing publication of the history, which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is writing to mitigate disturbance of the archaeological site.

“The Princess was the fastest boat on the river at that time, according to the writings of Mark Twain, a riverboat pilot himself during that period. At a time when riverboat crews took great pride in stoking their fires and building immense pressure in their boilers to see how rapidly they could traverse the river, the Princess held the record between New Orleans and Natchez with a time of 17 hours and 30 minutes. On this trip, however, she was heading down river on a weekly run from Vicksburg to New Orleans carrying mail, 250 people and a load of cotton.

“At Baton Rouge, a number of prominent citizens – including legislators, judges and area sheriffs – had gotten on board heading for Mardi Gras. An hour later, as the riverboat followed the channel at Red Eye Crossing near what is now Brightside Lane in Baton Rouge, the morning’s peacefulness shattered as the boat’s four boilers exploded without warning. The upper cabin, hurricane deck and state rooms all plummeted into the void left by the blast, according to newspaper accounts. The boat burst into flames and nosed toward the east bank.

“A slave from Cottage Plantation swam to the Princess and swam back to shore with a line that was used to pull the burning boat into the shallows, according to an article in the Baton Rouge Weekly Advocate. Slaves and other workers from the plantation helped unload shrieking passengers who suffered burns that had incinerated their clothing or who were scalded from boiler water. The slaves laid the victims on sheets and rolled them in flour in an attempt to ease the pain of their burns. “Some, in their agony could not lie still, and, with the white sheets wrapped round them, looking like ghosts, they danced a weird hornpipe while filling the air with their screams,” a young boy, James Morris Morgan, wrote later. ‘Terrified by the awful and uncanny scene, I hid behind a huge tree so that I could not see it, but no tree could prevent me from hearing those awful cries and curses which echo in my ears even now,” he wrote.

“About 70 of the victims died.

“Oddly enough, one of the newspapers covering the wreck also contained an advertisement for a new warning device that would soon make such boiler explosions a rarity.

“The 715-ton Princess settled in the water; and by the next day there was no sign of her, except for a few bales of cotton and bits of rubbish caught along the bank, witnesses said.

“However, sonar checks show the signature of the 285-foot long vessel buried in the mud, says archaeologist Jim Wojtala of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who displays graphics of the soundings. The sounding indicate the hull of the ship and one of the sidewheels. Other debris is scattered in the mud just downstream. The corps did the soundings before constructing jetties in the area and pumping added sediment from the river’s channel into the shallow waters in the vicinity of the wreck. The federal agency avoided the wreck in its construction of the jetties, but the sediment it pumps into the area to keep the channel open has probably buried the wreck a little deeper, Wojtala said. The corps considered digging up the wreck, but was concerned about the safety of the divers, he said.

“In an attempt to mitigate any damage its sediment movement is doing to the archaeological site, the corps is publishing a 30-page booklet about the wreck and the overall history of the Baton Rouge waterfront, Wojtala said.” (The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA. “Booklet Records BR Steamboat Disaster.” 10-26-1996, 2b-3b)

Way: Princess. Sidewheel wood-hull packet, built in Cincinnati in 1855 at 715 tons, measuring 270x 34 x 8, with six boilers. “Ran New Orleans-Vicksburg, Capt. Truman C. Holmes, through 1856. Capt. William C. Wilson, Natchez, took command January, 1857….Exploded her boilers below Baton Rouge, Feb. 27, 1859, with loss of 70 lives.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System… (Revised). 1999, p. 378.)

Newspapers (then)

Feb 27, Galveston Weekly News: “Baton Rouge, Feb. 27. – The steamer Princess exploded her boilers this morning, when off Conrad’s Point, in sight of Baton Rouge. The boat took fire after the explosion, and was burned up. There were four hundred persons on board at the time of the disaster, of whom two hundred are lost and missing.

Names of the Lost and Missing

A son of W.B. Stuart, of Fayette, Miss.;
…Brandon, clerk of the court, Natchez
Two brothers of the name of Marks, of Fayette, Miss.;
Jas. Yale and W. L. Glover, Natchez;
Col. Coffey, of Grand Gulf;
Dr. Richards, of Point Coupee;
John M. Bell, of New Orleans;
H.W. Sherbourne, of Baton Rouge;
Charles Bannister, Representative from N. Orleans;
L. Huard, Representative from New Orleans;
Capt. Jackson [Baton Rouge]
John Clark [Baton Rouge],
Claxton Taylor, Baton Rouge;

“The assistant engineer of the Princess was cut in two and otherwise dreadfully mutilated.

“The following persons were badly scalded:

James Izod, Clerk;
S.H. Lurty, Bayou Sara;
L.D. Brewer, Bayou Sara;
N.B. Phillips, Bayou Sara;
Hall,
Wilcox,
Rodney [Clark] and
Joe Clark, second clerk;
J.P. Scott, Tensas;
Augustus de Lee, Clinton;
F. Surget, Natchez;
J.J. Hodges, Franklin, Miss.;
Mr. Cockburn, connected with the house of Oakley & Hawkins.
Mr. Harbour, Point Coupee;
Mr. Vigue, ditto;
F.A. Cheatham, Baton Rouge;
George Evans, Natchez;
J.M. Carr, New Carthage;
Phillip Stephens, Baton Rouge;
H.B. Murphy, St. Louis;
Anderson, colored waiter.
C.M. Kingston, of New Orleans;
Sam Waits, of Virginia;
Edward Quig, barkeeper of the Princess;
Mr. Baxter, of Rapides;
Judge Bryce and
nephew;
J.D. Corneaux [unclear] and
Mr. Murphy, of Baton Rouge;
Mr. Alley, ditto.

“The following persons are reported with legs broken and variously injured otherwise:

L.V. Reeves, Representative from Tensas;
F.C. Laville, Representative from New Orleans;
F. Davenport of Natchez.

“The following persons are hurt, but not seriously:

Judge Farrar, Pointe Coupee;
Phillip Brandon, Washington, Miss.;
Miss Lizzie Stone, Natchez;
F. Surget, Natchez;
Mrs. Reeves, Tensas;
Mrs. Delany, Baton Rouge;
Judge Burke, Baton Rouge;
Mr. Brewer’s servant.

“The following persons who were injured, have since died:

J.M. Seymour, of Baton Rouge, and
Mr. Calhoun, of Kentucky.

“The boat was crowded with ladies, who occupied half of the gentlemen’s cabin. Those who were saved at all, were generally but little injured.

“The boat and cargo are an utter loss. Nothing whatever was saved.

Death of Some of the Wounded.

“Great Loss of Life! Two Hundred Persons Missing! Baton Rouge, Feb. 28. – Messrs. Hodges and Murphy, who were wounded, died of their injuries last night….Three of the wounded, whose names are unknown, died last night….

Further Particulars of the Steamboat Disaster. The Killed and Wounded.

“Baton Rouge, Feb. 28. – Among the large number killed by the explosion of the steamer Princess are

A.W. De Lee, of Clinton;
Mr. Calhoun, of Kentucky; and
Messrs. Huard,
Calhoun, and
Atkinson, residences not ascertained.

“Mr. F. A. Cheatham is still alive, but his recovery is considered hopeless.

“Mr. F. C. Laville is also still living, but has lost both his legs, and his recovery is considered doubtful.

“A large number of bodies are still being found whose names we have not yet been able to ascertain. Among the bodies found is one supposed to be the remains of Mr. Shesburn.

Latest From the Scene of the Princess’ Explosion
— The Cause of the Disaster —
Miraculous Escapes

“Baton Rouge, Feb. 28 – 9 P.M. – It is impossible to give full particulars of the terrible disaster to the steamer Princess, which has spread such gloom over our community.

“Those who witnessed the explosion, uninjured, describe it as appalling in the extreme.

“No one knows the real cause of the explosion. – There are a thousand and one reports in regard to it, the most probable of which is the following:

“The Princess was considerably behind her usual time. The weather was cloudy and foggy, and the officers of the boat were anxious to reach New Orleans punctually. A few moments before the explosion it was noticed that there was an unusual pressure of steam on, too much for safety, and it was not let off. The engineer is also reported to have said that he would reach New Orleans at a certain hour or blow up the boat.

“At the time of the explosion Messrs. Canonge, Banister, Laville and Huard were sitting in the gentleman’s cabin, immediately over the oilers, conversing together. Mr. Canonge, together with the chair in which he was sitting, was thrown by the explosion back into the ladies’ cabin unhurt, and found himself landed squarely sitting in the same chair. (Rather a tough story.)

“Mrs. Morton, who was saved, had a son with her about two years of age, who was picked up some nine miles from the scene of the disaster below the wreck, and found to be entirely uninjured.

The Dead and Dying – One Hundred Wounded.

“Messrs. Brewer and Lurty are reported among the dead at Bayou Sara….

“Among the saved there were probably one hundred more or less wounded. Many of these have since died at the various places to which they have been carried, but it is impossible to get a full and correct list of the saved or lost.

“The Princess had more passengers on board than she was ever known to carry before.

Moral Conduct of Other Steamers.

“The steamers R. W. McRae, the Natchez, and the Sunny South, acted nobly in rendering aid to the distracted passengers. They remained along-side the burning steamer as long as they could be of any service in securing the unfortunate victims, and to those whom they saved they threw open their pantries and state-rooms, and offered them every comfort within their power.” (Galveston Weekly News, TX. “Explosion of Steamer Princess.” March 8, 1859, p. 1.)

Feb 28, North Western Times: “Over Two Hundred Lives Lost! New Orleans, Feb. 28. – The steamboat Princess, from Vicksburg for New Orleans, exploded and burned, on Sunday morning last, at Conrad’s Point, near Baton Rouge. Four hundred persons were on board, of whom two hundred are lost and missing, mostly residents of Louisiana and Mississippi. A large number of ladies were on board, filling the ladies’ and half the gentlemen’s’ cabin. The following are the names of the killed and wounded as far as ascertained:

J. W. Seymour, of Baton Rouge
Calhoun, of Maysville, Kentucky,
The Pilot and
Assistant Engineer of the Princess,
H. B. Murphy, of St. Louis,
J. J. Hodges, of Mississippi, and
Three unknown.

“Missing –

Messrs. Chas. Banister and
L. Howard of N.O.,
Jos. Clark, 2d clerk, and
S. Watt of Va.
No Northern or Eastern names are ascertained.

“A large number were badly scalded and injured. The boat and cargo are a total loss; the boat was one of the finest on the river.

“A boat which has just arrived from the wreck of the Princess brings a number of the wounded and dead.

“She was behind time and had too much steam on. A Baton Rouge dispatch says that the engineer is reported to have said that he would reach New Orleans by a certain time or blow her up. The engineer was cut completely into pieces by the explosion.

“About 100 are wounded, many of them dangerously, and in a dying condition. – It is impossible as yet to ascertain the number lost. Several boats saved many of the passengers. Much excitement prevails here and all along the river.

“Numerous unrecognized bodies are being found….” (North Western Times, Viroqua, WI. “Terrible Disaster on The Mississippi!” 3-2-1859, p. 2.)

March 1, NYT: “The steamboat Princess from Vicksburg for New-Orleans, exploded her boiler, caught fire and burned to the water’s edge at Conrad’s Point, near Baton Rouge, on Sunday morning [Feb 27]. Four hundred passengers were on board of her at the time, two hundred of whom are lost and missing — mostly residents of Louisiana and Mississippi.” (NYT. “Terrible Steamboat Disaster-Explosion of the Princess on the Mississippi,” Mar 1, 1859.)

March 1, NYT: “New Orleans, Tuesday, March 1. A number of the sufferers from the explosion of the Princess are dying from their injuries. The forward part of the boat was, it appears, blown to pieces, and the few ladies who were injured were in the after part. The entire boat was ashore soon after the explosion.” (NYT. “The Princess Disaster.” March 3, 1859, p. 1.)

March 7, Adams Sentinel: “On the morning of Sunday, Feb. 27, the steamer Princess, bound to New Orleans from Vicksburg, exploded her boiler, took fire, and burnt to the water’s edge, near Baton Rouge. The boat and cargo were a total loss; and the loss of life was awful. There were 400 passengers on board at the time, a large number of whom were ladies. It is thought that probably one hundred lost their lives, and the river was full of floating bodies.” (Adams Sentinel. 3-7-1859, p. 2.)

March 23, Banner of Liberty: “The number of lives lost by the explosion of the steamer Princess, is now estimated at one hundred.” (Banner of Liberty, Middletown, NY. March 23, 1859, p. 9.)

March 30, Banner of Liberty: “The New Orleans Picayune speaks of Louisiana as a ‘State in mourning,’ consequent upon the explosion of the steamer Princess. It says, ‘there is scarcely a community from which some one of the lost is not missing, or to it known by his social virtues.’ The fatality among prominent citizens was remarkable, and the State may well mourn its loss.” (Banner Of Liberty, Middletown, NY. “A State In Mourning.” March 30, 1859, p. 5.)

March 30, Waupun Times: “A Southern exchange gives the following account of the death of Capt. Jackson, of the Princess, by the explosion of that boat on the Mississippi: ‘He was sitting on a chair on the hurricane deck, leaning back against the sky-lights when the explosion took place, and was blown up, and coming down with the timbers of the shattered wreck, was caught among them by the neck and shoulders, where he remained struggling till the flames gathered around and about him, burnt the timbers that sustained him and he fell – to be see no more – into the raging fire below.” (Waupun Times, WI. March 30, 1859, p. 2.)

Sources

Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. “Dreadful Steamboat Explosion,” 3-7-1859, p. 2, col. 5. Accessed 10-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/gettysburg-adams-sentinel-mar-07-1859-p-2/

Banner Of Liberty, Middletown, NY. “A State In Mourning” [Burning of the Princess]. March 30, 1859, p. 5. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2777992

Banner of Liberty, Middletown, NY. [Steamer Princess Boiler Explosion & Fire]. March 23, 1859, p. 9. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2777964

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 9-15-2020 at: ftp://ftp.library.noaa.gov/noaa_documents.lib/NOAA_related_docs/US_Army/Mississippi_River_names_1977.pdf

De Bow, James Dunwoody Brownson (Ed.). Debow’s Review. “Steamboat Explosions in the West,” Vol. 2, Issue. 3, Sep 1866. Accessed 10-18-2020 at: http://www.pddoc.com/skedaddle/049/steamboat_explosions_in_the_west.htm

Galveston Weekly News, TX. “Explosion of Steamer Princess.” 3-8-1859, p. 1, col. 6. Accessed 10-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/galveston-weekly-news-mar-08-1859-p-1/

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

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

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North Western Times, Viroqua, WI. “Terrible Disaster on The Mississippi!” 3-2-1859, 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=35598901

Paterson Daily Press, NJ. “Steamboat Disasters.” 8-29-1883, p. 2. Accessed at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hUZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gj4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6970,4060085&dq=steamboat+princess+1859&hl=en

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

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The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA. “Booklet Records BR Steamboat Disaster.” 10-26-1996, 2b-3b. (Newsbank.com)

Waupun Times, WI. [Explosion/Fire, Steamer Princess]. March 30, 1859, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=37326039

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