1873 — Aug 22, George C. Wolfe boiler explosion, MS Riv., St Francis Is. ~Helena, AR –15-30

— 30 Harper’s Magazine. “Editor’s Historical Record, Disasters,” Vol. 47, Oct 1873, p. 793.
— 30 Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates Relating to all Ages and Nations. 1883, p. 758
— 30 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 687.
— 30 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 101.
— 30 US Congress, House. Hearings: “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” 1935, p. 247.
— 15 NYT. “The Geo. Wolfe Disaster,” Aug 25, 1873. [Provides fifteen names or positions.]
— 14 Appleton’s Journal. “The Record,” 9-13-1873, p. 352.
— 14 Bucks County Gazette, Bristol, PA. “Casualties,” Aug 28, 1873, p. 2, col. 4.
— 12 NYT. “A Mississippi Explosion,” Aug 24, 1873, p. 1
— 12 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…MS River System. 1994, 185

Narrative Information

Simonds: “George Wolfe explodes, 30 lost…” (Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 101.)

Way: George C. Wolff; sternwheel packet built in Madison, IN, in 1872 for the Illinois River Packet Co. “Exploded boilers at St. Francis Island [or bar], near Helena, Ark., Aug 22, 1873, with loss of 12 lives and 15 injured.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994. 1994, p. 185)

Newspapers

Aug 23: “Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 23.—The following dispatch has just been received here….

“Helena, Ark., Aug. 23.—The steamer Geo. Wolfe blew up at St. Francis’ Island about 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon. Twelve persons are known to be lost, and fifteen wounded. The officers of the boat were all saved except the second engineer, who was on watch at the time of the explosion. He is missing…..A deck passenger named Dawson, with his wife and two children, bound for Tupelo, Miss., were all killed. The cabin of the boat was blown to pieces. The hull may be saved. (Signed), Geo. Malone, Captain of Steamer G. O. Cheek.

“A second dispatch from Helena, dated 10 o’clock, says the passengers and crew of the steamer Wolfe are still on St. Francis’ Island, waiting for an up-river boat. No further particulars can be obtained at present. The spot where the steamer blew up is known to river men as the ‘grave-yard,’ being the place where the Pennsylvania and the St. Nicholas blew up, and the T. L. McGill was burned. The George Wolfe was from Shreveport, for St. Louis. Capt. Henry S. Carter was commander, and Joseph Widen, clerk.” (NYT. “A Mississippi Explosion,” Aug 24, 1873, p. 1)

Aug 24, NYT: “Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 24. — The steamer Julia arrived here about 11 o’clock today, bringing most of the survivors of the ill-fated George Wolfe…

“Capt. Carter states that a short time before the explosion he had gone to his room to take a nap, leaving the mate on watch, and the first he knew of the accident was that he felt himself lifted into the air with a severe shock, and fell with the debris on the lower deck. As soon as he could extricate himself he glanced around and saw that the forward part of the cabin and “texas” had been blown away aft to the boilers, and that some of the timbers had taken fire. His first thought was to extinguish the flames, which, with the aid of a few others and a heavy rain which was falling at the time, he soon succeeded in doing. Meantime one of the crew who had been but slightly injured, seeing that the wreck had drifted near shore, jumped out with the head line and made her fast, when it was found that the boat had been but little injured, except as already stated. As soon as the fire was extinguished everything possible was done to relieve the sufferers. The Captain states she had only ten or twelve cabin passengers, only one of whom was lost, Mr. Nelson, a piano tuner from New York, aged about sixty years. Owing to the condition of Mr. Widen, the clerk, who was severely burned about the chest and throat, it was impossible to obtain a list of the passengers from him, and the books were all lost….

Good Conduct of the Officers.

“The passengers speak in the highest terms of the conduct of the officers, especially of Capt. Carter and the steward. Notwithstanding that the former was severely injured, he was most active in the work of relieving others and extinguishing the fire.

List of the Lost.

“The following is a list of those lost, as far as has been ascertained: [list of 15]

Peter Helpler, second engineer.
Mr. Nelson, of New-York.
Mr. Dawson, wife, and two children, of Shreveport.
G. H. White, of Michigan, belonging to the Transatlantic Circus, and
seven colored rousters, four of whom were found and buried.
….
Rousters in Hospital.

“The following colored rousters are in the hospital at Helena badly hurt: Billy Burton, of Nashville; Birt Noahby, of St. Louis; Perry Reedy, of Bowling Green, Ky.

Fate of the Second Engineer.

“The engineer states that Helplar, the second engineer, who was on duty at the time of the explosion, was one of the most trustworthy and competent men he ever saw, and can give no theory as to the cause of the explosion. The last seen of Helpler was by the carpenter, who saw him try the gauge, and just as he put down the stick the explosion occurred. Persons on shore, who saw the explosion, state that bodies and fragments of timber were blown sixty feet into the air….” (NYT. “The Geo. Wolfe Disaster,” Aug 25, 1873, p. 1.)

Aug 28: “The steamer George Wolfe, from Shreveport for St. Louis, blew up at St. Francis Island, in the Mississippi river on Friday afternoon, killing fourteen persons and injuring fifteen others.—The scene of the disaster is known as the ‘Graveyard,’ two steamers having previously blown up and a third been burned there.” (Bucks County Gazette, Bristol, PA. “Casualties,” 8-28-1873, p2.)

Sep 13, Appleton’s Journal: “August 22.—Explosion on the steamer George Wolfe, at St. Francis Island, on the Mississippi River; fourteen persons killed, and fourteen injured.” (Appleton’s Journal. “The Record,” Sep 13, 1873, p. 352.)

Sources

Appleton’s Journal. “The Record,” 9-13-1873, p. 352. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=fm7QAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Bucks County Gazette, Bristol, PA. “Casualties,” Aug 28, 1873, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=11305039

Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Volume XLIV [44]. December, 1871, to May, 1872. “Editor’s Historical Record,” 1872. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=OnkCAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information Relating to All Ages and Nations (24th Ed.). “Pennsylvania.” NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1906, p. 1011. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=tXUMAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

New York Times. “A Mississippi Explosion. The Steam-Boat Wolfe Blown Up.” 8-24-1873, p. 1. Accessed 9-3-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1873/08/24/79044175.html?pageNumber=1

New York Times. “The Geo. Wolfe Disaster. Accounts Given By Survivors.” 8-25-1873, p. 1. Accessed 9-3-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1873/08/25/79044540.html?pageNumber=1

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

United States Congress, House of Representatives. Hearings Before the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, United States Congress (74th Congress, 1st Session). “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1935. Accessed 8-9-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Safety_of_Life_and_Property_at_Sea/l9xH_9sUuVAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=belle%20zane

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.