1845 — Feb 8, stmr. Siren, boilers explode, Apalachicola Riv., below Chattahoochee, FL– 10

Blanchard on fatalities and date.*

— 14 US Patent Of. Rpt.…Commissioner…to…Senate…steam boiler explosions. Dec 1848, p62.
— 10 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 290.
— 10 Columbus Enquirer, GA. “Steamboat Disaster…Loss of the Steamer Siren.” 3-5-1845, 3.
— 10 Columbus Times, GA. “Steamboat Explosion. Ten Lives Lost!” 3-5-1845, p. 3, col. 4.
— 10 Lloyd. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, p. 286.
— 10 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 221.
— 9-10 Singer, S. D. Shipwrecks of Florida: A Comprehensive Listing (2nd Ed.), 1998, p. 193.
— 9 Owens. “Sail…Steam Vessels…Apalachicola…Valley.” Alabama Review, 7-1968, 205.

* Blanchard on fatalities and date. We choose to follow the majority of sources which note ten fatalities. We follow Berman, Lytle and Holdcamper, and Singer on dating the loss on February 8. We have highlighted below, however, other dates put forward (such as Lloyd), or seemingly so (such as is the case with the newspaper accounts).

Narrative Information

Berman: “Siren. St.p. [Steam sidewheel]. 110 [tons]. 1838 [built]. Feb 8, 1845. Exploded. Chattahoochee River. 10 lives lost.” (Berman. Encyclopedia of…Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 290.)

Lloyd: “Siren. – The steamer Siren exploded on the night of the 17th of February, 1845, and was one of the most terrible explosions that ever occurred on the western waters. Ten of the crew were instantly killed and many wounded. Capt. Sharpless was thrown fifty feet in the air, but fortunately fell into the water, swam ashore, and was not seriously injured. The passengers very fortunately were not exposed to the force of the explosion, or the catastrophe would have been more terrible. Killed – Mr. Imbus, pilot; black boy; Charles Bordenrider, bar-keeper; and his son, a cabin boy; George Tully, cabin-boy. Wash. McGougan was blown overboard and was picked up by the mate of the boat on a cotton bale, but died before he reached shore. Thomas White, Patrick Murphy, a deck hand, Green, a black boy, Wilkins, a black man, George, a black boy, passenger, belonging to Dr. Harrison, and Jack McGougan were all killed, and forty wounded. The accident occurred on the Chattahoochee river. The U.S. mail was lost.” (Lloyd, James T. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters 1856, pp. 286-287.)

Lytle and Holdcamper: “Siren…110 [tons] exploded…2 8 1845…Chattahoochee River…10 [lives lost].” (Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. 1952, p. 221.)

Owens: “The Siren (110 tons), constructed at Cincinnati in 1838, also listed Apalachicola as her first home port. This boat was known for her ability to make the trip to Columbus against strong flood currents.…the Siren met a tragic fate a few miles south of Chattahoochee, Florida. She was headed downstream in the middle of the night, having just taken on 200 bales of cotton, when her boilers exploded, killing nine people.” (Owens. “Sail…Steam Vessels…Apalachicola …Valley.” Alabama Review, July, 1968, pp. 204-205.)

Singer: “Siren – Sidewheel steamer, of Apalachicola, 110 tons, built in 1838 at Cincinnati, carried 200 bales of cotton. Exploded Feb. 8, 1845, a few miles below Chattahoochee, Fla. Nine or ten lives lost.” (Singer 1998, 193; cites: Rogers, William W. Outposts on the Gulf. Pensacola: Univ. Presses of FL, 1987.)

United States Patent Office: “Siren, Captain Sharpless, plying between the Chattahoochee, river and Apalachee bay. Burst one of her boilers, February, 1845, about midnight, as the boat was rounding out from Toney’s landing, and killed fourteen persons. The captain was thrown aloft and fell in the water, from which he escaped unhurt. The boilers of the boat were of no account, having been used too long.” (United States Patent Office. Report of the Commissioner of Patents, to the Senate of the United States, on the subject of steam boiler explosions. 12-30-1848, p. 62.)

Newspapers

Feb 27 report: “From the Commercial Advertiser – Extra.”
“Loss of the Steamer Siren.”

“Apalachicola, Friday, Feb. 27. The U.S. Mail Steamer Siren, Capt. Sharpless, left Chattahoochee about 4 o’clock, on Monday evening [Feb 24?], and run down to Major. Coe’s landing where she stopped to take on cotton. Between 11 and 12 o’clock, just as she had fairly rounded out, and had made one or two revolutions, the boilers exploded, tearing the whole forward part of the cabin, boiler deck and forecastle entirely away, parting the wheel houses from the boat, and leaving nothing but a part of the hull and about half the hurricane deck.

“If, in noticing this calamity, we were able to end the narrative with the loss of the boat alone, our pen would be comparatively light, and the task an easy one; but the loss of human life occasioned by this sad catastrophe, sickens the heart as we trace the scene of death and suffering. Ten of the crew of this ill fated steamer were ushered into eternity, while in the midst of life, and health, and supposed security. Fortunately – the hour being late – all the passengers had retired to their berths for the night. But for this circumstance, the probability is that but few would have survived.

“The list of the killed and wounded, as furnished us by Capt. Sharpless, is as follows:

“Killed: — Quibus, Pilot, black boy; Charles Bordenrider, bar keeper, and his son, a cabin boy; George Tilly, cabin boy; Wash. McGougan, deck hand, was blown overboard, and was picked up by the mate, on a cotton bale, but died before he reached the shore; Thomas While, White, deck hand; an Irishman, deck hand, name not known; Green, black boy, deck hand; Wilkins, black boy, deck hand; George, black boy, passenger, belonging to Dr. Harrison. – 10….

“The U.S. Mail was saved, and brought to this place by the Steamer Notion, Capt. Wheaton, who came to the assistance of the survivors shortly after the explosion.

“The Siren was a perfect wreck, and went to the bottom almost immediately. The cargo of Cotton, about two hundred bales, was all on deck and will be saved in a damaged state. It is thought that no blame can reasonably attach to Captain Sharpless, or to any of the officers, but the casualty must be set down as one of those accidents which no human skill could foresee or prevent. The boat had been listed, to prevent her grounding, while the cotton was being taken on, and Capt. S. heard the engineer try his gage cocks, as usual, and there appeared to be a sufficiency of water in the boilers. The escape of Capt. S., is considered miraculous, as he was standing, at the time of the explosion, by the cargo wheel, immediately in front of the boilers, on the boiler deck, and was blown in the air, fell into the river, and swam out entirely uninjured.

“The scene that followed the explosion is said by those who witnessed it to have been heart-rending. The confusion which prevailed among the survivors, who were suddenly wakened from slumber by the stounding crash, mingled with the groans and exclamations of the dying, presented as spectacle of distress that would have to be witnessed to be realized. Some of the passengers, thinking that should the boat go down, drowning would be inevitable, jumped overboard in order to save themselves; while others, more self-possessed, remained on board as long as they could with safety, rendering assistance to each other in saving baggage, &c.” (Augusta Daily Chronicle and Sentinel, GA. “Loss of the Steamer Siren.” 3.7-1845, p. 2, col. 4.)

March 5: “Steamboat Explosion.”
“Ten Lives Lost!”
“The Mail Steamer Siren, Capt. Sharpless, plying between Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Bay, burst one of her boilers on Wednesday night last [Feb 26?], about midnight, as the Boat was rounding out from Toney’s landing, and killed at least ten passengers, all belonging to the crew, with the exception of one negro boy, who was a passenger. Of the killed, six were whites and four blacks, and among the former a son of Mrs. Tilley of this place – a lad who acted in the capacity of Cabin boy. The captain was thrown aloft and fell into the water, from which he escaped unhurt. A lady passenger was rescued from the water by one of the Engineers. One person was saved by the sinking of the boat, which floated off a bale of Cotton which had been thrown on him by the explosion.

“We have not heard whether any blame is attached to the Captain or not, but it is generally conceded that the boilers of the boat were of no account, and should not have been used so long. – Democrat.” (Columbus Times, GA. “Steamboat Explosion. Ten Lives Lost!” 3-5-1845, p.3, c.4.)

Sources

Augusta Daily Chronicle and Sentinel, GA. “Loss of the Steamer Siren.” 3.7-1845, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed 2-21-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/augusta-daily-chronicle-and-sentinel-mar-07-1845-p-2/

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

Columbus Enquirer, GA. “Steamboat Disaster…Loss of the Steamer Siren.” 3-5-1845, p. 3, col 6. Accessed 2-21-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/columbus-enquirer-mar-05-1845-p-3/

Lloyd, James T. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. Cincinnati, Ohio: James T. Lloyd & Co., 1856. Digitized by Google. Accessed 2-21-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JlYqAAAAYAAJ

Lytle, William M., compiler, from Official Merchant Marine Documents of the United States and Other Sources; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. “The Lytle List.” Mystic, CT: Steamship Historical Society of America (Publication No. 6), 1952. Accessed 8-16-2020 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018039084&view=1up&seq=7

Owens, Harry P. “Sail and Steam Vessels Serving the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee Valley.” The Alabama Review, July 1968, pp. 204-205. Accessed 2-21-2021 at: https://aahs.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Historic%20Documents%20and%20Publications/sailandsteamvessels.pdf

Singer, Steven D. Shipwrecks of Florida: A Comprehensive Listing (2nd Ed.). Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, Inc., 1998. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed 2-16-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=6j6kjZQReqkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false

United States Patent Office. Report of the Commissioner of Patents, to the Senate of the United States, on the subject of steam boiler explosions. (30th Congress, 2d Session Executive Document No. 18). 12-30-1848.) Accessed 2-21-2021 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=chpLAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false