lornajarrettblanchard

–15-16 Blanchard estimated death-toll range.*

— 34 Daily Journal, Logansport, IN. “The Year’s Disasters,” Jan 2, 1889, p. 4.
— 30 Philadelphia Record Almanac 1889. “General and Local Events, August, 1888,” p. 94.
— 30 Morning Oregonian, Portland. “City of Chester Sunk,” Aug 23, 1888, p. 1, col. 7.
— 18 Daily Colonist, Victoria, BC. “City of Chester Sunk.” 8-23-1888, p. 1, col. 5.
–15 passengers
— 3 crew (one was the steward, Edward Chambers)
— 16 Fimrite. “Sunken ship discovery in SF Bay revives memories of xenophobia.” SFGate, 4-23-2014.
— 16 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Shipwreck One of Worst Since Janeiro’s Loss…” 8-30-1929, D3.
— 16 Pappas. “1800’s Shipwreck Rediscovered Near Golden Gate Bridge.” Livescience.com, 4-23-2014.
— 16 Supervising Inspector-General of Steam Vessels (U.S.). Annual Report…[FY] 1889. P.15.
–13 passengers
— 3 crew
— 15 Boston Post. “Due To A Strong Tide.” 8-30-1888, p. 1, col. 3.
— 15 Canadian Almanac 1889. “Remarkable Events.” Toronto: Copp, Clark Co., Ltd., 1888, p. 153.
— 15 Defiance Daily Crescent, OH. “Where the Blame Lies.” 8-30-1888, p. 4, col. 1.
— 15 Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Record of the Year,” 31 Dec 1888, p. 3.
— 15 Los Angeles Daily Herald. “More of the Missing…Placed at Fifteen.” 8-25-1888, p.6, c.1.
— 14 Sacramento Daily Record Union, CA. “The Steamboat Disaster.” 8-24-1888, p. 2, col. 3.
–10 passengers
— 4 crew
— 13 Decatur Daily Republican, IL. “Found Watery Graves,” Aug, 24, 1888, p. 2, col. 2-3.
–>13 LA Daily Herald, CA. “Pacific Coast. The Sea Will Not Give Up Its Dead.” 8-24-1888, 5.
— 10 National Library of New Zealand. Star, “American Summary. San Francisco, August 25.”

* Blanchard estimated death-toll range: Given the range of estimated deaths noted in the sources cited herein (10-34), we attempted a compilation of named victims from these sources. This listing (located after the Newspapers section) contains 18 names (actually one was an unnamed coal-passer from the City of Chester). Among the usual problems encountered in compiling a victims list from press accounts, we highlight three:

(1) The names of Mrs. C. H. Haney, a cabin passenger of Eureka, CA, and Mrs. Annie C., Heney, of St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada, could possibly refer to one and the same person – or perhaps not.

(2) Virtually all of the sources cited, note three crew deaths, however, we have seen a report of an unidentified coal-passer as “among the missing” in addition to the three named individuals.

(3) Despite early reporting that most of the steerage passengers (23) were among the lost, we have found the name of but one (Mr. Henry Smith) named as a fatality. If most did drown, then that would give support to the accounts of 30 or 34 deaths. However, we have not seen reporting on any steerage passenger death other than Henry Smith. His wife was aboard, and the name of Myrta Smith is among the named fatalities, but she was described as a cabin passenger.

Thus, we have decided to use the numbers reported in most press accounts of the time, as well as several retellings of the event in recent times – 15-16. By far most of the press accounts of the time we have looked at (dozens, only a few of which are cited) note fifteen deaths. Some, though note sixteen and this is the number of fatalities noted by the Steamboat Inspection Service (U.S.).

Narrative Information

Federal Reporter, Vol. 61: “Collision – Steamers – Fog – Currents. The steamship O., entering the Bay of San Francisco, about mid-channel, in a thick fog, heard, about 2½ or 3 points on her starboard bow, the fog signals of the steamer C., coming out. The bearing of the signals continued the same until the C. was seen in that direction, heading directly towards the O., and about half a mile distant. Two blasts were then blown, to indicate an intention to go to port, which was assented to, and the helm immediately put hard a-starboard. It was seen, however, that the C., instead of going to port, was moving to starboard (influenced, doubtless, by the tide rip, which she was just entering); and after waiting about two minutes, two blasts were again given, and assented to. Almost immediately afterwards, but not until collision appeared inevitable, both ships reversed full speed. In something less than two minutes, however, the O. struck the C. on the port bow, penetrating 10 feet, and causing her to sink in a short time. The officers of the O. testified that she had been running ‘dead slow,’ which, going with the flood tide, would give, at most, 7 knots; but the court found, from the distances traversed, and especially the force of the blow, that the speed must have been over 10 knots. Held, on a libel for causing the death of certain passengers of the C., that the O. was in fault, for not reversing as soon as it was perceived that the C. was not answering her helm so as to go to port, and that the failure of the O.’ officers to take into consideration the influence of the tide rip, which they knew to exist, in preventing the C. from doing as she had agreed, precluded them from throwing the entire fault upon her….

“The Oceanic is a four-masted steamer, of 3,808 tons register, with a length of 438 feet, a beam of 40¾ feet, and a draught of 25 feet. She had been engaged in making voyages between the port of San Francisco and the ports of Hong Kong and Yokohama. She was thoroughly equipped and appareled, completely officered and manned, and in every respect a stanch and seaworthy vessel. On the morning of the collision, she was entering the harbor of San Francisco, having just returned from one of her periodical trips to China and Japan. She carried, in addition to her cargo, about 1,000 passengers. She was leased by the White Star Company to the Occidental & Oriental Steamship Company. The City of Chester was a steamship leased to and operated by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. She was used in the coasting trade, and at the time was running between this port and that of Eureka, in this state. She had a gross tonnage of about 1,100 tons, and a net tonnage of about 860 tons; was about 205 feet in length, 32 feet in beam, and 16 feet in depth. On the morning of the collision, she was just proceeding on one of her regular trips, laden with freight and passengers, and was making her way out of this port….

“The collision took place between half-past 9 and a quarter of 10 on the morning of August 22, 1888, at the inner entrance to San Francisco bay, known as ‘Golden Gate Channel.’ It occurred at some point between Fort Point and the land opposite, known as ‘Lime Point.’ The precise locality, owing to the fog then prevailing, and the conflicting testimony on that point, is somewhat involved in doubt, and can only be determined approximately….

“The width of the channel, where the collision took place, is stated to be about seven-eighths of a nautical mile or, by chart measurement, about 5,200 feet. It is the narrowest point in the channel, and the whole body of water is navigable almost from shore to shore. The sea, on that morning, was calm. The tide was flood….

“The Oceanic, as stated above, answered her helm but slowly. The course of the City of Chester did not seem to change to the left to any appreciable degree, as it should have done. On the contrary, as the vessels approached she seemed to swing to the right. She was watch closely by the pilot and captain of the Oceanic. A short time expired, fixed at about two minutes by the witnesses, during which the vessels were approaching each other all the time; and it was observed by those on the Oceanic that the City of Chester was going gradually to the right; instead of to the left. In view of this fact, the pilot gave a second order to blow two whistles, which was immediately acknowledged by the City of Chester with two, also. The pilot and captain of the Oceanic finding that, after the second signal had been assented to by the City of Chester, she still failed to respond to her starboard helm, and to alter her course, as she had promised to do, gave the order to go full speed astern. Then the collision was a foregone conclusion. The engines went full speed astern for a very brief time, — about 2 or 2 1/2 minutes, — overcoming in some degree the forward speed of the Oceanic, which was about four knots, exclusive of the flood tide, when that vessel crashed into the City of Chester, on the latter’s port side, some 20 feet abaft her bow; penetrating to a distance of about 10 feet, or about one-half the beam. The engines of both vessels were stopped, and the Oceanic kept impaled in the breach she had made in the City of Chester, so as to keep the latter vessel, which was filling fast with water, afloat. The boats of the Oceanic were immediately lowered, and every effort was made by the officers and crew of the Oceanic to save life. Both vessels, while thus impaled, drifted with the tide towards the inside of the entrance. They drifted for some five or six minutes, when, finding that the City of Chester could no longer be kept afloat, the Oceanic backed a little, and the City of Chester sank…

“When the Oceanic discovered the City of Chester coming out of the harbor, the former had the latter on her starboard bow; and under article 16 the Oceanic was bound to adopt such a course as would enable here to keep out of the way of the City of Chester, while the latter was entitled to keep her course. The Oceanic had ample opportunities to ‘keep out of the way’ of the approaching City of Chester, had she acted in due season. There were no impediments to any maneuvers she might have seen fit to make, if these had been carried out at the proper time….

“…we find that the Oceanic, being warned by fog signals, apparently forward of her beam, that another vessel was approaching through the channel, instead of keeping on in the direction of danger, should have stopped her engines, and then navigated with caution until the danger of collision was over. The claim that is made that she reduced her speed to dead slow off Point Bonita, when the fog signals were first heard, did not meet the requirement of the situation, even if her speed was only at the rate of 7 knots per hour; but, if we conclude that she was steaming and drifting in the tide at the rate of 10 knots per hour, then, clearly, she was proceeding in gross violation of the rule, and must be held responsible for the consequences….” (Federal Reporter, Vol. 61. “The Oceanic…(District Court, N.D. Cal…10 Apr 1894), pp. 338-356.)

Philadelphia Record Almanac 1889, August 22, 1888: “Thirty lives lost in the harbor of San Francisco, by the China steamer Oceanic crashing into the City of Chester, a coast-line steamer.” (Philadelphia Record Almanac 1889. “General and Local Events, August, 1888,” p. 94.)

Supervising Inspector General of Steam-Vessels: “August 22, 1888. – Steamer City of Chester and British steam-ship Oceanic collided in entrance of San Francisco Bay about 10 o’clock a.m. in a fog. The City of Chester sank and thirteen passengers and three of her crew were drowned.” (Annual Report of…for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1889. 1889, p. 15.

Newspapers

Aug 22: “San Francisco, Aug. 22.….The steamer City of Chester left her dock here shortly after 9 o’clock this morning. She had seventy-one cabin passengers on board and a number of steerage passengers. The number of crew is not known. There must have been more than a hundred people on the steamer….

“Lines were thrown from the City of Chester to the Oceanic immediately after the collision, and the sinking ship was made fast while quick preparations were made to transfer her passengers to the deck of the Oceanic. This was done under the personal supervision of Captain Wallace, who remained on the bridge until the water was sweeping over the deck of his vessel…it is positively known that a large number of the passengers and all but three of the crew were saved….Tugs were signaled and a large number of boats at once left shore to aid in rescuing the passengers. One elderly woman is known to have been lost, and Edward R. Chambers, steward of the Chester, is among the drowned. Captain Wallace states that he kept his whistle blowing all the time and cannot account for the collision.

“Capt. Wallace of the Chester described the fog as being so think that it was impossible to see more than a few yards. He says he was standing on the bridge of the Chester, and she was feeling her way along and blowing her whistle all the time. He heard the Oceanic’s whistle, which he answered, and supposed they would clear each other; but suddenly he saw her beak come out of the fog and there was no possibility of getting out of the way….

“The captain was among those who went down with the steamer. He said people were in the water on every side of him, and he thinks very few of them were saved….

“The loss of life at 2 o’clock this afternoon is estimated at fully thirty, and include all of the twenty-two steerage passengers….

“At the moment of the shock most of the officers and crew of the Chester seemed to lose possession of their senses, and several passengers stated afterwards that some of the crew took the first opportunity to get on board the Oceanic, and left the passengers.” (Morning Oregonian, Portland. “City of Chester Sunk,” Aug 23, 1888, p. 1, col. 7.)

Aug 22: “City of Chester Sunk.”
“The S.S. Oceanic Crashes Into Her at Golden Gate and She Sinks in Five Minutes.”
“Thirteen of the Passengers and Crew Drowned.”
“A Terrible Scene on the Deck of the Fated Vessel…”

“San Francisco, Aug 22….At 2:30 p.m. the following were known to be drowned:

G. W. Anderson,
M.B. Meach,
Miss. Pratger,
Mrs. C. Haney,
J. C. Hampton and wife,
Mrs. Porter and three of the crew….”
(Daily Colonist, Victoria, BC. “City of Chester Sunk.” 8-23-1888, p. 1, col. 5.)

Aug 22: “The City of Chester sunk – Run down in a fog by the Oceanic.”
“Thirteen lives known to be lost.”

“San Francisco, August 22 – One of the most terrible disasters that ever occurred on the Pacific Coast happened in the Bay of San Francisco, a short distance from the Golden Gate about 10 o’clock this morning. The steamer City of Chester left her dock here at 9:30 and started on her regular trip to Eureka on the northern coast of California….

“The greatest loss of life is believed to have occurred among the steerage passengers, of whom there were twenty-three. Only two of these were accounted for late this afternoon and it is believed that all the others are lost. They were either in the hold or the lower decks of the steamer at the time of the collision, and there was no opportunity to warn them of any danger or to render them any assistance afterwards. The cabin passengers numbered seventy and of these ten are lost. Three of the crew are also lost.
Names of the lost

“The names of the cabin passengers lost are as follows: GW Anderson, Oakland; Mrs. SE Prather, San Diego; Mrs. CH Haney, Eureka; MC Hampton and wife, Virginia City, Nev; CT Davis, Springville, and Miss. Davis, his niece; M Greer, Napa; Mrs. Meech and Mrs. Porter.

“The following members of the crew are lost: ER Chambers, steward; Robert Fulton and Adam Richmond, waiters….” (Los Angeles Herald, CA. “The City of Chester sunk.” 8-23-1888.)

Aug 23: “The Steamboat Disaster.”
“Latest Concerning the Identity and Number of Victims.”

“San Francisco, August 23d. – The clouds of uncertainty have at last been dispelled and it is now definitely known that fourteen persons were lost on the ill-fated steamer City of Chester, which was run down yesterday by the Oceanic. They are: Dead – [We break paragraph into lines.]

Edward Chambers, steward;
Robert Fulton, waiter;
Adam Richmond, water-tender;
J.C. Hampton [passenger],
Mrs. J.C. Hampton [passenger],
Mrs. C. Heney [passenger].

Missing –
G.W. Anderson [passenger],
Mrs. [Chas. ] Meech [passenger],
Mrs. A.E. Prather [passenger],
Mrs. Porter [passenger],
John Greer [passenger],
Henry Smith [steerage passenger ],
Myrta Smith [cabin passenger ].

“A coal-passer, whose name is unknown, is also among the missing, making the total loss of life, all told, fourteen.” (Sacramento Daily Record Union, CA. “The Steamboat Disaster.” 8-24-1888, p. 2, col. 3.)

Aug 24: “San Francisco, Aug. 24. – The steamer City of Chester was run into and sunk in San Francisco bay Wednesday by the Occidental and Oriental steamer Oceanic, and as far as can now be ascertained thirteen people went down with her….It was first thought that the number of drowned would foot up thirty-four, which included twenty-one of the twenty-three steerage passengers, but from the latest information obtainable from the steamship officials it is believed that only thirteen persons were lost. This includes ten of the seventy cabin passengers and three of the crew….

“On the Oceanic the Chinese crew became terror-stricken as soon as the accident occurred, and much time was lost in lowering the boats, but still the boats, when they were lowered, did good work picking up those who were floating in the bay and sustaining themselves on bits of wreckage. One Chinaman showed great bravery by jumping into the sea from the deck of the Oceanic and rescuing a child from the arms of a drowning man and floating with it until picked up by a boat. When the Chester finally sank one of her guards caught a boat with seven people in it, four of whom had just been rescued, and all were pulled under water. Three of them were drowned….” (Decatur Daily Republican, IL. “Found Watery Graves,” 8-24-1888, p.2, col. 2.)

Aug 25: “The steamer City of Chester, a coaster belonging to the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, was run down by the steamship Oceanic, a big Chinese liner belonging to the P. and O. Company, on the morning of Wednesday, August 22….The iron prow of the larger steamer cut into the port side of the smaller one, nearly amidships, like a knife into cheese, and she sank in about fifty fathoms of water, four minutes after contact. The damage to the Oceanic was not material. Ten of the Chester’s passengers were lost, either crushed or drowned.” (National Library of New Zealand. Star, “American Summary. San Francisco, August 25,” p. 4.)

Aug 29: “The Fault was the Tide’s.”

“San Francisco, August 29. – The British Court of Inquiry which has been investigating the recent steamer disaster, announced its decision to-day, exonerating the officers of the steamer Oceanic, and complimenting the officers and men for the fine discipline observed during the trouble. The Court states that it can only attribute the cause of the collision to the fact that the City of Chester was caught in a strong tide, off Fort Point, which caused her to run across the bows of the Oceanic.” (Los Angeles Daily Herald, CA. “The Fault was the Tide’s.” 8-30-1888, p. 5, col. 3.)

Sep 4: “A Plain Verdict.”
“All that Can be Said as to the Chester Casualty.”

“San Francisco, September 4. – The inquiry into the cause of the Oceanic and City of Chester casualty was concluded to-day, so far as the Coroner’s inquest is concerned. The jury returned the following verdict. The deceased, Annie C. Heney, a native of St. Johns, N.B., aged 56 years, and others came to their death on August 22, 1888, by means of submersion in the waters of the Bay of San Francisco, the result of a collision between the steamships Oceanic and City of Chester, and we further find it impossible to place the blame on either vessel on account of a lack of expert evidence.” (Los Angeles Daily Herald, CA. “A Plain Verdict.” 9-5-1888, p. 5, col. 4.)

Listing of City of Chester Fatalities Identified in Sources Noted Herein

Passengers
1. Anderson, G. W. Cabin passenger, Oakland
2. Brewer, Miss Josie, 5, niece of C.T. Davis Cabin passenger.
3. Davis, C.T. Cabin passenger, Springville [Names come from one source.]
4. Greer, John Cabin passenger, Napa, CA
5. Hampton, J.C. [or M.C.] Cabin passenger, Virginia City, NV
6. Hampton, Mrs. J.C. Cabin passenger, Virginia City, NV
7. Haney, Mrs. C. H. Cabin passenger, Eureka, CA [Could be one and the same.]
8. Heney, Mrs. Annie C., of St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada.
9. Meech, Mrs. M.B. San Diego.
10. Porter, Mrs.
11. Pratger, Miss.
12. Prather (or Prater), Mrs. A. E. (or S.E.). Cabin passenger, San Diego
13. Smith, Henry Steerage passenger
14. Smith, Myrta Cabin passenger

Crew
1. Chambers, Edward R. Chief Steward
2. Fulton, Robert Waiter
3. Richmond, Adam Water-tender
4. Unidentified male Coal-passer (“among the missing.”) [Have not seen confirmation.]

Sources

Boston Post. “Due To A Strong Tide.” 8-30-1888, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 2-2-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-aug-30-1888-p-1/

Canadian Almanac 1889. “Remarkable Events.” Toronto: Copp, Clark Co., Ltd., 1888, p. 153. Accessed 2-2-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Canadian_Almanac_Directory/e585AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=victims+of+city+of+chester+san+francisco+1888&pg=PA153&printsec=frontcover

Daily Alta California, San Francisco. “Sunk In The Bay. The City of Chester Run Down By the Oceanic.” 8-23-1888, p. 1. Accessed 2-2-2021 at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18880823.2.2&srpos=33&e=——-en–20-DAC-21-byDA-txt-txIN-City+of+Chester+sunk——-1

Daily Colonist, Victoria, BC. “City of Chester Sunk.” 8-23-1888, p. 1, col. 5. Accessed 2-1-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/victoria-daily-british-colonist-aug-23-1888-p-1/

Daily Journal, Logansport, IN. “The Year’s Disasters.” 1-2-1889, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83142306

Decatur Daily Republican, IL. “Found Watery Graves,” 8-24-1888, p. 2, col. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=7731886

Defiance Daily Crescent, OH. “Where the Blame Lies.” 8-30-1888, p. 4, col. 1. Accessed 2-1-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/defiance-daily-crescent-aug-30-1888-p-4/

Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Record of the Year – Principal Events That Have Occurred in the World,” 12-31-1888, 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=51376727

Federal Reporter. “The Oceanic…(District Court, N.D. California. April 10, 1894), Vol. 61, pp. 338-364. Accessed at: http://openjurist.org/61/f1d/338

Fimrite, Peter. “Sunken ship discovery in SF Bay revives memories of xenophobia.” SFGate, 4-23-2014. Accessed 2-2-2021 at: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Sunken-ship-discovery-in-SF-Bay-revives-memories-5425465.php

Los Angeles Daily Herald, CA. “A Plain Verdict.” 9-5-1888, p. 5, col. 4. Accessed 2-2-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/los-angeles-daily-herald-sep-05-1888-p-5/

Los Angeles Daily Herald, CA. “More of the Missing. The Number of Victims of the Chester Disaster Placed at Fifteen.” 8-25-1888, p. 6, col. 1. Accessed 2-1-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/los-angeles-daily-herald-aug-25-1888-p-6/

Los Angeles Daily Herald, CA. “Mrs. Meech and Her Children.” 8-24-1888, p. 5., col. 4. Accessed 2-1-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/los-angeles-daily-herald-aug-24-1888-p-5/

Los Angeles Herald, CA. “The City of Chester Sunk.” 8-23-1888. Accessed 2-2-2021 at: https://clickamericana.com/topics/places/the-city-of-chester-steamship-sinks-just-inside-the-golden-gate-1888

Los Angeles Daily Herald, CA. “The Fault was the Tide’s.” 8-30-1888, p. 5, col. 3. Accessed 2-1-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/los-angeles-daily-herald-aug-30-1888-p-5/

Morning Oregonian, Portland. “City of Chester Sunk.” 8-23-1888, p. 1, col. 7. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19245716

National Library of New Zealand. Star, p. 4. “American Summary. San Francisco, Aug 25.” At: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=TS18880917.2.45&l=mi&e=——-10–1—-0-all

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Shipwreck One of Worst Since Janeiro’s Loss, 1901.” 8-30-1929, D3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=105413307

Pappas, Stephanie. “1800’s Shipwreck Rediscovered Near Golden Gate Bridge.” Livescience.com, 4-23-2014. Accessed 2-2-2021 at: https://www.livescience.com/45068-san-francisco-shipwreck-rediscovered.html

Philadelphia Record Almanac 1889. “General and Local Events.” The Philadelphia Record, 1889. Digitized by Google. Accessed 9-5-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=wCoXAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=true

Sacramento Daily Record Union, CA. “The Steamboat Disaster.” 8-24-1888, p. 2, col. 3. Accessed 2-1-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sacramento-daily-record-union-aug-24-1888-p-2/

Salt Lake City Herald, UT. 8-30-1888. Accessed 2-1-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/tags/oceanic/?pep=city-of-chester&pr=50&psb=dateasc&ob=1&page=5&ndt=by&py=1888&pey=1888/

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, 1889 (Treasury Department Document No. 1251. Steam-boat Inspection, dated 9-27-1889). Washington: Government Printing Office. 1889. Accessed 1-1-2021 at:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu09189980&view=1up&seq=197&q1

–546  Blanchard tally based on City numbers below.

 

Alabama                     (  39)

—  1  Basham’s Gap    Oct 30             Mrs. J. D. Sherrell (Decatur Alabama refugee.)[1]

—  1         “                   Nov 4              Mr. J. D. Sherrell (Decatur Alabama refugee.”[2]

–35  Decatur               Sep 11-Nov 9  Cochran. “Yellow Fever in Decatur.” 1889, p. 67.

–35  Decatur               Sep-Oct.          Waymarking.com. “Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1888 Memorial.”

—  1        “                   Sep                  Augustin.  History of Yellow Fever, 1909, 442.[3]

—  1  Hanceville, Blount Co., R. Stuart.           Cochran. “Yellow Fever in Decatur.” 1889, p. 67.[4]

—  1  Huntsville, Madison Co. Mr. Summers.  Cochran. “Yellow Fever in Decatur.” 1889, p. 67.[5]

 

Florida                        (497)

—  497  State                                       Blanchard tally of breakouts below (430 for Jacksonville)

—      1  Ellaville                                   Augustin.  History of Yellow Fever, 1909, 454.

—  430  Jacksonville    July 28-Dec     Adams. Rpt…Jacksonville…Sanitary Association. 1889.[6]

—  410        “               Aug-Dec 7.  Journal, Logansport, IN. “The Year’s Disasters,” 1-22-1889, 4.

–>400        “                Late July-Nov Merritt. A Century of Medicine in Jacksonville, 1949, p161.

—  396        “                                        Simonds.  The American Date Book 1902, p. 83.

—    23  MacClenny      1^st case Aug 8 Augustin.  History of Yellow Fever, 1909, 456.

—      1  Manatee          July 20             Augustin.  History of Yellow Fever, 1909, 456.

—    11  Palmetto         Nov 19-23       Augustin.  History of Yellow Fever, 1909, 456.

—    21  Plant City       June-Aug 18    Augustin.  History of Yellow Fever, 1909, 458.

—    10  Tampa             Dec 3, end       Augustin.  History of Yellow Fever, 1909, 458.

 

Kentucky                   (   2)

–1  Louisville. Ben Grant (Decatur Alabama refugee.)

–1          “         Moses Newberg (Decatur Alabama refugee.)

 

Illinois                         (   1)

— Jasper.          Mrs. W. L. Prince (Decatur Alabama refugee.) Cochran 1889, p. 67.

 

North Carolina          (   1)

–1  Asheville, St. Clair Co. Sep 14, J. L. Pogue, a refugee from yellow fever in Decatur, AL.[7]

 

Tennessee                   (   2)

–1  Chattanooga. Flemming Wilson, at a way station near Chattanooga (Decatur refugee.)[8]

–1  Milan.                   Oct 2   William H. McKinley (Decatur Alabama refugee.) Cochran, 67.

 

US Navy Ship Boston (  4)

–4  Nov 20-21, 23, Haiti to Brooklyn Navy Yard.  NYT. “Yellow Fever Onboard,” 11-15-1888, 1

 

Narrative Information

 

Adams: “The first authentic case of yellow fever in Jacksonville was that of R. F. McCormick, who came here from Tampa[9] in the latter part of July, and was reported sick July 28^th….August 8^th [4 others]. The publication of these new cases created a wide-spread panic, and several hundred people left the city….On the morning of the 10^th, the Board of Health issued a proclamation announcing that the fever was prevalent in the city, and that it was tending to assume an epidemic form….The publication of the proclamation…started anew the panic…and all outgoing trains and boats were crowded to their full capacity. The Board of Health was requested to condemn and have burned the ‘Mayflower House’…which request they granted…” (Adams 1889, p. 11)

 

“By this time [August 10] nearly the whole State of Florida and also Savannah, Mobile, Charleston and a number of other Northern and Western cities, had quarantined against Jacksonville.  Those going from the city encountered great hardships in passing the quarantine stations, and many delicate women and children were subjected to a great deal of unnecessary exposure and trouble by the arbitrary rules of different Boards of Health….

 

“A bill was introduced in the United States Senate [Aug 10] to appropriate $200,000 to assist in eradicating the fever…”  (Adams 1889, p. 12)

 

“On the advice of a number of physicians and others, huge fires of pine and tar were kindled in various portions of the city at night to purify the air [Aug 11].

 

“August 12 – The sanitary work was commenced on Sunday…. A special was received from St. Augustine saying that the people there were greatly alarmed over Jacksonville’s fever, and that nearly two thousand people had left that city in the three days previous.”  (Adams, p. 13)

 

“Dr. D. Echemendia, a well-known Cuban physician, was appointed by the Board of Health to direct the work of disinfection.  A large force of men was put to work in various portions of the city…cleaning the streets and yards, and scattering lime and other disinfectants.”  (Adams, p. 14)

 

“At seven o’clock in the evening [Aug 14], the first experiment in concussion was begun.  Three guns were used and fifty rounds of ammunition fired….[on the theory that microbes in the air could be killed (p. 18)].”  (Adams, p. 16)

 

“August 16….Nurses of yellow fever patients were not to be allowed on the streets at all, and a guard was to be placed by the city authorities at each house where there was a case of fever, to segregate the inmates….”  (Adams, p. 17)

 

“August 20….It was…made the duty of this department to make arrangements for promptly furnishing families, detained under quarantine, with desired supplies at their own expense.”  (p. 20)

 

“August 21….One trouble that met the Board of Health was the difficulty of isolating patients, and preventing the spread of infection.  The guards were found untrustworthy, and suspects at many times escaped.” (Adams, p. 22)

 

“August 22….President Daniel was requested to investigate the complaints of exorbitant charges, made against undertakers, with the power to take action which should bring about more satisfactory work on their part.  (Adams, p. 23)

 

“August 26…Excitement prevailed…all passage was refused on the Government train going to Camp Perry…the people of Waycross had threatened to tear up the rails on the track if any refugees were allowed to pass out of this city via Waycross, even in locked cars and passing that town at a high rate of speed…Camp Perry…was said to be in a horrible condition for the care of women and children….The citizens of East Jacksonville published a strong protest against using St. Luke’s hospital for a pest house”  (Adams, p, 26-27)

 

“August 30….Criticism was called forth…by the stringent orders that had been issued by Surgeon-General Hamilton, forbidding anyone leaving the city except for the refugee camp at Camp Perry.  As that camp was reported to be in a bad condition as regards accommodations for the women and children, and in other respects, the people were indignant at being obliged to stop there.” (p. 29)

 

“August 31 – At the rooms of the Association…the citizens present organized themselves into an indignation meeting and passed caustic resolutions regarding the vacillating policy of Surgeon-General Hamilton and the Washington authorities, denouncing their action as unnecessary, arbitrary, and unprecedented and inhuman, and appealing to the people of the United States for relief from this unjust and unheard of imprisonment….” (Adams, p. 30)

 

“September 1…. Telegrams were read from Putnam, DeSoto, Lake, Volusia, Marian, Alachua, Orange and other county officials announcing that no freight would be received from Jacksonville under any condition….” (Adams, p. 30)

 

“September 3….The conference of health authorities of Tennessee and Alabama and representatives of Savannah, held at Augusta, passed a resolution approving the course of Surgeon-General Hamilton in requiring the detention at Camp Perry of refugees desiring to leave Jacksonville.”  (Adams, p. 32)

 

“September 7….Alderman D. T. Gerow announced that C. B. Smith, Mayor, would not return to the city and that in the absence of Acting Mayor J. W. Archibald, who had left town in expectation of the return of Mayor Smith, he would open an office and make arrangements to perform the duties of Acting Mayor…” (Adams, p. 34)

 

“September 8….The following telegram was received by Acting Mayor Gerow;  ‘Do you want the assistance of the Red Cross with experienced yellow fever nurses?  Clara Barton, President American National Red Cross’….Some thirty professional nurses arrived from Pensacola and New Orleans on a special train late at night….”  (Adams, p. 35)

 

“September 17…a letter  from Hon. Chas. Dougherty was read, announcing the passage of the bill appropriating $200,000 for the relief of yellow fever sufferers….”  (Adams, p. 40)

 

“September 19….the chairman of the Committee on Claims stated that he wised public attention called to the exorbitant claims which were being put in for the destruction of property.  He suggested that persons having claims should manifest a spirit of self-sacrifice, and gave notice that the Committee on Claims would thereafter throw out all unreasonable ones…” (Adams, p. 42)

 

“November 26 – Monday was a day long to be remembered by Jacksonville…Not a single new case of yellow fever was reported during the previous day.  During the night the thermometer went down [to 32 degrees]. “  (Adams, p, 73)

 

“It must be remembered…that besides the sick, there was a population of some 16,000 souls left in the city, 14,000 of whom were without resources and without employment, by reason of the utter demoralization of business and the flight of employers, and that this population had to be provided for….Besides the expense for relief and labor, the funds expended in caring for the sick, in furnishing hospitals and physicians and nurses, in providing drugs and nourishment, and in buying the dead, were considerable.  The percentage of deaths, according to the published bulletins, was about 9 1/6 per percent.” (Adams, p. 9)

 

“Enough has been said to indicate the attempt to present to the public abundant facts to enable each individual, in the calm of his leisure hours, to comprehend something of the nature of the sudden demands of the crisis upon the citizens who were hurriedly selected to face it, without experience or preparation, and to judge of the success or failure of their efforts….Of the seven members of the Executive Committee and the two secretaries who met together for four months every day…four are gone.  The pen falters and the ink dries as memories of their presence spring up at nearly every step in the preparation of this report.”  (Adams 1889, p. 9)

 

Merritt on Jacksonville: “Late in July yellow fever appeared in the city, and in August assumed alarming proportions so rapidly that the whole nation was shocked and concerned. Jacksonville was entering the period of its greatest disaster. By fall she lay utterly prostrate.[10]… [p. 148]

 

After a diagnosis of yellow fever was made for the first victim (R. D. McCormick from Plant City) “…the patient was sent to the Sand Hills Hospital….[11]

 

“On August 8, when the health authorities announced that four new cases of yellow fever had been reported in the city, fear and anxiety gave way to panic. On August 9, when five additional cases were reported and on the next day, when the Duval County Board of Health announced that the disease was assuming epidemic proportions, carriages, drays, and wagons laden with people streamed toward the depot and the docks while every outgoing train and steamer was crowded beyond capacity.[12] The public roads were congested with people, some on foot, others in conveyances. Many had no particular destination in mind, but most were fleeing north and west through Waycross and Jesup, Georgia, by the few routes which remained open.[13]

 

“Soon, however, rigid quarantine was established against the refugees from Jacksonville, and many found it necessary to travel from place to place n search of shelter. As an example of the hysteria which prevailed, the people of Waycross refused to let Jacksonville residents pass through their town even in locked railroad cars at a [end of p. 149] high rate of speed, and they threatened to tear up the railroad tracks if necessary to isolate themselves from the refugees.[14]

 

“….A widespread quarantine against Jacksonville in mid-August left only one avenue of escape. Camp Perry, on the bluffs of the St. Marys River about forty miles north of Jacksonville, was opened on August 22. This detention campo at first offered very meager, even primitive, accommodations, but every refugee from Jacksonville was required to stay there for ten days before he was allowed to travel farther. Many people preferred to expose themselves to the disease in Jacksonville rather than to brave the hardships afforded by a leaky tent, poor food, insufficient bedding, and ho hospital facilities.

 

“Although tows and cities throughout the United states established [end of p. 152] rigid quarantine against Jacksonville, many of them were prompt to offer money and supplies. At first the city authorities refused to accept outside aid, but later, when it became necessary for them to request help from the country at large, they were met with an overwhelming response….” [p. 153

 

“All outgoing mail from the city was thoroughly fumigated. Two stations, one near Waycross, Georgia, and the other at La Villa in the suburbs of Jacksonville, handled an amazing amount of mail. The Waycross station alone is said to have distributed 2,500,000 pieces, each of which had to be handled four times. Despite this precaution, the authorities at St. Augustine refused to accept mail matter from Jacksonville, and some other towns in the state would not allow merchandise of any kind to come into their communities from the infected area….” [p. 156]

 

“By fall Jacksonville had become indeed a desolate spot. A census compiled by a house-to-house canvass during early September showed that the population had been reduced from approximately twenty thousand to about fourteen thousand, of whom only four thousand were white. Later that month, during one week alone, nearly one thousand new cases of fever and seventy deaths were reported. Most of the people were entirely without resources. Stores and residences were deserted, business was utterly demoralized, and at night an uncanny stillness which settled over the city was broken only by the occasional rattle of a death cart. Unless it was absolutely necessary, no one went out of doors between sunset and sunrise.

 

“Finally it was decided to depopulate the city. In September the United States Government had provided a train with free transportation from Jacksonville to Hendersonville, North Carolina, one of several cities that welcomed yellow fever refugees, but the trip had proved to be a fiasco. Later in the fall camps of refuge were [end of p. 159] established near Jacksonville, and the people were urged to go there. The first, Camp Howard, built on Moncrief Creek, did not become popular, but Camp Mitchell, named for Dr. Neal Mitchell and located seven miles west of the city, was ready for occupancy in October. About four hundred persons were cared for, and only one death was reported there.

 

The Turn

 

“October proved to be the turning point of the epidemic. During the first week of that month there were nearly five hundred new cases of fever and thirty-seven deaths, whereas during the last week both new cases and deaths were reduced by a little over half. Likewise, during the last week of October, there was an appreciable decline in the number who needed aid.

 

“On the night of November 25, the temperature fell to thirty-two degrees, and thereafter the epidemic was virtually at an end….” [p. 160]

 

“Nearly five thousand had contracted the disease…more than four hundred had died….” [p. 161]

 

Sources

 

Augustin, George. History of Yellow Fever. New Orleans: Published for the Author by Search & Pfaff Ltd., 1909; General Books reprint, Memphis, TN, 2010. 1909 copy digitized at: http://archive.org/stream/historyofyellowf00auguuoft#page/n4/mode/1up

 

Adams, Charles S. (Ed.). Report of the Jacksonville Auxiliary Sanitary Association of Jacksonville, Florida Covering the Work of the Association During the Yellow Fever Epidemic, 1888.  Jacksonville, FL:  Times-Union Print, 1889, 462 pages.  Digitalized by Google.  At:    http://books.google.com/books?id=JgQTAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Cochran, Jerome (MD, State Health Officer). “Yellow Fever in Decatur.” Pp. 49-67 in The Report of the Board of Health of the State of Alabama, for the Year 1888 (The Medical Association of the State of Alabama). Montgomery, AL: W. D. Brown & Co., State Printers, 1889.  Google preview accessed 4-30-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=-c0-AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Daily Journal, Logansport, IN. “The Year’s Disasters.” 1-2-1889, p. 4. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83142306

 

Merritt, Webster. A Century of Medicine in Jacksonville and Duval County. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 1949. Accessed 4-25-2018 at: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00103093/00001/51x

 

New York Times. “Yellow Fever Onboard; Four of the Boston’s Crew Die of the Scourge.” 11-15-1888, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19735782

 

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

 

Waymarking.com. “Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1888 Memorial — Decatur, AL — Obelisks on Waymarking.com.” Posted 5-25-2011. Accessed 4-30-2018 at: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMBJ89_Yellow_Fever_Epidemic_of_1888_Memorial_Decatur_AL

 

[1] Cochran. “Yellow Fever in Decatur.” Report of the Board of Health of the State of Alabama 1888. 1889, p. 67.

[2] Letter of attending physician, Dr. N. A. Barret, 1-5-1889, to Dr. Jerome Cochran, AL Board of Health, p. 69.

[3] We can only speculate that Augustin is based on the virtually national attention given the first death.

[4] Another refugee from Decatur Alabama.

[5] Refugee from Decatur Alabama.

[6] This report lists in an appendix the names of 430 individuals who died, their date of death, and their death number – 430 being the last listed death.

[7] Cochran. “Yellow Fever in Decatur.” Report of the Board of Health of the State of Alabama 1888. 1889, p. 67. A refugee from Decatur Alabama.

[8] Cochran. “Yellow Fever in Decatur.” Report of the Board of Health of the State of Alabama 1888. 1889, p. 67.

[9] Merritt writes that Mr. McCormick “had come to Jacksonville from Plant City, by way of Tampa, and was ill upon arrival.” (p. 148)

[10] Cites, in footnote 6, “The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1888” chapter, p. 148:

[11] A group of houses, huts, and later, tents, on the outskirts of Jacksonville.

[12] Cites, in footnote 11, p. 149: Jacksonville Florida Times-Union, 8-10-1888.

[13] Cites, in footnote 12, p. 149: Jacksonville Florida Times-Union, 8-11-1888.

[14] Cites, in footnote 13, p. 152: T. Frederick Davis. History of Jacksonville, Florida and Vicinity, p. 180.

–3-6  Blanchard range.[1]

 

–6  Taylor and Hatton. Oregon Weather Book: A State of Extremes. 1999, p. 124.

–4  Daily Independent, Chippewa Falls, WI. “Elemental Fury.” 6-17-1888, p. 1.

–4  Sunday Civilian, Cumberland, MD. “A Tornado in Oregon,” 6-17-1888, p. 1.

–1  Lexington. Mrs. H. J. Brooks, fatally injured.

–1  Lexington. Child of Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Harkins.[2]

–2  Lexington. Two children in partially destroyed schoolhouse.

–3  Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991…Chronology and Analysis of Events. 1993, 367.

 

Narrative Information

 

Grazulis: “OR. Jun 14, 1888. 3 [dead] 5 [injured] 10 [miles] Morrow [county].”

 

Taylor and Hatton: “Tornadoes in Oregon….Greatest loss of life. A tornado which formed near Jordan Butte, northwest of Lexington (Morrow County), on the afternoon of June 14, 1888, swept through Lexington, Sand Hollow, and Pine City, and destroyed thirty buildings, including two schools Six people, including two children at the school, were killed; four others were injured.” (Taylor, George H. and Raymond R. Hatton. Oregon Weather Book: A State of Extremes. 1999, p. 124.)

 

Newspapers

 

June 16: “Portland, June 16.–A disastrous windstorm and cloud-burst was reported yesterday at Arlington, Ore. Seven buildings at Lexington were wrecked. The storm first struck a grove below Lexington and blew one house down, which belonged to H. J. Brooks. Mrs. Brooks was fatally injured. The house and barn belonging to H. A. Harkins was totally wrecked. Mr. Harkins sustained very serious injuries. His little child was killed. Mrs. Harkins and the two other children were also injured. The school-house was partially destroyed and some school children injured, two fatally.” (Sunday Civilian, Cumberland MD. “A Tornado in Oregon,” 6-17-1888, 1.)

 

June 16: “Portland, Ore., June 16.–A disastrous wind storm and cloud burst is reported from Arlington, Ore. Willow creek became a furious torrent. Seven buildings at Lexington were wrecked. The storm first struck the grove below Lexington, and blew a house down belonging to H. J. Brooks. Mrs. Brooks was fatally injured and soon died from its effects. The house and barn belonging to H. A. Perkins were totally wrecked. Perkins was very sick in the house at the time and sustained serious injuries. His little child received a blow on the head and was killed. Mrs. Perkins and two children were also injured. A school house containing pupils was partly destroyed and several children injured. Two, it is feared were fatally hurt. Twenty boats were capsized at Astoria and many fishermen perished.” (Daily Independent, Chippewa Falls, WI. “Elemental Fury. Wrecks and Ruins Alone Show the Path of a Disastrous Oregon Wind Storm.” 6-17-1888, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Daily Independent, Chippewa Falls, WI. Elemental Fury. Wrecks and Ruins Alone Show the Path of a Disastrous Oregon Wind Storm.” 6-17-1888, p. 1. Accessed 8-1-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chippewa-falls-daily-independent-jun-17-1888-p-1/

 

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993.

 

Sunday Civilian, Cumberland, MD. “A Tornado in Oregon,” 6-17-1888, p. 1. Accessed 8-1-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cumberland-sunday-civilian-jun-17-1888-p-1/

 

Taylor, George H. and Raymond R. Hatton. Oregon Weather Book: A State of Extremes.  Corvallis: Oregon Sate University Press, 1999.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Though Taylor and Hatton are reliable sources, so, generally, is Grazulis. One show 3 fatalities, and the other 6, while newspaper accounts at the time usually show four (we show only two examples of press coverage).

[2] Another press report has the name as Mrs. H. A. Perkins, while noting she and two children were injured.

–14 Cobb. Pacific Cod Fisheries. 1916, p. 108.
–14 Daily Journal, Logansport, IN. “The Year’s Disasters,” Jan 2, 1889, p. 4.
–14 New York Times. “Fourteen Lives Lost.” 6-23-1888, p. 5.
–14 Tacoma Public Library Online Digital Collections. “Isabel (Schooner).” Accessed 10-30-2021.
–14 U.S. Life-Saving Service. Annual Report…Ending FY June 30, 1888. 1889, p. 432.
–12 Alaska Shipwrecks. A Comprehensive Accounting of Alaska Shipwrecks…Losses of Life…

Narrative Information

Alaskashipwreck.com: “Isabel (1888). The 184 ton 103 foot two masted cod fishing schooner Isabel foundered at sea May 3, 1888 in the Shumagin Islands. During and following the wreck 12 crewmembers were lost, including the captain. The Isabel was valued at $15,000 with cargo at the time of the loss. All nineteen crewmembers abandoned the vessel in eight dories during a storm. In the end, only seven survived. Captain Nickerson was lost along with 11 others. The following excerpt is from the U S Bureau of Fisheries report of 1917:

From 1882 to 1888 Ed. H Hansen, of Wright and Bowne, and Captain A. Anderson, now The Lewis, Anderson, Foard Co., with some others, operated the schooner Isabel, Capt. Nickerson, in this business (cod)…Business became so poor they did not keep the old Isabel in good repair, and in the spring of 1888, while on her way to the fishing banks, she opened up somewhere out at sea. As many of the crew as could do so got into the dories, and after suffering many privations about half of them were rescued more nearly dead than alive.

“Thomas Kenniff drowned and Captain Nickerson and splitter Soborn Roth died of exposure after their dory capsized in rough weather sometime after leaving the sinking Isabel. During the month following the disaster, only five survivors were found including the 2nd Mate, 3rd Mate David Harris, Harry Brown, Harry Holmes and Frank Gordon (Gorman). On June 4th two additional crewmen from the Isabel were found in a dory by the schooner Kodiak. From a crew of 19 aboard the Isabel only 7 survived long enough to regain civilization more than a month after abandoning the wreck.

“Mapping and Location: South Central Alaska 55 10 N 160 W Chart 16551

“Additional Information: Tonnage 184.93 Gross 175.69 Net, Length 103.2, Breadth 29.8, 9.4, Built 1864 at Coos Bay OR, Registered San Francisco CA, ON 12265, SL HVMD

“Sources: 1. Shipwrecks of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore (1992), 2. Dept of Commerce – Pacific Cod Fisheries (1916) Pg 108, 3. Report of the U S Commissioner of Fisheries for fiscal year 1915 (1917) “Pacific Cod Fisheries” Pg 30, 4. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1888) Pg 147, 5. New York Tribune (June 23, 1888) “Hardships Of A Crew Wrecked On Alaska” Front Page, 6. San Francisco Chronicle (June 21, 1888) “Wreck of a San Francisco Schooner” Pg 6, 7. New York Herald (June 23, 1888) “Lost in the Pacific” Pg 9.” (Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. A Comprehensive Accounting of Alaska Shipwrecks and Losses of Life in Alaskan Waters. “Isabel.”

Cobb: “From 1882 to 1888 Ed. H. Hansen, of Wright & Bowne, and Capt. A. Anderson…of the Lewis, Anderson, Foard Co., with some others, operated the schooner Isabel, Capt. Nickerson, in this business. For the first two or three years they caught the market short and did so well that they added the brig W. H. Meyer. But about this time the production began to exceed the demand, and they soon had to drop out the brig. Business became so poor they did not keep the old Isabel in good repair, and in the spring of 1888, while on her way to the fishing banks, she opened up somewhere out at sea. As many of the crew as could do so got into the dories, and after suffering many privations about half of them were rescued more nearly dead than alive. This ended the venture, and the partners paid up their losses and quit.” (Cobb. Pacific Cod Fisheries. 1916, 30)

Tacoma Public Library Online Digital Collections: “The Isabel, a two-masted schooner of 184 tons, was built at North Bend, Ore., in 1864 by J. H. Howlitt. From 1882 to 1888 she was operated in the cod fishery by Hanson & Anderson, San Francisco. In the spring of 1888, on her way to the fishing banks, she sprung a leak and had to be abandoned in the dories. About half the crew were rescued but fourteen perished. John Lyman, “Pacific coast built sailers 1850-1905,” The Marine Digest. May 10, 1941, p. 2.)

U.S. Life-Saving Service: “Founderings. Date of disaster. 1888…May 3. Isabel. American schooner. 185 [tons]. San Francisco, Cal. [bound from]. Shamagin [Shumagin?] Island, Alaska [bound to]. Total [loss]. Ballast [cargo]. 14 [lives lost]. At sea.” (Ann Report…Ending…June 1888. 1889, p. 432.)

Newspaper

NYT: “San Francisco, June 22. – The steamer Bertha, which has arrived from Kurluk [Karluk?], Alaska, brought three of the sailors of the cod fishing schooner Isabel, which encountered a gale May 1, and on the 3d had to be abandoned. The men took to the boats but in a storm got separated. The eight skiffs which contained the 17 men on board the Isabel at firs divided themselves into two parties of four skiffs. After being out three days two of the men went mad from the hardships endured and had to be put in separate boats and soon were drowned. When another boat capsized Capt. Nickerson, on trying to save the lives of the men, was drowned, as were also the men whom he tried to rescue. It is believed that the men in the two boats which got separated from the others were also drowned, making 14 who lost their lives.” (New York Times. “Fourteen Lives Lost.” 6-23-1888, p. 5.)

Sources

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. A Comprehensive Accounting of Alaska Shipwrecks and Losses of Life in Alaskan Waters. Accessed 10-30-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/shipwrecks-a-z/alaska-shipwrecks-i/

Cobb, John Nathan. Pacific Cod Fisheries (Appendix IV to the Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Fisheries for 1915 – Bureau of Fisheries [Dept. of Commerce] Document No. 830). Washington: GPO, 1916. Digitized by Google. Accessed 10-30-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=SGEZAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

Daily Journal, Logansport, IN. “The Year’s Disasters.” 1-2-1889, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83142306

New York Times. “Fourteen Lives Lost.” 6-23-1888, p. 5. Accessed 10-30-2021 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1888/06/23/112634443.html?pageNumber=5

Tacoma Public Library Online Digital Collections. “Isabel (Schooner).” Accessed 10-30-2021 at: https://tacomalibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17061coll11/id/283/

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1888 (Treasury Department Document No. 1228). Washington: GPO, 1889. Google Digitized. Accessed 10-30-2021 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=I3oDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=true

Also known as “Blizzard of 1888” “The Great White Hurricane”

–298-301 Blanchard tally based on data below.
—<800 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 269. -->400 Allsop, Harry. “Nemo: Top ten worst blizzards to hit the US.” Telegraph, UK, 2-8-2013.
— 400 BBC Weather. “Great Storms – White Hurricane 1888.” (Source not cited.)
–~400 Celebrate Boston. “The Blizzard of 1888.” (Source not cited.)
— 400 FEMA. Principle Threats Facing Communities and Local EM Coordinators. 1993, p. 42.
–~400 Gelber, Ben. The Pennsylvania Weather Book. 2002, p. 46. (Source not cited.)
–>400 Grabianowski. “10 Biggest Snowstorms of All Time. The Blizzard of 1888 [NE US]”
–~400 Gunn. A Student Guide to Climate and Weather: Weather Extremes. 2009, 38. Source not cited.
–>400 Heidorn. Weather Almanac. “The Great Blizzard of ’88.” (Source not cited)
–>400 High, Linda Oatman. City of Snow: The Great Blizzard of 1888. 2004. Source not cited.
—<400 History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, March 11, 1888. Great Blizzard of `88. -- 400 Lott (NCDC/NWS/NOAA). “The Big One!” May 14, 1993. (Source not cited.) -->400 McCain. It Happened in Connecticut. “The Great Blizzard of 1888,” 2008, p. 104.
–>400 Newspaper Archive. “A Historical Newspaper Perspective.” [On mid-March 1888 blizzard.]
–>400 Nichols, Bill. “Blizzard was problem ‘600 miles across.’” USA Today, 3-16-1993.
— 400 NWS Milwaukee WFO, NOAA. 2005. (Source not cited.)
–>400 NWS FO, Philly/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts…Philadelphia/Mt. Holly…”
–>400 Schwartz. Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States. 2007, p. 88. (Source not cited.)
— 400 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 92. (Source not cited.)
— 65 Middle Atlantic States. Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Record of…Year,” 12-31-88, 3.

Summary of State and Maritime Fatalities

At Sea ( 8) North Carolina ( 4)
Chesapeake Bay ( >20) Pennsylvania ( ~42) 9 land; ~33 maritime.
Connecticut ( 30) Virginia ( 16) All maritime.
Delaware ( 25) Total: 298-301
Delaware Bay ( 1)
Maryland ( 22) All maritime. Maritime ( 121) Included above.
Massachusetts ( 55) 45 on land; 10 maritime.
New Jersey ( 14) 11 on land; 3 maritime.
New York (61-64) 42 on land; 19-22 maritime.

Mid-Atlantic Nor’easter/Blizzard Fatalities by State and Maritime

At Sea ( 8)
— 1 Sch. Warren B. Potter. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443.
— 7 Sch. William G. Lewis. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443.

Chesapeake Bay ( >20)
— >20 Hayden. The Great Storm…1888, 38.
— 4 Schooner Eastern Light. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rpt.…Ending Jun 30, 1888. 1889, 431.

Connecticut ( 30)
–20 Statewide, other than New Haven. Dunkirk Observer, NY. “The Deadly Blizzard,” 1888.
— 3 Derby. Evening Herald, Syracuse. “Stories of Suffering,” 3-16-1888, p1.
— 7 New Haven (exposure). Dunkirk Observer, NY. “The Deadly Blizzard,” 3-16-1888, p. 1.

Delaware ( 25)
–~25 The World (NYC). “Fatal Marine Disasters Reported from Delaware…,” 3-15-1888, p.2.
— 4 ~Hen and Chickens Shoal, Cape Henlopen. Sch. C. B. Hazeltine. US Life-Saving Ser.
— 2 Schooner Allie H. Belden, ~Lewes. Morgan. Pirates…Tales of the Delaware Coast, 2005. 139.

Delaware Bay ( 1)
— 1 Sch. John H. Krantz. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443.

Maryland ( 22 Maritime)
— 2 Off Castle Haven, Brig I. Logan (MD) NYT. “Enormous Damage Done…in MD” 3-15-88.
— 3 Crisfield Harbor Pungy Leading Breeze,. NYT. “Its Most Awful Trail,” 3-17-1888.
— 1 Crisfield, Schooner Mary C. Ward (exp.) NYT. “Its Most Awful Trail,” 3-17-1888.
— 8 Schooner John T. Merrow. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rpt.… FY June 30, 1888. 1889, 443.
— 2 Off Hills’s Point. Schooner Lavinia North. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…1888. P. 443.
— 6 Schooner Vineyard, Chester River. NYT. Its Most Awful Trail,” 3-17-1888.

Massachusetts ( 55 – 45 on land and 10 maritime)
— 55 Statewide, land (45) and maritime (10). Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. 3-19-1888, p. 1.
— 1 Adams (freezing) NYT. “North Adams’s [MA] Experience,” 3-15-1888.
— 1 Buckland (hit by snowplow). NYT. “North Adams’s [MA] Experience,” 3-15-1888.

New Jersey ( 14 – 11 on land and 3 maritime)
— 2 ~Barnegat. Sch. Flora Woodhouse. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rpt.…1888. 1889, p. 443.
— 1 ~Boynton Beach, (cook frozen, unnamed sch.). NYT. “Lost in Snowdrifts,” 3-16-1888.
— 1 Brookdale (frozen) NYT. “New Jersey’s Plight. Many Deaths in Newark,” 3-15-88
— 1 Elizabeth (exposure). NYT. “Perished in the Blizzard,” 3-31-1888.
— 1 Hackettstown (RR engine). Evening Herald, Syracuse. “Four Engines Tumble,” 3-16-1888.
— 1 New Brunswick. (exposure). NYT. “Found Dead In A Shed,” 3-19-1888.
— 4 Newark (freezing/exposure). NYT. “New Jersey’s Plight. Many Deaths in Newark,” 3-15-88
— 1 Piscataway (milkman lost). NYT. “Lost in Snowdrifts,” 3-16-1888.
— 2 Raritan Township (freezing). NYT. “Lost in Snowdrifts,” 3-16-1888.

New York (61-64 – 42 on land and 19-22 maritime)
— 4 Coleman’s Station~ (RR snow plow). NYT. “Four Men Killed,” 3-17-1888.
— 1 Cohoes (exposure) NYT. “He was Frozen To Death,” 3-22-1888.
— 1 New City (exposure) NYT. “A Victim of the Storm,” 3-24-1888.
–>200 New York City Cornell. The Great International Disaster Book (3rd Ed.). 1982, 269.
–>200 “ CUNY Graduate Center. Virtual NY, “Blizzard of 1888.”
–~200 “ Gelber. The Pennsylvania Weather Book, 2002, p. 46.
— 200 “ Heidorn. Weather Almanac. “The Great Blizzard of ’88.”
–~200 “ Hevesi. “The Blizzard of ’93…” NYT, 3-14-1993.
–~200 “ History.com. “Great Blizzard of `88 Hits East Coast.”
— 200 “ NCDC/NWS/NOAA, 1993.
–~100 “ Keller. “Long-Ago Snow,” NYT, 12-31-2006.
— 35 “ Gunn. A Student Guide to Climate and Weather. 2009, 38.
— 6 “ NYT. “The Big Blizzard of 1888,” 2-10-1895.
By Date “
— 12 “ Mar 13. Bodies at Coroner’s office. NYT. “Deaths and Accidents,” 3-14-1888, p3.
–1 “ G.D. Baremore, 35, exposure. NYT. “Deaths and Accidents.” 3-17-1888, p.3.
–1 “ Annie Halpin Fisher, 30, found dead, hallway of 429 West Thirty-ninth-street.
–1 “ Casper Wenzel, 48, 257 West Thirtieth; exposure; found in street by neighbors.
–1 Thomas Sullivan, 70; collapsed and died after walking through snow from his home.
–1 Thomas Gleason. Taken to jail for intoxication, thinly clad, died an hour later.
— 3 “ Mar 13 (Mr. Conklin, two women) NYT. “A Chapter of Accidents,” 3-13-1888.
— 1 “ Mar 13 (Train collision in snow.) NYT. “Smashed by a Rear Train,” 3-13-1888.
–4 “ by Mar 14 NYT. “Deaths and Accidents. Some Fatalities…, 3-14-1888.
— 1 “ Mar 15 Peter Reilly, exposure. The World, NYC. “His Spree Ended…” 3-15-1888, 1.
— 30 “ by Mar 17 Titusville Herald, PA. “Perished in the Storm,” 3-17-1888, 1.
— 1 Shokan, Ulster County. Dug out of snowbank March 14; body of Henry Goldman.
— 2 Staten Island (frozen) NYT. “New Jersey’s Plight-Many Deaths…Newark,” 3-15-1888.
— 1 Yaphank, L.I. Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Stories of Suffering,” 3-16-1888, 1.
— 2 Between Yorktown & Amawalk (RR employ.). Evening Herald (Syracuse). “Falling”
–9-10 Pilot boat Enchantress. Blanchard range based on two sources below.
–10 “ Hayden. The Great Storm…1888, 23.
— 9 Schooner “ US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rpt. …June…1888. 1889, 443.
— 1 Schooner David Carll. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rpt. …June…1888. 1889, 443.
— 5 Staten Island Sch. Mary Heitman. The World. “A Schooner Disappears…,” 3-15-1888.
— 4-6 Schooner/pilot boat Phantom. Blanchard range based on two sources below.
–6 Schooner Phantom. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rp. t…June…1888. 1889, 443.
–4 Pilot Boat “ Logansport Daily Journal. “The Year’s Disasters,” 1-2-1889, 4.

North Carolina ( 4)
— 4 Off Hatteras. Sch. Rachael A. Collins. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Rpt. …1888. 1889, 431.

Pennsylvania ( ~42 – 9 on land; ~33 maritime)
— 1 Clifton, Mar 14. Snow-bound train hit by another; Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware road.
— 1 ~Easton (RR exposure). Dunkirk Observer, NY. “The Storm in Penn.,” 3-16-1888, p. 1.
— 1 Emmaus Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Stories of Suffering,” 3-16-1888, 1.
— 3 Philadelphia (freezing). NYT. “…Philadelphia’s Terrible Condition…,” 3-14-1888.
— 3 Three Bridges (RR snowplow). Dunkirk Observer, NY. “Three Men Killed…,” 3-16-1888.
–~33 Philadelphia “Waters”. Heidorn. Weather Almanac. “The Great Blizzard of ’88.”

Virginia ( 16 – all maritime)
— 1 Hampton Roads. Sloop Two Sisters. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Report…1888. 1889, p. 431.
— 1 Cape Henry. Sch. Henry R. Tilton. US Life-Saving Ser. An. Report…June…1888. 1889, 443.
–14 Chincoteague Bay (bodies washed ashore). NYT. “Its Most Awful Trail,” 3-17-1888.

Maritime Losses (121)
— 121 BWB tally based on data below.
— >100 Overall. Lott (NCDC/NWS/NOAA). “The Big One!” May 14, 1993.

–22 Bark Briminger. Logansport Daily Journal. “The Year’s Disasters,” 1-2-1889, 4
— 2 Brig I. Logan (MD) NYT. “Enormous Damage Done…in Maryland,” March 15, 1888.
— 1 Unnamed sch. ~Boynton Beach, NJ (cook frozen). NYT. “Lost in Snowdrifts,” 3-16-1888.
–10 Pilot Boat Enchantress. Daily Journal (Logansport). “The Year’s Disasters,” 1-2-1889, 4.
— 9 Schooner “ US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443
— 4 Sch. C. B. Hazeltine. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 431
— 1 Schooner David Carll. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443
— 4 Schr. Eastern Light. Logansport Daily Journal. “The Year’s Disasters,” 1-2-1889, 4.
— 4 “ US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 431
— 2 Schooner Allie H. Belden, ~Lewes. Morgan. Tales of the Delaware Coast, 2005. 139.
— 2 Sch. Flora Woodhouse. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443
— 7 Schooner G. Logan. Logansport Daily Journal. “The Year’s Disasters,” 1-2-1889, 4.
— 1 Sch. Henry R. Tilton. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443
— 1 Sch. John H. Krantz. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443
— 8 Sch. John T. Merrow. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.… FY June 30, 1888. 1889, 443.
— 4 Schr. Joseph Allen. Logansport Daily Journal. “The Year’s Disasters,” 2Jan1889, 4.
— 8 Schooner Julia Cook. Logansport Daily Journal. “The Year’s Disasters,” 2Jan1889, 4
— 2 Schooner Lavinia North. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…1888. P. 443.
— 1 Sch. Margaret A. May. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443
— 5 Sch. Mary Heitman. World. “A Schooner Disappears Seaward, Helpless…,” 15Mar88.
— 7 Schooner Mermaid. Logansport Daily Journal. “The Year’s Disasters,” 2Jan1889, 4.
— 6 Schooner Phantom. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443
— 4 Pilot Boat “ Logansport Daily Journal. “The Year’s Disasters,” 2Jan1889, 4.
— 2 Schooner Savenia. Logansport Daily Journal . “The Year’s Disasters,” 2Jan1889, 4.
— 1 Sch. Warren B. Potter. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443
— 7 Sch. William G. Lewis. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 443
— 1 Sloop Two Sisters. US Life-Saving Ser.. An. Rpt.…Ending…June 30, 1888. 1889, 431
–12 Yacht Cynthia. Logansport Daily Journal. “The Year’s Disasters,” 2Jan1889, 4.

Narrative Information

BBC Weather: “….This horrific storm came as a complete shock to the citizens of New York and the other towns that were badly beaten by the extreme weather conditions.

“On Saturday the 10th of March 1888, the day before the storm, the temperature in New York was in the fifties, which was unseasonably mild. Elias B. Dunn read the forecast for the following day as “cloudy, followed by light rain and clearing.” However, the forecaster could not have been further from the truth!

“When the 11th of March arrived there was no “cloudy” sky nor “light rain”, and certainly no “clearing” in sight. Torrential rain, fierce winds and plummeting temperatures were what the city received. Shortly after the start of the storm, the drenching rain turned into heavy snowfall and the storm continued like that for the next 36 hours.

“The storm was created by a huge mass of arctic air that had blown into the area from the northwest, which clashed with the warm, moist area from the south that New York was enjoying – generating violent storms all along the east coast. These storms brought all the towns from Chesapeake Bay to Maine to a complete standstill.

“By the 12th of March, 10 inches of snow had fallen and there was yet more to come. The hurricane winds were producing bad snowdrifts, which were also moving around a mass of broken glass and other debris consumed on their path. The storm had also severed communication links between New York and the outside world, by snapping the telephone and telegraph lines in its rampage of the city. Transportation was also brought to a standstill as the trains stalled under the freezing temperatures, leaving 15,000 people stranded and totally helpless to the elements. Most of the other means of transport had been blown over by strong winds and littered the streets. When people ventured into the streets, they were just simply blown over, and being unable to get up because of the winds, they either drowned in the snow or were buried alive by the passing snowdrifts.

“The aftermath of the storm was 22 inches of deadly snow that buried houses, caused a great deal of infrastructure damage, and claimed 400 lives. The damage was so extensive that it helped to convince New York and many other cities to replace their elevated train system to an underground network, and to place all important cables and utility lines under the ground.

“The full measure of the storm was unfortunately never documented due to much of the meteorological equipment being damaged or frozen by the storm. However, it has been estimated to be one of the most violent and expensive storms in history….” (BBC Weather. “Great Storms – White Hurricane 1888.”)

Cornell: “Blizzards. New York City, March 12-13, 1888: The weather forecast for New York City on March 12, 1888, read: ‘Light snow, then clearing.’ By the next morning 24 inches of snow had fallen, temperatures had dropped to 15 degrees, and winds with 40-mile-per-hour gales had produced 20-foot-drigfts in the city’s streets. The thirty-six hour storm that struck the entire Atlantic Coast paralyzed New York City and all communities within a 30-mile radius, effectively cutting the area off from the rest of the United States. In fact, telegrams to Boston had to be sent via the Atlantic cable to England and back to New England.

‘For many New Yorkers the storm was a lark, providing country pleasures suck as skating, skiing, and sled rides in the heart or the city. An ice bridge formed over the East River between Fulton Street in Manhattan and a spot known as Martin’s Store in Brooklyn, and thousands of New Yorkers bundled in furs and blankets trudged across the river on an unusual outing.

“For many other New Yorkers, however, the storm brought misery and suffering. Food and water shortages were prevalent, and many poorer sections of the city went without either heat or food as delivery wagons failed to negotiate the snow-packed streets. More than 200 New Yorkers died from excessive cold and extreme storm conditions, with perhaps as many as 600 more dying in other areas along the East Coast.” (Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982, pp. 268-269.)

Grabianowski: “This snowstorm was so massive it became a historical event. In terms of storm severity factors, this one had it all: enormous amounts of snow, frigid temperatures, howling winds whipping up monstrous snow drifts — and a widespread area of effect that covered the entire northeastern United States from New England to the Chesapeake Bay, including major metropolitan areas like New York City [source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]. More than 400 people died during the storm, including more than 100 who were lost at sea.

“The storm struck in early March and started out as a serious rain storm. From Sunday night to Monday morning, the temperature plummeted and the rain turned to snow. In the end, New York City received 22 inches (56 centimeters) of snow, shutting the city down and causing floods when the snow melted. Other places received much more: 58 inches (1.5 meters) of snow in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and 45 inches (1.14 m) in New Haven, Conn. Snow drifts as high as 50 or 60 feet (15.2 to 18.3 m) were reported on Long Island, and wind gusts were reported as fast as 80 mph (128.7 kph).” (Grabianowski, Ed. “10 Biggest Snowstorms of All Time. No. 10 — The Blizzard of 1888 – Northeastern United States.” Howstuffworks.com. Accessed 12-28-2012.

Greely: “The most remarkable blizzard in the eastern part of the United States was that of March 11th-14th, 1888. The heavy snow and high winds attending it completely interrupted telegraphic and railway communication in New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, and the southern half of New York and New England. Business was entirely suspended in these sections dur¬ing the 12th and 13th.

“The advance of the anti¬cyclone was marked by a sudden and rapid fall of tem¬perature, heavy snow, and violent northwesterly winds, which not only made travel dangerous but almost im-possible. For four days the average wind velocity throughout the sections named ranged from twenty to twenty-five miles per hour, and at times attained velo¬cities varying from fifty to seventy miles. It has been shown by Prof. Upton that the snow was exceedingly heavy, averaging probably forty inches or more over Southeastern New York and Southern. New England. The violent winds filled the air for one or two days with blinding snow, which drifted, under favorable cir¬cumstances, to a depth of ten or fifteen feet in New York, New Haven, and adjacent cities. It was five or six days before regular communication was re-estab¬lished and ordinary business resumed. Many persons who faced the storm were badly frozen or prostrated by the low temperature, drifting snow, and high winds, and the loss of life from this cause, directly or indi¬rectly, was considerable.

“New York, Philadelphia, and Boston were completely isolated, and the only advices possible for one or two days from the latter city were via London, England, by cable. At Delaware Breakwater only thirteen out of forty vessels escaped serious damage or destruction, and thirty or more lives were lost.

“The maritime interests suffered. from this blizzard to the extent of over one half a million dollars, while the losses by railroads and other business interests could not be accurately estimated, but must have aggregated several millions of dollars. The storm was quite as severe as any blizzard of the Northwest, and much farther reaching in working damage and destruction, owing to its occurrence in so densely populated a region. The highest recorded winds were as follows : Eastport, Me., seventy-two miles for a single hour, twenty-seven miles for ninety-six consecutive hours ; Block Island, seventy miles and thirty-two miles ; New York City, fifty miles and thirty-two miles ; Phila¬delphia, sixty miles and twenty-six miles.” (Greely. American Weather, 1888, 225-226.)

Gunn: “The worst blizzard in history to hit the eastern United States occurred in March 1888. This story caused destruction from Maine to New Jersey, with some areas receiving 50 inches of snow. The greatest snow accumulation was in central New England, and the greatest dislocation of life was borne by New York City. About four hundred people tragically lost their lives. The storm quickly became known as The Blizzard of 1888 or The Great White Hurricane. Sustained winds of over 45 miles per hour produced snow drifts in excess of 50 feet. Railroads were shut down, and people were confined to their homes for a week. Some tried to go to work for fear of losing their jobs, and, in New York City, 30 of them froze to death on their way home after they found there was no electricity. All telegraph connections from Washington to Maine were cut off for several days. People in rural areas had to stay in their homes for two weeks.” (Gunn, Angus. A Student Guide to Climate and Weather: Weather Extremes. 2009, 38-39.)

Hayden: “March 11, 7 A.M. The first of the accompanying weather charts [not reproduced here] indicates graphically the meteorological conditions over the wide area charted, comprising about 3,000,000 square miles, of which one-third is laud and two-thirds water. Over the land there is a long line or trough of low barometer, extending from the west coast of Florida up past the eastern shore of Lake Huron and far northward toward the southern limits of Hudson Bay. In front of this advancing line the prevailing winds are southeasterly, and the warm moist air drawn up from southern latitudes spreads a warm wave along the coast, with generally cloudy weather and heavy rains, especially south of Hatteras; the Signal Service observer at Pensacola, for example, reports the heavy fall of 4.0 J inches on the 10th. About midway of this trough of low barometer there is a long, narrow region of light, variable winds; of rapid changes in meteorological conditions; calms, shifts of wind, intervals of clearing weather; then overcast again, with cooler weather, and fresh northwesterly winds, increasing to a gale. The front line of this advancing battalion of cold northwesterly winds is more than a thousand miles in length, and covers the whole breadth of the United States; its right flank is on the Gulf, its left rests on the Great Lakes, or even farther north; the temperature falls rapidly at its approach, with frost far south into Louisiana and Mississippi, and heavy snow in central Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. The long swaying line is advancing toward the coast at the rate of about 600 miles a day, followed by a ridge of high barometer reaching from Texas to Dakota and Manitoba. At points along the trough the barometer ranges from 29.70, a hundred miles north of Toronto, to 29.86 at Pittsburgh, 29.88 at Augusta, and 29.94 at Cedar Keys. Along the ridge the barometer is very high; 30.7 to the northward about Lake Winnipeg, 30.6 in Wyoming, 30.7 in Indian Territory, and 30.5 south of the Rio Grande. The difference of pressure from trough to ridge is thus measured by about an inch of mercury in the barometer. Moreover, the chart shows that there is another ridge of high barometer in advance, curving down off the coast from northern Newfoundland, where the pressure is 30.6, toward Santo Domingo, where it is about 30.3, and passing midway between Hatteras and Bermuda. Farther to the eastward the concentric isobars show the presence of a storm which originated about Bermuda on the 9th, and is moving off toward Europe, where, in a few days, it may cause northwesterly gales with snow to the northward of its track, and southeasterly gales with rain to the southward. Storm reports from the steam-ships Erl King and Glendevon, the ships Glenburn and Anna, and the brig Olive Branch show that this storm was of hurricane violence, with heavy squalls and high seas; but it need not be referred to in this connection further than to say that it sent back a long, rolling swell from northeast, felt all along the Atlantic sea-board the morning of the 11th, and quite distinct from that caused by the freshening gale from the southeast.” (Hayden. The Great Storm…Atlantic Coast…U.S. March 11-14, 1888. 1888, 9.)

“The damage and destruction wrought ashore are too fresh in mind to be referred to here, and losses along the coast can only be mentioned briefly. Below Hatteras there was little damage done to shipping. In Chesapeake Bay 2 barks, 77 schooners, and 17 sloops were blown ashore, sunk, or damaged; in Delaware Bay, 37 vessels; along the New Jersey coast and in the Horseshoe at Sandy Hook, 13; in New York Harbor and along the Long Island coast, 20; and along the New England coast, 9. The names of six vessels that were abandoned at sea have been reported, and there are at least nine others missing, among them the lamented New York pilot-boats Phantom and Enchantress and the yacht Cythera; moreover, shortly after the storm seven derelicts, which can not be identified with any previously reported, were sighted off the coast, to take their places amongst the other obstructions to navigation….” (Hayden. The Great Storm…1888, 23.)

“NEW ENGLAND

“Along the New England coast 15 schooners and 1 tug were damaged, the names of which are as follow:

Schooner Ida E. Latham,
Schooner Cordova,
Schooner Pamet,
Schooner A. C. Parker,
Schooner Luln,
Schooner Ella,
Schooner Norma,
Schooner John Somers,
Schooner Dreadnaught,
Schooner Emma Jane,
Schooner Lizzie Hayan,
Schooner M. B. Linscott,
Schooner S. A. Parkhurst,
Schooner Wanderer,
Schooner Maggie Bruce,
Tug Den Volente.

“Of the vessels in and about New York and near the Long Island shores, 2 barks, 6 schooners, 3 tug-boats (one with a tow), 5 pilot-boats, 2 lighters, 1 ferry-boat, 1 barge, 2 tows of 6 barges each, and 5 canal-boats were either sunk or badly damaged. The following is a list of the vessels reported damaged:

Bark Stadacona,
Bark Anna,
Schooner Mary McCabe,
Schooner Lester A. Lewis,
Schooner Favorite,
Schooner Little Charlie,
Schooner Job II. Jackson,
Schooner S. S. Scranton,
Ferry-boat Maid of Perth,
Tug-boat S. E. Babcock,
Tug-boat Gracie,
Tug-boat Trojan and tow,
Pilot-boat Hope,
Pilot-boat Caldwell H Colt
Pilot Thomas D. Harrison,
Pilot-boat Edmund Driggs,
Pilot-boat Ezra Nye
Lighter International,
Lighter Cement Rock,
Barge Charles N. White,
Two tows of 6 barges each,
Canal-boat Green Mountain,
Canal-boats Nos. 14, 15, 40, and 3065.

NEW JERSEY.

Schooner Mary Heitman,
Schooner A. B. Crosby,
Sloop Neptune,
Barge Hazeltine,
Two unknown vessels,
Sloop Alert.

At Horse-shoe, Sandy Hook.

Schooner Mayflower,
Sloop P. T. Barnum,
Sloop Pocahontas,
Pilot-boat Edmund Blunt,
Pilot-boat E. H. Williams,
Pilot-boat Centennial,
Pilot-boat W. W. Story,
Pilot-boat Edward Cooper

DELAWARE RIVER.

“In the Delaware River the shipping suffered severely. Of the large fleet of vessels which sought refuge at the Breakwater, scarcely one escaped without damage. Most of those blown ashore at the Breakwater were badly wrecked. From reports received, 1 ship, 3 barks, 2 barkentines, 26 schooners, 2 pilot-boats, and 3 tugs were damaged:

Ship Esther Roy,
Bark Brimiga,
Bark Giacomo Mortola,
Bark Vanadis,
Schooner E. G. Irwin,
Sch Benjamin C Cromwell
Schooner W. H. Rutan,
Sch. Rebecca F. Lamdin,
Schooner Irene Crawford.
Schooner Kocheco,
Sch. Howard Williams,
Sch. Williams C. Wickham,
Schooner Windsor.

At the Breakwater.

Barkentine Zephyr,
Barkentine Eva Lynch,
Schooner Allie H. Belden,
Schooner Elliot L. Dow,
Schooner John Proctor,
Sch. Hester A. Seward,
Sch. Rebecca M. Smith,
Sch. Abbie P. Cranmer,
Sch. Paul & Thompson,
Sch. George L. Fessenden,
Schooner Isabel Alberto,
Schooner Earl P. Mason,
Sch. Flora A. Newcomb,
Schooner Elizabeth S. Lee,
Sch. George W. Anderson,
Schooner Providence,
Schooner Lizzie V. Hall,
Schooner Index,
Sch. William G. Bartlett,
Pilot-boat C. W. Tunuell,
Pilot-boat Enoch Turley,
Tug George J. Simpson,
Tug-boat Lizzie Crawford,
Tug-boat Tarnesi.

MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA

“In the harbor of Baltimore there was no material loss. In consequence of the strong NW. gale the water in the harbor was lower than it has ever been in the memory of the oldest steam-boat men. Ferry-boat travel was interrupted; steamers at the Pratt and Light street wharves at the head of the harbor were lying in the mud; ocean steamers at the lower-harbor wharves stopped loading; but on Wednesday, the 14th, the Oregon, drawing 24 feet 9 inches, left the harbor without difficulty.

“The inclosed list gives the names, so far as can be found, of only the vessels actually reported as having been damaged in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and is by no means a complete record of the loss to the small dredgers and fishing-boats in the bay. Both sides of the bay seem to have suffered alike, and even in the harbors on the eastern shore, considered very safe ones, the loss was great.

“The number of lives lost in the bay and its tributaries was not less than twenty, all incident to the loss of shipping.

“The following list gives the names of 2 barks, 78 schooners, and 17 sloops sunk, wrecked, or
badly damaged:
Sunk or totally wrecked.

Schooner Harriet Ann,
Schooner C. O. Dougherty,
Schooner West Wind,
Schooner W. F. Hines,
Schooner Mohawk,
Schooner Fire-fly,
Schooner Little John,
Schooner Long Line,
Schooner Eastern Light,
Schooner Canton,
Schooner Antietam,
Schooner Leading Breeze,
Schooner William Turner,
Schooner Wenonah,
Schooner Galena,
Schooner M. J. Marden,
Schooner Constitution,
Schooner Vineyard,
Schooner Queen,
Schooner Gypsy,
Sloop Fire-fly,
Sloop T. T. Francis,
Sloop Flying Trapeze,
Sloop Laviuia North.

Blown ashore and badly damaged.

Bark Henry Warner,
Bark Harvester,
Schooner Fanny Southard,
Schooner Brunette,
Sch. Wm. T. Goldsborough
Sch. Solomon F. Kerwin
Schooner Daniel Brown,
Schooner Georgia,
Schooner Annie Jones,
Schooner Caroline,
Schooner Cornelia,
Schooner Frolic,
Schooner Hugh Bolton,
Schooner Three Sisters,
Schooner Edward Cobb,
Sch. William Schunink,
Schooner Stephen Chase,
Schooner Frank Bateman,
Schooner Thomas Hooper,
Schooner Kate Lawson,
Schooner Mary E. Dennis,
Schooner Alonzo Lee,
Schooner Shearwater,
Schooner American Yacht,
Schooner Lancelot,
Schooner Carrie M. Mass,
Schooner Ann P. Rodgers,
Schooner Cape Charles,
Schooner Commodore,
Schooner Crosswell,
Schooner Eva,
Schooner S. T. Muir,
Schooner Ella Daris,
Schooner Buffalo,
Schooner Maud S.,
Schooner Anna Brown,
Schooner George Lewmon,
Schooner Mary Virginia,
Schooner Cleveland,
Schooner Augusta,
Schooner Bratten,
Schooner Ocean Bird,
Schooner William B. Price,
Schooner A. H. Schultz,
Schooner C. A. Brown,
Sch. Mary E. Coulborn,
Schooner Mary C. Ward,
Schooner Sea View,
Schooner John J. Bell,
Sch. Lydia Sanderson,
Schooner Greyhound,
Schooner Fashion,
Schooner Eva Alice,
Schooner Mount Vernon,
Schooner Emma,
Schooner Hattie Estelle,
Sch. Lizzie and Mirrie,
Schooner Nona May,
Schooner Qui Vive,
Sloop Humming Bird,
Sloop Lizzie,
Sl. Lady Mollie E. Leonard
Sloop Little Dorrit,
Sloop Daniel H. Mayne,
Sloop Fleetwing,
Sloop O. C. Summers,
Sloop Thomas R. Powley,
Sloop Anna Peterson,
Sloop Howard T. Leach,
Sloop Fly,
Sloop Lydia,
Sloop Lucy V. Fletcher.

SOUTH OF HATTERAS.

“Very little damage was done to shipping in the sounds and along the coast of North Carolina, or farther south, the only report received being that of the schooner Aid, sunk at the wharf at Columbus, Ga.

LOST AT SEA WEST OF 40° WEST LONGITUDE.

Bark Johanna,
Bark Nausika,
Bark Cortesia,
Schooner Alice Montgomery,
Schooner W. L. White,
Schooner James Ford.

VESSELS MISSING AND PROBABLY LOST.

Schooner John F. Merrow,
Schooner Rachel Ann Collins,
Pilot-boat Phantom,
Schooner Henry S. Culver,
Fishing-smack Peter Cooper,
Pilot-boat Enchantress,
Schooner William G. Lewis,
Yacht Cythera.

(Hayden. The Great Storm…1888, 37-39.)

History.com: “Keene, New Hampshire, received 36 inches…and Troy, New York, was hit by 55 inches of snow over 3 days….thousands of wild and farm animals froze to death in the blizzard….” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, March 11, 1888. Great Blizzard of `88..)

Lott: “Comparisons [March 12-14, 1993 “Storm of the Century”] to the Blizzard of 1888 are quite interesting.

“A few facts from the ’88 storm:

“The storm began in earnest on March 12, the same date as this year’s storm.

“Over 400 people died, including 200 in New York City alone.

“Snowfall averaged 40-50 inches over southeastern New York state and southern New England with drifts to 30-40 feet.
58 inches of snow in Saratoga Springs, NY.
48 inches of snow in Albany, NY.
45 inches of snow in New Haven, CT.
22 inches of snow in New York City.

“Snow drifts over the tops of houses from New York to New England, with reports of drifts covering 3-story houses. Highest reported drift was 52 feet in Gravesend, NY.

“80 MPH wind gusts were reported, although the highest official report in New York City was 40 MPH, with 54 MPH at Block Island. The winds in the ’88 storm, although severe, were not as severe as several other storms which have struck the same area.

“From Chesapeake Bay through the New England area, over 200 ships were either grounded or wrecked resulting in the deaths of at least 100 seamen.

“The NY Central Park Observatory reported a minimum temperature of 6 degrees, and a daytime average of 9 degrees on March 13, the coldest ever for March.

“Severe flooding after the storm due to melting snow–especially in the Brooklyn area, which was more susceptible to serious flooding due to topography.

“The ’88 storm is sometimes compared to the 1717 snow event (“The Great Snow of 1717”), which was the result of 4 snowstorms occurring between February 27 and March 7. Snowfall totals amounted to 5 feet or more in some areas, with much higher drifts.

“Although the ’88 storm was more severe in the Northeast and New England than the ’93 storm, it did not affect the entire eastern seaboard to the extent that the 1993 storm affected the area. The ’93 storm affected 26 states and about 50% of the nation’s population. In fact, on the Saffir-Simpson scale for hurricane strength, it equated to a category 3 hurricane based on storm surge and minimum pressure attained.” (Lott. “The Big One!” 1993, NCDC/NWS/NOAA)

NOAA/NWS: “On this day [March 11] in 1888, one of the worst blizzards in American history strikes the Northeast, killing more than 400 people and dumping as much as 55 inches of snow in some areas….At the time, approximately one in every four Americans lived in the area between Washington D.C. and Maine, the area affected by the Great Blizzard of 1888….

“On March 10, temperatures in the Northeast hovered in the mid-50s. But on March 11, cold Arctic air from Canada collided with Gulf air from the south and temperatures plunged. Rain turned to snow and winds reached hurricane-strength levels. By midnight on March 11, gusts were recorded at 85 miles per hour in New York City. Along with heavy snow, there was a complete whiteout in the city when the residents awoke the next morning….

“Unseasonable and devastating snowstorm from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine. The cities of Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and New York City were paralyzed. This incredible “Nor’easter” dumped 50 inches of snow in Connecticut and Massachusetts while New Jersey and the state of New York had 40 inches….

“Drifts of 40 to 50 feet high buried houses and trains. From Chesapeake Bay to Nantucket, 200 ships were sunk with 400 lives lost.” (NOAA 2005, NWS, Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI WFO)

NWS FO, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Mar 11…1888…(March 11-14) Ern Seaboard. Most remarkable blizzard in E. Disastrous from Chesapeake Bay area to ME. Cities paralyzed included DC, PHL, NYC and BOS. Wind averaged 20 to 25 mph throughout area for 4 days, at times reaching 50 to over 70 mph. Snowfall averaged 40″ or more over NJ, SE NY and Srn New England. In NYC alone, 200 deaths, uncounted injuries, and damage near $20 million. Total deaths from blizzard over 400. Maritime losses over $1/2 million and loss by railroads and business several million dollars. (LS 6107).” (National Weather Service Forecast Office, Philadelphia/Mount Holly, NOAA. “Historical Weather Facts for the Philadelphia/Mt. Holly, NJ Forecast Area.” 10-17-2005 update.)

US Life-Saving Service: “Founderings. Date of disaster. 1888…Mar. 11. Eastern Light. American schooner. 20 [tons]. Lying at anchor [bound from]. Total [loss]. 4 [lives lost]. Tangier Sound, Chesapeake Bay [location of loss].”

“Founderings. Date of disaster. 1888…Mar. 12. Rachel A. Collins. American schooner. 133 [tons]. New Berne, N.C. [bound from]. Philadelphia, Pa. [bound to]. Total [loss]. Lumber [cargo]. 4 [lives lost]. Off Hatteras, N.C. [location of disaster].”

“Founderings. Date of disaster. 1888…Mar. 12. C. B. Hazeltine. American schooner. 862 [tons]. Philadelphia, Pa. [bound from]. Boston, Mass. [bound to]. Total [loss]. Coal [cargo]. 4 [lives lost]. Near Hen and Chickens Shoal, Cape Henlopen, Del.” (US Life-Saving Service. Annual Report…Ending FY June 30, 1888. 1889, 431.)

“Founderings. Date of disaster. 1888…Mar. 12. Two Sisters. American Sloop…1 [life lost]. Hampton Roads, Va.” (US Life-Saving Service. Annual Report Ending FY June 30, 1888. 1889, 432.)….

“Date of disaster. 1888…Mar. 11. John T. Merrow. Am. sc. 704 [tons]. Baltimore, Md. [bound from]. Boston, Mass. [bound to]. Total [loss]. Coal [cargo]. 8 [lives lost]. At sea….”

“Date of disaster. 1888…Mar. 11. Lavinia North. Am. sc. 21 [tons]. Lying at anchor… 2 [lives lost]. Off Hill’s Point, Md., Chesapeake Bay. Vessel capsized in a hurricane.”

“Date of disaster. 1888…Mar. 12. Margaret A. May. Am. sc. 537 [tons]. Charleston, S.C. [bound from]. Baltimore, Md. [bound to]…At sea. Washed overboard by a heavy sea.”

(United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report for the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1888. Washington, DC: GPO, 1889, 443.)

Connecticut:

“New York, March 16. – The Sun has a dispatch from New Haven, received by the steamer Elm City, containing the following information: Not a train is moving on any railroad in Connecticut and telegraphic communication between Hew Haven and the outside world was cut off at an early stage of the storm and has not been restored. Reports are received of terrible suffering in the towns and villages throughout the State, especially on the coast. The greatest loss of life was in all probability along the shore of Long Island Sound. In New Haven up to eleven o’clock yesterday morning, seven deaths from exposure had been reported, the victims being working people. Three girls employed in the Candee Rubber Company’s works lost their lives in large drifts on St. John Street. They left their work during the storm and perished in their attempt to reach their homes. Michael Haggerty, of Fair Haven, and John Nettleton, a brass-worker, were also frozen to death. Thomas Cook, aged eighteen, became intoxicated on Monday night and froze to death on his way home. Three school teachers are reported missing, it is feared that they have lost their lives. There are at least twenty deaths from exposure reported from surrounding towns.

“At some places the school houses are still occupied by teachers and children, who are suffering greatly from lack of food. Reports from Bridgeport, Norwalk, Danbury, Rockville and Waterbury are all to the same effect, and the blockade on railroads and highways is complete in every direction.

“The passengers on board the steamer New Haven, which left for New York at three o’clock Monday morning, had a most thrilling experience. There were twenty-five passengers on board, two of whom were women. As the steamer proceeded down the harbor the storm grew furious and those on board became terribly frightened. The gale increased in violence, and when ten miles out on the Sound, Captain Post let go his anchors. Huge waves swept over the steamer, washing everything movable from the decks and demolishing the cabin furniture. The anchors were kept out until four o’clock Monday afternoon, when the strain on the steamer became so great that the Captain decided that the only hope for safety was to beach her. She was headed for the shore and struck at about seven o’clock. The boats were manned and all hands ordered to make for the shore, which was still about 300 yards distant. The passengers huddled into the boats and a safe landing was made. The real sufferings of the party then began. The thermometer was down to zero, and nothing but deserted summer cottages were seen. One of these was broken into, and the half frozen men, carrying the women in their arms, found temporary shelter. The banisters and staircases were torn down and fires started. No food could be found and twelve of the strongest men volunteered to brave the storm in search of assistance. This party traveled three miles in the face of the furious storm. When they reached a farm-house all of them were completely prostrated; ten of them had their hands and feet badly frozen; while the other two escaped with frozen faces and ears. No one would venture to the relief of those in the cottage for fear of losing their own lives. The conditions of the party left behind must be deployable. They have been in the deserted cottage for sixty hours without food. A party of men will try to reach them with provisions this morning….” (Dunkirk Observer, NY. “The Deadly Blizzard,” Mar 16, 1888, p. 1.)

McCain: “By the time the storm ended on March 14, most of Connecticut was covered with at least twenty inches of snow. Fifty inches – more than four feet – fell at Middletown. That was the highest amount recorded anywhere in Connecticut, and it tied with Saratoga Springs, New York, for the heaviest snowfall anywhere in the storm’s path….Many a train was derailed in the effort to break through the wall of white….” (McCain. It Happened in Connecticut. “The Great Blizzard of 1888,” 2008, p. 105.)

Delaware

March 14: “Philadelphia, March 14. – Capt. Hardy Holt of the steam-tug George G. Simpson arrived in this city from the Delaware Breakwater late this afternoon. His boat was sunk in the storm on Sunday night…. [He reported that] three bodies were washed ashore [there] and 27 men are in the hospital with frozen limbs. Two schooners were sunk, 21 vessels are ashore along the beach and 25 are lying inside of the stone piles with signals of distress flying…” (NYT. “Suffering in the Storm. Dreadful Experiences of Steam-tug Men,” March 15, 1888.)

March 16: “Lewes, Del., March 16. – The result of the storm at Delaware breakwater is summed up as follows: More than a dozen lives have been lost. Twenty-six vessels were totally or partially wrecked…” (Dunkirk Observer, NY. “The Deadly Blizzard,” Mar 16, 1888, 1.)

March 30: “Wilmington, Del., March 30. – The bodies of two men, supposed to be victims of the blizzard, are reported as washed ashore on the river bank below the Wilmington and Northwester pier.” (Galveston Daily News (TX). “Victims of the Blizzard,” March 31, 1888, p. 3.)

Maryland

March 14, NYT: “Baltimore, March 14. – Baltimore has been so completely isolated that it has been impossible to get any news dispatches to New-York….The storm struck Baltimore Sunday night. It has been raging ever since, although this morning the outlook is more favorable. Sunday afternoon the wind was 13 miles an hour; by 10 o’clock that night it was coming from the north-west at the rate of 24 miles. Monday the mercury went down from 31 [degrees] to 18 [degrees], and the wind blew 33 miles an hour. Yesterday it came at the rate of 32 miles, and the mercury fell to 12 [degrees]….The damage has been principally confined to the railroads and the commerce on the Chesapeake. Nearly 500 telegraph poles were blown down between here and Philadelphia. Most of them were across the track….

“The snow over the State is from five to twelve feet deep. On the Chesapeake Bay the damage has been great. It will be a week before the full returns are in, but from details it looks as if a hundred vessels are in distress, most of them being sloops and small schooners.

“It is impossible to say how great the loss of life has been. Three ocean steamships and three bay steamers have arrived, and all say they never knew anything like it before…All of the incoming boats looked like monster cakes of ice….

“It is reported at Cambridge that the brig I. Logan is sunk off Castle Haven, in the Chop-tank, and that two men were drowned. Capt. Leonard says about one-third of the trees in Cambridge are blown down. The roads through the county are impassable.

“The northwester blew all the water out of the harbor, so that the tide was from six to eight feet lower than the usual tide. The steamboats and other craft tied up to the wharves were lying flat on their bottoms and under many of the piers there was no water at all.

“In all respects the storm exceed anything known here for many years.” (NYT. “Enormous Damage Done…in Maryland,” March 15, 1888.)

March 16, Dunkirk Observer: “Baltimore, March 16. – The storm which began on Sunday morning last, did immense damage to small vessels on Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The news of the disasters is just beginning to come in. All along the bay the shores are strewn with wreckage and stranded pungies and oyster schooners. The same condition of affairs is reported in the various rivers tributary to the bay….The bodies of six dredgers were found on the shores of the Great Annemessex, and it is reported that a large number of men have been drowned.” (Dunkirk Observer, NY. “Chesapeake Bay Lined With Wrecks,” March 16, 1888, p. 1.)

Massachusetts:

Massachusetts Moments: “March 11, 1888 – On this day…in 1888, ordinary life in Massachusetts came to a standstill. One of the most destructive blizzards ever to strike the East Coast raged for 36 hours. Called “the White Hurricane,” the storm produced a combination of blinding snow, deep drifts, driving wind, and severe cold. Big cities were especially hard hit. In Springfield, Worcester, and Boston, food supplies soon ran low. So did heat, for most homes were warmed by coal-fired stoves. Coal moved by rail, and trains were not moving….

“Men and women with factory jobs were more severely affected. They had no job security; if they failed to make it to work, they were docked a day’s pay and risked being fired. People died trying to get to work. In North Adams, a mill worker on his way home was found just a short distance from the mill, stuck in a drift on Main Street, frozen to death. The local newspaper reported that the wind was so loud that it drowned out his cries for help….

“The disruption caused by the storm persuaded city officials to invest in underground utilities and transportation. The Boston subway system, the nation’s first, was one positive outcome of the Blizzard of 1888….” (Massachusetts Moments, Blizzard Shuts Down Massachusetts, March 11, 1888)

March 18, Tyrone Daily Herald, PA: “Boston, March 18. – The snow blockade on the New England railroads has been finally raised to-day, after the employment of 5,000 men for nearly a week in clearing the tracks. There were 140 trains snowed up, two-thirds of them freight and one-third passenger, with five theatrical companies on board. The loss of life by the storm was: Frozen, 35, killed by railroad accidents, 10; drowned in shipwrecks, 10. Twenty-eight vessels were wrecked and 1,200 manufacturing establishments and over 250,000 workmen were idle for a week.” (Tyrone Daily Herald (PA). March 19, 1888, 1.)

New Hampshire

March 16, NYT: “New-Hampshire had an experience such as had not befallen the Granite State for 40 years before. Snow fell from Monday noon until Tuesday morning, and all highways and railroads were blocked. Concord had never been so completely cut off from telegraphic communication with Boston and other cities in the State….The Northern [Rail] Road was completely snow-bound….Trains were at a stand-still all over the State….” (New York Times. “New England’s Hard Time,” March 16, 1888.)

New Jersey

March 14, NYT: “Trenton, March 14. – This city has been isolated from the world for 60 hours….There were this morning over 1,000 delayed passengers here. Every hotel has been overcrowded, and many of the snow-bound strangers were compelled to throw themselves on the hospitality of private citizens.

“For the first time in the history of the State there has been no session of the Legislature on account of a storm….

“No money and no work and depleted provisions have undoubtedly made a thousand people in this city suffer terribly. All business has been at a standstill….” (NYT. “Trenton Heard From; Much Suffering for Want of Food in New Jersey’s Capital,” 15 March 1888.)

March 15, NYT: “New-Brunswick, N.J., March 15. – The storm here has not been exceeded in 40 years. Great drifts of snow a dozen feet high blocked travel throughout the town, and business was entirely suspended. The public schools and factories were closed, and none of the public buildings were opened except the newspaper offices, and one of them – the Times – had some difficulty in getting out a paper, as all their compositors are girls. The city was shut off from all communication with the outside world.

“Henry Henrihan of Raritan Township left Milltown on Monday morning to go home. He was somewhat intoxicated at the time, and has not been heard of since. When the neighbors went to his house to inform Mrs. Henrihan of her husband’s probable death in a snowdrift they found the woman in bed dead from cold and hunger, and her children half starved and frozen.

“Boynton Bach, the cook of one of the schooners, froze to death in the rigging. He had gone aloft, and his disappearance was not noticed.

“John Thomas, a milkman of Piscataway, near Plainfield, started on Monday morning to his home, nearly six miles from town, and has not been heard of since….” (NYT. “Lost in Snowdrifts,” 16 March 1888.)

New York City:

Gunn: “New York City was shut down by the blizzard. Telegraph lines collapsed due to the weight of ice. Communication was knocked out internally, as well as the long distance lines from Boston to Philadelphia. Food and fuel were scarce. There was little refrigeration in 1888, so fresh food was brought into the city every day. Transportation of needed food supplies was impossible for several days. People wandered the streets searching for shops that might still have coal so they could hear their homes. About 35 inches of snow fell throughout New York City. Seven-foot drifts were common, and in many locations there were drifts of 30 feet or more that completely covered homes. In a few places, three-story buildings disappeared under snow. New York’s Central Park Observatory reported a minimum temperature of 6 [degrees] F and a maximum of 9 [degrees] F on March 13.” (Gunn, Angus. A Student Guide to Climate and Weather: Weather Extremes. 2009, 38-39.)

Hevesi: “…the blizzard of March 11, 1888 remains the most famous [blizzard to hit NYC]. That one blew into town late on a Sunday, after a balmy Saturday followed by heavy rain had set New York to thinking of the spring that seemed just around the corner. There was no hint of the snow that later dropped 20.9 inches in New York City and up to 50 inches farther north and east, or the 85-mile-an-hour gusts that fostered drifts towering up to 20 feet.

“About 200 people were found dead in the days and weeks following the storm, most of them frozen under mountainous snowbanks in the city, and an equal number were believed to have perished elsewhere. A hundred or more ships were wrecked.” (Hevesi. “The Blizzard of ’93…” NYT, March 14, 1993.)

History.com: “New York City ground to a near halt in the face of massive snow drifts and powerful winds from the storm….Despite drifts that reached the second story of some buildings, many city residents trudged out to New York’s elevated trains to go to work, only to find many of them blocked by snow drifts and unable to move. Up to 15,000 people were stranded on the elevated trains; in many areas, enterprising people with ladders offered to rescue the passengers for a small fee. In addition to the trains, telegraph lines, water mains and gas lines were also located above ground. Each was no match for the powerful blizzard, freezing and then becoming inaccessible to repair crews. Simply walking the streets was perilous. In fact, only 30 people out of 1,000 were able to make it to the New York Stock Exchange for work; Wall Street was forced to close for three straight days. There were also several instances of people collapsing in snow drifts and dying, including Senator Roscoe Conkling, New York’s Republican Party leader.

“Many New Yorkers camped out in hotel lobbies waiting for the worst of the blizzard to pass. Mark Twain was in New York at the time and was stranded at his hotel for several days. P.T. Barnum entertained some of the stranded at Madison Square Garden. The East River, running between Manhattan and Queens, froze over, an extremely rare occurrence. This inspired some brave souls to cross the river on foot, which proved a terrible mistake when the tides changed and broke up the ice, stranding the adventurers on ice floes. Overall, about 200 people were killed by the blizzard in New York City alone.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, March 11, 1888. Great Blizzard of `88.)

Keller: “…the legendary Blizzard of ’88. It is probable that no inhabitants of the area that is now New York, going all the way back to the Lenape Indians, ever had so hellacious an experience of winter as the New Yorkers of March 1888 did. It wasn’t so much the 21 inches of snow, a total surpassed not just last February but also on Dec. 26-27, 1947 (26.4 inches). It was more the winds gusting as high as 85 miles an hour and the single-digit temperatures, and of course the fact that the late-19th-century metropolis simply wasn’t sturdy enough to withstand the onslaught, the likes of which it could never have imagined….

“Written accounts of the Blizzard of ’88, which killed about 100 people in New York and 300 elsewhere, reveal a basic way in which people were different then. When New Yorkers woke up on the morning of Monday, March 12, and beheld what was clearly an awful and even dangerous day to go out — snow rapidly accumulating in big drifts, winds gusting at gale force, temperature in the low 20s and dropping — most of them seem not to have given much thought to staying home. They did not have radios, of course, and could not really have known how much worse things were going to get. Beyond that, though, job protection and workers’ benefits were essentially unheard of. People were afraid, and rightly so, that if they didn’t show up for work, they would lose not just a day’s pay but their livelihood. By that afternoon, New York had become virtually cut off from the rest of the world. The telephone, telegraph, electrical and fire alarm wires strung so precariously above the streets tumbled down. Service on the four elevated train lines was all but knocked out, stranding thousands.

“Horse-drawn streetcars ground to a halt in the snow and were abandoned, a blessing to the homeless and the lost who took refuge in them. Horses got stuck in the massive drifts and froze to death, only their heads visible above the drifts….” (Keller. “Long-Ago Snow,” New York Times, Dec 31, 2006.)

New York Times, 1895: “….In both this city [NY] and Brooklyn several persons died from exposure, and numerous injuries to others were reported. George D. Baremore, one of the best known men in the hop business in this city, was dug out of a big snowdrift in front of 826 Seventh Avenue. It was supposed that he had succumbed to the cold and the storm while on his way home. Five other persons died from exposure in this city on the day succeeding the blizzard. It was not until Wednesday afternoon that New-York began to recover from the effects of the blizzard. Tuesday’s experiences were like Monday’s. By Wednesday the city was in danger of a food famine. No milk was at hand, fish and eggs were scarce and commanded fancy prices, while meat was difficult to get up town, owing to the blockade of the streets in the vicinity of the markets and wholesale provision dealers.

“The commercial loss, the consequent loss, and the actually pecuniary outlay entailed by the blizzard in this city were variously estimated at from $10,000,000 to $15,000,000. It was fully a week before the city had entirely recovered from the effects of the storm and had regained its normal appearance.” (NYT. “The Big Blizzard of 1888,” Feb 10, 1895.)

Shepard: “The blizzard hit town early on Monday, March 10, after a balmy Saturday and drizzly Sunday that had set New York to thinking of the spring that seemed just around the corner. There was no hint of the snow that would pile up to a height – or depth -of almost 21 inches in 3 days, accompanied by winds that gusted to 85 miles an hour and caused drifts that towered to 20 feet. The subzero temperature brought ice from the Hudson into the normally warmer East River, and hundreds of people walked between Brooklyn and Manhattan.” (Shepard. “Recalling the Blizzard of 1888,” New York Times, Jan 14, 1988.)

Newspapers on New York City (at the time)

March 13, The World, NYC: “New York was visited yesterday by one of those storms which have heretofore been supposed to be peculiar to sections of the country much further west. New Yorkers have read of the blizzards which devastate the plains of Wyoming and Colorado and destructively sweep the meadows of Minnesota, but until yesterday it was believed that this city was by nature excepted from the possibility of such cruel visitations. It can no longer be denied, however, that New York has had a genuine Western blizzard, and this blizzard has accomplished what no blizzard ever did before. It has not, happily, occasioned so large a loss of life as has occurred through similar storms on the frontier, but the money loss which has been entailed by it is beyond the comprehension of people living in blizzard countries proper.

“The Sergeant in charge of the Signal Office reported this morning that sixteen inches of snow had fallen since the beginning of the blizzard, and the end had not yet come. A warm wave, he said, might be expected within two days, but the probabilities are that there will be but slight abatement in the storm today. The wind yesterday attained a velocity of forty-eight miles an hour, and the lowest temperature that had been reached in this city during the storm is 10 degrees above zero.

“It has been thus far the greatest storm that this section of the country has ever known. The one striking tragic feature was an accident on the elevated road, described in detail further on, but to thousands of the wage-workers of New York there was more of tragedy than comedy about the storm in all respects. For the first time in its history every elevated and surface road in the city was for a time effectually tied up. Telegraph and telephone wires were down, few trains arrived from any point, and when night came Broadway and many of the city’s street were left in darkness through the failure of the electric lights.

“The suffering and hardship which this condition of affairs was bound to occasion need be explained to no one. It was an almost unparalleled condition of affairs, as it was an almost unparalleled storm. The blizzard reached New York in two sections, one coming from the west and one from further south. The vortex was established in the Middle States, and New York has come in for the heavy share of the punishment.

“From midnight of Sunday [March 11] to midnight of Monday this blizzard completely paralyzed the life-blood of the city and turned its avocations into a by-word and a farce. Business stood still and millions of money were the damages….

“At 7 A.M. the wind was sprinting down from the northwest at forty miles an hour and the temperature was 24 degrees above zero….

“It [the blizzard] coated the telegraph wires with tons of ice, until they snapped beneath the strain and came curling down to plague the legs of horses and pedestrians. It coated the windows with curtains of snow, tore awnings to ribbons, and sent puffs of feathe4ry blizzard into every crack and crevice in door and window. It turned huge winrows of exasperation over the sidewalks and car tracks and banked vehicles in ever-changing but never lessening hummocks. Deeper and deeper every moment, but drifts soon put an estoppel upon traffic that was not to be denied. Loaded wagons stopped first, then the horse-cars, and finally steam succumbed; and the spindle-shanked railroads briefly called the ‘L’…

“…the mercury, which was 24 degrees at 7, was 16 degrees at 2 P.M. and going lower. Soon there was ice under foot….” (The World, NYC. “We Now Know. New York Has Felt Just What a Blizzard Really Is. The Most Terrible Snowstorm Ever Known Here.” 3-13-1888, p. 1.)

March 14, NYT: “Fortunately the deaths from exposure in Monday’s terrific storm were comparatively few – fewer in fact than there was good reason for supposing they would be. Of the dozen or more reported at the Coroners’ office yesterday most were in Coroner Levy’s district, and he was a busy man until long after nightfall. Many of the cases reported were of persons suffering from organic diseases, and in these the blizzard was responsible for hastening death rather than being the primary cause…. [Notes exposure death of George Baremore; Annie Halpin Fisher “found dead in the hallway…a short distance from her home” [no cause listed]; exposure death of Casper Wenzel’ “Thomas Sullivan, a man of 70…early yesterday started to walk from his home, 50 Madison-street, to the Park. On reaching his destination he was exhausted, and shortly after expired [over-exertion]…” [Total noted here comes to four.] (NYT. “Deaths and Accidents. Some Fatalities…, March 14, 1888.)

March 15: “….The blizzard has disappeared beyond the bounds of the eastern horizon. The railroads begin to show signs of breaking the blockage. The local transportation lines are improving their condition. The telegraph and telephone wires are being repaired. The snow is fast disappearing. Food prospects are hourly brightening, as a result of an improved outlook for transportation facilities.

“The barometrical prospect, too, is cheering. Sergt. Dunn, in charge of the local signal service station, told a World reporter last evening that the indications pointed to either rain or snow, with the percentage in favor of the former….The temperature at 8 P.M. was 38 and it has not moderated much since….

“Communication with the outside world has been partially suspended for three days, and so great was the demand for news that The World was called upon to break the blockade through the agency of its snow-shoe brigade, the result whereof will be found elsewhere. Now, however, the prospects for communication are improving. The Pennsylvania Company started the first mail train for Philadelphia yesterday, and today the Post Office officials hope to get more mails out. The only mails in since Sunday up to last night were one pouch received from the Harlem road, seven from the Pennsylvania road, and one each from Newark and Easton, but more were expected during the night from the Pennsylvania road…..There is no prospect of any New England mails getting in for a day or two at least….

“The telegraph service is also improving, but will not entirely recover from the effects of the storm in less than a week….

“The elevated roads are all running as usual, and find no difficulty carrying all passengers. The surface roads are not running any through cars, although several of them are running short distances….Today probably all or nearly all of the surface lines will be running, and several of them have good prospects of reaching the extremes of their lines.

“The streets in every section of the city are still piled many feet high with snow which has been divided up into thousands of separate mounds by the road and foot ways carved through them, and in many places the banks are so high as to obscure the pedestrian’s views of objects beyond. Some of the streets have been partially cleared of snow, and the sidewalks have, as a rule, been freed, thus enabling pedestrians to move about more readily, but the snow turned to slush very fast yesterday and provided another grievance for those compelled to walk….

“Only one vessel was being loaded and one unloaded in the East River, and about the same state of affairs existed along the Hudson….” (The World, NYC. “Resurgam! New York Emerging From Its Snow-bound Isolation.” 3-15-1888, p. 1.)

March 16: “Under the azure of an almost Italian sky, and with the ground-hog’s gloriously predicted sun blazing away wrathfully from dawn to dusk, New York made much progress yesterday in the good work of recovering from and forgetting the late unpleasantness….

“Many of the streets had not been broken by a wheel since Monday.. Hummocks and hills and valleys and plains of snow lay just as the wind had blown it, save for the added heaps shoveled from sidewalk and area. In some of the cross streets monster drifts uprose to twice a man’s height, and it will be long before the sun finds the cobble-stones beneath them….” (The World, NYC. “The City Thawing Out…All Danger of a Famine Past….” 3-16-1888, p. 1.)

March 30, Hornellsville Weekly Tribune, NY: “New York has been visited by the deadly blizzard and will not soon forget it. The vast machinery of the great city was stopped short by the storm, and the consequent financial loss was enormous. There was much suffering too, and some loss of life, but the prevailing sentiment appears to be that the period during which the metropolis was snowed in was one great playtime. Of course other parts of the eastern portion of the United States suffered too, and as severely in some places as New York, but there it was the greatest novelty. One metropolitan ambassador sends us the following, written after the city had to some extent thrown off her robe of snow.

The blizzard was not so fierce as those which sweep over the northwest section of the country, but sweeping down as it did on the thickly populated district it did immense damage. The streets of New York are, comparatively speaking, narrow. The snow came down and virtually filled them. Horse cars which had started on their routes were stopped and abandoned by their drivers. The snow piled up around them and they presented a picture of absolute desolation. Elevated trains got stuck between stations and kept their inmates imprisoned for hours. They laughed and joked and made the best of it. Men with an eye for business got ladders and charged all the way from ten to fifty cents to let the passengers down to the street below….One man who was the owner of a skiff harnessed a horse to it and drove about selling coal. The boys called his craft the “Mayflower.”….

(Hornellsville Weekly Tribune, NY. “New York in a Blizzard,” March 30, 1888, p. 1.)

Pennsylvania

Independence Hall Association of Pennsylvania: “March 11. Commencement of stormy season known as the blizzard. The morning was cloudy. Light rain commenced at 3 P. M. and very heavy rain at 10 P. M. At 11 P. M. the rain changed to snow, and the wind, steadily increasing in violence, soon blew a full gale.

“The 12th of March came in with heavy snowfall and a violent gale, the wind reaching 46 miles an hour and with frequent terrific squalls. Direction of the wind due North; temperature at 15 degrees. During the morning the temperature continued to fall and the wind to rise, but the fall of snow was checked. Owing to the high wind, which attained a velocity at times of 60 miles an hour, the loose snow was blown into enormous drifts. Streets and roads became impassable, all railroad trains were blocked, telegraphic communication was cut off, and a great amount of damage was done by the blowing down of trees and telegraph poles. Chimneys, roofs and other portions of buildings were also damaged in many parts of the city. At noon on the 12th the snow ceased, but the high wins continued all that day and the next.

“The greatest difficulty was experienced outside the city in getting communication in any way. The roads and railway-cuttings were drifted full of snow, through which neither carriages nor trains were able to proceed. Many trains were snowed in and either abandoned or lost in the drifts. The first train to reach the city from New York left the latter place on Monday at 6 A. M., and reached Philadelphia on Thursday at 5 P. M.; the first train from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh reached there on the 15th. There was no telegraphic communication in any direction except to Harrisburg through Norristown and Reading. The long-distance telephone to New York, however, acted admirably throughout the crisis. Business on the 12th was almost entirely suspended; the schools, courts and many places of amusement were closed.

“On the Delaware River and on the coast, especially at the Breakwater, the injury to shipping was very great, especially at the Breakwater, the injury to shipping was very great, over thirty vessels being sunk or stranded, and several of the seamen being drowned.

“On the 13th the blizzard continued, although traveling was to some extent renewed. High winds continued and the temperature was very low, ranging from 8 degrees minimum to 15 degrees maximum. The force of the wind showed a velocity of 47 miles an hour. The wind gradually subsided, and on the 14th the snow began to melt; but several days elapsed before the interrupted travel could be resumed, and the snow lay in sheltered places for several weeks.” (Independence Hall Assoc. in Philadelphia. “Philadelphia Timeline, 1888.”)

March 13, NYT: “Philadelphia, March 13. – Not a train has arrived or departed for New-York since Monday at 8 A.M….There is no telegraphic communication north or east or to Atlantic City or Cape May….The storm is still raging at 19 o’clock to-night….The high winds which prevailed all of yesterday and to-day did considerable damage. Roofs were blown off, trees were uprooted, show-windows were smashed, and the destruction on the river from was great. Numerous deaths were reported by the police caused by freezing.” (NYT. “The Storm Along the Coast. Philadelphia’s Terrible Condition, Several Persons Frozen,” March 14, 1888.)

March 15: “Easton, March 15. There has been no let-up to the blizzard since Sunday night and the snow drifts continue to increase. Engines trying to wade through the drifts have been ditched or are lying across the tracks….Andres Knaussear, a freight brakeman, died Tuesday morning from exposure while signaling a train….” (Dunkirk Observer, NY. “The Storm in PA,” 3-16-1888, 1)

March 15: “Emmaus, March 15. – Peter Jacoby was snowed in on his way from Allentown and overcome by the cold and perished. His body was found yesterday sticking out of a snow-drift, having been exposed by the thaw.” (Dunkirk Observer, NY. “The Storm in Penn.,” 3-16-1888, 1.)

March 16, Dunkirk Observer, NY: “Allentown, Pa., March 16 – A fatal accident occurred at Three Bridges on the New Jersey Central railroad yesterday morning. While five Lehigh Valley engines were trying to push a snow plow through a drift, they collided with a snow-bound train. Theo. Alton, John Ballman, and Fireman F. Derr were killed and half a dozen other persons injured. Richard [unclear], a passenger train brakeman on the Lehigh Valley road, has been missing since Saturday night. He was sent out to flag a train and is supposed to have perished in the storm…” (Dunkirk Observer, NY. “Three Men Killed in a Collision,” Mar 16, 1888, p. 1.)

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— 30 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

— 40 Philadelphia Record Almanac 1889. “General and Local Events, February, 1888,” p.92.
— ~40 Reno Evening Gazette, NV. “A Fearful Explosion,” Feb 28, 1888, p. 2, col. 2.
–30-40 Indian Journal, Eufaula, OK. “Disastrous Explosion,” March 1, 1888, p. 3, col. 1.
–30-40 Logansport Daily Journal, IN. “The Ferry-Boat Horror,” Feb 29, 1888, p. 4, col. 2.
–30-40 NYT. “A Ferryboat Blown Up. Between Thirty and Forty Lives…Lost.” 2-28-1888, p.1.
— ~36 Napa Weekly Journal, CA. “An Awful Disaster…Steamer Julia Blown Up…” 3-1-1888, p. 3.
–16 dead
–20 missing
— ~31 Sacramento Daily Record-Union, CA. “Victims of the Explosion.” 2-29-1888, p. 1, c.3.
–17 bodies recovered
–12 missing
— 2 died of injuries day of publication.
— 30 Bowen, Jerry. “Julia destroyed the Vallejo waterfront.” 3-3-2002. Solanoarticles.com
— 30 Oakland Tribune. “Shipwreck One of Worst Since Janeiro’s Loss…” 8-30-1929, D3.
— >30 Sacramento Daily Record-Union. “Latest Developments…Vallejo Disaster.” 3-3-1888, 1.
— 30 Southern Pacific RR Co. in Apr 3 petition to U.S. District Court to limit its liability.
— 30 Supervising Inspector-Gen. of Steam-Vessels (U.S.). Annual Report…[FY] 1888. P. 11.
— 30 Twaintimes, 1888. “Steamboat Julia Explodes and Burns as She Docks.”
— 30 US Life-Saving Service. Annual Report…Ending FY June 30, 1888. 1889, p. 442.
— >29 Blanchard compilation of identified deaths listing.*
— 29 Los Angeles Herald. “A Doleful Day.” 3-1-1888, p. 5, col. 3. (Article dated Feb 29.)
— 29 Morning Press, Santa Barbara. “The Funeral…Victims…Julia’s Explosion…” 3-1-1888, p. 1.
–28-29 Sacramento Daily Record-Union. “The Vallejo Disaster. Recovery…Two More…” 3-6-1888, 2.
— 18 recovered bodies
–1 [another body was reported found in LA Herald, March 7, p. 1.]
–1 [body of Timothy Hurley recovered March 23 “floating along the waterfront.”
— 2 deaths from injuries
–1 [following this report, George Woods died from burn injuries on March 23.]
— 8-9 missing
— 25 Lebanon Express, OR. “Telegraphic.” 3-9-1888, p. 1, c. 3. (Outright and injury deaths.)
— 24 Sacramento Daily Record-Union, CA. “The Julia Disaster.” 2-29-1888, p. 1, col. 3.
— 23 Annual Statistician and Economist 1892. L. P. McCarty, 1892. Vol. 16, p. 55.
— 20 Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Record of the Year,” Dec 31, 1888, p. 3.
— >16 Morning Oregonian, Portland. “The Vallejo Disaster,” March 3, 1888, p. 1, col. 6.
— >15 Emmet County Republican, Estherville, IA. “The Vallejo Disaster,” March 8, 1888, p2.
— 7 Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. “Steamer Blown Up,” Feb 27, 1888, p. 1, col. 3.

* Blanchard estimated death toll. We choose to accept the estimates of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels, as well as others, of thirty deaths. Our own attempt to compile a listing of named fatalities produces at least twenty-eight deaths, and possibly twenty-nine if two seemingly similar names are indeed two separate people.

It is possible that there were more than thirty deaths, as several sources note, but all such sources include a large number of supposedly missing persons, most of whom we have not been able to confirm (we have looked through over two hundred newspapers.) Additionally most of the reports noting the possibility of more than thirty deaths do so by noting a range of thirty to forty deaths. It was originally feared that upwards of forty people died, but we have not been able to substantiate.

* Blanchard compilation of named fatalities. Given the range of deaths reported in the sources cited here, we attempted to compile a listing of names of individuals noted in the press at the time as dead or missing [posted at the end of the Newspaper section below]. From this attempt we are of the opinion that there were at least twenty-eight or twenty- nine identified deaths (there is some possibility of double counting of Madison and Matthieson).

We have not included in this number five people identified as missing, but concerning whom we found no subsequent reporting.

Similarly we do not include three people whom we speculate are double listings due to the different spellings of names.

Narrative Information

Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels (U.S.): “February 27, 1888. – The ferry-steamer Julia exploded her boiler at South Vallejo, Cal., whereby twenty-eight of her passengers and two of her crew were either killed or fatally injured. The cause of this disaster was supposed to be the use of petroleum fuel on said steamer.” (Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels…for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1888. 10-30-1888, p. 11.)

Newspapers

Feb 27: “South Vallejo, Cal., Feb 27.—The steamer Julia was blown up this morning and burned to the water’s edge. Over fifty persons were on board at the time and it is now known that seven were killed and many wounded. The Julia was a ferry steamer plying between Vallejo junction and South Vallejo.” (Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. “Steamer Blown Up,” Feb 27, 1888, p. 1, col. 3.)

Feb 27: “Vallejo, Feb. 27.—This morning there happened the most terrible fatality in the history of Vallejo. About ten minutes after six o’clock, just alter the whistle had blown to signalize the departure of the steamer Julia from the South Vallejo wharf on her first trip, and before she had got loose from her moorings, a terrible explosion occurred, racking the vessel through its whole extent and filling the air with thick volumes of smoke.

“The early trip takes all the workmen living on the Vallejo side to their work in various industries on the Contra Costa side; also those going to San Francisco, consequently a great many passengers were on board. The morning being cool, most of them had gathered about the warm smokestack in the lower cabin, and as the explosion came from the boiler these men were directly exposed to a terrible shock. Besides this, the petroleum used for fuel was scattered through the steamer, setting it on fire….

“The burning steamer set fire to the wharf, and for hours the flames held sway until the boat, was burned to the water’s edge. As far as can be learned, eight or ten are killed or missing, and many badly injured.

“WORST THAN AT FIRST REPORTED.

“The steamer blew up at 6:10 this morning, and the loss of life is very heavy. It is believed by many that fully forty people were killed, but nothing definite will be ascertained for several days. Those who are well informed say that there were sixty-seven people on board at the time of the accident, and only twenty-seven can be accounted for. The steamer used petroleum for fuel, and the dreadful disaster was due to the explosion of one of the petroleum vats. The steamer was just leaving her moorings at South Vallejo, where the explosion occurred, and a few minutes after she sank into the mud. The water now covers her upper deck, and all that can be seen of her is the flagstaffs. The wharf caught fire and it still burning, and the telegraph office is destroyed.

“When the news of the disaster reached North Vallejo the fire department turned out, but was unable to do anything towards saving the wharf. The Starr flouring mills were also threatened with destruction, but luckily escaped. There was no water to combat the fire, and as the tide was out at the time, the engines were unable to go to work. Over six hundred feet of wharf was destroyed before the fire was got under control.

“ANOTHER ACCOUNT.

“The steamer Julia left Georgia street wharf at six o’clock this morning, and touched at South Vallejo wharf about ten minutes later. There were nearly seventy people on board, when she left her mooring, and many of them were going to work across the strait in the lumber yards around Vallejo junction. Just as the deckhands were hauling in the lines there was a loud explosion and a sheet of flame shot high into the Air. Those who were on deck at the time were hurled overboard by the force of the explosion and several of them were killed outright by being struck by pieces of the debris, which were sent flying in all directions….The men on the wharf were anxious to aid, but there seemed to be but little for them to do, as most of the passengers were below decks at the time of the explosion, and were either killed outright or drowned when the water poured in on them. It had been customary for the passengers to go below decks in the morning, as it was cold and foggy, and this accounts for the fearful loss of life. The few who were on deck and were not rendered insensible by force of the shock, were quickly assisted ashore by men on the wharf.

“AN AGONIZING SCENE.

“To add to the intensity of the dreadfully agonizing scene, the large vats of petroleum stored on the wharf for replenishing the steamer tanks caught fire, and the flames spread rapidly towards the Starr flouring mills, situated at the end of the wharf. An alarm was sent to North Vallejo, and in a short time the fire companies were on hand, but they were unable to accomplish anything, as there was no water. Fifteen minutes after the explosion, about six hundred feet of the wharf, a freight depot and the telegraph office were burning. The firemen tried to get water from the edge of the wharf, but the tide was too far out and they could do nothing to save the property. When the tide came in they managed to get a supply.” (Reno Evening Gazette, NV. “A Fearful Explosion,” Feb 28, 1888, p. 2, col. 2.)

Feb 27: “ A Ferryboat Blown Up. Between Thirty and Forty Lives Known To Be Lost.”

“Vallejo, Cal., Feb. 27. — A disastrous explosion occurred this morning at South Vallejo, on the ferry steamer Julia, plying between South Vallejo and Vallejo station. The steamer was about to leave her moorings a few minutes after 6 o’clock, and had about 70 persons on board, many of whom were going across the strait [Carquinez] to work on the lumber yards on the other side…

“It is believed that between 30 and 40 lives were lost. Up to a late hour this afternoon 12 bodies had been recovered, two of which were burned beyond recognition. The names of the other 10 victims are as follows: [we break paragraph into separate lines for the victims]

Melvin Hodgkins,
Joseph Fragas,
William Saman,
Olef Nelson,
Alfred Madison,
Michael Branley,
John Brevick,
William Stark,
Edward Rule, and a
man named Higgins.

“The names of probably less than half of the passengers who were on the steamer at the time of the explosion are known, which makes it impossible to tell how many sunk with the wreck, but at least 15 who are known to have been on the steamer are still missing.

“Capt. Gedge of the Julia was severely injured, as was also Charles Heath, the pilot. Twelve others were also very severely injured.

“The record of the Julia is a bad one, and this is not the first terrible accident on the steamer. In September, 1866, the head of her boiler blew out, instantly killing nine of the crew and scalding the clerk and another officer of the boat so badly that they lingered alive for only a few days. The cause of the disaster to-day is not known, though it is generally believed that the explosion occurred in the boiler; but the impression also prevailed that the fire was in some way communicated to the petroleum tank and that the explosion occurred in that quarter. The steamer burned petroleum for fuel.

“Vallejo is 20 miles up the bay from San Francisco.” (New York Times. “A Ferryboat Blown Up. Between Thirty and Forty Lives Known To Be Lost.” 2-28-1888, p.1.)

Feb 28: “Vallejo, Cal., Feb. 28. – Yesterday morning at South Vallejo the ferry steamer Julia, plying between South Vallejo and Vallejo Station, was about to leave her moorings a few minutes after six o’clock, having about seventy persons on board, many of whom were going across the strait to work in the lumber yards on the other side, when just as the deck hands were hauling in the lines, there was a loud explosion and a sheet of flame shot into the air. Those who were on deck at the time were hurled overboard by the force of the explosion and several of them were killed outright by being struck by pieces of the debris, which were sent flying in all directions….

“The men on the wharf were anxious to aid, but there seemed to be but little for them to do as most of the passengers were below the deck at the time of the explosion and were either killed outright or drowned when the water poured in on them….

“To add to the intensity of the scene large vats of petroleum stored on the wharf caught fire and the flames spread rapidly. The fire companies were unable to accomplish anything, as there was no water, owing to the tide being out, and fifteen minutes after the explosion about 600 feet of the wharf, the freight depot and the telegraph offices were burning….

“Soon after the explosion occurred the steamer had burned to the water’s edge and sank to the bottom with a great number of victims buried under the debris in the cabin. It is believed that between thirty and forty lives were lost, and up to a late hour last evening ten bodies had been recovered, two of which were burned beyond recognition…..at least fifteen who are known to have been on the schooner are still missing….

“The cause of the disaster yesterday is not known, though it is generally believed that the explosion occurred in the boiler, but the impression also prevailed that fire was in some way communicated to the petroleum tank, and that the explosion occurred in that quarter. The steamer burned petroleum for fuel….” (Indian Journal, Eufaula, OK. “Disastrous Explosion,” 3-1-1888, p.3, c.1.)

Feb 29: “The Funeral. The Victims of the Julia’s Explosion Buried at Vallejo.”

“Vallejo, Feb. 29.—The funeral of seven of the victims of Monday’s explosion occurred to-day. The flags of the city are at half-mast and business places and schools are closed. A feeling of gloom seems to hang over the entire community. Church bells tolled throughout the day and funeral processions wended their way to the cemeteries. Those buried to-day were William Connolly, Michael Branlay, John Brandon, M. G. Hodgkins, Albert Matthieson, Joseph Fragas and T. C. Stark. Michael Lunney , who was injured in the explosion, died this morning. The total number of killed and missing is now placed at twenty-nine.

“One of the Julia’s bursted boilers was brought to the surface to-day and was viewed by a great number of people. One more body was recovered to-day, that of William Andrews, a lumberman. He left a wife and daughter. Two victims of the explosion died to-day, Michael Looney and Jeremiah Wind.” (The Morning Press, Santa Barbara, CA. “The Funeral. The Victims of the Julia’s Explosion Buried at Vallejo.” 3-1-1888, p. 1, col. 2.)

March 1: “Vallejo, Cal., March 1.—Eight of the men killed by the steamer Julia explosion Monday had wives and families, and five more were single….The list of unrecovered bodies is now thought to number eleven. It is supposed that, exclusive of the crew, there were fifty-two passengers on board, making sixty-three in all, and not a single one escaped without injuries more or less serious.

“No more bodies were recovered this morning. Fifteen had been recovered at a late hour last night. It is believed between fifteen and twenty more bodies will be found in the wreck when the steamer is raised.” (Emmet County Republican, Estherville, IA. “The Vallejo Disaster,” 3-8-1888, p. 2.)

March 1: “Vallejo, March 1,–The coroner’s jury investigating the causes of the explosion on the steamer Julia visited the wharf this afternoon and viewed the burst boiler, which has been recovered from the wreck. On their return Chief Engineer Kat [?unclear] U.S.N., was called and testified. He believed the boiler was ruptured by the front tube heads pulling out, throwing the whole pressure on the back tube, sheet and shell of the boiler, causing it to be burst at its weakest point.

“The tubes getting away from the tube heads was due to two causes, viz intense heat when the fires are lighted causes expansion, when the fire is shut off the reduction of the aperture causes contraction, and is apt to cause leakage. Then, if the tubes are put in with an expander when they leak it re-expands them. Repeated use of this makes the end of the tube thin. If one tube [bleeds?] the pressure it had been sustaining is put on the nearest tube. The fact that but six tubes are remaining in the front tube head shows that the others pulled out and are gone….” (Morning Oregonian, Portland. “The Wreck of the Julia.” March 2, 1888, p. 1, col. 5.)

March 2: “Vallejo, March 2—It is now known that there were sixteen widows and forty orphans made by the explosion of the ferryboat Julia.” (Morning Oregonian, Portland. “The Vallejo Disaster,” March 3, 1888, p. 1, col. 6.)

March 2: “Latest Developments in the Vallejo Disaster.”

“Death of Two More Victims – Fifteen Persons Are Still Missing.”

“Vallejo, March 2d. – Several more of the victims of the Julia explosion were buried to-day, and the general gloom that has hung over the town since the accident has only partially abated….The latest developments tend to confirm the worst fears regarding the large loss of life. It seems clear that the deaths will aggregate at least thirty. At 11 o’clock to-day sixteen bodies in all had been recovered and two of the injured men had died.

Bodies In The Wreck.

“The divers who went down among the wreckage on the sunken vessel saw several bodies there, but they were held so fast in the broken timbres that they cannot be released. The number of missing, at the lowest estimate, is fifteen.

“The wrecking steamer Whitelaw has been moored by the wreck since Monday, with a large force of men on board busily at work. Up to noon to-day, besides barious small portions of the wreck, they had brought to the surface and landed on the wharf the greater part of the two engines, fragments of the exploded boiler and one of the large paddle-wheels. The plan is now to take out the other paddle-wheel, and then the wreck, being lightened, will undoubtedly float, and the bodies confined may easily be taken away…..

“According to the most reliable information that may be obtained, there were forty-six passengers on the Julia when the explosion occurred, besides nine men employed on her. Of the forty-six, eleven came aboard at Vallejo and thirty-five at South Vallejo [there were also wharf stevedores killed and injured]…..

Two More Bodies Recovered.

“Vallejo, March 2d. – The body of John Papovich, a fisherman, aged thirty, unmarried, was recovered from the wreck this morning. He had been working at Selby’s Smelting Works. This makes eighteen bodies recovered.

“Later – The body of King Clark, the Porter of the steamer Julia, was found this afternoon….” (Sacramento Daily Record-Union. “Latest Developments in the Vallejo Disaster.” 3-3-1888, p. 1.)

March 5: “The Julia Disaster.”

“Another of the Victims Brought to the Surface.”

“Vallejo, March 5. – The body of Michael Dolan, one of the victims of the explosion, was found yesterday with many bones broken. The railroad authorities have permission to use the Mare Island sectional docks, and it is thought that the Julia will be put on tomorrow, the main object being to clean the mud out and secure the bodies therein. Several pieces from the exploded boilers were cut out for testing today. The result is not yet known.” (Los Angeles Daily Herald, CA. “The Julia Disaster.” 3-6-1888, p. 3, col. 2.)

March 7: “The Julia Disaster.”

“Funds Needed for the Families of the Victims.”

“Vallejo, March 7. – The idea of docking the hull of the steamer Julia has been given up. This evening it was towed to a point below Starr’s flouring mill to be beached at high tide. The body of another victim, burned and mutilated beyond recognition was found in the mud at the place of the explosion yesterday afternoon. This leaves six bodies yet to be recovered. The Board of City Trustees is taking steps to have the condition of the widows and orphans made know to the charitable people of the State. An entertainment for the benefit of the distresses will be given in this city…” (Los Angeles Daily Herald, CA. “The Julia Disaster.” 3-8-1888, p. 1, col. 3.)

March 29: “The Julia Disaster. Verdict of the Coroner’s Jury on the Cause of the Explosion.”

“South Vallejo, March 29th.— Following is the verdict of the Coroner’s jury into the cause of the Julia disaster:

‘We, the undersigned jurors, impaneled to investigate the causes which led to the death of the following named persons, Michael Branley, age 37; Michael Higgins, 38; Albert Madison, 43; Joseph Fratas, 45; B. Lamar, 27: M. G. Hodgkins, 36; Edward Rule, 20 ; John Breverick, 33; Theodore Stark, 40; John Brandon, 38; Olof Nelson. 23; William Connelly, 45; Timothy Kane, 37; James Rule, 33, William Andrew, 47; John Papavich, 31, King Clark, 30; E. M. McDonald, 68; Michael Dolan, 45; Henry Peterson, 35, and Timothy Hurley, 40, respectfully submit the following as our verdict:

‘We find that they came to their death on the morning of the 27th day of February, 1838, caused by an explosion of the boilers on board of the steam ferryboat Julia, while lying at her berth in South Vallejo. We believe that the cause of the explosion was: First, that the boiler was not sufficiently strong to carry one hundred and ten pounds of steam per square inch of surface. We believe that boilers intended for the use of fluid fuel should be differently constructed and of a different type to those used on board of the Julia. We further believe that, while we are not prepared to say that the use of fluid for fuel was the primary cause of the explosion, we do believe that it added largely to the loss of life after the explosion had occurred, by instantaneously enveloping the whole of the central or midship part of the boat in flames, thereby preventing the escape of those who were unfortunate enough to be in that part of the boat, or allowing of any effort from the outside to save them from death.

‘We believe that those who were responsible for the employment of the fireman employed did not use proper care in the selection of one to fire with liquid fuel; for we believe that the one who was on duty at the time of the explosion was not fully qualified for the position.

‘We further believe that the United States Local Inspector of Boilers was careless and negligent in the discharge of his duties in not making himself familiar with the thickness and quality of the iron from which the boilers of the Julia were constructed. We condemn the habit of giving a certificate of thickness of metal greater than it really is. We need go no further than his own testimony, given before this jury on Wednesday evening, March 21st. when, in answer to a question from a juror, he stated that had he known the real thickness of the iron in the boilers he would not have given a certificate allowing a pressure of 110 pounds per square inch. We further believe that petroleum is a dangerous compound when used as a liquid fuel, and we believe that its use should be prohibited by law on all steam passenger or ferryboats.

[signed] Thomas W. Hackett, Foreman ; William Torney, Secretary; F. Deininger, M. Carroll, William Halford, J. Q. Gazelle, George J. Campbell, D. G. Barnes, A. D. Stockford, A. W. Starr, H. A. Wells, Edward Perry, Thomas Kiernan, Conrad Solano.’”

(Daily Alta California, San Francisco. “The Julia Disaster.” 3-30-1888, p. 5, col. 4.)

Julia Boiler Explosion and Fire Fatalities, as Noted by Sources Cited Herein:

Alexander, R.C.; reported as missing or killed. (Sacramento Daily Record-Union. 2-28-1888, p.1.)
1. Andrews, William, 47, lumberman; died on Feb 27; also reported as William Anderson.
2. Ashley, Frederick. First listed as missing, and then “among the killed.”
3. Branley, Michael, 37; died on Feb 27; lumberyard laborer; “burned beyond recognition.”
4. Brandon, John, 38; died on Feb 27; a laborer.
5. Breverick (or Brevick or Braverick or Braveric ), John, 33; died Feb 27; lumberyard worker.
Cain, Timothy (see Kane).
6. Clark, King, 30; died on Feb 27; porter on the Julia.
Champion, John; reported missing. Sacramento…Record Union. “Vallejo’s Day…” 3-1-1888, p.4.
Compton, John; reported as missing. (Sacramento Daily Record-Union. 2-28-1888, p.1.)
7. Connolly, William, 45 (or 52); died on Feb 27; laborer, leaving wife and two children.
8. Dolan, Michael, 45; died on Feb 27; body recovered March 4.
9. Fratus (or Fragas or Tracas ), Joseph, 45 or 50 ; died on Feb 27. Assistant Julia pilot.
Hamer, W. (Sacramento Daily Record-Union. “Latest Concerning…Victims.” 2-28-1888, p1.)
10. Harley (or Hurley), Tim (Sacramento Daily Record-Union. 2-28-1888, p.1.) Body found Mar 23.
11. Higgins, Michael, 38; died on Feb 27; worked at smelting works; left wife, 2 children.
12. Hodgkins, Melvin G., 26; died on Feb 27; was a clerk for the Port Costa Lumber Co.
13. Hurley, Timothy, 40; died on Feb 27.
James, Albert; missing as of Feb 29. Sacramento…Record Union. “Vallejo’s Day…” 3-1-1888, p.4.
14. Kane, Timothy, 37; died on Feb 27.
15. Lamar (or Lemare or Walter Lemore ), B., 27; died on Feb 27; shipping clerk.
16. Lunney (or Looney), Michael (died Feb 29 from injuries)
17. Madison, Alfred (or Albert or Peter?), 38; died on Feb 27; a stevedore?
18. Matthieson, Albert (could be misspelling of Madison, and thus double counting); 43.
19. McDonald, E. M., 68; died on Feb 27.
20. McDowell, James; first listed as missing, and then “among the killed.”
21. Nelson (or Oleson or Nielson ), Olef (Olof?), 23 (or 28 ); died Feb 27; fisherman.
Oliver, William (Sacramento…Record-Union, CA. “The Julia Disaster.” 2-29-1888, 1.)
22. Olives (or Olwas), Manuel, section hand, “taken off alive…died from his injuries.”
23. Papavich (or Papovich) , John, 31 (or 30 ); died on Feb 27.
24. Peterson, Henry, 35; died on Feb 27; fireman on the Julia.
25. Rule, Edward, 20; died on Feb 27; apprentice molder, single.
26. Rule, James, 33; died on Feb 27; body found with grappling-hooks March 1.
Saman, William. [?] Have not seen subsequent reporting confirming this death.
27. Stark, William (or Theodore C.), 40; died on Feb 27; machinist, 44, married.
Williams, Joseph; reported as missing. (Sacramento Daily Record-Union. “2-28-1888, p.1.)
28. Wind, Jeremiah (or Jerry Wynn ); died Feb 29 from injuries. A millhand.
29. Woods, George. Died from steam-burn injuries March 23.

Sources

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Spokane Falls Review, WA. “The Wrecked Ferry.” 3-1-1888, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 1-31-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/spokane-falls-review-mar-01-1888-p-1/

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, 1888 (Treasury Department Document No. 1156, Steam-boat Inspection, dated 10-30-1888). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1888. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu09189980&view=1up&seq=169&q1

The Morning Press, Santa Barbara, CA. “The Funeral. The Victims of the Julia’s Explosion Buried at Vallejo.” 3-1-1888, p. 1, col. 2. Accessed 1-31-2021 at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MP18880301.2.4&e=——-en–20–1–txt-txIN——–1

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 [Link no longer operational.]

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1888 (Treasury Department Document No. 1228). Washington: GPO, 1889. Google Digitized. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=I3oDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=true

–22-23 Lloyd. “This Nest of Dangers: Fog…” Chinook Observer, Long Beach, WA. 7-10-2018.
— 22 Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba. “Only Three Saved….British Ship Abercorn…” 2-11-1888.
–16 bodies recovered
— 6 bodies missing, presumed drowned.

Narrative Information

Lloyd: “The ship was the Abercorn, bound from England for Portland, Oregon, full of iron rails for a regional railroad. Only a few years old, Glasgow-built of iron, she was a solid vessel, and not small. Her gross tonnage was 1,341, her length 238-1/2 feet, her width 36 feet, and her depth 21 feet.

“Arriving off the mouth of the Columbia River the first of February 1888, she took aboard a bar pilot; a strong gale and heavy seas were at work so the pilot directed the vessel out to sea to await improved conditions.

“The Davidson Current runs north between Baja California and approximately the 48th parallel (offshore of the Olympic Peninsula in northern Washington state). It is an unexpected counter-current, flowing inshore of the southbound California current, hugging the coast and flowing at the surface during winter months.

“Fifty-three year old sailor Angus McLeod told a February 1888 edition of The Daily Astorian [Astoria, OR] how it went:

Two days after taking pilot aboard [we] held down to the south and west, trying to keep to windward of the port; [the] lead [a weighted line with differing knots at regular intervals to indicate how much line was out] was hove [dropped into the sea to measure how much water was under the keel] first Friday, January 27th between 7 and 8 p.m.; found thirty fathom [depth]; took sounding next morning 8:30; no bottom at fifty fathoms;

[A]t 4 a.m. January 30th vessel was being steered by the wind, making a course of southeast half east; … at five that morning … the vessel … was going through the water at about four knots an hour; the wind was S.S.W.; [we] heard [an] order to get lead ready to sound and went into mizzen rigging; just then the vessel struck. …

“When the ship hit sand, bar pilot Charles F. Johnson was thinking they were off the Columbia Bar, in deep water; they were actually west of Aberdeen, in shallow water, two peninsulas north of the entrance to the Columbia River.

“Survivor McLeod continued:

The sea began breaking over the stern; the port boat was got ready but the seas broke all four boats; the ship struck at nearly low water; and [by] eleven [at] nearly high water the fore and main masts went by the board, falling seaward and breaking the deck.

[T]hen a big sea carried off the pilot, the second mate, two men and two boys. The rest of the crew took to the mizzen rigging … the men all thought the mizzen mast would fall to starboard but it fell to port and took all the men with it, tangling them in the running rigging and shrouds, holding them down and drowning them.

“The three saved [Rankin, McLeod, and cabin boy Aitkin] made out by the help of the two Indians, Tony and Sam, to get to shore. … They [the survivors] say that at no time did they see the slightest sign of intoxication on the part of anyone on board the vessel. Their belief is that the vessel was lost because soundings were not taken at the time the watches were changed at four o’clock in the morning, when the second mate’s watch came on deck.

“Feb. 16 of the same year, The Daily Astorian added, ‘The loss of the Abercorn indicated another source of danger to those vessels which keep in close along shore, and are ignorant, says [George] Davidson [of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey], of the eddy current which sets northward, with a breadth of one to 15 miles, and which is particularly marked north of the Columbia river. … The pilot of the Abercorn supposed the vessel was off the Columbia, but in fourteen days [of waiting out the fog, to enter the River] the current had set him about fifty-five nautical miles to the northward.…’

“Twenty-two or 23 men died in the wreck. Without Tony and Sam, it is probable that the three survivors would also have died….” (Lloyd, Nancy. “This Nest of Dangers: Fog, the Davidson inshore current, and those who live ashore…” Chinook Observer, Long Beach, WA. 7-10-2018.)

Newspaper at the Time

Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba: “Olympia, W.T. [Washington Territory], Feb. 10. — The following additional particulars are learned in regard to the wreck of the Abercorn, which occurred near the mouth of the Columbia River [north] Sunday night. The weather was foggy, not stormy, as previously stated. Immediately after striking all hands went into the cabin, as the sea was breaking badly forward, and while they were there the foremast and mainmast broke and the deck split. In the afternoon a heavy sea broke into the cabin, drowning several inmates. The three survivors escaped from the cabin and ascended, the rigging of the mizzenmast. There they saw Pilot Johnston as he came out of the cabin, which was filled with water. Just as he appeared a wave struck him. He tried to grasp the bar of the companionway, but missed it. Just at that moment a second wave struck him and carried him into the ocean. He kept afloat for some time, but kept looking back at the vessel and swimming parallel with her. He sank to rise no more. One of the survivors says: ‘A little later the mizzen-mast gave way and the ship opened and let us all into the sea. As the mast was going I jumped to clear the side of the ship, and was under water for some time. As I came up the second time I saw near me a plank about thirteen feet long, which I seized and steered for shore.’

“The next survivor, a man about 25 years of age, came ashore with a piece of plank under each arm. Both men were in the water about half an hour. A boy who was saved is an orphan, and was one of the first boys from the training ship, all of whom were making their first voyage. He came ashore with two pieces of plank, and was the last to reach the shore, having been about an hour in the water, and having drifted two miles up the coast from where the others landed. He was unconscious when found by white men and Indians. The boy says he saw several persons in the water after he left the wreck, and that he was the last to see the captain alive. At one time the captain was within fifteen feet of him, and told him to hang to his plank and not be scared, and he would reach the shore all right. Then a heavy wave struck them, and that was the last he saw of the captain or any of the ship’s crew. Shortly after they reached shore a body was seen floating ashore a short distance from land, but it sank immediately after being sighted. Sixteen bodies are reported found, including those of the pilot Johnston and the captain, the former having been recognized by a note-book in his pocket. All the bodies were found from sixteen to nineteen miles up the coast. There are still six bodies unheard from.”

Sources

Lloyd, Nancy. “This Nest of Dangers: Fog, the Davidson inshore current, and those who live ashore…” Chinook Observer, Long Beach, WA. 7-10-2018. Accessed 2-6-2022 at: https://www.chinookobserver.com/life/history/this-nest-of-dangers-fog-the-davidson-inshore-current-and-those-who-live-ashore/article_74b60aa2-609b-5cb3-a49a-d23b7a7c3322.html

Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba. “Only Three Saved. Survivors from the Wreck Tell How the British Ship Abercorn was Lost.” 2-11-1888. Transcribed by Stu Beitler for gendisasters.com. Accessed 2-6-2022 at: http://www.gendisasters.com/washington/20633/columbia-river-wa-british-ship-abercorn-sinking-feb-1888

1888 — Jan 12, Blizzard and extreme cold, esp. Dakota Territory, MN & NE –316-500

–250-500 Ford. “125 years ago, deadly ‘Children’s Blizzard’…” Minnpost, 1-11-2013.
–250-500 Laskin, David. The Children’s Blizzard. 2004, 6.
–250-500 The Republican, Omaha, NE, 1-20-1888. (In Clement in O’Gara, p. 54.)
–316-482 Blanchard tally based upon State and Territory listings below.
–235-250 Forum News Service. “The legend of the Minnesota blizzard of 1888.” 12-15-2015.
— 237 Burt and Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. 2004, p. 94.
— 237 Evening Herald (Syracuse, NY). “Record of the Year,” 12-31-1888, 3.
— 235 History.com. This Day in History, Jan 12, 1888.
— 235 NOAA. The Worst Natural Disasters by Death Toll (webpage). 4-6-2008 update.
— 235 Sandler. Catastrophic Storms, 2005, p. 14.
— 235 Taylor, Dick. Pawnee County History (NE). “The Big Brash Blizzard of 1888.”
— ~230 Allsop, H. “Nemo: Top ten worst blizzards to hit the US.” Telegraph, UK, 2-8-2013.
— 227 Logansport Journal (IN). “Death By The Blizzard,” Jan 17, 1888, 4.
— 217 Daily Journal (Logansport, IN). “The Year’s Disasters,” Jan 2, 1889, p. 4.
— 213 Child deaths. Tanner. “213 schoolchildren perished…” Wichita Eagle, 12-31-2012.
— <200 Freeborn County Standard, Albert Lea, MN. “The Big Storm, 1-18-1888, p. 1. -- >200 Laskin, David. The Children’s Blizzard. 2004, p. 254. (At p. 2 writes “hundreds.”)
— 200 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 92.
— 100 Greely A.W. (Chief Signal Officer, USA). American Weather. 1888, 224-225.

Summary of Fatalities by State

Iowa 10
Kansas 1
Michigan 1
Minnesota 70-200
Montana ~3
Nebraska 69-100
North Dakota >10
South Dakota 149-155
Texas 3

Breakout of Fatalities by State

Iowa ( 10)
— 10 State. Blanchard tally from locality breakouts below.
— 9 State. Logansport Journal, IN. “Death By The Blizzard,” 1-17-1888, 4.
— 9 State. Carroll Sentinel (IA). “Northwest Howler,” Jan 20 1888, p. 2.
Breakout of Iowa fatalities by locality where identified:
— 1 Harris, Osceola County. Young man froze.
— 4 Inwood. Two Fitzgerald children and 2 unidentified children.
— 2 Larchwood. Two boys. Logansport Journal, IN. “Death By The Blizzard,” 1-17-1888, 4.
— 1 Marathon vicinity. John Olney, 16, frozen; had left home on a horse before storm hit.
— 2 Primghar. Two men. Logansport Journal, IN. “Death By The Blizzard,” 1-17-1888, 4.

Kansas ( 1)
–1 Sherman Co. James Kennedy. New Era, Humeston, IA. “Scores Frozen to Death,” 1-18-1888, p. 2.

Michigan ( 1)
–1 Lenawee County, Adrian. John Baring. NYT. “Lives Lost In The Storm,” 1-15-1888, p. 1.

Minnesota (70-200)
— 200 MN Department Of Natural Resources. Famous Winter Storms (webpage). 2017.
— 200 MNweather. History of Mn Blizzards (webpage). “The Deathly Blizzard of 1888.”
–100-150 Pohlen. Oddball Minnesota: Guide to Some Really Strange Places. “MN Winters.”
— 109 Minnesota State Univ. EMuseum. “Minnesota History: A Chronology.”
— 70 Google.com. Schoolhouse Blizzard. “Blizzard Facts…After.” Accessed 7-5-2017.
— 24 Blanchard tally of fatalities by locality breakouts below.
— 18 Logansport Journal, IN. “Death By The Blizzard,” 1-17-1888, p. 4.
— 13 Waterloo Courier, IA. “The Great Blizzard!” Jan 18, 1888, p. 1.
— 12 New Era, Humeston, IA. “Scores Frozen to Death,” January 18, 1888, p. 2.
Breakout of Minnesota Blizzard Fatalities by Locality (where noted):
— 1 Douglas County, Alexandria. Mr. Hanay Countryman; found about 150 yards from home.
— 1 Freeborn County, Hartland. Ole A Egge.
— 0 Jackson County. Rose. An Illustrated History of Jackson County, Minnesota. 1910, p.167.
— 0 Lyon County. Rose. An Illustrated History of Lyon County, Minnesota. 1912, p. 102.
— 1 McLeod Co., Hutchinson. Wilhelmina Lupke; gangrenous infection; hands/feet frozen.
–~4 Murray County. Blanchard tally of locality breakouts below.
— 1 Avoca. Johnny Walsh, 10, froze trying to find his home after school.
–~3 Hadley vicinity. One of the fatalities was a Mr. Abrahamson.
— 3 Nobles County. Rose. An Illustrated History of Nobles County, Minnesota. 1908, p. 112.
–1 Bloom Township. Jacob DeVries; caught outside and froze.
–1 Rushmore vicinity. Seselia Knutson; apparently caught outside and froze.
–1 Summit Lake. Douwe Postman; caught outside and froze.
— 1 Renville County. Merman Brueske, German immigrant; frozen body found week later.
— 3 Rock County. Rose. Illustrated History of…Counties of Rock and Pipestone, MN, 109-10.
–1 Beaver Creek vicinity. Eric Olson, 60. Had gone for hay; caught in storm; froze.
–1 Magnolia Twnsp., A.M. Crosby ranch. John Loy, 60. Caught outside heading cattle.
–1 Rose Dell Twnsp. O.A. Hunt, elderly merchant caught outside, became lost, froze.
— 6 Wabasha Co. Chester. Six children of James Baker frozen on 13th returning from school.
— 1 Locality not noted. O. A. Hunt, transient peddler; body not found until snowmelt, April 1.
— 1 Locality not noted. Erik Olson, Swedish bachelor farmer; found 1½ mile from home.
— 2 Locality not noted. “…young Dutch couple…died kneeling side by side…hands held high…”

Montana ( ~5)
— 5 Blanchard tally of fatalities by locality noted below.
— ~3 Brainerd Dispatch, MN. “Record of Casualties.” 1-13-1888, p. 4.
Breakout of fatalities by locality, where noted.
— 1 Gallatin County, Belgrade. William Overman (or Overlan).
— 2 Gray Bluff area, Jan 10. Train engineer and firemen when train derailed by snowdrift.
— 1 Lewis and Clark Co., Marysville. Patrick Hanley. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, 4.

Nebraska (69-100)
–40-100 State. Nebraska State Historical Society (NSHS). The Blizzard of 1888 (Web).
— ~100 “ Anderson. “The Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888, 235 deaths.” 6-5-2017.
— ~100 “ Hickey, et al. “The Blizzard of ’88, Nebraska Moments. 2007, p. 132.
— 69 “ Blanchard tally of fatalities by locality noted below.
— <40 “ Clement in O’Gara, p. 58. Breakout of fatalities by locality where noted: -- 1 Buffalo County, Gibbon area? Four-year-old son of a Mr. Polka, caught outside by storm. -- 1 Burt County, Tekamah vicinity. Mr. Charley Gray, spent night lost outside, died on 17th. -- 1 Butler Co., Garrison, David City. George Denlinger, 10; froze before reaching home from sch. -- 1 Clay County, Sutton. Person named Matthews. -- 1 Colfax Co., Schuyler area. Mr. Hines, after walking back home from school for children. --15 Custer Co. Freeborn County Standard, MN. “Under Mantles of Snow” 1-25-1888, p. 3. -- 1 Dakota County, Sioux City. Unidentified man. NYT. “Lives Lost In The Storm,” 1-15-1888, p1. -- 1 Dixon County, Dixon vicinity (?). Settler by name of Hurfel, caught outdoors by storm. -- 2 Dodge County. Eda & Matilda Westphalen, 8 and 13, found frozen in open field. -- 3 Douglas County, Omaha. NYT. “Lives Lost In The Storm,” 1-15-1888, p. 1. --1 Wexwell (or Wixell) Beck, 8-years-old. --1 Fred (or Ferdinand) Eller, cigar maker. --1 Unidentified young woman. -- 1 Fillmore Co, Milligan. Mary Masek, after walking 2 miles to school looking for children. -- 1 Gage County, Beatrice. Man in Beatrice tried to make it home several miles west; froze. -- 1 Garfield County. John Coil; caught outside in storm, got turned wrong way; froze. -- 1 Garrison. Springfield Daily Republic (OH). “The Terrible Result,” Jan 16, 1888. --17 Holt County. Blanchard tally of locality breakouts below. --15 Holt Co., Chambers area, Hickey. “The Blizzard of ’88, Nebraska Moments. 2007, p 132. --1 Atkinson. Roman Hytrek, 10. On errand from home to uncle’s farm. --1 Cache Creek vicinity. Settler by name or Harkins went out for hay to bury; froze. --4 Chambers, 7 miles east of. “There were five men frozen to death near our home…” --1 Chambers, nine miles east of. Mrs. Calkins let house to look for husband; froze. --1 Emmet. Emma Shattuck. Teacher whose legs were amputated; died from injuries. --1 Ewing to Goose Lake (25 miles). Son of Mrs. Miller in sleigh, road between points. --1 Ewing vicinity?. Mrs. Stuart; froze outside looking for husband. --1 Norton school (2½ miles east of). Elderly man named Glaze, found frozen in yard. --5 Stuart. (Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.) --1 Mrs. Chapman. --1 Grandchild of Mrs. Chapman, 5-years-old. --1 Grandchild of Mrs. Chapman, 11-months-old. --1 Mr. Mason. --1 Unidentified woman. --1 Locality not noted, Jan 13. Omer (or Omar) Gibson, 17; after living through night. -- 1 Jefferson Co., Powell area? Man “in our community was lost…not found until…April.” -- 1 Keya Paha County, ~five miles from Jewett Creek. Mrs. Chandler, while going home. -- 3 Knox County. Letter of Mrs. Leslie Case in O’Gara, p. 141. -- 1 Lancaster County, Lincoln. Mrs. P. Smith. (Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, 4.) -- 1 Madison County (?). Mr. Vech, a farmer, found Jan 13 mostly buried in a snowdrift. -- 1 Merrick County, Central City vicinity. Man froze to death in a haystack. -- 1 Nance County, Beaver Creek near Genoa. Omaha Native American Rough Clouds. -- 5 Pierce County. Blanchard tally of locality breakouts below. --2 Pierce vicinity. Mr. Keikhafer and his son froze while rounding up cows. --3 Plainview area. Two 9-year-old boys and one 6-year-old girl (Hattie Rosberg). -- 1 Polk County, Swedehome vicinity. A Mr. Hult. -- 1 Valley County, Mira Valley/Ord vicinity. Farmer trying to get to house from the barn. -- 1 Washington County, Blair vicinity (?). Man found nearly frozen between two horses. -- 1 Wheeler County. Young man (Lukins) left house for barn, found in Spring miles away. -- 2 York Co., Bradshaw area. Boy and girl froze on way home after school dismissal at 3:00. -- 1 Unidentified County, George W. Post. (NYT. “Lives Lost In The Storm,” 1-15-1888, p. 1.) North Dakota ( >10)
–112 Environmental Data Service. Storm Data, Vol. 8, No. 3, March 1966, p. 18.
–>10 State. Blanchard tally from locality breakouts below.
— 6 Statewide. Freeborn County Standard, Albert Lea, MN. “Dakota,” 1-15-1888, p. 3.
– -6 “ Logansport Journal, IN. “Death By The Blizzard,” 1-17-1888, p. 4.
Breakout of fatalities by locality where noted:
–2 Cass County, Pontiac Township. Mr. Mann and daughter, 10-years-old.
–1 Grand Forks Co., Bachelors Grove, B. S. Holland; had walked to Larimore for medicine, sick wife.
–1 Sargent County, Delamere, Jan 12. School teacher, Miss Cora Curtis; walking home.
–1 Stutsman County, Windsor. M. A. Ryan, a farmer. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.
–1 Trail County, Mayville. Judd Robinson; froze to death.
–3 Ward County. Minot. James Smith and two sons. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.

South Dakota (149-155)
–149-155 State. Blanchard tally from locality breakouts below.
— 140 State. Freeborn County Standard, MN. “Under Mantles of Snow” 1-25-1888.
— 112 State. Ellis, Captain C. H. History of Faulk County South Dakota. Chap. VII, p. 52.
— 109 Dakota Territory, 44 reporting counties.
Breakout of fatalities by county where noted:
— 3 Aurora County. Blanchard tally from reports below:
–1 White Lake area. Male. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.
–1 Mrs. Nickoline [John] Jensen. Died just outside her home.
–1 Alvida Jenson (daughter of John and Nickoline). Found dead inside home on floor.
— 15 Beadle County.
–1 Hitchcock. Emil Gilberts [Gilbertson, Gilman].
–2 Hitchcock vic. Lewis Merriman, 60 and son. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, 4.
–9 Huron. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4; NYT. “Lives Lost…” 1-15-1888, 1.
–Robert Chambers. Buried son in snow; was found about half mile from home.
–Katherine Druse, 45. Froze. NYT. “Lives Lost in the Storm.” 1-15-1888,, p. 1.
–Thomas Gilkinson
–Thomas Nelson (found frozen to death; lived 9 miles west of Huron).
–William Nelson (found frozen to death; lived 9 miles west of Huron).
–Burdett Scofield, 16. Froze.
–Joseph F. Wilson (same Huron neighborhood as the Nelsons; not found).
–Unknown male.
–Unknown male.
–3 Virgil. Frank and William Nirison, and Joe Wilson; became lost in blizzard.
— 19 Bon Homme County. (Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.)
–2 Uncle of E. B. Lyon, and the uncle’s son.
–5 Children of Russian family; were let out of schoolhouse about ¼ mile from home.
— 1 Brookings County. Ole Tisland Sr. (Laskin. The Children’s Blizzard, p. 249.)
— 7 Brown County. Blanchard tally based on locality breakouts below.
— 2 Aberdeen. (New York Times. “Lives Lost In The Storm,” Jan 15, 1888, p. 1.)
–William Love
–Judson Westgate
— 5 Groton. Boys after being released from school into storm.
–Johann Albrect, 13
–Peter Graber, 16
–Elias Kaufmann
–Heinrich Kaufmann
–Johann Kaufmann, 16
— 4 Brown Co. Reports of four missing in the blizzard and one not expected to live.
— 5-6 Brule County, Chamberlain. (Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.)
–1 Miss Brandy, school teacher, froze to death while trying to reach home.
–1 Unidentified 15-year old student of Miss. Brandy (they were found in road, frozen)
–1 Cleveland, B., son of
–1 Cleveland, B., son of
–1 Grandstrom, Israel. (Elderly farmer missing after trying to go five miles to his home.)
–1 Unknown man, whose body was found frozen in standing position in the snow.
— 3 Clark County, Raymond. William Driver’s two sons, and a Charles Heath.
–4-7 Codington County, Watertown. (Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.)
— 1 Dakota County, Goodwin. Sarah Dola, a school teacher. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p.4.
— 2 Davison County, Mitchel. George Allen, Jr., and Joseph Anderson.
— 4 Deuel County, Gary. (Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.)
–2 Two children of Joseph Hutchinson
–1 Father of Henry Staltzenberg (Caught in storm while going out for son’s coffin.)
–1 Hugo Scheff.
— 3 Douglas County. Spring; “…the bodies of several men and schoolchildren…” found.
— 2 Edmunds County. New York Times. “Lives Lost In The Storm,” Jan 15, 1888, p. 1.
–1 Bowdle. Mr. Paine.
–1 Roscoe. Peter Terhune.
— 4 Faulk County. Ellis, Cpt. C. H. History of Faulk County South Dakota. “Chap VII, p. 53.
–2 ~Auman school, 17M SW of Faulkton. Miss Ella Lamar, 29, Carrie Auman, 8.
–1 Near Onaka, Jan 12. Wilhelm Klemp, 25. Went outdoors to care for livestock.
–1 Mr. Joseph Metz; went out in story to look after his stock, became lost, froze.
— 6 Hand County. Blanchard tally of locality breakouts below.
–1 Miller Vicinity. A Mr. Thompson, trying to drive home from Miller.
–2 Polo vic. Teacher Miss Maggie Dunn and a young school girl caught in storm.
–1 St. Lawrence vicinity. A Mr. Gosley missed his way from barn to house.
–2 Northeast Hand County. Woman named Shoultz and boy named May found frozen.
— 1 Hutchinson Co., Parkston. Springfield Daily Republic, OH. “Terrible Result,” 1-16-1888.
— 2 Hyde County, Stephens Mission.
–1 Mrs. Anthony Haby (28 miles north of the mission)
–1 Her sister, Wilimena.
— 1 Jerauld County, Jan 13. Jesse Beadel, young boy, died after spending night outdoors.
— 3 Kingsbury County, Iroquois. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.
–1 J. W. Coslee (or Goslee)
–1 Mrs. Devine or Diveine.
–1 Adam Gerner.
–>30 Lake County. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.
— 7 Lincoln County. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.
–3 Lennox vicinity. Heines family children.
–1 Unidentified school child.
— 1 Minnehaha, Sioux Falls vicinity. Unidentified farmer.
— 1 Spink County, Northville. Male lost in blizzard. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.
— 9 Turner County. Blanchard tally of breakouts below.
–2 Between Marion Junction and Bridgewater. Unidentified men.
–4 So. of Sioux Falls, 4 Peter Wierenga children; became lost going home from school.
–3 Three sons of Peter Heins, who left school despite teacher’s protect, became lost.
— 12 Yankton County. Blanchard tally based on reports below:
–11 Yankton County. Logansport Journal, IN. 1-17-1888, p. 4.
–1 D. T. Barkston.
–1 Mr. Coleman.
–1 W. B. Headly.
–3 Joseph Kocher and two unidentified companions.
–1 Jacob Schort, a farmer.
–2 Annie Shufeldt and sister, 13 and 16 (lost going home from neighbor home)
–2 Wakonda area. Two unidentified men, whose frozen bodies were found.
— 1 Yankton area, Jan 13. Frederick Milbier, after surviving the night and a rescue.
— >7 Counties not noted.

Texas ( 3)
–1 Benham (Brenham?) Henry Williams, on way home.
–1 Cooke County, Gainesville. Tom Jackson, “frozen to death on the prairie.”
–1 Johnston County, Cleburne. Henry Corbin.

Narrative Information

Burt and Stroud: “No blizzard in American folklore rivals the fame of the Blizzard of `88…there were two great blizzards in 1888. The first occurred between January 12 and 14 and was a classic Great Plains howler. It affected the Middle West from Texas to the Dakotas and then roared east to Wisconsin. Some 237 people lost their lives, a very high number considering how sparsely populated the region was at that time. So much livestock was lost that many historians point to the blizzard as the seminal event in the downfall of the Plains free-range cattle industry.” (Burt and Stroud 2004, 94)

Dyke: “….The blizzard of January 1888 was notable not simply because of the low temperatures, for other cold waves have been colder. Neither was the snowfall remarkably heavy, nor the depth on the ground unusual as compared with many other occasions. It was the combination of the three factors, namely, the gale winds, the blinding snow, and the extremely rapid drop in temperature from winter comfort level to well below zero which together made the blizzard most dangerous.” (Ray A Dyke, Weather Bureau Office, Lincoln, NE. “Weather Conditions in Connection with the Blizzard of January, 1888, p. 26 in O’Gara.)

Greely: “The most disastrous blizzard ever know in Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas, occurred on January 11th, 1888. The change in the direction of the wind and the fall in the temperature was more sud¬den than usual. Although the greatest violence of the storm was of short duration, yet it was most destructive in its effects in Middle and Southern Dakota, owing to the fact that the change in wind, weather, and temper¬ature came suddenly in the middle of a comparatively warm and pleasant day when many were away from shelter.

“The loss of life was probably nearly one hun¬dred persons, although the exact figures are not known. High winds ranging from thirty to fifty miles per hour occurred, with falling and drifting snow, which, in ad¬dition to the great loss of human life, caused the de¬struction of herds of cattle and an enormous amount of suffering to entire communities.

“At Helena, Mont., the temperature changed with unprecedented rapidity, falling fifty degrees in four and one half hours and sixty-four degrees in less than eighteen hours.

“Com¬munication by rail and otherwise was either seriously delayed or entirely suspended for several days in Northern Dakota and Minnesota. At Crete, Neb., the temperature fell eighteen degrees in three minutes, and snow drifted so violently as to render all travel dan¬gerous. At Galveston, on the 15th, the temperature was below the freezing point, while the air was filled with fine drifting snow or freezing mist, which, owing to the influence of a wind of forty miles per hour, cut like drifting sand and coated everything with ice. At Rio Grande City and Brownsville, Tex., the wind was violent and the temperature fell nearly forty degrees in eight hours. The cold rain changed to snow and sleet, covering everything with ice, and causing great suffering.

“A peculiar feature of this blizzard was its extension in the shape of a cold wave, without snow, however, into California. Slush ice was seen in the river at Sacramento for the first time since 1854, while ice formed in San Francisco to the thickness of half an inch. At and near Los Angeles ice and killing frost were general, and even at San Diego there was light frost and a thick film of ice in exposed places.” (Greely. USA. American Weather. 1888, 224-225.)

History.com: “On this day in 1888, the so-called “Schoolchildren’s Blizzard” kills 235 people, many of whom were children on their way home from school, across the Northwest Plains region of the United States. The storm came with no warning, and some accounts say that the temperature fell nearly 100 degrees in just 24 hours.

“It was a Thursday afternoon and there had been unseasonably warm weather the previous day from Montana east to the Dakotas and south to Texas. Suddenly, within a matter of hours, Arctic air from Canada rapidly pushed south. Temperatures plunged to 40 below zero in much of North Dakota. Along with the cool air, the storm brought high winds and heavy snows. The combination created blinding conditions.

“Most victims of the blizzard were children making their way home from school in rural areas and adults working on large farms. Both had difficulty reaching their destinations in the awful conditions…. The storm is still considered one of the worst blizzards in the history of the area.”
(History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, January 12, 1888.)

Laskin: “On January 12, 1888, a blizzard broke over the center of the North American continent. Out of nowhere, a soot gray cloud appeared over the northwest horizon. The air grew still for a long eerie measure, then the sky began to roar and a wall of ice dust blasted the prairie. Every crevice, every gap and orifice instantly filled with shattered crystals, blinding smothering, suffocating, burying anything exposed to the wind. The cold front raced down the undefended grasslands like a crack unstoppable army. Montana fell before dawn; North Dakota went while farmers were out doing their early morning shores; South Dakota, during morning recess; Nebraska as school clocks rounded toward dismissal. In three minutes the front subtracted 18 degrees from the air’s temperature. Then evening gathered in and temperatures kept dropping steadily, hour after hour, in the northwest gale. Before midnight, wind chills were down to 40 below zero. That’s when the killing happened. By morning on Friday the thirteenth, hundreds of people lay dead on the Dakota and Nebraska prairie, many of them children who had fled — or been dismissed from — county schools at the moment when the wind shifted and the sky exploded.” (Laskin. The Children’s Blizzard, 2004, pp. 1-2.)

Taylor: “In one (blizzard) which visited Dakota and the States of Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas in January, 1888, the mercury fell within twenty-four hours from 74o above zero to 28o below it in some places, and in Dakota went down to 40o below zero. In fine clear weather, with little or no warning, the sky darkened and the air was filled with snow, or ice-dust, as fine as flour, driven before a wind so furious and roaring that men’s voices were inaudible at a distance of six feet. Men in the fields and children on their way from school died ere they could reach shelter; some of them having been not frozen, but suffocated from the impossibility of breathing the blizzard. Some 235 persons lost their lives. This was the worst storm since 1864; the Colorado River in Texas was frozen with ice a foot thick, for the first time in the memory of man.” (Taylor, Dick. Pawnee County History (NE). “The Big Brash Blizzard of 1888,” cites Encyclopedia Britannica, 1893.)

Newspaper

Jan 17, Logansport Journal: “Minneapolis, Minn., Jan 16.—The revised list of the blizzard fatalities shows ninety-seven dead in Dakota, eighteen in Minnesota, six in Iowa, seventeen in Nebraska, and two in Montana. Total, 135, besides fifty-five reported missing.”

“St. Paul, Minn., Jan. 16.—The loss of life by the great blizzard o£ Thursday last is shown to be very great by the reports that have already reached here, and when it is remembered that in hundreds of communities removed from telegraph stations the storm was equally severe and the loss in all probability correspondingly heavy, it will be apparent that never in the history of the Northwest was there such a terrible fatality. Below will be found a summary of the reports of death and suffering that have so far reached here.” (Logansport Journal (IN). “Death By The Blizzard,” Jan 17, 1888, 4.)

Minnesota

MSU: “1888 — Western Minnesota receives a major blizzard on January 12th which takes 109 lives.” (Minnesota State Univ.. EMuseum. “Minnesota History: A Chronology.”)

Minnesota Newspaper

Jan 13: “The worst snow storm that has been experienced in the northwest since the winter of 1881 , has raged throughout Minnesota and Dakota for the past three days, completely stopping travel on all the railroads. Trains from the west are over two days late, and not a single train arrived from the south yesterday, all being abandoned except No. 1, which was started out of Minneapolis last night, but stuck all of Thursday night in the snow at Clear Lake. She did not reach Brainerd until late this evening. The storm in this section has stopped, but the snow is drifting so badly as to impede travel almost as much as the storm. On the Missouri and Dakota divisions of the N.P. the storm is reported as the worst ever known. On these divisions travel has been entirely stopped, and no effort will be made to move trains of any kind until the storm ceases, as it is utterly impossible to do so….” (Brainerd Dispatch, MN. “Local News.” 1-13-1888, p. 7.)

Jan 25, Freeborn County Standard (MN): “The snow-drifts are said to be thirty feet deep.” (Freeborn County Standard (MN). “Under Mantles of Snow” 1-25-1888, p. 3)

Nebraska

Hickey, Wunder and Wunder: “The Great Blizzard struck on January 12, 1888….and traveled across the state abt about forty-five miles per hour. By late afternoon the entire state was engulfed….” (Nebraska Moments, p. 129.)

Nebraska State Historical Society: “On January 12, 1888, a sudden fierce blizzard slashed across the Midwest. The temperature fell to between 30 and 40 degrees below zero. A howling northwest wind swept the plains. The storm raged for 12 to 18 hours and is probably the most severe single blizzard to have hit Nebraska since the settlement of the state.

“Sometimes called “the school children’s storm,” the blizzard caught many children away from home. Many acts of heroism were performed by parents, teachers, and the children themselves.
The story of Minnie Freeman has become symbolic of these many acts of heroism. Miss Freeman, still in her teens at the time, was teaching at a school near here. When the wind tore the roof off the sod schoolhouse, Miss Freeman saved her pupils by leading them through the storm to a farmhouse a half mile away.

“Many other teachers performed similar acts of heroism, and at least one lost her life in the attempt. No accurate count of the total deaths from the storm is possible, but estimates for Nebraska have ranged from 40 to 100.” (Nebraska State Historical Society. The Blizzard of 1888 (Website).)

Newspaper account from Nebraska

Jan 17: “A Sad Tale of Death and suffering in the Fierce Storm.

“Omaha, Neb., Jan. 16.—Reports of loss of life in Thursday’s terrible blizzard are far more numerous than had been supposed. Hundreds of people were badly frozen and many were lost in the storm for hours, suffering unknown agony.

“In Gage county, John Sparks, a farmer is missing and cannot be found. It is thought he perished in the storm. Edward and Charles Maxwell, of the same county, narrowly escaped death, spending the night in a haystack.

“Near Sutton an old man named Matthews got lost in going from his house to the stable, and perished. Frank Skinner, a railroad man, attempted to walk home from Sutton, a distance of ten miles, but would have perished had he not come across a lot of calves and sheep and rested among them. About six miles from Sutton the storm overtook Mrs. Campbell and Maggie Skirving, two young women who were driving home from town in a buggy, and they were soon hopelessly lost The team ran into an old sod house and sheltered by this they managed to survive
the night, but suffered badly from frozen feet and faces.

“At Schuyler M. Kline, a farmer started to the school-house for his children and has not since been heard of. John Miller, a farmer near Columbus, got lost while trying to corral his stock and tramped in a circle all night.

“Woman and Two Children Perish.

“Stuart, Neb. Jan. 16.—Mrs. Chapman and her two grandchildren, a girl and boy, the latter 5 years old and the former 11 months, were found twelve miles north of town frozen to death. Thursday morning they started to the children’s home with a span of ponies and a sled. When found the ponies were still hitched to the sled, having stood in their tracks two days.

“Mr. Mason, a prominent citizen living twelve miles southwest of Stuart, has been found frozen
to death.

Another Woman a Victim.

Lincoln, Neb,, Jan. 16.—A farmer’s wife, Mrs. P. Smith, living six miles out of this city, was caught in the storm while returning home from a neighbor’s, and all search was unavailing until this morning, when the body was discovered buried in a drift. She was only a short distance from home when she perished.” (Logansport Journal (IN). “Death By The Blizzard,” Jan 17, 1888, 4.)

Texas

Jan 18: “….St Louis, Jan. 18.—Reports from different sections of Texas note the cessation of the blizzard, but the temperature continues very cold for that latitude. Benham [sp.?] imports that a fanner named Henry Williams froze to death while on his way home, and that a good many cattle have perished. Cleburne reports Henry Corbin…and many cattle frozen. Austin, the capital, reports the Colorado river frozen over for the first time on record, and…four to six inches thick. A large number of cattle have died in that vicinity. Corsicana says the snow and sleet has been unprecedented and travel is greatly impeded. An attempt to drive a herd of cattle to Ennis, twenty miles distant, resulted in losing 250 of them. Stock froze to death while standing in the streets. Sherman reports that meager reports from the panhandle say that many cattle have been frozen to death. Torrell says there are 12,000 cattle on the pasture around that town and that many of them have died from cold. Cattlemen have suffered severely for two months past by bad weather, and have been at great expense feeding stock. Several failures have occurred in consequence. Colorado in the western part of the State, says cattle have drifted badly, and it is believed many have perished. The sheep on the prairies have suffered greatly, and it is feared human lives have been lost at the sheep camps. Belton reports that many cattle on the range in that vicinity have died. Gainesville reports that Tom Jackson, a negro, was frozen to death on the prairie, and Bob Smith, a companion, was so badly frozen that his feet, hands and ears burst open, and he will probably die. News comes from every part of Northern Texas of unheard-of suffering among the people and wholesale destruction among cattle, many of which were frozen to death under good shelter. The unprecedented cold weather will cripple the cattle interest in that part of the State for some time and destroy the growing cereals and the flattering prospects of fruit for this year.” (Freeborn County Standard, MN. “Under Mantles of Snow,” 1.25.1888, 3)

Sources

Albert Lea Enterprise, MN. 1-18-1888, p. 9, col. 3. Accessed 7-4-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/albert-lea-enterprise-jan-18-1888-p-9/?tag

Allsop, Harry. “Nemo: Top ten worst blizzards to hit the US.” Telegraph, UK, 2-8-2013. Accessed 2-13-2013: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9859086/Nemo-Top-ten-worst-blizzards-to-hit-the-US.html

Anderson, John A. (Nebraska State Historical Society). “The Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888, 235 deaths.” 6-5-2017. Accessed 7-4-2017 at: http://journalstar.com/blogs/photofiles/of-the-deadliest-disasters-in-nebraska-history/collection_6ae50d55-7d8a-5b6f-b1c3-b0b54cfe84f0.html#1

Brainerd Dispatch, MN. “Local News.” 1-13-1888, p. 7. Accessed 7-4-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/brainerd-dispatch-jan-13-1888-p-7/?tag

Brainerd Dispatch, MN. “Record of Casualties.” 1-13-1888, p. 4. Accessed 7-4-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/brainerd-dispatch-jan-13-1888-p-4/?tag

Burt, Christopher C. and Mark Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. W. W. Norton & Co., 2004, 304 pages. Google preview accessed 1-1-2014 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=NuP7ATq9nWgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Carroll Sentinel, IA. “Northwest Howler,” 1-20-1888, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=134198595

Clement, Ora A. “Newspaper Accounts of the Blizzard.” Pages 47-58 in O’Gara, In All Its Fury.

Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn (Compiler). The History of Renville County, Minnesota (Vol. II). Chicago: H. C. Cooper Jr. & Co., 1916. Google digitized. Compiled 7-9-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=MEIVAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Daily Journal, Logansport, IN. “The Year’s Disasters.” 1-2-1889, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83142306

Ellis, Captain C. H. History of Faulk County South Dakota. (Chapter VII, “The Blizzard of Jan. 12, 1888, pp. 52-58.) Faulkton, SD: Record Print, 1909. Accessed 7-9-2017 at: https://archive.org/details/historyoffaulkco00elli

Environmental Data Service, Environmental Science Services Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. Storm Data, Vol. 8, No. 3, March 1966, Asheville: 1966. Accessed 5-3-2022 at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS/IPS-307345E3-9050-4296-90CC-6121572B6AD9.pdf

Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Record of the Year – Principal Events That Have Occurred in the World,” 12-31-1888, 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=51376727

Faulk County, SD History, Chapter VII, 1888 Blizzard. In usgwarchives.com. Accessed 7-9-2017 at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/sd/faulk/history/other/gms14chapterv.txt

Find A Grave. “Omer Gibson.” Record created by tndk, 6-10-2007. Accessed 7-5-2017 at: https://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi/pages.suddenlink.net/%25253C/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19803223

Find A Grave. “Roman Hytrek.” Record created by Bobbi King, added 10-29-2010. Accessed 7-5-2017 at: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=60833423

Find A Grave. “Wilhelm Klemp.” Record created by Kent Gehrard and added 2-10-2012 at: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=84798755

Ford, Alyssa. “125 years ago, deadly ‘Children’s Blizzard’ blasted Minnesota.” Minnpost, 1-11-2013. Accessed 7-5-2017 at: https://www.minnpost.com/minnesota-history/2013/01/125-years-ago-deadly-children-s-blizzard-blasted-minnesota

Forum News Service. “The legend of the Minnesota blizzard of 1888.” EchoPress.com, 12-15-2015. Accessed 7-9-2017 at: http://www.echopress.com/news/3904056-legend-minnesota-blizzard-1888

Freeborn County Standard. “Dakota,” Jan 15, 1888, p. 3. Accessed at: https://newspaperarchive.com

Freeborn County Standard, Albert Lea, MN. “Under Mantles of Snow,” 1-25-1888, p. 3. Accessed 7-4-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/albert-lea-freeborn-county-standard-jan-25-1888-p-4/?tag

Google.com. Schoolhouse Blizzard. “Blizzard Facts…After…” Accessed 7-5-2017 at: https://sites.google.com/site/schoolhouseblizzard/blizzard-facts

Greely A.W. (Chief Signal Officer, United States Army). American Weather: A Popular Exposition of the Phenomena of the Weather, Including Chapters on Hot and Cold Waves, Blizzards, Hail-Storms and Tornadoes. NY: Dodd, Meade & Co., 1888. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=nKMMAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Hendry, David. “129 years ago today, Blizzard of 1888 ravaged the Plains.” Omaha World-Herald, 1-12-2017. Accessed 7-5-2017 at: http://www.omaha.com/weather/years-ago-today-blizzard-of-ravaged-the-plains/article_687162f2-ff65-5b26-93a4-10202c338a82.html

Hickey, Donald R., Susan A. Wunder & John N. Wunder. “The Blizzard of ‘88’ in Nebraska Moments. University of Nebraska, 2007.

History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, January 12, 1888. “Blizzard Brings Tragedy to Northwest Plains.” At: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=52886

Laskin, David. The Children’s Blizzard. NY: Harper Perennial, 2004.

Lincoln Journal Star. “12 of the deadliest disasters in Nebraska history.” 6-15-2017. Accessed 7-3-2017 at: http://journalstar.com/blogs/photofiles/of-the-deadliest-disasters-in-nebraska-history/collection_6ae50d55-7d8a-5b6f-b1c3-b0b54cfe84f0.html#8

Logansport Journal, IN. “Death By The Blizzard,” 1-17-1888, p. 4. Accessed at: htty://newspaperarchive.com.

Minnesota State University. EMuseum. “Minnesota History: A Chronology.” Accessed at: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/mnstatehistory/timeline.html#1700

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Worst Natural Disasters by Death Toll (webpage). 4-6-2008 update. Accessed 7-5-2017 at: https://docs.lib.noaa.gov/noaa_documents/NOAA_related_docs/death_toll_natural_disasters.pdf

Nebraska State Historical Society. “The Blizzard of 1888” (Website). June 4, 2004 update. Accessed at: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/markers/texts/blizzard_of_1888.htm

New Era, Humeston, IA. “Scores Frozen to Death,” 1-18-1888, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=14984557

New York Times. “Lives Lost in the Storm. Fearful Results of the Northwest Blizzard. The Killed and Missing in Dakota and Other States Larger Than At First Reported,” 1-15-1888, 1. At: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D04EED6163AE033A25756C1A9679C94699FD7CF

O’Gara, W. H. In All Its Fury: The Great Blizzard of 1888. Lincoln, NE: J & L Lee Books, 1988.

Pohlen, Jerome. Oddball Minnesota: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places. “Minnesota Winters.” Google digitized. Accessed 7-9-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmXYI16dlIUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Quam, Paula. “Deadly 1888 blizzard killed hundreds as children struggled to get home.” Grand Forks Herald, ND, 12-14-2015. Accessed 7-5-2017 at: http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/region/3903356-deadly-1888-blizzard-killed-hundreds-children-struggled-get-home

Rose, Arthur P. An Illustrated History of Jackson County, Minnesota. Jackson, MN: Northern History Publishing Co., 1910. Google digitized. Accessed 7-9-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=VkIVAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Rose, Arthur P. An Illustrated History of Lyon County, Minnesota. Marshall, MN, Northern History Publishing Co., 1912. Google digitized. Accessed 7-9-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=iUIVAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Rose, Arthur P. An Illustrated History of Nobles County, Minnesota. Worthington, MN: Northern History Publishing Co., 1908. Google digitized. Accessed 7-9-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=QUAVAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Rose, Arthur P. (MN Historical Society). An Illustrated History of the Counties of Rock and Pipestone Minnesota. Luverne, MN: Northern History Publishing Co., 1911. Goggle digitized. Accessed 7-9-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=NYQUAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Sandler, Michael. Catastrophic Storms. Benchmark Education Company, 2005.

Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC

Springfield Daily Republic, OH. “The Terrible Result” [Schoolchildren’s Blizzard], 1-16-1888. At: http://www3.gendisasters.com/minnesota/16906/various-towns-mn-nd-sd-ne-freezing-death-jan-1888

Tanner, Beccy. “213 schoolchildren perished in the Great Plains blizzard of 1888.” Wichita Eagle, KS, 12-31-2012. Accessed 7-5-2017 at: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-story-of-kansas/article1105618.html

Taylor, Dick. Pawnee County History (NE). “The Big Brash Blizzard of 1888.” Accessed 7-4-2017 at: http://www.pawneecountyhistory.com/yesteryear/blizzard.html

Waterloo Courier, IA. “The Great Blizzard!” 1-18-1888, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=93455922

— 12 St. Paul Daily Globe, MN “A Sea Tragedy.” 12-22-1887, p. 1.*
— 12 U.S. Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of…Ending FY June 30, 1888. 1889, p. 440.
— 11 Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels (US). Annual Report… 1888. 1888, p.10.

* St. Paul Daily Globe note: While the subtitle notes that eleven men drowned, the text notes the additional death of a sailor from exposure soon after being picked up by the Queen of the Pacific.

Narrative Information

Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels (U.S.): “Fatal casualties [First District]….

“December 7 [sic], 1887. – The freight steamer San Vincente took fire at 9.45 p.m. while off Pigeon Point, about 45 miles south of San Francisco, burned and sank. Eleven of the officers and crew who took to the boats were drowned. The master and second mate remained by the steamer till rescued by a boat from the Queen of the Pacific.” (Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels…for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1888… 10-30-1888, p.10.)

U.S. Life Saving Service: “Date of disaster. 1887. Dec. 20. San Vicente. Am. str. 246 [tons]. San Francisco, Cal. [bound from]. Santa Cruz, Cal. [bound to]. Total [loss]. Merchandise [cargo]. 12 [lives lost]. Off Point New Year, Cal. “Vessel destroyed by fire.” (US Life-Saving Service. Annual Report…Ending FY June 30, 1888. 1889, p. 440.)

Newspaper

Dec 21: “A Sea Tragedy. Eleven Lives Lost by the Burning of a Steamer.”

“San Francisco, Dec. 21. – The freight steamer, San Vincente, plying between this city and Santa Cruz, took fire last night off Pigeon Point, about forth miles south of the Golden Gate, and burned to the water’s edge. The crew consisted of nineteen officers and men. The burning vessel was sighted by the Pacific Coast Steamship company’s steamer Queen of the Pacific, which was bound from San Diego to this port. Several boats were lowered and went to the rescue of the San Vincente’s crew. Capt. Charles Lewis and the second mate were found on the deck of the steamer preparing to jump into the seas as the flames were rapidly surrounding them. The first mate and four sailors were found drifting in a small boat in which they had escaped, and another sailor was discovered clinging to the bottom of an upturned boat. The men were all rescued and brought on board the Queen of the Pacific. Several of them had suffered severely from exposure, and one of the sailors died in a few hours. No trace could be found of the other eleven men who composed the crew and it is thought they were lost. Capt. Lewis stated that when the fire was discovered the men became panic-stricken. Most of them jumped into one of the boats, and before it could be lowered the tackle which held it burned away and the boat fell, throwing the men into the water. The San Vincente was a small steamer owned by the Pacific Coast Steamship company, and was valued at $30,000. No insurance. Loss on cargo light.” (St. Paul Daily Globe, MN. “A Sea Tragedy. Eleven Lives Lost by the Burning of a Steamer.” 12-22-1887, p. 1, col. 8.)

Sources

St. Paul Daily Globe, MN. “A Sea Tragedy. Eleven Lives Lost by the Burning of a Steamer.” 12-22-1887, p. 1, col. 8. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/saint-paul-daily-globe-dec-22-1887-p-1/

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, 1888 (Treasury Department Document No. 1156, Steam-boat Inspection, dated 10-30-1888). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1888. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu09189980&view=1up&seq=169&q1

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1888 (Treasury Department Doc. No. 1228). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1889. Google digitized. Accessed 1-30-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=I3oDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=true

–41-49 Blanchard estimated death-toll range.*

— 50 Philadelphia Record Almanac 1888. “General and Local Events, October, 1887,” p. 95.
–40-50 NYT. “The Vernon Disaster…Survivor Picked Up…Clinging to a Raft,” 11-2-1887, p.1.
— 49 Eau Claire Daily Free Press, WI. “All Lost But One,” 11-3-1887, p. 1.
— 49 McNeil. “Vernon (Propeller), sunk, 29 Oct 1887.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes.
— 44 Wakefield Bulletin, MI. “Gives Up Its Dead…Bodies from…Vernon…,” 11-10-1887, 7.
— 41 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 266.
— 41 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 689.
— 41 Steamboat Inspection Service. Report of the Supervising Inspector-General… 1888, 18.
–25 crew
–16 passengers
–36-41 Shelak, Benjamin J. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. 2003, pp. 61-62.
–36-41 Swayze. Shipwreck! A…Directory of …Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 238.
— 41 US Life-Saving Service. Annual Report…Ending FY June 30, 1888. 1889, p. 431.
— 40 Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. “Monthly Record…Events,” V76/N452, 1888, 322.
–30-40 Logansport Pharos (IN). “Wreck…Vernon…Thirty…Forty Lives,” 31 Oct 1887, 1.
— 36 Mansfield. History of the Great Lakes, Vol. I. 1899, pp. 747-748.
— 36 New York Times. “The Wreck of the Vernon,” Nov 1, 1887, p. 1.
— 30 Syracuse Daily Standard, NY. “Loss of the Vernon,” Oct 31, 1887, p. 1, col. 3.

*Blanchard estimated death-toll range. We cite sources which report a range of 30 to 50 deaths. Given that there was no roster, that passengers came onboard at several stops, and that there was only one survivor to try to guestimate the number of people onboard, we feel the need to rely on a range of deaths. For the low-end of our estimated death-toll range, we choose the number 41 reported by the U.S. Life Saving Service as well as the Steamboat Inspection Service (US), as well as by other sources. For the high end of our estimated death toll range we choose to use the number of people thought to have lost their lives (49) by the lone survivor. McNeil, on the Maritime History of the Great Lakes website, also reports 49 deaths. The Philadelphia Record Almanac of 1888 reports fifty deaths, but this strikes us as an approximation or simply using the high end of the range of 40-50 deaths reported by the New York Times on Nov 2.

Narrative Information

Berman: “Vernon. Steamer. Oct 29 1887 [date of loss]. Foundered. Lake Michigan, 41 lives lost.” (Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 266.)

Harper’s Monthly Magazine 1888: “Disasters….October 30th.—Passenger propeller Vernon wrecked in a gale on Lake Michigan. Forty lives lost.” (Harper’s Monthly Magazine. “Monthly Record of Current Events.” Vol 76, No. 452, Jan 1888, p. 322.)

Mansfield: “Greatest Disaster of the Season. – The wreck of the passenger propeller Vernon on Lake Michigan with a crew of 22 and many passengers, October 29, involved a greater loss of life than any previous disaster during the season of 1887. She was at one time one of the finest furnished passenger boats on the lakes, and took the place on the Northern Michigan line of the steamer Champlain, burned early in the season, and was in command of Capt. George Thorpe.

“Captain Moran, of the steamer Superior, imparted the first details of the sad event. He saw three or four rafts with men clinging to them, and also a small boat containing a woman and three men. Though he made effort to rescue them, the high seas running prevented, as the Superior was herself disabled. The wreckage was scattered in all directions. Sections of the pilot house were found 18 miles apart, and a life-raft, without an occupant was picked up 12 miles northeast of Sheboygan. The entire loss of life is placed at thirty-six.

“The month of October showed an aggregate of 285 accidents and disasters on all the lakes, which was 115 more than in the same month in 1886. The loss of life during the month was 135 persons, 126 of whom were drowned from vessels.” (Mansfield. History of Great Lakes. 1899, 747-748.)

McNeil: “Vernon (Propeller), sunk, 29 Oct 1887.”
“Sunk
Lives: 49
Freight: sundries
Date of Original: 1887
….
Geographic Coverage: Two Rivers, Wisconsin, United States….
Donor: William R. McNeil.”
(Maritime History of the Great Lakes (webpage).)

Nash: “1887…Oct 29. Vernon. 41 [Deaths]. The steamer foundered on Lake Michigan.” (Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters… 1977, p. 689.)

Philadelphia Record Almanac 1888: “October, 1887. ….29. –The Propeller Vernon lost on Lake Michigan, with fifty persons on board.” (Philadelphia Record Almanac 1888. “General and Local Events.” 1888, p. 95.)

Swayze: “Vernon. Wooden passenger and package freight steamer of 560 t. [tons], launched in 1886 at Chicago. Lake Michigan: This almost new steamer suffered disaster at the hands of a Lakes gale on October 25, 1887 [sic, Oct 29]. Bound from Glen Haven, Michigan, to Milwaukee with a cargo of general freight and a number of passengers, the little vessel was set upon by the storm and foundered near Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Estimates of the number od dead range from 36 to 41.” (Swayze. Shipwreck! A…Directory…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 238.).

U.S. House of Representatives: “On October 28, 1887, the steamer Vernon was lost on Lake Michigan. All hands were lost with all on board, with the exception of a fireman by the name of Alfred Stone. He was picked up the next day by a schooner from a life raft.” (U.S. Congress. House Merchant Marine Committee. The Seamen’s Bill Hearings, 1914, p. 302.)

U.S. Life Saving Service. “Oct 29. Vernon…American steamer. 695 [tons]. Port Haven, Mich. [port sailed from]. Milwaukee, Wis. [port bound to]…Merchandise [Nature of cargo]. 41 [Number of lives lost.]. Lake Michigan.”

U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service: “October 29, 1887. – The steamer Vernon foundered off Two Rivers, Lake Michigan, whereby 41 lives were lost, of which 16 were passengers and 25 were officers and crew.” (Office Supervising Inspector-General, Steam-boat Inspection Service, Eighth District. Report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels. “Casualties.” 1888, p. 18.)

Newspapers

Oct 30: “Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 30. – The passenger propeller Vernon was wrecked in the terrible gale that swept Lake Michigan yesterday [Oct 29], and her entire crew of twenty-two persons and the passengers, number unknown, are supposed to have been lost….” (Indianapolis Journal, IN. “Lost in a Terrible Gale. The Passenger Steamer Vernon Wrecked on Saturday Night in Lake Michigan.” 10-31-1887, p. 1, cols. 3-4.)

Oct 30: “A Lake Propeller Goes Down in a Storm With all on Board. Disaster on Lake Michigan. Thirty Lives Lost in the Wreck…

“Milwaukee, Oct. 30. – The steamship Superior arriving here last night brought the first news of the total wreck of a. large passenger propeller off Manitowoc, Wis. That the wreck is that of the propeller Vernon of the Northern Michigan line is established almost beyond a doubt. She was due here yesterday, and from a description of the fragments seen by the crew of the Superior her owners here consider her identity fully established. She had on board a crew of twenty-two men and several passengers, the exact number not being known, and it is supposed that all hands perished. Captain Moran of the Superior saw three or four rafts with men clinging to them, and also a small boat containing a woman and three men. Although he made an effort to rescue them, the high sea prevented the rendering of any assistance, the Superior being herself disabled and requiring the crew’s best efforts. It was about 10 o’clock in the morning when the first signs of the wreck, in the shape of floating cargo and furniture, were seen. About an hour later the rafts were sighted. On some the occupants were almost, gone, while others signaled the Superior.” (Syracuse Daily Standard, NY. “Loss of the Vernon,” Oct 31, 1887, p. 1, col. 3.)

Oct 31: “Chicago, Oct. 31.—The steamer Vernon, of Chicago, her entire of twenty-two persons and ten or twelve passengers, were lost in the gale off Manitowoc [WI]; Saturday morning [29th]. She was bound for Chicago with an assorted cargo, and being overloaded, was unable to cope with the terrible seas. There are no survivors, hence the story of the disaster can only be conjectured, except so much of it as came under the observations of the crews of other storm-beaten crafts that passed the spot where the Vernon made her final plunge.

“Capt. Moran, of the steamer Superior, brought the first news of the disaster, when he ran his partly disabled vessel into Milwaukee for shelter from the storm. When he was passing Manitowoc about 11 o’clock Saturday morning the Superior ran into a field of wreckage that extended over the lake for a mile around. There were barrels, fragments of a cabin, bed clothes, life-preservers, boots—everything to indicate that some vessel had gone to the bottom. Next he ran by four rafts to which men were clinging desperately, and then a boat containing three men and a woman was seen tossing helplessly on the waves. One of the castaways stood up and waved his coat as a signal of distress, but the Superior herself was disabled by a broken tiller, and her crew to a man was at work struggling to keep her before the gale, and Captain Moran could not go to the assistance of the unfortunates. On one of the rafts was a man who, despite the heavy sea, was standing and waving his hand to attract the attention of the look-out on board the propeller. When the latter shot by him without answering his signal the poor fellow sank down in despair to perish. A mile farther south was another man half dead from fatigue and exposure. The propeller passed so close to him that he could almost have board her, but he was so far gone that he never once raised his head.

“The schooner Blazing Star, Capt. Cammerford, passed through the wreckage half an hour after the Superior, and she arrived here Saturday night. Capt. Cammerford’s recital of the scenes he witnessed is at once startling and pathetic. It is as follows:

“We passed Two Rivers Point about 11 o’clock Saturday morning, running under the peak of the foresail and a jib. We could not carry any more canvas; we did not need any more, for we wore sailing faster than I ever sailed in my life before. Such a sea! It was simply awful. Great waves would form behind us, rush down and tower over our quarter like great mountains, and then they would break and plunge us ahead with fearful velocity. We were momentarily expecting a change of wind, and were looking quite sharp for the first indication of it, when one of the boys forward sang out, ‘There’s a man ahead.’ We could just hear his voice above the storm, and I ran forward as fast as I could to see what was the matter. The man was standing on the forecastle deck, and his arm was pointed over the weather bow. ‘See there,’ he screamed, and looking in the direction he indicated I saw the body of a man encased in a life-preserver and tossing about on the waves. We flew by it so fast that it would have been almost useless to have attempted to pick it up even if the storm would have permitted us to heave to at all. I was about to turn away and go aft again, when the lookout once more called my attention to the water, and an instant afterward I saw another body, which, like the first one, was encased in a cork life-preserver. Then we saw another body, then another and another, and we held our position until we counted ten in all. Some of them floated so close that I almost thought they would be lifted over our rail by the seas, but they were all carried past and left far astern. As we flew by these silent evidences of shipwreck the sailor, poor fellow, became almost frenzied with excitement, and he would have risked his life, if I had not restrained him, in attempting to rescue them. Once when we were buried clear to the rail and the water was roaring and foaming almost at our feet we saw a body dead ahead less than 100 feet away. In an instant we would be on top of it, and the sailor leaped forward toward the bowsprit to catch it before we raised on the next sea. Divining his intention I seized him, and by sheer force held him where he stood, and it was well I did so, for a huge sea broke over us, and we needed all our strength to hold on to the mainstay and save ourselves from being dragged overboard.

When we were free to act again the body of the unfortunate man was far to leeward and astern, and past all human aid. A short time afterward we saw an upturned boat that was being tossed around like a cork, but there was nothing to show that it had been occupied. There were no bodies nor any sign of life near it, and we gave it only a passing thought What I saw next made my heart almost stand still. I had been looking ahead, watching anxiously for a boat or anything that would show that some of the unfortunate crew had escaped, when my eyes fell on a small object that seemed to be a man standing upright in, the water. The object disappeared as it settled down in the trough of the sea, and would be lost to sight for several seconds, and then it would come up again on the top of a wave and remain poised there just like a buoy or spar. ‘It’s a man, and he’s waving his hand at us, said the sailor at my side, and I looked again more closely than before. Then I saw it was a man, and that he was standing on what seemed to me to be the top of a pilot house or a piece of a hurricane deck. He was holding on to his frail float with one hand by means of a rope net-work, while he was using his unemployed hand in waving his hat as a signal to us. I ran aft and called my mate to see the poor fellow, and when Mitchell got on deck we were nearly abreast, and less than 200 feet away. The man was exerting himself to his utmost, waving first one hand and then another, and shouting all the time like mad to attract our attention. One moment he would be buried in seas and the next he would be riding on the crest of a wave, and at such times we could almost distinguish his features.

‘We were plunging past him with tremendous speed, and I knew it would be only a moment before he would be beyond our aid. I looked at the sea, then at the rag of a foresail and then asked myself, ‘Can I save him?’ While I was still pondering, Mitchell, my mate, rushed up to me and exclaimed, ‘Captain, for heaven’s sake heave to, and if any man of the crew will go with me I’ll lower the boat and save that man.’

‘This aroused me, and I told Mitchell it would be little short of suicide to attempt such a thing, and however much I hated to leave the poor fellow to his fate, I knew it was hopeless. To have attempted to go about in that gale would have been risking the lives of my crew and the safety of my vessel—it would have been more—certain destruction to us all. So I had to leave him, poor fellow. He could not have survived long. The wind was bitter cold and the seas were dashing over him so fast and with such force that he could not have retained his position much longer.’

“Few additional particulars about the disaster are obtainable here. Capt. Burke, the manager of the Northern Michigan line, tried to ascertain whether all the crew had perished, but he was unable to get anything definite either from Milwaukee or Manitowoc, and he was finally forced to abandon the effort. The lost, as far as known, are: Capt. George Thorpe, Ogdensburg; Capt. John Sullivan, mate, Chicago; Capt. Larry Higgins, second mate, Chicago; F. W. Burke, clerk, Chicago; Charles Mureau, engineer, Chicago; Frank M. Hall, assistant engineer, Chicago; Martin Beau, steward; Henry Beau, porter.

“Besides the foregoing there were two firemen, two wheelmen, a lookout-man, two cooks, seven deck-hands, and perhaps half a score passengers. It was rumored around the docks Saturday that among the passengers were George Riggs, his wife, and three children. The woman Capt. Moran, of the Superior, saw in the boat was probably Mrs. Riggs.

“A telegram from Two Rivers, Wis., says: ‘No trace of the bodies of the crew of the steamer Vernon, of the Northern Michigan line, which sank off Two Rivers point Saturday have as yet been found. The forepart of the pilot house of the wrecked steamer, with five life-preservers upon it, was found about six miles from shore Sunday. One of the life-preservers was cut open in a manner which would indicate that it had been worn by one of the sailors and was thrown aside by the wearer after becoming exhausted by the cold, and preferring death to further suffering.” (Logansport Pharos, IN. “Wreck…Vernon…Thirty…Forty Lives,” 31 Oct 1887, p. 1.)

Oct 31: “Chicago, Oct. 31.—No further details concerning the wreck of the propeller Vernon in Lake Michigan last Saturday [29th] were received to-day. It was learned, however, that when the vessel left Glen Haven, the last point she touched at on Friday night, she had ten passengers on board. Including these, there were 36 persons on the Vernon when she was wrecked, the crew, it now being definitely settled, numbering 26. It is known now that the three women included in the list of lost telegraphed last night left the vessel at Beaver Island, consequently they are safe. It is supposed that bodies will begin to float ashore in a day or two, and in that way a more complete list of the lost can be made up.” (NYT. “The Wreck of the Vernon,” Nov 1, 1887, p. 1.)

Nov 1: “Sturgeon Bay, Wis., Nov. 1.—Up to the arrival of the schooner Pomeroy, from Chicago, which passed through the bay to-day, it was supposed that not a single survivor was left of the 40 or 50 people on board the propeller Vernon, which went down off Sheboygan early last Saturday morning. It is now known, however, that at least one man lives to tell the tale of that terrible night on Lake Michigan. The Pomeroy has on board the only survivor, so far as in now known, of that awful disaster. The name of the man who has thus been rescued from death after he had given up all hope of over ever setting his foot upon dry land is Alfred Stone, of Chicago, one of the Vernon’s crew. He had been in the water 60 hours, exposed to a bitter, piercing wind, and without a bite to eat. When the Pomeroy discovered him on a raft last night, about eight miles from Sheboygan, (it was a clear moonlight night.,) Stone was so cold as to be almost helpless, and so weak from hunger that he could scarcely move. Although still very weak from the effects of his awful experience Stone was able to make a brief statement of the disaster.

‘I was awakened in the middle of the night…by the [unclear word – ‘cries”?] of the passengers and crew that the vessel was sinking. I sprang out of the window and found myself on a life raft with six other persons; I cannot say now who my companions were. Part of them were members of the crew and part were passengers. It seemed only a moment before the vessel had gone down, and I believe that all but a few of those on board went down with her. I do not know just how many people were aboard at the time, but the number could not have been far from 50. We passed through an awful night. I think I never saw such a sea as that which tossed our little raft at its mercy. When daylight came we hoisted a signal of distress, using a coat tied to an oar. Two vessels passed so near us on Saturday that they must have seen our signal, yet for some reason they apparently made no effort to reach us. The storm still raged, and it may be that they had all they could do to save themselves. One after another of my companions perished in the cold, or was washed off the raft when they became too numb with the cold to hold on any longer. We never saw any others from the sunken steamer, and I don’t believe that any others survived. The vessel went down so suddenly that the crew hadn’t time to man the boats.’

“When Stone was picked up there was the corpse of one man on the raft with him, the other four having perished several hours before. Stone says this man was one of the crew whose name he does not know.” (NYT. “The Vernon Disaster…Survivor Picked up While Clinging to a Raft,” 11-2-1887, p. 1.)

Nov 3: “Green Bay, Wis., Nov. 3.—The Schooner Pomeroy arrived her from Chicago Tuesday evening having on board Axel Stone, who was a watchman on the propeller Vernon, and is the only known survivor of that wreck. He was found floating on a life buoy from the Vernon about five miles northward of Sheboygan light and five or six miles from the shore….

“The schooner ran into the life-raft about 5 o’clock Monday morning, and the man raised an outcry, which attracted the crew of the Pomeroy. The schooner was sailing at a speed of about six or eight miles an hour. When the helpless sailor was discovered she put about, lowered a boat, and with considerable difficulty, succeeded in getting the unfortunate man safely on board the schooner. It was almost impossible to keep Stone on the raft until the boat reached him. So anxious was he to gain a safe place that he wanted to leap into the water in his haste for aid. Besides Stone there was on the raft the body of one of the firemen, who was known by the name of Bill.

“Stone is a Swede, who has been only one year in this country and speaks the English language very imperfectly. He shipped as watchman on the Vernon from St. Ignace two months ago. His story of the last trip of the Vernon is that the propeller left Sheboygan for Chicago about 7 o’clock last Thursday evening [Oct 27]. She then had besides her crew of twenty-five two or three passengers. The boat stopped at St. Ignace and took on a quantity of pig-iron and fifteen passengers, five or six of whom were women. Two or three passengers at each of the other ports were taken. Frankfort was the last port at which the boat touched. On leaving there, there were twenty-five passengers aboard, all men but six. The boat left that port at 7 o’clock Friday night [Oct 28], the intention being to make Milwaukee her next port. The weather was fine when the Vernon left Frankfort. Between 9 and 10 o’clock that evening, however, a heavy northeast storm struck her when she was about abreast of Manitowoc light. The freight was piled between decks so the gangways could not be closed, and the heavy sea continually washed her decks. In a hour or so there were three feet of water in the hold, but this was siphoned out, and it was for a time thought that the danger was past.

“The storm continued and the boat rolled heavily, but no attempt was made to cart over the freight. At 12 o’clock, when Stone retired from the watch, one fire was already out. He does not know what was done from that time to about 3 o’clock in the morning [Oct 29], when he was aroused by a loud crashing noise and saw everything in confusion on the boat….

“No children were on board. They [passengers] were mostly bound for Chicago….” (Eau Claire Daily Free Press, WI. “All Lost But One,” Nov 3, 1887, p. 1.)

Nov 3: “Manitowoc, Wis., Nov. 3.—The bodies of two of the victims of the Vernon disaster were picked up and brought here Tuesday by the tug George Paukratz which was chartered by Captain Berke, of Chicago, part owner of the Northern Michigan line, to search the lake. No further bodies nor any wreckage was seen and the search was given up at dark. The bodies await identification.” (Eau Claire Daily Free Press, WI. “All Lost But One,” Nov 3, 1887, p. 1.)

Nov 10: “Lake Michigan has given up twenty-two of the bodies of the victims of the Vernon and they are now laid out in the engine house at Two Rivers, where the following have been identified: George Thorpe, captain; John Sullivan, first mate; Larry Higgins, second mate; F. W. Burk, clerk; Martin Le Beau, steward; Henry Le Beau, porter; Roy Hazelton, cabin boy; E. B. Borland, passenger, Milwaukee….

“Axel Stone, the sole survivor of the wreck, passed through Milwaukee on his way to Chicago on the 2d. He appeared quite comfortable, but it will be some time before he fully recovers from the terrible exposure, and will be sent to the marine hospital in Chicago to recuperate. Stone reiterated in every detail the interview with him in Green Bay. Marine men who read his story doubted very much some of his statements, as for instance the assertion that the gangways were left open and that the propeller was as deeply loaded as Stone claimed. When questioned on these points, Stone said:

Yes, it is true that both [of] her forward gang-ways were left open—that is the upper half of them which swing upon hinges. The lower parts were in place, but the upper parts of the two forward gang-ways had been left tied up, and the freight piled clear up to the hurricane deck, beside the open gang-ways.”

“How was it that the gang-ways were left open?” asked the reporter,

“I don’t know, except that the weather was pleasant when she was loading, Friday, there being no sea whatever on the east shore, and the officers probably thought they were going to have a pleasant run across the lake that night, and so neglected to close them.”

“When she encountered the heavy sea the waves commenced to break through the open gang-ways. After, the boat had three feet of water in her hold I went to Capt. Thorpe on deck and suggested that some of the deck load be jettisoned, so that the gang-ways could
be closed down, and he told me to ‘go to hell,’ that he was running the boat.”

“Was the boat as deeply laden as you are reported to have said?”

“Well, she had an inch and a half of freeboard on one side and six inches on the other. It was the biggest load I had ever seen on her.”

“Are you certain that there were twenty passengers aboard ?”

“Well, I am positive that sixteen got on at St. Ignace, thirteen of them deck passengers, or laboring men, none of whom probably belonged there and their identity may never be established.”

“Stone says that it was about 3 o’clock in the morning when he was awakened and that when he jumped out of his berth the water was rushing into his room. He grabbed a life preserver, put it about him and jumped through the window, swimming to the raft on which he floated fifty hours.” (Wakefield Bulletin, MI. “Gives Up Its Dead…Bodies from…Vernon…,” 11-10-1887, p. 7.)

Nov 10: “A coroner’s jury was impaneled at Green Bay and an inquest held on the body of the man found on the raft with Axel Stone, the sole survivor of the propeller Vernon. Testimony was given by Capt. Comstock, of the schooner S. B. Pomeroy, by a physician and by Axel Stone. The latter testified that he knew his dead companion only by-the-name of “Bill,” and that the deceased told him he had come from New Orleans before shipping on the Vernon….

“The jury examined two life-preservers picked up on the raft. One was made of cork and the other was made of sea rushes. A bunch of these being removed and soaked in water filled in 15 minutes and sank. This alleged life-preserver bore the mark ‘Luduc’s Tule Life Preserver, 246 Market Street.’ The verdict was in accordance with the facts already given, and the jury severely censured the inspector who last passed the steamer for negligence regarding the rule requiring cork life-preservers, and recommended that he be held legally accountable.” (Wakefield Bulletin, MI. “A Coroner’s Inquest,” Nov 10, 1887, p. 7.)

Nov 16: “Two Rivers, Wis., Nov. 8.—A verdict was returned yesterday afternoon by the coroner’s jury in the case of the victims of the Vernon disaster. The jury finds that the facts before it are insufficient to warrant censure of the owners of the boat, either for faulty construction or worthlessness of the life preservers, but that the captains of the vessels that passed the wreck are to be severely censored for failing to report at the nearest ports, to enable the dispatching of a relief expedition in time to save some of the persons floating about.” (Waterloo Courier, IA. “The Vernon Disaster,” Nov 16, 1887, p. 2.)

Oct 4, 1888: The wreck of the lost steamer Vernon has been located 7 miles north of Two Rivers and 6 miles out in 30 fathoms of water.” (Port Huron Daily Times, MI. 10-4-1888; transcribed by William McNeil in Maritime History of the Great Lakes, “Vernon (propeller), sunk, 29 Oct 1887.”)

Sources

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

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Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. “Monthly Record of Current Events,” Vol. 76, No. 452, Jan 1888. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1888. Accessed 1-22-2021 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=-y09AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Indianapolis Journal, IN. “Lost in a Terrible Gale. The Passenger Steamer Vernon Wrecked on Saturday Night in Lake Michigan.” 10-31-1887, p. 1, cols. 3-4. Accessed 1-22-2021 at: https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=IJ18871031.1.1&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN——-

Logansport Pharos, IN. “Wreck…Vernon…Thirty…Forty Lives,” 31 Oct 1887, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com

Mansfield, John Brandts (Ed. and Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899. Google digitized. Accessed 1-22-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=iHXhAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

McNeil, William R. “Vernon (Propeller), sunk, 29 Oct 1887.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes (webpage). Accessed 1-22-2021 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/51109/data?n=1

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. “The Vernon Disaster. One Survivor Picked up While Clinging to a Raft,” 11-2-1887, p. 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19735186

New York Times. “The Wreck of the Vernon,” 11-1-1887, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19735179

Philadelphia Record Almanac 1888. “General and Local Events.” Philadelphia Record, 1888. Accessed 1-22-2021: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxpnn1&view=1up&seq=203&q1=vernon

Shelak, Benjamin J. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. Big Earth Publishing, 2003. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=4CBCcye0n6IC

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.

Syracuse Daily Standard, NY. “Loss of the Vernon.” 10-31-1887, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 1-22-2021 at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=37628450

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1888 (Treasury Department Document No. 1228). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1889. Accessed 1-22-2021 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=I3oDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=true

Wakefield Bulletin, MI. “A Coroner’s Inquest,” 11-10-1887, p. 7. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=152691767

Wakefield Bulletin, MI. “Gives Up Its Dead. Bodies from the Sunken Vernon Recovered.” 11-10-1887, p. 7. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=152691767

Waterloo Courier, IA. “The Vernon Disaster,” 11-16-1887, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=88428586