–106-125 Blanchard estimated death-toll range.*
–>126 Lawson. “A look back: 1871 Staten Island ferry explosion kills, maims hundreds.” 7-30-2019.
–>126 Memories of Staten Island. Staten Island Tragedies. “1871: July 30.”
— 125 FindingDulciana staff. “On This Day: Staten Island Ferryboat Explodes.” 7-30-2011.
— 125 Patell and Waterman. “The Westfield Disaster.” ahistoryofnewyork.com, 7-30-2008.
–66 passengers at the time.
–59 injured “would eventually die as well.”
— 125 Wikipedia. “Timeline of New York City Crimes and Disasters.”
— 106 New York Times. “Westfield, Craft of Horror, Gone,” July 7, 1916.
— 104 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 686.
— 103 U. S. Central Publishing Co. Important Events of the Century: 1776-1876, p. 160.
— 102 Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam-Vessels. Proceedings of [20th] Meeting. 1872, 52.
–101 passengers –1 crewmember
— 100 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 88.
— 100 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 399.
–>100 Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. “Disasters.” Vol. XLIII [43], October, 1871, p. 793.
–>100 Iowa State Reporter. “Chronological List of the Leading Events of 1871.” 1-10-1872, 2
–>100 New York Times. “The Westfield Disaster., August 20, 1871.
— 100 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 101.
— 86 NYT. “Another Victim of the Westfield Explosion,” Aug 8, 1871, p. 8.
— 85 NYT. “The Latest Deaths—Preparing for the Coroner’s Inquest,” Aug 6, 1871, p. 8.
— 83 NYT. “Incidents Connected with the Disaster,” Aug 4, 1871, p. 5.
— 82 NYT. “The Explosion. Only Four Additional Victims Yesterday,” Aug 3, 1871, p. 8.
— 76 NYT. “The Late Disaster. Seventy-Six of the Victims Dead Thus Far,” Aug 2, 1871, p. 5.
— 72 NYT. “The Explosion. Further Details of the Dreadful Catastrophe,” 8-1-1871, p. 1.
— 66 Cudahy. Over & Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor. 1990, p. 140.
— 62 Paterson Daily Press, NJ. “Steamboat Disasters.” Aug 29, 1883, p. 2.
— 50 New York Herald. “Steamboat Murder. Terrific Explosion at the Battery,” 7-31-1871, p8.
— >40 NYT. “Appalling Disaster. Explosion of a Staten Island Ferry Boat Boiler.” 7-31-1871, 1.
* Blanchard. While it appears that Patel and Waterman have provided a definitive death toll (125), including deaths at the time and afterwards from injuries, one would think that this knowledge would have been available to the New York Times in 1916, when the paper noted 106 deaths. Thus, out of an abundance of caution, we choose to utilize a range that captures both (106-125). As for the two sources which note 126 deaths, in that neither provide any source citations or clues as how to verify that number, and whereas Patel and Waterman present detailed numbers, we choose not to include 126 as the high-end of our estimated death toll range.
Narrative Information
Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam-Vessels: “ On Sunday, July 30, 1871, the ferry boat Westfield exploded her boiler while lying in slip at New York. There was a large number of passengers on board at the time of the disaster, one hundred and one of whom, and one of the crew, lost their lives, being either killed immediately or dying afterward from the effects of injuries received at the time of the explosion. This case was promptly and thoroughly investigated by Mr. L. H. Boole, local inspector of hulls at New York, and Mr. Increase S. Hill, local inspector of boilers at Boston. A full and detailed report of same, together with the testimony elicited, and other data appertaining thereto, are on file at the Treasury Department. The investigation was commenced almost immediately after the disaster, and continued for about ten days, during which time more than fifty witnesses were examined. It was made thorough and impartial, and the evidence adduced conclusively established the fact that the primary cause of the explosion was a defective sheet located on the lower side of the boiler, near forward end, but in such a position as not to be seen by any internal examination or developed by the usual hydrostatic test. Constant use during nine years increased this defect and consequently materially weakened the boiler, rendering it unable to sustain the excessive pressure to which it was frequently exposed. The amount of pressure allowed for this boiler was twenty-five pounds, but it was an ordinary practice for the engineer to carry an excess of from two to five pounds, and his gauge, only a few moments before the explosion, indicated a pressure of twenty-seven pounds, and it is probable, from the appearance of the boiler after the accident, that at the time of the explosion the steam may have been raised to thirty-five pounds. After duly considering all the facts elicited, the inspectors found that the responsibility of this most direful disaster rests equally upon Mr. Braisted, superintendent of the ferry company, and Mr. Robinson, the engineer. Mr. Braisted employed an ignorant and careless person to fill the position of engineer on his ferry-boat, and permitted him to openly violate the requirements of the steamboat laws; and Robinson, who was acting without a license, not duly appreciating his responsibility, and being ignorant of many of his duties, became reckless in their discharge, and was in constant habit of carrying steam greatly in excess of the pressure allowed by the certificate. The amount of damage sustained was about $30,000. The ferry-boat has since been rebuilt, and is now plying on her route between New York and Staten Island.” (Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam-Vessels. Proceedings of [20th] Meeting. 1872, pp. 52-53.)
FindingDulciana staff: “On July 30, 1871, a boiler explosion onboard the Westfield, a Staten Island ferryboat, killed 125 passengers.
“The Westfield, built in 1862, was not part of the Staten Island Railway’s regular fleet of ferry boats. It was used on July 30, 1871, to provide an “extra trip” to accommodate the heavy Sunday afternoon traffic. More than 200 passengers boarded the ship, which departed from South Ferry Terminal in Manhattan between 1 and 2 o’clock.
“As the ferry sailed to Staten Island, a large boiler beneath the front deck exploded….
“Though early projections estimated 40 fatalities, when all passengers were accounted for the number reached 125. It stands as the worst accident in the history of the Staten Island Ferry, which began service in 1817 as the Richmond Turnpike Company.
“The cause of the explosion was never officially determined. James Braisted, its superintendent, admitted to investigators that ‘’carrying steam above the pressure allowed by the Inspector’s certificate was not uncommon.’ However, the Westfield’s engineer, a black man named Henry Robinson, was illiterate and could not read the certificate, says Patell and Waterman’s History of New York.
“Braisted and Robinson were charged with manslaughter. Jacob Vanderbilt, the president of the Staten Island Railway, was charged with homicide, but later acquitted.” (FindingDulciana staff. “On This Day: Staten Island Ferryboat Explodes.” FindingDulcinea.com. 7-30-2011.)
Newspapers
July 31, 1871, 1:30 in the afternoon, NYT: — “This City, which has lately supped so full of horrors, has never been afflicted with a tragedy so appalling as that which burst upon it at 1½ o’clock yesterday afternoon [30th], when the boiler of the Staten Island ferry-boat Westfield exploded while the vessel lay in her slip alongside of South Ferry, off the Battery. In an instant of time hundreds of human beings were killed, or maimed, or scalded….
The Vessel of Death
“The ferry-boat Westfield, belonging to the Staten Island Railroad Company, was built in Brooklyn in 1862, and was then furnished with a low-pressure boiler 24 feet in length, 10 feet diameter, with 12 feet front…and allowed to carry a pressure of twenty-five pounds to the square inch. This boiler was in the boat continuously, and subjected to the examination from time to time required by the law of the United States. The last inspection was made on the 15th of June, by John K. Mathews, Inspector of Boiler4s, and the certificate that this boiler had been then subjected to a hydrostatic pressure of thirty-four pounds to the square inch, and certifying to the trustworthiness of the craft in every respect, was registered in the Custom-house on the 15th of July, and a copy of this certificate furnished to the boat hung in horrid mockery to a portion of the timbers of the vessel left intact but overhanging the awful wreck….The Captain was John Vreeland, an experienced, sober, industrious boatman, for many years devoted to his calling. The engineer, upon whom rested the responsibility of keeping in complete subjection the terrible engine of death in the bowels of the boat was Henry Robinson, a colored man, who has been in the employ of the Company in that capacity for more than a dozen years, and during all of that time enjoyed the fullest confidence of his employers as a pruden6t, intelligent, capable engineer, and this confidence increased as he added additional years of faithful service, during which he performed his duties without any disaster….
“Thus manned this vessel was to make what is known as the extra trip. The regular boats leave at each hour, but Sunday afternoon it has been the custom of the Company to start a boat at each half hour. The Westfield was selected for this duty, and went into her slip and was made fast about 1:10 o’clock to receive passengers and be in readiness to leave at the half hour.
“….It is impossible to say precisely what number were on board, but it is certain there was not the large number named by rumor, which is always present at disaster, to exaggerate and distort. The ticket-taker stated that he had taken a few over 200 tickets….The day was sultry, and for the sake of the breeze from the Bay everybody sought the end of the vessel furthest from the dock. Directly beneath them was the boiler in the hold of the vessel….
While waiting for an incoming ferry to clear, in order to shove off, “The boiler exploded with terrific power, the whole end of the boat…was torn to tatters…. Lifted into the air, hurled into the water, buried in the debris of the wreck, bruised, mangled, scalded, roasted, men, women, children babes, were mingled in a mass of indescribable horror…a woman whose white dress made her a prominent object was lifted above the tower on the adjacent South Ferry house, a distance of about thirty feet, and a babe was thrown upward until it seemed but a doll. Scores were cast into the water and disappeared beneath its surface. Scores were flung down into the wreck and buried in the debris….Mingled with the deafening crash of timbers…[was] that most appalling of earthly sounds, the shriek of a horse in terror and pain, for one of these animals attached to a carriage in which were several persons, was enveloped in the deadly folds of steam and tumbled into the crater made by the explosion….
“The instant after the explosion the awful extent of the disaster was fully realized. The seventy-five feet of the boat furthest from the dock was a total wreck. The main deck over the boiler, composed of thick plank, was torn from its place as if it were made of paper, and mingled with fragments of the upper framework of the vessel, all of which was totally destroyed, was cast down into the exposed hold….
Many of the injured were taken to the Park Hospital. ‘Men who had served through the late war, and had seen many a desperate battle, where the field was strewn with dead and wounded, were horror-stricken at the fearful spectacle in the various wards of the hospital.’….
“A cursory examination of the boiler as it rested in the bottom of the boat, revealed the fact that the explosion occurred at the rear, and that a piece about four feet long and two feet wide was torn out of the jacket and thrown a distance of about one hundred feet on to the dock at the barge office. Another, a larger portion of the boiler, was thrown directly forward into the bow of the boat….” (New York Times. “Appalling Disaster. Explosion of a Staten Island Ferry Boat Boiler. Wreck of the Steamer Westfield at South Ferry.” 7-31-1871, p. 1.)
July 31, NY Herald: “One of the most appalling catastrophes which ever took place in this city occurred yesterday afternoon, at the foot of Whitehall street, by which a large number of persons were killed and a still larger number were maimed for life. The laboring classes and others, who toll from morn till night, six days in the week, without a single day’s respite, make Sunday a day of out-of-town excursions in the summer-time. Among the many places nearby which they resort to for a breath of fresh air is Staten Island. It is a brief hour’s sail to the island from the city, and hundreds every Sunday make it a sort of duty they owe to their wives and little one, who during the week are pent up foul-smelling tenements, to go to the island and spend an hour or two away from the heat and dust of the city in the midst of shady groves and cozy nookeries close by the sea.
“The weather yesterday was everything that could have been desired or a pleasant sail down the bay. About noon it became too warm for comfort in the close streets, yet on the bay there was a refreshing breeze which proved most grateful to the excursionist just emerged from his suffocating tenement or dingy state. Every boat that had paddled its way to the island during the forenoon had been crowded in every part, and nothing occurred to mar the general pleasure of the day until the ferryboat Westfield slid into her slip about a quarter past one. She had few passengers on board when she arrived, but she had taken down to the island an hour before fully seven hundred persons. This time an immense crowd of excursionists were impatiently awaiting her arrival behind the gateways, and even while she was being made fast to the pier hundreds could be seen rushing down Broadway and from the Brooklyn ferries, hurrying along at the top of their speed, fearful lest they should miss the boat which it would have been well and many failed to reach. It was just after the dinner hour, and nearly every man was accompanied by some female relative or companion. Many had their entire families with them, wife and children.
“When the passengers from the island were safely landed, the gates were thrown open, and then began the rush for choice seats on the part of the hundreds who were in the ferry house and behind the picketed enclosure. The crowd seemed to be unusually large, and the women and children, as usual on all excursions, predominated in point of numbers. A great many, principally young men, without female companions, made their way to the forward part of the boat on the lower deck. The great bulk of the crowd, however, went upstairs. Everybody endeavored to get a seat on the front part of the boat, just in front of and alongside the pilot house, round the base of which ran a sort of bench nailed fast to the…cabin. Along the cabins, inside and behind them at the stern every seat was occupied in a very short time; but owing to the prospect of obtaining a better view of the surrounding scenery in going down the bay and getting the full benefit of the breeze, the greater portion of the passengers took possession of that part of the boat forward of the wheelhouse. Those who could not find room on the benches, and who were able to capture a stool, took up as comfortable a position as they could get just in front of those on the benches.
“In two minutes after the gates on the pier had been thrown open, the forward part of the boat was literally packed with men, women and children, so much so that it was quite impossible for a person to get around from one side of the hurricane deck to the other without getting a passage made through the crowd by the removal of an entire line of the movable seats. Those who had been unable to secure a seat of any kind, in looking upon the laughing, gay hearted crowd that filled the small space near the wheelhouse as they good naturedly joked about the unfortunates who had been too slow in the rush upstairs to get even a stray box to sit upon, little though how thankful they would in a brief moment have reason to be for their misfortune.
“It was now lacking three or four minutes of the hour of starting. The children were running about the deck amusing themselves in a game of tag. A little group of jolly-looking fellows, accompanied by several women who sat beside them, closely huddled together right in the middle of the thickest of the crowd, had already opened a series of jocose story-tellings, and a loud roar of laughter every once in a while from the listeners told how they were relishing what they heard. In fact everybody had already settled himself and herself as comfortably as possible for a pleasant time of it during the sail down the bay, and not one of the laughing crowd ever gave a thought that within a few feet of them was a huge mass of plate iron, hidden from view beneath the deck, which in a second was to carry death and desolation to many a happy home.
“The engineer started at this moment from the pilothouse, as the bells were to be rung to ‘go ahead’. The lines were cast off, the gang planks drawn in and the pilot stood at his post, when of a sudden there was a loud crash, a sound of hissing steam, and the boat shook from stem to stern as though she had been struck by an iceberg, and in a second the forward decks were thrown high into the air and fell in all directions in a thousand pieces. The boiler had exploded.
“The scene that ensued beggars description. The wheelhouse was thrown high into the air; the hurricane deck in front of it and alongside of it was torn into shreds and scattered in every direction. The deck beneath, near the bow, was rent asunder by the force of the concussion. The boiler crashing into the forward part of the hulk, carried with it everything that lay in its way. The heavy timbers of the deck were broken asunder as if they had been reeds, while the entire hold was laid open, and down into the midst of all the heap of broken iron and broken rails – away down in the hold, from which the steam was gushing in thick, suffocating clouds – lay a struggling mass of men, women and children – each is his or her agony tearing blindly at the other to reach a place of safety. Some lay on the edge of the broken part of the lower deck, crushed and mangled almost out of all semblance to humanity, while in the water, near the steamer, were crowds of the passengers struggling to get near the boats which put out from all sides to the rescue.
“The hurricane deck forward of the shaft was hurled in fragments into the air, every person on it being hurled along with it and falling either dead or horribly mangled on the lower deck or into the waters beneath. The smoke stack fell at the same moment, the wheelhouse crashing down at the same time, and the combined weight of the two crushed in what little remained of the decks, the whole mass falling into the hold below, carrying down with it every unfortunate who had not been flung into the river by the explosion. A bystander states that he actually saw two men fall into the water headless, and three others without the slightest vestige of an arm or a leg.
“The scene was one of heart rending horror. Shrieks rent the air upon all sides, and above the din and confusion made by the groans and moans of the wounded was heard the shrill shriek of some women, who, beneath a mass of broken timbers, lay writhing and struggling in a vain effort to get free.
“The Police boat and boats from Governor’s Island were soon on hand, and their crews worked energetically to save those who had been thrown into the water by the explosion, or who had, in the terror of the moment, sprung overboard. A very large number were saved by the boats, and everything was done that could be done to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded, who were brought ashore and laid upon the wharves.
“In a short time after the dreadful accident the streets near the pier began to fill up with an excited crowd. An hour after the occurrence there were fully five thousand people in the vicinity of the Battery, and it was as much as the police could do to keep them back from the slip where the shattered boat was lying.
“As quickly as could be the wounded were taken in wagons and ambulances to the nearest station house – that in New street – where they received all the attention that the surgeons could bestow upon them, and were afterward sent to the hospitals.
“Some of the dead were frightfully mutilated. Many of the bodies were brought to the station house immediately after the occurrence. They presented a horrible appearance. One man had his head blown almost completely off, only a portion of the forehead and face remaining. Among the dead was one woman apparently about thirty years of age. Her head had been crushed in by a timber falling upon her from the hurricane deck.
“The scene in the streets as wagon after wagon passed along, each with its cargo of horribly mangled bodies created the greatest excitement, and in a very short time the intelligence of the horrible catastrophe was spread all over the city. Hundreds of persons who had friends on board the boat hastened from up town in the direction of the Whitehall slip when they heard the news, and soon the crowds became so great that an extra force of police had to be called out to preserve order.
“How the accident occurred no one seems to have any correct idea as yet. It is said that the boiler was patched some time ago, and that the new piece must have ‘given way’. The engineer states that he had only twenty-seven pounds of steam on, and that the boiler had been in use for nine years….
“The pilot, who occupied the pilot house immediately over the boiler, was blown up into the air and came down on the hurricane deck, miraculously escaping without sustaining the slightest injure. Captain Freeland and Henry Robinson…who was engineer, were standing in the rear pilot house when the explosion took place, and both escaped without injury….
“About two hundred people were on board the boat at the time of the explosion, upwards of one hundred of whom are supposed to have been injured….” (New York Herald. “Steamboat Murder. Terrific Explosion at the Battery,” July 31, 1871, p. 8.)
July 31, NYT: “Washington, July 31.—The Secretary of the Treasury has called on the Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam-boats for a thorough investigation into the causes of the explosion of the boiler of the ferry-boat Westfield, at her slip on New-York, on Sunday afternoon, together with a detailed account of her last inspection by the Board. The Supervisors are instructed to make rigid inquiry into every fact connected with the accident, and report, as soon as the investigation is concluded, whether her last inspection was such as is required of the Inspectors under the law.” (NYT. “An Investigation Ordered by the Secretary of the Treasury,” 8-1-1871, p. 1.)
July 31, NYT: “The excitement at Bellevue Hospital was as great yesterday as it was on the day of the accident itself. Inside the hospital, the friends of the wounded besieged the doors of the office for permits and thronged the wards of the hospital where their friends were laid. Outside on the street, from the river to the First-avenue corner, a large and never-diminishing line of people extended….Eighteen persons have now died in the hospitals…” (NYT. “At Bellevue Hospital,” 8-1-1871, p. 1.)
Aug 1, NYT: “The principal theme of conversation yesterday, in every part of the City, was the great disaster of the previous afternoon. As soon as daylight dawned yesterday morning the scene of the sad accident was visited by crowds, which as the day wore on gradually increased. At 8 o’clock It was estimated that the wharf had been visited by fifty thousand people, some of whom bad come out of curiosity to see the boat, while others had a more dreadful errand, that of inquiring for lost ones. Women with babes in their arms and two or three children dragging to their skirts were among the crowd. Men of all ages, anxious fathers, brothers and friends, who had not long heard of the accident, rushed from all quarters and made most anxious inquiries for news. The papers were bought up by those people in a very short space of time, and exorbitant prices were offered for the extra copies of the TIMES. One poor widow was crying bitterly. She had not seen her only son since Saturday evening, and she was afraid that be was among the killed or wounded. A lady tried to sooth her by getting a copy of the TIMES and searching for the name, but it could not be found, and the mother was somewhat more contented….
“The Police and other officials seemed completely overcome. Their faces wore the imprints of the sad sights they had witnessed, and their bespattered clothes the duties they had been engaged in. Every car and boat brought its full freight of living beings from every direction. The streets in the neighborhood were almost impassable….
“The bodies recovered during the day were all taken to the First Precinct Station-house, and after they had been described in the Police books, were taken to the Morgue….” (NYT. “The Explosion. Further Details of the Dreadful Catastrophe,” 8-1-1871, p. 1.)
Aug 4, NYT: “Timothy Buckley, of No. 47 Essex-street, who was terribly injured in the explosion, died yesterday in Park Hospital.” (NYT. “Incidents Connected with the Disaster,” 8-4-1871, p. 5.)
Aug 6, NYT: “George Elsasser, 57 years of age, of No. 229 Avenue B, who lost two children by the disaster, and was himself terribly scalded, died Friday night of his injuries…Otto Greeneht, a butcher, of No. 231 Grand-street, Jersey City, died in Bellevue Hospital, yesterday morning from the effects of the terrible scalds he received in the explosion. His wife, who was with him at the time of the explosion, was badly scalded, and now lies in Bellevue Hospital in a critical condition.” (NYT. “The Latest Deaths—Preparing for the Coroner’s Inquest,” Aug 6, 1871, p. 8.)
Aug 8, NYT: “Richard R. Moore, of Williamsburg, died at his residence, in Fifth-street, near South Second, at a few minutes before 6 o’clock yesterday morning, from scalds and other injuries received on board the ill-fated steam boat Westfield…” (New York Times. “Another Victim of the Westfield Explosion,” Aug 8, 1871, p. 8.)
Aug 11, NYT: “The investigation into the cause of the explosion on board the ferry-boat Westfield was continued yesterday, in the United States Circuit Court-room, before the United States Steamboat Inspectors. Abram Van Duzer, an engineer on the Staten Island Ferry, thought the gauge of the Westfield was out of order, and failed to indicate the exact pressure….
“Mr. Anning Smith, Superintendent of the North-shore Staten Island Ferry, thought that the crack in the boiler weakened it so that twenty-seven pounds of pressure would cause the explosion…. ‘I have seen the piece of iron at Police Headquarters which, in one place, shows a crack almost entirely through it iron; the crack was covered with a thin coating of iron…I think the twenty-seven pounds of pressure would cause the explosion, in consequence of the previous crack; I have formed an opinion from observation and from the experiments which have been tried upon the valve; there might have been only a thin scale of iron that covered the crack’….
“Mr. Henry Whittaker, an engineer, considered that the explosion was caused by want of water…. ‘I have been a steam-boat manager on the lakes; I have no doubt that the Westfield was a safe boat, and consider that all explosions are the consequence of want of water.’ The witness put in a lengthy testimony, setting forth some most remarkable instances of accidents both on high and low pressure engines. ‘In all cases there was a flaw in the iron, and want of water; have heard of many low steam pressure boilers exploding with as little as ten or fifteen pounds pressure; the remedy I should suggest to prevent explosions is a steam whistle which no engineer could fail to hear; I consider the Westfield explosion was caused by want of water in the boiler’….
“Mr. Robert Crengband’s [mechanical engineer] theory was that the boiler exploded from differential expansion…. ‘the boiler is sure to be under a strain because the lower flues expand the lower part of the boiler while the upper part contracts; the lower water would hardly be heated at all, while the upper water would be hot; the boiler should have been twice as strong endways as the body; the flues were not clean, there being a maximum corrosion of a quarter of an inch; this would increase the expansion.’…. The witness believed the cause of this explosion was that the boiler had been much injured by contraction; its bursting was only a question of time, and then there was a want of circulation in the boiler when it came into the slip; his belief is that the bottom plate of the boiler was the worst of the plates; consider it is extremely dangerous to feed the boilers while they are running, and…would require them to take in water into the boiler-feed when in the slip; if the water in the boiler could be possibly kept in perfect circulation there would be less danger….
“The Committee of Experts reported that the steam-gauge was correct between thirty-five and twenty-four pounds, but that below twenty-four the gauge indicated in excess of the pressure. The valve was found to work correctly and the tensile tests were satisfactory.” (New York Times. “The Investigation Before the Government Inspectors,” Aug 11, 1871.)
Aug 20, NYT: “The Grand Jury for the August term of the Court of General Sessions was reconvened yesterday, when the indictments against Messrs. Vanderbilt and Braisted, President and Superintendent of the Staten Island Ferry Company, and Robinson, the engineer of the steamer Westfield, charging them with the neglect which resulted in the death of over 100 persons, were submitted to them for consideration….
“Upon a careful consideration of the evidence, if you shall become satisfied that there is probable cause to believe that the Government Inspector carelessly or negligently inspected the boiler of the Westfield, or was otherwise officially in fault when hiving his certificate, then the indictment …would be proper, charging him with criminal contribution to the deplorable result. If you are satisfied from the evidence that Mr. Vanderbilt, President of this Ferry Company, or Mr. Braisted, its Superintendent, were put upon such personal notice of the incompetency of the engineer, or the insecurity of the boiler, as to compel a degree of care and inspection greater than they both or one exercised afterward, then it will be proper further to inquire if they do not also, in the language of the [law] superinduce the result by their culpable negligence…. It is said that the engineer improperly absented himself from his post, and thereby too great a volume of steam for so defective a boiler was permitted to carry. But whatever may be the engineer’s condition on the law and the facts resolutely and fearlessly examine into the culpability of the more educated principles behind him. It is too often the case that subordinates area made scapegoats for erring officials who are over them and who are more powerful in place than means. If it is possible under the facts and law to hold Presidents, Directors and Superintendents of common carrier companies responsible for accidents happening to the passengers, whose lives and limbs they are in law bound to insure against negligence, then a great and beneficial example would be set. These officials exact liberal commutations and fines and they should be held to the utmost vigilance. They have the means of knowing whether their boats, cars, engines and boilers are or ought to be safe…” (New York Times. “The Westfield Disaster.” 8-29-1871, p. 2.)
Sep 1, NYT: “Yesterday [Sep 1] in the Court of General Sessions the Grand Jury who have been three days investigating the charges against the President and Superintendent of the Staten Island Ferry Company, the engineer of the Westfield and the United States Inspector, handed in their bills to Recorder Hackett. The Recorder congratulated them on the completion of their labors and thanked them for the dispatch used in the important business which they had just concluded. The bills were not shown to the members of the Press present, and upon inquiry being made of Mr. Sparks, the Clerk of the Court, they were referred to District-Attorney Garvin, who also refused to give any information. In spite of the mystery thrown around the indictments, there is little doubt, from information gathered, that a true bill of indictment has been found against the persons who have been held responsible by the Coroner’s jury for the Westfield disaster.” (New York Times. “The Westfield Disaster – Indictments Found by the Grand Jury.” 9-2-1871, p. 2.)
Sep 3, NYT: “In the Clerk’s office of the Court of General Sessions, yesterday, the indictments found by the Grand Jury against Jacob H. Vanderbilt, Wm. M. Braisted and Henry Robinson, in connection with the Westfield disaster were formally placed on file. The Grand Jury have indicted Mr. Vanderbilt for homicide, and Messrs. Braisted and Robinson for manslaughter in the third degree, but it is understood that other parties will be made defendants in the case. The entire matter will be reviewed by Judge Bedford, who will open the September Term of the Court of General Sessions on Thursday, and a speedy trail of the parties is anticipated.
“The following is the indictment presented against Mr. Vanderbilt:
State of New-York, City and County of New-York…
The jurors of the people of the State of New-York, in and for the body of the City and County of New-York, upon their oath present: That Jacob H. Vanderbilt, late of the First Ward of the City of New-York, in the County of New-York aforesaid, on the 30th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1871, was President of the Staten Island Railroad Company, and Superintendent of a certain ferry communicating and navigating by steam-boards between the City of New-York aforesaid and Staten Island, one of the said steam-boats being known and designated by the name and title of the Westfield, which boat was, at the date aforesaid and at the City and County aforesaid, moored at the ferry-landing, and being used for navigation on said ferry and in conveying thereon passengers for hire, as he, the said Jacob H. Vanderbilt well knew; and he then and there had charge of said steam-boat, and of the boiler thereon, and of the other apparatus thereon for the generation of steam, and of the employment of the engineer and others to manage the said boiler and steam-engine then and there on board of said boat, and being used for the purpose of propelling the same, and in which said boiler there was then and there divers large quantities of boiling water and steam whereby to work the steam-engine, as the said J. H. Vanderbilt then and there well knew, and that it then and there became the duty of the said J. H. Vanderbilt, as such superintendent aforesaid, to have said boiler and the apparatus connected therewith in good condition, secure and fit for use as aforesaid; to put said boiler and apparatus in the care and management of a competent, reliable and attentive engineer, to regulate the quantity and amount of steam to be generated and retained within the said boiler during the time said steam-boat was used and employed for the purpose aforesaid, according to the strength and capacity of the said boiler.
And the jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the said J. H. Vanderbilt, on the day aforesaid, in the year aforesaid, and at the county aforesaid, so having the care, charge, and control and responsibility of the said steam-boat was aforesaid, and of the said boiler and apparatus for the generation of steam, and of the employment of an engineer to manage the same, did willfully and feloniously neglect and omit to have said boiler and apparatus strong, sound and in good condition, secure and fit for its intended use aforesaid, and did willfully, feloniously and unlawfully put said boiler and apparatus in the care, charge and management of one Henry Robinson, he the said Hentry Robinson, being an incompetent, negligent, unskillful and unreliable person for the charge and management of the boiler and apparatus aforesaid for the purposes aforesaid.
And the jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do further say that on the said 30th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1871, the said Henry Robinson, so then and there being engineer of the said steam-boat aforesaid, used for the conveyance of passengers, known and called the Westfield, and he the said Henry Robinson then and there having charge of the boiler of the said steam-boat and of the other apparatus thereon for the generation of steam, he the said Henry Robinson then and there having the charge and management of the said boiler and apparatus for generating steam upon the said steam-boat under and by virtue of authority and direction of the said Jacob H. Vanderbilt, he, the said Jacob H. Vanderbilt, then and there well knowing that the said Henry Robinson was incompetent, unskillful, negligent and unreliable as an engineer aforesaid, on the day and year aforesaid, at the Ward, City and county aforesaid, with force and arms, the said Henry Robinson, willfully, feloniously and unlawfully, from ignorance and gross neglect, did create and allow to be created such an undue quantity of steam in the said boiler as to burst and break then and there upon and in the said team-boat Westfield, the boiler of the ssaid steam-boat and other apparatus thereon for the generation of steam, by which bursting and breaking, as well as by reason of the steam and scalding water which then and there escaped from and issued out of the said boiler and other apparatus, one Andrew Coyle, then and there lawfully being upon the said steam-boat, in the peace of God and the people there being, was then and there, by the means aforesaid, and by reason thereof, mortally burned, scalded and wounded in and upon the head, body and limbs of him, the said Andrew Coyle, of which said mortal burns he, the said Andrew Coyle, at the Ward, City and County aforesaid, then and there died. And so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths, do say that he, the said Jacob H. Vanderbilt, him, the said Andrew Coyle, in the manner and by the means aforesaid, on the day and year aforesaid, at the Ward, City and County aforesaid, feloniously and willfully did kill and slay, against the form of the statute in such cases made and provided, and against the peace of the people of the State of New-York and their dignity. Samuel B. Garvin, District-Attorney.
“The indictment against Robinson, which is couched in similar language to that against Mr. Vanderbilt, charges that by force and means he willfully, feloniously and unlawfully, from ignorance and gross neglect, created such a quantity of steam in the boiler of the Westfield as to cause an explosion, which resulted in the death of Andrew Coyle and others; and they formally indict him for manslaughter in the third degree. The indictment on which Mr. Braisted is to be tried alleges, as in the case of Mr. Vanderbilt, that as Superintendent of the Company, he was in charge of the boiler of the Westfield, and should have adopted measures for its preservation in a sound and good condition. It further avers that he was responsible for the action of the engineer, and by employing an incompetent man in that capacity he violated the statute and rendered himself amenable to a charge of manslaughter in the third degree, which was accordingly presented against him.” (New York Times. “The Westfield Disaster.” 9-3-1871, p. 6.)
NYT, 1916: “The Grand Jury then retire, and after some hours’ session, adjourned without bringing in any bills against the parties.”
The local “boatmen arrived at their own verdict and they still hold to it. The accident was caused by allowing cold water to run into the boilers from the cock on the ferry slip….
“A few brief lines buried on an inside page of a newspaper announced the other day that the old Staten Island ferryboat Westfield had been towed away to the wreckers to be broken up for scrap. Time was when the Westfield’s departure would have commanded more space in newspapers, but that was in the days when her reputation was evil and before she was replaced as a horror craft in people’s minds by the ill-fated General Slocum. Although the last years of the vessel’s life were spent carrying the sick about the harbor she was never able to live down entirely the reputation she gained on the afternoon of Sunday, July 30, 1971 when her boilers exploded killing 106 of her passengers and injuring 150.” (New York Times, “Westfield, Craft of Horror, Gone., July 7, 1916.”)
Sources
Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.
Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam-Vessels. Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Meeting of the Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam-Vessels, held at Washington, D.C., January, 1872. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1872. Accessed 7-13-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings_of_the_Twentieth_Annual_Meet/PHq2xqMdSJAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=westfield+ferry+explosion+new+york+1871&pg=PA52&printsec=frontcover
Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.
Cudahy, Brian. Over & Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor. New York: Fordham University Press, 1990. Accessed 7-13-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Over_and_Back/cFR56pF1JaUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=westfield+ferry+explosion+new+york+1871&pg=PA140&printsec=frontcover
FindingDulciana staff. “On This Day: Staten Island Ferryboat Explodes.” FindingDulcinea.com. 7-30-2011. Accessed 7-13-2020 at: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/July-August-08/On-This-Day–Staten-Island-Ferry-Explodes–Killing-125.html
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. “Disasters.” Vol. XLIII [43], 1871, p. 793. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=pH8CAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Iowa State Reporter, Waterloo. “Chronological List of the Leading Events of 1871.” Jan 10, 1872, p. 2. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=87934782
Lawson, Kyle. “A look back: 1871 Staten Island ferry explosion kills, maims hundreds.” Silive.com, Staten Island, NY, 7-30-2019. Accessed 7-13-2020 at: https://www.silive.com/news/2019/07/a-look-back-1871-staten-island-ferry-explosion-kills-maims-hundreds.html
Memories of Staten Island. Staten Island Tragedies. “1871: July 30.” Accessed 11-27-2010 at: http://oldstatenisland.tripod.com/s_i__tragedies.htm
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 Herald. “Steamboat Murder. Terrific Explosion at the Battery,” July 31, 1871, p. 8. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=11355436
New York Times. “Another Victim of the Westfield Explosion,” Aug 8, 1871, p. 8. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19716254
New York Times. “Appalling Disaster. Explosion of a Staten Island Ferry-Boat Boiler. Wreck of the Steamer Westfield at South Ferry.” 7-31-1871, p. 1. Accessed 7-13-2020 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1871/07/31/archives/appalling-disaster-explosion-of-a-staten-island-ferryboat-boiler.html
New York Times. “Incidents Connected with the Disaster” [Westfield Explosion], Aug 4, 1871, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19716187
New York Times. “The Explosion. Further Details of the Dreadful Catastrophe” [Westfield], 8-1-1871, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19716100
New York Times. “The Explosion. Only Four Additional Victims Yesterday” [Westfield], 8-3-1871, p. 8. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19716220
New York Times. “The Late Disaster. Seventy-Six of the Victims Dead Thus Far,” Aug 2, 1871, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19716171
New York Times. “The Latest Deaths — Preparing for the Coroner’s Inquest” [Westfield Explosion], Aug 6, 1871, 8. http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19716234
New York Times. “The Westfield Disaster.” 9-3-1871, p. 6. Accessed 7-13-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1871/09/03/78772669.html?pageNumber=6
New York Times. “The Westfield Disaster – Indictments Found by the Grand Jury.” 9-2-1871, p. 2. Accessed 7-13-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1871/09/02/78772492.html?pageNumber=2
New York Times. “The Westfield Disaster. The Grand Jury Reconvened to Consider the Indictments…” 8-29-1871, p. 2. Accessed 7-12-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1871/08/29/78771803.html?pageNumber=2
New York Times. “Westfield, Craft of Horror, Gone,” 7-7-1916. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9500EFDB173BE633A25754C0A9619C946796D6CF
Patell, Cyrus R. K. and Bryan Waterman. “The Westfield Disaster.” ahistoryofnewyork.com, 7-30-2008. Accessed 7-13-2020 at: https://ahistoryofnewyork.com/2008/07/the-westfield-disaster/
Paterson Daily Press, NJ. “Steamboat Disasters.” 8-29-1883, p. 2. Accessed at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hUZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gj4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6970,4060085&dq=steamboat+princess+1859&hl=en
Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC
United States Central Publishing Co. 1776-1876. Important Events of the Century: Containing Historical and Important Events During the Last Hundred Years. NY: 1876. Accessed 7-12-2020 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=OGZt1HGsgmEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Wikipedia. “Timeline of New York City Crimes and Disasters.” Accessed 11-23-2010 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_New_York_City_crimes_and_disasters
