Help locating 1846 steamboat explosion

That's a tough one, but certainly not hopeless!

"Way's Packet Directory" chronicles steam packets after the rise of photography in 1848. Unless the boat your family was on was rebuilt after her explosion, and operated under the same name, I doubt that "Way's" would be of much help. Louis C. Hunter's scholarly work "Steamboats on the Western Rivers" would give you an excellent overview of the state of steamboating during those early times, but might not necessarily mention that fateful night on the Mississippi during1846.

The answer might rest in "Lloyd's Steamboat Directory and Disasters of the Western Waters" by James T. Lloyd. This book is still in print and was first published in 1856. Capt. Way once wrote that it was considered by the river industry at the time to be a plot by the railroads to dissuade people from using those dangerous, explosion prone steamboats for transportation. The book could serve you well today though! Another possible source is "Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1790-1868" also referred to as "The Lytle-Holdcamper List". There is an alphabetical listing by name of steam vessels that gives the vessel's tonnage, day, month, and year of loss, cause of the loss, location, and number of souls lost. This book was republished in 1975 by The Steam Ship Historical Society of America, Inc., (Steamship Historical Society of America: World's leading organization dedicated to steamships, engine powered vessels) and might still be available through them.

Good luck with your research, and please post any information gleaned here on Steamboats.Org.

See if this will help:
Full text of "Lloyd's steamboat directory, and disasters on the western waters"
It's a very rough text file from the book. If I had my copy at hand, it would be more help, but you might find something that sounds familiar.

Linda,

I may not be able to help you with the explosion. But I can help you with the names. "Miller" is the US-Version of the German last name Müller, so it´s

Ignatz and Karoline Müller

The girl´s name must have been Philippa Müller.

As the Umlaut "ü" is not known in the US you might also search for "Mueller".

By the first names (especially "Ignatz") I´d say that your ancestors have been from Southern Germany, maybe Bavaria, or even Austria or South Tyrol (now Italy).

Carmen

Steamboat accident post March 1846:Mississippi

Thanks to those who replied with great info and sources. I will pursue all. My German ancestors were from the Baden: Zell and Weyerbach. I even know the boat on which they traveled from LaHarve to New Orleans and have the passenger list. I have thought that perhaps there might be resources in New Orleans that might be of help in regard to which steamboat they took. However, I am going to search the sources listed here first. It's a needle in a haystack of boats, but the hunt is great fun! Thanks, All! Linda Wilson

1846 steamboat explosions near Vicksburg, MS

Linda,
I couldn't find any steamboat explosions in or near Vicksburg in 1846, however, record keeping was not always accurate back then. Even Lloyd's is not always correct. There were a few explosions listed in the Vicksburg area close to that time frame that you might want to look into:

1845 Str. DENIZEN
1847 Str. BROOKLYN
1848 Str. WYANDOTTE

The 1847 Str. BROOKLYN looks interesting. Lloyd's has her exploding about 20 miles below Vicksburg on March 6, 1847. It also mentions that there were German emigrants on board. Good luck with your research.

Jerry

*Newspapers of the day may help*
Hi, Linda, Jerry & Steamboating colleagues:
Jerry is on the right track for sure with what he found. I agree about Lloyd's book not always being totally accurate. That's the way it was back then with no TV or media 'instacams' or reports on the breaking story. Even formal reports to the state houses and Washington were filed late with many errors. I've sleuthed my Lloyd's book here back and forth in vain. Some pages with text so small you need a reading glass.

I'd also suggest possibly consulting any newspapers of that time in cities closest to the disaster for a mention or article. River news was very important then far more than today. Local historical society archives, libraries or even university archives may be of help. Until relatively recent years our own CINCINNATI TIMES-STAR, POST, ENQUIRER featured a river section daily; then weekly. Now nearly never. I remember reading even detailed ocean ship news daily. Good luck and let us know.

PS> Local media did briefly mention here the other day the big plans for Louisville's steamboat/river event in 2014 with mention that B/B RIVERBOATS would be playing a major river role. Good for Louisville! No doubt Keith Norrington, Jim Reising and others there know more. Cheers!

R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati

If I may add...
Never be alarmed if some piece of local history isn't within a year or so of where it was supposed to be or twenty miles or so from where it supposedly happened. Multiple events also get confused with one another. That's especially true when there were so many steamboat wrecks along the river. Quite often, people have the season right, but confuse the year with some other major event. I've seen that with the three major mine disasters in our area during World War II--people will swear that Powhatan was 1940 and Willow Grove 1944, and it was the other way around.

The family story may have gotten damaged over the years, or the survivors themselves may have tried to recall which town they had just passed. Since there was probably a language barrier at work, they might not have understood exactly where they were or what was happening, especially if the accident took place at night. There's no malice involved; it's just human nature to get confused and make assumptions.

The "family raised him/they stayed with those people" problem may actually be "family took care of him until his burns were healed enough that he could rejoin the family in Ohio." You should be able to look at the 1850 census and see if he turns up in either place, although if he was still staying with someone in Natchez they might have him under the host's last name. Also, he'd be in about the right age range to have done Civil War service unless his old injuries kept him home.

Edited to add: Try familysearch.org if you get stuck. I ran the family through and found a good bit of stuff, but you'll be a better judge of its accuracy.

Research, etc.

Inaccuracy is a problem. You have to double and triple-check dates and numbers a lot. Ironically, I'm right in the middle of cataloging steamboat explosions in the U.S. A lot of sources are not in agreement with dates, locations and fatalities. I have found it helpful to go directly to the local newspapers. A service called "My Heritage Super Search ([email protected]) is very good. The cost is about $120 a year but it gives you access to a lot of information - especially to old newspaper articles.

FYI, for those who might be interested, I'm up to 339 vessels and 7,679 fatalities...and still counting.

Jerry

Wow, Jerry! That's explosions and does not include fire or sinkings?? Cap'n Walnut

Linda, as other posters have pointed out, quite often dates, times and locations of steamboat accidents are in error, in regards to a steamboat explosion WHILE RACING another boat, south of Vicksburg, north of Natchez, just google "The Steamer Ben Sherrod"....

Steamboat Boiler Explosions

Cap’n W,

The list only includes boiler explosions and a few bad flue collapses. It is inclusive of all U.S. rivers, bays, bayous, lakes, sounds and the Great Lakes. I haven’t included broken steam lines and engine failures, although there were a few fatalities involved with these.

I’m currently at 365 vessels and 7,920 fatalities.

Capt. Mike mentioned the BEN SHEROD. Now there was an unlucky boat – one of the many vessels that was destroyed while racing. The BEN SHEROD (also spelled BEN SHERROD in some accounts) was unique in that it suffered three different explosions – all within a short time and on the same day.
The SHEROD was racing the steamer PRAIRIE on May 8, 1837 while on its way from New Orleans to Louisville when, about 30 miles from Natchez, she caught fire and burned.

The fire started when the boilers (overheated from racing) caused nearby fuel to catch fire (she had 60 cords of wood aboard). The crew was slow to react to the fire and it soon spread to the cargo area and to several large barrels of whisky and brandy, causing the first explosion. By that time the fire had enveloped the front end of the boat – then the boilers let go with a second and more fearful explosion. Shortly after that, the fire reached 39 barrels of gunpowder, and a third explosion occurred. The SHEROD was then fully enveloped in flames. Those who hadn’t been killed outright by the explosions, were forced to jump into the water, Many drowned. To make matters worse, the flames had burned through the tiller ropes and she was now hopelessly adrift.

About half-an-hour after the last explosion, other vessels arrived to help those who were still alive in the water, but the effort was marred by incompetence and reckless action by the rescuers, and resulted in many of the survivors being killed before being rescued. Most accounts put the death toll at about 200 – and are very graphic in describing all of the horror. Interesting reading if you can get through all of the very descriptive gore.

Steamboat racing could be dangerous and was the cause of quite a few boiler explosions.

Jerry

Linda
several years ago I did a completed index of all people mentioned in Lloyd's Steamboat Directory and Disasters. Sorry but your millers were not listed. how ever Lytle does list the str. Queen City as exploded 5-25-1846 Natchez, Mississippi. with 12 killed. Way in his steamboat directory #4610 lists the Queen City a sidewheel packet wood hull built at Cincinnati, Ohio in 1843 318 tons. She collapsed a flue while at Natchez, Miss May 24, 1846 resulting in 12 deaths, many of them German emigrants. Try the Natchez paper and the Cincinnati papers.