19th Century

–2,200  NY Monthly Bulletin, USMHS. Weekly Abstract…San. Rpts., V.IX, N10, 5-9-1894, 149.

–1,000 Dec 1893

–1,200 Jan 1894

 Source

United States Marine Hospital Service, Treasury Department. Abstract of Sanitary Reports, Vol. IX, No’s 1-52,1895. Digitized by Google at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=DCw9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Abstract+of+Sanitary+Reports&cd=2#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

–26 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1800-1899.”
–26 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.”
–26 Alaaskaweb.org. Alaska Shipwrecks Involving Injuries and Casualties.” Accessed 11-9-2021.
–26 Good and Burwell. Alaska Shipwrecks 1750-2015. Published by Warren Good, 2018, p203.

Narrative Information

Alaskashipwreck.com: “Helen Blum (1893). The 75 foot 66 ton sealing Schooner Helen Blum was lost with all hands in 1893 in the vicinity of the Shumagin Islands. The last sighting of the vessel was at Ugamok Island on March 21st. The following is an excerpt from the Victoria Daily Colonist July 18, 1893:

“The steamer Queen, which arrived down from Alaska with a large excursion party, last evening, brings word that quantities of wreckage picked up to the westward of the Alaska Peninsula have been positively identified as belonging to the San Francisco schooner Helen Blum and that vessel, carrying twenty six of a crew, has now been given up as lost with all hands aboard.”

“Wreckage thought to be from the Helen Blum was found on Simeonof and Chernabura Islands at the southern extremity of the Shumagin Island group by two local hunters in May of 1893. The Helen Blum was reported to have departed Sanak with 26 crewmembers aboard. A violent northeast snowstorm set in shortly after their departure. The crew included captain A. F. Carlson, first mate Charles Carlson, William P. Shafter, Frederick Irvine, hunters Joe Sasauilla and Charles W. Bernard, cook Alek Lindstrom, cabin boy Ed W. Ryan, seaman Hans Johnson and sixteen Japanese. No boats were found, so hopes were high that the crew made shore.

“Mapping and Location: South Central Alaska 54 47 N 159 33 W Chart 16540.

“Additional Information: Tonnage 66.17 Gross 62.87 Net, Length 75, Breadth 23, Depth 7.8, Built 1886 at San Francisco, ON 75870, Value of Vessel and Outfit $16,000, Insurance partial.

“Sources: 1. Shipwrecks of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore (1992), 2. The Victoria Daily Colonist (July 18, 1893) “First Seizures of the Season” Pg 3, 3. San Francisco Chronicle (July 22, 1893) “Lost in a Great Gale” Pg 4, 4. San Francisco Chronicle (July 13, 1893) “The Helen Blum” Pg 4.” (Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.”)

Alaaskaweb.org: “The 66 ton Schooner Helen Blum was lost with all hands in 1893 between Chirikof and Kodiak Islands….

“Sources: 1. Shipwrecks of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore (1992), 2. The Victoria Daily Colonist July 18, 1893.” [Victoria Daily Colonist excerpt notes twenty-six lives lost.] (Alaaskaweb.org. Alaska Shipwrecks Involving Injuries and Casualties.”)

Newspaper

Aug 19: “….The sealing schooner Helen Blum, of San Francisco, was reported lost with her crew of twenty-five men.” (Greencastle Democrat, Greencastle, IN. “Domestic.” 8-19-1893, p. 2.)

Sources

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1800-1899.” Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/alaska-shipwrecks-1729-2012/alaska-shipwrecks-1800-1899/

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.” Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/shipwrecks-a-z/alaska-shipwrecks-h/

Alaaskaweb.org. Alaska Shipwrecks Involving Injuries and Casualties.” Accessed 11-9-2021 at: 11-9-2021 at: http://alaskaweb.org/maritime/shipwrecks_cas.html

Good, Captain Warren and Michael Burwell. Alaska Shipwrecks 1750-2015. Published by Warren Good, 2018. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=ArpqDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

Greencastle Democrat, Greencastle, IN. “Domestic.” 8-19-1893, p. 2. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=TGD18930819-01&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN——-

Tornfelt, Evert E. and Michael Burwell. Shipwrecks of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore. Anchorage, AK: U.S. Department of the Interior, Mineral Management Service, Alaska OCS Region, 1992. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Shipwrecks_of_the_Alaskan_Shelf_and_Shor/8YUTAAAAYAAJ?hl=

— 24 Burkhard. “Albany.” Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse Society.
— 24 Great Lakes Vessel History (Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry). “Albany.” Accessed 11-10-2020.
— 8 Albany
–16 Philadelphia
— 24 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 690.

Narrative Information

Burkhard: “A double tragedy occurred within sight of the Pt. Aux Barques Lighthouse on November 7, 1893. ‘24 Drowned’ and ‘Frightful’ were the headlines in the Bay City Times and the Huron Times (Harbor Beach Times), respectfully, on November 10, 1893. What is known is that two fine steamers (Philadelphia and Albany) went to the bottom after colliding and that 23 men survived. What will forever remain a mystery is how 24 men and 2 dogs lost their lives after safely abandoning ship….

“The Albany was an iron-hulled steamer built in 1884 by the Detroit Dry Dock Company in Wyandotte, Mi. She was 267 feet long, 38.5 feet wide, had a gross tonnage of 1917, and was U.S. Official #106306. Appearance wise the Albany was a stately looking vessel. She was only nine years old, compared to the 25-year old Philadelphia. Above her iron hull was a fully enclosed wooden deck, on top of which sat the superstructure. This consisted of forward cabins with a small pilothouse on top. There was an open area amidships where the lifeboat rested, after which the aft cabins extended to the stern. Surrounding the ship on the upper deck was a decorative railing. Standing tall above the aft cabins were two smokestacks for the double boilers. Two air cowls were just ahead of the stacks. Three tall-stepped masts that were gaff-rigged add to her fine look. These would seem out of place on a steamer, but where not uncommon during her time. The owners were not convinced that steam power was totally reliable and wanted backup sail power in case of an emergency. They may have also used the sails when the wind was right to give the ship extra speed.” (Burkhard. “Albany.” Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse Society.)

Great Lakes Vessel History: Sunk Nov 7, 1893 in collision with steam4r Philadelphia 12 miles off Point aux Barques MI, Lake Huron in dense fog. 8 lives lost from Albany and 16 from Philadelphia. Philadelphia rammed Albany, smashing her nose, backed off and took Albany in tow toward Point aux Barques. As Albany began to sink, her crew took to her yawl and came aboard Philadelphia, which also sank before reaching shore.” (Great Lakes Vessel History (Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry). “Albany.” Accessed 11-10-2020.)

Swayze: “Albany. Steel bulk freight steam4r of 1,918 t. [tons] and 267 ft., launched at Wyandotte, MI in 1885.

“Lake Huron: While traversing the converging shipping lanes above Pointe Aux Barques in a fog, the Albany collided with the steamer Philadelphia (qv) and sank. Eight of her crew were reported lost (one source says 24), and her cargo of grain as well, in this November 7, 1893, accident.” (Swayze. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 17.)

“Philadelphia. Iron propeller freighter of 1,464 t. [tons] and 236 ft. launched in 1868 at Buffalo.

“Lake Huron: Between 16 and 24 people died when the coal-laden steam freighter Philadelphia collided with the steel steamer Albany (qv) in a fog and sank off Pte Aux Barques, Michigan. The accident occurred on November 7, 1893.” (Swayze. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 189.)

Sources

Burkhard. “Albany.” Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse Society.

Great Lakes Vessel History (Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry). “Albany.” Accessed 11-10-2020 at: https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/a/albany

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.

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

–28  Blanchard estimate.[1]

–28  Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “Another Victim Dead. Albert Bradley…” 10-23-1893, p.1.

–28  Marshall Statesman, MI. “Appalling Details…Grand Trunk Accident…” 10-27-1893, p. 1.[2]

–26  Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “An Awful Holocaust. Twenty-Six…Lost,” 10-21-1893, 1.

–26  Marshall Statesman, MI. “Terrible! Dreadful Railroad Accident…Battle Creek,” 10-20-1893, p1.

–26  Michigan Dept. of Transportation. Michigan’s Railroad History 1825-2014. 2014, p. 15.

–26  Railroad Stories. “October in Rail History,” October, 1935, p. 52.

–26  Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 96.

 

Narrative Information

 

Michigan Dept. of Transportation: “Oct. 19, 1893 [20th]. Grand Trunk Western’s passenger train wreck at Battle Creek killed 26 persons.”

 

Railroad Stories: “1893 – Head-on collision between 2 Grand Trunk trains at Battle Creek, Mich.  One train is bringing excursionists home from Chicago World’s Fair.  Wreck catching fire adds to casualty list; 26 killed, 50 injured.” (Railroad Stories. “October in Rail History,” October, 1935, p. 52.)

 

Newspaper

 

Oct 20: “The news of a most direful railroad accident at Battle Creek reached this city this morning. A telephone message from the Battle Creek Moon to the Statesman at 8:10 a.m. gives the following horrible particulars:

 

“Train No. 6 eastbound and train No. 9 westbound on the C. & G. T. railroad collided in front of the company’s shops at 5 o’clock this morning and at this hour 24 bodies have teen taken from the wreck. After the collision, which was of such force that the passengers in the fatal cars must have been most dreadfully mangled, the wreck took fire and before the flames could be subdued it was a smouldering heap….

 

“The collision was between two world’s fair specials. The fatalities were confined to the second and third coaches of the westbound train which telescoped and then got on fire. It is stated that all of the passengers were from New York state.

 

Death List Increasing

 

“At 11 a.m. 26 bodies had been taken out of the wreck, all so badly burned as to beyond recognition. It will be several days before a list of the dead can be had, if at all. Certain it is that many cannot possibly be identified. A man named Van Dusen from Fort Plains, N.Y., was taken out of the wreck badly injured and has since died. His wife was also killed. These are the only names known….

The Injured.

 

“The Moon telephones that 20 are injured but not seriously and everything possible is being done for them. Another report places the injured at 50.

 

No. 6’s Engineer to Blame.

 

“11:30 a.m.–The accident is laid to the engineer of train No. 6, who got orders to wait for No. 9 a little east of Battle Creek. He read his orders wrong and went past Nichols. The engineer of train No. 9 was running at the usual speed. The collision occurred on the main track just in front of the round house while both trains were under quite a headway. The engineer who caused the accident cannot be found….” (Marshall Statesman, MI. “Terrible! Dreadful Railroad Accident…Battle Creek…” 10-20-1893, p. 1.)

 

Oct 21: “Battle Creek, Oct. 21.–Twenty-six heaps of charred, blackened flesh, all that remains of what less than 36 hours ago, were men, women and children in the enjoyment of life, health and happiness, rest upon the floor in an improvised morgue in the basement of a furniture store in this city. A mile away in the city hospital are a score or more of human beings with gashed bodies and broken limbs. Add to this, an engineer in jail and a conductor a fugitive from law…

 

The Dead.

 

“Of the 26 human remains at the morgue conjectures can only be made as to the identity of six. Twenty remain entirely unidentified. Those identified by letters or articles in their clothing or by other means are as follows:

 

1. C. Van Dusen of Sprout Brook, N.Y., died at the hospital.

Mrs. C. C. Van Dusen of Sprout Brook, N.Y., burned to death in the wreck before she

could be extricated.

1. W. Henry of Woonsocket, R.I.; burned to a crisp.

Mrs. F. R. M’Kenzie of Middletown, Conn.; burned to a crisp.

1. A. M’Garvey of Toronto; mangled and burned to death.
2. W. Beardsley of Watkins, N.Y.; burned and mangled….

 

“Direct disobedience of orders on part of a Chicago and Grand Trunk engineer and conductor, both of whom had seen long service with the company and were regarded as model employes, was the cause of the tragedy.

 

“A Raymond and Whitcomb special of eight palace cars filled with eastern folk who had been taking in the sights of the world’s fair left Sixtieth street depot of the road at Chicago at 9:15 as the first section of night express known as No. 6. The train was in charge of Engineer Henry Woolley and Conductor Burt N. Scott, both residents of this place. All went well until the Battle Creek depot was reached at 3:37. From here to the yards, a distance of a mile and a half, there is double track.

 

“When the Whitcomb special came to a full stop in the depot the night operator handed to Conductor Scott two copies of an order for the train to proceed to the double track east of Main street, about a half mile distant, and there wait the passage of the west-bound Pacific express, known as No. 9. This train, which was nearly three hours late, was composed of 13 day coaches and two baggage cars. Most of the day coaches had seen many years service, and were in poor condition to withstand a collision. Every one of the fated number was packed with eastern people, the majority being women taking advantage of cheap rates, who were on their way to take in the last week of the exposition.

 

“The Pacific express was in charge of Engineer Cranshaw and Conductor John Bird, both of whom had received orders at Lansing to look out for the eastbound train on double track and were accordingly on the alert. After receiving orders at the Battle Creek station Engineer Woolley proceeded up the double track, but instead of stopping in accordance with orders until the westbound express had passed, he continued on and entered again on the single track. He had hardly gone more than an eighth of a mile when the headlight of the Pacific express was seen coming around the slight curve behind the telegraph office of railroad yards. It was speeding westward at 40 miles an hour. There was no time to apply airbrakes or reverse levers, the engineers and firemen of both trains jumped for their lives, and a second later the giant locomotives came together with a crash that could be heard a half mile away.

 

“With fearful force the engine of the special plowed nearly half way into that of the express, driving it backwards into the baggage car, and the latter in turn into the day coaches behind. The shock was so terrific that the first four of them were telescoped, the first coach cutting through the second and the second through the third, like a flash, the roof of each passenger car passed over the sleeping passengers heads and swept the mass to the north end. To add to the horror the wreck took fire from the stoves or lamps and as the flames mounted up the groans and shrieks of the maimed and injured were succeeded by heart-rending agonizing cries and appeals for help from the scores imprisoned by the heavy timbers, or held down by the seats and iron framework….

 

“…firemen were prompt in responding, but the nearest hydrant was nearly 2,000 feet away, and when a line of hose was laid the pressure was not enough. Finally a stream was got from another hydrant, the firemen meanwhile attacking the blazing wreck with axes, hatchets and lengths of rails found in the yards, but by the time that a supply of water was available the telescoped coaches had been reduced to fragments of charred timber, little more than the trucks remaining.

 

“The first body was found about 6 o’clock and a few minutes after a dozen were discovered in a heap around the stove of the second car. The task continued until 26 bodies or portions of human bodies were brought out of the debris….

 

“After the wreck Engineer Woolley of the special train remained on the scene and viewed the horror that had been caused by his neglect of orders. After the last of the injured had been taken away he went to his home. In the afternoon a warrant was sworn out by Prosecuting Attorney Clark charging Woolley and Conductor Scott with manslaughter. A search by Deputy Sheriff King, developed the fact that Scott had skipped to Port Huron and a telegram was sent to the police of that place requesting his arrest. Woolley was found at his home by Deputy Sheriff King and taken before Justice Henry who set the preliminary hearing for Monday and fixed the bail at $3,000.”

 

“Battle Creek, Oct, 21.–Conductor Bertram M. Scott returned to the city Friday night and at once arrested by Chief of Police James Elliott, on a warrant charging him with criminal negligence. He was taken before Justice Henry and gave bond in $3,000 to appear on Monday. He made a brief statement to the effect that he have the engineer a duplicate of the order he received; that he supposed he understood it, that he afterwards went into the baggage car and did not know that the engineer had gone over the siding and taken the single track till the collision occurred.” (Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “An Awful Holocaust. Twenty-Six Lives Lost in a Railway Wreck,” 10-21-1893, p. 1.)

 

Oct 23: “Battle Creek, Oct. 23.–Thirteen of the 28 dead as a result of the wreck here on the Grand Trunk railway Friday morning have been identified. Albert Bradley, who had his leg amputated Friday morning, died Sunday night. There are still 22 badly injured patients at the hospital. Of this number Mrs. Vance, who has both legs cut off, cannot live. There are at least seven bodies that cannot be identified and these will be buried in Oakhill cemetery.

 

Stronger Coaches

 

“Lansing, Oct. 23.–Governor Rich in an interview said that he had become firmly convinced that the state legislature should prescribe by law the plans and specifications to be followed in the construction of passenger coaches for use on Michigan railroads. He remarked that in such accidents as the ones at Battle Creek and Jackson, the day coaches are the ones which are telescoped, while the sleeping cars, which are more strongly built, escaped with little or no injury. He said that he could not remember of a train composed of vestibuled cars ever being telescoped in a collision, and he had no misgivings as to the authority of the legislature to enact a law compelling the railroad companies of the state to construct stronger and better coaches.” (Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “Another Victim Dead. Albert Bradley Succumbs to His Injuries.” 10-23-1893, p. 1.)

 

Oct 23: “Battle Cree, Mich., Oct. 23.–F. H. Smith’s death at the Nichols home will probably be the last as a result of the horrible accident on the Grand Trunk railway. Saturday morning found all the injured doing well….” (Hillsdale Standard, MI. “Injured Doing Well.” 10-24-1893, p. 1.)

 

Oct 25: “….W. A. Ryerse, of Port Dover, Ontario, who was injured in the wreck at Battle Creek returned Sunday [22^nd] to his home in company with the remains of his friend, Thomas R. Stringer, who was in the same car with him….” (Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “Brevities.” 10-25-1893, p. 3.)

 

Oct 26: “Battle Creek, Oct. 26.–The coroner’s inquest handled four witnesses Wednesday beside Conductor Scott and Engineer Woolley of train No. 6, the one which caused the wreck. These two men were the last called, and both through their attorneys, filed a protest on the ground of being under arrest, charged with manslaughter, in connection with the accident. The witnesses were excused pending the coroner’s decision….” (Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “Battle Creek Inquest.” 10-26-1893, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “An Awful Holocaust. Twenty-Six Lives Lost in a Railway Wreck,” 10-21-1893, p. 1. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/marshall-daily-chronicle-oct-21-1893-p-1/

 

Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “Another Victim Dead. Albert Bradley Succumbs to His Injuries.” 10-23-1893, p. 1. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/marshall-daily-chronicle-oct-23-1893-p-1/

 

Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “Battle Creek Inquest.” 10-26-1893, p. 1. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/marshall-daily-chronicle-oct-26-1893-p-1/

 

Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “Brevities.” 10-25-1893, p. 3. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/marshall-daily-chronicle-oct-25-1893-p-3/

 

Hillsdale Standard, MI. “Injured Doing Well.” 10-24-1893, p. 1. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/hillsdale-standard-oct-24-1893-p-1/

 

Marshall Statesman, MI. “Appalling Details. The Grand Trunk Accident the Worst in Michigan’s History. Twenty-eight Dead and Forty Injured.” 10-27-1893, p. 1. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/marshall-statesman-oct-27-1893-p-1/

 

Marshall Statesman, MI. “Terrible! Dreadful Railroad Accident on the Grand Truck at Battle Creek. 26 People are Killed and Cremated. A Head-on Collision Between two World’s Fair Specials the Cause,” 10-20-1893, p. 1. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/marshall-statesman-oct-20-1893-p-1/

 

Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Michigan’s Railroad History 1825-2014. Lansing, MI: MDOT, 2014. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/Michigan_Railroad_History_506899_7.pdf

 

Railroad Stories. “October in Rail History,” October, 1935, pp. 48-53.

 

Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] One can see below the sources that note twenty-six fatalities. From our reading of accounts twenty-six people died the day of the wreck. However, over the next few days two men who initially survived, died from their injuries.

[2] Sub-heading is “Twenty-eight Dead and Forty Injured — Instances of the Wreck — The Inquest.”

–57-68 Blanchard. Tabulation of individual land and lake fatalities noted below.
— 54 Ohio Democrat, New Philadelphia, OH. “Fifty-Four Lives…Lost…” 10-19-1893, p. 5.
— >54 VanZandt/Magee. “The Great Storm of 1893 and the Schooner Riverside.” 2010, 221.
— 35 Swayze. Great Lakes Newspaper Transcriptions. Detroit Free Press, Oct 15, 1893.

Summary of Great Lakes Maritime and Land Losses

Lake Erie: (44-55)
Lake Huron: ( ?5) (Noted as perhaps lost in press; not confirmed; not counted.)
Lake Huron: ( 1)
Lake Michigan: ( 6)
Lake Superior: ( 2)
Maritime 53-64
NY mainland ( 4)
Grand total 57-68

Breakout of Great Lakes Maritime and Land Losses

Lake Erie: (44-55)
— 7-8 Schooner C.B. Benson, Lake Erie, Gravelly Bay, Ontario, Can. Homeport, Toledo, OH.
— 8 “ “ Niagara this Week, “C.B. Benson,” Aug 1, 2008.
— 7 “ “ McNeil. “C.B. Benson (Schooner)…sunk, 14 Oct 1893.”
— 7 “ “ New York Times. “The Schooner Benson Lost,” 10-19-1893
— 7 “ “ VanZandt and Magee 2010, p. 221.
— 7 “ “ Weekly Truth, Elkhart, IN. “More Lives Lost.” 10-19-1893, 4.
–15-23 Propeller Dean Richmond, off Dunkirk, NY. Blanchard range from sources below.
— 23 “ “ Alchem Inc., Eastern Erie…
–15-23 “ “ Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 202.
— 21 “ “ Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 690.
— 18 Stmr. “ “ Titusville Herald. “The Storm’s Havoc.” 10-16-1893, 1.
— 18 “ “ VanZandt and Magee 2010, p. 221.
— 7 Schooner Riverside, Lake Erie, off Cleveland, OH.
— 7 “ “ Buffalo Morning Express, 10-25-1893, p.7, c.2; in McNeil.
— 7 “ “ Toledo Blade. “Shipwreck Hunters find 1870 Schooner.”
— 7 “ “ VanZandt and Magee 2010, p. 222.
— 7 “ “ Weekly Truth, Elkhart, IN. “Loss…Riverside.” 10-19-1893, 4.
— 6 “ “ Port Huron Daily Times, 10-19-1893; transcribed in McNeil.
–12-14 Freighter Wocoken, off Dunkirk, NY. Blanchard range from sources below.
— 14 “ “ Alchem Inc. Also: VanZandt and Magee 2010, p. 221.
— 14 “ “ McNeil. “Wocoken…” Maritime History of…Great Lakes.
— 13 “ “ Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “The Sad Story…” 10-17-1893, 3.
— 12 “ “ Swayze.
— 9 “ “ [not used] Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “The Sad Story…” 10-17-1893, p.3.
— 3 Unnamed small boat, searching for bodies, off Dunkirk, NY. VanZandt/Magee 2010, 221.

Lake Huron: ( 5?)
— 5? Schooner Aunt Ruth, Lake Huron. Detroit Free Press. “Story of Disaster.” 10-15-1893.
— 0 Vessel C. F. Curtis, Lake Huron. Titusville Herald, PA. “Six Ships Lost.” 10-16-1893, p. 1.
— 0 Vessel Isabella Reid, Lake Huron. Titusville Herald, PA. “Six Ships Lost.” 10-16-1893, 1.
— 0 Vessel Nelson Holland, Lake Huron. Titusville Herald PA. “Six Ships Lost.” 10-16-1893, 1
— 0 Vessel S. Fassett, Lake Huron. Titusville Herald, PA. “Six Ships Lost.” 10-16-1893, 1.

Lake Michigan: ( 6)
–6 Schooner Minnehaha. Lake Michigan, off Frankfort MI. Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 156.
–6 Titusville Herald, PA. “Foundering of the Minnehaha.” 10-16-1893, p. 1.

Lake Superior: ( 2)
— 2 Schooner Annie Sherwood. Lake Superior, grounded near Deer Park, MI, Oct 14.
— 2 “ Dive the United States, Annie Sherwood.
— 2 “ Maritime History of the Great Lakes. “Annie Sherwood…”
— 2 “ Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 216.

Losses by State

New York Total: (34-44)

New York Maritime (30-40)
–15-23 Propeller Dean Richmond, off Dunkirk, NY.
–12-14 Freighter Wocoken, off Dunkirk, NY.
— 3 Unnamed small boat, searching for bodies, off Dunkirk. VanZandt/Magee 2010, 221.

NY Mainland, Buffalo ( 4)
— 1 Niagara River, between PA and NY, person blown into river. VanZandt and Magee 2010.
— 3 Boys killed in collapse of train depot. VanZandt and Magee 2010, 220.

Ohio Maritime (44-48)
— 7 Stmr. C.B. Benson. Toledo homeport. Weekly Truth, Elkhart, IN. “More Lives Lost.” 10-19-1893, 4.
–10-14 Steamer Dean Richmond. Toledo homeport. At least 10-14 people were OH residents.
–10 Marion Daily Star, OH. “Lake Disasters.” 10-16-1893, 1.
–14 McNeil. “Dean Richmond…” Maritime History of the Great Lakes (webpage).
— 6 Schooner Minnehaha. Out of Cleveland; Cleveland crew. Buffalo Evening News, 10-16-1893.
–6 “ Marion Daily Star, OH. “Minnehaha Wrecked.” 10-16-1893, 1.
— 7 Schooner Riverside, Lake Erie, off Cleveland, OH.
–14 Freighter Wocoken. Homeported and crewed out of Cleveland.

Maritime Losses by Vessel

Vessels lost: (55-63)
— 2 Schooner Annie Sherwood, Lake Superior. Dive the United States, Annie Sherwood.
— 2 “ “ Maritime History of the Great Lakes. “Annie Sherwood…”
— ?5 Schooner Aunt Ruth, Lake Huron. Detroit Free Press, Oct 15, 1893. Unclear.
— 7-8 Schooner C.B. Benson on Lake Erie. Niagara this Week, “C.B. Benson,” Aug 1, 2008.
–8 “ “ “ Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. 10-19-1893, p. 1.
–7 “ “ “ Weekly Truth, Elkhart, IN. “More Lives Lost.” 10-19-1893, 4.
–7 “ “ “ NYT. “The Schooner Benson Lost,” Oct 19, 1893.
–7 “ “ “ VanZandt and Magee 2010, 221.
— 0 Vessel C. F. Curtis, Lake Huron. Titusville Herald, PA. “Six Ships Lost.” 10-16-1893, 1.
–15-23 Propeller Dean Richmond, Lake Erie, off Dunkirk, NY.
— 23 “ “ “ “ Alchem Inc. Lake Erie…Map ‘D’
–15-23 “ “ “ “ Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 202.
— 21 “ “ “ “ Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 690.
— 18 “ “ “ “ Marion Daily Star, OH. “Lake Disasters.” 10-16-1893, 1.
— 18 “ “ “ “ VanZandt and Magee 2010, p. 221.
— 0 Schooner Evra Fuller, Lake Michigan. WI Historical Society Shipwreck Database, Evra.
— 0 Vessel Isabella Reid, Lake Huron. Titusville Herald, PA. “Six Ships Lost.” 10-16-1893, 1.
— 0 Schooner John B. Merrill, on Lake Huron. Shelak. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. 2003.
— 6 Sch. Minnehaha, Lake MI. Titusville Herald. “Foundering…Minnehaha.” 10-16-1893, 1.
— 0 Vessel Nelson Holland, Lake Huron. Titusville Herald PA. “Six Ships Lost.” 10-16-1893, 1.
— 6-7 Schooner Riverside, Lake Erie.
— 7 “ “ Buffalo Morning Express, 10-25-1893, p.7, c.2; in McNeil.
— 7 “ “ Toledo Blade. “Shipwreck Hunters find 1870 Schooner.”
— 7 “ “ VanZandt and Magee 2010, 222.
— 7 “ “ Weekly Truth, Elkhart, IN. “Loss of the Riverside.” 10-19-1893, 4.
— 6 “ “ Port Huron Daily Times, 10-19-1893; transcribed in McNeil.
— 0 Vessel S. Fassett, Lake Huron. Titusville Herald, PA. “Six Ships Lost.” 10-16-1893, 1.
— 1 Schooner Volunteer, on Lake Huron. Ratigan. Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals, 99.
–12-14 Freighter Wocoken, Lake Erie, off Dunkirk, NY
–14 “ “ “ Alchem Inc.
–14 “ “ “ Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 250.
–14 “ “ “ VanZandt and Magee 2010, 221.
–13 “ “ “ Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “The Sad Story…” 10-17-1893, 3.
–12 “ “ “ Swayze.
— 3 Unnamed small boat, searching for bodies, off Dunkirk. VanZandt/Magee 2010, p. 221.
— 3 “ “ Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “Searchers Drowned.” 10-17-1893, 3.

Narrative Information

Alchem: “158 [Alchem map no.] Dean Richmond: Propeller freighter of 238 ft sank 10/14/1893 in a terrific storm off Dunkirk, New York with its entire crew of 23. The Dean Richmond was last seen afloat badly damaged, without power and in the trough of the waves by another damaged steamer as it made for shore. For a century the Richmond was one of the most sought after lost ships of the lake. The vessel carried a valuable cargo of zinc ingots and assorted merchandise. The wreck was recently discovered by Garry Kozak after a nearly ten year search, inverted 5 miles off the Pennsylvania/New York border in 95 feet of water. The Niagara Diver’s Association originally gave a GPS location of 42deg 17.95′, 79deg 59.99′. Their web site currently lists a position of 42deg 17.421′, 79deg 55.859′. (Alcheminc.com. “Lake Erie Shipwreck Map ‘D’ and Index.”

Great Lakes: “Dean Richmond (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 238 foot, 1432 gross tons, built in 1864 at Cleveland, Ohio) sailed from Toledo, Ohio on Friday the 13th of October 1893 with a load of bagged meal, flour, zinc and copper ingots. She encountered hurricane force winds of over 60 mph and battled the storm throughout the night. She was seen on 14 October 1893 off Erie, Pennsylvania, missing her stacks and battling the wind and waves. The following day, wreckage and bodies were washing ashore near Dunkirk, New York. Among the dead was the Captain, his wife and three children. A few crew members managed to make it to shore however all but one died of exposure. The only survivor was found on the beach near Van Buren Point two days later. During the search for bodies, three volunteers lost their lives. The wreck was found in 1984.” (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. “Today in Great Lakes History. October 14.”)

Niagara this Week: “The C.B. Benson was an important vessel in North America’s past. It was the first vessel to successfully move cargo between North America and Europe. It was vital in the opening of trade between the two continents… When the ship went down Oct. 13, 1893 it took all eight crewmen with it, including the captain and first mate, Duff’s son, Curtis. Curtis’s wife would have gone down with her husband but decided against accompanying him on the trip because she was pregnant.” (Niagara this Week, “The C.B. Benson,” Aug 1, 2008.)

Swayze (on Dean Richmond): “Dean Richmond. Propeller passenger and package freighter of 1,432 t. [tons] and 238 ft., launched in 1864 at Cleveland. Lake Erie: Carrying a cargo of zinc ingots, the steamer Dean Richmond went to pieces offshore and sank in a gale. She went down off Dunkirk, New York, on October 14, 1893. All 15 to 23 of her crew were lost with the big ship.” (Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 202.)

Swayze (on Annie or Anne Sherwood): “Lumber schooner of 622 t. [tons] and 184 ft., launched at Fairport, OH, in 1866. Lake Superior: Laden with lumber and bound for Chicago, the schooner Annie Sherwood was caught by a violent storm on October 14, 1893. She was blown ashore to break up near Deer Park, Michigan, with two of the crew….” (Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 216.)

Swayze (on Wocoken): “Wocoken. Wooden steamer of 1,400 t. [tons] and 251 ft., launched in 1870 at Cleveland. Lake Erie: Fourteen lives were lost when this steamer laden with a cargo of coal, broke up and sank in a gale off Dunkirk, New York. The Wocoken was lost on October 14, 1893.” (Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 250.)

VanZandt and Magee: “The year 1893 was the third most energetic Atlantic hurricane season ever recorded in the United States. There were ten hurricanes and two tropical storms which devastated many coastal communities; however, the damage was not limited to the coastlines. The Great Lakes region was also affected by Hurricane No. 9, or the “North and South Carolina Hurricane.” This storm made landfall near Charleston, South Carolina, on 13 October 1893 and continued far inland, wreaking havoc along its path. Shipping on the Great Lakes was severely impacted and resulted in the sinking or stranding of at least 39 ships. One of the vessels sunk in the storm, the three-masted schooner Riverside, was recently discovered by the Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE) on 6 October 2007. Its tragic loss with its entire crew of seven was typical of the storm’s effect on the people who made their living carrying cargo and passengers on the Great Lakes.” (VanZandt and Magee 2010, p. 218.)

“The period of Saturday, 14 October 1893, through Sunday, 15 October 1893, became known as the Great Storm of 1893 in the Great Lakes region. This storm was the remnant of Hurricane No. 9, which affected the entire region and caused great damage on both land and water. One of the hardest hit cities was Buffalo, New York, at the eastern end of Lake Erie. Newspapers of the day recounted how the streets were deserted and how those who ventured outside were blown off their feet (The Cleveland Leader 1893a:1). One unfortunate individual was blown into the Niagara River and drowned (The Cleveland Leader 1893a:1). Damages from the storm include the following:

• Collapse of a train depot, resulting in the death of 3 boys….” (VanZandt and Magee 2010, 220.)

“It was the effect of this storm on the maritime industry of the Great Lakes where this storm had its largest impact. As reports started to accumulate in the days following the storm, it became obvious an enormous maritime disaster had occurred. One local paper reported, “No such awful list of fatalities has been known in shipping circles for a decade as the one to which additions are being made daily…giving details of the terrific gale that swept the inland seas steadily for more than forty-eight hours at the close of last week.” Losses were reported from Lake Ontario to Lake Superior. A total of 39 vessels were affected, including 10 that were lost and 29 that were stranded (Marion Daily Star 1893:1). Of those stranded, 13 were estimated to be total losses. At least 54 people lost their lives due to shipwrecks, and losses were estimated to be $700,000 – a very large sum of money in 1893 (Marion Daily Star 1893:1). As the damages were totaled, one paper reported it was “the most destructive storm…within the memory of the oldest lake mariner…” with “nearly every boat out in the storm suffering heavy damages…” (Marion Daily Star 1893:1)….” In VanZandt and Magee, 2010, p. 221.)

“One of the most famous victims was the wooden steamer Dean Richmond, which left Toledo, Ohio, on Friday, 13 October 1893, and was last seen on Saturday, 14 October 1893, in heavy seas off Erie, Pennsylvania, with one funnel down and steering problems (Buffalo Evening News 1893a:1). The ship was never seen again. Debris, along with the bodies of the 18 crew, began to wash ashore near Dunkirk, New York (Buffalo Evening News 1893a:1). To add to the death toll, three more people perished off Dunkirk on Monday when their small boat overturned while searching for bodies (The Newark Daily Advocate 1893:1). This ship was the subject of an extensive search by modern divers until it was found upside down in 110 feet (34 meters) of water near Erie, Pennsylvania. Its forward mast is stuck vertically into the lake bottom next to the wreck, suggesting the vessel rolled before sinking in the huge waves, a final testament to the ship’s struggle against the strength of the seas.” (VanZandt and Magee, 2010, p. 221.)

(VanZandt, David Michael and Kevin Scott Magee. “The Great Storm of 1893 and the Schooner Riverside.” Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, 2010, pp. 218-226.)

Newspapers

Oct 14: “Chicago, October 14. – (Special) – Dispatches from all lake ports from here to Buffalo show that the storm that has prevailed with great fury for nearly twenty hours, has been terribly destructive to vessel property…. hundreds of craft were caught out in the open lakes, and were obliged to scud before the irresistible wind that came screaming down upon them. A large number are ashore at various points, and a few have gone down. Some are aground in dangerous places, and are pounding themselves to pieces…. Six vessels ashore in the vicinity of Cheboygan, Mich., tell the fury of the gale on upper Lake Huron. All dragged their anchors and were carried on the beach. The fist sufferers were the steamer C. F. Curtis and her tow, the Isabel Reid, T. S. Fassett and Nelson Holland. They went on the beach between Point Sable and Cheboygan, striking a rocky bottom. The next were the Knight Templar and Sweepstakes, consorts of the steamer Salina, which went ashore between Cheboygan and Duncan. They landed on a gravelly bottom. All six boats are in bad shape…. The schooner Volunteer went ashore on Lake Huron about seven miles from Port Austin yesterday morning. The wreck is resting easy on a sandy bottom….

“The tug Acme foundered on Lake Huron about twenty-five miles from Black River. Her crew was saved by the coolness and bravery of the crew of the tug Reliance. The two tugs left French River on the 10th inst. with a raft containing 4,500,000 feet of logs belonging to the Holland & Emory Lumber Company. They were struck by the northwest gale at 3 o’clock yesterday morning. Three hours later the tugs let go of the raft in order to save themselves. They headed for shelter at Thunder Bay, but it was not long before the great strain was too much for the Acme and the water began pouring into her hold. At 9 o’clock the feed pipe burst and the fires were put out. It seemed as if nothing would save the imperiled crew, for the gale was so furious that aid from the other tug was almost out of the question. The Reliance was in command of Capt. Frank Burke, of Penetanguishene, and by heroic efforts, aided by the most skillful management, he succeeded in taking off every man from the Acme a few minutes before that tug went to the bottom….

“It is believed that the schooner Aunt Ruth, which left Alpena last Monday, has been lost. Nothing has been heard of her crew since she left port. She carried a crew of five men and was owned by C. Bonney, of Port Huron….

“At Middle Island [Lake Huron], near Alpena, the wind was registered at sixty miles an hour during most of the afternoon by the United States Signal Service office….The storm on Lake Erie was by far the worst of the year. At noon the wind registered sixty mile an hour from the southwest at Buffalo and was increasing….

“The gale blew out the water in the west end of Lake Erie to such an extent that Toledo harbor is now entirely closed to vessels, the water being so low that craft cannot get in or out.”

“Marquette, October 14. — The wind registered fifty-two miles an hour at the signal station at 7:30 to-night.” (Detroit Free Press, Oct 15, 1893)

Oct 15: “Buffalo, Oct. 15. – The saddest feature of the lake storm which raged yesterday and last night is the reported loss of the steamer Dean Richmond, on the shore near Dunkirk. The first that was heard of this disaster was at 9 o’clock this morning when the captain of the Helena reported having sighted the Dean Richmond off Long Point where she seemed to be laboring under difficulties.

“Later, Captain Jack Tierney, of the steamer W. H. Stevens, reported that he sighted the Richmond in the middle of the lake, about four miles this side of Erie. One of her stacks was missing and while he was looking, the other stack and spar went by the board. She was laboring heavily in the trough as though her steering-gear had become disabled. Since then nothing has been seen or heard of the vessel. It is thought that she must have gone down with all on board. Her cargo was eighty tons of merchandise from Toledo to Buffalo. She belonged to the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City line. Her crew consisted of about eighteen souls, of which the following is the best obtainable list:

George Stoddard, master, Toledo;
Walter Goodyear, first mate, Toledo;
George_____, second mate, Toledo;
John Hogan, first engineer, Port Huron;
William Brown, fireman, Toledo;
E. Wheeler, wheelman, Toledo;
Francis Patton, lookout, Buffalo;
Miss Ainsworth, stewardess, Port Huron.

“A dispatch from Dunkirk this evening states that three unknown bodies, apparently of sailors, have been washed ashore a few miles from that port. The local agent of the steamship line has telegraphed to every point on the lake shore between Buffalo and Erie to keep a sharp lookout for wreckage or bodies, but so far has received no replies.” (Titusville Herald. PA “The Storm’s Havoc…Two Schooners Sink.” 10-16-1893, p.1.)

Oct 16: “Buffalo, Oct. 16. Eighteen persons, the entire crew of the propeller Dean Richmond, are given up for lost in Saturday night’s storm on Lake Erie. The corpses of five have been washed ashore off Van Buren Point, 40 miles from this city, near Dunkirk. The sore of the lake is strewn with wreckage and merchandise and the waves are yielding up further evidences of the fate to which the Richmond has gone….The crew of the Dean Richmond was composed of the following:

G. W. Stoddard, captain, Toledo.
George Boysen, second mate, East Toledo.
Samuel Meadows, wheelman, Toledo.
Frank Ernest, lookout, North Toledo.
K. Weeler, lookout, Toledo.
A. Dodge, second cook, Toledo.
Evans, chief engineer, shipped at Toledo.
Jacob Ernst, deckhand. Toledo.
William Zink, deckhand, Toledo.
George Schilling, porter, Toledo.
Walter Goodyear, first mate, Ottawa Lake, Mich.
J. E. Brady, wheelman, residence unknown.
Mrs. Retta Ellsworth, stewardess, Aylmer, Ont.
Frank Hilton, second engineer, Port Huron.
Therman Beathan, fireman, residence unknown.
William Sargenfrei, fireman, residence unknown.
Frank Patten, deckhand, residence unknown.
Unknown man, deckhand, shipped at Buffalo.

“Mrs. Retta Ellsworth was a widow and had children in the west.

“Frank Hilton was the sole support of mother and sister.

“The Chief engineer, J. H. Hogan, who left the boat before she departed on what proved to be her last trip, is at the world’s fair. He is part owner of the lost steamer.

“The Richmond was a ‘Clover leaf’ boat and her crew were all from Toledo. She was the first of the large steamers which mark the coming of the present style of marine construction on the lake. She was of 1,257 tonnage, and was built in Cleveland in 1864, but was rebuilt in 1873…” (Marion Daily Star, OH. “Lake Disasters. A Number of Vessels Wrecked and Many Lives Lost. The Number May Reach Fifty.” 10-16-1893, p. 1.)

Oct 15: “Onekama, Mich., Oct. 15. – The big schooner Minnehaha was beached at Starke, ten miles north of here at noon yesterday, to save her from foundering in deep water. The seas soon overwhelmed the wreck and drove the crew into the rigging. Before the arrival of the life-saving crew from Manistee and Frankfort, the schooner went to pieces and but one, Captain William Packer, was saved. The dead are:

John Rafferty, mate;
John Rafferty, Jr., sailor;
Mary Keefe, cook;
three sailors, names unknown.

“The wreck was first sighted by a man on the bluff at Starke, who jumped on his horse and rode at a furious pace through the storm to this place in order to notify the life-saving crew at Manistee. The progress of the life savers was exceedingly slow, and it was nearly midnight when they reached the high sand bluff overlooking the lake at Starke.

“The life-saving crew from Frankfort gained the bluff at last, but even then it was too late. All the life savers could do was to care for Captain Packer, who had jumped overboard and swam ashore. All night long they patrolled the beach with the hope that some poor sailor might have reached shore.” (Titusville Herald, PA. “Foundering of the Minnehaha. She Goes Aground in Lake Michigan. Six Lives Lost.” 10-16-1893, 1.)

Oct 16: “Manistee, Mich., Oct. 16. – The identity of the four masted schooner ashore near here has been established. The vessel is the Minnehaha of Cleveland, Captain William Packer, with a cargo of corn. Of the seven souls on board the schooner but one, Captain Packer, escaped. Those drowned were:

John Rafferty, mate, Cleveland.
John Rafferty, Jr., Cleveland.
Mary Keefe, cook, Cleveland.
William Ahlstrom, sailor, Cleveland.
Two sailors, names unknown, both of Cleveland.

“The schooner went ashore Saturday afternoon, and it was seen that she must soon be pounded to pieces by the heavy was. The Manistee lifesaving crew was called upon for assistance, the claim being made that the Frankfort crew could not be reached. A train was immediately made up and the crew and boat taken to Onekama where the boat was hauled 10 miles through the woods to Starke. Upon arriving there at midnight the Frankfort crew was found upon the ground having arrived just before, but too late to be of any service.

“The schooner Minnehaha had been thrown upon the beach at about noon. The sea was running very high and swept the decks clean, and the crew was all drowned except the captain who jumped overboard with a plank and swam ashore. The Minnehaha was being towed by the steam barge Henry J. Johnson, also of Cleveland, which became disabled during the storm, and Captain Packer, fearing that he would go down in the open sea, cut the towline and put for shore.

“The lifesaving crew returned to Manistee at 8 o’clock yesterday bringing Captain Packer with them. The captain said that his hatches went over the rail and the hold began to fill with water when he cut loose; that was at about 11 o’clock, but a few minutes after he struck the bar the vessel broke in two, and within half an hour nothing but the bow was left. The crew were amidships while he was at the stern when the vessel broke. He took a plank and jumped.

“They had no life preservers on board, and the opinion of the captain was that if there had been all would be alive today. He refused to talk about the insurance, but very little information could be secured from him. He said he did not see the Johnson after he cut loose, but the boat was seen off Manistee passing south at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon. The Minnehaha went to pieces two hours after she struck on the bar. None of the bodies have been recovered.

“The lost schooner Minnehaha was owned by H. W. Johnson and others of Cleveland and was valued at $25,000. She was insured for $18,000 with the Commercial Union of North America, the London Assurance and one other company whose name could not be learned at present….Two years ago she was wrecked near Detour and remained on the rocks all winter, being abandoned to the underwriters, who finally rescued the wreck and sold it.” (Marion Daily Star, OH. “Minnehaha Wrecked.” 10-16-1893, p. 1.)

Oct 17: “Buffalo, N.Y., Oct. 17. — Thirteen more victims have been added to the list of fatalities resulting from the gale that swept the great lakes. The steamer Wocoken, of Cleveland, foundered in ten fathoms of water [about 60 feet] just above Long Point on the northern coast of
Lake Erie. The list of those on board who were drowned is as follows:

Albert Meswald, captain, Marine City:
Miss Sarah Meswald. his sister;
Captain John Mitchell, Cleveland;
Captain David Jones, first mate, Cleveland;
Matthew Hasler, second engineer, Marine City;
Michael Hinkelman. chief engineer, Cleveland;
Charles Minard, steward, Marine City;
Henry Branch, watchman, Marine City;
John Hinkelman, fireman, Marine City;
George Smith, fireman, Marine City;
Edmund Eldredge, watchman, Marine City;
Mike Kenny, deckhand, Marine City;
William Fatch, wheelman, Marine City.
[Wilhelm Pocek, Ashtabula, OH]

“The following were saved: J. P. Sapp, second mate; Robert Browning, deckhand; J. H. Rice, wheelman, Cleveland.

“The last few weeks of the navigation season of 1893 will live long in the memory or the lake mariners, for no such awful list of fatalities has been known in shipping circles for a decade as the one to which additions are being made daily, as reports come in giving details of the terrific gale that swept the inland seas steadily for more than forty-eight hours at the close of last week….The Wocoken was bound from Ashtabula to Duluth with a cargo of coal. She sailed on Friday and must have encountered the storm at the height of its severity while making for shelter, as was the case with the Dean Richmond….The Wocoken was owned by John Mitchell, of Cleveland…” (Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “The Sad Story of Death on the Lake Still Continues. Thirteen More Victims Claimed by the Storm. The Wocoken, of Cleveland, O., Went Down with Precious Souls on Board – A Lady Lost – List of the Drowned.” 10-17-1893, p. 3.)

Oct 17: “Dunkirk, N.Y., Oct. 17. – While searching for bodies from the wrecked propeller, Dean Richmond, a boat containing George Thurber, Frank Cahoon and George Mann, capsized and all three men were drowned. The bodies have not been recovered.” (Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “Searchers Drowned.” 10-17-1893, p. 3.)

Oct 18: “Buffalo, Oct. 18. – It is now settled beyond the shadow of a doubt that the vessel sunk off Gravely Bay on the Canadian shore just below Port Colborne is the schooner C.B. Benson, which left Buffalo Friday to load coal at Erie for Toledo. A telegram from Capt. Carter of Port Colborne says: ‘Tugs have visited the wreck, and she is loaded with coal. Her foremast is gone and the remaining topmasts are painted black. I believe it is the C.B. Benson.’ No bodies have been found on the beach, but this is not strange, as not a single body of the crew of nine on the J.C. Finney, which went down last Fall in the same spot, was ever recovered. Capt. Duff of the Benson was known as one of the best navigators both on salt and fresh water. The crew of the Benson consisted of at least seven men.” (New York Times. “The Schooner Benson Lost,” Oct 19, 1893.)

Oct 19: “Buffalo, N.Y., Oct. 19. – The schooner lost off’ Port Colborne in Gravelly bay was the C. B. Benson. It was her topmasts, painted black, that have been reported by vessel captains, and tugs that have visited the spot confirm their reports. Among those on board were:

John Duff, part owner and master, Port Clinton, O.;
Curtiss Duff, his son and mate, Port Clinton, O.;
Mrs. Duff, wife of the mate, cook;
four unknown sailors.

“The Benson left here Tuesday evening, having been chartered to take coal from Erie to Detroit. Advices from Erie state that she left there Friday afternoon about 5 o’clock. The captain of the steamer State of Ohio reports seeing the Benson off Port Stanley that night, running back under head sails. Capt. Carter, who has tugs at Port Colborne, visited the wreck and confirmed the fears felt for the Benson’s safety.” (Weekly Truth, Elkhart, IN. “More Lives Lost. Three More Vessels Wrecked in the Late Storm…Wreck of the C.B. Benson.” 10-19-1893, p. 4.)

Oct 19: “Detroit, Mich., Oct. 19. The owners of the schooner Riverside of this port have given her up as lost. She sailed from Kelley’s island Friday morning with a full cargo of 670 tons of stone for Tonawanda. Nothing has since been heard of her. The crew were:

D. J. Farrington, master. Detroit;
Mrs. Farrington, his wife;
Joseph Hargreave, mate, Detroit;
John Hargreave, son of the mate;
William Raymond, sailor, residence unknown;
John Paige, sailor, residence unknown;
William Wheeler, sailor, residence unknown.”
(Weekly Truth, Elkhart, IN. “Loss of the Riverside.” 10-19-1893, p. 4.)

Oct 19: “The schooner Riverside with a cargo of 670 tons of stone left Kelley’s island last Friday bound for Tonawanda with a crew of 6. She is owned by J.M. Jones & Son of Detroit, is missing and presumed lost.” (Port Huron Daily Times, Thursday, October 19, 1893; transcribed by William McNeil in Maritime History of the Great Lakes (Riverside webpage).)

Oct 24: “It is now known that the foundered vessel discovered off Cleveland is the lost Riverside.” (Port Huron Daily Times, Tuesday, October 24, 1893; transcribed by William McNeil in Maritime History of the Great Lakes (Riverside webpage).)

Oct 24: “Cleveland, Oct. 24 – The exploring tug returned last night from a point 28 miles northeast, where the schooner RIVERSIDE was found sunk in 13 fathoms, with her entire crew of 7. She evidently foundered with all sails set. The wreck is extremely dangerous to passing vessels.” (Buffalo Morning Express, October 25, 1893, p. 7, col. 2.; transcribed by William McNeil in Maritime History of the Great Lakes (Riverside webpage).)

Sources

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Swayze, David D. “Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI), Oct. 15, 1893.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes (webpage). Accessed 1-9-2021 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/details.asp?ID=7410

Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter W. Accessed 9/7/2009 at: http://greatlakeshistory.homestead.com/files/w.htm

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

Titusville Herald, PA. “Foundering of the Minnehaha. She Goes Aground in Lake Michigan. Six Lives Lost.” 10-16-1893, 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=104650056

Titusville Herald, PA. “Six Ships Lost.” 10-16-1893, p. 1. Accessed 10-17-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=104650056

Titusville Herald. PA. “The Storm’s Havoc…Two Schooners Sink.” 10-16-1893, 1. Accessed 10-17-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=104650056

Toledo Blade. Shipwreck Hunters find 1870 Schooner – Riverside One of Many in Lake Erie.” 11-3-2008. At: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081103/NEWS16/811030333

VanZandt, David Michael and Kevin Scott Magee. “The Great Storm of 1893 and the Schooner Riverside.” Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, 2010. Accessed 10-14-2012 at: http://www.clueshipwrecks.org/PDFs/The_Great_Storm_of_1893_and_the_Schooner_Riverside_ACUA_Reprint.pdf

Weekly Truth, Elkhart, IN. “Loss of the Riverside.” 10-19-1893, p. 4. Accessed 10-17-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=189753261

Weekly Truth, Elkhart, IN. “More Lives Lost. Three More Vessels Wrecked in the Late Storm” 10-19-1893, p. 4. Accessed 10-17-2012: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=189753261

Wrecksandreefs.com. “Lake Erie Dean Richmond. Accessed 10-17-2012 at: http://www.wrecksandreefs.com/dean.htm

12-14  Blanchard estimated range.[1]

 

–14  Michigan Dept. of Transportation. Michigan’s Railroad History 1825-2014. 2014, p. 15.

–13  National Car and Locomotive Builder. “Train Wrecks,” November 1893, p. 179.

–13  Railroad Stories. “October in Rail History,” October, 1935, p. 50.

–13  Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 96.

–12  Bloomington Leader, IL. “Jackson’s Horror. Details of the Crash…” 10-14-1893, p. 1.[2]

–12  Wyatt. “Peek Through Time: Horrific wrecks…” Jackson Citizen Patriot, MI. 9-20-2012.

 

Narrative Information

 

Michigan Dept. of Transportation: “Oct. 13, 1893. Michigan Central Railroad special passenger train stopped in the Jackson Station rear-ended by another Michigan Central Railroad special train, killing 14 persons and injuring 70 others.” (Michigan Dept. of Transportation. Michigan’s Railroad History 1825-2014. 2014, p. 15.)

 

Railroad Stories: “1893 – Second section of N.Y.C. excursion train bound for Chicago World’s Fair from Watertown, N.Y., crashes into rear of first section in front of depot at Jackson, Mich., while passengers for first section are getting breakfast; 13 killed, 50 injured.[3]  Engineer Wm. Whalen and Fireman Joe Kimling, both of second section, leap in time to save their lives.  Defective air brakes blamed.” (Railroad Stories. “October in Rail History,” Oct, 1935, p. 50.)

 

Wyatt: “….Another large-scale wreck occurred Friday, Oct. 13, 1893 and involved two sections of an excursion train that had left Watertown, N.Y. the day before. The train was bound for the Chicago World’s Fair, and all was well until the two sections reached Jackson….

 

“The first section arrived in Jackson about 9 a.m. and passengers got off to have breakfast at the depot diner. As they ate, the train’s second section, under engineer William Whalen, ‘came tearing through the yards at a fast but not extremely rapid rate.’

 

“Whalen shut off steam and applied the air brakes. They didn’t work. He whistled twice for brakes, to no effect. He and his fireman then leaped from the locomotive just before it plowed into the rear of the earlier train….

 

“Twelve people were killed and 50 more injured.

 

“At the coroner’s inquest, a jury found the Michigan Central Railroad guilty of gross negligence in violating a city ordinance limiting speeds within its limits. Whalen was found guilty of gross negligence in not ensuring that his air brakes were working prior to reaching Jackson….” (Wyatt, Ken. “Peek Through Time: Horrific wrecks, injuries and deaths part of Jackson’s railroad history,” Jackson Citizen Patriot, MI. 9-20-2012.)

 

Newspaper at the time

 

Oct 14: “Jackson, Mich., Oct. 14.–The second greatest accident in the history of the Michigan Central railway occurred here within 100 yards of the place where almost fourteen years ago to a day the Pacific express crashed into a freight engine in Oct., 1879, and eighteen people were killed. The disaster has so far a record of twelve dead, five probably fatally injured and fifteen others more or less hurt. At 8:49 o’clock in the morning an excursion train originating at Owego, N.Y., which had been turned over by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western to the Michigan Central at Buffalo, was standing on the track at Jackson station, when a second special, also laden with excursionists from the east, crashed into it from the rear and telescoped the three last cars of the Owego special.

Several Hundred Saw the Crash.

 

“Many of the passengers of this latter train had been out to breakfast; some had returned and were in the coaches; others were on the platform. Their train was about ready to pull out when the second special came into the yards and in sight of the station under check. When within a few hundred feet of the standing train Engineer William Whelan, of the second special, put on the brakes, but found to his alarm that they did not work. The speed of the train did not diminish, and reversing his engine Engineer Whelan and his fireman, Joseph P. Kimbling, jumped from the locomotive. The train kept on and in full view of the several hundred people in and about the station dashed into the rear coach of the first train, passing nearly to the other end.

 

None Escaped in Three Cars.

 

“There were eight cars in the train, all New York Central cars except one which was put in at a station on the Canada Southern division to replace one disabled. The cars are much lighter than those on the Michigan Central, and the seventh and sixth cars from the first engine were completely telescoped, the one being fitted into the other snugly. The fifth car was overturned, and thrown across a side track about fifty feet east of the station. The Michigan Central car was next, and it was badly smashed on both ends, the platforms being carried away and the windows all smashed. The passengers on this car were few and none of them was seriously injured. It was in the sixth, seventh and eighth cars where the slaughter took place and not a single occupant of either of these cars appears to have escaped death or injury.

 

Dead, Dying, and Mangled in the Debris.

 

“The scene that followed the collision was horrible in the extreme. In a moment the air was filled with the shrieks of the dying and dead and mangled bodies could be seen in the debris. The people on the platform and from the surrounding streets rushed in every direction to give what help could be effected. Physicians were on the scene almost instantly, and the work of removing the dead and injured was facilitated by impressing carriages and hearses into immediate service. Jackson being a division station on the line a wrecking train was speedily at hand. The dead were conveyed to the local undertaking rooms and the injured to hotels and to the city hospital, where the division surgeon of the road, Dr. Gibson, and two priests, Fathers Mullany and Buise, took charge of the work of attending to the hurt.

 

Names of Ten of the Dead.

 

“The officers of the road give out the following list of the killed and injured: Killed–Mrs. Charles Starr, Elmira, N.Y.; Miss Maggie McMaster, Penn Yan, N.Y.; Miss Harriet Breeze, Pine City, NY.; George Hoffman, Saranac, N.Y.; Mrs. J. A. Beardslee, East Canton, Pa.; Mrs. J. H. Keeler, Hammondsport, N.Y.; Mrs. Lloyd Woodbury, Bath, N.Y., Mrs. D. J. Gibbs, Wheeler, N.Y.; infant child of Mrs. Anson Harrison, Elmira, N.Y.; Jas. Woodbury, Bath, N.Y. Two have not yet been identified. Of these one is a dark-skinned man with a flowing gray beard, about 60 years of age….” (Bloomington Leader, IL. “Jackson’s Horror.” 10-14-1893, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Bloomington Leader, IL. “Jackson’s Horror. Details of the Crash on the Michigan Central. Twelve Souls Sent to Eternity. Five Others Perhaps Fatally Hurt…” 10-14-1893, p. 1. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bloomington-leader-oct-14-1893-p-2/

 

Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Michigan’s Railroad History 1825-2014. Lansing, MI: MDOT, 2014. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/Michigan_Railroad_History_506899_7.pdf

 

National Car and Locomotive Builder. “Train Wrecks,” November 1893, p. 179. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=ccssAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Railroad Stories. “October in Rail History,” October, 1935, pp. 48-53.

 

Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC

 

Wyatt, Ken. “Peek Through Time: Horrific wrecks, injuries and deaths part of Jackson’s railroad history,” Jackson Citizen Patriot, MI. 9-20-2012. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2012/09/peek_through_time_horrific_wre.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Early reporting was of twelve deaths, though it was noted that several people had quite serious to critical injuries and might not survive. Then there are reports of thirteen deaths, though without provision of names of fatalities. Finally there is the Michigan Dept. of Transportation report of 14 fatalities. We generally think of State government reports as authoritative, and in that we know there were several critically injured survivors. Thus, not being able to rule out twelve, thirteen, or fourteen as the number of fatalities, we resort to a range of 12-14.

[2] Notes twelve dad and “Five Others Perhaps Fatally Hurt…”

[3] Simonds notes 40 injured.

–32 Blanchard estimated death toll. (See sources and notes below.)
— 3 FL
— 4 NY
— 4 NC
–22 SC
–28 Rappaport and Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994. 1995, p.25.

Florida ( 3)
— 3 Jupiter. Three bodies washed up onshore.

Georgia (~40)
–~40 Washington Bee, DC. “Loss.” 10-14-1893, p. 1. (Find no substantiation.)

New York ( 4)
— 3 Buffalo. Roof of Western NY and PA freight house blown off and wall fall, killing boys.
— 1 Buffalo. Man blown into Niagara River and drowned.

North Carolina ( 4)*
–22 Barnes, Jay. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). 2001, p. 49.
–22 NWS, Wilmington Weather Forecast Office. Top 20 Storms in Wilmington, [NC’s] History.
–2 Sampson County. Tree falls on house; two children crushed to death.
–22 Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). 1964, p.312.
— 4 Kernersville. Washington Bee, DC. “Loss.” 10-14-1893, p. 1.

*Blanchard note: I find it somewhat suspicious that the loss of life in NC (22) is identical to the loss of life noted for SC. We have been able to find detail on 19 of the 22 SC deaths, but only 4 of the NC deaths. We harbor the suspicion that the original source for the three secondary sources noted above conflated North Carolina and South Carolina deaths.

South Carolina ( 22)
–22 Letter of Gen. E.P. Alexander of Georgetown in Monthly Weather Review, 1893, in Ho.
–19 Magnolia Beach (south of Huntington Beach State park; north of Litchfield by the sea).
–15 Jordan, Dukes, Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. P. 32.

Narrative Information

Dunn and Miller: “1893 Oct. 13 Carolinas Major 22 killed in N.C.”
(Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). 1964, p. 312.)

Ho: “10. Hurricane of October 13, 1893…Introduction

“This late season hurricane originated near the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. During the first 10 days of its life cycle the path of the storm was not clearly determined due to confusing reports received at Antilles, Antigua and Dominica. The location of the storm was, however, reported by the steamer Ciudad Condal which moved within 30-70 miles of the storm center during October 11-12. A low pressure of 729 millimeter (972 mb) was recorded by the steamer on the 13th when the storm was about 30 miles southeast of the vessel (Monthly Weather Review, U.S. Weather Bureau 1893). Another low pressure of 28.40 in. (961.6 mb) was reported by Captain Kirwan of the steamship Wm Lawrence on the 13th when the steamer was located somewhere between the Frying Pan shoals [off Cape Fear, NC] and Charleston, SC, (The Morning News, Savannah, GA, October 15, 1893).

“The hurricane passed over the entrance to Winyah Bay [southeast of Georgetown, SC] and crossed the South Carolina coast near Myrtle Beach… A low pressure of 28.33 in. 959.2 mb) was observed at South Island at 1000 on the 13th. After crossing the coast, the center of the storm moved northward at a faster sped passing over Raleigh, NC. The October hurricane was similar to Hurricane Hazel of 1954, except that its path was a little more to the west and the damage was not quite as severe.

“The highest wind in this storm was 94 mph reported at Southport, NC. In the Wilmington, NC, area, the tide and high water were reported as the highest known to date, being 16 in. above the high-water mark of 1853. At South Island, near Winyah Bay, SC, the maximum recorded wind was 90 mph from the northeast and a high tide of 9.3 ft MSL was reported in the Monthly Weather Review (U.S. Weather Bureau 1893).

10.2 Data Summary

“The most informative excerpt and selected meteorological data are listed below:

The Sunday News, Charleston, SC, October 15, 1893

Jacksonville, FL, October 13 – The wind and rain broke upon the city (of St. Augustine) about 8 o’clock Wednesday night, and raged with fury for nearly twenty-four hours. The waters of the Matanzas River on the east swept over the sea wall and met those of the San Sebastian from the west, and wharves, warehouses, bath houses, steamers and small craft went crashing together down the stream and to the sea.

Jacksonville, FL, October 14 – Tidings of damages by the storm along the east coast of Florida re just beginning to come in. All along the Indian and Hillsboro Rivers the wind reached a velocity of sixty miles an hour. Towns along the banks were flooded, wharves swept away and houses unroofed, and from 10 to 15 percent of the orange crop was blown from the trees.

The Morning Star, Wilmington, NC, October 15, 1893

“Columbia, SC, October 14 – A special (dispatch) to the State from Georgetown tells a terrible story of devastation and death wrought by the hurricane in and around that city and the adjacent Sea Islands. The entire water-front of Georgetown was flooded, and much damage was done to merchandise stored in warehouses.

At Magnolia Beach almost every house was washed away and thirteen white and six colored people were drowned. A number escaped by taking refuge in trees….

“….The following extract comes from a letter by Gen. E.P. Alexander of Georgetown, SC, reproduced in the Monthly Weather Review (U.S. Weather Bureau 1893):

The gale of 1822, September 27 and 28, is the most memorable of all prior to 1893….by comparison it appears that the high water of October 13-14 exceed that of September, 1822, and also that of August 28, 1881, by nearly 3 feet. It exceeded that of August 27, 1893, by at least 2 feet, 4 inches. I have had a level taken from the inside of the North Island lighthouse tower, where the water mark is least likely to be obscured by wave action, and the level reached was 11.3 feet on the U.S. Engineer’s tide gauge, whose zero mark is one foot below ordinary low water, this would give 10.3 feet above ordinary low water and 6.8 above ordinary high water, which is 4.5 on that gauge. The popular report is that the water rose on Magnolia Beach, a sandy peninsula about 25 miles northeast of Georgetown, 6 feet above the August gale, but this needs to be verified by an expert….The total loss of life in this vicinity in the October storm is 22 and the loss of property at least $350,000….”

(Ho. “Hurricane of October 13, 1893.” Section 10 in: Ho, Francis P. Extreme Hurricanes in the Nineteenth Century. Silver Spring, MD: Water Management Information Division, Office of Hydrology, National Weather Service, March 1989, pp. 54-57.)

Jordan: “1893 Oct. 13 (2) Second major storm of the season; gale winds SE 60 mph (Charleston); major impact in Georgetown district and northward, where storm surge topped 13 feet and 15 people died, largely by drowning.” (Jordan, Laylon Wayne, with Robert Dukes, Jr. and Ted Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. Undated, p. 32. )

Rappaport and Partagas: “234. [No. in list of 250] South Carolina, Florida 11-13 Oct 1893 28 [lives lost].”

U.S. Army Signal Corps: “….At Jupiter, Fla. (26 [degrees] 56’ N.), rapidly falling barometer and north winds backing to northwest began on October 11th. Heavy rain began 9.27 p.m., 11th, ending 1.22 p.m.., 12th. The wind reached a maximum velocity of 72 miles from the west at midnight, 11th, to 3 a.m., 12th. Great damage was done to docks, vessels, crops, and houses. Three bodies were washed ashore in this vicinity. For many miles along the Indian River the sea broke over the peninsula, raising the river to a point never before attained. Orange groves on Indian River were injured and great damage was done to farms. From Titusville to Lake Worth (26 [degrees] 40’ N.), a distance of 150 miles, nearly all docks were washed away.

“At Melbourne, Fla…the water was several feet higher than it has been for several years; the storm was by far the worst since the great gale of 1880.

“The observer at Titusville, Fla….reports as follows:

October 11th at 8 p.m., was blowing at the rate of 52 miles steady, with a maximum of 60 miles. As the night advanced the conditions became more threatening. At 12.05 a.m. the anemometer cups were blown away, and there were several heavy squalls during the night that mast have been between 80 and 90 miles per hour. Rain began 9:10 p.m. of 11th, and at 8 a.m. of 12th the amount in the gauges measured 2.20 inches. The continued north and northwest winds drove the water back from the western shore of the Indian River farther than ever before. At the end of the steamboat dock, where there is generally 6 to 8 feet of water, the bed was perfectly dry for about ¼ of a mile…. One house was blown down and several small buildings moved from their foundations, and great damage to electric wires. The orange crop is badly damaged…two small steamers and a sailing vessel were wrecked and several docks blown away. Great damage was done to shipping.”

(United States Army Signal Corps. Monthly Weather Review, Vol. XXI, No. 10, October 1893.)

VanZandt and Magee: “The year 1893 was a year of hurricanes. This Atlantic hurricane season was unusual not only in the number of storms but in their size and power. It was the third most energetic Atlantic hurricane season ever recorded (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration [NOAA] 2009a) with a total of 12 tropical storms, 10 of which became hurricanes (NOAA 2009b). Out of these 10 hurricanes, 5 became major hurricanes of at least category 3 (sustained winds between 111-130 mph / 178-209 kph), including one that became a category 4 storm (sustained winds between 131-155 mph / 210-249 kph) (NOAA 2009b)….

“…Hurricane No. 9, or the “North and South Carolina Hurricane,”…was noteworthy that year for its longevity and power displayed. It ties Hurricane Carrie of 1957 for being the fourth longest duration Atlantic hurricane, both of which lasted 20.75 days (NOAA 2009g). According to the NOAA Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) scale, Hurricane No. 9 is calculated to have had a value of approximately 65, making it an extremely energetic storm with more energy than the entire yearly total for many hurricane seasons (NOAA 2009a). Although it was only a category 3 hurricane with winds measuring up to 120 mph (193 kph) (NOAA 2009h), its extreme persistence at this level ensures its status as one of the most energetic Atlantic storms in history. This persistence also resulted in this hurricane extending its destruction and damage far inland to communities that normally would not experience the effects of adverse tropical weather. According to its reconstructed position and intensity…based on historic and computational data, Hurricane No. 9 started as a tropical storm off the Cape Verde Islands near Africa on 25 Sept. 1893 (NOAA 2009b). Within three days it turned into a category 1 hurricane (NOAA 2009h). On 1 October 1893 it became a category 2 hurricane, and a day later it became a category 3 hurricane (NOAA 2009h). From 2 October 1893 until 10 October 1893, the storm took a…track north of the Caribbean far away from any islands or land, building in size and intensity. Finally, on 11 October 1893 it passed north of the Bahamas, and the next day it approached the Florida coastline before swinging north to skirt the Georgia and South Carolina coasts 50-100 miles (80-161 km) offshore (NOAA 2009b). Its passing off the coastline caused severe flooding Fernandez-Partagas 1996) due to the ground in that area having been previously saturated by storms earlier in the season (NOAA 2009b). It finally came ashore on Friday morning, 13 October 1893, near Charleston, South Carolina. For a remarkable 11 days this hurricane had remained a category 3 (NOAA 2009h)….

“When Hurricane No. 9 came ashore, it immediately started to weaken and became a category 1 hurricane when it reached the middle of North Carolina. Although weakened, it still produced very strong winds, between 75-90 mph (121-145 kph), and amazingly persisted as a category 1 hurricane as it passed inland away from the coast (NOAA 2009h). Many inland communities in
central Virginia were ravaged as the storm continued on a northern path, and on Friday evening it passed 60 miles (97 km) west of Washington, DC (NOAA 2009b). At this point it was still a category 1 hurricane with winds measuring 75 mph (121 kph) (NOAA 2009h), and the storm’s intensity prevented the members of the Senate from leaving the Capitol building due to the high winds and rain (The Atlanta Constitution 1893:1).

“The period of Saturday, 14 October 1893, through Sunday, 15 October 1893, became known as the Great Storm of 1893 in the Great Lakes region. This storm was the remnant of Hurricane No. 9, which affected the entire region and caused great damage on both land and water. One of the hardest hit cities was Buffalo, New York, at the eastern end of Lake Erie. Newspapers of the
day recounted how the streets were deserted and how those who ventured outside were blown off their feet (The Cleveland Leader 1893a:1). One unfortunate individual was blown into the Niagara River and drowned (The Cleveland Leader 1893a:1).

(VanZandt, David Michael and Kevin Scott Magee. “The Great Storm of 1893 and the Schooner Riverside.” Pp. 218-226 in 2010 Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology.)

Newspapers

Oct 12, Savannah Morning News: “A hurricane equally as severe as that which swept the Georgia and South Carolina coast on the night of Aug 27 is moving rapidly in this direction. It was central off Titusville, Fla., last night and at the present rate of progress the center will reach here late this afternoon. The wind reached a velocity of 56 miles an hour at Titusville yesterday, eight miles more than was recorded in the August cyclone.

“The storm signals have been ordered up along the entire southern coast. Weather Observer Smyth notified the steamship lines and the masters of all outgoing vessels last night of the approach of the hurricane and warned them not to leave port. Incoming vessels yesterday reported the heaviest swell known on Tybee bar. The towboat companies got their vessels in readiness last night and the Atlantic Contracting Company sent large forces of men to the dredges at work down the river to get them in shelter.

“While the storm center is not due until late this afternoon, the force of the storm will be felt early in the day. The wind began blowing in gusts last night. Observer Smyth said at midnight that by daylight this morning the storm will begin to be felt with more or less severity….

“It passed Key West yesterday, and is now moving rapidly up the coast. Jupiter was cut off from telegraphic communication last night, and no reports were received by the weather bureau except from Titusville. The velocity of the wind there at 8 o’clock was fifty-two miles an hour. The storm center may be yet 200 miles at sea, but approaching the coast rapidly. As soon as Observer Smyth noted the conditions here he notified the bureau at Washington, and the storm signals were hoisted at all stations on the Georgia and South Carolina and North Carolina coasts….” (Morning News, Savannah, GA. “Another Cyclone Coming. Sweeping Northward Off the Eastern Coast of Florida.” 10-12-1895, p. 8.)

Oct 13, Goshen Daily News, IN: “Jacksonville, Fla., Oct 13. – One of the most terrible wind and rain storms ever known here is now raging along the Florida coast extending inland about fifty miles. The storm is a regular West Indian cyclone, and has been felt in this vicinity during the last two days, gradually increasing in severity. Reports received Thursday morning from Key West say that the storm passed over that city Tuesday and Wednesday, doing much damage. Reports from Titusville are that the storm passed over that place in a northwesterly direction, blowing 60 miles per hour. All communication with places south of here has been cut off by wires being blown down, and great fears are entertained that Titusville and many other places on the coast have suffered greatly from loss of life.

“Reports from St. Augustine are to the effect that the city is partially submerged by water backing over the sea wall….” (Goshen Daily News, IN. “Cyclone in Florida.” 10-13-1893, p. 4.)

Oct 13, The News, Frederick, MD: “Savannah, Oct. 13. – Savannah is in the teeth of a storm which threatens to equal in intensity that of Aug. 27, which swept the entire Georgia and South Carolina coast. All vessels in the harbor have sought shelter and safe anchorages. The Boston steamship Gate City, which was to have sailed last night, will remain until the storm has passed. In the city little damage has yet been done.

“Jacksonville, Fla., Oct 13 – The storm reached its height here at 2:15 yesterday afternoon, the velocity of the wind being forty-wight miles an hour. This indicates that the storm here will prove less severe than expected.

“Charleston, Oct. 13. – The wind is blowing in gusts at forty miles an hour, but no damage has been done beyond the prostration of telegraph and telephone wires. It is thought that the tide may flood some of the streets, but no serious overflow is feared.” (The News, Frederick, MD: “Another Cyclone South.” 10-13-1893, p. 1.)

Oct 14, Washington Bee: “Loss. The wind attained the force of a hurricane at Savannah, Ga., on Monday. Fully $10,000,000 worth of property was destroyed, and it is estimated that forty persons were killed. Many buildings were demolished, and shipping in the harbor suffered great loss.

“The town of Kernersville, in Forsyth County, N.C., was struck by the cyclone and 100 houses were blown down. Four bodies had at last accounts been taken from the ruins, and at least fifty persons were more or less injured. Kernersville is eighteen miles west of Greensborough, on the Northwestern North Carolina Railroad, had has a population of about 700. Every house in the town was either wholly or partly demolished.

“Rumors of many other disasters in small towns from Georgia to Virginia have been received.

“Details of loss of life and destruction of property are also received from Brunswick, Ga., and points further south along the coast.” (Washington Bee, DC. “Loss.” 10-14-1893, p. 1.)

Oct 16: “Columbia, S.C., Oct. 16. – A special to The State from Georgetown, S.C., tells a terrible story of devastation and death wrought by the hurricane in and around the city and on the adjacent sea islands. The entire water front of Georgetown was flooded and much damage was done to merchandise stored in warehouses. The white people drowned at Magnolia Beach are Dr. Arthur B. Flagg and wife, his son, Dr. Arthur GB. Flaff, Jr., his wife and five children, Miss Bettie Labruce, Miss Alice Labruce, and the two Misses Weston daughters of the late Bently Weston. The tide rose three feet in some of the houses on Pawleys Island, a well known resort.” (Winona Daily Republican, MN. “Thirteen Drowned. Sad Havoc of the Storm in South Carolina.” 10-16-1893, p. 1.)

Oct 18, Wilson Mirror, NC: “The storm here last Friday afternoon [13th] was the severest that has yet visited this section. For the whole afternoon the storm raged most furiously. Tin from the roofs of quite a number of buildings was ripped off and sent whirling. Those which suffered most were the Cotton Mills, Briggs and Branchs prize houses near the old depot, T. J. Hadlys prize house near the Primitive Baptist church, Roundtree and Lamm’s stores. Fencing and crops were considerably damaged in the country….” (Wilson Mirror, NC. “The Storm.” 10-18-1893, p. 5.)

Sources

Barnes, Jay. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

Boston Sunday Post. “After The Blow…Fatalities in Buffalo.” 10-15-1893, p. 4. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-post-oct-15-1893-p-8/

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.

Goshen Daily News, IN. “Cyclone in Florida.” 10-13-1893, p. 4. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/goshen-daily-news-oct-13-1893-p-4/

Ho, Francis P. “Hurricane of October 13, 1893.” Section 10, pp. 54-59 in: Extreme Hurricanes in the Nineteenth Century. Silver Spring, MD: Water Management Information Division, Office of Hydrology, National Weather Service, March 1989. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://www.weather.gov/media/owp/oh/hdsc/docs/TM43A.pdf

Jordan, Laylon Wayne, with Robert Dukes, Jr. and Ted Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. Charleston, SC: The South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. Undated. Accessed 8-16-2022 at: https://www.scseagrant.org/wp-content/uploads/South-Carolina-Hurricane-History-1980.pdf

Mayes, Douglas Owen. “A Reanalysis of Five 19th Century South Carolina Major Hurricanes Using Local Data Sources.” Master’s Thesis, Department of Geography, University of South Carolina, 2006, p.73. Accessed 8-22-2022 at: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.409.6528&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Morning News, Savannah, GA. “Another Cyclone Coming. Sweeping Northward Off the Eastern Coast of Florida.” 10-12-1893, p. 8. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-morning-news-oct-12-1893-p-8/

National Weather Service, Wilmington Weather Forecast Office. Top 20 Storms in Wilmington, North Carolina’s History. “Storm #20: 1893 ‘Charleston Hurricane.’” Accessed 8-21-2022 at: https://www.weather.gov/ilm/Top_20_Storms

Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf

The News, Frederick, MD: “Another Cyclone South.” 10-13-1893, p. 1. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/news-oct-13-1893-p-1/

United States Army Signal Corps. Monthly Weather Review, Vol. XXI, No. 10, October 1893. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/1893.pdf

VanZandt, David Michael and Kevin Scott Magee. “The Great Storm of 1893 and the Schooner Riverside.” Pp. 218-226 in 2010 Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology. Accessed 8-21-2022 at: http://www.clueshipwrecks.org/PDFs/The_Great_Storm_of_1893_and_the_Schooner_Riverside_ACUA_Reprint.pdf

Washington Bee, DC. “Loss.” 10-14-1893, p. 1. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-washington-bee-oct-14-1893-p-1/

Wilson Mirror, NC. “The Storm.” 10-18-1893, p. 5. Accessed 8-22-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/wilson-mirror-oct-18-1893-p-5/

Winona Daily Republican, MN. “Thirteen Drowned. Sad Havoc of the Storm in South Carolina.” 10-16-1893, p. 1. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/winona-daily-republican-oct-16-1893-p-1/

— 14 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1800-1899.”
— 14 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwreck A – Z.” “M”
— 14 Good and Burwell. Alaska Shipwrecks 1750-2015. 2018, p.616.
— 14 The Daily Telegram, Nanaimo, B.C. “Their Fate Will Never Be Known.” 1-31-1894, p. 1.
–>13 The Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “A Total Wreck.” 3-13-1894, p. 1.
(Ambiguous. Notes Capt. Brown and John L. O’Brien, and their passengers, 13 in number.)
–>12 Victoria Daily Colonist, BC. “The Lost ‘Mary Brown.’” 1-4-1894, p. 2.
— 6 crew
–>6 passengers
— 11 Brush Creek News, IA. “Foreign.” 11-9-1893, p. 14.
— 11 Morning Call, San Francisco. “After the Mary Brown.” 1-19-1894, p. 10.
— 9 Victoria Daily Colonist, BC. “The Missing ‘Mary Brown.’” 11-18-1893, p. 5.

Narrative Information

Alaskashipwreck.com: “1893…Mary Brown…U [unknown location]…65 foot…Schooner 14 [lost].” (Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1800-1899.”)

Alaskashipwreck.com: “Mary Brown (1893). The 43.6 ton 65 foot wooden schooner Mary Brown departed Sand Point October 3, 1893 bound for San Francisco and disappeared. She was carrying a cargo of miscellany and had a crew consisting of captain and owner Marzonia Brown, four seamen and two Eskimo crewmen (a man and a boy). There were eight passengers including captain Frank N Gafney of Lynde and Hough Company, James L. O’Brien and six of his men who had been engaged in conducting a store or station at Sand Point for the Lynde and Hough Company. They were all headed south for the winter. Many months after the Mary Brown went missing, Mrs. R. H. Hazelton, the sister of James O’Brien went north from San Francisco searching for tidings of her brother. With the help of Reverend Fred L. Stephenson, a missionary among the Alaskan Natives, the British authorities and two Native guides, Mrs. Hazelton was able to locate wreckage and the capsized hull of the Mary Brown near Banks Island, British Columbia. Captain O’Brien’s bloody clothing was found with the wreckage which indicated the possibility that foul play had been involved in the loss of the vessel. No bodies were ever found to help determine whether the vessel was lost to shipwreck, mutiny or attack by outsiders.

“Mapping and Location: Unknown.

“Comment: There are a number of differing accounts of who was aboard the Mary Brown. Some do not mention the six men of James O’Brien and others mention three miners that were being transported back to British Columbia. Most report the loss of nine men.

“Additional Information: Tonnage 45.89 Gross 43.6 Net, Length 65, Breadth 20.1, Depth 6.7, Built 1892 at San Francisco, Owner and captain Marzonia Brown, ON 92399.

“Sources: 1. San Francisco Chronicle (April 28, 1894) “A Mystery of the Sea” Pg 11, 2. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1893) Pg 191, 3. San Francisco Chronicle (November 16, 1893) “Where is the Mary Brown?” Pg 12, 4. San Francisco Call (December 15, 1893) “Nine Lives Lost” Pg 7, 5. San Francisco Call Bulletin (March 14, 1894) “Fate of the Mary Brown Not Known” Pg 3.” (Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.”)

Good and Burwell: “1893…Mary Brown…U [unknown location]…65 Foot…Schooner…14 [lost].” (Good and Burwell. Alaska Shipwrecks 1750-2015. 2018, p. 616.)

Newspapers

Nov 9, 1893: “….The schooner Mary Brown was lost off Banks Island, B.C., and eleven persons were drowned.” (Brush Creek News, IA. “Foreign.” 11-9-1893, p. 14.)

Nov 17, 1893: “Fears are entertained for the safety of the Alaska sealing schooner Mary Brown, which sailed from Sand Point for this port forty-five days ago. The Brown, Capt. Brown owner and master, discharged her season’s catch of sealskins here and returned to her northern home about three months ago. She took supplies north, and was to return with a cargo of salmon and furs. The succession of northerly gales may have compelled her to make some intermediate harbor for shelter; it is hoped this will be fund to be the correct solution of the mystery concerning her non-appearance.” (Victoria Daily Colonist, BC, Canada. “Where is the ‘Mary Brown?’” 11-17-1893, p. 5.)

Nov 18, 1893: “It is said that the sealing schooner Mary Brown, which, as stated in yesterday’s Colonist, left Sand Point for Victoria 44 days ago, had two passengers on board, these being James L. O’Brien, secretary of the Lynde-Hough company, and manager of the Union Fish Company, and Capt. Wm. Gaffney, in the employ of the same company. Capt. Marsovia Brown, who is master and owner of the forty-five ton schooner, is well known in the city, as elsewhere on the coast, having been many years in the sealing business. He had six of a crew on leaving Sand Point.” (Victoria Daily Colonist, BC. “The Missing ‘Mary Brown.’” 11-18-1893, p. 5.)

Jan 4, 1894: “….The Mary Brown sailed from Sand Point, Alaska, about seventy days ago, and has not been heard from since. She had six passengers among whom were Captain Gaffney, Captain Brown and Edward O’Brien, of the Lynde & Hough Co. There were also a number of Indians on board….” (Victoria Daily Colonist, BC. “The Lost ‘Mary Brown.’” 1-4-1894, p. 2.)

Jan 12, 1894: “Port Townsend, Jan. 12. – Among the crew of the sealing schooner Mary Brown, which sailed from Unalaska last September for Victoria, are Dick Flynn and Fred Hill, of this city, who went north in the schooner Fisher Maid. They left the latter vessel at Sand Point and took passage on the Brown. The general opinion prevails that the Mary Brown is lost, although some people profess to believe that she was lost on some uninhabited island near the coast of Alaska.” (Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA. “Sealer Mary Brown Probably Lost.” 1-13-1894, p. 1.)

Jan 19, 1894: “The revenue cutter Wolcott, now stationed at Port Townsend, was ordered yesterday to start in search of the missing schooner Mary Brown. Captain Healey of the cutter Bear received a dispatch from Washington apprising him of the order. ‘I suppose it is done to satisfy friends of the men who were on the schooner,’ he said last night, ‘but I fear there is little use in making the search. The schooner left Unga on October 3 with eleven men on board. She was a trading and seal-fishing boat among the islands, and people have an idea that she was lost somewhere up in the straits above Vancouver Island. I believe she was lost in the ocean, if lost at all.” (Morning Call, San Francisco. “After the Mary Brown.” 1-19-1894, p. 10.)

Jan 20: “Port Townsend, Jan. 20. – The United States revenue cutter Oliver Wolcott sailed today to cruise along Vancouver Island in a search for the sealing schooner Mary Brown, which sailed from Unalaska for San Francisco last October.” (The Morning Call, San Francisco. “Searching for a Missing Sealer.” 1-21-1894, p. 9.)

Jan 30: “Port Townsend, Jan. 30. – The United States revenue cutter Wolcott returned this morning from a cruise along the west coast of Vancouver Island, as far north as Clayoquot Sound, after an unsuccessful search for the wreck of the sealing schooner Mary Brown, which sailed from Sand Point, Alaska, for San Francisco, last October.

“Clayoquot Sound is the general headquarters of the northern Indians, who congregate there from all points of Southeast Alaska and Vancouver Island, preparatory to going on the sailing vessels. None of the Indians had any news of recent wrecks of vessels. The belief prevails among the revenue officials that the Mary Brown was lost above Sitka, as it is now certain that the disaster did not occur this side of that point.” (The Record-Union, Sacramento, CA. “Searched in Vain.” 1-31-1894, p. 1.)

Jan 30, 1894: “Port Townsend, Wash., Jan. 30. – The United States steamer Oliver Wolcott, which was sent out over a week ago to search for the survivors of the wrecked sealing schooner, Mary Brown, returned this morning without finding a trace of the unfortunate fourteen persons who sailed for home from Sitka last October….” (The Daily Telegram, Nanaimo, British Columbia. “Their Fate Will Never Be Known.” 1-31-1894, p. 1.)

March 13, 1894: “Victoria, B.C., March 13. – The fate of the schooner Mary Brown, which the United States government sent the steamer Wolcott to search for, has at last been explained. A party of Indians reached Claxton on the Skeena river a week ago from Gilkatla, and reported the schooner on the rocks of that island. Her bow and masts were gone and her boats smashed. On the deck that found three rifles, three watches, some money and a small pennant with the name Brown on it. Captain Brown and John L. O’Brien, of the Lynde-Hough Commercial company of San Francisco, and their late passengers, thirteen in number, are unquestionably drowned. The schooner was fifty tons burden and left Sand Point last fall for Victoria.” (The Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “A Total Wreck.” 3-13-1894, p. 1.)

Sources

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1800-1899.” Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/alaska-shipwrecks-1729-2012/alaska-shipwrecks-1800-1899/

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.” Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/shipwrecks-a-z/alaska-shipwrecks-m/

Brush Creek News, IA. “Foreign.” 11-9-1893, p. 14. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/brush-creek-news-nov-09-1893-p-14/

Good, Captain Warren and Michael Burwell. Alaska Shipwrecks 1750-2015. Published by Warren Good, 2018. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=ArpqDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA. “Sealer Mary Brown Probably Lost.” 1-13-1894, p. 1. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/seattle-post-intelligencer-jan-13-1894-p-1/

The Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “A Total Wreck.” 3-13-1894, p. 1. Accessed 11-10-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bakersfield-daily-californian-mar-13-1894-p-1/

The Daily Telegram, Nanaimo, British Columbia. “Their Fate Will Never Be Known.” 1-31-1894, p. 1. Accessed 11-10-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/nanaimo-daily-telegram-jan-31-1894-p-1/

The Morning Call, San Francisco. “After the Mary Brown.” 1-19-1894, p. 10. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/san-francisco-morning-call-jan-19-1894-p-10/

The Morning Call, San Francisco. “Searching for a Missing Sealer.” 1-21-1894, p. 9. Accessed 11-10-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/san-francisco-morning-call-jan-21-1894-p-9/

The Record-Union, Sacramento, CA. “Searched in Vain.” 1-31-1894, p. 1. Accessed 11-10-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sacramento-record-union-jan-31-1894-p-1/

Victoria Daily Colonist, BC. “The Lost ‘Mary Brown.’” 1-4-1894, p. 2. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/victoria-daily-british-colonist-jan-04-1894-p-2/

Victoria Daily Colonist, BC. “The Missing ‘Mary Brown.’” 11-18-1893, p. 5. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/victoria-daily-colonist-nov-18-1893-p-5/

Victoria Daily Colonist, BC, Canada. “Where is the ‘Mary Brown?’” 11-17-1893, p. 5. Accessed 11-9-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/victoria-daily-british-colonist-nov-17-1893-p-5/

—         2,000  Garrison, et al.  Historic Shipwrecks…of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. 1989, F-7.

—      < 2,000  Gunn, Angus M.  Encyclopedia of Disasters (Vol. 1). Greenwood, 2007, p. 158.

—         2,000  Hebert/Jarrell/Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest…[US] Hurricanes… 1993, p. 80.

—         2,000  Jarrell et al.  The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense U. S. Hurricanes…, 2001.

—         2,000  Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Houghton Mifflin, 1982, p. 202.

—         2,000  Rappaport, Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994.  1995.

—         2,000  U.S. Army Signal Corps. Monthly Weather Review,  V. XXI, N.10, Oct 1893, 272.

–1000-2,000  Dunn and Miller.  Atlantic Hurricanes, 1964, p. 320.

—         1,800  Dunn and Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes, 1964, p. 213.

—         1,800  Rappaport, Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994.  1995.

—         1,800  Sumner. “The North Atlantic Hurricane of Sep 8-16, 1944.” MWR, 72/9, 187.

—       ~1,700  Blanchard tally based on breakouts for AL, LA, MS and unspecified maritime.

—         1,607  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. New Orleans, 1893, 59.

–1100-1,400  Blake, et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense US Cyclones…, 2007.[1]

—            799  Heidorn.  “Louisiana’s Great Hurricane of 1722,” 2005.[2]

—  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. New Orleans: Hopkins, 1893.

 

Breakout of Fatalities by State

 

Alabama:       (                12)

—  7  Gibson, Christine. “Our 10 Greatest Natural Disasters.” American Heritage, 57/4 2006.

–12  Mobile.  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

 

Louisiana:      (1,568->2,000)

–>2,000  Barnes, Jay. Florida’s Hurricane History. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1998, p. 74.

—  2,000  Gibson, Christine. “Our 10 Greatest Natural Disasters.” American Heritage, 57/4 2006.

—<2,000  Heidorn, Keith C. “Louisiana’s Great Hurricane of 1722.” Weather Doctor, 10-1-2005.

—  2,000  Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Houghton Mifflin, 1982, p. 202.

—  1,568  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. New Orleans, 1893, p. 59.

 

—       7  Barthelemy.      Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—     63  Bayou Andre (Chinese). Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 57.

—     40  Bayou Challon. Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       3  Bayou Chato.    Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—     24  Bayou Cook.     Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 57.

— >150  “Bayou Cook Country.”  Falls, Rose. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 32

—     11  Bayou Dufon.   Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—   100  Bayou Lafond.  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 57.

—     75  Bayou Shute.    Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, 57.

—     50  Bird Island.      Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 57.

—       1  Black Bay.        Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       2  Bolivar Point.   Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—     20  Cabanage          Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—   100  Chandeleur Island.  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   779  Cheniere Caminada.  Grimeaux in Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…. 1893, 8.

—   822         “                  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 57.

—       1  Devil’s Flat.      Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       3  Empire Mill.     Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       3  Faesterling’s.    Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       6  Fort St. Philip.  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       4  Grand Bank.      Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       3  Grand Bay.        Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—     16  Grand Bayou.    Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

–28-30  Grand Isle.        Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 17.

—     27         “                 Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—     20  Grand Lake.      Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       4  Grand Prairie.   Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 28.

—       2  Happy Jack.      Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       4  Hospital Bay.    Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       1  Nairn.                Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       4  Nicholls Postoffice. Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, 58

—       2  Old Quarantine. Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       3  Oyster Bayou.   Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—     10  Pearl River.       Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       5  Point Pleasant.  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       1  Port Eads.          Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       5  Razor Island.     Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       2  Riceland.           Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       3  Schooner Jambon.[3]  Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach the City.” 10-7-1893, 6.

—     17  near Shell Beach. Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p.58.

—     15  Simon Island.    Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       3  Sixty Mile Point.  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p.58.

—       7  Socola’s.           Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—     12  St. Malo.           Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       1  Stockfelths.       Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 58.

—       1  The Jetties.        Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 31.

—   [4]3  Tropical Bend.  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death. 1893, p. 24.

 

Mississippi:  (           50-59)

—   2  Bay St. Louis.                Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   4        “       Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm Echoes in Bay St. Louis.” 10-14-1893.[5]

—   1  Biloxi.                           Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.[6]

—   2  Pass Christian.  Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…in Bay St. Louis.” 10-14-1893.

—>18  Pearlington (Crew of Schooners Alice McGuigin, Angeline, New Union, T. M. Favre.)

—   3  Bark Rosella Smith.         Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   4  Brig      “         “    Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…in Bay St….” 10-14-1893.[7]

—   3  Lugger Raffaeje-Romano. Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…” 10-14-1893.[8]

— ?4  Lugger Rosalie of Biloxi.  Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893.[9]

—   1  Schooner Addie Eads.         Daily Picayune. “Sixteen Lives Lost…” 10-5-1893, 6.[10]

—   6  Schooner Alice McGuigin.  Daily Picayune. “Sixteen Lives Lost…” 10-5-1893, 6.[11]

—   7         “            “                    Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   7         “            “                    US Life-Saving Service.  Annual Report…1895,” 357. 1896.[12]

—   6  Schooner Angeline.     Daily Picayune. “Sixteen Lives Lost…Rigolets…” 10-5-1893, 6.[13]

—   6         “             “              Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   7         “             “               U.S. Life-Saving Service.  Annual Report…1895,” 357. 1896.

—   2  Schooner Centennial.   Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 59.

—   1         “             “              U.S. Life-Saving Service.  Annual Report…1895,” 357. 1896.[14]

—   2  Schooner Clementine.  Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893.[15]

—   3  Schooner Della of Biloxi. Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893.

–2-6  Schooner Eliza B.[16]    Daily Picayune. “Sixteen Lives Lost…Rigolets…” 10-5-1893, 6.

—   7  Schooner Guy Freightman. Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893[17]

—   3  Schooner Idona of Biloxi. Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893.

—   6  Schooner New Union.   Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   5         “              “              U.S. Life-Saving Service.  Annual Report…1895,” 357. 1896.

— ~5?  Schooner T. M. Favre.  Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay…” 10-14-1893.[18]

 

Other Maritime: (        67)

—  1  Barge Boss.                      Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 59.

—  1  Barge Hero.                     Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—  6  Bark Annie E. B.               Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—  1  Lugger Innocente.            Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach the City.” 10-7-1893, 6.

—  3  Lugger Sunny.                  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 59.

—  3  Lugger Three Brothers.    Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

–15  Lugger[19] Young American.  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—  3                   “           “[20]     Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach the City.” 10-7-1893, 6.

—  4  Rosalia (type not noted)[21]Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach…City.” 10-7-1893, 6

—  3  Schooner Bertha.              Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 59.

—  5  Schooner Pecourt.            Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 59.

—  5  Schooner Premier.            Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 59.

—  2  Sloop Alice.                       Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—  2  Sloop Bertie.                     Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach the City.” 10-7-1893, 6.

—  1  Sloop Godelida.[22]          Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach the City.” 10-7-1893, 6.

—  2  Sloop Goesana.[23]           Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach the City.” 10-7-1893, 6.

—  6  Sloop Laura B.                  Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—  4  Unknown Lugger.              Daily Picayune, 10-6-1893, p. 6, col. 7.[24]

—  3  Unknown Schooner.         Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 59.

 

Maritime Previously Noted Within A State Listing:         (56-60)

—   3  Bark Rosella Smith.         Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   4  Brig      “         “    Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…in Bay St….” 10-14-1893.[25]

—   3  Lugger Raffaeje-Romano. Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…” 10-14-1893.[26]

— ?4  Lugger Rosalie of Biloxi.  Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893.[27]

—   1  Schooner Addie Eads.         Daily Picayune. “Sixteen Lives Lost…” 10-5-1893, 6.[28]

—   6  Schooner Alice McGuigin.  Daily Picayune. “Sixteen Lives Lost…” 10-5-1893, 6.[29]

—   7         “            “                    Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   7         “            “                    US Life-Saving Service.  Annual Report…1895,” 357. 1896.[30]

—   6  Schooner Angeline.     Daily Picayune. “Sixteen Lives Lost…Rigolets…” 10-5-1893, 6.[31]

—   6         “             “              Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   7         “             “               U.S. Life-Saving Service.  Annual Report…1895,” 357. 1896.

—   2  Schooner Centennial.   Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 59.

—   1         “             “              U.S. Life-Saving Service.  Annual Report…1895,” 357. 1896.[32]

—   2  Schooner Clementine.  Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893.[33]

—   3  Schooner Della of Biloxi. Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893.

–2-6  Schooner Eliza B.[34]    Daily Picayune. “Sixteen Lives Lost…Rigolets…” 10-5-1893, 6.

—   7  Schooner Guy Freightman. Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893[35]

—   3  Schooner Idona of Biloxi. Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay.” 10-14-1893.

—   3  Schooner Jambon.[36]  Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach the City.” 10-7-1893, 6.

—   6  Schooner New Union.   Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada…Wind of Death. 1893, 58.

—   5         “              “              U.S. Life-Saving Service.  Annual Report…1895,” 357. 1896.

— ~5?  Schooner T. M. Favre.  Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm…Bay…” 10-14-1893.[37]

 

Total Maritime:         (~123-127)

 

Narrative Information

 

Barnes:  “The hurricane season of 1893 was one of the most tragic in U.S. history.  In that year, six hurricanes made landfall in the United States between June and October.  Four battered the northeastern states with high winds, heavy rains, and flash floods.  Two great storms also came ashore on American soil – one from the Atlantic in August and one from the Gulf in October.  Each of these two storms would be responsible for killing over 2,000 people, making the 1893 hurricane season the second most deadly in the United States since record keeping began….

 

“The year’s other deadly hurricane landed near New Orleans on October 2, with a…destructive storm tide.  In Louisiana another 2,000 lives were lost.  The wind was thought to be at least 100 mph, strong enough to destroy all of the Weather Bureau’s wind instruments in the region.  Damages were severe for many miles east of the storm; Mobile and Pensacola lost waterfront properties, and railways were washed away.  According to E. B. Garriott’s account in West Indian Hurricanes, ‘The storm was accompanied by a tidal wave which engulfed everything before it, explaining the great loss of life reported, one local account placing it as high as 2,000. The canning interests suffered severely, and there was immense destruction to shipping, the property losses in the aggregate footing up millions of dollars.  There was great suffering among the living in many localities, and in some instances, as on the islands, it was necessary to use for food dead animals and poultry that had perished in the storm.’”  (Barnes, Jay. Florida’s Hurricane History. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1998, pp. 74-75.)

 

Dunn and Miller: “A hurricane of strength 4 struck the area southeast of present-day New Orleans.  This hurricane left behind a trail of enormous destruction, including the death of at least 2,000.  On the morning of October 2, 1893, Hurricane Chenier Caminanda, with winds peaking at a speed of 135 mph, struck the area southeast of present-day New Orleans.  The hurricane then curved eastward across southeast Louisiana and turned northward over Alabama….

 

“…on October 1, a hurricane moved between New Orleans and Port Eads on a northeast-ward course, and damage on the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts was reported as phenomenal.  Reports tell of a tidal wave which engulfed everything, killing 1,800 persons..  In savagery it appears to bear some resemblance to the Labor Day storm on the Florida Keys in 1935.”  (Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA:  Louisiana State University Press, 1964, p. 213.)

 

Falls:  “Cheniere Caminada, often spoken of as an island, is really a peninsular, jutting into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the west of Grand Isle, and joined to the mainland by a marshy isthmus which is often covered by water.  It is all sand and sea marsh and rises but a few feet above the gulf. There is no vegetation on it save a few stunted bushes, and its only inhabitants are the fishermen and their families. Although less than a mile wide and but about two miles and

a half long its population numbered on that fateful day 1471 souls. [Falls 1893, 6]

 

“….When morning broke and the sun again looked down on the storm-swept strip of sand, it shown upon but five houses, all that was left of the five hundred that dotted the peninsular the evening before.  One of the few survivors was Pere Grimaux, the Roman Catholic priest of Cheniere Caminada. The account he gave a reporter of the destruction of his parish and the havoc in his flock was graphic and terrible The good priest said:

 

“The population of Cheniere Caminada island was 1471. Of these 696 only are now living; 779 are dead. Historic Cheniere Caminada is no more. The first effects of the storm were felt between 7 and 8 p. m. on Sunday. Everyone apprehended that something terrible was about to happen. The fishermen foreseeing that a serious storm was evident, hastened to beach their craft near their houses. But those precautions availed not, for the wind blew in fitful gusts, increasing in strength and velocity every minute, coming from the south. At 7:30 p.m. huge waves were madly lashing the shore, and in a few minutes they had attained a height of six feet, and later on of eight feet. There was one avenue of safety, and that was to seek the upper stories of the houses, but even that chance for escape was lost, when the wind and waves combined shook the frail habitations, which rocked to and fro and creaked and groaned under the repeated attacks of the furious elements. Soon the houses were being demolished, wrecked and carried away. The wind shifted to the southeast, and for hours shrieked with redoubled fury. Above the thundering voice of the hurricane could be heard the despairing cries, the groans and the frantic appeals for help of the unfortunate victims.

 

“I was in the upper story of the presbytery, holding on to the sill of an open window, powerless to do anything and exposed to the terrific blasts and hearing the cries of agony of my poor dying parishioners. A more furious attack of the storm broke off one-half of the roof. Notwithstanding the wind, I managed to light a lantern, which I displayed at the window, to serve as a beacon for those who might be fortunate enough to swim or to be cast towards the presbytery. Then I leaned forward and holding up my hands over the waste of waters, I offered a fervent prayer to the Father of all and begged of him to be merciful in his judgment on the souls of so many of his children who were at that moment dying in such a sudden and terrible manner….

 

“Then there was a sudden ominous lull in the storm. I felt that the worst was yet to come. It was then about 11 o’clock and I saw blacker and denser masses of clouds, swiftly rolling from the southeast towards our doomed island. There was something really appalling in that deceptive column.  However, those few minutes of rest were precious and saved the lives of many people.

 

“Brave, sturdy men went out in skiffs and rowed from house to house, taking in such of the inhabitants as had escaped the first onslaught of the tempest. Many of these people sought shelter in two or three houses known to be solidly built, and this proved eventually their salvation, and in that way nearly 700 persons survived that fearful night.

 

“During the lull I looked out of the window and saw a young boy about 11 years old, clinging to a piece of timber and floating toward the presbytery. I called out to the men in the skiffs and told them to save that young life. But fate decreed otherwise. Just then the storm burst again with terrific violence and carried off the little fellow, to be seen no more. The wind had shifted and now blew from the west. Whatever of life and property had been spared by the south wind was destroyed by the gale from the west. Trees were snapped like reeds; houses were wrecked in an instant, and soon the Cheniere ceased to exist.  Out of 450 houses only four remained, and these were filled with crowds of trembling, despairing people, bewailing not only their own sad, pitiful plight, but crying out the names of loved ones carried away by the merciless floods. All around and about me I could see desolation, death, ruin and wreck. Houses floated by and were seen no more. The church soon followed, I remained alone.

 

“As far as I could see there was not a vestige of any human habitation. Under my window the seething waters flowed madly on and I could see amidst the wreckage and the seaweed a number of bodies floating on and on out of view. I could not count them. It seemed to me like an endless, ghastly, horrible procession of spectres. Unable to bear that terrible sight any more, I closed my eyes and leaning my forehead on my hand, realized that everything was inextricably lost. I never dreamed that I would live through that horrible ordeal.

 

“Again I heard those heart-rending cries. Looking on by a strong effort of will power, I saw floating past women and children, some of the women holding in their arms their infants, while some of those unfortunate young ones were tightly grasping the dresses of their mothers. Not a few were clutching even the arms and tresses of the women. Ever and anon one of the little victims, apparently worn out, would release his hold and be quickly carried away by the raging waters after a last frantic adieu.

 

“A large number of people were saved by holding on to floating debris, such as parts of roofs, timbers, etc. Some of them were considerably bruised and injured, but their lives were spared, and when morning dawned and the storm had somewhat abated, they painfully found their way to houses in which their relatives and friends had found refuge during that eventful night….

 

“On Monday about 3 a. m. the storm was over. My sister and myself knelt down and thanked the sacred heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Good Help for our safety. We had invoked them in our hour of peril and to them we owed our deliverance.  At day break three men came to the presbytery and gave us a ladder to enable us to descend . Then a weary walk began. We waded in water waist deep, our feet sinking into the soil, thus adding to our discomfort and thus impeding our progress. We were on our way to succor the unfortunate people. Not a word was spoken; we looked at each other; we understood what was to be done; tears welled up to our eyes as we went along beholding new and untold miseries at every step.

 

“Monday and Tuesday we hardly rested, being occupied in burying the dead. More than 400 corpses were unburied.  Many could not be found for they had been carried out to the

gulf. On Tuesday, more affliction. We began to feel the want of fresh water: then we realized also that we had no provisions.  The excitement and the exertion in giving burial to the hundreds of dead people had made us forgetful of our own physical wants. Now we felt exhausted and at night we were completely prostrated. The odor emanating from the dead bodies, both of man and beast, made the situation all the more unbearable

 

“The arrival of two boats laden with ice was hailed with joy. We lost no time in melting the ice and mixing it with a small proportion of salt water so as to increase the quantity.  Other boats came from the city with provisions donated by the charitable people of New Orleans.  This relief was timely, for we had saved nothing at all from the destructive storm.

 

“Houses had been swept away, luggers, schooners, boats of all description had been lost. We could only lay claim to a few tattered bits of clothing.

 

“The people of Cheniere and Grand Isle fervently hope and trust that the kind-hearted people of this State will hasten to send them the relief that is so imperatively and immediately needed.

 

“Most of the inhabitants of the Cheniere are very poor people, fishermen, whose only worldly possessions were their huts and their boats. These they have lost and how will they be able to earn their living? Who will come to their aid and help them to rebuild their humble abodes?”  [Father Grimeaux in Falls 1893, pp. 8-11.]

 

“….Fortunately most of the summer guests had left Grand Isle before the great storm, and this alone is the reason why the mortality there did not nearly approach that at ill-fated Cheniere Caminada.  Had the storm occurred a month earlier, its consequences would have been appalling; for when the large summer hotels were wrecked by the winds and their timbers tossed about by the angry waters, had they been filled, as they were during August and September, with women and children, those who would have escaped could have been counted on the fingers….

 

“When the storm struck Grand Isle on that terrible Sunday night there were about three hundred people on the island, most of them permanent residents. Of these only some twenty-eight or thirty were killed, but many were badly injured and all suffered severely for food and water before the arrival of the relief boats. They retire early at Grand Isle, and when the tempest came nearly all the inhabitants were in bed and many were asleep. Two sailors, Ertivez and Mergovich, who were up and out of doors gave a graphic description of the scene. They said the wind had been rather high in the afternoon and increased to a gale when night fell. About ten o’clock they went out of the house. The storm was then seemingly at its height and they became afraid the island would be overwhelmed, and they determined to try and escape in a boat to the mainland.  They ran to a cove where the boat was beached and worked amid the roar of tempest, the crash of falling trees and shattered houses and the thundering of the water on the shore, to launch their frail craft. Then, said they, there came a lull. For an instant that seemed like an age, there was perfect quiet, and then the warring of the elements began again with redoubled force.  The wind had chopped around and now blew in almost a directly opposite direction from its former course. The first blow had forced the waters in from the gulf and had set a strong current in shore. The second blow forced back this water and with it that of the bay and the bayous behind the islands, and started a counter current running out to sea. “When these two mighty masses of water met in the gulf off shore a wave was created whose foam decked crest towered thirty feet in the air, and which rushed upon the devoted island.

 

“By the flash of the lightning which illumined the inky darkness these sailors saw this tidal wave sweeping down like the besom of destruction. What could puny human might do? The sand hills which had been counted upon as a protection were no more than so many straws in the path of this awful wave. It tore them as the incoming tide destroys the sand piles the children build in their play. It swept over them as if they had been but ripples in the sand left by a retiring tide and rushed to complete the work of destruction the wind had commenced. The island was engulfed. Houses were washed away, cattle were drowned, trees were torn from the ground and tossed like straws in its boiling surface . The railroad track leading from one of the hotels down to the beach was utterly destroyed: the ties were torn from the ground and splintered as if by axes in the hands of a thousand woodmen; the rails were wrenched apart and, borne like corks by the angry waters, and tossed hundreds of yards away, some of them wrapped and twined around trees, as if some mighty Vulcan had done it in sportive derision of his human imitators…. [Falls 1893, 16-17, 19.]

 

 

“On the Mississippi….At Tropical Bend [LA] occurred the first loss of life on the river. Here several colored people lost their lives, some from drowning, but most from flying timbers.  [Falls 1893, p. 24.]

 

“The only town of any size on the Mississippi river below New Orleans is Pointe-a-la-Hache, the seat of justice of Plaquemines parish. The ravages of the storm here were frightful.  Nearly every house in the little town was badly damaged; many of them were blown down. Its three churches were unroofed, their windows were destroyed, their doors blown in, and they were deluged with water. The jail was unroofed, and the courthouse, just finished at a cost of $16,000, was badly injured; the slates were torn from the roof, the doors and windows were smashed and the massive clock tower with its costly clock, was thrown to the ground a mass of broken bricks. As the demon of the storm shrieked through the place, the air was filled with flying debris; bricks and timbers were hurled through the air as if they had been feathers and straw. The terrified inhabitants knew not what to do; the crashing of houses warned them that death lurked for them in the dwellings that sheltered them, while the missies of destruction which hurtled through the darkness of the night without were almost certain death to anyone who sought to escape in the open air….  [Falls 1893, p. 24, 26.]

 

“The Grand Prairie extends for a great distance below Bohemia, and also comprises what is known as the Union settlement.  This place contains about 100 inhabitants, not more, and but three cabins were left standing.  Four casualties occurred here. The names of the dead are Wily Anderson, a son of John Perrot, a daughter of Henry Johnson, one unknown man…. [Falls 1893, 28.]

 

“All along the Mississippi, on both banks, from Pointe-a-la-Hache to the Jetties, nearly a hundred miles, were strewn the wrecks of boats and luggers, the debris of houses, the bodies of animals, and the ghastly corpses of men and women and little children; while over it all nature, as if in shame of her own deeds, had spread a thick mantle of sea weed swept in from the Gulf of Mexico and a pall of the long marsh grass torn from the prairie which she had scourged in her fury.

 

“On either side of the Mississippi river, in the marsh land between the river and the gulf, is a stretch of country threaded by numerous bayous, some known by names familiar to all, some with only a local nomenclature, and others so small that they are not deemed worthy of the dignity of a distinct appellation.  Along these bayous, great and small, were settlements, places which the hardy fishermen called “home,” where the smile of the wife and the prattle of the babes greeted their home-coming after the day of toil and often of danger. That section to the east of the river is known as “the Louisiana Marsh,” while that to the west, comprising Bayou Cook, Bayou Shute, Grand Bayou, Grand Lake, Bayou Chato and many others whose names would mean nothing to the reader, was known by the generic name of “the Bayou Cook Country.”

 

“Here, the storm worked awful havoc on both life and property.  While the loss of life was not so severe as at Cheniere Caminada, nor as great in proportion as it was at Bayou Andre (where none escaped), yet a death roll of over a hundred and fifty sent mourning and desolation into every household, save where there were no living left to mourn the dead.”  [Falls 1893, 32.]

 

(Falls, Rose C. Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death: The Story of the Storm in Louisiana. New Orleans: Hopkins’ Printing Office, 1893.)

 

Gibson:  “4. Louisiana Hurricane, 1893, 2,000-plus dead.

 

“The Weather Bureau in New Orleans predicted light showers for October 1, 1893, but as morning turned to afternoon, drizzles turned to downpour, accompanied by an ominous, distant thunder that, as it menaced ever closer, brought stronger and stronger winds. Then, at 6:30 p.m., propelled by gusts whose speeds couldn’t even be measured (they toppled or destroyed all the instruments in their path), 50-foot waves crashed above Chandeleur Island. Two hundred people crowded into the lantern room of the Port Pontchartrain lighthouse as the streets of New Orleans became rivers marked by listing sign-posts.

 

“Many of the 2,000 killed that day were poor fishermen and their families; the storm is un-officially known as the Cheniere Caminada hurricane, after the island that lost 779 of its 1,471 residents. As the chapel bell tolled in the gale, the hurricane razed all but four of the fishing village’s houses and most of its vegetation, leaving the land empty save for the bodies of more than half the population. “They were killed by the sheer pressure and fury of the wind,” Scribner’s magazine reported the next February. “In the settlements where the storm was worst, not a single child survived, and very few women….in the center of the storm — where 200 fishermen dwelt — not a soul escaped.”

 

“Those who did survive huddled under collapsed roofs or clung onto anything that floated. One man was rescued 100 miles away eight days later, rafting on a piece of debris.

 

“Almost immediately relief boats sailed from New Orleans with supplies and drinking water, although not soon enough for one resident of Buras, Louisiana, who wrote the Daily Picayune : ‘In the name of the residents and greatly suffering persons of the 4th and 10th wards of this parish of Plaquemines, I call upon you in the name of humanity and aid us….The whole people here are destitute….The few stores…are badly damaged and what they have left…is nowhere sufficient to suffice the wants of sufferers. Without exaggeration…I will say that if prompt aid is not given, the many sufferers may have to resort to terrible means to obtain food for the starving.’

 

“Once the dead of Cheniere Caminada were buried in shallow trenches—or, when room ran out, burned where they lay—the survivors abandoned the island. (Some came back years later, only to be annihilated by a second hurricane in 1915.) All told, the storm caused $5 million in damage, ruining apple and rice crops, sinking 285 ships, washing out railroads, and even flooding the distant Patent Office in Washington, D.C. The hurricane, having killed seven more people in Alabama as it continued northeast from Louisiana, finally died in the ocean off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on October 5.”  (Gibson, Christine. “Our 10 Greatest Natural Disasters.” American Heritage, Vol. 57, No. 4,  Aug-Sep 2006.)

 

Heidorn:  “….In 1893, the Cheniere Caminanda Hurricane of early October hit a region still reeling from a hurricane strike in early September. This storm, so named after the town Cheniere Caminanda where 779 died, struck suddenly on 1 October. Estimates of winds at 100 mph (160 km/h) and a measured pressure of 28.65 in Hg (970.2 hPa/mb) in the storm (though not necessarily the eye) would rank it as a Category 2 hurricane (Saffir-Simpson Scale). The estimates of fatalities have been given as high as 2000, though most lists of deadly US natural disasters do not include it.”  (Heidorn, Keith C. “Louisiana’s Great Hurricane of 1722.”  The Weather Doctor, 10-1-2005. At: http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/events/lahurr1722.htm )

 

Ludlum: “The Louisiana bayou country was submerged by a storm wave surging from the Gulf of Mexico on October 1-2, 1893, and 2000 people died.”  (Ludlum 1982, 202)

 

USA Signal Corps: “This so-called Gulf hurricane advanced suddenly and unexpectedly northeastward over southeastern Louisiana on the afternoon of the 1^st.  The early history of this storm…is almost entirely unknown to us at present….The observer at New Orleans, La., reports:

 

October 1^st, a severe and destructive storm began about 6:30 p.m., continuing through the night.  Much damage was caused throughout the city.  About 2,000 lives were lost along the Gulf coast south and east of this section.  The storm was severest in the Louisiana Delta and in the Plaquemines Parish, where it was attended with great loss of life and property.  A velocity of 48 miles per hour was recorded in the city at 8:20 p.m., after which the record was lost, owing to the anemometer getting out of order.  A velocity of 65 miles was attained at West End, when the instrument became unserviceable.

 

“Mr. Kerkam, as Secretary of the Louisiana State Weather Service reports:

 

No complete record of the wind velocity or rainfall of the storm can be obtained, since all instruments in the path of the hurricane were blown down, and in the case of Port Eads destroyed.  It is evident, however, that the wind must have blown at the rate of 100 miles per hour in the vicinity of Pointe-a-la-Hache and along the islands on the coast.  While the wind worked great havoc, yet the immense wave of water that swept over the devastated section engulfed and swept away everything in its path.  It is probable that the center of this hurricane passed midway between New Orleans and Port Eads on its northeast course, since the path of greatest destruction was in that neighborhood.

 

“It is said that over 1,500 lives were lost on the coast by drowning; the destruction of property, and the orange, rice, and other crops was very complete.

 

“Crossing Louisiana in a northeasterly direction, the center struck the coast of Mississippi a little west of the Alabama boundary line….

 

“The observer at Mobile reports:

 

Rain began 8.25 p.m. of the 1st, with rapidly falling barometer, and by 11 a.m. of the 2d a heavy southeast gale was blowing. The extreme velocity of the wind several times reached 80 miles. The rain continued throughout the day, ending at 7:30 p.m.  At. 2.15 p. m. the barometer began to rise, and at 2.30 began to rise as rapidly as it had fallen. Great damage was done to property. The prostrated trees lay in one general direction from southeast and south. The water was 4 inches higher than in 1852, the severest of any previous storm recorded. In the marsh truck farm section nearly every house was swept away, and farms were destroyed in Mobile County. Seven lives were reported lost.”

 

“The observer at Pensacola reports:

 

October 3d, a severe storm struck this place about 4.45 a. m.  Rain began at 5.20, accompanied by high wind attaining a maximum velocity of 66 miles southwest. at 8.46 p. m. From 6 to 10 a. m. the average hourly velocity was 34 miles, and from 10 a. m. to noon 40 miles per hour were registered. Considerable damage was done, the greatest occurring along the water front.  Railroad communication was entirely cut off by washouts, and great damage was done to shipping.

 

“The hurricane center moved slowly northeast over Georgia to Cape Hatteras, and seems to have been dissipated on the 5th; violent winds, heavy rains, and local storms attended its progress through the south Atlantic states.  The observer at Savannah, Ga., reports:

 

October 3d, rain began early morning and continued at intervals until 6.50 p. m. Between 12.30 and 1 p.m. a funnel-shaped cloud was reported about one mile east of the station. It was composed of innumerate streamers extending downward to within a few feet of the ground. Its rotary motion was from right to left. The time elapsing from its appearance to disappearance was about 4 minutes, and its course was from southeast to northwest.  Debris was thrown toward the west and northwest.  Heavy rain preceded the cloud.  The stern of an iron-clad steamship, moored at the wharf, was blown 20 feet.”

 

(USA Signal Corps. Monthly Weather Review, “Oct 1893,” p. 272.)

 

US Life-Saving Service: “The schooners Alice McGuigin, with a crew of seven, Angeline, with a crew of seven, and New Union, with a crew of five, of Shieldsboro, Mississippi, which sailed from Pearlington to Ship Island Mississippi, were lost, with all on board, in the gale of October 2, 1893.”  (US Life-Saving Service.  Annual Report…1895,” 357. 1896.)

 

Sources

 

Hebert, Paul J., J.D. Jarrell, Max Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes of This Century (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS-NHC-31). Miami, FL:  National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Feb 1993, 41 pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Authors note “Total including offshore losses near 2000.” (p. 7, Table 2 Note c)

[2] Heidorn states that 779 died in the town of Cheniere Caminanda.

[3] “Schooner Jambon was capsized between the lake and bayou Johnson, and the crew of three men drowned.

[4] Our number — Falls writes that “several” lives were lost.

[5] “Four men from Bay St. Louis were drowned and two [additional] bodies found on the Bay beach.  The men drowned were named Capt. Sentelli, Mart Torsi, Malestesta and Frank Ergo.  The bodies found here were that of an unknown colored man and Chas. Charlot, col., from Pass Christian.” Transcribed in Hancock County Historical Society, Bay Saint Louis, MS. “Disasters in Hancock County.”

[6] Possibly a reference to William Shepherd:  “The Louisville and Nashville railroad bridge between Ocean Springs and Biloxi is a complete wreck, nothing being left but the pilings and the iron draw.  Wm. Shepherd, one of the bridge tenders, was swept off and drowned on the morning of the storm.”  (Sea Coast Echo, Bay St. Louis. “Storm Echoes in Bay St. Louis.” 10-14-1893; transcribed in: Hancock County Historical Society, Bay Saint Louis, MS. “Disasters in Hancock County.”

[7] “The brig ‘Rosella Smith,’ belonging to Capt. John Poitevent, Henry Howard and three sailors lost.”

[8] “…wrecked off Biloxi. Laivanore Carmelite and John Marl were the only two saved out of five aboard.”

[9] Crew size not noted.  We guestimate four in that this may be the same boat referenced by the Daily Picayune as the Rosalia, “lost in sight of Bush Island,” with a crew of four. (Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach the City.” 10-7-1893, 6.)

[10] The captain, name not known.

[11] “Captain Stephen Peters and five sailors…” Elsewhere in the article it is written that “The schooners Alice McGuigin and Angeline have been discovered bottom upwards, three or four miles from the mouth of Pearl River.  The names of those supposed to be lost are Anderson Thompson, Tobias Young, Samuel Young, Dan Johnson, Albert Burton, Steve Peters, Cord Galloway, Eli Galloway, Henry Galloway, Ed Grant, Louis Banks, Wm. Delavery, Guy Freightman, John Walker, Perry Harris, John Baker, Eli Peters, Allen Peters, Philip Peters, Elijah Williams, Geo. Scott, and two young men from New Orleans, all colored.  One of the last mentioned is supposed to be named Manuel Munro, and is a cigar-maker by trade. The steamer Dial has just arrived from Ship Island, bringing the bodies of two of the crew of the schooner Alice McGuigin and one of the schooner Angeline.  The drowned men are John Walker, John Baker and Ed Grant.  The captain also reports two other drowned men picked up by him, one white and one colored.”

[12] Writes that “The schooners Alice McGuigin, with a crew of seven, Angeline, with a crew of seven, and New Union, with a crew of five, of Shieldsboro, Mississippi, which sailed from Pearlington [MS] to Ship Island, Mississippi, were lost, with all on board, in the gale of October 2, 1893.

[13]  “The Rigolets is a 12.9 kilometer long strait in Louisiana…and follows a generally eastward course [from Lake Pontchartrain] to Lake Borgne which is a lagoon in the Gulf of Mexico.” (Wikipedia. “Rigolets.” 6-4-2013 update.) Article text notes that the loss was “near the Rigolets,” and that the dead were Captain Stephen Peters and 5 sailors.

[14] “Of the lives lost, reported above, one was lost from the schooner Centennial, of Shieldsboro, Mississippi, which was wrecked by striking the wharf at Waveland, Mississippi, October 1, 1893.

[15] Identified as a Biloxi boat which was found capsized “with crews all gone.” The bodies of Capt. Wm. H. Patton and Hugh miller, of Biloxi, were found.

[16] Our guestimate based on the statement that “The four schooners above named [Alice McGuigin, Angeline, New Union, and the Eliza B] had on board, altogether, twenty-three men, and it is supposed that all are lost.”  Accounts vary on the fatalities on the first three named vessels.  We add the low and high figures and subtract from 23.

[17] A Pearlington boat; “Jno Delavrey, captain; Guy Freightman, Jno. Walker, Jno. Baker, Perry Harris, and two unknown New Orleans young men were lost.”

[18] A Pearlington, MS boat, “found bottom up; crew lost.” (Given crew size of other Pearlington boats lost the figure of five appears to us a reasonable approximation.)

[19] A sailing boat type traditionally used for fishing. (Wikipedia. “Lugger.” 4-26-2013 modification.)

[20] This article notes that the boat, identified by name, but not by type, was “of Biloxi.”

[21] “…lost in sight of Bush Island.”

[22] An oyster boat – captain lost, two crew lived.

[23] Writes that “Captain Mertel and his son were lost…” off Clinton.

[24] “One lugger was found in the marshes with four dead men lashed to the rigging.  They could not be identified.” Transcribed in: Hancock County Historical Society, Bay Saint Louis, MS. “Disasters in Hancock County.”

[25] “The brig ‘Rosella Smith,’ belonging to Capt. John Poitevent, Henry Howard and three sailors lost.”

[26] “…wrecked off Biloxi. Laivanore Carmelite and John Marl were the only two saved out of five aboard.”

[27] Crew size not noted.  We guestimate four in that this may be the same boat referenced by the Daily Picayune as the Rosalia, “lost in sight of Bush Island,” with a crew of four. (Daily Picayune. “Storm Survivors Reach the City.” 10-7-1893, 6.)

[28] The captain, name not known.

[29] “Captain Stephen Peters and five sailors…” Elsewhere in the article it is written that “The schooners Alice McGuigin and Angeline have been discovered bottom upwards, three or four miles from the mouth of Pearl River.  The names of those supposed to be lost are Anderson Thompson, Tobias Young, Samuel Young, Dan Johnson, Albert Burton, Steve Peters, Cord Galloway, Eli Galloway, Henry Galloway, Ed Grant, Louis Banks, Wm. Delavery, Guy Freightman, John Walker, Perry Harris, John Baker, Eli Peters, Allen Peters, Philip Peters, Elijah Williams, Geo. Scott, and two young men from New Orleans, all colored.  One of the last mentioned is supposed to be named Manuel Munro, and is a cigar-maker by trade. The steamer Dial has just arrived from Ship Island, bringing the bodies of two of the crew of the schooner Alice McGuigin and one of the schooner Angeline.  The drowned men are John Walker, John Baker and Ed Grant.  The captain also reports two other drowned men picked up by him, one white and one colored.”

[30] Writes that “The schooners Alice McGuigin, with a crew of seven, Angeline, with a crew of seven, and New Union, with a crew of five, of Shieldsboro, Mississippi, which sailed from Pearlington [MS] to Ship Island, Mississippi, were lost, with all on board, in the gale of October 2, 1893.

[31]  “The Rigolets is a 12.9 kilometer long strait in Louisiana…and follows a generally eastward course [from Lake Pontchartrain] to Lake Borgne which is a lagoon in the Gulf of Mexico.” (Wikipedia. “Rigolets.” 6-4-2013 update.) Article text notes that the loss was “near the Rigolets,” and that the dead were Captain Stephen Peters and 5 sailors.

[32] “Of the lives lost, reported above, one was lost from the schooner Centennial, of Shieldsboro, Mississippi, which was wrecked by striking the wharf at Waveland, Mississippi, October 1, 1893.

[33] Identified as a Biloxi boat which was found capsized “with crews all gone.” The bodies of Capt. Wm. H. Patton and Hugh miller, of Biloxi, were found.

[34] Our guestimate based on the statement that “The four schooners above named [Alice McGuigin, Angeline, New Union, and the Eliza B] had on board, altogether, twenty-three men, and it is supposed that all are lost.”  Accounts vary on the fatalities on the first three named vessels.  We add the low and high figures and subtract from 23.

[35] A Pearlington boat; “Jno Delavrey, captain; Guy Freightman, Jno. Walker, Jno. Baker, Perry Harris, and two unknown New Orleans young men were lost.”

[36] “Schooner Jambon was capsized between the lake and bayou Johnson, and the crew of three men drowned.

[37] A Pearlington, MS boat, “found bottom up; crew lost.” (Given crew size of other Pearlington boats lost the figure of five appears to us a reasonable approximation.)

–2000-2500  Rappaport, Fernandez-Partagas. Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones. 1995.[1]

–1000-2500  NWS FO, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts…,”  Oct 17, 2005.

—       >2000  Brinkley, Douglas. The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina…Gulf Coast. 2006, 7[2]

—       >2000  Norcross. Hurricane Almanac. 2007, p. 41.[3]

—       >2000  SC State Climatology Office. Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Affecting SC.

—         2000  South Carolina State Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricane Climatology.

—       <2000  USCOE. SC Hurricane Evacuation Restudy Technical Data Report, 2000.

—       ~2000  Sumner. “The North Atlantic Hurricane of September 8-16, 1944.” MWR, p. 187.

–1000-2000  Blake, et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense US Cyclones…, 2007.

–1000-2000  Dunn and Miller.  Atlantic Hurricanes, 1964, p. 312.

–1000-2000  Hebert et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense US Hurricanes…, 1993

–1000-2000  Jarrell et al.  The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense U.S. Hurricanes.  2001.

–1000-2000  Ludlum.  The American Weather Book, 1982, p. 202.

—       >1000  Rappaport, Fernandez-Partagas.  Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones. 1995.[4]

 

Narrative Information

 

Dunn and Miller: “On August 27, 1893, a hurricane moved inland between Savannah and Charleston, South Carolina, accompanied in the Charleston area by a tremendous wave which submerged all of the coastal islands. Between 1,000 and 2,000 lives were lost.” (Dunn and Miller, 1964, 213)

 

NWS: “Aug 29…1893…A very destructive hurricane devastated the GA/SC coast on the 27th. A tremendous wave submerged the offshore islands near Charleston and Savannah, killing between 1,000 and 2,500 people. The storm recurved to the NE, passing through Ern PA, still retaining hurricane strength. PHL received 0.55″ of rain. Norfolk, VA, and NYC both measured a gust to 60 mph, the highest recorded wind gust for those places in 1893.  The storm decreased to tropical storm status in ME. (PHL[5])(H[6])(NCC[7]).” (NWS FO, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts…,”  Oct 17, 2005.)

 

SC SCO: “North-northeast through SC midlands. 96-120 mph winds, tremendous storm surge; major damage; moved north near Columbia, then northeast. 2,000 dead, $10 million damage.”  (SC SCO. Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Affecting SC.)

 

“By 1893, major population centers could be telegraphically alerted to storms moving along the coast, but there were no warnings for the Sea Islands and other isolated areas. The “Great Storm of 1893” struck the south coast at high tide on August 28, pushing an enormous storm surge ahead of it and creating a “tidal wave” that swept over and submerged whole islands. Maximum winds in the Beaufort area were reported at 125 miles per hour, those in Charleston at 120 miles per hour. Water from the first wave probably stacked up in the marshes, held there by the wind until the next high tide, which was after the storm had passed. Lowered barometric pressure and the amount of “stacked” water created resonance-effect destruction equal to that of the “tidal wave.”  At least 2,000 people lost their lives, and an estimated 20,000-30,000 were left homeless and with no mean of subsistence. Property damage was estimated at $10 million, equal to $119, 330, 000 in 1985 dollars.”  (SCS Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricane Climatology.)

 

USCOE: “The “Great Storm of 1893” struck the south coast at high tide, pushing an enormous storm surge ahead of it, creating a “tidal wave” that swept and submerged whole islands.  Maximum winds in the Beaufort area were reported at 125 mph; those in Charleston at 120 mph.  Water from the first wave probably stacked up in the marshes, held there by the winds until the next high tide, which was after the storm had passed.  Lowered barometric pressure and the amount of “stacked” water caused destruction equal to that of a “tidal wave.”  At least 2000 people lost their lives, and an estimated 20,000-30,000 were left homeless and with no means of subsistence.”  (USCOE. SC Hurricane Evacuation Restudy Technical Data Report.)

 

Sources

 

Blake, Eric S., Edward N. Rappaport, and Christopher W. Landsea. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Cyclones From 1851 to 2006. Miami, FL: National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center, April 15, 2007 update, 45 pages. Accessed at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/Deadliest_Costliest.shtml

 

Brinkley, Douglas. The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Harper Perennial, 2006. Google preview accessible at: http://books.google.com/books?id=0a3PQ8oBriUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition).  Baton Rouge LA:  Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.

 

Hebert, Paul J., J.D. Jarrell, Max Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes of This Century (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS-NHC-31). Miami, FL:  National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Feb 1993, 41 pages.

 

Jarrell, Jerry D., Max Mayfield, Edward N. Rappaport, Christopher W. Landsea.  The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes From 1900 to 2000 (And Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts) (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS TPC-1). Miami, FL:  NOAA NWS and Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, October 2001 Update.  Accessed at:  http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/deadly/index.html

 

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

 

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts for the Philadelphia/Mt. Holly, NJ Forecast Area.” Mount Holly, NJ: NWS FO, Oct 17, 2005 update. Accessed at: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/phi/hist_phi.html#0311

 

Norcross, Bryan.  Hurricane Almanac:  The Essential Guide to Storms Past, Present, and Future.  NY:  St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007.

 

Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at:  http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf

 

South Carolina State Climatology Office. Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Affecting South Carolina. 11-1-2008 at: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/Tropics/hurricane_tracks_affecting_sc.php

 

South Carolina State Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricane Climatology. Accessed 6-6-2009 at: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/Tropics/hurricanes_affecting_sc.php

 

Sumner, H. C. “The North Atlantic Hurricane of September 8-16, 1944.” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 72, No. 9, 12-5-1944, pp. 187-189. Accessed 11-13-2017 at:  http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/1944.pdf

 

United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). South Carolina Hurricane Evacuation Restudy Technical Data Report.  June 2000.  Accessed 11-27-2008 at:  http://chps.sam.usace.army.mil/USHESdata/SC/SCChapter1.htm

 

 

 

 

[1] Cites: Ho, F. P., 1989: Extreme Hurricanes in the Nineteenth Century. NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS HYDRO 43A, Silver Spring, Maryland, 134 pp.

[2] No source citation.

[3] Notes that “Clara Barton of the Red Cross estimated the number to be 4,000 to 5,000–drowned…”

[4] Cites Tannehill, I. R., 1940: Hurricane. Their nature and history. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 257 pp.

[5] “Philadelphia weather records beginning with Center City readings, then continuing Dec 1, 1945, with readings from Philadelphia International Airport.”

[6] Hurricanes, Tannehill, Ivan Ray, 1956.

[7] National Climatic Center.