lornajarrettblanchard

Blanchard estimated death-toll range.*

–20-25 Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Another Steamboat Explosion…Loss of Life.” 8-28-1841, 3.
— 5 crew (three drowned and two died from scalding injuries)
–15-20 U.S. soldiers missing, presumed drowned.
— 5-23 Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser. “Steamboat Explosion!,” Aug 30, 1841, p. 4.
— 23 Memphis Appeal in Holly Springs Gazette, MS. “Another Steam Boat Accident.” 9-2-1841, 1.
— 9 crew
–14 U.S. soldiers
— 23 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, 295.
— 3-21 Army and Navy Chronicle. “Military Intelligence,” Vol. 12, No. 35, Sep 2, 1841, p. 279.
— 5 crew
–16 U.S. soldiers
–18-21 Boston Morning Post. “Steamboat Explosion.” 8-26-1841, p. 2, col. 4.
— 20 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 178.
— 20 Mississippi Creole, Canton, MS. “Steamboat Disasters.” 8-21-1841, p. 2, col. 2.
— 19 Mobile Daily Commercial Register and Patriot, AL. “Disasters.” 8-18-1841, p. 6.
— 18 Madison Express, WI. “Dreadful Accident,” Sep 8, 1841, p. 3.

*Blanchard on estimated death-toll range: While the newspaper accounts show a general range of eighteen to twenty-five, we choose to rely on the books by Berman and Way, with Berman showing 20 deaths and Way, 25. Given the generality of the reporting, with few named losses, it is possible that fewer or more were lost. We are of the opinion, however, that a range of 20-23 captures the best range.

Blanchard on location. Sources below note several locations – within about a 45-mile range.

The Boston Morning Post, crediting the New Orleans Picayune, cites the Capt. Woods of the Louisiana as writing the explosion took place “near the Bayou Sarah.”

The Log Cabin, Albany, NY, writes that the explosion occurred “about fifteen miles above Bayou Sara.”

The Maid of Arkansas is reported to have written that the explosion occurred while the Louisiana was opposite the Bayou Sara.

The Mississippi Creole of Aug 21 places the explosion fifteen miles below Bayou Sara. Bayou Sara is a waterway that empties into the Mississippi about twenty-five to thirty miles upriver from Baton Rouge near upper end of the Bayou Sara Bend. Fifteen miles below Bayou Sara would appear to put the location in the vicinity of the Fancy Point Towhead within the river and Fancy Point Chute to the east, with Hermitage, below on the west shore.

The Mobile Daily Commercial Register and Patriot places the explosion near “Pheonix Island” on the Mississippi. We are unfamiliar with this location.

Way writes the explosion took place opposite Baton Rouge.

We can say from the notes above that the explosion certainly took place between Bayou Sara to the north and Baton Rouge to the south. Given that the New Orleans Picayune writes the paper had received a letter from Capt. Woods “that when near the Bayou Sarah, the starboard boiler…burst,” it seems that the mouth of the Bayou Sara waterway was the proximate location.

Narrative Information

Berman: “Louisiana…Aug 1841. Exploded. Mississippi River. 20 lives lost.” (Berman 1972, 178.)

Way: Louisiana. Sidewheel wood-hull packet, built in 1840 in New Albany, IN, at 631 tons, measuring 272 x 33 x 9. “The largest of her day. Built for Memphis-New Orleans trade….A steam explosion opposite Baton Rouge killed 23, most of them U. S. soldiers, August 1841.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, 295.)

Newspapers

Aug 18, Mobile Daily Commercial Register and Patriot, AL: “The steamboat Louisiana burst her boiler on the 12th inst. Near Pheonix [sic.] Island, on the Mississippi which instantly killed three of her crew. Six others were very badly scalded. There were 200 of the United States troops on board, twelve or fifteen of whom were missing.

“Since the above was put in type, later news has been received, that one of the soldiers was killed; 13 are missing and 7 severely scalded. Of the boat hands 3 are missing; 2 dead and 4 scalded.” (Mobile Daily Commercial Register and Patriot, AL. “Disasters.” 8-18-1841, p. 6.)

Aug 21, Mississippi Creole, Canton, MS: “….From the Vicksburg Whig we learn the steamer Louisiana, Capt. Powell, burst a boiler 15 miles below Bayou Sara, on the 13th inst. With 200 Florida troops on board under the command of Capt. Miller. Twenty persons were killed and several others scalded. ‘She was running at the usual rate, with plenty of water in her boiler, and the accident is supposed to have occurred in consequence of the inferior quality of the iron, and not from a press of steam.’ Those killed and scalded were some of the boat’s crew and some of the troops.

“Capt. Powell has been long on the river and we think this is the first accident of any importance that has ever occurred to him. May this be his last misfortune.” (Mississippi Creole, Canton, MS. “Steamboat Disasters.” 8-21-1841, p. 2, col. 2.)

Aug 26, New Orleans Picayune in Boston Morning Post: “The editor of the New Orleans Picayune has received a letter from Capt. Woods, of the steamer Louisiana, stating that when near the Bayou Sarah, the starboard boiler of that boat burst. Five of the crew and one U. S. soldier were killed, and four of the crew scalded. Twelve or fifteen soldiers are missing.” (Boston Morning Post. “Steamboat Explosion.” 8-26-1841, p. 2, col. 4.)

Aug 28: “The boiler of the steamboat Louisiana exploded on the 13th inst., about fifteen miles above Bayou Sara. Three of the men belonging to the boat were drowned, viz: William Smith, Duckhard J. Goodman, firemen, and Harry Finly, colored, fireman; six persons were scalded, tow of whom have sine died. There was a company of U.S. troops on board, fifteen or twenty of whom are missing and most of them supposed to be drowned. None of the officers of the boat or army, or any of the cabin passengers, were injured.” (Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Another Steamboat Explosion and Loss of Life.” 8-28-1841, p. 3, c.1.)

Aug 30, Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA: “The steamboat Louisiana, bound from N. Orleans for St. Louis, with U.S. troops, exploded the head of one of boilers, the fatal effects of which are thus described in a letter from the captain:

10 miles above Bayou Sara [LA].
August 13, 1841.

“While running along last evening as usual, the head of the starboard boiler burst, carrying every thing before it to a heavy bank of wood piled on the forecastle. By this accident we lost three overboard, supposed to be drowned… We had six scalded, two of whom are since dead…

“The surviving four are doing well and are not in a dangerous situation, except one whose case is doubtful. Of the U.S. troops there are some 12 or 15 missing and one dead. None of the officers of the army or of the bot are hurt, nor any cabin passenger. I am induced to believe that the missing persons were either blown overboard or jumped over and were drowned. Several swam ashore. (A later account gives the number as 34 in all – five dead, 11 scalded, and 18 missing.).” (Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. “Steamboat Explosion!,” Aug 30, 1841, p. 4.)

Sep 2, Army and Navy Chronicle: “1st Infantry. – The U.S. steamer Col. W.S. Harney arrived at New Orleans, on the 9th Aug. from Cedar Keys, with about 200 men…. In addition…there are 230 troops on board the ship Wm. Cass, bound for New Orleans, and which sailed a few days previous to the Col. H. The whole are destined for Forts Crawford, Snelling, Atkinson and Winnebago, to relieve the troops stationed there…

“The above troops were embarked on board the steamboat Louisiana, for St. Louis. On the 12 Aug. the head of the starboard boiler burst, by which accident 12 or 15 of the U.S. troops were killed, or thrown overboard. None of the officers were injured.

From the New Orleans Courier, Aug. 16.

“We have been obligingly favored by an officer of the U.S. Army, with the following extract of letter dated, Steamer Louisiana, Point Coupee, August 13, 1841.

“Sir – I send you a hasty report of the loss sustained by our regiment and the steamer, from the disaster yesterday evening, to which I refer you to the letter of the captain of the Louisiana….

“Killed, 1 – Missing, 15 – Scalded 7.
“Hands of the steamer: — Missing, 3 – Dead, 2 – Scalded, 4….9
“Total…32

“Aggregate: — Dead, 3 – Scalded, 11 – Missing, 18.” (Army and Navy Chronicle. “Military Intelligence,” Vol. 12, No. 35, Sep 2, 1841, pp. 279-280.)

Sep 2: “The Steam Boat Louisiana on her way up, about fifteen miles above Bayou Sara, one of her boilers exploded and killed some 23 persons; fourteen of whom were soldiers of the United States Army, under the command of Capt. A. S. Miller. The other nine persons who were lost, were hands belonging to the boat. No material damage done otherwise than the bursting of the boiler, and the loss of one chimney. The (Mem.) Appeal.” (Holly Springs Gazette, MS. “Another Steam Boat Accident.” 9-2-1841, p. 1, col. 4.

Sep 8, Madison Express, WI: “The Maid of Arkansas, which arrived this morning from New Orleans, says the Gazette reports that on the 19th inst., as the Louisiana arrived opposite Bayou Sara, her starboard boiler burst – killing 18 persons and scalding 21 others, 8 or 10 very dangerously. She was bound from New Orleans to this place with a large number of passengers, among whom were 200 U.S. soldiers. It is remarkable that so few, comparatively, were killed. Nine of the killed were firemen, the others were U.S. soldiers. Their names are not given. – St. Louis Pennant.” (Madison Express, WI. “Dreadful Accident,” Sep 8, 1841, p. 3.)

Sources

Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. “Steamboat Explosion!,” 8-30-1841, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=3093043

Army and Navy Chronicle. “Military Intelligence” [Steamboat Louisiana Boiler Explosion]. Vol. 12, No. 35, Sep 2, 1841, p. 279. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=TKhLAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

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

Boston Morning Post. “Steamboat Explosion.” 8-26-1841, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed 9-27-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-morning-post-aug-26-1841-p-2/

Holly Springs Gazette, MS. “Another Steam Boat Accident.” 9-2-1841, p. 1, col. 4. Accessed 9-27-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/holly-springs-gazette-sep-02-1841-p-1/

Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Another Steamboat Explosion and Loss of Life.” 8-28-1841, p. 3, c.1. Accessed 9-27-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/albany-log-cabin-aug-28-1841-p-3/

Madison Express, WI. “Dreadful Accident” [Louisiana Boiler Explosion], 9-8-1841, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33398733

Mississippi Creole, Canton, MS. “Steamboat Disasters.” 8-21-1841, p. 2, col. 2. Accessed 9-27-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-mississippi-creole-aug-21-1841-p-2/

Mobile Daily Commercial Register and Patriot, AL. “Disasters.” 8-18-1841, p. 6. Accessed 9-27-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mobile-daily-commercial-register-and-patriot-aug-18-1841-p-6/
Way, Frederick Jr. (Author and Compiler), Joseph W. Rutter (contributor). Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America (Revised). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1999.

Blanchard on location: While some sources place this loss at East Pass, FL, it is clear from the account of a survivor, Mr. Morton, that the Lamplighter made it through the East Pass, and going east, broke-down 12 miles outside of Dog Island – “outside” meaning on the Gulf side of this barrier island and not on the inside or Florida coast side.

— 35 Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. “A Dreadful Disaster,” March 8, 1841, p. 8.
— 19 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 129.
— 19 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 218.
— 19 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 680.
— 19 Singer. Shipwrecks of Florida. 1998, p. 25.
— 19 The Corrector, Sag Harbor, NY. “Wreck of the Steamboat Lamplighter.” 4-28-1841, p. 3.

Narrative Information

Berman: “Lamplighter. St. p. 186 [tons]. 1835 [built] Feb 13, 1841. Foundered. East Pass, Fla. 19 lives lost.” (Berman 1972, 129)

Lytle and Holdcamper: “Lamplighter…186 [tons]…foundered…2 13 1841…East Pass, Fla. …19 [lives lost].” (Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. 1952, p. 218.)

Singer: “Lamplighter – Sidewheel steamer, 186 tons, built in 1835 at Louisville, Ky. Foundered at East Pass, Feb. 13, 1841. Nineteen lives lost.” (Singer. Shipwrecks of Florida. 1998, p. 25.)

Newspaper

Feb 21: “The Tallahassee Star of the 21st ult. Furnishes the following painful intelligence:

“Captain Coss, of the Revenue service, arrived here last week, and reported that he had left Apalachicola on the 13th ist. in the steamboat Lamplighter. Captain Wood, bound for Tampa Bay, via Port Leon and Cedar Keys. When near Dog Island, about 20 miles from Apalachicola, the Lamplighter broke her main shafts and was consequently compelled to cast anchor – a severe gale blowing at the time, and the sea running high. While in the condition, the Steamboat Caroline, Captain Pettis, from Port Leon to Apalachicola, was discovered passing at about five miles distance, hugging the land close. Captain Coss and his brother put off in a small boat, and paddled for the Caroline. The distressing condition of the Lamplighter was made known to Captain Pettis of the Caroline, who stated that he could not possibly go to her assistance, as his boat was too small to encounter a heavy sea, and besides that, he had a large number of passengers, among whom were several ladies, and that he was under contract to land at least part of his passengers…at Apalachicola during that day (Sunday). After this ineffectual attempt to procure assistance, Capt. Coss and his brother returned in search of the Lamplighter, but could not discover her. She had disappeared entirely from her anchorage, and has never been seen since. The probability is that she went to pieces and sunk.

“There were 35 souls on board the Lamplighter, all of whom must have perished. Captain Coss’s wife and family were on board, and his condition is truly deplorable, having lost his all – family, money, and clothing….” (Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. “A Dreadful Disaster,” 3-8-1841, p.8.)

April 28: “From the Apalachicolian.”
“Wreck of the Steamboat Lamplighter.”

“The following account of the loss of the Lamplighter, and of the providential escape of a part of her crew were derived principally from Mr. Morton, one of the few survivors.

“The Lamplighter, Capt. Wood, left the port of Apalachicola, for Tampa Bay, on 11th February, 1t 3 o’clock, P.M., having on board twenty-five souls, six of whom were passengers, viz: Lieut. Cost, U.S. Army, his wife and servant – Mr. Hudson and wife, and Mr. Morton.

“She arrived at the East Pass (one of the outlets of Apalachicola bay) too late in the evening to venture over the bar; she was therefore brought to anchor inside. – Next morning, at sunrise, she got under way, and entered the Gulf. About twelve miles outside of Dog Island, the starboard main shaft, fly-wheel, &c., broke, and they were obliged to come to anchor in six fathoms of water. Here she lay all of Friday and Saturday, the weather being fine.

“On Saturday morning the smoke from a steamboat being seen to the Eastward, a small gig, belonging to Lieut. Cost, was lowered, and this gentleman, accompanied by his brother and the carpenter, started for her, in hopes to procure assistance. About noon they came along side of the Caroline, a small steamer bound to Apalachicola, from St. Marks. Lieut. C. stated the situation of the Lamplighter, and requested the captain of the Caroline to go out and tow her in, or take off the passengers. He declined doing so, on account of the crowded state of his own boat. He, however, offered to carry them to the East pass, where the fleet of shipping awaiting freights, were moored, and they would doubtless be enabled to obtain a vessel. On arriving at this place they found a lighter discharging cotton, the captain of which offered to go out with them on the following morning.

“The wind blew violently all night from the Westward. Early on the following morning (Sunday) the lighter got under way and stood out into the gulf – the gale still raging. She passed by the spot where the Lamplighter had been anchored, but no traces were to be seen. They sailed up and down for some time, keeping a vigilant look out until toward evening, when despairing of finding the object of their search, and having suffered considerable damage in her sails from the violence of the wind, they steered for St. Marks. Here they ascertained that nothing had been seen or heard of her; so they concluded she must have gone down and all on board perished.

“The remaining account of what befell the Lamplighter and her crew, after the departure of Lieut. Cost and other passengers, is given by Mr. Morgan, one of the six that survived.

We lay at anchor all of Friday and Saturday, in hope that the wind would come out from the south, when by erecting a mast and setting sail, we might reach the land. Until 12 o’clock, meridian, of Saturday, the weather had been fine – there was little or no wind and the sea was quite smooth. In the afternoon the wind sprang up from the west, and gradually increased until sunset – it then began to blow violently, and soon amounted to a perfect gale. The sea had also risen, in the meantime, and a heavy swell setting in from the gulf threatened to break up the boat, or drag her anchors. To add to our distress and danger, the night had set in dark and cloudy. The passengers, who had retired to their berths, were soon aroused by the commotion, and were all summoned by the captain to dress, and hold themselves in readiness to leave the boat at a moment’s warning.

The sea at length began so to rack and strain the boat by striking under her guards, as to threaten to tear them up, in which even she would have filled and gone down at once. In order to prevent this calamity we cut them away, and at the same time threw overboard the chimneys, wood, &c. Also, in hopes to make her ride easier over the waves, we slipp0ed one anchor that she might drag the other, and thus diminish the impetus of the swell by yielding to it. This, however, proved of little advantage. She soon commenced doubling up, and the water rushed through the open seams in torrents. Some now took to bailing out at the hatches, but the water gained upon them so fast that they were soon compelled to desist. – Our only chance of safety now was in taking to the small boats, which had been launched from the deck and secured to the stern, one man being stationed in each to keep them free from water.

“As I was standing upon the steamer’s stern, with an oar to prevent the boats striking her and being stove, a heavy sea nearly carried my legs from under me, and on turning around I perceived that she was fast settling. Soon after another sea washed entirely over me, so that I was obliged to seize a stanchion to prevent myself being carried along with it. Immediately after it had passed I leaped overboard, and swam for the boat – luckily, in the darkness, I encountered one of the painters, which had been cast loose, and following it to the bows clambered in.

We endeavored to row up in order to rescue some of the rest of the crew, but the violence of the wind and waves, and the darkness of the night rendered all our efforts unavailing.

My companions in the little boat were the captain and mate of the steamer, the steward, and two deck hands. Our situation was wretched enough. Cast upon the open Gulf in a frail uncovered boat, in a raging tempest, without food, without a sail, we could expect nothing more than soon to share the fate of our unfortunate companions. Still we did not despair, and cheered by the captain’s assurances that we should be saved if we obeyed his orders, we took our stations in the boat as he directed – some to pull at the oars, and some to bail out the water. – The captain who throughout all the above distressing scene, had evinced the most admirable coolness and intrepidity, placed himself in the stern to guide her, and to direct the rowers, an office requiring the greatest care and precision, as the only safe position for the boat was to keep her bows to the sea. We kept her thus all night.

On the following morning at sunrise we descried land at a considerable distance, which we took to be what is called the Southwest Cape. We made towards it gradually, the heavy swell rendering it dangerous to advance directly toward it. The wind however soon hauled to the north, and blew very strong and cold. Yet we kept head to it in hopes of a change. The body of the steward, who had perished during the night, we now consigned to the waves. After about three hours, finding from cold and fatigue that it was impossible longer to contend with the wind and sea, we constructed a small sail of a piece of cotton which we found in the bottom of the boat, and stretched it upon a broken oar. We then went off before the wind at a rapid rate during the day.

Thus we passed a most uncomfortable night, vainly endeavoring to snatch a little repose, of which we stood so much in need, by lying down alternately in the bottom of the boat. Toward morning the wind lulled, and when the sun arose in a cloudy sky, it had become perfectly calm. Before long, however, the wind sprang up from the westward, and blew a steady breeze. All this day we went off before it, heading as nearly as we could judge toward land. We now began to feel the pangs of hunger. Fortunately we found in the boat a small jug of water, which we used as sparingly as possible. Toward night one of the deck hands died, and we cast the body into the sea. The night passed without any change in the weather. Tuesday morning the sun rose clear – the wind soon lulled, and manning our oars we thus continued on our course.

We had not proceeded far, when her perceived some object floating upon the waves, which, on nearer approach, was recognized as a part of the steamer’s stern. Soon after, we descried something else ahead, which, to our great joy, proved to be the other boat which had left the steamer with ourselves. There had entered this boat Captain Durgan, Mr. English, the chief engineer, and a negro, who had since died. On coming alongside we found them even more destitute than ourselves, not having had a drop of fresh water since they entered the boat. They had sat themselves down, one in the bow and the other in the stern, and despairing of succor, had resigned themselves to their fate.

We immediately took them into our boat and furnished them with a draught of water from our scanty supply, by which they were somewhat revived. At night the wind freshened again, and we went through the water at a smacking rate. On the following morning, when the light had become sufficient for us to discern objects, we found that we had entered a very shallow bay, and were aground at a considerable distance from the shore. This we conjectured (and as we afterward ascertained, correctly), was Dead Man’s Bay. We waded the shore and sought a long time for fresh water – our scanty stock having been exhausted – we could, however, find none. We returned to the boat about noon, and the tide having risen started to leave the bay. Judging from our observations what we were to the eastward of St. Marks, we followed along the shore to the westward. At sunset we made the northwest point of the bay, and landing, again sought for fresh water, but with as little success as before. We hauled our boat in shore, and exhausted with fatigue and thirst, threw ourselves down among the rushes to sleep – but the cold was so intense that we could obtain but little repose.

Early on the following morning (Thursday), four of our number started into the woods to made a farther search for water, leaving Captain Dorgan and myself upon the beach, our feet being so sore from chill-blains as almost to disable us from waling. On surveying the shore to the North-West, after the sun had risen, we descried on object near the shore, at some five or six miles distance, which we took to be a vessel aground. Telling Captain Dorgan that I would go and endeavor to ascertain what it was, I left him. As I pursued my way slowly along the muddy marsh, I frequently sunk into it to my knees. At length I arrived at an elevated spot which was bare and dry, constituting an island at high tide.

Having rested myself here a few minutes, I tied my handkerchief to a palmetto stock as a signal of distress, and started again, but had nigh perished in a boggy spot, in which I sunk almost to my neck. After having with great difficulty extricated myself, I observed a white flag raised on the vessel, but could see no human being. Being at too great a distance to render my shouts audible, almost in despair, I returned to the little island, and throwing myself upon the ground exhausted, fell asleep. I know not how long I slept, but when I awoke, I saw a small boat returning to the vessel. I then waved my flag until I had again attracted their attention. They immediately returned, and on arriving within hail, demanded who I was – when, on my replying, Captain Plummer, of the army, and Captain Chase, of the steamer, came on shore, and carrying me to the boat, conveyed me on board the steam vessel James Adams.

I then stated the condition of my companions, and directed to where I had left them. Some of the passengers and crew immediately left in the boat, and in a short time returned bringing all my companions with them. Here we received every attention that our situation required. The steamer was got under way that night for Cedar Keys, where she arrived on the following morning. Here some of my companions were obliged to enter the hospital, in consequence of the condition of their feet which were severely affected with chilblains.

To the officers and passengers of the steamboat, also to many others whom we met at Cedar Keys and Tampa Bay, I feel the most heartfelt gratitude for the many kind

(The Corrector, Sag Harbor, NY. “Wreck of the Steamboat Lamplighter.” 4-28-1841, p. 3.)

Sources

Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. “A Dreadful Disaster” [Steamship Lamplighter loss], 3-8-1841, p.8. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=3091832

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

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

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.

Singer, Steven D. Shipwrecks of Florida: A Comprehensive Listing (2nd Ed.). Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, Inc., 1998. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed2-16-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=6j6kjZQReqkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false

The Corrector, Sag Harbor, NY. “Wreck of the Steamboat Lamplighter.” 4-28-1841, p. 3. Accessed 2-16-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sag-harbor-corrector-apr-28-1841-p-3/

 

–3,498  Blanchard tally based on sources cited below and guestimation.[1]

 

Summary of Death Toll by State

 

Alabama                     (   >10)

Florida                        (1,109) (June-Nov 15, esp. July-Oct) Esp. St. Joseph and Tallahassee

Louisiana                   (2,152)             (Aug-Oct)                      Esp. New Orleans

Mississippi                  ( ~200)             (Fall)                              Esp. Vicksburg

Missouri                     (       2)

Pennsylvania              (       1)

South Carolina          ( ?>10)

Maritime                    (     14)

 

Breakout of Yellow Fever Deaths by State and Locality

 

Alabama         (    >10)

—>10?  Mobile. Blanchard stand-in number.[2]

—      ?        “     Humphreys 1992, p. 47; Keating 1879, p. 86; La Roche 1855, V2, p. 356;

Sternberg 1908, p. 719.

 

Florida            (1,109)             (June-Nov 15, esp. July-Oct)

–1,109  State.  Blanchard tally based on breakouts below.[3]

Breakouts of Yellow Fever mortality by location (and military).

—       31  Military yellow fever deaths in: Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, 138-179.

—     >10  Apalachicola.                       Blanchard number based on Nat. Board of Health Rpt.[4]

—         1  Blackwood Plantation (now Harwood Plantation), Leon County, July 1.[5]

—         1  Cedar Keys, Aug 19.           Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, p. 159.

—         1  Fort King (Ocala) Aug 12.  Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, p. 156.

—       26  Key West     June start         Keating 1879, 86; USMHS 1896, 436.

—      >3? Pensacola                            La Roche 1855, Vol. II, p. 427.[6]

—         3  Picolata, Oct 1 & 23, Nov 14. Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, 138, 142-43

—     131  Port Leon[7]                           US National Board of Health. Annual Report…1879. p.388.

—         1  Punta Rassa, ~Ft. Myers, Nov 2.  Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, p. 142

—       26  St. Augustine                       Augustin 1909, 458; Keating 1879, 86; USMHS 1896, 436.

—       25         “            Oct 5-Nov 15  Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, 138-144.

–45-450  St. Joseph                            Blanchard guesstimate.[8]

–4,500  “                                 Ghosttowns.com. “St. Joseph, Gulf Count. [9]

–Many  “         July-Aug         FL Dept. of State. Florida Historical Markers Program.

–~4,500“        Aug start          Smalltowngems.com. “History of Port St. Joe, Florida.” [10]

–Many  “                                 Wikipedia. “St. Joseph, Florida.” 2-23-2012 last modified.

—           ?  St. Marks.                          Tallahassee Magazine. “Historicity,” July-Aug 2011.

–230-400  Tallahassee, July 1 start     Tallahassee Magazine. “Historicity,” July-Aug 2011.[11]

—   400     “                              Baptist. Creating an Old South, citing Barbara Miller.[12]

—   150     “          Aug             Tallahassee Magazine. “Historicity,” July-Aug 2011.[13]

–60-80     “                              US Nat. Board of Health. Annual Report…1879. p. 387.[14]

 

Louisiana       (2,152) (Aug-Oct)

—  2,152  State.                       Blanchard tally of locality breakouts below, using 1,800 for N.O.

—         2  Donaldsonville.       La Roche. Yellow Fever…1699-1854… (V2). 1855, p. 467.[15]

–<2,000  New Orleans.          Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, col. 1.[16]

—  1,800           “                      Carrigan. The Saffron Scourge, 1961, p. 78.[17]

—  1,800           “                     Dr. M. M. Dowler in La Roche 1855, p. 63.[18]

—  1,800           “                      Jones. New Orleans Med. & Surg. Jour. Vol. VI, 1879, p. 699.[19]

—  1,722          “                       Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, col. 2.

—  1,722           “ Aug 1 start. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness at New Orleans,” 11-26-1841, 2.

—  1,722           “                      Southport American, South Port, WI. 12-9-1841, p. 3, col. 1.

—  1,641          “                       Washington Globe, DC. 12-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.

—  1,500           “                      The Bee, New Orleans, 11-3-1841, cited in Carrigan 1961, p. 78.

—  1,325           “                      Barton. 1857. From 4,549 total deaths and population of 78,745.[20]

—  1,325           “                      Official yellow fever death toll, noted n Carrigan 1961, p. 78.

—  1,325           “                      San. Com. of New Orleans. Rpt. of the Sanitary Comm. 1854, 465.

—     594[21]        “ July 27 start.[22] Keating 1879, p. 86.

—     594          “                       Sternberg 1908, p. 719.

—     594          “                       US Marine-Hospital Service. Annual Report…1896, p. 436.[23]

—         5          “  Aug 1-7.       Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p2, c2

—         4          “  Aug 8-14.     Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.

—       23           “  Aug 15-21. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p.2.

—       72           “  Aug 22-28. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p.2.

—     105           “  Aug 29-Sep 4. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841,2

—     164           “  Sep 5-11.     Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.

—     220          “  Sep 12-18.    Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.

—     259           “  Sep 19-25.   Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.

—     180           “  Sep 26-Oct 2. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, 2

—     115           “  Oct 3-9.       Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.

—       93           “  Oct 10-16.   Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.

—       96           “  Oct 17-23.   Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.

—       37           “  Oct 24-28.   Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.

—         5          “  Oct 31-Nov 2.[24]  Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, col. 1.

—     350  Lafayette.[25]              Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.

—         ?  Port Hudson,[26] Sep-Oct. Keating 1879, 86; La Roche 1855, V2, 352;[27] Sternberg 1894, 43.

 

Mississippi                  ( ~200) (Fall)

—      2  near Clinton    La Rouche 1855, Vol. II, p. 220.[28]

—    >1  Vicksburg.      La Rouche 1855, Vol. II, p. 220; Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.[29]

— 8-10 daily “    Monette. Observations on the Epidemic Yellow Fever of Natchez…. 1842, 76.[30]

—    22          “ Oct 19-22.  Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. 11-8-1841, p. 3, col. 1.

–~200          “ and Warren County. Morris, Christopher. Becoming Southern. 1995, p. 220.[31]

 

Missouri                     (     2)

— 2  St. Louis.  Wisconsin Enquirer, Madison. 11-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.

 

Pennsylvania              (      1)

— 1  Philadelphia, Sep.  La Roche 1855, vol. II, p. 475.[32]

 

South Carolina          (  >10?)

—   >10  Charleston.  Blanchard stand-in number.[33]

—       ?          “           Keating 1879, p. 86; Sternberg 1908, p. 719.

–Many         “           Simons. An Essay on the Yellow Fever… in Charleston. 1851, p. 12.[34]

 

Maritime                    (    14)

–11  USS Levant at Pensacola. Sep-Oct.  Hulse 1842, 406.[35]

–~3  Schooner at Port Leon.[36]            US National Board of Health. Annual Report…1879. p.388.

 

Cuba:

 

Aug 19 report: “The fever has been still worse at Havana, and we learn that there are nine American ships now lying at that port without a soul on board, all having died of the prevailing fever.”  (Marshall Western Statesman, MI. 8-19-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)

 

Dec 11 report:  “The yellow fever was raging with great severity at St. Jago de Cuba, at the latest advices and a number of American seamen had fallen victims.” (Washington Globe, DC. 12-11-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)

 

Florida:

 

“In Florida, the yellow fever epidemic of 1841 nearly delayed its admission to the Union by reducing the territory’s population.”[37] (Humphreys. Yellow Fever and the South, 1992, p. 49.)

 

Florida, Apalachicola:

 

Collector’s Office report, U.S. Custom-House, Apalachicola, FL, 7-26-1879: “There has been one epidemic of yellow fever in Apalachicola, namely in 1841. The population at that time was about 2,500. The town was new. Many buildings were going up. There was much miscellaneous filth; and a number of ponds in the town had been filled up. There was much malarial sickness. In the summer months the merchants and their families went away, reducing the population to 1,500 or 2,000, of whom  about one-half were blacks.

 

“The fever was brought first to Saint Joseph by a fruit-vessel from the West Indies [Caribbean], and subsequently, by the same vessel, about the 1^st of July, to Apalachicola. It was not recognized until about the middle of the month. The whole number of cases is reckoned at about 200; number of deaths, not stated.”[38]

 

“Refugees from Apalachicola died in many places along the Chattahoochee River, as at Fort Gaines, Quincy, &c.; but in no case did they propagate the disease.” (U.S. National Board of Health.  Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 388.)

 

Florida, Key West:

 

Aug 14 report: “Col. Worth is prosecuting the war[39] most vigorously and hopes to finish it this season. A detachment of 403 men and 50 canoes has started from Fort Dallas and Key Biscayne for the Everglades, bent on decisive action. Key Biscayne is abandoned. The troops are generally healthy, though yellow fever rages in some parts of Florida, and Key West is suffering from it dreadfully. Major Childs remains sick at Fort Dallas, and Capt. Burke commands the expedition.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “From Florida.” 8-14-1841, p. 4, col. 5.)

 

Aug 19 report: “The accounts from Key West are of the most deplorable nature. The yellow fever is said to be raging at that place, and very fatal – a large number have already fallen victims to it. One of the unfortunate victims is Mr. Landon C. Kenry.”  (Marshall Western Statesman, MI. 8-19-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)

 

Florida, Pensacola:

 

Drake:  “Season of 1841. – The year 1840 was exempt; but in 1841 the fever prevailed in the ships, the Navy Yard, and the town. The following is the account of Dr. Hulse:

 

The United States sloop-of-war the Levant came in [Pensacola] from Very Cruz, and as there were many cases of yellow fever among her crew, she was deserted, and the crew encamped in a timber shed in the Navy Yard. The disease continued to prevail among the crew, but for two weeks it did not communicate to the inhabitants of the Yard. But at the end of this time it spread to the building nearest the shed, and finally through the Yard.[40]

 

“There is a conflict of accuracy between this gentleman, the Professors Carpenter and Wedderburn,[41] as one says it spread through the yard, and the other, that only two well-attested cases occurred there; still further, while Professor Wedderburn represents that when the vessel arrived from Vera Cruz, there were many cases of the fever among her crew, Dr. Hulse informs us, that she was anchored opposite the town of Pensacola during the month of August, on the last day of which the first cases occurred. Dr. Laurison, the surgeon of the ship, confirms the statement of Dr. Hulse as to the outbreak of the fever.

 

While lying…in the Bay of Pensacola, the yellow fever suddenly made its appearance on board the sloop-of-war-Levant, of which I was the surgeon. The invasion of the disease was equally sudden and unexpected. On one day we were comparatively well, and in the evening had several cases of fever, which continued to develop itself among the crew and officers, until in the progress of the epidemic, out of a complement of 160 souls, not more than fifteen escaped an attack, in some form or other.[42]

 

“After speaking of the landing of the men at the Navy Yard, and saying that this produced no abatement of the disease, he adds, ‘For a few days, the fever seemed to be confined exclusively to our ship’s company; but soon, however, some fatal cases occurred in the town of Pensacola, and on board the French vessels lying in the Bay.” We are not told whether Prof. Wedderburn made his statement from personal observation or the report of others; Dr. Hulse and Dr. Laurison wrote from personal observation. If we take their statement of the length of time which elapsed after the vessel reached the harbor of Pensacola, and manner in which the disease broke out, it was not introduced from Vera Cruz; and as, according to both these gentlemen, it did not appear in Pensacola and on board the French ships till after it appeared on the Levant, it was not received by the ship from the town, and must therefore have originated on board of her. It may be asked, then, did not this ship infect the town, the Navy Yard, and the French ships? This must be granted as possible; but if the fever could originate in the first, it might originate in all the rest. If the Levant did not receive it from without, it is a presumptive analogy that it did not communicate it.”  (Drake, Daniel, M.D., S. Hanbury Smith, M.D. and Francis G. Smith, M.D. (eds.). A Systematic Treatise, Historical, Etiological, and Practical, on the Principal Diseases of the Interior Valley of North America…(Second Series). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., Publishers, 1854, pp. 234-235.)

 

Hulse:  In relation to the USS Sloop-of-War Levant and yellow fever among the crew while at Pensacola, Dr. Isaac Hulse of the U.S. Navy,[43] provides a short account and notes the number of cases:

 

….This ship was lying opposite  to Pensacola, during the month of August, and on the last day of that month, four cases of yellow fever were sent from her to the hospital. In three or four days, she dropped down to the Navy-yard, was dismantled and her crew were sent on shore at the yard, a portion of them still communicating with her, and on the last day of September ninety-nine cases of the yellow fever had been admitted at the hospital from her officers and crew. New cases continued to occur among the ship’s company, now located at the Navy yard, until we received thirty-nine more cases, making in all one hundred and thirty-eight cases from that single ship. The disease did not disappear till the 5^th November, after several severe frosts….

 

Several instances occurred in which persons who had been cured of the disease, returned and exposed themselves again to the infection on board, and had a fresh attack, possessing all the characteristics of the first; in general, these second attacks were more severe than the first, and in one, it was fatal….

 

The French vessels of war La Sabine and Le Dunois, after having fourteen cases, five of which proved fatal, dropped down to the Navy-yard, and on the 26^th of September commenced sending their patients to this hospital as soon as practicable after the attack. After their arrival here, they had eighteen cases, two only of which proved fatal. The disease ceased on board on the 7^th of October, and on the 12^th they re-embarked all their convalescents, sailed a few days after for Havana….The Levant had twenty-one new cases after the disease ceased on board the French vessels.

 

In this epidemic the number of cases admitted at the hospital were,

 

Cases.  Deaths.

Americans,        138       11

French                 18         2

(Hulse 1842, pp. 392-394 and 406.)

 

Florida, Port Leon:

 

“In 1841, when Port Leon was visited by yellow fever, it had a population of about 400 – say 350 whites and 50 colored. Probably 100 whites and 20 colored left as soon as yellow fever appeared. Of those who remained at least one-half of the whites, or 125, and one-fifth of the colored, or 6, died between the 1^st of July and the 1^st of October. The fever was brought in on a small schooner from Havana, which had on board a theatrical company of ten or fifteen men and women. Several of these were taken sick soon after arrival, as were also some of the crew of the schooner, and several deaths occurred among them. There were several coasting vessels in the harbor at the same time, and the fever spread to some of these, with several deaths. When the fever first broke out there were two doctors in the town, both of whom kept small stocks of drugs and medicines; but as soon as the fever began to spread both of them removed to the country, taking their medicines along with them. A few of the earlier cases were able to bring physicians from Tallahassee; but later in the season the sick had no medical attention at all. The usual autumn gale occurred about the last of September, after which the fever rapidly subsided.” (United States National Board of Health.  Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1879, p. 388.)

 

Florida, St. Joseph:

 

Cox:  “….Disaster…soon struck the new city. Despite extending its railroad to Iola on the Apalachicola River, St. Joseph was unable to compete commercially with Apalachicola. The
population dropped from 12,000 to 6,000 almost as quickly as it had grown. In an effort to rebound, the city began promoting itself as a seaside resort, but during the summer of 1841 a
deadly yellow fever epidemic ravaged the community. In a matter of months, the population of St. Joseph virtually disappeared. By 1842, only 400 inhabitants remained. Some of the homes were dismantled and moved by barge to Apalachicola, while others were raided for windows, shutters and bricks.

“In September of 1844, a hurricane struck St. Joseph, destroying much of what remained of the community and driving away some of the last inhabitants. Despite legend that the community disappeared, however, a few residents remained and Florida newspapers continued to mention the community for years to come. The great city on the bay, however, was gone and today nothing remains other than its historic cemetery and the artifacts on display at the
Constitutional Convention State Museum.” (Cox, Dale. “St. Joseph – Florida’s Lost City.” ExploreSouthernHistory.com. © 2008.)

 

FL Dept. of State:  “Location: S.R. 384A. County: Gulf. City: Port St. Joe. Description:  This site is one of three cemeteries of Saint Joseph. Many persons interred here were victims of yellow fever which plagued the city throughout July and August, 1841, causing its depopulation and abandonment. The dread disease, sparing neither rich nor poor, was brought into port by sailing ship from the Greater Antilles. Here many prominent territorial Florida statesmen, journalists and merchants succumbed. No markers remain of those buried in trenches.” (FL Dept. of State, Div. of Historical Resources. FL Historical Markers Program. “Gulf, Saint Joseph Cemetery.” Tallahassee, FL. State of Florida, ©2013.)

 

Ghosttowns.com. “St. Joseph in the early 1800’s was the largest town in Florida with 6000 residents. It served as a seaport which proved to be its demise when in 1841 a ship docked with occupants carrying yellow fever. Over 75% of the town died of the disease and the rest of the population fled. Hurricanes have since destroyed the remains.”  (Ghosttowns.com. “St. Joseph, Gulf Count.”)

 

Kimball: “The town of St. Joseph almost became the state capital, but was wiped out by yellow fever in 1841 and then finished off by a hurricane.” (Kimball, C.. “Gulf County…Places To Visit: Constitution Convention State Museum.” Southernhistory.us, ©1998-2002.)

 

LighhouseFriends.com:  “From the southernmost point of land along Florida’s Panhandle, Cape San Blas extends like an arm three miles west and then fifteen miles north, forming the oblong St. Joseph Bay. The bay was known to be one of the best harbors along Florida’s Gulf Coast, and in 1836 the town of St. Joseph was established on its shore….

 

“The lighthouse wasn’t the only new arrival to St. Joseph in 1838. The Territory of Florida also held its Constitutional Convention there that year to lay the groundwork for its bid at statehood.

 

….in 1841, a ship arrived in port and introduced yellow fever into the community. In just a matter of weeks, the population of the town was decimated. Two years later, a hurricane, accompanied by a high tidal surge, managed to destroy what remained of the city. Ironically, the city of St. Joseph didn’t survive to see Florida become the twenty-seventh state in 1845.”

(LighhouseFriends.com. “St. Joseph Point, FL.” (website © 2001-2013).)

 

Smalltowngems.com: “The resort city of St. Joseph attracted many visitors from the plantations and cities of lower Georgia and Alabama with its cool breezes and beautiful beaches that summer. Daily rain showers filled the swamps in the area and mosquitoes were breeding rapidly. By August of 1841, mosquito-borne Yellow Fever had struck and killed about 75% of the residents of St. Joseph and many of its seasonal visitors, leaving the town nearly empty. It was rumored that the epidemic was brought into the area by boat. During the journey the boat’s captain had died from the disease and the crew stopped at St. Joseph to bury the body, unknowingly introducing the disease to the area. To add to the demise of St. Joseph, a disastrous hurricane hit on September 14 of that year, followed by fires that swept through the town and forests in the fall.”[44]  (Smalltowngems.com. “History of Port St. Joe, Florida.”)

 

Wikipedia. “St. Joseph, Florida, was a boomtown that briefly became the largest community in Florida, before being destroyed only eight years after it was founded. St. Joseph was founded in 1835 on the shores of St. Joseph Bay, one of the finest natural harbors on the Gulf Coast of the United States. The townsite is in Gulf County, Florida, near the city of Port St. Joe….

 

“By 1837 St. Joseph had become the most populous place in the Territory of Florida, with approximately 6,000 inhabitants….

 

“In 1841 a ship brought yellow fever  to St. Joseph. The disease killed many of the town’s inhabitants, and caused the rest to flee. A hurricane  in 1843 struck with a large storm surge, destroying the abandoned town….”[45] (Wikipedia. “St. Joseph, Florida.” 2-23-2012 last mod.)

 

July 23: “The Tallahassee Sentinel of the 23d, says that the yellow fever is making dreadful ravages among the scanty population of St. Joseph’s by a schooner from Havana, laden with fruit, &c.” (Tioga Eagle, Wellsboro, PA. “Yellow Fever at St. Joseph’s,” 8-18-1841, p. 1, col. 6.)

 

Florida, Tallahassee:

 

Hare:  “Tallahassee had always escaped epidemics, but there were few places to hide in 1841. Yellow fever started to appear in coastal towns along the gulf. From the Port of St. Joseph it moved east to Apalachicola, then to St. Marks and Port Leon. Robert Raymond Reid, who had recently completed his term as territorial governor, was one of the first to fall. In less than a month, Reid’s daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law were dead. Merchant T. B. Betton lost his wife, Eliza. The pastor of the Presbyterian church died, along with all five members of the Wellford family. Neither wealth nor circumstance could provide refuge; farmers and general laborers suffered the same fate as planters and politicians. Over 150 people died in the month of August, forcing the city to dedicate more land for a new cemetery.”  (Hare Julianne. Tallahassee: A Capital City History. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002, p. 37.)

 

Tallahassee Magazine:  “In frontier days, yellow fever was the scourge of Tallahassee…. perhaps hundreds…died in and around Tallahassee during a frightful outbreak of yellow fever in the summer of 1841….

 

“`Sometime early in its history, Tallahassee acquired a reputation of being an unhealthy town set down in the midst of an unhealthy countryside,’ reported historian Bertram H. Groene in his 1971 book, “Ante-bellum Tallahassee.” Groene wrote, ‘This was not unusual; for most of the frontier towns in the South, especially those near the coast, were subject to periodic outbreaks of malaria and the dreaded yellow fever.’….

 

“…the symptoms…could be terrifying. The virus ran in one or two phases. In the first phase, symptoms featured chills, fever, headache, severe backache and weakness, accompanied by nausea. Then, the symptoms subside and, in some cases, the patient recovers. But in 15 percent of cases, yellow fever patients enter a second, often lethal, phase. After a brief remission, the fever returns with a vengeance, the liver is damaged and the skin and eyes turn yellow. Then the victim starts vomiting a vile, black substance resembling used coffee grounds — giving it the nickname “the Black Vomit.” Finally, blood issues from the mouth, eyes and nose. The patient enters a coma, which is followed by death….

 

“…In June and early July of 1841, the disease “descended upon the capital in all of its virulent fury,” Groene wrote. It first appeared in Port St. Joe and then hit Apalachicola, “a summer resort for many Tallahasseans.” It spread to St. Marks, then over to the town of Port Leon, which was later wiped out by a hurricane.

 

“Once the “Black Vomit” manifested in Tallahassee (population 1,600), it exacted a terrible toll on notable members of the community. Former Gov. Robert Raymond Reid died on July 1, followed by his 22-year-old daughter, Rosalie, her daughter, and Gen. John Graham, who was Reid’s son-in-law, a West Point graduate and adjutant general of Florida.

 

“Florida’s militia quartermaster, Col. John B. Collins, died in Port Leon. Isham G. Searcy, former postmaster and early settler, died as well as merchant James Moore and Eliza Betton. The sickness also claimed the popular Rev. Philo Phelps, pastor of the Presbyterian church, as well as the entire family of Robert Wellford….

 

“Author Julianne Hare wrote in “Tallahassee: A Capital City History” that more than 150 people died that August. However, the Old City Cemetery’s website states that between 230 and 400 people perished in the 1841 epidemic. The high number of deaths caused the city to establish a new grid system to more efficiently administer the burials. ‘Tallahassee had always escaped epidemics, but there were few places to hide in 1841,’ she wrote.

 

“In 1879, the “Annual Report of the National Board of Health” recorded the effects of the disease as it ravaged the local towns. Of the strain that impacted Tallahassee, the report stated, ‘It spread rapidly and was quite fatal. Number of cases not ascertained. Number of deaths between 60 and 80 but some of these are believed to have been due to congestive malarial fever … many refugees left the place in consequence of the epidemic, and several of them had the fever; but they did not communicate it in any instance to the people with whom they found asylum.’

 

“The report goes on to say there were about 200 cases of the fever in Apalachicola, at the time a bustling city of 2,500. “The town was new, many buildings were going up, there was much misc. filth, a number of ponds in the town had been filled up. There was much malarial sickness,” it stated….

 

“Groene said that by November the fever was over and Tallahassee started to get back to “normal.” But, he said, “What had brought on the disaster no one knew.” Some supported the theory that “forsaken backyards and sideways all covered with rank growth” sent out deadly yellow fever fumes.

 

“Other theories hit closer to the truth without really realizing it. Some believed the disease had entered through the nearby port cities as a contagious disease, but no solid connections were made. Residents rationalized that the key to survival was cleaner air and unspoiled land. This belief led to the creation of the Bel Air community, “a suburb of the capital built in the open piney woods about three miles south of the Capitol on the road to St. Marks,” Groene said. After the 1841 outbreak, Bel Air became a refuge. The elite of Tallahassee went there during the hottest months of the year in the belief that the open and refreshing pinewoods afforded a relief from the town’s ‘unhappy weeds and death.’ Bel Air continued to be a popular luxury retreat for wealthy Tallahassee residents until the Civil War reduced them to poverty and left them unable to afford it. The community was abandoned.

 

“Primitive ‘Cures’ no Help — In the first half of the 19th century there were only a handful of truly effective medicines available to fight disease. Medical thought at the time was rooted in classical beliefs that relied on highly toxic purgative “medicines” and bleeding to remove poisons from the body. But some truly useful drugs were available such as opium, quinine, castor oil and sodium bicarbonate. Opium and morphine were used, of course, to control pain. Quinine made from the bark of the South American cinchona tree was used to combat malarial afflictions and other fevers, castor oil relieved constipation and sodium bicarbonate was useful then, as now, as an antacid.

 

“In response to yellow fever, however, physicians threw everything they had at the disease to combat its symptoms — including kitchen spices. “Treatment for yellow fever was hopelessly primitive,” Groene wrote. “Hot water and cayenne pepper applied to the feet and legs was a typical remedy.” Other remedies might use harsh mercury-based laxatives, blistering agents, bleeding and mega-doses of opium, wine, brandy and quinine. All were of no avail.

 

“Unfortunately, such harsh therapies did more harm than good and by the end of the 19th century they were for the most part discredited and replaced by ‘gentle’ remedies such as hot mustard foot baths, bed rest, crushed ice and lemonade, cool sponging and good nursing care,” wrote Theodore B. Vanitallie, in a book review published in the Florida Historical Quarterly in 1996….”  (Tallahassee Magazine. “Historicity,” July-Aug 2011.)

 

Florida, U.S. Military:

 

“Garner, H., capt. Co. ‘G,’ died at Picolata [near Tallahassee] October 23, 1841; yellow fever….

“Bell, John, sergt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 5, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 138)

“Brunner, John, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 3, 1841; yellow fever.

“Beck, John, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 9, 1841; yellow fever….

“Christie, I., musn. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine October 9, 1841; yellow fever….

“Chapman, James, privt. Co. ‘B,’ died at St. Augustine October 18, 1841; yellow fever….(p.139)

“Griffen, Joseph, sergt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 8, 1841; yellow fever.

“Game, William, sergt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 26, 1841; yellow fever….

“Gallagher, William, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine [Nov] 9, 1841; yellow fever…. (p.140)

“Hudson, William, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 5, 1841; yellow fever….

“Jenkins, Henry, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine November 8, 1841; yellow fever….

“Kellar, John, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 9, 1841; yellow fever….

“Lannon, Patrick, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 21, 1841; yellow fever….

“Lunder, Wm. P., privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 28, 1841; yellow fever…. (p.141)

“Lick, Jacob, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at Picolata November 14, 1841; yellow fever….

“Morrison, John, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 30, 1841; yellow fever…

“Marley, Francis, privt. Co. ‘G.’ died at St. Augustine November 5, 1841; yellow fever…

“Maley, John, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 5, 1841; yellow fever…

“McAllister, Ralph, privt. Co. ‘I,’ died at Punta Rassa[46] [Nov] 2, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 142)

“Peters, Thomas, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine October 23, 1841; yellow fever…

“Perry, Chas. D. privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 26, 1841; yellow fever….

“Riley, Michael, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at Picolata October 1, 1841; yellow fever…

“Ryan, Henry, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 6, 1841; yellow fever…

“Reddy, William, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 10, 1841; yellow fever…

“Reed, John, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 8, 1841; yellow fever….

“Roberts, William, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 6, 1841; yellow fever….

“Shilts, Daniel, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 15, 1841; yellow fever…. (p.143)

“Wilson, Levi, sergt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 8, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 144)

“Reeder, John, privt. Co. ‘D,’ died at Fort King[47] August 12, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 156)

“Rice, Morris, sergt-maj. Co. ‘F,’ died Cedar Keys August 19, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 159)

“Gannett, T. B., 2d lieut. Co. ‘E,’ died at Pilatka[48] October 30, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 170)

 

In addition to the deaths from yellow fever noted above, there are a number of other 1841 deaths attributed to “fever,” “malignant fever,” “remittent fever,” “unknown disease,” and “disease incident of climate and the service in Florida.”

 

(Brown, George. M., Ordinance Sergeant, United States Army. “Florida War Record,” pp. 119-180 in Ponce de Leon Land and Florida War Record (Sixth Edition). St. Augustine, FL: 1902.)

 

Louisiana, Donaldsonville:

 

La Roche: “In 1841, a family left Baton Rouge, in a flatboat for Donaldsonville. There was no yellow fever that year in the former town, or in the intermediate one of Plaquemine. The family had been two years from France. When they reached Donaldsonville, the father and his eldest daughter were ill with the fever. Dr. Sabin Martin was called in, and found the former walking about his room, and saying he was not sick. In three days, however, he died with black vomit and jaundice. The daughter had all the characteristic symptoms of yellow fever, and died in four days; previous to which she had suppression of urine, her skin became yellow, and she threw up great quantities of black matter. Dr. Drake, from whom I borrow the fact, got it from Drs. Martin and Cotman, good judges in matters of the kind (ii. 247, 248).  (La Roche, Rene, M.D. Yellow Fever, Considered in its Historical, Pathological, Etiological, and Therapeutical Relations, Including A Sketch of the Disease as it has Occurred in Philadelphia from 1699-1854… (Vol. 2 of 2). Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1855, p. 467. See, also, Drake 1854, p. 248.)

 

Louisiana, New Orleans:

 

La Roche quoting Dowler on low number of infants among yellow fever cases: “Dr. Dowler, who made an extensive analysis of the epidemic of that year [1841], says: ‘I made thirty series, each consisting of thirty persons; I then took the youngest one in each series (among these, 990 dead), which gave these ages: 15, 17, 17, 2, 5, 20, 19, 16, 20, 17, 15, 17, 18, 19, 8, 2, 7, 18, 18, 19, 8, 6, 8, 2, 15, 3, 18, 14, 2, 18, 3, 5, 19. Scarcely an infant in the whole series’ (pp. 31-32).”

 

Aug 14 report:  “Several cases of yellow fever have occurred in New Orleans, and the disease is spreading.”  (Washington Globe, DC. “Yellow Fever,” 8-14-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)

 

Aug 17:  “The New-Orleans Board of Health, under date of 17^th instant, announce the increase of Yellow Fever in that city, and that eight deaths had occurred by it since the 14^th.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Health of New-Orleans,” 9-4-1841, p. 4, col. 5.)

 

Aug 18-19:  “On the 18^th inst. two deaths from yellow fever occurred at New-Orleans, on the 19^th four, and at Lafayette, on the same day ten. There were six admissions from yellow fever to the hospital at New-Orleans on the 20^th.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Yellow Fever,” 9-4-1841, p. 2, col. 3.)

 

Aug 24 report: “The Bee of the 24^th ult. [previous month] says: — ‘Fifteen deaths from yellow fever have been reported to the Board of Health within the last forty-eight hours – that is, from Saturday at noon [Aug 21] to Monday [Aug 23] at noon. – In the charity hospital during the 24 hours ending at six o’clock yesterday evening, there were 12 cases of yellow fever admitted into the hospital, and 5 deaths from the same disease.’” (Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Health of New Orleans,” 9-3-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)

 

Aug 22-28:  “The Bee of the 30^th ult. says: — ‘There were thirty-two interments reported to the Board of Health for the twenty-four hours ending on Saturday [Aug 28] at twelve o’clock. Of these 16 were of the yellow fever. The total number of deaths for the week ending on Saturday is 146, of which 72 died of yellow fever. It will be perceived that the epidemic is greatly on the increase.’” (Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Fever in New Orleans,” 9-10-1841, p. 2, col. 4.)

 

Sep 1-2:  “New Orleans papers of the 2d inst. represent the yellow fever to be increasing in that city, the deaths for the preceding twenty-four hours being twenty. The mortality is said to be very great for such an early period of the season.” (Washington Globe. 9-14-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)

 

Sep 6-7:  “The yellow fever has reached a fearful extent in New Orleans, and was rapidly increasing. The Board of Health on the 8^th inst. announced that the interments for the two days previous were 59, of which 38 were by yellow fever. – Baltimore American.” (Washington Globe, DC. “New Orleans,” 9-17-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)

 

Sep 17-18: “New Orleans. – The number of interments at New Orleans for the 24 hours ending on the 18^th inst. was 30, of which 24 were deaths by yellow fever.” (Washington Globe, DC. “New Orleans,” 9-29-1841, p. 3, col. 2.)

 

Sep 29 report: “In regard to the unusual unhealthiness of New Orleans, daring the late summer the editor of the Bee holds this language:

 

It has been our fortune to reside in New Orleans for the last ten years. During this period we have often witnessed the ravages of the fatal epidemic to which our city is unfortunately subject; but we have rarely, if ever, beheld such frightful desolation as its visitation has this season occasioned. In mortality and malignity, in the suddenness of its attack, and the indiscriminate ruthlessness with which it prostrates all classes of the non-resident population; in the appalling rapidity with which it has extended from hospital into private practice, it has rarely ever been exceeded. The heart is absolutely sickened, and humanity shudders at the scenes of misery and affliction which this awful scourge has this year produced. The brightest, purest, and best, have fallen victims to the pestilency. It has stricken down many of our most estimable an beloved citizens. Its fury hath fallen on hundreds whom protracted residence and long exemption had appeared to guarantee from its attacks. Men who had passed four, five, or half a dozen consecutive summers in New Orleans, and had escaped unscathed from  the visitations of former epidemics, have now sunk beneath its resistless power. It seems to spare none save natives of Louisiana, and residents who have already passed through its terrible ordeal.

 

We have taken the trouble to compare the mortality of the present summer with that of 1839 and ’37 – both seasons in which the yellow fever raged with uncommon violence. The weekly number of deaths thus far exceeds, by nearly a third, that of 1839, and is greater than that of 1837, if we consider the paucity of the non resident population. At the worst period of the epidemic of 1839, the bills of mortality did not exhibit more than 189 deaths per week. The last weekly statement for this year shows a mortality of 245, and the list for this week will more than probably demonstrate in increase of forth or fifty more. It is moreover universally admitted by medical men that the fever is far more intractable than usual. The remedial agents which have formerly proved so successful are inert and inefficacious. So rapid are the symptoms, so violent the derangement of function, and so prone is the disease to effect immediate organic lesion, that unless medical aid be applied almost at the incipiency of an attack, and the means employed be of the most energetic character, the cases are considered nearly hopeless.” (Washington Globe, DC. “Fever in New Orleans,” 9-29-1841, p. 3, col. 2.)

 

Oct 16-18: “The number of interments reported to the Board of Health for the 48 hours ending the 18^th inst. at noon, was 44; of which 25 were of yellow fever. The admissions to the Charity Hospital for the 24 hours ending on the evening of the 18^th were 21, of which 10 were yellow fever; discharges 16, 7 yellow fever; deaths 11, 9 of yellow fever.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Health of Hew Orleans,” 10-30-1841, p. 3.)

 

Oct 21:  “We regret to learn from the Picayune that one of the editors of that paper has been stricken down by the epidemic.  The Bulletin of Oct 22 says: The recent cool weather seems to have had but little influence, as yet, in checking the epidemic. Considering the small number of subjects, the mortality is as great now almost as in the month of September. Interments reported to the Board of Health yesterday, 13, of which 9 were of yellow fever.” (Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, ME. “New Orleans,” 11-4-1841, p. 2, col. 4.)

 

Oct 22-23: “The New Orleans Picayune states that during the 24 hours ending on the 23^rd ult. there were 13 deaths by yellow fever. The whole number of deaths in that city during the week ending on the 23^d was 149, of which 96 were by yellow fever. A white frost was visible at New Orleans on the 23^d.” (Washington Globe, DC. 11-3-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)

 

Nov 8 report: “The yellow Fever has at last disappeared from New Orleans, being checked by the frost.”  (Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. 11-8-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)

 

Nov 26 report:  “The New York Commercial has the following paragraph, in a letter from New Orleans.[49]

 

In order to demonstrate most conclusively the fatality of the epidemic during the past season, I have taken the trouble to sum up the total mortality, since the outbreak of the fever, commencing on the first of August, and ending yesterday [Oct 28?], which comprises a period of twelve weeks and five days. The result is as follows.

 

Total          Yellow Fever.

1^st week             57                      5      [assuming Aug 1-7, Sunday-Saturday]

2^nd   “                 80                      4      [        “      Aug 8-14]

3^rd    “               102                    23      [        “      Aug 15-21]

4^th    “              146                    72      [        “      Aug 22-28]

5^th    “              174                  105      [        “      Aug 29-Sep 4]

6^th    “              245                  164      [        “      Sep 5-11]

7^th    “              292                  220      [        “      Sep 12-18]

8^th    “              327                  259      [        “      Sep 19-25]

9^th    “              259                  180      [        “      Sep 26-Oct 2]

10^th  “              188                  115      [        “      Oct 3-9]

11^th  “              151                    93      [        “      Oct 10-16]

12^th  “              149                    96      [        “      Oct 17-23]

13^th  “                78                    37      [        “      Oct 24-28]

2249                1372

“Buried at Lafayette from New Orleans estimated.

450                  350

2699                1722

 

“Showing an average weekly majority of 211, of which 135 were of yellow fever. On comparing our summer population, 80,000, with that of your city, 320,000, it will readily be perceived how very unhealthy the past season has been. The average number of deaths in New York is about 200 per week, while in this city, with a population one-fourth of yours, the above figures have succeeded for thirteen weeks in succession.”  (Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness at New Orleans,” 11-26-1841, p. 2, col. 2.)

 

Dec 4 report:  “The yellow fever has at length ceased its ravages at New Orleans, having swept off nearly 2,000 victims in a few weeks….The number of deaths by that disease during the three days ending 2^nd inst. was only five.” (Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, cols. 1, 2.)

 

Dec 6 report:  “Among the persons who died In New Orleans of yellow fever this year, there were 288 natives of the United States, 1055 natives of foreign countries, and 298 natives of countries unknown; making in all 1641. Of those who are born aliens, Ireland and Germany furnish nearly all; Ireland the most of the two.” (Washington Globe, DC. 12-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.)

 

Dec 9 report: “Seventeen hundred and twenty-two persons have died by yellow fever during the present season in New Orleans.”  (Southport American, South Port, WI. 12-9-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)

 

Mississippi, Clinton:

 

La Roche: “The following case was communicated to Dr. Fenner by the late Dr. George Banks, of Clinton (Miss.): ‘A Mr. McManus, who lived on the hills of Hinds County, four miles from Clinton, and more than forty miles from Vicksburg, went down to the latter place (during the epidemic of 1841), and remained there several days. He returned home, and was very soon attacked with yellow fever, of which he died, after throwing up black vomit. A few days after his death, his wife, who had nursed him assiduously during his illness, and had not been way from home, was attacked in a similar manner, and died with black vomit and yellowness. Their residence was in a high and ordinarily healthy locality, where yellow fever was never known to prevail.’” (La Roche, Rene, M.D. Yellow Fever, Considered in its Historical, Pathological, Etiological, and Therapeutical Relations, Including A Sketch of the Disease as it has Occurred in Philadelphia from 1699-1854… (Vol. 2 of 2). Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1855, p. 220, citing: “Fenner’s Rept. In Trans. Of Med. Assoc., vii. 539.”)

 

Mississippi, Vicksburg:

 

Monette:  “The medical faculty of Vicksburg in 1841 denied the existence of yellow fever in their city for two weeks after it was sweeping them off at the rate of 8 or 10 a day. This was the case too after several of them, unconsciously, had seen cases in the fall of 1839. In both cases it was called congestive fever. Our most eminent physicians, on their first introduction to the disease, were placed in the same unpleasant predicament. An intelligent physician of Vicksburg, informed me in December 1841, that for two weeks they had no suspicion of yellow fever, and considered the epidemic as some now form of congestive fever; and of course the treatment was not such as it would have been under a certain knowledge of its true character.”  (p. 76.)

 

“Again, in 1841 Natchez closed her hospital and established a quarantine as soon as yellow fever was epidemic in New Orleans. What was the consequence? The first principal landing for upward-bound boats was at Vicksburg, which continued healthy up to that time, but was visited with a most malignant epidemic within twenty days after the Natchez quarantine was enforced; while Natchez, thus protected, continued perfectly healthy during the whole time the epidemic was raging on both sides of her.” (p. 104)  (Monette, John W. Observations on the Epidemic Yellow Fever of Natchez and of the South-West. Louisville: Prentice and Weissinger, 1842.)

 

Oct 16:  “The Vicksburgh Sentinel, of Saturday 16^th, has the following: We are unable to report any improvement in the health of the city since our last publication. We have now no hopes of frost or of a decline in the disease, until the full of the moon, which takes place about the 28^th October.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. 10-30-1841, p. 3.)

 

Oct 19-23:  “The Yellow Fever…was still raging at Vicksburg on the 23d ult. From the 19^th to the 22d there were 22 deaths.”  (Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. 11-8-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)

 

Mexico:

 

Nov 20 report:  “The Civilian of the 20^th says ‘We received a letter from Corpus Christi on Wednesday, which says that at the last accounts people were dying of yellow fever at Matamoras [across the border from Brownsville, TX] at the rate of 30 per day.” (Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME. 12-9-1841, p. 2., col. 4.)

 

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

 

Baptist, Edward E. Creating an Old South: Middle Florida’s Plantation Frontier before the Civil War. University of North Carolina Press, 2002. Google preview accessed 3-21-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=BabqCQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Barton, Edward H., MD. The Cause and Prevention of Yellow Fever at New Orleans and other Cities in America (Third Edition, with a Supplement). New York: H. Bailliere; London and Paris, 1857. Google preview accessed 3-14-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=yEJZDrCO-ZkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Brown, George. M., Ordinance Sergeant, United States Army. “Florida War Record,” pp. 119-183 in Ponce de Leon Land and Florida War Record (Sixth Edition). St. Augustine, FL: 1902. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=rbYrAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Carrigan, Jo Ann. The Saffron Scourge: A History of Yellow Fever in Louisiana, 1796-1905 (Doctoral Dissertation). Louisiana State University, LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses, 1961. Accessed 3-11-2018 at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1665&context=gradschool_disstheses

 

Cox, Dale. “St. Joseph – Florida’s Lost City.” ExploreSouthernHistory.com. © 2008. Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/portstjoe2.html

 

Drake, Daniel, M.D., S. Hanbury Smith, M.D. and Francis G. Smith, M.D. (eds.). A Systematic Treatise, Historical, Etiological, and Practical, on the Principal Diseases of the Interior Valley of North America…(Second Series). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., Publishers, 1854. Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=AW0_AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi. “Christ Episcopal Church. Historical Summary of Christ Church.” Website accessed 10-12-2013 at: http://christchurchvburg.dioms.org/about/index.html

 

Findagrave.com. “St. Matthew’s German Lutheran Church.” Accessed 10-13-2013 at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2449497

 

Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources. Florida Historical Markers Program. “Gulf, Saint Joseph Cemetery.” (In cooperation with the Gulf County Historical Commission.) Tallahassee, FL. State of Florida, ©2013. Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://www.flheritage.com/preservation/markers/markers.cfm?ID=gulf

 

Ghosttowns.com. “St. Joseph, Gulf Count.” Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/fl/stjoseph.html

 

Hulse, Isaac, M.D., U.S. Navy. “Monograph on the Yellow Fever.” Maryland Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. II, No. 4, April 1842, pp. 391-406. Google digital preview at: http://books.google.com/books?id=O4YpBk36sVQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Humphreys, Margaret. Yellow Fever and the South. Rutgers University Press, 1992, Johns Hopkins Paperbacks edition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press), 1999. Google digital preview at: http://books.google.com/books?id=Yikk2eA9CuQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Keating, J. M.  A History of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 in Memphis, Tenn. Memphis, TN:  Howard Association, 1879. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=WEIJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Kestenbaum, Lawrence. PoliticalGraveyard.com. “Politicians Who Died of Yellow Fever,” 7-22-2013 revision. Accessed 10-13-2013: http://politicalgraveyard.com/death/yellow-fever.html

 

Kimball, Christopher. “Gulf County…Places To Visit: Constitution Convention State Museum.” Southernhistory.us, © 1998-2002. Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://www.southernhistory.us/Counties/c1jacagu.htm

 

La Roche, Rene, M.D. Yellow Fever, Considered in its Historical, Pathological, Etiological, and Therapeutical Relations, Including A Sketch of the Disease as it has Occurred in Philadelphia from 1699-1854… (Vol. 2 of 2). Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1855. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=YTrUAOOJXCAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

LighhouseFriends.com. “St. Joseph Point, FL.” (website © 2001-2013). Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=590

 

Medical News. “Yellow Fever at New Orleans.” Vol. XI, No. 129, September 1853, p. 142. Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=kgZYAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Monette, John W. Observations on the Epidemic Yellow Fever of Natchez and of the South-West. Louisville, KY: Prentice and Weissinger, 1842. Digitized by U.S. National Library of Medicine. Accessed 8-15-2013 at: http://archive.org/details/65030290R.nlm.nih.gov

 

Morris, Christopher. Becoming Southern: The Evolution of a Way of Life, Warren County and Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1770-1860. NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1995. Google digital preview: http://books.google.com/books?id=GQVHzf32TcoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Providence Hospital, Mobile, Alabama. “The History of Providence Hospital.” ©2013. Accessed 10-13-2013 at: http://www.providencehospital.org/about/history_of_providence_hospital.php

 

Sanitary Commission of New Orleans. Report of the Sanitary Commission to His Honor J. L. Lewis, Mayor of the City of New Orleans. New Orleans: By Authority  of the City Council of New Orleans, 1854. Google preview accessed 3-5-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=_EQJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Simons, Thomas Young, M.D. An Essay on the Yellow Fever as I has occurred in Charleston, including its Origin and Progress up to the Present Time (1851). A paper read before the So. Ca. Medical Association at its Anniversary Meeting, May, 1851. Charleston, S.C.: Steam Power-Press of Walker and James, 1851. Digitized by Open Knowledge Commons, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Accessed 10-13-2013 at: http://archive.org/details/101215842.nlm.nih.gov

 

Smalltowngems.com. “History of Port St. Joe, Florida.” Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://www.smalltowngems.com/browsetowns/florida/portstjoe/portstjoefltownhistory.html

 

Sternberg, George M. (US Public Health Service, US Marine Hospital Service).  “Yellow Fever:  History and Geographic Distribution.”  Pages 715-722 in Stedman, Thomas L., M.D. (Ed.) Appendix to the Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences.  NY: William Wood & Co., 1908.  Google digitized:  http://books.google.com/books?id=3ezqX415M5wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

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Wikipedia. “St. Joseph, Florida.” 2-23-2012 last modified. Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Joseph,_Florida

 

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Newspapers:

 

Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. 11-8-1841, p. 3, col. 1. Accessed at http://newspaperarchive.com

 

Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, ME. 12-9-1841, p. 2., col. 4.

 

Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, ME. “New Orleans,” 11-4-1841, p. 2, col. 4.

 

Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME. 12-9-1841, p. 2., col. 4. Accessed at:

http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=3458890&sterm

 

Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, col. 1.

 

Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Fever in New Orleans,” 9-10-1841, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=35976248&sterm=yellow+fever

 

Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Health of New Orleans,” 9-3-1841, p. 3, col. 1.

 

Huron Reflector, Norwalk, OH, “Deaths in New Orleans,” 11-23-1841, p. 3, col. 1.

 

Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness at New Orleans,” 11-26-1841, p. 2, col. 2.

 

Marshall Western Statesman, MI. 8-19-1841, p. 3, col. 1.

 

Southport American, South Port, WI. 12-9-1841, p. 3, col. 1. At: http://newspaperarcive.com

 

The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “From Florida,” 8-14-1841, p. 4, col. 5.

 

The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Health of New-Orleans,” 9-4-1841, p. 4, col. 5.

 

The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Health of Hew Orleans,” 10-30-1841, p. 3. http://newspaperarchive.com

 

The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Yellow Fever,” 9-4-1841, p. 2, col. 3.

 

Tioga Eagle, Wellsboro, PA. “Yellow Fever at St. Joseph’s,” 8-18-1841, p. 1, col. 6.

 

Washington Globe, DC. “Yellow Fever,” 8-14-1841, p. 3, col. 4.

 

Washington Globe, DC. 9-14-1841, p. 3, col. 4.

 

Washington Globe, DC. “Fever in New Orleans,” 9-29-1841, p. 3, col. 2.

 

Washington Globe, DC. “New Orleans,” 9-17-1841, p. 3, col. 4.

 

Washington Globe, DC. “New Orleans,” 9-29-1841, p. 3, col. 2.

 

Washington Globe, DC. 11-3-1841, p. 3, col. 4.

 

Washington Globe, DC. 12-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.

 

Washington Globe, DC. 12-11-1841, p. 3, col. 4.

 

Wisconsin Enquirer, Madison. 11-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.

 

 

[1] We explain in separate footnotes for FL and LA how we derive our ranges. We believe that even the high estimate is probably too low, in that it does not take into account (1) the spread of yellow fever by evacuees (from New Orleans in particular), especially on plantations and in rural communities near New Orleans, (2) deaths in small communities and on boats in maritime communication with yellow fever stricken localities, (3) deaths attributed to other causes – such as coincidental epidemics of “congestive fever” in Marion, Alabama, (4) probable deaths in localities noted by question marks, signifying that yellow fever struck but that deaths, if any, were not noted, and (5) the maritime deaths of American sailors in the Caribbean (such as reports of nine American vessels at Havana which were depopulated by yellow fever amongst the crews).

[2] According to the Providence Hospital (Mobile, AL) website, “The History of Providence Hospital,” “Persistent bouts of yellow fever plagued Mobile throughout the 1800s, and in 1841, Mobile’s first bishop, Michael Portier, asked the Sisters [of Charity] to come to Mobile to care for children who lost their parents to this devastating disease. Four Sisters from Emmitsburg [MD] arrived that year to work at the Catholic Orphans’ Asylum (the facility we now know as St. Mary’s Home.” We guestimate that at least ten parents died.

[3] The low range uses Brown {25) for St. Augustine, 45 for St. Joseph, which we note in our St. Joseph footnote to be a low-end guestimate, and 60 deaths for Tallahassee, the low end of the National Board of Health estimated range (though we believe this is too low based on the other sources cited). The high range uses 26 deaths for St. Augustin, 450 for St. Joseph (our guestimated high-range) and 400 for Tallahassee.

[4] At page 388 in the Annual Report for 1879, it is noted that there were 200 cases in Apalachicola, without noting deaths. However, it is noted that “Refugees from Apalachicola died in many places along the Chattahoochee River, as at Fort Gaines, Quincy, &c…” Given the usual high mortality for yellow fever, we make assumption that ten or more people died, probably many more than ten.

[5] Robert Raymond Reid, Governor of Florida Territory, 1839-41. (Kestenbaum, Lawrence. PoliticalGraveyard.com. “Politicians Who Died of Yellow Fever,” 7-22-2013 revision.

[6] USS Levant surgeon, Dr. Laurison, stated that “some fatal cases occurred in the town of Pensacola…” In Drake 1854, p. 234. In order to put a figure to “some” as assume at least 3.

[7] One hundred twenty-five of the white population and six of the “colored. Was in Wakulla County,

[8] There is consensus that “many” of the approximate 6,000 population died, with the remaining population fleeing. One source has it that 75 percent of the population died, and another source has it as approximately 75 percent, which would be 4,500.  We have difficulty accepting this as a fatality estimate, thinking that many of this figure to be evacuees, though this number of deaths is conceivable. Thus we take ten percent of 4,500 as our guesstimate of “many” fatalities for our high estimate range, and drop an order of magnitude to 45 for our low range of “many.”

[9] The population was given as 6,000, thus 75 percent would be 4,500. We do not believe this number to be credible.

[10] Notes about 75% of population of 6,000 died – thus our figure of approximately 4,500. We do not believe this figure to be credible.

[11] Cites “Old City Cemetery” website to effect that “between 230 and 400 people perished in the 1841 epidemic.”

[12] Barbara Elizabeth Miller. Tallahassee and the 1841 Yellow Fever Epidemic. M.A. thesis, Florida State University, 1976, p. 5.

[13] Cites: Julianne Hare, Tallahassee: A Capital City History.

[14] “There has never been but one epidemic of yellow fever in Tallahassee. This occurred in 1841, and was brought from Port Leon. The first case was a painter who had been at work in Port Leon. It spread rapidly and was quite fatal. Number of cases not ascertained. Number of deaths between 60 and 80, bu some of these are believed to have been due to congestive malarial fever. The population of Tallahassee at this time was about 800. Many refugees left the place in consequence of the epidemic, and several of them had the fever; but they did not communicate it in any instance to the people with whom they found asylum.”

[15] See descriptive narrative section for Louisiana below.

[16] Do not use as a high estimate in that it looks like it may have been rounded up from the number 1,722.

[17] Writes, after noting The Bee estimate of 1,500 fatal cases, that “realizing that editors had a tendency to minimize rather than to exaggerate such matters, one is inclined to accept Dr. Jones’ figure [1,800] as a fair approximation of the actual mortality.”

[18] “Dr. Dowler, in illustration of the insusceptibility of the black race, points to the year 1841: ‘Among 1800 deaths from yellow fever, there were but three deaths among the blacks – two having been children – or 1 in 600, or 1 in 14,000 of the whole black population.” He corroborates the statement that ‘although non-creolized negroes are not exempt from the yellow fever, yet they suffer little from it, and very rarely die’ (p. 38).” The reference is to an account of the New Orleans Yellow Fever epidemic of 1853.

[19] From table on yellow fever deaths in New Orleans by hear from 1817-1878.

[20] “Comparative Table [Yellow Fever and Cholera]. Estimate of the Salubrity of New Orleans, as affected by her Epidemics. 1^st — of Yellow Fever.”  (Barton 1857)

[21] One does not know how to reconcile the widely varying reports of 594 yellow fever deaths by Keating, Sternberg and the USMHS and the apparent New Orleans Board of Heath reporting of 1,722 yellow fever deaths out of 2,699 total deaths in New Orleans in the Aug 1-Oct 28 time-span. Sternberg follows Keating and the USMHS. Keating wrote in 1879. The USMHS report is in an 1896 document but cites an 1851 source, probably the original.  The 1841 reporting, in newspapers across the country, often citing the New Orleans Board of Health, seems reliable. We conclude that it is probable that an incorrect estimate of 594 was developed and then repeated in later documents.

[22] The difference in the start date of July 27 reported here, and the start date of Aug 1^st, is that the first death was probably August 1, while the first case was probably July 27.

[23] Cites: “Trans. A.M.A., 1851, p. 207. (Toner.) Carpenter.”

[24] It is not totally clear that the dates referred to are Oct 31-Nov 2. It is conceivable they are Nov 31-Dec 2.

[25] These are reported to be people of New Orleans buried at Lafayette during the epidemic. These figures are reportedly from the New Orleans Board of Health.

[26] Port Hudson is now a Louisiana State Park, in Feliciana Parish north of Baton Rouge/south of St. Francisville.

[27] “Speaking of Fort Hudson, on the Mississippi, Dr. Drake says that Dr. Beaumont (Ths.), who resided near the village, informed him there were more than twenty well-marked cases there in 1841. On the 12^th of October, before any case had occurred, a gentleman from the neighborhood rode through the town, and, without dismounting, lingered in it about three quarters of an hour; on the night of the 13^th he was seized with the fever’ (Ib., p. 252).”

[28] See descriptive narrative section below for Mississippi.

[29] “The church weathered a variety of problems in its early years….Twice in twelve years (1841 and 1853), epidemics of yellow fever ravaged the area. Reverend Weller died in the epidemic of 1841.” (“Christ Episcopal Church. Historical Summary of Christ Church.” Website)

[30] Monette wrote that yellow fever carried off “8 or 10 a day” for two weeks before the cause of the epidemic was recognized and/or accepted as yellow fever.

[31] “According to Hicks, in 1841, 1843, and 1847 serious epidemics struck Vicksburg and Warren County. In 1841 some 200 Warren County residents died.” [Hicks reference is to B. J. Hicks, ‘On the Yellow Fever of Vicksburg, Miss., in the Year 1847,” in E. D. Fenner, ed., The Epidemic of 1847: Or Brief Accounts of the Yellow Fever That Prevailed at New Orleans, Vicksburg, Rodney, Natchez, Houston and Covington (New Orleans, 1848), pp. 220-25.

[32] “…in September, 1841…a patient was admitted into the fever ward of the Pennsylvania Hospital [Philly], and died and was dissected without communicating the disease to his attendants or physicians.”

[33] This guess is based on a note that the first purchase of the St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charleston “was a cemetery for the burial of German-speaking citizens during a yellow fever outbreak in 1841.” (Wikipedia. “St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church.” 10-12-2013 last modified. See, also: Findagrave.com. “St. Matthew’s German Lutheran Church.”

[34] “…there is one striking circumstance which occurred in 1841. The yellow fever occurred on the Neck or suburbs of Charleston, yet strange to say, that many who sickened were brought to the city and died, and it did not spread or generate a single case in the city.”

[35] The eleven fatalities are only those from the crew of the Levant who were transferred to the Pensacola Naval Hospital and died there. Hulse notes additionally that there were two yellow fever deaths at the hospital from two French war vessels at Pensacola.

[36] It is noted that “several” people on the schooner which brought the fever to Port Leon died. We translate into “3.”

[37] Cites: Barbara Elizabeth Miller, “Tallahassee and the 1841 Yellow Fever Epidemic” (M.A. thesis, Florida State University, 1976), p. 5.

[38] Though not “crystal clear,” it appears that the reference to 200 cases and unknown number of deaths is to Apalachicola, especially in that the report is by the Apalachicola Custom-House Collector’s Office.

[39] “The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States, part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars. The Second Seminole War, often referred to as the Seminole War, was the most expensive Indian War fought by the United States.” (Wikipedia. “Second Seminole War,” 8-1-2013 last modified. [No in-text citation, though twenty references are listed for the entire article.]

[40] Cites: Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal, April 1842, p. 392.

[41] Cites: Sketches, p. 29.

[42] Cites: Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal June, 1843, p. 393.

[43] At the time Dr. Hulse was the chief surgeon at the Naval Hospital at the Pensacola Navy Yard. Referencing his biography, by Charles T. Werner (NY: 1922) is has been written that Dr. Hulse was “probably the most eminent physician to practice in West Florida during the Territorial Period.” Additionally, “The various fevers endemic to the area interested him immensely. He is known to have made careful observations on the numerous cases which came under his scrutiny taking pains to describe the symptoms and note the results of his various efforts at treatment.” For more on Dr. Hulse go to: http://www.longwood.k12.ny.us/history/bio/hulseIsaac.htm

[44] Cites as source: Louise Messina Porter. The Chronological History of the Lives of St. Joseph. Chattanooga, TN: Great American Publishing Co., 1975.

[45] There is no in-text sourcing. Four references, however, are provided at the end – the Ghosttowns.com and Lighthouse Friends websites we quote from, as well as Kevin M. McCarthy, Florida Lighthouses. Gainesville, FL University of Florida Press, 1990; and “Old St. Joseph Cemetery a/k/a Yellow Fever Cemetery (a broken link).

[46] Today’s Lee County, near Fort Myers.

[47] Today’s Ocala, Florida. (Wikipedia. “Fort King,” 4-9-2013 last mod. At: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_King )

[48] Assuming this is reference to Palatka, today a city in Putnam County neat St. Augustine.

[49] According to the Huron Reflector, Norwalk, OH, “Deaths in New Orleans,” 11-23-1841, p. 3, col. 1, this letter was published in the Commercial on Oct. 29.

— >25 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

— 25 Catskill Recorder, Catskill, NY. “Another Steamboat Disaster.” 12-3-1840, p. 2, col. 2.
— 25 Newburyport Herald, MA. “Steam Boat Persian.” 12-1-1840, p. 3, col. 2.
— 25 US Congress, House. Hearings. “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” 1935, p. 245.
— 24 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 185.
–23-24 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, p. 169.
— 24 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 680.
–19-23 Chronicle and Sentinel, Augusta, GA. “From the New Orleans Picayune of the 13th.” 11-19-1840, 2.**
— 23 Fisher and McCord. “Steamboat Explosions…Fifty-Five Years.” In Scharf 1883, p1108.
— 23 Macon Georgia Telegraph. “Dreadful Catastrophe. Steamboat Explosion.” 11-24-1840, 5.
— 23 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Pass. Steamboats…MS River System. 1994, p. 368.
— 19 Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. Nov 23, 1840, p. 3.
— 19 Wiard, Norman. The Cause of Boiler Explosions, etc. 1868, p. 12.
–12-19 Niles’ National Register (Vol. 59). “Steamboat Accident.” Nov 28, 1840, p. 208.
–11-15 Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Steamboat Accident.” Nov 27, 1840; in Kotar and Gessler.
— 14 Alton Telegraph, IL. “Steamboat Accidents.” Nov 14, 1840, p. 3.

* Blanchard estimated death toll. While we show sources noting 14-25 deaths, we show that 25 or more people eventually died from this event. As one can see from Newburyport Herald, the officers of the Persian noted after their arrival in St. Louis on Nov 16, that 25 people had died by then and that of the 11 surviving scalding victims, it was thought that two of those would die from their injuries. We have not been able to locate reporting on the fate of these injured persons. Thus it seems clear that at least twenty-five people died, and it is possible that one or two other persons died from their injuries.

** Chronicle and Sentinel. The difference in the death toll range is that the higher toll includes missing.

Blanchard on date of loss: Various dates are noted for this disaster – Nov 1, 7, 9, 10. We highlight in yellow below some of these. From these and other sources we believe the date to be Nov. 7.

Narrative Information

Berman: “Nov 1840…Exploded…Mississippi River. 24 lives lost.”

Lloyd: “On the night of November 9th, 1840, the steamboat Persian collap¬sed her flues, on the Mississippi river, three miles below Napoleon, Ark. The Captain was asleep at the time of the accident, and, ac¬cording to common rumor, the pilot was intoxicated. The boat had stopped to take in wood. Six persons were instantly killed by the ex¬plosion, seventeen died on the following day, and fifteen or sixteen others were supposed to be mortally wounded. The cabin passengers and the captain and clerk escaped uninjured.

“LIST OF THE KILLED—Daniel Green, first engineer; John Wil¬liams, second mate; Oscar Brown and Washington Marks, colored firemen; six deck passengers, all of one family, named Floyd; John Cora, second cook; John O’Brien, deck passenger; Wm. S. Limners, of Illinois; Mr. Fields, of Tennessee; and nine others, names un¬known. Thirty were scalded, with more or less severity.” (Lloyd 1856, p. 169.)

Way: “Persian. SW p wh b. [Sidewheel packet, wood hull, built] Cincinnati, Oh., 1836, 430 tons, 165x28x10. Built for New Orleans-Bends trade, Capt. Jesse Hart. Made trips to Shreveport, La. Was reported to have exploded her boilers at Napoleon, Ark., Nov. 1, 1840, with loss of 23 lives and 30 others scalded.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994…MS River System. 1994, 368.)

Wiard: “The account of the explosion of the steamer Persian, on the Mississippi River, November 7, 1840, by which about 40 persons were scalded and 19 killed, says, ‘Among the sufferers were men, women, and children of all ages; many of them were entirely stripped of skin, and from some the entire flesh was stripped from the bones!’ It should be noticed that escaped steam or hot water could not have a temperature higher than 212 [degrees], unless the steam was super-heated, and so low a temperature would not have the horrible effect noticed.” (Wiard. The Cause of Boiler Explosions, etc. 1868, p. 12.)

Monthly Chronicle: “Nov. 7. The large and beautiful steamer Persian, on her passage from New Orleans, which place she left on the 3d for St. Louis, when at Napoleon, a few miles below the mouth of the Arkansas, collapsed the flue of one of her boilers, in consequence of which nearly 40 persons were badly scalded, and eight were killed outright, or died soon after. Many of the sufferers were so severely wounded that they were not expected to recover.” (Monthly Chronicle. “Chronology,” Nov 1840, p. 516.)

Newspapers

Nov 13: “A dreadful steamboat accident occurred at Napoleon (Ark.), on the Mississippi, on the 7th inst. he steamer Persian collapsed a flue, killing 19 persons, and scalding 30 badly. The engineer and mate were among the killed.” (Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. 11-23-1840, p. 3.)

Nov 14: “The steam-boat Persian collapsed a flue in the forenoon of the 10th inst. near Napoleon, killing five persons on the spot, and scalding thirty-two others, nine of whom have since died.” (Alton Telegraph, IL. “Steamboat Accidents.” Nov 14, 1840, p. 3.)

Nov 18: “The steamboat Persian exploded her boilers on the night of the 7th instant, at about three miles from Napoleon. The first engineer, second mate, two firemen and seven deck passengers were killed; twenty four deck passengers were badly scalded, and four missing. – New Orleans Bee.” (Daily Chronicle & Sentinel, Augusta, GA, 11-18-1840, p. 2, col. 5.)

Nov 19: “From the New Orleans Picayune of the 13th. Killed and Wounded. We are indebted to our friends Messrs. Bogert & Hawthorne for the following particulars relative to the killed and unfortunate sufferers on board the steamer Persian, the explosion of which we mentioned yesterday.
List of Killed.

Daniel Green, 1st engineer.
John Williams, 2d mate.
Oscar Brown (slave), fireman.
Washington Marks do. [ditto]
Six deck passengers in one family, of the name of Olroyd.
John Cora, 2d cook.
John O. Buen, deck passenger.

Scalded.
Rev. H. K. Roach, Graves Co. Ky., badly.
James Slaughter, Tennessee do. [ditto]
George Smith do. do.
John Berry, Ireland, do.
D. Berry, do. do.
_____Berry, do. do.
Oliver Olroyd, Yorkshire Eng., do.
Jacob Bunk, Germany, do.
Monroe Hazelet, Missouri, do.
William Narcisse, Cincinnati, do.
Michael O’Neil, New Orleans, do.
Jacob Snyder, Union Co., Illinois, do.
John C. Campel, Rockey, Miss. do.
Wm. J. Evans, Graves Co., do.
B. Janel, Hickman Co., Ky., do.
Johanna Carrol, Jacksonville, Ill., do.
Ann Olroyd, Yorkshire, Eng., do.
N. C. Thompson, Carroll Co., Tenn. do.
Wm. Meggwater, Cincinnati, do.
Peter M’Donald, do.
Bartholomew M’Ilter, Ireland. do.
Wm. Bowen, Hickman co., Ky., do.
James Grammar, Union Co., Illinois, do.
Charles Near, Ireland, slightly.

Missing.

Wm. S. Hanners, Union Co., Illinois.
Mr. Fields, Tennessee.
Two, names not known.

“On the back of the letter giving the above particulars there is a memorandum saying that since it was sealed seven more of the sufferers had died.” (Chronicle and Sentinel, Augusta, GA. “From the New Orleans Picayune of the 13th.” 11-19-1840, p. 2.)

Nov. 24: “The steamboat Gen. Brown, arrived yesterday from Louisville, brings the melancholy tidings of another steamboat explosion. The General Brown passed the steamboat Persian on the 8th inst. At the town of Napoleon, to which she had been towed from three miles below, a wreck. On the night of the 7th her flues collapsed, killing and scalding from thirty to forty persons! Those who have been killed and wounded were deck passengers and some of the crew. The whole of the cabin passengers, and the captain and clerk escaped uninjured. The head engineer was killed.

“Since the above was written we have conversed with the clerk of the General Brown. He tells that except the flues, which collapsed, there is no other part of the Persian injured. They expect to proceed up by walling off a couple of boilers.

“The clerk of the General Brown informs us farther that six men died immediately at the time of the collapse – that seventeen died next day, and there were some fifteen or sixteen others whose lives were despaired of.

“The captain was asleep at the time the fatal accident occurred, and it is said by some of the surviving firemen that the pilot was intoxicated. The boat had stopped at a wood pile some short time before the collapse, but no steam was let off. To a surcharge of steam the catastrophe is attributed. New Orleans Picayune, 12th inst.” (Macon Georgia Telegraph. “Dreadful Catastrophe. – Steamboat Explosion.” 11-24-1840, p. 5.)

Nov 27: “The New Orleans Bee says the steamboat Persian exploded her boilers on the night of the 7th instant, at about three miles from Napoleon. The first engineer, second mate, two firemen and seven deck passengers were killed; twenty-four deck passengers were badly scalded, and four missing.” (Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Steamboat Accident.” 11-27-1840; in Kotar 2009, p. 169.)

Nov 28: “The steamboat Persian on her way from New Orleans to St. Louis, when a few miles below Napoleon, Arkansas, collapsed a flue, by which nineteen persons were instantly killed and thirty badly scalded, principally deck passengers. We find a partial list of the sufferers in a New Orleans paper, according to which, but 12 persons are ascertained as yet to have been killed. The Vicksburg Sentinel of the 11th instant, states that the melancholy accident occurred ‘after a well contested race between her and the Rienzi, and the United States.’ The Sentinel adds, that this ‘account may be relied upon as correct,’ as it is given upon the authority of the captain of the Meteor.” (Niles’ Weekly Register (Vol. 59). “Steamboat Accident.” Nov 28, 1840, p. 208.)

Dec 1: “This boat [Persian], which a short time since collapsed a flue, arrived at St. Louis on the 16th inst. Her officers state that twenty-five of the sufferers have already died, and there were two more who it was supposed would die soon. There were nine others scalded, who will probably recover.” (Newburyport Herald, MA. “Steam Boat Persian.” 12-1-1840, p. 3, col. 2.)

Sources

Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. [Steamboat Persian Flue Collapse]. 11-23-1840, p. 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=3091071

Alton Telegraph, IL. “Steam-Boat Accidents.” Nov 14, 1840, p. 3. Accessed 10-15-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/alton-telegraph-nov-14-1840-p-3/

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

Catskill Recorder, Catskill, NY. “Another Steamboat Disaster.” 12-3-1840, p. 2, col. 2. Accessed 10-15-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/catskill-recorder-dec-03-1840-p-2/

Chronicle and Sentinel, Augusta, GA. “From the New Orleans Picayune of the 13th.” 11-19-1840, p. 2. Accessed 10-15-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/augusta-daily-chronicle-and-sentinel-nov-19-1840-p-2/

Daily Chronicle & Sentinel, Augusta, GA, 11-18-1840, p. 2, col. 5. Accessed 10-15-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/augusta-daily-chronicle-and-sentinel-nov-18-1840-p-2/

Fisher, Captain S.L., and Captain James McCord. “Steamboat Explosions for Fifty-Five Years.” In Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Saint Louis City and County, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Day: Including Biographical Sketches of Representative Men. In Two Volumes, Illustrated. Volume II (Chapter XXVII. Navigation on the Mississippi River). Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts & Co., 1883. Digitized by Northern Illinois University, NU Libraries Digitization Projects at: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.4487:4.lincoln

Hagerstown Mail, MD. “A Distressing Case,” 12-25-1840, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=41042255

Kotar, S. L. and J. E. Gessler. The Steamboat Era: A History of Fulton’s Folly on American Rivers, 1807-1860. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc., 2009. Partially digitized by Google: http://books.google.com/books?id=JVNZSTgHhdgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

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

Macon Georgia Telegraph. “Dreadful Catastrophe. – Steamboat Explosion.” 11-24-1840, p. 5. Accessed 10-15-2020: https://newspaperarchive.com/macon-georgia-telegraph-nov-24-1840-p-5/

Monthly Chronicle. “Chronology” [Steamer Persian] Nov 1840, p. 516. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=SiQAAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

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

Newburyport Herald, MA. “Steam Boat Persian.” 12-1-1840, p. 3, col. 2. Accessed 10-15-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/newburyport-herald-dec-01-1840-p-3/

Niles’ National Register. “Steamboat Accident.” Vol. 59, Nov 28, 1840, p. 208. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=v7IRAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

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

Way, Frederick Jr. (Author and Compiler), Joseph W. Rutter (contributor). Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America (Revised). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1999.

Wiard, Norman. The Cause of Boiler Explosions, etc. Philadelphia: Stein & Jones, 1868, p. 12. Digitized by Google: http://books.google.com/books?id=Xj0OAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

–>140  Anderson The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land…. 2005, 190.

—  140  Hämäläinen. The Comanche Empire. 2008, p. 216.

—  140  Mendoza and Grear (Eds.). Texans and War: New Interpretations…, p. 28.

—  130  Texas State Library and Archives Commission. “The Comanche War.” 6-27-2017 mod.

—  110  Texas Sentinel. “Battle With The Comanches.” 11-14-1840. Reproduced in TSLAC.

 

Narrative Information

 

Anderson: “In the aftermath of Plum Creek, cries came from many quarters to squelch the ‘Indian Menace’ once and for all….Secretary of War[1] Archer immediately appealed to the congress for funds. Unfortunately, Lamar [President of Texas] had nothing in the treasury….

 

“It remained for the volunteer rangers to carry extermination to the Indians. This was business for Colonel John Moore, who agreed with the animated Huston[2] and quietly organized his volunteer rangers, who now uttered words of revenge. Moore waited several months, collecting information on the whereabouts of the Comanches. Moore had cultivated the Lipan Apaches still in Texas, a handful of Indians who often worked as spies and scouts. Chief Castro, their leader, agreed to join Moore with some seventeen others. The Lipan Apaches, like their ranger brethren, rode for booty and revenge. They mostly were at war with the Comanches.

 

“Moore, who (unlike Huston) seldom publicized his exploits or even reported them to government officials, recruited his men from the saloons and settlements in and about Austin and Bastrop. The Austin papers helped by revealing his plan to invade Comanche land. The men who joined Moore knew his vindictive spirit and his willingness to engage the Indians, even many hundred at a time. They also knew his reputation for successfully bringing back goods and livestock, which paid handsomely for the venture. This was a critical attraction, for the republic’s offer to pay salaries to militia troops was as hollow as was its treasury.

 

“Under terms, then, that guaranteed nothing other than hardship and possible plunder, Moore and his med headed up the Brazos River in early October. They chose their time to ride knowing that Indians in villages never expected a winter attack. Turning west at the old Waco town along the central Brazos, they passed through the Lampasas River valley and finally struck the Colorado way out on the plains. Then a fierce norther — a snowstorm driven by high winds — descended upon them. Moore refused to turn back, even after one ranger died of exposure. Suddenly, on the night of October 23, the Lipan scouts returned, having found a large Comanche village nestled along the south bank of the Colorado. Moore’s rangers quietly stashed their supplies and moved undetected to within two hundred yards of the encampment. Just as dawn broke, the ninety Texans and the seventeen Lipan Apaches fell on the village and tore it apart.

 

“The Comanche village sat at the foot of a bluff, making it ideal for a winter location but difficult (indeed, impossible) to escape from. As the Comanches came out of their tepees, many were gunned down at point-blank range, the rangers firing their rifles first and then turning to pistols, mostly single-shot weapons that worked well at close range. According to Moore, ‘the bodies of {Indian} men, women and children were to be seen on every hand wounded, dying and dead.’ The carnage even expanded to the banks of the river, where unarmed Indians tried to swim across. Moore ordered his cavalry to shoot them in the back.

 

“In roughly twenty minutes, Moore’s troops killed 140 Comanches, taking 35 captives, mostly small children. But the total numbers may have been twice that, since many had perished in the cold waters of the Colorado as they tried to swim to safety. Further, the rangers then burned everything in the camp, including tepees and food. Starvation faced the survivors. As an indication of the extent of the slaughter, Moore had but two wounded rangers, both of whom recovered. Moore’s actions constituted a massacre of the highest order. To pay the rangers, Moore collected more than five hundred horses — worth easily $15,000, of $150 per man (nearly a year’s wages) — and many bundles of pelts and food, which he later sold to the highest bidders in Austin….” (Anderson The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land…. 2005, pp. 189-191.)

 

Britten in Mendoza and Grear: “Texas authorities organized a second campaign in October[3] under the leadership of John H. Moore. The second Moore expedition consisted of approximately one hundred Texas volunteers and many of the same Lipans who had participated in the winter campaign of 1839…After a long pursuit up the Colorado, Lipan scouts located the Comanche encampment of the river’s Red Fork — about three hundred miles northwest of Austin. In a brief battle that took place on October 24, Moore’s men routed the Comanches, killing 140 and capturing 34. The Texans burned everything in the camp, including tipis and food, and recovered as many as five hundred horses, pelts, as well as some of the remaining plunder from the Linville raid, which they divided among themselves. Their remarkable success at the ‘Battle of the Comanche Village’ (Moore’s force suffered only two casualties) apparently stimulated a series of new campaigns directed against the Comanches later that spring, as Texas Ranger companies rode out in pursuit of glory and plunder.”[4] (Britten, Thomas A. “The Indian Wars of Texas: A Lipan Apache Perspective,” pp. 17-37 in Mendoza and Grear, p. 28.)

 

Hämäläinen: “In October, Texas volunteers ambushed a Comanche rancheria north of the Colorado River, killed 140 men, women, and children, and seized 500 horses.” (Hämäläinen. The Comanche Empire. 2008, p. 216.)

 

Moore: “Other expeditions were made during 1840 into Indian territories of Texas, the most notable of which was made by Colonel John Henry Moore with ninety-off volunteers. On the Red Fork of the Colorado River, his forces attacked a Comanche village at dawn on October 24. The Texans charged the unsuspecting village from all sides and opened fire. Come of the Comanches managed to cross the river and flee for cover. Men, women, and children were slaughtered and pursuit was carried out by mounted volunteers for four miles.” (Moore p. 355.)

 

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: “In October 1840, Colonel John H. Moore led a force into Comanche territory and attacked their village on the Red Fork of the Colorado River. Moore’s troops killed about 130 warriors and took 34 prisoners. With this devastating loss, the Comanches moved away from the Texas frontier and turned their raiding attentions to Mexico.”[5] (Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin, TX. Native American Relations in Texas. “The Comanche War.” 6-27-2017 modification.)

 

Newspaper

 

Nov 14: “Col. John H. Moore, of the Fayette volunteers returned to this place [Austin], on Saturday last [Nov 7], from an expedition up the Colorado river. He had 90 men under his command, and 12 Lapan Indians. They penetrated about 300 miles into the Comanche country, where they fell in with a party of Comanche Indians, (a portion of the same who made the attack on Linnville,) upon the Red Fork of the Colorado river, and killed 110, and captured 35 women and children. The old chief Mochochochomochonch was among the slain. He wore a silver medal presented to some Indian by Madison while President of the United States.

 

“Col. Moore charged upon the encampment at day light–the surprise was sudden, and the loss almost total on the part of the Indians. They were encamped in a bend of the river, with very high and precipitous banks on the opposite side; 49 were killed in the first charge which were left upon the field. It was impossible to ascertain precisely the amount which were killed in the water, but it must have been considerable as the bank of the river was so precipitous that it was impossible for them to ascent it, except in one place; that was immediately taken possession of by our troops, and it is not believed that a single one made their escape. We had but two men very slightly wounded. Col. Moore and his troops took possession of the Indian encampment and found an immense quantity of Indian property, and captured 500 horses.

 

“One man Garrett Harrell died in the campaign….

 

“This is the severest chastisement which the Comanches have ever received. They have never before been pursued so far into their own country. They were now encamped 300 miles from the settlements, and considered themselves perfectly safe….” (Texas Sentinel, Austin. “Battle With The Comanches.” 11-14-1840. In Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin, TX.)

 

Sources

 

Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land, 1820-1875. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. Google digital preview accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=KKGt7CMROmgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Britten, Thomas A. “The Indian Wars of Texas: A Lipan Apache Perspective,” pp. 17-37 in Alexander Mendoza and Charles David Grear (Eds.), Texans and War: New Interpretations of the State’s Military History. Texas A&M University Press, 2012. Google digital preview accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=v5zybQXmUFYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Hämäläinen, Pekka. The Comanche Empire. Yale University Press, 2008. Google digitized. Accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=Jd4Km3Y8oAwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Moore, Stephen L. Rangers, Riflemen, and Indian Wars in Texas (Volume II of Savage Frontier, 1838-1839). Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press, 2006. Google digital preview accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkVcE6mJlgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Texas Sentinel, Austin. “Battle With The Comanches.” 11-14-1840. Reproduced in Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin, TX. Native American Relations in Texas. “The Comanche War.” 6-27-2017 modification. Accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/indian/war/page2.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Republic of Texas.

[2] “General” who led militia at Plum Creek engagement.

[3] First being the Plum Creek attack in August.

[4] Cites: Anna Muckelroy, “The Indian Policy of Texas,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 26 (Oct. 1922): 145; Hoig, Tribal Wars of the Southern Plains, 161; Mayhall, Indian Wars of Texas, 39-40; Anderson, Conquest of Texas, 190-191; Brown, Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, 83-84.

[5] Only source cited is the Texas Sentinel newspaper which notes 110 killed and 35 women and children captured.

–>80  Sizer. Texas Disasters: Wind, Flood, and Fire. 2005, p. 34.[1]

—  80  TX Historical Commission. Texas Historic Sites atlas. “Details for Battle of Plum Creek.”

—  80  Wikipedia. “Battle of Plum Creek.” 11-7-2017 edit.[2]

–~40 (and one white). Brazos. Life of Robert Hall. 1898, in McKeehan.

—<40  Huston. Report of General Huston[3] to Sec. of War, Plum Creek, Aug 12, in McKeehan.

—  25  Linn, John J. Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Texas. 1883. In McKeehan.[4]

—  13  Hamilton P. Bee in Anderson, The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing… p.189.

–“Several”  Hämäläinen. The Comanche Empire. 2005, p. 216.

 

Narrative Information

 

Anderson: “After burning Linnville,[5] the party turned northwest, hoping to carry their plunder safely into the hill county. The Anglo-Texans, slowly recovering from the shock, gathered volunteers throughout the interior, coming together from Victoria, Gonzales, Bastrop, and Austin. Many of the same men who had precipitated the Indian war responded,[6] including Burleson and Felix Huston. Near Bastrop, two hundred troops assembled and selected Huston to lead them. They expected to meet the Indian force along Plum Creek, an exit route with good water for stock. Almost immediately news arrived that the Indians were five miles below and coming fast. While the Indians vastly outnumbered the Texans, the raid had netted at least two thousand horses and mules, and many of the Indians, overburdened with loot from the Linnville warehouses, hung back to protect the stolen and heavily laden stock.[7]

 

“As the Comanches came into sight, General Huston ordered his force of roughly two hundred men to dismount and await an expected charge. Instead, the Indians flanked the Texas troops by moving southward and westward. The ranger forces, annoyed at the incompetence and caution of Huston, remounted and pursued. The Comanches — with slow, loaded-down animals — were forced to make a stand near Casa Blanc, where a grove of trees protected them. ‘They lined the timber and almost literally covered the prairie,’ one of the rangers later reported….Out front were the chiefs, sporting ‘huge helmets of buffalo or elk-horns–armed with glistening shields with bow and quivers, with guns and lances and mounted on fleet chargers.’

 

“The rangers, carrying long rifles and possibly a few newly introduced Colt revolvers, were better armed. They also fought as units, dividing themselves into two columns and charging the flanks of the Indians. They Comanches soon yielded. A running fight across the Texas hills ensued for over an hour, the Texans seemingly gaining the upper hand but never overrunning the main body of Indians. Ultimately the Indian force reached a boggy area near present-day San Marcos. Here the Comanches broke up, with small bands collecting what they could and fleeing west into the hills. They had left a path of destruction that ever after was called the ‘Great Comanche Raid.’

 

“The Texas forces, while hardly victorious, celebrated the event as the ‘Victory at Plum Creek.’….Hundreds of mules and horses, some still packing goods, fell into the hands of Huston’s troops, but the Indians nevertheless carried off the majority of what they had taken in their raiding.

 

“In the hours that followed–somewhat euphoric, as the adrenalin from the fight subsided–General Huston first claimed that his men had dispatched forty Comanches. The numbers escalated as the Texans compared stories. Soon, the casualty figure was sixty, and finally eighty. In reality, the Comanches had carried off the majority of their wounded and dead, so these figures are nothing but inflated estimates. Hamilton P. Bee, no friend of Huston, later quietly reported to the secretary of war: ‘I heard more men say there were 13 killed than 25….General Huston of course makes it out a second Waterloo.’” (Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land, 1820-1875. 2005. pp. 188-189.)

 

Huston in McKeehan: “I arrived here yesterday evening and found Captain Caldwell encamped on Plum Creek with about one hundred men. This morning I was requested to take command, which I did with the consent of the men. I organized them into companies, under command of Captains Caldwell, Bird and Ward, About six o’clock the spies reported that the Indians were approaching Plum Creek. I crossed above the trail about three miles and passed down on the west side; on arriving near the trail I was joined by Colonel Burleson with about one hundred men, under the command of Colonel Jones, Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace and Major Hardeman. I immediately formed into two lines, the right commanded by Colonel Anderson and the left commanded by Captain Caldwell, with a reserve commanded by Major Hardeman, with Captain Ward’s company.

 

“On advancing near the Indians they formed for action, with a front of woods on their right (which they occupied), their lines nearly a quarter of a mile into the prairie. I dismounted my men and a handsome fire was opened–the Indian chiefs cavorting around in splendid style, in front and flank, finely mounted, and dressed in all the splendor of Comanche warfare. At this time several Indians fell from their horses, and we had three or four of our men wounded. I ordered Colonel Burleson, with the right wing, to move around the point of woods, and Captain Caldwell, with the left wing, to charge into the woods; which movements were executed in gallant style.

 

“The Indians did not stand the charge, and fled at all points. From that time there was a warm and spirited pursuit for fifteen miles, the Indians scattered, mostly abandoning their horses and taking to the thickets. Nothing could exceed the animation of the men, and the cool and steady manner in which they would dismount and deliver their fire.

 

“Upwards of forty Indians were killed, two prisoners (a squaw and child) taken–we have taken upwards of two hundred horses and mules, and many of them heavily packed with the plunder of Linnville and the lower country. There is still a large number of good horses and mules which are not gathered up.

 

“Of the captives taken by the Indians below we have only been able to retake one–Mrs. Watts of Linnville, who was wounded by the Indians with an arrow when they fled. Mrs. Crosby was speared and we understand that all the others were killed.

 

“We have lost one killed and seven wounded, one mortally. I cannot speak too highly of the Colorado, Guadalupe and Lavaca militia, assembled so hastily together and without organization. I was assisted by Major Izod, Colonel Bell, Captain Howard and Captain Nell, as volunteer aids, all of whom rendered essential service. Colonel Burleson acted with that cool, deliberate and prompt courage and conduct which he has so often and gallantly displayed in almost every Indian and Mexican battle since the war commenced. Captain Caldwell, also a tried Indian fighter, led on his wing to the charge with a bold front and a cheerful heart. Colonel Jones, Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, Major Hardeman, and each of the captains commanding companies, acted with the utmost courage and firmness.” (McKeehan, W. L. “General Huston’s Report, Battle of Plum Creek, 12 August 1840,” in Sons of Dewitt Colony Texas, ©1997-2013.)

 

Sizer: After a large force of Comanche (over 400 warriors led by Buffalo Hump)[8] attack on Victoria and other small Gulf coast settlements (in retaliation for the deaths of approximately 35 of their peace envoy and their family members in San Antonio on March 19), they steer a supply train of plunder and horses back to Comancheria land where a Republic of Texas militia force catches up. “…Buffalo Hump strapped the loot onto the backs of dozens of mules. With heavily laden animals, many prisoners, and three thousand horses, he headed back to the Llano Estacado…his burdens forced him to move slowly. He as trailed by legendary frontier captains… whom later became Texas Rangers.

 

“The captains and their men stampeded the great horse herd. The Comanche dispersed to try to control the animals rather than deploy for war. Horses and heavily laden mules piled up in a boggy stretch along the Colorado….Hand-to-hand combat, from horseback–lance against bowie knife, arrow against rifle–went on for fifteen miles. More than eighty Comanche were slain….” (Sizer. Texas Disasters: Wind, Flood, and Fire. 2005, p. 34.)

 

Texas Historical Commission, Marker Text: “The harsh anti-Indian policies of President Mirabeau B. Lamar and Mexican efforts to weaken the Republic of Texas stirred Indian hostilities. Hatred increased after the Council House Fight in San Antonio, March 19, 1840, where 12 Comanche chief were killed. After regrouping and making plans for revenge, 600 Comanches and Kiowas, including women and children, moved across central Texas in early August. They raided Victoria and Linnville (120 mi. SE), a prosperous seaport. About 200 Texans met at Good’s Crossing on Plum Creek under Major-General Felix Huston[9] (1800-1857) to stop the Indians. Adorned with their plunder from Linnville, the war party stretched for miles across the prairie. The Battle of Plum Creek, August 12, 1840, began on Comanche Flats (5.5 mi. SE) and proceeded to Kelley springs (2.5 mi. SW), with skirmishes as far as present San Marcos and Kyle. Mathew Caldwell (1798-1842), for whom Caldwell County was named, was injured in the Council House fight but took part in this battle. Volunteers under Edward Burleson (1793-1851) included 13 Tonkawa Indians, marked as Texan allies by white armbands. Texan casualties were light while the Indians lost over 80 chiefs and warriors. This battle ended the Comanche penetration of settled portions of Texas.” (Texas Historical Commission. Texas Historic Sites atlas. “Details for Battle of Plum Creek (Atlas Number 5055009783).” Historical Marker.)

 

Texas State Historical Association: “The battle of Plum Creek was an aftermath of the Council House Fight, in which many of the Comanche Indian chiefs, their women, and warriors were killed….” (Texas State Historical Association. “Plum Creek, Battle of.” Handbook of Texas Online, uploaded 6-15-2010; modified 3-18-2016.)

 

Sources

 

Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land, 1820-1875. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. Google digital preview accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=KKGt7CMROmgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Hämäläinen, Pekka. The Comanche Empire. Yale University Press, 2008. Google digitized. Accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=Jd4Km3Y8oAwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

McKeehan, Wallace L. “General Huston’s Report, Battle of Plum Creek, 12 August 1840,” in Sons of Dewitt Colony Texas, ©1997-2013. Accessed 11-20-2017 at: http://www.sonsofdewittcolony.org//plumcreek.htm#hustonreport

 

McKeehan, Wallace L. “The Battle of Plum Creek from Life of Robert Hall” by ‘Brazos’ 1898. Sons of Dewitt Colony Texas, ©1997-2013. Accessed 11-21-2017 at: http://www.sonsofdewittcolony.org//plumcreek.htm#hustonreport

 

Roell, Craig H. “Linville Raid of 1840.” Handbook of Texas Online, uploaded 6-15-2010; modified 4-15-2016. Texas State Historical Association. Accessed 11-20-2017 at: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/btl01

 

Sizer, Mona D.  Texas Disasters: Wind, Flood, and Fire. Lanham: A Republic of Texas Press Book, 2005.

 

Texas Historical Commission. Texas Historic Sites atlas. “Details for Battle of Plum Creek (Atlas Number 5055009783).” Historical Marker. Accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/5055009783

 

Texas State Historical Association. “Plum Creek, Battle of.” Handbook of Texas Online, uploaded 6-15-2010; modified 3-18-2016.

 

Wikipedia. “Battle of Plum Creek.” 11-7-2017 edit. Accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plum_Creek

[1] See Anderson and McKeehan in order to understand our decision to use a range of 25-40, and not use 80 deaths.

[2] The footnote at the end of the sentence which notes “The Texans reported killing 80 Comanches…” is a link to Roell’s “Linnville Raid of 1840” which we cite. There is no mention of fatalities on either side. We also went to Roell’s “Plum Creek, Battle of,” which is referenced, and, again, find no reference to fatalities on either side. We draw attention to McKeehan’s website which includes excerpts from the writings of participants in this engagement. The two we draw from both note opinions that about 40 Comanche were killed. Thus we do not use 80 as the tally.

[3] Major General Felix Huston of Republic of Texas militia.

[4] Wrote that “some 25 dead [were left] dead on the field.” Earlier noted: “It is thought some of the Indians were killed and thrown into the creek to conceal the bodies.”

[5] See my narrative on the Aug 6-7 Comanche rain on Victoria and vicinity (concluding with Linnville).

[6] See my narrative on the March 19, 1840 “Council House Fight” in San Antonio when approximately 35 Comanche peace envoys were killed.

[7] It might also be noted that there were several hundred Comanche women and children in the group in the forefront.

[8] Also along was a similar-sized contingent of family members — mostly women and children.

[9] We point out that Huston reported 40 Comanche deaths.

All locations:

—  23  Roell, Craig. “Linville Raid of 1840.” Handbook of Texas Online, uploaded 6-15-2010.[1]

—  21  Hamersly, T.H.S. The United Service. 1885. In “Historic Accounts of Life in South Texas.”[2]

—  15  Linn. (Blanchard count of all those noted as killed by Comanche in the entire raid.)

Victoria:

—  15  Victoria. Robenalt. “The Great Comanche Raid and the Battle of Plum Creek.” 1-9-2011.

—  12  Wikipedia. “Great Raid of 1840.” 10-31-2017 edit.[3]

Victoria area:

–~12  Roell, Craig. “Linville Raid of 1840.” Handbook of Texas Online, uploaded 6-15-2010.[4]

 

Narrative Information

 

Hamersly: The Comanches “surrounded Victoria, on the evening of the 6th, before the citizens were aware that Indians were in the settlements. Hastily arming themselves, the inhabitants made a most heroic defense, causing the Indians to retreat without doing any serious damages, except burning a few houses on the outskirts, and carrying off a large number of horses and cattle in the immediate vicinity. On the following morning the Indians returned, making a second attack on the town; but the citizens were better prepared to give fight, and, after a short skirmish, the Indians again retired, after having set one or two houses on fire.” (Hamersly, T.H.S. The United Service. 1885. In “Historic Accounts of Life in South Texas.”)

 

Linn: List of people noted as killed in his Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Texas:

 

Mr. McNuner, a mile north of Victoria.

Dr. Gray, a mile north of Victoria.

Vartland Richardson, on Spring Creek near Victoria.

Two Negro men near Victoria.

Pinknay Caldwell, returning to Victoria from Jackson County, with three other men.

Mexican member of the group of four returning to Victoria from Jackson County.

Wagoner near Benavides Ranch on Placido Creek 12 miles from Linnville.[5]

Two Negro men cutting hay about three miles outside Linnville.

Major H. O. Watts, collector of customs, in Linnville.

Mr. O’Neill, in Linnville.

Militiaman named Mordeci, Mercado creek, 12 miles east of Victoria.

Mr. Bell, by a scouting party, near the Arenosa.

Mrs. Crosby, taken captive near Victoria, but killed by captors when the militia attacked.

Crosby infant killed near Linnville “and thrown on the roadside” not long after being taken.

 

Robenalt: “In early August of 1840, under the silvery light of a brilliant full moon, referred to by early Texas settlers for good reason as a Comanche moon, a war party of more than 600 Comanche and Kiowa warriors swept out of the Comancheria and rode for the heart of the Republic of Texas. The massive raid was launched in retaliation for what the Comanches perceived to be the unprovoked killing of twelve Penateka war chiefs and many innocent women and children at the Council House peace talks in San Antonio….

 

“Buffalo Hump, one of the few surviving Penateka war chiefs, led the massive war party on a trail that passed well to the east of San Antonio into an area of the Republic that was relatively uninhabited. This cunning strategy allowed the Comanches to achieve the element of surprise before spreading out and cutting a wide swath of destruction across the fertile lands that stretched to the southeast along the Guadalupe River. Killing and burning as they rode, the Comanches didn’t halt their movement southeast until they reached the old settlement of Victoria late in the afternoon of August 6.

 

“Instead of bypassing Victoria in the usual mode of roving Comanche war parties, Buffalo Hump convinced his warriors to surround the town. He then did something few other war chiefs had done before or since when he led an attack that overran the settlement. Most of the citizens saved themselves by banding together and forting up in the south part of town, but fifteen people, including seven slaves lost their scalps as the Comanches galloped through the streets howling their war cries and launching arrows at anything that moved….” (Robenalt. “The Great Comanche Raid and the Battle of Plum Creek.” 1-9-2011.)

 

Roell/Handbook of Texas Online: “….The raiders first appeared at Victoria without warning on the afternoon of August 6, and upon crossing Spring Creek were mistaken at first for Lipans, members of a friendly group that often traded with settlers around the town. “We of Victoria were startled by the apparitions presented by the sudden appearance of six hundred mounted Comanches in the immediate outskirts of the village,” wrote John J. Linn, who recorded the attack on Victoria and the burning of Linnville in his Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Texas (1883). The Comanches killed a number of slaves working in fields and also some whites who were unable to reach Victoria. They captured over 1,500 horses belonging to area residents and to some Mexican horse traders who had arrived with a large herd. The Indians surrounded the town, but the settlers’ defensive efforts apparently prevented their sacking the town itself. The attackers retired to Spring Creek at day’s end and killed a white settler and two black slaves before a group of Victoria men left for the Cuero Creek, Lavaca, and Gonzales settlements for help. The next day the Comanches killed a party of men returning to town, except for Jesse O. Wheeler and a companion, who reached safety.” (Roell. “Linville Raid of 1840.” Handbook of Texas Online, uploaded 6-15-2010; modified 4-15-2016. Texas State Historical Association.)

 

Wikipedia: “The Great Raid of 1840 was the largest raid ever mounted by Native Americans on white cities in what is now the United States. It followed the Council House Fight, in which Republic of Texas officials attempted to capture and take prisoner 33 Comanche chiefs who had come to negotiate a peace treaty, killing them together with two dozen of their family and followers….

 

“To avenge what the Comanche viewed as a bitter betrayal by the Texans, the Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump raised a huge war party of many of the bands of the Comanche,[6] and raided deep into white-settled areas of Southeast Texas….

 

“The huge war party crossed into central Texas and first attacked the town of Victoria, August 6….The citizens of Victoria hid in the buildings, and the Comanches, after killing a dozen or so townspeople and riding up and down, departed Victoria when rifle fire from the buildings began to make the riding dangerous….” (Wikipedia. “Great Raid of 1840.” 10-31-2017 edit.)

 

Sources

 

Hamersly, T.H.S. The United Service. 1885. In “Historic Accounts of Life in South Texas.” Accessed 11-20-2017 at: http://www.stxmaps.com/go/linnville-and-victoria-are-attacked-by-the-comanches.html

 

Robenalt, Jeffery. “The Great Comanche Raid and the Battle of Plum Creek.” TexasEscapes.com, 1-9-2011. Accessed 11-20-2017 at: http://www.texasescapes.com/JefferyRobenalt/Great-Comanche-Raid-and-Battle-of-Plum-Creek.htm

 

Roell, Craig H. “Linville Raid of 1840.” Handbook of Texas Online, uploaded 6-15-2010; modified 4-15-2016. Texas State Historical Association. Accessed 11-20-2017 at: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/btl01

 

Roell, Craig H. “Linnville, TX (Calhoun County).” Handbook of Texas Online. Uploaded 6-15-2010. Texas State Historical Association. Accessed 11-21-2017 at: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvl58

 

Wikipedia. “Great Raid of 1840.” 10-31-2017 edit. Accessed 11-20-2017 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Raid_of_1840

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Writes this number included eight blacks [probably slaves] and one Mexican.

[2] The impression from this paragraph is that there were no deaths in Victoria. In the last paragraph it is noted that “They killed at Gonzales and Linnville and along their trail between the two places twenty-one persons…”

[3] Notes: “after killing a dozen or so townspeople and riding up and down, departed Victoria…”

[4] Our number, based on an interpretation of the content, and in order to match Wikipedia. First it is stated that “a number of slaves” were killed. We convert “a number” to “3” in order to add to a tally. Next, it is noted that “some whites” were killed. Again, we convert “some” to “3.” Next it is noted that a white settler and two slaves were killed at nearby Spring Creek. Finally, it is noted that “the Comanches killed a party of men returning to town.” We convert “a party of men” to “3” in order to add to a tally. Thus, we add the four groups of 3 to derive 12.

[5] Linnville does not exist today, as all but one building was burned during the Comanche raid. The port town was on Lavaca Bay in today’s Calhoun County. (Roell. “Linnville, TX (Calhoun County).” Handbook of Texas Online.)

[6] Notes “at least 400 warriors…”

–12-17 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

–22-26 Alleganian, Cumberland MD. “Steamboat Explosion.” June 12, 1846, p. 2.
— 17 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, p. 291.
–15-16 Baton Rouge Gazette, LA. 6-13-1846, p. 2, col. 5.
— 12 Baltimore American Republican and Daily Clipper. “Steamboat Explosion…” 6-8-1846, 1.
— 12 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 187.
— >12 Indiana Palladium, Vevay, IN. “Terrible Steamboat Disaster.” 6-23-1846, p. 2.**
— 12 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 225.
— 12 Twaintimes. “1846.”
— 12 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Pass, Steamboats…MS River System. 1994, p. 380.
— 11 The Guard, Holly Springs, MS. “Dreadful Steamboat Explosion.” 6-5-1846, p. 2, col. 4.
— >10 American Almanac for the Year 1847 (Vol. 18). “Chronicle of Events for 1846,” p. 349.

Blanchard on date of loss: We have highlighted below in yellow, the wide range of dates used by various sources for this loss. Unfortunately we have not been able to determine with certainty the correct date of loss. Our reading of the sources below leads us to the opinion that the loss was either May 27 or 28.

* Blanchard estimated death toll. Given the number of sources which note twelve deaths, including the usually reliable Lytle and Holdcamper, we choose to use twelve as the low-end of our estimated death-toll. We choose Lloyd’s report of seventeen deaths as the high-end of our estimated death-toll, even though he is not always accurate. The reason we use a range with a number higher than twelve has to do with the large number of cases of scalding, which frequently resulting in deaths with a week, if not longer, after the scalding. These are serious injuries today with modern medicine and care.

**Indiana Palladium writes: “Twelve persons were buried the next day. There are thirty-five more who the physicians say will die. Several becoming alarmed, jumped overboard and were drowned.” [It is possible that one or more of those who “were buried the next day” were drowning victims, so we do not assume that these were in addition to the twelve buried.]

Narrative Information

American Almanac: “June 4. – The steamer Queen City, Capt. Dugan, on her way from New Orleans to Cincinnati, burst her connection pipe while shoving out from Natchez. Ten persons were instantly killed, and about thirty scalded, but few of whom were expected to recover.” (American Almanac for the Year 1847 (Vol. 18). “Chronicle of Events for 1846,” p. 349.)

Berman: “Queen City. St. p. [Steam side-wheel]. 318 [tons]. 1843 [built]. May 24, 1846. Exploded. Natchez, Miss. 12 lives lost.” (Berman 1972, 187)

Lloyd: “Queen City. – The steamer Queen City while lying at Natchez, Miss., on the 27th of May, 1846, burst one of her steam pipes, killing seven passengers and wounding ten mortally, and twenty others seriously.” (Lloyd 1856, p. 291.)

Lytle and Holdcamper: “Queen City…318 [tons]…exploded…5 24-1846…Natchez, Miss. 12 [lives lost].” (Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 225.)

Way: “Queen City. SW p wh. b. [Side-wheel packet, wood hull, built] Cincinnati, Oh., 1843. 318 tons. Collapsed a flue while at Natchez, Miss., May 24, 1846, resulting in 12 deaths, many of them German emigrants. Was not rebuilt.” (Way 1994, p. 380.)

Newspaper

June 3: “We copy the following melancholy disaster from the Louisville Democrat of the 3d. inst.

“A gentleman from Natchez, who came passenger on the ‘Magnolia’ informs us that on the morning of the 28th ult., about 3 o’clock, the steamboat ‘Queen City’ burst one of her cross pipes, while laying to at Natchez, killing and scalding about 60 persons. Twelve persons were buried the next day. There are thirty-five more who the physicians say will die. Several becoming alarmed, jumped overboard and were drowned. It appears there was an attachment of Capt. Thomas Dugan, and he have the engineers ord4rs to hold on steam, in order that he might escape the officers who were in pursuit.

“The citizens were much exasperated at his conduct, and were in pursuit of the Capt. after the explosion, with the determination of hanging him according to the code of Judge Lynch.” (Indiana Palladium, Vevay, IN. “Terrible Steamboat Disaster.” 6-23-1846, p. 2.)

June 5: “We learn by a letter of the Captain and passengers of the steamboat Queen City, addressed to the editor of the Eagle, that the steam pipe of that boat collapsed at Natchez on the morning of the 28th ult., which resulted in the death – by scalding – of eleven deck passengers, who expired that day, and, it was ‘supposed that three or four more could not live out the night.’ They were mostly German emigrants to the West, and were sleeping ‘on the deck, between the cylinder and aft the boilers.’ Great excitement seems to have prevailed at Natchez, against the officers of the boat, to exonerate whom from blame, is the object of the letter referred to. {Memphis Appeal}.”
(The Guard, Holly Springs, MS. “Dreadful Steamboat Explosion.” 6-5-1846, p. 2, col. 4.)

June 8: “The steamboat Queen City, at Natchez, burst her steam pipe on Wednesday [May 27], killing 7 passengers and badly scalding 38 – five of whom have since died, the others were sent to the hospital. The killed and wounded were principally German emigrants.” (Baltimore American Republican and Daily Clipper. “Steamboat Explosion and Loss of Life.” 6-8-1846, p. 1.)

June 12, Alleganian: “The Cincinnati Commercial states that the steamer Queen City, at Natchez, on the 27th May, burst her connection pipe, instantly killed 12 or 14 persons; 10 or 12 more were so badly scalded that they could not survive the night following. Sixty persons, in all, scalded; those not dead were taken to the hospital at Natchez. The persons scalded and killed were deck passengers, and principally Germans.” (Alleganian, Cumberland MD. “Steamboat Explosion.” June 12, 1846, p. 2.)

June 13: “We learn from the Natchez Free Trader that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Thomas S. Dugan, the Captain of the steamer Queen City, the connecting pipe of which burst on the 28th ult., just as she was leaving the wharf at Natchez for Cincinnati, and caused the death of fifteen or sixteen deck passengers, and the scalding of thirty-five or thirty-six others. The explosion is attributed, the Free Trader says, to the reckless haste of the Captain to get under way. ‘Complaints says that paper’ ‘were loud against the Captain, who, however, took good care to be out of the way when a warrant was issued for his arrest, nor has he since been…[unclear word]; and on Thursday evening the boat was moved over to the Louisiana shore to avoid, probably, further molestation by the officers of law, who were on the look out for the Captain.’ – Bulletin.”
(Baton Rouge Gazette, LA. 6-13-1846, p. 2, col. 5.)

Sources

Alleganian, Cumberland MD. “Steamboat Explosion” [Queen City] June 12, 1846, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2176433

American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1847 (Vol. 18). Boston: James Munroe & Co., 1846. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=yLA0AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Baltimore American Republican and Daily Clipper. “Steamboat Explosion and Loss of Life.” 6-8-1846, p. 1. Accessed 10-19-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-american-republican-and-daily-clipper-jun-08-1846-p-1/

Baton Rouge Gazette, LA. 6-13-1846, p. 2, col. 5. Accessed 10-19-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/baton-rouge-gazette-jun-13-1846-p-2/

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

Indiana Palladium, Vevay, IN. “Terrible Steamboat Disaster.” 6-23-1846, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed 10-19-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/vevay-indiana-palladium-jun-13-1846-p-2/

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

Lytle, William M., compiler, from Official Merchant Marine Documents of the United States and Other Sources; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. “The Lytle List.” Mystic, CT: Steamship Historical Society of America (Publication No. 6), 1952. Accessed 8-16-2020 at:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018039084&view=1up&seq=8&size=125

The Guard, Holly Springs, MS. “Dreadful Steamboat Explosion, and Loss of Life.” 6-5-1846, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed 10-19-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-guard-jun-05-1846-p-2/

Twaintimes. 1846-1856. Accessed at: http://twaintimes.net/page3.html (Inoperable link.)

Way, Frederick Jr. (Author and Compiler), Joseph W. Rutter (contributor). Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America (Revised). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1999.

— >318 Blanchard tally based upon State and River totals below.*

–500-1000 Milwaukee Sentinel, WI. “Terrible Hurricane!” 5-26-1840, p. 2.
–300 – 700 Detroit Advertiser, in “Awful Tornado,” Western Statesman (MI), 5-28-1840.
— ~700 Hazard. Hazard’s U. S. Commercial and Statistical Register, Vol. 2, 1840, 376.
— 586 Newspaper Archive. “Major Tornadoes in American History.”
— 481 Natchez Free Trader, May 8, 1840; cited in Natchez (Mississippi) Times, 5-7-1957.
— 400 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, 142.
— 368 Howland, Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accident in the U.S. 1840, 407.
— 318 Hyde, James. The Natchez, Mississippi tornado of 1840, U.S. Tornadoes, 5-7-2017.
— 48 Natchez
–269 On the river.
— 1 Vidalia
— 317 Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. “Natchez.” June 8, 1840, p. 4.
— 317 Flexner and Flexner. A Pessimist’s Guide to History. 2008, p. 121.
— 317 Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 518, 559.
— 317 Greely. (Chief Signal Officer, United States Army). American Weather. 1888, 232.
— 317 Heidorn. The Weather Doctor Almanac 2005. “Great 1840 Natchez Tornado.”
— 317 Howland, Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accidents in the U.S. 1840, 407.
— >317 Levine. F5: Devastation…the Most Violent Tornado Outbreak… 2007, 67.
— 317 Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, pp. 92, 107.
— 317 Mogil. Extreme Weather. 2007, p. 115.
— 317 Nash. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 748.
— 317 Nelson. “The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840…” Concordia Sentinel, 11 Sep 2008.
— 317 Nunn. “Tornadoes…Special Reference To Those…in TN,” Nov 25, 1921.
— 317 NWS WFO, Paducah KY. NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado. “Gen Info.”
— 317 Storm Pre. Cen. The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes. Norman, OK: SPC, NOAA.
— 317 The New-Yorker. “Events of 1840,” Jan 2, 1841, p. 249.
— 317 Watkins. “Heaven’s Heavy Artillery: Cyclones, Tornadoes…” 1905, 719.
— 317 Wikipedia. “Great Natchez Tornado.” March 25, 2011 modification.
— 317 Woods and Woods. Tornadoes. “The Great Natchez Tornado.” 2007, p. 10.
— >300 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 220
— 300 Detroit Daily Advertiser. Cited by Western Statesman, Marshall, MI. 5-28-1840, 2.
— >300 Freeman and Messenger, Lodi, NY. “The Tornado at Natchez.” June 4, 1840, p. 3.

*Our tally uses the number 48 for Natchez (there were reports of 50), and one for Vidalia, LA. We use Howland’s and other sources (Hyde, for example) for the estimate of 269 deaths on the river. See Nelson, Part 2 for reasons why 317-318 fatalities is very probably an undercount. This number does not include what was described as many, even hundreds, killed (probably slaves), on the other side of the river in Louisiana. Additionally, it is quite possible that some of the river fatalities went down the river, and were not included in the estimates at the time.

Louisiana (Hundreds)
— Hundreds. Rowland. Encyclopedia of Mississippi History (Vol. 2.). 1907, p. 323.
–1 Vidalia. Huron Reflector, Norwalk, OH. “Dreadful Visitation of Providence.” 5-26-1840, 2

Mississippi ( 317)
Natchez
— ~50 Burials on 8th. Huron Reflector, Norwalk OH. “Dreadful…” 5-26-1840, 2.
— 1 Parker’s Southern Exchange. Huron Reflector, Norwalk OH. “Dreadful…” 5-26-1840, 2
— >1 Planters’ Hotel. Huron Reflector, Norwalk OH. “Dreadful Visitation…” 5-26-1840, 2.
— 9 Railroad Depot. Western Statesman, MI. “Awful Tornado,” 28 May 1840.
— 11 Steamboat Hotel. Huron Reflector, Norwalk OH. “Dreadful Visitation…” 5-26-1840, 2.

Maritime (~156-269)
— 269 On river. Howland, Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accident in the U.S. 1840, 407.
— 200 “Hundreds of negroes.” Hazard’s US Commercial…Statistical Register, V2, 1840, 376
— ~200 Flatboat men. Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Tornado at Natchez,” 5-26-1840
— ~100 “Flatboat men.”

— 51 Steamboat Hinds. Berman, Bruce. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, 172.
— 51 “ Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 680.
— 51 “ Nelson. “The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840–Part 2,” Sep 11, 2008.
— 5 Steamboat Prairie. Milwaukee Sentinel, WI. “Terrible Hurricane!” May 26, 1840, p. 2.

Narrative Information

Beemer: “The following is from a letter written after the 140 Natchez tornado. It was penned by a resident of Natchez to a friend who was out of town when the tornado struck. It was reproduced in the Natchez (Mississippi) Times on 7 May 1957. In part it said: ‘An extra of the Natchez Free Trader published the day after the catastrophe listed the dead at 481… Many persons were seen blown off the bluff into the river of whom there has not been received any intelligence. It is assumed for the time being that they are dead’.” (Beemer, Rod. The Deadliest Woman in the West: Mother Nature. 2006, pp. 113-114.)

Grazulis: “A massive tornado touched down at least 20 miles southwest of Natchez, Mississippi, and moved to the northeast. It hit the Mississippi River about 7 miles southwest of the city and moved upriver, “stripping the forest from both shores.” This long track over water contributed to the high death toll. The central and northern part of Natchez was ripped apart by the mile-wide funnel as “the air was black with whirling eddies of walls, roofs, chimneys, and huge timbers from distant ruins … all shot through the air as if thrown from a mighty catapult.” The most reliable death total listed 48 on land at Natchez and 269 on the river, most of those in the sinking of flatboats and steamers. It was noted at the time that the death toll on the river was probably high because of the “large number of transients and itinerant boatmen on the river that day.” A piece of a steamboat window was carried 30 miles. At least one person died at Vidalia, Louisiana, on the opposite shore of the river. Reports that “hundreds” of people were killed on plantations in Louisiana were never confirmed, but it is quite possible that there were many more deaths in areas away from Natchez. This was the pre-Civil War era of slavery, and slave deaths were not always counted. $1,260,000.” (Grazulis. “Descriptions of the Top Ten US Killer Tornadoes #2: The Natchez Tornado.” 2001.)

Hazard: “One of the most awful and destructive hurricanes took place here on the 7th, that ever occurred in the United States. Natchez under the hill, is entirely swept away, and the loveliest part of the South, on the Bluff above, is wreck and ruin! And beneath the ruins, still lay the bodies of many strangers and natives, crushed to death. Besides which the number of lives lost by the sinking of flat boats is thought to be at least 200, and no estimate can be made of the amount of money, produce and goods, swallowed up by the river…Accounts have already been received from 20 miles distant, and the rage of the tempest was terrible! Hundreds of negroes were killed; dwellings swept away like chaff before the whirlwind, forests uprooted, and crops entirely destroyed.

“The breadth of the tornado was about two miles…The steamboat St. Lawrence was sunk to the bottom of the river, and all on board perished. The steamboat Hinds was capsized and sunk, and all on board lost except four. The steamboat Prairie was almost totally destroyed at the wharf, and all on board perished, except the Captain and Clerk. The ferry boat plying between Natchez and the opposite shore, was capsized and sunk, and every person on board lost. The probability is, that the number of persons who have lost their lives on the land and water is very great, and the property destroyed is immense….It is estimated that about 700 were killed and drowned in Natchez and its immediate vicinity, and that t least five millions of property was destroyed.” (Hazard. Hazard’s United States Commercial and Statistical Register, Vol. 2, 1840, 376.)

Howland: “The total number killed and wounded, as far as ascertained, up to May 13, is as follows: killed in the city, 48; on the river, 269, making a total of 317. Wounded, in the city, 74: on board the boats, 85, total 159. The steamboat Hinds has since been discovered, at Baton Rouge, having 51 dead bodies on board, — forty-eight of whom were males, two females, and one child.” (Howland. Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accidents in the United States. 1840, 407.)

Lloyd: “On the 7th day of May, 1840, the city of Natchez, Miss., was visited by a tornado, which occasioned an immense destruction of property and great loss of life. Several steamboats were destroyed at the wharves of Natchez, and many persons who had embarked in them as passengers were drowned. A large number of flat boats, likewise, were wrecked by the tremendous gale, and a number of boatmen, sup¬posed to be two hundred or more, in the aggregate, perished. A tax had recently been laid on flat-boats at Vicksburg, on which account many of them had dropped down to Natchez, so that there was an un¬usually large number of these boats collected at the last-named city at the time of the tornado.

“The steamboat Hinds was blown out into the stream and sunk, and all the passengers and crew, except four men, were lost. It is not known how many passengers were on this boat. The captain was sup¬posed to have been saved, as he was seen on shore a short time before the gale commenced, but as nothing was heard of him afterwards, it is conjectured that he must have returned to the boat, and shared the fate of his crew and passengers. The wreck of the Hinds was after¬wards found at Baton Rouge, with fifty-one dead bodies on board, forty-eight of whom were males, and three females; among the latter was one little girl about three years old.

“Of one hundred and twenty flat-boats, which lay at the landing, all were lost except four, and very few of the men employed on board were saved. [Lists the names of 43 fatalities.]

“Besides these, about two hundred flat boatmen, (names unknown,) were ascertained to have been lost. The total loss of life is estimated at four hundred. For its violence and destructive effects, this tornado was without precedent in the recollection of the oldest inhabitant of that region. The water in the river was agitated to that degree that the best swimmers could not sustain themselves on the surface. The waves rose to the height of ten or fifteen feet. Many houses in the vicinity of Natchez were blown down, and many buildings in the city were unroofed; the roofs, in some instances, being carried half-way across the river. People found it impossible to stand on the shore. One man was blown from the top of the hill, (sixty feet high,) and fell into the river forty yards from the bank. Heavy beams of timber and other ponderous objects were blown about like straws. Great was the consternation of the inhabitants of Natchez and its neighborhood, and owing to this cause, perhaps, many persons were drowned for want of prompt assistance. When the first alarm had somewhat subsided, the citizens hastened to the river, rescued some who were still living from the water, and recovered hundreds of dead bodies before they were swept away by the rapid current.” (Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, pp. 140-142.)

Ludlum: “The greatest tornado disaster in early America occurred at Natchez, Mississippi, on May 7, 1840, when 317 were killed, mainly on river barges tied up at wharves, by a single tornado.” (Ludlum 1982, 107) “The storm struck a devastating blow at Natchez Landing, where from fifty to sixty flatboats were tied up. Only six survived the wind and storm wave, which rose to the height of six to eight feet. An estimated one hundred boatmen were drowned. The steamboats Hinds, Prairie, and St. Lawrence were destroyed and sunk at the Landing, and the Vidalia ferry was caught in mid-stream. Many died in these vessels.” (Ludlum 1982, p. 109.)

Nelson: The Natchez Free-Trader reported that there had been a “continuous roaring of thunder to the southward, at which point hung masses of black clouds, some of them stationary, and others whirling along with undercurrents, but all driving a little east of north. And there was evidently much lighting, the continual roar of growling thunder, although noticed and spoken of by many, created no particular alarm.” “The first traces of the tornado,” said the newspaper, were seen 10 miles below Natchez, coming out of Concordia Parish where it swept across Natchez Island, crossing at a point below the plantations of Peter M. Lapice, who owned both Arnolia and Whitehall.

”Along the way, said the New Orleans Bee, the storm sucked trees out of the ground, stripped others of limbs and branches, ripped out fences on many plantations and leveled cabins, plantation homes and crops.

”Fifteen miles below Natchez, the steamer Maid of Orleans, which departed town a short time earlier, had just made the bend above Ellis Cliffs when the twister cruised by just to the north. So severe was the storm, a traveler onboard said “we landed and lay all night near the cliffs.”

”According Floyd’s Steamboat Directory, the passenger said the “storm seemed to have struck the foot of Natchez Island first, which was then covered with a heavy growth of young cotton wood, from three to six inches in diameter. They were cut off 8 or 10 feet from the ground as clean and as evenly as could have been done with an ax, and at a little distance resembled a big field of corn, with the fodder just cut, much more than a young forest of cottonwood prostrated…The uniformity of which the whole island was swept was the principal novelty.”….

“By this time, the monster tornado was two miles wide, slamming Vidalia and Natchez at the exact moment. When it hit, reported the Natchez Free-Trader, the Mississippi “swelled instantly” by a “height of six or eight feet.”….

The Free-Trader said that the “dinner bells in large hotels had rung and most citizens were sitting at their tables.” But soon, said the newspaper, “the air was black with whirling eddies of walls, roofs, chimneys and huge timbers from distant ruins…all shot through the air as if thrown from a mighty catapult.” The paper said the tornado destroyed everything in its path with the “explosive force of gunpowder.”…

”People in the hotel began to panic as they rushed for the front door. Almost immediately, the passageway became jammed and, said Flint, “kicking, fighting, and cursing ensued.” Some were “trampled under foot,” while others, like the Flints, were thrown “over their heads” to a position “where we were destined to be saved. It was between the bar room and the reading room.”….

Across the river, Concordia Judge James Keeton lay dead in the ruins….” (Nelson. “The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840 – Part 1,” Concordia Sentinel, Sep 4, 2008.)

Nelson: “Just before the monster tornado hit Natchez shortly after 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, 1840, the captain of the steamboat Hinds was seen walking along the river bank under¬-the-hill.
No one saw him board his docked vessel before the storm hit, but both he and the boat vanished.

”The “upper works” and the deck of another steamer, the Prairie, which was partially loaded with lead, were destroyed by the tornado and this boat sank. Four women were seen on board just before the twister hit, but they and the other passengers, the total number unknown, were presumed drowned.

”The steamboat Lawrence was severely damaged but didn’t sink while the Mississippian, a wharf-boat which served as a hotel and grocery, did. The Vidalia steam-powered ferry loaded with passengers and horses was crossing the river when the twister cruised into town from downriver. All on board, human and animal, perished.

”Many of the men aboard the estimated 60 flatboats on the Mississippi drowned, too, as the swirling winds push the river level up seven feet and tossed the vessels about like a cork at the end of a fishing line.

”Two weeks later, a tattered, half-submerged ghost ship was seen floating down the river at Baton Rouge. It was the Hinds. Found onboard were the bodies of 51 passengers and crew members, all men, with the exception of three women and a three-year-old girl. Four survivors had previously been found safely on shore in Natchez….

‘Newspapers put the death toll at 317 and 109 injured, the only tornado where the dead outnumbered the injured. But there’s no doubt that the death toll was much, much higher.
According to the Natchez Courier, most of the fatalities were on the river, an estimated 269, including 200 flat boatmen, most of whom drowned. There were 47 deaths in upper Natchez and one in Vidalia. But the statistics compiled back then took into no account the deaths of slaves on the plantations. Why? Because slaves were considered property, not human beings. The name of only one slave — Moses — is mentioned but apparently not included in the death toll. He was pulled from beneath Parker’s Southern Exchange and remembered as “a most valuable servant.”

The Courier reported that 74 persons were injured in Natchez and 35 aboard boats on the landing and river were hurt. Again, no official count of the number of blacks injured was made.” (Nelson. “The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840 – Part 2,” Concordia Sentinel, Sep 11, 2008.)

Rowland: “Natchez Tornado of 1840. Henry Tooley made an elaborate report of this disaster, including observations of the barometer and thermometer during the storm. The day, May 7, opened densely cloudy and very warm, increasing in heat until noon. At 12:45 the roar of the approaching storm could be heard in the southwest, with a gale blowing toward it, from the northeast. The thunder and lightning was incessant. An hour later inky clouds were sweeping up both sides of the river, the city was soon enveloped in darkness, terrific thunder shook the earth, the wind whirled to the southeast, and at 2 o’clock the tornado swept through the city, followed by a calm. There was about five minutes while the storm was felt close at hand, a few seconds in which it accomplished its work. “Every building in the city was more or less injured, many utterly demolished, and very many unroofed, with their walls more or less broken or thrown down: every tree and fence prostrated, and the streets filled with scattered fragments of every kind and nearly impassable.” The famous district, “Natchez under the Hill,” was swept with “the besom of destruction, overthrowing, crashing and demolishing almost every house, shop and building, and at one fell swoop reduced that part of the city into undistinguished ruin. Three steamers break from their moorings; their upper works are blown as feathers; two of them capsize and sink and nearly all their crews and passengers perish. More than sixty flatboats laden with up-country produce break from their fastenings and with their crews disappear.”

“The casualties were given as follows: killed in the city, 48; perished on the river, 269; wounded in the city, 74, on the river, 35. A woman was rescued from the wreck of the Steamboat hotel, alive but mangled, with her two dead children in her arms. The most widespread damage was done in Louisiana, in the earlier path of the tornado, and hundreds were reported killed. The courthouse at Vidalia was wrecked, burying Judge Kerton in the ruins. Natchez was visited by a delegation from New Orleans bringing a corps of surgeons and several thousand dollars of money for the relief of the suffering. Mr. Tooley, who was one of the most accurate meteorologists of his age, noted those facts regarding the storm that sustain the modern scientific explanation. Many houses, where the rooms were closed, were exploded by the surrounding vacuum created by the funnel of the tornado; the juices of leaves, and herbs and grass were extracted so that they withered.” (Rowland. Encyclopedia of Mississippi History (Vol. 2.). 1907, p. 323.)

Woods and Woods: “One of the worst tornadoes in history hit the Mississippi town of Natchez on May 7, 1840. History books say that it killed 317 people. However, the real number of deaths may have been much higher. At that time, people in the southern United States owned slaves. Officials didn’t bother to count slaves who died on plantations (large farms) because slaves were considered property. We may never know how many slaves died in the Great Natchez Tornado.” (Woods and Woods. Tornadoes. “The Great Natchez Tornado.” 2007, p. 10.)

Newspapers (Chronological)

May 7: “Natchez, Thursday, 5 P.M., May 7, 1840.
“To the Editors of the Daily Picayune:

“By the steamboat Meteor I hasten to acquaint you with one of the most horrid and destructive hurricanes that ever happened in the United States. While nearly the whole of our city were engaged in dining at the hour of two this afternoon, vivid flashed the lightning, loud roared the thunder, and black grew the sky. In a few minutes the tempest came, and for about forty minutes
we were in that perilous state which speaks only of destruction and death. First toppled down the chimneys, then went the roofs of houses, and a moment after house after house fell into ruins. In the hurry of this letter I cannot begin to particularize the death and damage around me. ‘Natchez under the hill’ is entirely swept away, and the loveliest part of the South on the bluff above, is wreck and ruin; and those yet living will find difficulty upon difficulty in getting shelter for the night. My heart sickens at the scenes before me. As I walked to the boat from which I write, the dead and wounded met me every twenty steps. Natchez is ruined, ruined, ruined.” (Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Tornado at Natchez,” 5-26-1840, p. 2.)

“In addition to the above we have gathered the following particulars. The steamboat St. Lawrence went down. It is said she was lifted many feet out of the water, and instantly dashed to the bottom of the river with every soul on board. The enormous body of water now rolling in the Mississippi and swelling to the very topmost limits of its banks, was lashed into foaming billows, and flatboats were torn in pieces and their scattered planks flew about like feathers in the wind….

“The steamboat Prairie is now lying at our wharf, torn to pieces – ‘blown up’ by the winds worse than ever a boat was blown up by steam. The hull and machinery is all that is left of her. Her cabin was carried away, floor and all. The wheel-houses were unroofed, and what remains of the boat is rent and shattered in an awful manner….

“The greatest loss of life was among the flatboats, which were swamped and destroyed before the unfortunate men could reach the shore. One paper states that upwards of 200 were lost. A boy is said to have been taken up in the air and lodged in a tree half a mile from his father’s house.” (Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Tornado at Natchez,” 5-26-1840, p. 2.)

May 8: “From the Natchez Free Trader – Extra. Friday Eve. [May 8], 6 o’clock.

“About 1 o’clock on Thursday, the 7th inst., the attention of the citizens of Natchez was attracted by an unusual and continuous roaring of thunder to the southward, at which point hung masses of black clouds, some of them stationary and others whirling along with under currents, but all driving a little east of north. As there was evidently much lightning, the continual roar of growling thunder, although noticed and spoken of by many, created no particular alarm.

“The dinner bells in the large hotels had rung, a little before 2o’clock and most of our citizens were sitting at their tables, when, suddenly, the atmosphere was darkened, so as to require the lighting of candles; and, in a few moments afterwards, the rain was precipitated in tremendous cataracts rather than in drops. In another moment the tornado, in all its wrath, was upon us. The strongest buildings shook as if tossed with an earthquake; the air was black with whirling eddies of house walls, roofs, chimneys, huge timbers torn from distant ruins, all shot through the air as if thrown from a mighty catapult. The atmosphere soon became lighter, and then such an awful scene of ruin as perhaps never before met the eye of man, became manifest. The greater part of the ruin was effected in the short space of from three to five minutes, altho’ the heavy sweeping tornado lasted nearly half an hour. For about five minutes it was more like the explosive force of gunpowder than anything else it could have been compared to. Hundreds of rooms were burst open as sudden as if barrels of gunpowder had been ignited in each.

“As far as glass or the naked eye can reach, the first traces of the tornado are to be seen from the Natchez bluff down the river about ten miles, bearing considerably west of south. Sweeping across the Natchez Island it crossed the point below the plantation of David Barland, Esq., opposite the plantations of P. M. Lapice, Esq., in the Parish of Concordia. It then struck the Natchez bluff about a mile and a half below the city, near the mansion called the ‘Briers,’ which it but slightly injured, but swept the mansion late of Charles B. Greene, Esq. called the ‘Bellevue,’ and the ancient forest in which it was embosomed into a mass of ruins.

“It then struck the city through its whole width of one mile and included the entire river and the village of Vidalia on the Louisiana shore—making the path of the tornado more than two miles in width. At the Natchez landing on the river, the ruin of dwellings, stores, steamboats, and flat boats, was almost entire from the Vidalia ferry to the Mississippi Cotton Press. A few torn fragments of dwellings still remain, but they can scarcely be called shelters.

“In the upper city, or Natchez on the hill, scarcely a house escaped damage or utter ruin. The Presbyterian and Methodist churches have their towers thrown down, their roofs broken and walls shattered. The Episcopal church is much injured in its roof. Parker’s great Southern Exchange is level with the dust.—Great damage has been done to the City Hotel and the Mansion House, both being unroofed, and the upper stories broken in. The house of Sheriff Izod has not a timber standing, and hundreds of other dwellings are nearly in the same situation.—The Court-House at Vidalia, parish of Concordia, is utterly torn down, also the dwelling house of Dr. M’ Whorther, and of Messrs. Dunlap and Stacey, Esqrs. The parish jail is partly torn down.

“But now the worst remains to be told. Parish Judge Keeton of Concordia was instantly killed while at dinner at the house of Mr. Stacey. He was a noble and esteemed man. No other person was killed in Vidalia, although some other persons were hurt. At the Natchez landing, out of fifty or sixty flat boats only six are now afloat. Those best acquainted suppose as many as one hundred flat boat men were drowned in the river, which swelled instantly to the height of six or eight feet.

“The steamboats Hinds, Prairie, and the St. Lawrence, were destroyed and sunk at the Landing, and the Vidalia ferry boat on the river—more or less persons being lost in the two first named boats.

“From the ruins of the Steamboat Hotel, Mr. Alexander, the landlord, his lady and barkeeper were dug out alive, as also Timothy Flint, the historian and geographer, and his son from Natchitoches, La., besides Dr. Taliafero and many others. Mrs. Alexander is considered dangerously injured. Two of her children were killed in her arms. As many as nine dead bodies have been dug from the Steamboat Hotel.

“The number of burials which have taken place to-day is about fifty, and many are still in a dangerous and dying condition.

“As soon as possible we shall publish a list of the names of the killed, wounded, and those missing whose bodies have not been found.

“Meanwhile we beg the indulgence of our kind friends and patrons for few days, in which time we shall be able to get our office in some order. The Free Trader office building has been crushed in and much shattered. We are all in confusion, and surrounded by the destitute, the houseless, the wounded and the dying. – Our beautiful city is shattered as if it had been stormed y all the cannon of Austerlitz. Our delightful China trees are all torn up. We are peeled and desolate….

The Tornado at Natchez.

“Dreadful as were the first accounts from the city of ruins, it seems they were not over-drawn if indeed they came up to the reality. The great number of flat boatmen lost, will carry mourning into many families in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. A committee has been appointed to ascertain as far as possible the number of flat boats lost, and the names and residences of the owners.

“The calamity which has befallen Natchez, has excited deep sympathy in her sister cities of the South.—Committees have been appointed at Vicksburgh, Rodney, Grand Gulf, New-Orleans, and other places, for the purpose of giving aid to the sufferers. A public meeting for a similar purpose has been called at Cincinnati. We add the following particulars to the sad details already
published, copied from the Natchez Free Trader of the 11th inst.—Cleve. Herald.

Natchez, Sabbath Evening, the 10th May.

“What we wrote on Friday, the day after the calamity, has since proved far too low a computation—and far too faint a sketch of the ruin which has befallen our noble-spirited yet devoted city.

“The estimate we have given of a little more than a million and a quarter of dollars for the damages done to the buildings merely, may be nearly correct for the compact part of the city: but to cover the loss of merchandize, provisions, goods of various kinds, and furniture destroyed, there should, in the opinion of some of our practical and clear-headed men, be at least four millions more added—making the entire loss of property in the city of Natchez more than FIVE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

“The Natchez theatre is a pile of shapeless ruins beyond recovery. —The entire square, surrounded by the walls, and partly covered by the pile of the Railroad Depot, late one of the largest and noblest edifices of the kind in any city in the Union, is covered with the wreck of tower, walls and roofs. From this immense mass of rubbish several wounded persons and dead bodies have been dug, and the work of removing the huge pile of brick and limber has been just commenced.

“From the immense ruins of Parker’s Southern Exchange, Messrs. Farish and Bemis were dug alive after a confinement of an hour or two, and the dead body of Moses a most valuable servant; it is possible there may be one or two more bodies in those ruins.

“The Planters’ Hotel, formerly called ‘Our House,’ situated on the brow of the bluff, was blown down the precipice. Many men were known to have been in the house at the time; and it has become painfully evident to the senses that the rapid decomposition of flesh is going on under the timbers of that house.

“Eleven dead bodies have been taken from the ruins of the Steamboat Hotel, which have all been removed by the gangs of slaves of Colonel Surget, Mr. Crossgrove, and others, generously sent in by those wealthy planters.

“Of the number and names of the dead we cannot now speak with certainty. This subject is committed by a public meeting to a committee of three gentlemen, who will report as soon as any certainty can be arrived at. The Natchez Guards and the Order of Odd Fellows have both followed their dead ‘to that bourne whence no traveler returns’.” (Huron Reflector, Norwalk, OH. “Dreadful Visitation of Providence.” May 26, 1840, p. 2.)

May 9, 1840, from New Orleans Bulletin: “By the Steamer Vicksburg…which arrived here last night, we have the following particulars of a tornado which took place in Natchez on Thursday last: …about 2 o’clock P.M., a dark cloud made its appearance in the southwest, preceded by a continued roaring of the winds. As it came on swiftly…it was met by another which was wafted from directly the opposite point of the compass…At the moment of the concussion large masses of seeming white spray were precipitated to the earth, followed by…a roaring of the wind… Houses were dismantled of their roofs, and then almost immediately leveled with the earth. The air was filled with bricks and large pieces of timber – and even heavy ox carts were uplifted and thrown hundreds of yards from their original positions.

“About 60 flat boats lying in port were drifted from shore and sunk. The ferry boat plying between Natchez and the opposite shore, capsized and sunk, and everyone on board is supposed to have perished. The steamboat Hinds was capsized & sunk. The steamboat Prairie had her cabin entirely taken off & crew nearly all lost.

“The two Hotels in the city, one partly and the other entirely blown to the ground, and almost every house more or less injured. It is impossible to tell how many of the citizens were killed, as the streets were filled with large pieces of timber, rendering them impassable, and the work of extracting the bodies from the fallen houses was not completed…It was very difficult to effect a landing, as every house under the hill, save five or six, was blown down, and the river filled with floating fragments of houses and flat boats.

“The Tornado, on leaving Natchez, followed the course of the river about eight miles down. The Court-house in Vidalia was leveled to the ground, and the Parish Judge killed.” (Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg). . “Awful Calamity! Natchez Destroyed by a Tornado,” May 25, 1840, p.1)

From the Natchez Courier, May 9, 1840: “Our devoted city is in ruins. Yesterday at one o’clock …a storm burst upon our city and raged for half an hour with most destructive and dreadful power. We look around and see Natchez…in ruins, and hundreds of our citizens without a shelter or a pillow…. The destruction of flat boats is immense; at least sixty were tossed for a moment on a raging river, and then sunk, drowning most of their crews! The best informed…estimate the number of lives lost by the sinking of flat boats at two hundred!….

“There is no telling how wide-spread has been the ruin. Reports have come in from plantations twenty miles distant in Louisiana, and the rage of the tempest was terrible. Hundreds…killed, dwellings swept like chaff from their foundations, the forest uprooted, and the crops beaten down and destroyed. Never, never, never was there such desolation and ruin.

“We cannot even attempt a description of the mangled condition of Natchez. – Hundreds of houses…now choke up our streets with mingled materials, in a state of utter destruction. We can do nothing today but bury the dead and bind up the wounds of those yet struggling for life….”
(Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg. “Awful Calamity! Natchez Destroyed by a Tornado,” 5-25-1840, 1)

May 26: “….From passengers on the Chester, we learn some further particulars. The Chester passed the wreck of the Prairie, 150 miles below Natchez, lying-to, in tow of the Meteor. Capt. Freleigh was spoken, from whom it was ascertained that about 5 persons only were lost from his boat. The cabin, furniture and chimneys were swept away, but the hull was not much damaged, and as our informant understood Capt. Freleigh, the cargo was all safe.

“The estimate of the number of lives lost, by intelligent men from Natchez, is from 500 to 1000; but it was impossible to ascertain the number with anything like certainty, until the rubbish was cleared away, which will require several weeks. It has been ascertained that there were 104 flat boats at the landing, only seven of which were saved.

“At the principal hotel, the boarders to the number of 60 or 80 were at dinner, and only 7 or 8 have been seen since! At the Steamboat Hotel under the hill, about 60 were at dinner – only 6 have been found alive.” (Milwaukee Sentinel, WI. “Terrible Hurricane!” [Natchez Tornado].. May 26, 1840, p. 2.)

May 28: “From the Detroit Daily Advertiser… By the attention of Mr. Abbott, of New York, who has just arrived here from Natchez in the Steamboat Wm French, via Louisville, we have received the particulars of one the most destructive tornadoes that has ever been witnessed on this continent…

It began at Natchez on Thursday the 7th inst., at 2 P. M. and passed over the city, apparently from a southeast direction, and destroyed about two-thirds of the buildings in the city; and every building under the hill, except Mr. Cotton’s grocery, (a small building which was partially injured) — the beautiful grove of trees around the Court House is wholly prostrated, and the Court House itself partially destroyed — all the banks except the Commercial — every hotel, except the Mansion House, which was blown down. The Planters and Parker’s Hotels were completely obliterated, and nothing left but a pile of bricks. The fine grove of trees, and the handsome buildings adjoining the Planters Hotel, were all destroyed. The long row of Chinese trees that lined the hill, and made so beautiful appearance from the river, were all destroyed; also the Light House, erected by the United States Government some twenty years since; the Cotton Press, Both Steam Saw Mills; the steeple of the Second Presbyterian Church, and a part of the building itself was also destroyed. The Rail Road Depot was Blown down, and nine dead bodies had been taken from the ruins.

“On the river, in front of the city, the effects of the tornado were equally awful. The steamboat Hinds was blown into the river and sunk, all the crew and passengers except four men were lost. The number of passengers on board was not known. The Captain was said to be on shore at the time, but had not been seen. The steamboat Prairie had just arrived from St. Louis, with lead; her upper works were swept off down to her deck, and all the crew and passengers were presumed to be lost. The number of passengers was unknown, but four ladies, at least were seen on board just before the disaster. The steamboat H. Lawrence, and a sloop were somewhat sheltered at the Cotton Press, and were severely damaged, but not lost. The Steam Ferry boat was sunk; and out of one hundred and twenty flat boats that lay at the landing, all were lost but four with most of their crews. The wharf boat Mississippian, used as a hotel, grocery, &c., was lost.– A tax had been recently laid at Vicksburg on all flat boats, so that many had dropped down to Natchez…

The destruction of property is immense, and no estimate can yet be formed of its amount, and we regret to add that the number of lives lost is also very great. The Wm. French passed Natchez only twelve hours after, and at that time the citizens were entirely engaged in taking out the dead bodies from the ruins. Seven ladies had already been taken from the ruins of the Steamboat Hotel. The loss on board the Flat Boats must have been awful, as it is reasonable to presume that at least two persons were on each boat, which would make the number lost in this manner upwards of two hundred. The estimate on the spot, by the citizens of Natchez, varied from three to seven hundred.

“The tornado crossed the river to Concordia, (La.) and destroyed the Court House, Jail, and other buildings, and most of the trees. It then seemed to change its course, and passed up the Louisiana
bank of the river, destroying most of the trees in its course; its effects on trees were visible as far up as Vicksburg.

“The tornado lasted but a few minutes at Natchez; to use the words of those who saw it, “it. passed over the city like a flash of lightning;” during the forenoon it had been uncommonly windy. At points higher up on the river, it was accompanied by a heavy fall of rain.” (Western Statesman, MI. “Awful Tornado,” 28 May 1840; citing the Detroit Daily Advertiser.)

June 8: “We learn from the New Orleans Bee, that the steamboat Hinds, which was wrecked during the tornado at Natchez, has been picked up at Baton Rouge, having fifty-one dead bodies on board – forty-eight of whom were males, two females, and one child.

“The number of killed in Natchez by the tornado is ascertained to be 48; on the river 269 – in all 317; wounded in the city 74, on the river 35 – in all 109.” (Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. “Natchez.” June 8, 1840, p. 4.)

June 27: “The Natchez Courier gives the following report of the number of killed and wounded at that place by the tornado.

Killed in Natchez… 48
Killed on the river… 200
317
Wounded in the City… 74
Wounded on the Boats…36
110

(Milwaukee Advertiser, WI. “Killed and Wounded in Natchez.” June 27, 1840, p. 3.)

Sources

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Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. “Natchez.” 6-8-1840, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=3089967

Beemer, Rod. The Deadliest Woman in the West: Mother Nature on the Prairies and Plains. Caldwell, IA: Caxton Press, 2006. Google preview accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=wFP4OWZIak4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

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

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Detroit Daily Advertiser, in “Awful Tornado,” Western Statesman, MI, 5-28-1840. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/

Flexner, Doris and Stuart Berg Flexner. A Pessimist’s Guide to History: An Irresistible Compendium of Catastrophes, Barbarities, Massacres, and Mayhem – From 14 Billion Years Ago to 2007. New York: Harper Collins, 2008. Partially digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=tpeK8WZby0gC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Freeman and Messenger, Lodi, NY. “Deplorable Steam Boat Accident” [George Collier]. May 23, 1839, p. 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2777516

Grazulis, Thomas P. “Descriptions of the Top Ten US Killer Tornadoes #2: The Natchez Tornado.” 1999. Accessed 10-12-2009 at: http://www.tornadoproject.com/toptens/2.htm#top

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

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

Hazard, Samuel. Hazard’s United States Commercial and Statistical Register, Vol. 2, Jan 1840 to July 1840. Google preview accessed 5-1-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/b2HWGCweH-AC?gbpv=1

Heirdorn, Keith C. (The Weather Doctor). Weather Almanac for May 2005. “The Great 1840 Natchez Tornado.” Accessed 5-1-2020 at: https://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2005/alm05may.htm

Howland, Southworth Allen. Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accidents in the United States (Revised and Improved). Worcester: Warren Lazell. 1843.

Huron Reflector, Norwalk, OH. “Dreadful Visitation of Providence” [Natchez Tornado]. May 26, 1840, p. 2. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=6410630

Hyde, James. The Natchez, Mississippi tornado of 1840, U.S. Tornadoes, 5-7-2017. Accessed 5-1-2020 at: https://www.ustornadoes.com/2017/05/07/natchez-ms-tornado-1840/

Levine, Mark. F5: Devastation, Survival, and the Most Violent Tornado Outbreak of the Twentieth Century. New York: Hyperion, Miramax Books, 2007.

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

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

Milwaukee Sentinel, WI. “Terrible Hurricane!” May 26, 1840, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33333197

Mogil, H. Michael. Extreme Weather: Understanding the Science of Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Floods, Heat Waves. NY: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., 2007. Google partially digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=bpwmuLCkob4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

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

National Weather Service Forecast Office, Paducah, KY. NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado Web Site. “General Information.” Accessed at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/1925/gi_body.php

Nelson, Stanley. “The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840 – Part 1,” Concordia Sentinel, 9-4-2008. Accessed at: http://www.concordiasentinel.com/news.php?id=2377

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Nunn, Roscoe. “Tornadoes, With Special Reference To Those That Have Occurred in Tennessee” (Paper delivered before the Tennessee Academy of Science). Nov 25, 1921. Accessed at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bna/research/tornadoes.htm

Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Tornado at Natchez,” 5-26-1840, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=12101802

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Storm Prediction Center. The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes. Norman, OK: SPC, National Weather Service. NOAA. Accessed 10-12-2008 at: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/killers.html

The New-Yorker. “Events of 1840,” Jan 2, 1841, p. 249. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=MCfnAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Watkins, John Elfreth. “Heaven’s Heavy Artillery: Cyclones, Tornadoes, Hurricanes – Their Origin, Area of Operation, and Methods of Action.” Pages 712-721 in Technical World Magazine, Volume 2, Armour Institute of Technology, 1905. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=CgLOAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

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–42  McLeod, Col. Hugh. Letter from…communicating…defeat…Comanches, 3-20-1840.[1]

–35  Comanche

–30  men

—  3  women

—  2  children

—  7  Whites.

–42  TX St. Library & Archives. Indian Relations in [TX]. “…Comanche War.” 10-31-2011.[2]

–35  Schilz. “Council House Fight.” Handbook of Texas Online. TX State Hist. Assc. 6-12-2010

–17  Erwin, Will. Texas State Cemetery (website) “The Council House Fight.”[3]

 

Narrative Information

 

Erwin: “…in San Antonio in March of 1840…group of Penateka Comanche entered the city and sued for peace…. All the frontier Texan experiences with the Comanche were distilled into hate, virulent, racist hate. Things were never civil between the two groups, but the Comanche sought peace in 1840. It’s unclear exactly why the Comanche sued for peace at San Antonio, some accounts say the Penatekas suffered from a smallpox epidemic while others say they were protecting their southern flank in a war against the Cheyenne and the Arapaho. Either way, the Texans demanded the Comanche bring in all white prisoners in preliminary talks before any negotiation could happen. However, when the Comanche showed up the day of the “Council House[4] Fight”, they only had one hostage, Matilda Lockhart. Sixty-five Comanche showed to the meeting, thirteen chiefs and their households….

 

“Things went downhill almost as soon as the Comanche showed up. The Texans saw only Matilda Lockhart, a sixteen-year-old girl who’d been taken with her sister two years earlier. They expected many more prisoners. In addition, Matilda Lockhart was in bad shape. She was covered in burns and bruises and her nose was almost entirely burned off. The Texans were outraged and demanded more prisoners. What the Texans did not understand is that the Comanche were not a single nation with a “head chief.” Chiefs were the heads of their own bands and there were many bands. The chiefs at the council house were only responsible for their bands and could not make promises for other chiefs. They tried to explain this, but it was lost in translation. The chiefs were taken into the council house and informed they were hostages until more prisoners were brought in. At first, the translator refused to relay the order. He finally did, but fled immediately after. The chiefs and their guard drew their weapons and the Texans opened fire. It was a massacre. In the end, all the chiefs save one were dead along with five women and children. This was high treachery from the Comanche point of view, emissaries and ambassadors were untouchable. While there was little trust between the two groups before, there could be none now….”

 

McLeod: “To His Excellency, Mirabeau B. Lamar:  Sir: — On yesterday morning, the 19^th inst., two runners cane into town and announced the arrival of the Comanches, who, about a month since, held a talk at this place, and promised to bring in the Texian prisoners in their camp. The party consisted of sixty-five — men, women and children. — The runners also informed us, that they had with them but one prisoner, (the daughter of Mr. Lockhart.)

 

“They came to town. The little girl was very intelligent, and told us that she had seen several of the other prisoners at the principal camp a few days before she left; and that they brought her in, to see if they could get a high price for her; and if so, intended to bring in the rest, one at a time.

“Having ascertained this, it became necessary to execute your orders and take hostages for the safe return of our own people; and the order was accordingly given by Col. William G. Cooke, Acting Secretary of War.

 

“Lieut.-Col. Fisher, first infantry, was ordered to march up two companies of his command, and post them in the immediate vicinity of the council-room. The Chiefs were then called together, and were asked: ‘Where are the prisoners you promised to bring in to this talk?’ Muke-war-rah, the Chief who held the last talk with us, and made the promise, replied: ‘We have brought in the only one we had; the others are with other tribes.’…. (p. 136)

 

“The order was now given to march one company into the council-room, and the other in the rear of the building, where the warriors were assembled. During the execution of this order, the talk was re-opened, and the terms of a treaty, directed by your Excellency to be made with them, in case the prisoners were restored, were discussed; and they were told the treaty would be made, when they brought in the prisoners. They acknowledged that they had violated all their previous treaties, and yet tauntingly demanded that new confidence should be reposed in another promise to bring in the prisoners.

 

“The troops being now posted, the Chiefs and Captains were told that they were our prisoners, and would be kept as hostages for the safety of our people, then in their hands; and they might send their young men to the tribe, and as soon as our friends were restored, they should be liberated.

 

“Captain Howard, whose company was stationed in the council-house, posted sentinels at the doors, and drew up his men across he room. We told the Chiefs, that the soldiers they saw were their guards, and descended from the platform. The Chiefs immediately followed. One sprang to the back door, and attempted to pass the sentinel, who presented his musket, when the Chief drew his knife and stabbed him. A rush was then made to the door. Captain Howard collared one of them and received a severe stab from him in the side. He ordered the sentinel to fire upon him, which he immediately did, and the Indian fell dead. They now all drew their knives and bows, and evidently resolved to fight to the last. Colonel Fisher ordered, ‘fire, if they do not desist.’ The Indians rushed on, attacked us desperately, and a general order to fire became necessary. The Chiefs in the council-house, twelve in number, were immediately shot….

 

“Captain Redd, whose company was formed in rear of the council-house, was attacked by the warriors in the yard, who [end of p. 137] fought with desperation. They were repulsed, and driven into the stone houses, from which they kept up a falling fire with their bows and a few rifles….

 

“A small party succeeded in breaking through, and gained the opposite bank of the river, but were pursued by Colonel Wells, with a party of mounted men, and all killed but one (a renegade Mexican.)

 

“A single warrior, who threw himself into a very strong stone house, refused every offer of his life, sent to him through the squaws, and after killing and wounding several of our men, was forced out by fire, late at night, and fell as he passed the door….

 

“Our loss was as follows:…Total killed, seven[5]….

 

“The loss of the enemy was total, with the exception of the renegade Mexican, above mentioned, thirty-five killed, including three women and two children, and twenty-seven women and children, and two old men captured…. [p. 138]

 

“At the request of all the prisoners, a squaw has been liberated, and well mounted, to go to the main tribe, and tell them we are willing to exchange prisoners. She promises to return in four days, with our captive friends; and Col. Cooke and myself will wait here until her return….” (p. 139)

 

(McLeod, Col. H., Adjutant and Inspector-General. Pages 136-139 in Appendix to the Journals to the House of Representatives, Fifth Congress. Archives and Information Services Division Texas State Library and Archives Commission.)

 

Schilz: “….When Comanche peace representatives arrived at San Antonio in January 1840, commissioners of the Texas government demanded the return of all captives held by the Penatekas. In addition, Texas officials insisted that the Comanches abandon Central Texas, cease interfering with Texan incursions, and avoid all white settlements.

 

“In response to the Texans, thirty-three Penateka chiefs and warriors, accompanied by thirty-two other Comanches, arrived in San Antonio on March 19, 1840. The prominent peace chief Muk-wah-ruh headed the delegation, which brought only a few prisoners, namely several Mexican children and Matilda Lockhart, a sixteen-year-old white girl. Matilda, who had been captured with her sister in 1838, claimed that her captors had physically and sexually abused her. Burn scars, coupled with the mutilation of her nose, supported her stories. She also said that fifteen other captives remained in Comanche hands and that the tribe’s leaders intended to ransom these hostages one at a time…

 

“When Texan commissioners demanded the release of the other captives Matilda had mentioned, Muk-wah-ruh replied that these prisoners were held by Comanche bands beyond his authority. Failing to comprehend the diffuse nature of Comanche political authority, the commissioners rejected the chief’s explanation. Texas soldiers entered the Council House, where the peace talks were being held, and the commissioners informed the assembled chiefs that they were to be held as hostages until the remaining captives were released. In response to these threats, the Comanche chiefs attempted to escape and called to their fellow tribesmen outside the house for help. In the ensuing melee, Texans attacked several Indians while soldiers killed most of the Comanches who remained in the Council House courtyard. A single Comanche woman was freed by Texas authorities and ordered to secure the release of the white captives in exchange for twenty-seven Comanches captured in the fight. The Penateka leaders refused to respond to Texas demands, and most of the Texans’ captives escaped.

 

“The Council House Fight outraged Comanche sensibilities, for they considered ambassadors immune from acts of war. Led by Buffalo Hump, the Penatekas retaliated by raiding deep into Texas. Comanche hatred of Texans, who were regarded as treacherous, continued throughout the warfare era and contributed much to the violence of the frontier.”[6]

 

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: “The Comanches had commanded the high plains of Central and West Texas for more than a century and waged continuous warfare against white encroachment. President Lamar was determined to end the Comanche menace and clear the way for safe white settlement on the edges of the Texas frontier.

 

“In early 1840, one band of the Comanches, the Penatekas, found themselves dealing with a smallpox epidemic, Texas Rangers, and war with the Cheyennes and Arapahos. At the urging of Colonel Henry W. Karnes, this band traveled to San Antonio to meet with commissioners of the Texas government to negotiate a peace settlement and the return of white captives. Unknown to the Comanches, the Texans had arranged to have a large force present at the meeting. If the Comanches balked at returning the kidnapped whites, this force would seize the Comanches and hold them hostage.

 

“On March 19, 1840, the Comanches arrived at the meeting with only a few of the prisoners, including Matilda Lockhart, a 16-year-old who bore obvious signs of torture and mutilation. Angered at the treatment of the girl and what they perceived to be deliberate cruelty by the Comanches in failing to bring the rest of the captives, Texas soldiers entered the Council House to arrest the Indians. The Comanches immediately called for reinforcements from outside the house. A fight broke out in which seven Texans and thirty-five Comanches, including twelve chiefs, were killed, and thirty Comanche women and children were taken prisoner.

 

“The Comanches believed they had been deliberately lured into an ambush and planned a revenge campaign of unprecedented scale. In August 1840, with Mexican and Kiowa support, about 500 Comanche warriors and an equal number of women and children followed Chief Buffalo Hump down the Guadalupe Valley near Gonzales. On August 6, the raiders struck Victoria and captured more than 1500 horses. On August 8, they attacked the small port of Linnville. Most of the citizens fled by boat into the bay and watched helplessly as the Indians plundered homes and businesses, slaughtered the livestock, and burned the town. In all, fourteen whites, eight blacks, and one Tejano were killed in the raids….” (Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Indian Relations in Texas. “The Comanche War.” 10-31-2011 mod.)

 

Sources

 

Erwin, Will. Texas State Cemetery (website) “The Council House Fight.” Accessed 2-26-2015 at: http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/news.asp?newsid=9255

 

Hesskew, William Alexander. “The Council House Fight.” Transcription from The Indian Wars of Texas by Mildred P. Mayhall (Waco: Texian, 1965). Accessed 2-26-2015 at: http://jack0204.tripod.com/gen/Heskew/council.htm

 

McLeod, Col. Hugh. “Letter from Col. Hugh McLeod, communicating the defeat of the Comanches at San Antonio, March 20, 1840.” [To His Excellency, Mirabeau B. Lamar, President of Texas]. Photocopied in Indian Relations in Texas (website). Texas State Library and Archives Commission, (4 pages). Accessed 2-26-2015 at: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/indian/war/mcleod-mar1840-1.html

 

Schilz, Jodye Lynn Dickson. “Council House Fight.” Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Uploaded 6-12-2010. Accessed 2-26-2015 at: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/btc01

 

Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Indian Relations in Texas (website). “The Comanche War.” 10-31-2011 modification. Accessed 2-26-2015 at: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/indian/war/page2.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] McLeod report notes 35 Comanche and seven soldiers.

[2] Thirty-five Comanche and seven Texans.

[3] The number of seventeen deaths apparently refers only to those killed inside the Council House, not those outside.

[4] Council House was name for the court house.

[5] Apparently not all seven whites were killed by the Comanches. In The Indian Wars of Texas, by Mildred P. Mayhall, it is written that “The soldiers fired into the crowd and killed both Indians and whites.” Transcription by William Alexander Hesskew whose ancestor, Moses Hesskew, married Levicy Higgenbotham whose husband was killed that day.

[6] Cites: John Holland Jenkins, Recollections of Early Texas, ed. John H. Jenkins III (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1958; rpt. 1973). Noah Smithwick, The Evolution of a State, or Recollections of Old Texas Days (Austin: Gammel, 1900; rpt., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983). Walter Prescott Webb, The Texas Rangers (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1935; rpt., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1982).