1869 – Aug 14, Steamer Cumberland boiler explosion, Ohio River, ~Shawneetown, IL– 18

–18-20 Daily Leader, Bloomington, IN. “Late News.” 8-17-1869, p. 3, col. 4 top.
–18-20 Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “From Indiana. Steamboat Explosion.” 8-16-1869, p. 1.
— 18 Berman. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 250. (Under Kenwood name.)
— 18 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats… 1999, p. 116.
— 12 Hillsdale Standard, MI. “Steamboat Explosion.” 8-24-1869, p. 2.*

* Plus “twelve to fifteen more or less wounded, of whom three or four will die.”

Narrative Information

Berman: “Kenwood…St.w [sternwheel]…232 [tons]…1863 [built]…Aug 14 1869…Exploded… Shawneetown, Ill. 18 lives lost.” (Berman. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 250.)

Way: Cumberland. Sternwheel wood-hull packet built in Cincinnati in 1863 with name of Kenwood. “She was Tinclad #14 during the war, then renamed Cumberland when sold to private hands. Ran Cairo-Tennessee River 1867 with Capt. Ben F. Egan, master and John H. Triplett, clerk. In 1868 running Evansville-Cairo with Capt. Ben Howard, master, and Marion Wright, clerk. Exploded and lost at Shawneetown, Ill., Aug. 14, 1869, with loss of 18 lives. The wreck lay below the lower corn shed below Raleigh Landing, Ky. The hull was raised and taken to Cairo ‘scarcely injured but the upper works are entirely blown away far back as the pantry.’” (18 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats… 1999, p. 116.)

Newspaper

Aug 14: “Mount Vernon, Aug. 14. – The Evansville [IN] and Cairo [IL] packet Cumberland exploded her boilers near Shawneetown, Ind., at four o’clock this morning, and eighteen to twenty lives were lost. The boat’s books were lost, and the names of the missing cannon be ascertained. The boat is a total loss. A portion of the cargo, consisting principally of wheat and corn, will be saved. The boat was insured for $6000.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “From Indiana. Steamboat Explosion.” 8-16-1869, p. 1.)

Aug 16: “The Evansville and Cairo packet Cumberland exploded her larboard boiler at half past 4 o’clock a.m., Saturday two miles above Shawneetown, blowing the whole battery into the river, together with her safe and books, rendering the boat a complete wreck. She was tice on fire ; was extinguished through the exertions of Captain Lowth and the surviving crew and passengers. Jim Mathews was blown into the river, sixty yards from the boat, but got to a portion of the wreck picking up Bruce Hunter, second clerk, who was seriously injured and insensible. Mathews was uninjured. Captain Lowth and Jim Dawson, pilot, were buried in the debris of the Texas and pilot house, but, uninjured, broke their way out through the bulkheads, and aided in saving the boat from fire. David Pearson, mate, was ascending to the hurricane deck. He was lifted into the air, and fell in the debris, and caught by the head between sections of one of the chimneys, and held suspended till Alexander Howell of Shawneetown, accidently stepped on the chimney, which freed him, when he fell into the hold beneath, where the boilers had been. He is covered with slight wounds from head to foot, cuts, burns and bruises, but worked heroically to save the boat and lives. Marion Wright, first clerk, and Hunter’s little boy, were asleep in the state room aft the office, but escaped with slight injuries. The Mail Agent, Samuel Copeland is missing; supposed to have been blown overboard. The books being all lost, the names of the passengers and crew lost, cannot be ascertained. It is estimated that twelve were killed, including over two or three passengers and the Mail Agent, and twelve to fifteen more or less wounded, of whom three or four will die. The concussion sprung the butt of the boat, and she sunk in shoal water, after being towed ashore by the J. L. Graham. The engineer had just tried the water guage [sic] and found plenty of water. The boiler, however, was in bad condition, and the crew had determined to turn her over to the owners at Cairo. She was built in 1852 or 1853 by Captain Wm. Knight; was called the Radical Miller; was used by the government as a tin-clad gunboat during the war, and refitted and named the Cumberland. The boat was insured at $6,000 and there was $6,000 insured on her cargo, $5,000 of which was in the Underwriters’ of Evansville. The steward had one hand smashed, and was slightly scalded. Five bodies had been recovered from the wreck when the Quickstep passed up yesterday [Aug 15]. One young man from Equality, Illinois, a passenger, was horribly mangled. Much kindness was shown the sufferers by the people of Shawneetown, and all speak in high favor of the efforts of Captain Lowth and his officers. Only a small piece of two flues were found. – {Cincinnati Chronicle, Aug. 16.}.” (Hillsdale Standard, MI. “Steamboat Explosion.” 8-24-1869, p. 2.)

Aug 17: “The steamboat Cumberland, of the Evansville and Cairo line, on the Ohio river, exploded her boiler near Shawneetown, Ill., on Saturday morning. Some eighteen or twenty lives are reported lost.” (Daily Leader, Bloomington, IN. “Late News.” 8-17-1869, p. 3, col. 4 top.)

Aug 19: “….We have some incidents connected with the late disaster to the Cumberland, which are of interest. We copy from the Evansville Journal of Tuesday [17th]:

“Jim Matheny, the pilot of the Cumberland on duty at the time of her explosion, was blown some distance up into the air and aft, falling into the river nearly in her wake. The boat was swinging to the larboard at the time, and continued to swing until she was headed up stream. Before he alighted he comprehended the situation, and as soon as he realized his condition he raised his hands above his head and struck the water head foremost. Upon arising from the water he caught a piece of the roof of the boat or Texas, and immediately saw Bruce Hunter come up close to him. He assisted him upon the frail raft, and then discovered a negro, whom he also hauled out of the water. The portion of the wreck upon which they were floating was partly borne up by the yawl, the stern of which had been blown out. By keeping the raft upon the yawl they were borne up until a skiff reached them from shore. It is believed that only the larboard boiler exploded, and that the force of the explosion was upward to the starboard and aft, which accounts for the preservation of Marion Wright and Master Hunter, while the Mail Agent, Copeland, directly opposite, was blown overboard and lost.

“The Journal says further: Clerks of steamboats inform us that they have but little demand for state rooms over the boilers or forward of the gangway…

“Mr. W. M. Coffin, of New Albany, Indiana, was a passenger on the Cumberland at the time of the explosion. He wrote from Shawneetown:

Saturday morning [14th] about half past four o’clock, the boilers of the boat exploded with such terrific force as to throw them entirely off the boat, tearing the boat to atoms, almost, and making a most frightful wreck of her.

Many lives were lost, and many persons wounded by the disaster. Six dead bodies have already been recovered from the wreck, and fifteen of the wounded, some of whom will die. The scene was one of awful terror, and I pray I many never again be called upon to witness such another.

I am badly bruised almost all over my body. My right ankle is sprained and bruised to such an extent that I will not be able to use if for several days. My foot and ankle were caught between some timbers as the wreck settled down, while I was asleep in my berth. I was held in this position for abut one hour, with the wreck on all sides so closely that there was scarce room for my body.

The boat caught fire in three places immediately after the explosion, but it was saved from destruction, and many persons saved from a horrible death, through the heroism of Mr. Daniel Jacobs, of Shawneetown, who was a passenger. The Mate of the boat was badly hurt; but he anchored the boat and continued to give directions and commands to save the passengers and such of the cargo as could be saved until his strength was exhausted and he sank down fainting from loss of the blood that poured from his many wounds. His conduct was grandly heroic.

The explosion occurred about one mile above Shawneetown. The cause of it is not known, as the boilers were blown overboard. I have not learned the names of the dead and missing.

“….The inspectors of this district have instituted measures for the investigation of the circumstances under which the boilers of the steamer Cumberland were exploded last Saturday morning, near Shawneetown, a statement of which has already been made in these columns. Summonses have been issued for witnesses, and the matter will undergo a rigid examination.” (Daily Gazette, Cincinnati, OH. “River News.” 8-19-1869, p. 4, col. 6.)

Sources

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

Daily Gazette, Cincinnati, OH. “River News.” 8-19-1869, p. 4, col. 6. Accessed 8-23-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-daily-gazette-aug-19-1869-p-4/

Daily Leader, Bloomington, IN. “Late News.” 8-17-1869, p. 3, col. 4 top. Accessed 8-23-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bloomington-daily-leader-aug-17-1869-p-3/

Hillsdale Standard, MI. “Steamboat Explosion.” 8-24-1869, p. 2. Accessed 8-23-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/hillsdale-standard-aug-24-1869-p-2/

Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “From Indiana. Steamboat Explosion.” 8-16-1869, p. 1. Accessed 89-23-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-aug-16-1869-p-1/

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.