1887 – Mar 1, steamer W.H. Gardner burns, Tombigbee Riv., 3m below Gainesville, AL –20-21

— 21 Blanchard estimated death-toll.*

–~25 Grenada Sentinel, MS. 3-5-1887, p. 4, col. 1.
— 23 Doster and Weaver. Historic Settlement in the Upper Tombigbee Valley. 2-28-1981, p.206
— 22 Moulton Advertiser, AL. 3-10-1887, p. 3, col. 3. (lists only 20 fatalities however)
— 21 Blanchard compilation.
–10 crew
–11 passengers
— 21 Savannah Morning News, GA. “Savannah Weekly News.” 3-3-1887, p. 2, col. 5.
— 21 Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels (US). Annual Report…1887. 1887, p. 22.
–13 crew
— 8 passengers
— 20 Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. “Every Day’s Record. Events. March 1.” Mar, 1889, 449.
— 20 The Mercury, Sandersville, GA. “The Fire Fiend.” 3-8-1887, p. 2, col. 4.
— 20 NYT. “Twenty Lives Lost. A Steamer Burned…Tombigbee River, Alabama.” 3-2-1887, p.1.
— 20 Philadelphia Record Almanac 1888. “General and Local Events, March, 1887,” p. 90.

* Blanchard estimated death-toll. Most of the newspaper accounts we have reviewed (several dozens), note twenty deaths, but not all – we have seen a range of reporting of from twenty to twenty-five deaths. Thus we have attempted a compilation of named fatalities noted in the various sources cited herein (found after the Newspapers section and prior to the Sources). Our compilation attempt comes to twenty-one deaths, all identified by name except for one unidentified deck hand. This is the same number of deaths noted by the Moulton [AL] Advertiser, and in the 1887 annual report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels (though our compilation differs in the breakouts between crew and passengers, which is troubling).

Thus, in that our crew/passenger breakout differs from the Steam-Vessel annual report, includes an unidentified death, and differs from most of the newspaper reports of the time, we choose to resort to a range of fatalities – twenty to twenty-one.

Narrative Information

Doster and Weaver: “W. H. Gardner. This 174-ton sternwheeler was built in 1880 in Mobile… and was operated principally by several Demopolis businessmen. She was destroyed by fire on March 2, 1887, at Howard’s Bar, approximately three miles south of Gainesville, on the Upper Tombigbee River, killing some 23 persons in the conflagration. Heavily laden with cotton, the boat was racing with the steamer D. L. Talley, when a fire was discovered in the cotton carried by the W. H. Gardner.” (Cites Montgomery Advertiser, March 4, 1887). (Doster and Weaver 1981, 206.)

Philadelphia Record Almanac 1888: “March, 1887. 1. – The steamer W. H. Gardner burned on the Tombigbee River, near Gainesville, Ala., and twenty lives lost.” (“General and Local Events,”

Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels (US): “March 1, 1887. – The steamer W. H. Gardner took fire while descending Bigbee river and was totally destroyed. Eight passengers and thirteen of her crew were lost.” (Annual Report of…Inspector-General…1887. 1887, p. 22.)

Newspapers

March 1: “Mobile, Ala., March 1. – “The steamer W. H. Gardner, one of the largest boats plying on the Tombigbee River from Mobile, was burned this afternoon, three miles below Gainesville, Sumter County, Ala., Capt. F.S. Stone telegraphs to the Register from Epes, Ala., that the boat is a total loss, together with 464 bales of cotton. The loss of life is very large as follows:

S. C. Blackman [we break paragraph into separate lines]
Jule Rembert and two children,
Theodore L. Graham,
G. Rutes, and the following colored persons:
John Bryant, steward;
Green Jenkins,
Henry Ford,
Hayward Hudson,
L. Lindsey,
Virgil Jones,
Amos Harris, and
Three unknown.

“Mrs. Rembert and three children lived in Demopolis, Ala., which is W. E. Rembert’s home and also the home of Jule Rembert. Before making the last trip Mr. Rembert wrote his wife to join him with his three children at Demopolis and make the trip up to the highest landing and return. It is supposed that he invited also his cousin, Jule Rembert, and his two children, and it was intended to be a pleasure trip for the party.

“The negroes who lost their lives are deck hands from Mobile, and most of them leave families.”
(NYT. “Twenty Lives Lost, A Steamer Burned on the Tombigbee River, AL.” 2 Mar 1887.)

March 2: “Mobile, Ala., March 2. – Following is the report of an eye-witness to the burning of the steamer Gardner Wednesday afternoon: ‘The fire was discovered by Capt. Frank Stone, master of the steamer Tally. The Tally was following the Gardner and preparing to pass her. The fire was amidships, and in four minutes the boat was in flames all over. The Tally was checked and backed, boasts were lowered, and bales of cotton and seed sacks thrown overboard to assist the people in the water. The flames spread so rapidly and the heat was so intense that little could be done to save the passengers and crew. These gathered on the forecastle and jumped overboard, one after another. This scene was heart-rending. The women and children were screaming as they jumped. All of the Remberts were lost but W. F. and Susan, the wife of Jule Rembert. The latter was saved by the mate of the Tally.’

“Of the origin of the fire the witness says: ‘In attempting to throw the burning cotton overboard a deck hand caught fire and ran across the boat and up the opposite side, spreading the fire from his flaming garments. But for this circumstance the boat might have been saved. The pilot was ordered to run the boat ashore and backed out a short distance and gave the signal to go ahead, but the intense head had driven the engineers away from their post and the boat backed into the woods, leaving the bow, crowded with people, out in the stream. The motion of the boat forced the fire like a canopy over the heads of the people. There the boat remained until burned to the water’s edge. We of the Tally witnessed the heroic deed of E. H. Wilson, the pilot, who stood to his wheel until nearly surrounded by flames….” (New York Times. “The Gardner Disaster,” 3-3-1887, p. 1.)

March 3: “The Late Steamboat Disaster. – A few additional details of the burning of the steamer Gardner on the Tombigbee river, have been received. The fire was caused by a spark from the smokestack falling upon a bale of cotton. A negro, who tried to put it out, got his clothes afire, and, running about in fright, his garments set fire to the other bales, and the fire thus became spread so that it could not be controlled. The pilots had to quit the wheel while the boat was in midstream. The flames soon caused all on board to jump into the water. Most of the passengers who perished were drowned, though one or two may have been first injured by the flames. Capt. Stone swam ashore. The steamer Folly [sic] which happened to be near by, came as near the burning steamer as she dared, and picked up in boats several persons. But for this fortunate incident few lives would have been saved. The first reports of the loss of life are confirmed. Four of the persons lost, reported as unknown, are now learned to have been Mrs. Rembert’s nurse (name yet unknown), Jim Coleman, cook; Mrs. Lindsay, chambermaid, and a sweeper, named Joe. Pilot Wilson was the last to leave the pilot house. He narrowly escaped death, and is the hero of the occasion. He did not quit his post until the flames had driven the engineers from their places and the boat was helpless. Bebe McCaul, the colored cabin boy of the Folly, saved five lives by swimming ashore with those in the water. Mrs. W. F. Rembert threw her youngest child into the water, her husband taking the other two. Then she jumped in. All were drowned but the husband. Mrs. Jule Rembert is now at Demopolis in a critical condition. The Gardner was valued at $12,000; no insurance. The cotton on board was insured for $23,000.” (Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Advertiser. “The Late Steamboat Disaster.” 3-3-1887, p. 4, col. 1.)

Steamer W. H. Gardner Fire Fatalities as Identified in Sources Cited Herein

Passengers

1. Blackman, S. C.
2. Graham, Theodore L.
3. Rembert, Jule Demopolis, AL
4. Rembert, child one of two of Jule Rembert Demopolis, AL
5. Rembert, child two of two of Jule Rembert Demopolis, AL
6. Rembert, Mrs. W. F. Demopolis, AL
7. Rembert, child one of three of Mrs. W.F. Demopolis, AL
8. Rembert, child two of three of Mrs. W.F. Demopolis, AL
9. Rembert, child three of three of Mrs. W.F. Demopolis, AL
10. Rembert family children’s nurse (name not noted)
11. Rutes, R. G.

Crew (most were deckhands)

1. Bryant, John, steward
2. Coleman, Jim, cook
3. Ford, Henry
4. Harris, Amos
5. Hudson, Hayward
6. Jenkins, Green
7. Jones, Virgil
8. Lindsey, L., chambermaid
9. Sweeper named Joe.
10. Unnamed

Sources

Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Advertiser. “The Late Steamboat Disaster.” 3-3-1887, p. 4, col. 1. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/alexandria-gazette-mar-03-1887-p-4/

Doster, James F. and David C. Weaver. Historic Settlement in the Upper Tombigbee Valley. Center for the Study of Southern History and Culture, University of Alabama. 2-28-1981. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a117065.pdf

Grenada Sentinel, MS. 3-5-1887, p. 4, col. 1. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/grenada-sentinel-mar-05-1887-p-4/

Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. “Every Day’s Record. Events. March 1.” March, 1889, p. 449. Vol. XLIII. –January to June, 1889. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co. Accessed 1-29-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=nLURAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Moulton Advertiser, AL. 3-10-1887, p. 3, col. 3. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/moulton-advertiser-mar-10-1887-p-3/

New York Times. “The Gardner Disaster,” 3-3-1887. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9901E5D81F31E633A25750C0A9659C94669FD7CF

New York Times. “Twenty Lives Lost. A Steamer Burned on the Tombigbee River, Alabama.” March 2, 1887. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9401E7D81F31E633A25751C0A9659C94669FD7CF

Philadelphia Record Almanac 1888. “General and Local Events….March, 1887.” Philadelphia Record, 1888. Accessed 1-29-2021 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxpnn1&view=1up&seq=203&q1=%22w%20h%20gardner%22

Savannah Morning News, GA. “Savannah Weekly News.” 3-3-1887, p. 2, col. 5. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-morning-news-mar-03-1887-p-3/

Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels (U.S.). Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1887 (Treasury Department Document No. 1038, Steamboat Inspection, dated 10-21-1887). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1887. Accessed 1-29-2021 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu09189980&view=1up&seq=51

The Mercury, Sandersville, GA. “The Fire Fiend.” 3-8-1887, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandersville-mercury-mar-08-1887-p-2/