1860 — Apr 26, TN steamer Alfred T. Lacy fire, ~Isl. 16 & 17, MS Riv., Linwood Bend ~Booth Pt., TN–16

— 16 Blanchard (We take Treasury Dept., Coggins, and Way’s Packet Directory as authoritative.)
— 16 Coggins. Tennessee Tragedies: Natural, Technological, and Societal… 263.
— 16 US Treasury Dept. Report…Secretary…Finances…Year Ending June 30, 1860. p. 348.
— 16 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…MS Riv. System. 1994, 11.
–12-15 Banner of Liberty (Middletown, NY). “Destruction…Steamer A.T. Lacey,” 9 May 1860.
— 13 Appleton Motor (WI). “Steamer Burned – Thirteen Lives Lost,” May 3, 1860, p. 2.
— 13 Banner of Liberty (Middletown, NY). “Burning of…Steamer A.T. Lacy,” 2 May 1860, 9

Narrative Information

Bragg: “Perhaps the best-known of all…[the] boats that went down in Linwood Bend was the steamer A. T. Lacey, a boat that had been on the river about four years when she caught fire as she approached Booth Point on May 2, 1860. If the fire had not created instant panic among the passengers, all of them might have been saved. The pilot ran the boat to the bank as soon as he realized she was on fire, but deck passengers were already leaping into the water as her bow nudged the shore. As was often the case, cabin passengers fared better than the deck passengers. Someone took charge, broke out life preservers, and put them on the women and children. All the cabin passengers were saved with one tragic exception.

“The exception was the little daughter of Captain A. T. Lacey himself, who owned the boat. Captain Lacey and his family had boarded the boat at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and were on their way to New Orleans for a holiday. When the fire broke out, the boat’s young clerk, determined to save the Lacey child, seized her and jumped overboard. Putting the little girl on his back, he struck out strongly for the shore. He had almost reached the bank when a large floating tree came past. The tree limbs caught in the child’s clothing and swept her into the water. She sank immediately, and was never seen again.

The A. T. Lacey, valued at $60,000, was a total loss. Cargo valued at $120,000 was also lost. None of the passengers were able to save their luggage. In addition to the Lacey child, some of the deckhands, cabin servants, and deck passengers lost their lives.” (Bragg. Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River. 1977, pp. 44-45.)

Coggins: “Apr. 26, 1860 Riverboat accident – The Tennessee steamboat Alfred T. Lacy caught fire and burned to the water line near the foot of Islands No. 16 and No. 17 on Linwood Bend. The wreck occurred just above the old river town of Boothpoint (Dyer County). Linwood Bend, located at mile 840.5 is named for another riverboat, the Linwood, which wrecked there in 1847. Interstate 188 now crosses the Mississippi River near the site of the wreck of the Lacy. Most passengers were saved, but sixteen are known to have died. The boat and its cargo, along with its books and papers, the estimated value of which was over $180,000, were lost.” (Coggins, Allen R. Tennessee Tragedies: Natural, Technological and Societal Disasters in the Volunteer State. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2011, pp. 263-264.)

U.S. Dept. of the Treasury: “On the 26th of April last the steamer “A. T. Lacey” was destroyed by fire on the Mississippi river, near Memphis. The fire was caused by sparks falling amongst hay on the deck. The steamer a total loss. By this disaster ten of the passengers and six of the crew lost their lives.” (US Treasury Dept. Report…Secretary…Finances…Year Ending June 30, 1860. 1860, p. 348.)

Way: “….When Sam Clemens decided to learn the river he first cubbed aboard this boat. She burned at Island 16, Mississippi River, Apr. 26, 1860, at 10:00 P.M. Captain Taylor was in charge, and Capt. A.T. Lacy’s daughter was a victim of the blaze in which sixteen lives were lost. The Magnolia came to the scene and assisted in rescue.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…MS River System. 1994, 11)

Newspapers

April 27: “Memphis, April 27.—The steamboat A.T. Lacy, Capt. Taylor, from St. Louis to New Orleans, was burned last night at the foot of Island Sixteen….Seven children and six of the crew are known to be lost.” (Appleton Motor, WI. “Steamer Burned – Thirteen Lives Lost,” 5-3-1860, p. 2.)

April 27: “Memphis, Tenn., April 27, 1860…Thirteen Lives Lost. – The steamboat A.T. Lacy, Captain Taylor, from St. Louis for New Orleans, was burned last night at the foot of Island No. 16. Her passengers and officers were saved with the exception of seven children and six of the crew, who are known to be lost. The boat and cargo are a total loss…” (Banner of Liberty, Middletown, NY. “Burning of the Steamer A.T. Lacy,” 2 May 1860, p. 9.)

May 9: “We gather the following further particulars of the burning of the steamer A.T. Lacey, from the Memphis Appeal:

“Just before the hour of 10 o’clock, when the Lacey was opposite Island 16, a quantity of hay near the larboard derrick, was discovered to be on fire. The alarm was given at once, and the boat was headed for the shore. Almost instantaneously the flames shot forth in every direction, and in the space of two minutes after the fire had communicated with the forward portion of the boiler deck, the entire cabin was enveloped in a sheet of flames. Many of the passengers, about seventy-five in number, who were about equally divided between the cabin and deck, had retired for the night, and the consternation of the passengers, and the appalling scene which ensued, may be imagined but could not be described. The affrighted passengers from the cabin gathered on the starboard guard behind the wheelhouse, and by lowering themselves into the water, with the aid of life preservers, drift-logs, and the standing trees in the vicinity, the greater number gained the shore. Mr. Cunningham estimates the number of the lost at twelve or fifteen; but, as the cabin register, together with all the other books and papers of the boat were lost, there is no means of arriving precisely at the extent of the fatality….

“During the conflagration the steamer Magnolia, Capt. Thomasson, came down and approached as near the burning wreck as safety would justify, Capt. T. and his officers rendering every service that humanity and kindness could suggest. Through their agency many lives were saved, and the condition of the sufferers was greatly alleviated. All the survivors were transferred to the Magnolia….” (Banner of Liberty, Middletown, NY. “Destruction…Steamer A.T. Lacey,” 9 May 1860, p. 8.)

Sources

Appleton Motor, WI. “Steamer [A.T. Lacy] Burned – Thirteen Lives Lost.” 5-3-1860, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=6232915

Banner of Liberty, Middletown, NY. “Burning of the Steamer A.T. Lacy,” 2May1860, p. 9. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2780694

Banner of Liberty, Middletown, NY. “Destruction of the Steamer A. T. Lacey—Fifteen Lives Lost,” 9May1860. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2780720

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

Coggins, Allen R. Tennessee Tragedies: Natural, Technological and Societal Disasters in the Volunteer State. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2011. Google partially digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=SfK6aBuqohQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

United States Treasury Department. Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, on the State of Finances, for the Year Ending June 30, 1860. Washington: Thomas H. Ford, Printer, 1860. Accessed 8-7-2020 at: https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/annual-report-secretary-treasury-state-finances-194/report-secretary-treasury-state-finances-year-ending-june-30-1860-5445

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 Edition). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1994-1999.