Steamboat Ben Sherrod

BURNING OF THE BEN SHERROD, MAY 8, 1837.

Copied from https://www.steamboats.org/archive/9017-2.html

On the 8th of May, 1837, the large Louisville and New Orleans packet, the Ben Sherrod, caught fire on her upward trip, while she was engaged in an exciting race with the steamer Prairie. It was one o’clock at night, and the boat was about fourteen miles above Fort Adams, ploughing her way up the Mississippi with great velocity. The Prairie was just ahead of her, in sight, and the crew of the Ben Sherrod were determined, if possible, to go by her. The firemen were shoving in the pine knots, and sprinkling rosin over the coal, and doing their best to raise more steam. They had a barrel of whisky before them, from which they drank often and freely until they were beastly drunk. The boilers became so hot that they set fire to sixty cords of wood on board. and the Ben Sherrod was soon completely enveloped in flames. The passengers, three hundred in number, were sound asleep, not thinking of the awful doom that awaited them. When the deck hands discovered the fire, they basely left their posts and ran for the yawl, without giving the alarm to the passengers. Capt. Castleman attempted for a time to allay the excitement and confusion, by telling them the fire was extinguished. Twice he forbade the lowering of the yawl, which was attempted. The shrieks of nearly three hundred and fifty persons now on board, rose wild and dreadful, which might have been heard at a distance of several miles. The cry was, “To the shore! to the shore !” and the boat made for the starboard shore, but did not gain it, as the wheel ropes soon burnt. The steam was not let off, and the boat kept on up the river. The scene of horror now beggared all description. The yawl, which had been filled with the crew, had sunk, drowning nearly all who were in it; and the passengers had no other alternative than to jump overboard, without even taking time to dress. There were ten ladies who all went overboard without uttering a single scream; some drowned instantly, and others clung to planks; two of the number were all that were saved. Several passengers were burnt alive. One man by the name of Ray, from Louisville, Kentucky, jumped overboard, and hung to a rope at the bow ef the boat, until rescued by the yawl of the steamer Columbus, which arrived at the scene half an hour after the boat took fire. Mr. Ray’s face and arms were much burnt while clinging to the boat. He lost twenty thousand dollars in specie. The steamboat Alton arrived half an hour after the Columbus, but from the carelessness or indiscretion of those on her, was the means of drowning many persons who were floating in the water. She came down under full headway among the exhausted sufferers, who were too weak to make any further exertion, and by the commotion occasioned by her wheels drowned a large number. A gentleman by the name of Hamilton, from Limestone county, Alabama, was floating on a barrel, and sustaining also a lady, when the Alton came up, washing them both under. The lady was drowned, but Mr. Hamilton came up and floated down the river fifteen miles, when he was rescued by the steamer Statesman. Mr. McDowell sustained himself some time against the current, so that he floated only two miles down the river, and then swain ashore. His wife, who was floating on a plank, was drowned by the steamer Alton. Mr. Rundell floated down the river ten miles, and was taken up by a flat-boat at the mouth of Buffalo creek; lie saved his money in his pantaloons’ pocket. Mr. McDowell lost his wife, son, and a lady named Miss Frances Few, who was under his protection; also a negro servant. Of those who escaped, we have seen and conversed with James P. Wilkinson, Esq., Mr. Stanfleld, of Richmond, Virginia, and Daniel Marshall, Esq., of Moscow, Indiana. The scene, as described by them, was truly heart-rending; while some were confined to their berths, and consumed by the flames, others plunged into the river to find watery graves. One lady, who attached herself to Mr. Marshall, and had clung to him while they floated four or five miles, was at length drowned by the waves of the Alton, after imploring the boat’s crew for assistance and mercy. Mr. Marshall was supported by a flour barrel. Only two ladies out of ten who were •ñ board were saved; one of these was Mrs. Castleman, the Captain’s wife; the other was Mrs. Smith, of New Orleans.

It was said by some of the passengers, that the captain of the Alton did not hear the cries of those who implored him for assistance as he passed, it being midnight; but there can be no excuse for the monster who commanded the Prairie, for leaving a boat in flames without turning around and affording the sufferers relief. lie reported her on fire at Natchez and Vieksburg.

A man in a canoe near the scene of the disaster refused to save any who were floating in the water, unless they promised to pay him handsomely for his services. So rapid were the flames that not even the register of the boat was saved; hence it was impossible to get a full list of the lost. One of the officers of the boat informed us, that out of seventy-eight deck passengers not more than six were saved. This was one of the most serious calamities that ever occurred on the Mississippi river, there being at least one hundred and seventy families deprived by it of some dear and beloved member, and over two hundred souls being hurried by it out of time into eternity, with scarce a moment’s warning. During the burning of the Ben Sherrod eight different explosions occurred; first, barrels of whiskey, brandy, &c.; then the boilers blew up with a fearful explosion, and lastly, forty barrels of gunpowder exploded, which made a noise that was heard many miles distant, scattering fragments of the wreck in all directions, and producing the grandest sight ever seen. Immediately after, the wreck sunk out of sight just above Fort Adams. A large quantity of specie, which was on its way to the Tennessee Banks, was lost. One gentleman placed his pocketbook, containing thirty-eight thousand dollars, under his pillow, and though he managed to escape, he lost all his money. One scene was distressing in the extreme; a young and beautiful lady, whose name was Mary Ann Walker, on hearing the cry of fire, rushed out of the ladies’ cabin in her loose night-clothes in search of her husband, at the same time holding her infant to her bosom; in her endeavors to get forward her dress caught fire, and was torn from her back to save her life. After witnessing her husband fall into the flames in the forward part of the boat, and unable to reach him, she leaped with her child into the water, seized a plank, and was carried by the current within forty yards of the Columbus, but just as she seized a rope thrown to her, both mother and child sank to rise no more. One young man, who had reached the hurricane deck in safety, hearing the cries of his sister, rushed back to the cabin, clasped her in his arms, and both were burnt to death. One of the clerks, one of the pilots, and the mate were burnt to death. All the chambermaids and women employed in the boat perished; only two negroes escaped out of thirty-five that were on the boat.

Lost-Three children and father of Captain Castieman; Mrs. McDowell, of Belfont, Ala.; Mrs. Gamble and three children, of New Orleans; Miss Frances Few, of Belfont, South Alabama; Mr. Frances, burnt to death.

PASSENGERS SAVED-James Smith, lady and son; Thomas Cook, W. H. Cloud, Wm. Beattie, Amos Brundelt, Thomas Larmer, Samuel Ray, Lister Sexton.

Great praise is due to Captain Austin of the Statesman, and Captain Littlejohn of the Columbus, for their humane efforts to save the passengers of the Ben Sl±errod, for had they acted as the Captain of the Alton, not a soul would have been saved to tell the tale of that calamity. Mr. Wm. Stamp’s family did everything in their power to relieve the wants of the sufferers, and they will long be remembered for their kindness to the strangers in that trying time.

LIST OF SAVED-G. Stanfleld; Mr. Gamble and his son, of New Orleans; Ephraim Stanfield, Richmond, Virginia; Rosamond P. Andrews, A. H. Hartley, Arkansas; John Lowney, Indiana; Hugh Simpson, and Constantine Mahan, Tennessee; P. H. Watkins, Bedford county, Virginia; Thompson Duvall, Shelby county, Indiana; Matthew M. Orme, Natchez; Thomas W. Blagg, Alabama; J. S. Lowe, Tennessee; Charles W. Andrews, Yates county, New York; John Montgomery and James 0. Phillips, Indiana; J. W. Brent, Pecan Point; John Dasua, E. Bushman, E. II. Barnes and J. M. Williams, Indiana; John Blanc, New Orleans; John A. Davis, Florence, Alabama; Erastus Griggs, Marietta, Ohio; A. Randall, Rocky Springs, Mississippi; James P. Wilkinson, Richmond, Virginia; Canton Macon, Cincinnati; Wm. Wallace, New York; Mrs. Smith, of Mobile.

LIST OF OFFICERS PICKED UP BY THE COLUMBUS-Captain C. G. Castleman and lady; George Stiles, clerk; Wm. Bell, first engineer; Stephen Hooks, second engineer; Charles Greenlee, pilot; Samuel Big, second mate; John Hill, carpenter; P. Rice, Jacob Lightstroff, John Eggman, A. Goddin, Amos Burby, Brilly John, M. P. Hard, Charles Simms, Fred. Cowen, Willis Caidwell, John CaIdwell, John Johnson, Jacob Rose, Edward Fleece, B. McDaniel, Moses Caidwell, Charles Anderson, Peter Sevier, Andrew Moore, Joseph Cooper, Joseph Fisher, arid John Clark.

A gentleman, Mr. Cook, floated down the river several miles before he was picked up. ile hailed the wretched and despicable character who had put off in a yawl from the shore, and begged his assistance. The scoundrel, who was intent in picking up baggage, boxes, &c., asked with the utmost sang froid, “How much will you give me ?” To the entreaties of others for help, he replied, “Oh, you are very well off there; keep cool, and you’ll come out comfortable.”

Poor Davis, the pilot at the wheel, was consumed; he was one in a thousand, preferring to die rather than leave his post in the hour of danger. Just before he left New Orleans, he was conversing with another pilot about the burning of the St. Martinsville; said he, “If ever I should be on a boat that takes fire, and don’t save the passengers, it will be because the tiller ropes burn, or I perish in the flames.” And just such men as Davis are to be found among the western boatmen; many have stood by their posts in the hour of danger, and perished rather than flinch from their duty.
(source: Lloyd's Steamboat Directory from 1856)

Another source tells much the same story but only finds 2 of the captain's children and his father among the dead. https://erenow.org/modern/the-great-american-steamboat-race/11.php

This version of the story offers a slightly different account: https://www.hannapub.com/concordiasentinel/stanley-nelson-terror-aboard-the-ben-sherrod/article_290d5214-9ea6-11e5-99ef-23447ababa88.html

And one more from May of 2024: https://carynschulenberg.com/2024/05/complete-negligence/

Captain Castleman gives his side of the story

Beginning on page 138, 3rd paragraph in the 1846 publication below.

" Merely to show how things will be exaggerated, not that it can alter in any way the circumstances, I would mention that the number of persons on board the Ben Sherod, at the time that she was burnt, did not exceed from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty. I think one hundred and fifty would probably come the nearest to it, including the crew, children, and servants, and all ; and from all I could learn before I left New Orleans, and at Natchez on my way up, I do not think there were more than sixty or sixty-five lost, instead of from one hundred to two hundred, as is stated in so many different reports.

I, myself, clung to the hope of getting the boat to the shore, and saving all, until it was too late to save my own family, and thereby lost my father and two children, and got my wife burnt so badly that she was not expected to live. I was burnt myself slightly ; one child was burnt to death and in my wife's arms when I got hold of her, and the other drowned.

"As to the report of my officers and crew being in a state of intoxication, the barrel of whiskey with the head knocked out, or set out for the men to have access to, — it is all in the imagination. Drunkenness is the only misdemeanor for which I allowed a man to be discharged without first consulting me ; but the clerks, the mates, the engineers, all had full authority to drive any man of the crew off the boat, either in or out of the port, if he was the least drunk, as was the case the first trip, when we first made up our crew.

Some of that crew got drunk, and were discharged, and replaced by sober men, until we had a good crew ; and I feel positive that we had not had a drunken man amongst our crew for three months before the fatal accident.

"I had not left the deck in the fore part of the night. The firemen were singing and dancing about, as they always do when on duty, but there were none of them the least intoxicated, so far as I could see ; and the watch that were on duty at the time (the first watch having retired) had not been out of their beds long enough to get drunk, if they had wanted to. We always gave our men, black or white, as much as they wanted, kept a barrel of whiskey tapped on the boiler deck for them, have always done so, and generally let one of the watch that ivas on duty, go to it and draw for his watch, whenever they wanted it. He is called the captain of the watch. I have always done the same for the last ten years, and my acquaintances, I think, will vouch for my discipline about drunkenness, as well as other things, being severe and rigid enough. Indeed, I am generally blamed for being too particular about such things, and too rigid with my hands."

BenSherrodOfficial.pdf

1846 Public Domain Record of the Ben Sherod shipwreck

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Title: Steamboat disasters and railroad accidents in the United States.

To which is appended accounts of recent shipwrecks, fires at

sea, thrilling incidents, etc

Author: Howland, S. A. (Southworth Allen), 1800-1882.

Publisher: Worcester, W. Lazell, 1846.

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## p. 135 (#141) ############################################

DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD,

By Fire and Explosion, on the Mississippi River,

while on her Passage from New Orleans for

Louisville, May 8, 1837; by which Terrible

Catastrophe nearly Two Hundred Persons lost

their Lives.

The steamer Ben Sherod, Captain Castleman, left

New Orleans on Sunday morning, May 7,. bound to

Louisville ; and on the night of the 9th, when about

thirty miles below Natchez, she was discovered to be

on fire, and in a few minutes after, the whole boat

was enveloped in flames.

Being in the stream, and her wheel-ropes burnt off,

it was impossible to run her ashore; and no alterna-

tive was left to the persons on board, but to jump into

the water, and attempt to save themselves by swim-

ming, or floating on such articles as they could find,

or to perish in the flames. In the confusion and

alarm, many, who could not swim, sprang overboard,

without taking the precaution to provide themselves

with a plank or box, and were drowned ; but many

more, it is feared, were burnt to death.

So rapid was the spread of the fire, and so destitute

were those on board of all means of escape, that no-

thing could be saved, not even the register of the boat;

thus rendering it impossible to state with certainty

how many were lost, or what were their names.

The fire is believed to have originated from the fuel

being piled up near the boiler. The story of the dis-

aster was related to us by a young man, who was a

cabin passenger : it is awfully interesting, and his own

escape almost miraculous. When he awoke, he put

## p. 136 (#142) ############################################

136 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

on his clothes, and leaped into the yawl, which was

hanging at the stern, and was followed by about forty

other men, one of whom cut the rope connecting the

stern of the steamer to the bow of the yawl, when the

latter canted over, and hung in a perpendicular posi-

tion, the bow towards the water. All on board were

precipitated into it, and are believed to have been

drowned, with the exception of the narrator, — and he

saved himself by clinging to the thwarts.

In a few minutes, about twenty of the crew made

their way to the stern of the steamer, and placed

themselves in the boat, suspended as she was. One

of them imprudently took out his knife, and cut the

rope which attached the steamer to the stern of the

yawl, and she plunged, as might have been expected,

full twenty feet under water. All that had been

hanging to her were missing, except four, and the in-

dividual who relates the story. He says, that when he

rose to the surface, he found himself under the yawl,

which was lying bottom up. Being strong, active,

and expert at swimming, he worked his way from un-

derneath and mounted on her bottom, where he was

soon joined by the four other men who had saved

themselves ; and in this situation they floated twelve

miles down the river, before they were picked up by

the Columbus.

There was some powder on board, — in what quan-

tities was not known ; but the knowledge that it was

there, seemed to have paralyzed the efforts of the

crew, and its explosion added to the deep horrors of

the scene. There were nine ladies on board, only two

of whom were rescued.

The survivors of this terrible disaster have unani-

mously concurred in their expressions of gratitude to

the commanders of the steamers Columbus and States-

man, for their activity in saving them from a watery

grave, and for their kindness to them while on board

their boats. On the conduct of Captaiu Littleton, of

the steamboat Alton the public censure of the sur-

## p. 137 (#143) ############################################

DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 137

viving sufferers was published in the newspapers of

the day. The reckless manner in which he drove his

vessel through the crowd of exhausted sufferers, there-

by drowning many, even while calling for help, and

turning a deaf ear to the cries and pleadings of all,

cannot soon be forgotten by an indignant community,

or the record of its truth be obliterated from public

print.

The following is the statement, alluded to above,

from a part of the surviving passengers : —

"We, the undersigned, part of the passengers saved

from the wreck of the steamer Ben Sherod, on the

night of the 9th inst., feel it a duty we owe to the offi-

cers of the steamboats Columbus and Statesman, to

say that they deserve the praise of every friend of hu-

manity for their untiring exertions in rescuing the

suffering passengers whom they found afloat in the

current. Many of the passengers owe their lives to the

kindness of the officers of these boats.

" We feel it also due to the public to state, — and our

hearts sicken within us when we assert it, — that the

steamboat Alton, Capt. Littleton, passed through the

midst of the sinking crowd, all hands crying for help,

and, although within a few feet of some, covering

them with her waves, she did not even stop her

headway until she arrived at Fort Adams, ten miles

below, where she could have rendered no assistance.

" Signed, Hugh Simpson, Carlinsville, Tenn.

Thomas Duvall, Shelby Co., hid.

John Blanc, New Orleans.

John P. Wilkinson, Richmond, Va.

Ephraim Stanfield, Richmond, Va.

Daniel Marshall, Moscow, hid.

Rosson P. Andrus, Natchez.

Asa S. Smith, do.

Charles W. Andrus, do.

M. M. Orme, do.

"Natchez, May 18, 1837."

12*

## p. 138 (#144) ############################################

138 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

There were two hundred and thirty-five persons on

board, of whom not more than sixty escaped ; leaving

upwards of one hundred and seventy five drowned

and burnt, including the captain's father and two

children, — his wife was picked up by a flat boat,

badly injured. The following are the names of some

of the ladies who were lost: — Mrs. M'Dowell, of Bel-

font, Ala. ; Mrs. Gamble, and three children, of New

Orleans ; Miss Frances Few, of Belfont. Ala.

This awful occurrence should teach the community

the immense importance of the character of a steam-

boat. After the wanton disregard of life evinced by

the captain of this boat some weeks ago at Vicksburg,

by which ten or twelve persons were drowned, not a

single individual, who had any regard for his life,

should have ventured on that same boat while under

such a reckless commander. A man who would re-

fuse to bring his boat to, for the purpose of landing a

dozen individuals, would not scruple to run a race

with two hundred passengers on board, and fire his

boat by the red heat of his boilers. The Ben Sherod

had been on fire twice during the race on that same

night, previous to the final conflagration.

Captain Castleman subsequently published the fol-

lowing vindication of his conduct : —

" Merely to show how things will be exaggerated,

not that it can alter in any way the circumstances, I

would mention that the number of persons on board

the Ben Sherod, at the time that she was burnt, did

not exceed from one hundred and fifty to one hundred

and sixty. I think one hundred and fifty would

probably come the nearest to it, including the crew,

children, and servants, and all ; and from all I could

learn before I left New Orleans, and at Natchez on

my way up, I do not think there were more than sixty

or sixty-five lost, instead of from one hundred to two

hundred, as is stated in so many different reports. I,

## p. 139 (#145) ############################################

DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 139

myself, clung to the hope of getting the boat to the

shore, and saving all, until it was too late to save my

own family, and thereby lost my father and two chil-

dren, and got my wife burnt so badly that she was not

expected to live. I was burnt myself slightly ; one

child was burnt to death and in my wife's arms when

I got hold of her, and the other drowned.

"As to the report of my officers and crew being in

a state of intoxication, the barrel of whiskey with the

head knocked out, or set out for the men to have ac-

cess to, — it is all in the imagination. Drunkenness is

the only misdemeanor for which I allowed a man to

be discharged without first consulting me ; but the

clerks, the mates, the engineers, all had full authority

to drive any man of the crew off the boat, either in

or out of the port, if he was the least drunk, as was

the case the first trip, when we first made up our crew.

Some of that crew got drunk, and were discharged,

and replaced by sober men, until we had a good crew ;

and I feel positive that we had not had a drunken

man amongst our cr^ew for three months before the

fatal accident.

"I had not left the deck in Jhe fore part of the

night. The firemen were singing and dancing about,

as they always do when on duty, but there were none

of them the least intoxicated, so far as I could see ;

and the watch that were on duty at the time (the first

watch having retired) had not been out of their beds

long enough to get drunk, if they had wanted to. We

always gave our men, black or white, as much as they

wanted, kept a barrel of whiskey tapped on the boiler

deck for them, have always done so, and generally let

one of the watch that ivas on duty, go to it and draw

for his watch, whenever they loanted it. He is called

the captain of the watch. I have always done the

same for the last ten years, and my acquaintances, I

think, will vouch for my discipline about drunken-

ness, as well as other things, being severe and rigid

enough. Indeed, I am generally blamed for being too

## p. 140 (#146) ############################################

140 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

particular about such things, and too rigid with my

hands."

We give some further particulars, gathered from

various sources : —

One gentleman, Mr. Cook, floated down the river

some miles before he was picked up. He hailed some

wretched and dispicable character, who had put off in

a yawl from the shore, and begged his assistance.

The infamous scoundrel, who was intent only on

picking up boxes, &c, asked with the utmost sang

froid, ~" How much will you give me?" To the en-

treaties of others for help, he replied, " O, you are

very well off there ! Keep cool, and you '11 come out

comfortable !" Whether the captain of the Alton de-

serves the censure that has been heaped upon him, we

know not, nor will we pretend to say positively until

we have seen his statement ; but it does appear that

if the captain of the Columbus had acted in a similar

manner to that of the Alton, there would not have

been half a dozen souls left to., tell the tale of the

calamity.

Mr. Davis, the pilot, who was at the wheel during

the fire, was conversing with a friend, just before he

left the city, about the burning of the St. Martin ville,

and the burning of her tiller-rope, three or four years

since. " If ever I 'm in a boat that takes fire," said

Davis, "if I don't run her ashore, it will be because

I shall be burnt up in her!" Poor fellow! his state-

ment was verified ; he was burnt up in the Ben

Sherod.

Out of nine ladies that were on board, only two

have been saved, the captain's wife and Mrs. Smith,

of Mobile. Their husbands threw hen-coops into the

river, and jumped off the wheel-house ; the ladies fol-

lowed their example, and were saved.

One scene was distressing in the extreme : a young

and beautiful lady, whose name we could not learn,

on hearing the cry of fire, rushed out of the ladies'

## p. 141 (#147) ############################################

DESTRUCTION OP THE BEN SHEROD. 141

cabin, in her loose dress, in search of her husband, at

the same time holding her infant to her bosom ; in en-

deavoring to go forward, her dress caught fire, and

was torn from her back to save her life ; after wit-

nessing her husband fall into the flames in the for-

ward part of the boat, unable to reach him, she leaped

with her child into the water, seized a plank, and was

carried by the current within eighty yards of the

Columbus ; but just as she had seized a rope thrown

from the steamboat, both mother and child sunk to

rise no more.

It is impossible to enumerate the various heart-

rending sights occasioned by this calamitous affair.

The captain, for instance, saved his wife, but saw his

two children perish. Mr. Smith saved his wife and

one child, and saw the nurse rush madly through the

flames with his daughter, and both perish. Mr. Gam-

ble's wife, we understand, was burnt to death; he

escaped, although very badly burnt. One young man,

who had reached the hurricane-deck in safety, heard

the cries of his sister ; he rushed back to the cabin,

clasped her in his arms, and both were burnt to death.

One of the clerks, one of the pilots, and the first mate

were burnt. All the chamber-maids and women em-

ployed in the boat perished. Out of thirty-five ne-

groes, that were known to have been on board, only

two escaped. The Ben Sherod had the largest crew

of any boat on the river, and out of about fifty who

were saved, over thirty belonged to the boat. Of the

sixty or seventy cabin passengers, there were but ten

or twelve left alive. One of the officers of the boat

stated that, in addition to the cabin passengers, there

were at least sixty or more deck passengers, of whom

scarce six were saved.

Altogether, this is one of the most serious disasters

that ever happened in the annals of Mississippi steam-

boat navigation ; there being at least one hundred and

fifty families deprived by it of some dear and beloved

member, and over one hundred beings hurried by it,

## p. 142 (#148) ############################################

142 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

out of time into eternity, with scarce -a

warning.

We understand that three different explosions took

place on board the boat whilst burning — first, barrels

of whiskey and brandy ; then the boilers blew up

with a fearful explosion, and, lastly, thirty-nine bar-

rels of gunpowder exploded, which strewed the sur-

face of the river with fragments.

At the time the Ben Sherod took fire, she was

engaged in a race with the steamer Prairie ; and the

fire took from the great heat of the boilers, caused by

raising her steam to its extreme power. A barrel of

whiskey was placed on deck for the use of the hands

during the race, who drank to excess, and became

intoxicated.

At about 12 o'clock at night, the furnace became so

heated that it communicated fire to the wood, of which

there was on board about sixty cords. When the

crew discovered the fire, they all left their posts, and

ran for the yawl without giving any alarm to the pas-

sengers, who were all asleep in their berths. The

captain, for a time, attempted to allay the extreme

confusion, by stating that the fire was extinguished ;

twice he forbade the lowering of the yawl, which was

attempted by the deck hands and passengers.

The shrieks of nearly three hundred persons on

board now rose wild and dreadful. The cry was, " to

the shore ! to the shore /" The boat made for the star-

board shore, but did not gain it, the wheel-rope hav-

ing given way, and the pilot driven by the flames

from his station. The steam was not let off, and the

boat kept on. The scene of horror now beggared all

description.

The yawl, which had been filled with the crew, had

sunk, and the passengers had no other alternative than

to jump overboard, without taking even time to dress.

There were nine ladies on board, who all went over-

board without uttering a single scream, some drown-

## p. 143 (#149) ############################################

DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 143

ing instantly, and others clinging to planks, — two of

the number were finally saved. Many of the passen-

gers are supposed to have been burnt. One man, by

the name of Ray, from Louisville, hung to a rope at

the bow of the boat, until taken up by the yawl of the

steamboat Columbus, which arrived about half an

hour after the commencement of the disaster, on her

downward passage.

The steamboat Alton arrived soon after the Colum-

bus ; but, from the carelessness or indiscretion of those

on board, was the means of drowning many persons

who were floating in the water. She drove into the

midst of the exhausted sufferers, who were too weak

to make longer exertion, and, by the commotion oc-

casioned by her wheels, drowned a large number. A

gentleman, by the name of Hamilton, from Alabama,

was floating on a barrel, and sustaining also a lady,

when the Alton drove up and washed them both un-

der ; the lady was drowned, but Mr. Hamilton came

up, and floated down the river fifteen miles, when he

was taken up by the steamer Statesman.

Mr. M' Dowel! attributes the drowning of his wife

to the indiscretion of the managers of the Alton, as she

was floating safely on a plank at the time. He sus-

tained himself some time against the current, so that

he only floated two miles down the river, when he

swam ashore ten miles above Fort Adams. Besides

the loss of his wife, Mr. M' Dowel 1 lost his son, a

young lady who was under his protection, and a

negro servant.

The following interesting narrative was written by

a passenger : —

"On Sunday morning, the 7th of May, 1837, the

steamboat Ben Sherod, under the command of Captain

Castleman, was* preparing to leave the levee at New

Orleans. She was thronged with passengers. Many

a beautiful and interesting woman that morning was

busy in arranging the little things incident to travel-

## p. 144 (#150) ############################################

144 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

ling, and they all looked forward with high and cer-

tain hopes to the end of their journey. Little innocent

children played about the cabin, and would run to the

guards, now and then, to wonder, in infantine lan-

guage, at the next boat, or the water, or something

else that drew their attention. ' O, look here, Henry,

I don't like that boat Lexington.' 'I wish I was

going by her,' said Henry, musingly. The men, too,

were urgent in their arrangement of the trunks, and

the getting on board sundry articles, which a ten days'

passage rendered necessary. In fact, all seemed hope,

and joy, and certainty.

" The cabin of the Ben Sherod was on the upper

deck, but narrow in proportion to her build, for she

was, what is technically called, a Tennessee cotton

boat. To those who have never seen a cotton boat

loaded, it is a wondrous sight. The bales are piled

up from the lower guards, wherever there is a cranny,

until they reach above the second deck, — room being

merely left for passengers to walk outside the cabin.

You have regular alleys left amid the cotton, in order

to pass about on the first deck. Such is a cotton boat,

carrying from one thousand five hundred to two thou-

sand bales.

" The Ben Sherod's finish and the accommodation

of the cabin were by no means such as would begin

to compare with the regular passenger boats. It being

late in the season, and but few large steamers being in

port, in consequence of the severity of the times, the

Ben Sherod got an undue number of passengers ;

otherwise she would have been avoided, for her ac-

commodations were not enticing. She had a heavy

freight on board, and several horses and carriages on

the forecastle. The build of the Ben Sherod was

heavy — her timbers being of the largest size.

"The morning was clear and sultry — so much so

that umbrellas were necessary to ward off the heat of

the sun. It was a curious sight to see the hundreds

of citizens hurrying on board to leave letters, and to

see them coming away. When a steamboat is going

## p. 145 (#151) ############################################

DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 145

off on the southern or western waters, the excitement

is fully equal to that attendant upon the departure of

a Liverpool packet.

"About 10 o'clock, A. M., the ill-fated steamer

pushed off upon the turbid current of the Mississippi,

as a swan upon the waters. In a few minutes, she

was under way, tossing high in air bright and sunny

clouds of steam at every revolution of her engine.

Talk not of your northern steamboats ! A Mississippi

steamer of seven hundred tons burden, with adequate

machinery, is one of the sublimities of poetry. For

thousands of miles that great body forces its way

through a desolate country, against an almost resist-

less current, and all the evidence you have of the im-

mense power exerted, is brought to your sense by the

everlasting and majestic burst of exertion from her

escapement pipe, and the careless stroke of her paddle

wheels. In the dead of night, when, amid the

swamps on either side, your noble vessel winds her

upward way — when not a soul is seen on board but

the officer on deck — when nought is heard but the

clang of the fire doors amid the hoarse coughing of the

engine, imagination yields to the vastness of the ideas

thus excited in your mind ; and, if you have a soul

within you, you cannot help feeling strongly alive to

the mightiness of art in contrast with the mightiness of

nature. Such a scene — and hundreds such have been

realized with an intensity that cannot be described —

always makes me a better man than before. I never

could tire of the steamboat navigation of the Mississippi.

"On Tuesday evening, the 9th of May, 1837, the

steamer Prairie, on her way to St. Louis, bore hard

upon the Ben Sherod. It was necessary for the latter

to stop at Fort Adams, during which the Prairie

passed her. Great vexation was manifested by some

of the passengers, that the Prairie should get to Natchez

first. The subject formed the theme of conversation

for two or three hours, the captain assuring them that

he would beat her any hoio.

13 10

## p. 146 (#152) ############################################

146 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

" The Prairie was a very fast boat, and, under equal

circumstances, "would have beaten the Sherod. As

soon as the business was transacted at Fort Adams,

for which she stopped, orders were given to the men

to keep up the fires to the extent. It was now a little

past 11 o'clock, P. M. The captain retired to his

berth with his clothes on, and left the deck in charge

of an officer. During the evening, a barrel of whiskey

had been turned out, and permission given to the

hands to do as they pleased. As may be supposed,

they drew npon the barrel quite liberally. It is the

custom of all the boats to furnish the firemen with

liquor, though a difference exists as to the mode. But

it is due to the many worthy captains now on the

Mississippi, to state that the practice of furnishing

spirits is gradually dying away, and where they are

given, it is only done in moderation.

" As the Sherod passed on above Fort Adams, to-

wards the mouth of the Homochitta, the wood piled

up in front of the furnaces several times caught fire,

and was once or twice imperfectly extinguished by

the drunken hands. It must be understood by those

who have never seen a western steamboat, that the

boilers are entirely above the first deck, and that,

when the fires are well kept up for any length of time,

the heat is almost insupportable. Were it not for the

draft occasioned by the speed of the boat, it would be

very difficult to attend the fire.

" The boat went on her way at a tremendous rate,

quivering and trembling her full length at every rev-

olution of the wheels. The steam was created so

fast, that it continued to escape through the safety-

valve, and, by its sharp singing, told a tale that every

prudent captain would have understood.

"As the vessel rounded the bar that makes off the

Homochitta, — being compelled to stand out into the

middle of the river in consequence, — the fire was dis-

covered. It was about 1 o'clock in the morning. A

passenger had got up previously, and was standing on

## p. 147 (#153) ############################################

DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 147

the boiler-deck, when, to his astonishment, the fire

broke out from the pile of wood. A little presence of

mind, and a set of men unintoxicated, could have

saved the boat. The passenger seized a bucket, and

was about to plunge it overboard for water, when he

found it locked. An instant more, and the fire in-

creased in volume. The captain was now awakened.

He saw the fire had seized the deck. He ran aft, and

announced the ill tidings.

" No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than

the shrieks of mothers, sisters and babes, resounded,

in the wildest confusion, throughout the hitherto silent

cabin. Men were aroused from their dreaming cots to

experience the hot air of approaching fire. The pilot,

being elevated on the hurricane-deck, at the instant

of perceiving the flames, put the head of the boat to-

wards the shore. She had scarcely got under way in

that direction, before the tiller ropes were burnt off.

Two miles at least from the land, the boat sheered

and, borne up by the current, made several revo-

lutions, until she struck off across the river. A bar

brought her up for the moment.

" The flames had now extended fore and aft. At the

first alarm, several deck passengers had got into the

small boat, that hung suspended by the davits. A

cabin passenger, endowed with some degree of courage

and presence of mind, expostulated with them, and

did all he could to save the boat for the ladies. But

all was useless. One took out his knife and cut away

the forward tackle. The next instant, and they were

all launched into the angry waters. They were

seen no more.

" The boat being lowered from the other end, filled,

and was useless. ?s T ow came the trying moment.

Hundreds leaped from the burning wreck into the

water. Mothers were seen standing on the guards,

with dishevelled hair, praying for help, — their dear

.little innocents clung to their sides, and seemed, with

their tiny hands, to beat away the burning flames.

## p. 148 (#154) ############################################

148 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Sisters called out to their brothers in unearthly voices,

1 Save me, O my brother ! ' Wives crying to their

husbands to save their children, in total forgetfulness

of themselves. Every moment or two the desperate

plunge of some poor victim would fall on the appalled

ear. The dashing to and fro of the horses on the

forecastle, groaning audibly in their fierce agony, — the

continued puffing of the engine, for still it continued

to go, — the screaming mother who had leaped over-

board, in the desperation of the moment, with her only

child, — the heat and the crackling of the lurid fire, as

its greedy flames darted with horrible rapidity from

one portion to another of the devoted vessel, — shall I

ever forget that scene, that hour of horror and alarm?

Never, were I to live till memory forget all else that

ever came to the senses. The short half hour, that

separated and plunged into eternity two hundred hu-

man beings, has been so indelibly burnt into the

memory, that nothing can have power to efface it.

"I was swimming to the shore with all my might,

endeavoring to sustain a mother and child. My

strength failed me, — the babe was nothing — a mere

cork. ' Go, go,' said the brave mother, ' save my

child, save my ,' and she sunk to rise no more.

Nerved by the resolution of that woman, I reached the

shore in safety. The babe I saved. Ere I reached

the beach, the Sherod had swung off the bar, and was

slowly floating down, the engine having ceased run-

ning. In every direction, heads dotted the surface of

the river. A new and still more awful appearance,

the burning wreck now wore : mothers were seen

clinging with the energy of expiring hope to the blaz-

ing timbers, and dropping off one by one. The

screams had ceased. A sullen silence rested over the

devoted vessel. The flames seemed tired of their

work of destruction.

" While I sat, dripping and overcome, upon the beach,

a steamboat, the Columbus, hove in sight, and bore

for the wreck. It seemed like one last ray of hope

gleaming across the dead gloom of that night. Several

## p. 149 (#155) ############################################

DESTRUCTION OP THE BEN SHEROD. 149

were saved. And still another, the Statesman, came

in sight. More, more were saved. A moment, to me,

only had elapsed, when high in the heavens the cin-

ders flew, and the country was lighted all around.

Still another boat came booming on. I was happy

that help had come. After an exchange of words

with the Columbus, it continued on its way, under full

steam. O, how my heart sunk within me ! The

waves created by that boat sent many a poor mortal

to his long home. A being by the name of Littleton

was its reckless and merciless commander. Long

may he be remembered !

" My hands were burnt, and I now began to experi-

ence severe pain. The scene before me, — the loss of

my two sisters, and a brother, whom I had missed in

the confusion, — all had steeled my heart.

" Again — another explosion ! and the waters closed

slowly and suddenly over the scene of disaster and

death. Darkness resumed her sway, and silence was

only interrupted by the distant efforts of the Colum-

bus and Statesman in their laudable exertions to save

human life.

" Captain Castleman lost, I believe, a father and

child. Some argue this was punishment enough ; no,

it was not. He had the lives of hundreds under his

charge. He was careless of his trust ; he was guilty

of a crime that nothing will ever wipe out. The

blood of two hundred victims is crying from out the

waters for retribution and vengeance. Neither so-

ciety nor law will give it. His punishment is yet to

come. May I never meet him !

It was more than three weeks after this terrible

occurrence before I could shed a tear. All the foun-

tains of sympathy had been dried up, and my heart

was as the stone. As I lay on my bed, the twenty-

fourth day after, tears, salt tears, came to my relief,

and I felt the loss of my sisters and brother more

deeply than ever. Peace be to their spirits ! they

found a watery grave."

13*