1848 — Jan 9, Blue Ridge boiler explosion, OH River, Raccoon Island ~Gallipolis OH-15-30

–15-30 Blanchard estimate.*

— ~30 Democratic Banner (Clearfield, PA). “Another Disaster,” Jan 22, 1848.
— 30 Lossing. Harper’s Encyclopedia of U.S. History from 458 A.D. to 1902. 1902, p. 454.
–20-30 Ohio Repository (Canton). “Steamboat Explosion,” Jan 19, 1848, p. 1, col. 6.
–20-30 Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, PA). “Another 20 or 30 Lives Lost,” Jan 17, 1848, 4.
— 30 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 98.
— ~30 Summers. “Letter Gives Graphic Details of Steamer Explosion in 1848.” 3-3-1940, p5.
–10-15 killed (another 10-15 missing). Jan 10 ltr., passenger William B. Koontz to his mother.
–10-15 killed (15 or 20 more missing). Koontz ltr., reprinted in Charleston Daily Mail, 3-3-1940.
— 15 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the [MS Riv.] 1994, p55.
— 15 WikiTree.com. “William Frederick Whitteker (1809-1848).”
— 14 WV Dept. of Archives and History. West Virginia History. 1964.
— 13 Twaintimes – A Time Line of Events in the Life of Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
— 11 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 236.

Blanchard on date of loss: We draw attention to reporting below which has the date of loss on Jan 8, 9, 11 and 18. It seems clear to me however, from the reporting of the death of William Whitteker, the letter of William Koontz, and other sources, that the Blue Ridge landed at Gallipolis at about midnight on the eighth, and took off shortly afterwards, with the explosion occurring at about 1:00 a.m. on the 9th, soon after pushing off.

*Blanchard on estimated death toll: While we show sources noting numbers from 11 to 30 or about 30, we choose to follow Summers in his March 3, 1940 article on this disaster in the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail. It is clear that Mr. Summers had searched for information on this event for some time. His conclusion was that “the estimate that 30 were lost is probably nearer to the correct number than other figures which have been given.” Likewise, if we were to choose one number we would choose “approximately” 30. We do not have to choose one number, however, and thus use thirty as the high end of a death toll range. We use fifteen as the low end of the range given its use by Way and others. We choose not to use the three instances where 11 or 13 or 14 deaths were noted in that we believe the true death toll was closer to thirty deaths.

Narrative Information

Koontz (survivor) letter to his mother afterwards: “….The boat was under full head of steam in the middle of the river, and under an unusual pressure of steam. I lay awake in my room, expecting some such disaster, for the whole boat was quivering with unusual labor in the engine. Your son, W. B. Koontz.” (Summers, George W. “Letter Gives Graphic Details of Steamer Explosion in 1848.” Charleston Daily Mail, WV, 3-3-1940, p. 5.)

Lossing: “Boilers of steamer Blue Ridge on the Ohio River explode; thirty lives lost. Jan. 8, 1848.” (Lossing. Harper’s Encyclopedia of United States History from 458 A.D. to 1902. 1902, p. 454)

Way: Sidewheel steamboat built in Cincinnati in 1844; 138 tons. “Exploded boilers downbound at Raccoon Island, soon after leaving Gallipolis, 1:00 a.m. on Jan. 9, 1848, with life loss of 15. A snowstorm was going on at the time. Many persons clung to the after part of the cabin and were taken off in skiffs eight miles below. U.S. Major Jubal Early had been visiting with his parents whose farm was near Winfield on Kanawha River, and was aboard. He drifted with the cabin and was safely set ashore four miles down. This was the same Gen. Jubal Early prominent in the Confederate Army later. Capt. William Penn Wright got ashore and walked in the snow 40 miles home to Red House, Va. An account appears in S&D Reflector, Dec. 1975 issue, page 45.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America (Revised). 1999, p. 55.)

WikiTree.com: “…. William F. Whitteker was killed in January of 1848, when the boilers of the steam boat “Blue Ridge” blew up on the river. The Blue Ridge regularly traveled up and down the river. This trip was being made from Gallipolis, Ohio to Cincinnati. The explosion occurred in the vicinity of Raccoon Island. Blue Ridge was what was known as a side-wheeler. William was one of at least 11 people lost in the explosion. The bell of the steamer was salvaged and hangs on the front of the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield, West Virginia. The courthouse was built in 1848, the same year that the accident happened.

“The Blueridge was built at Cincinnati, Ohio in the year 1846 by a Mr. Warth and a Mr. English. Captain William Summers was in command. According to this information, gleaned from “History of Charleston and Kanawha County” by W. S. Laidley, some of the other fourteen people killed in the explosion were Joseph Miller of Point Pleasant, John Carr of Buffalo, Francis Sanns of Gallipolis, Albert Chapman, P. Carpenter, and a Mrs. Mayse.” (WikiTree.com. “William Frederick Whitteker (1809-1848).”)

WV Dept. of Archives and History: “The Blue Ridge was built at Cincinnati in 1846… but was bought by an agent for Captain Payne. She made regular Cincinnati-Charleston [WV] trips for two years, when she exploded her boilers, killing fourteen…” (WV Dept. of Archives and History. West Virginia History. 1964.)
Newspapers

Jan 11: “Correspondence of the Pittsburgh Gazette. Cincinnati, January 11…The steamer Blue Ridge, from Kanawha [WV] to Cincinnati, when near Gallipolis [OH], exploded about one o’clock on Saturday night [Jan 8], during a severe snow storm. The explosion was most terrific, reducing the boat to a perfect wreck. The cabin over the boilers, together with the hall, sunk immediately. The after portion of the cabin floated off, with all those who had escaped from the explosion. They were taken from their slender portion of the wreck afloat, eight miles below the scene of the disaster.

“We are unable to arrive at any just conclusion in reference to the number lost. There were seventy persons aboard, of whom 20 or 30 perished, mostly passengers from Kanawha, and Gallipolis. But few passengers were able to save anything, in the hurry and anxiety for personal safety. Many were forced to go ashore in their night clothes, not having sufficient time to hunt up their apparel. The cause of the explosion undoubtedly was that of defective boilers, those on board having been used nor nine years.” (Ohio Repository, Canton, OH. “Steamboat Explosion,” Jan 19, 1848, p. 1, col. 6.)

Jan 17: “The steamer Blue Ridge blew up with a frightful explosion, about 1 o’clock on the night of the 11th instant, near Gallipolis, Ohio, during the prevalence of a very severe snow storm. The explosion was tremendous, reducing the boat to a perfect wreck; and the cause is attributed to defective boilers. The hull sank immediately, but the portion of the cabin which was torn off by the force of the explosion remained afloat, and to this those of the passengers who were saved clung for life. Thus immersed in the water, on a night of intense severity, and almost naked, the poor creatures floated eight miles down the river before they were released. No just conclusion as to the number of those who were lost can be arrived at. There were about seventy passengers on board, of whom twenty or thirty perished. They were mostly from Kanawha and Gallipolis. But few of those who were rescued saved anything, most of them having to go ashore in their night clothes, just as they were aroused from their berths at the occurrence of the disaster.” (Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Another 20 or 30 Lives Lost,” Jan 17, 1848, 4.)

Jan 20: “The Steamer Blue Ridge burst her boilers on the night of the 8th inst. On the Ohio River….Out of seventy persons on board but about one half were saved.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Another Dreadful Steamboat Explosion,” Jan 20, 1848, 2., col. 1)

Jan 22: “The steamboat Blue Ridge blowed up on the 18th instant, on the Ohio River, below Pittsburg, by which about thirty persons were killed.” (Democratic Banner (Clearfield, PA). “Another Disaster,” Jan 22, 1848.)

Sources

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

Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Another Dreadful Steamboat Explosion,” 1-20-1848, p. 2., col. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=136908696

Democratic Banner, Clearfield, PA. “Another Disaster,” 1-22-1848. Accessed at: http://www.pa-roots.com/index.php/clearfield-county/154-democrat-banner-clearfield-county/432-democratic-banner-1848-issues

Lossing, Benson John (Editor). Harper’s Encyclopedia of United States History from 458 A.D. to 1902. NY: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1902. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=fnwQAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Ohio Repository, Canton, OH. “Steamboat Explosion,” Jan 19, 1848, p. 1, col. 6. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=3900797

Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Another 20 or 30 Lives Lost,” Jan 17, 1848, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2904459

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

Summers, George W. “Letter Gives Graphic Details of Steamer Explosion in 1848.” Charleston Daily Mail, WV, 3-3-1940, p. 5. Accessed 8-11-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/charleston-daily-mail-mar-03-1940-p-5/

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 Univ. Press, 1994-1999.

West Virginia State Department of Archives and History. West Virginia History, Volumes 27-28, 1965. WV State Department of Archives and History. 1965. Google preview accessed 8-10-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/West_Virginia_History/AckcAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Twaintimes – A Time Line of Events in the Life of Samuel Langhorne Clemens – Mark Twain. Accessed 11-16-2008 at: http://twaintimes.net/page2.html