1888 — Dec 23, Steamer Kate Adams Burns, Mississippi River, Commerce Landing, MS-~33

— ~33 Blanchard estimate.*

— 60 Star and Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. “General News,” Jan 1, 1889, p. 3.
— 40-50 Spirit Lake Beacon, IA. “The Burning of the Steamer Kate Adams,” Dec 29, 1888, 4.
— 35-50 Baltimore Sun. “A Fine Steamer Burned on the Mississippi River.” 12-24-1888, p. 4.
–35-~40 Boston Daily Globe. “Two Score Lives. Miss. Steamboat Takes Fire,” 24 Dec 1888, 1.
— 35 Annual Statistician and Economist 1892 (Vol. 16). L. P. McCarty, 1892. p. 61.
— 35 Columbus Enquirer-Sun, GA. “The Kate Adams.” 12-25-1888, p. 1.
— 35 Daily Journal, Logansport, IN. “The Year’s Disasters,” Jan 2, 1889, p. 4.
— 35 Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Record of the Year,” 31 Dec 1888, 3.
— 35 Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Steamer Kate Adams,” Dec 25, 1888, p. 1.
— 33 Supervising Inspector General. Annual Report of… 1889, p. 22.
–12 crew
— 1 cabin boy
–20 passengers
— 33 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994…Steamboats…MS River System. 1994, 263-264.
— 30 Elyria Democrat, OH. “Thirty Lives Lost…Burning…Kate Adams,” 27 Dec 1888, p3.
— 25 Public Ledger Almanac. Philadelphia, PA: Collins Printing House. p. 25.
— 24 The World, New York City. “Death on the River,” Dec 26, 1888, p. 1.
— 23 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 176.
— 23 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 689.
— 23 US Congress, House. Hearings… “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” 1935, p. 248.
— 14 Chautauquan. “Summary of Important News for Dec, 1888,” V9, N1, Oct 1888, 318.
— 14 Logansport Daily Pharos, IN. “Only Fourteen Persons Lost,” Dec 31, 1888, p. 1.
— 14 The World, New York City. “The Lives Lost Were Fourteen,” Dec 30, 1888, p. 3.

*Blanchard death-toll estimate. While there is a broad range of estimates – from a low of fourteen to a high of sixty, we choose to rely on the detailed breakout provided by the Supervising Inspector General of Steamboats in his 1889 report to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. We incorporate, however, the approximate sign (~) in recognition the wide range of reporting and skepticism concerning an exact number ever being known which was expressed in some newspaper reporting at the time.

Narrative Information

Berman: Kate Adams: “Dec 24 1888 [date of loss]…Burned…Mississippi River. 23 lives lost.” (Berman 1972, p. 176.)

Supervising Inspector General: “December 23, 1888. – While the steamer Kate Adams was ascending the Mississippi River opposite Commerce, Miss., she caught fire and burned. Twelve of the crew, one cabin boy, and twenty passengers were reported lost.” (Supervising Inspector General. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels. 9-27-1889, p. 22.)

Way: Kate Adams: Sidewheel packet built at Sewickley and Pittsburgh, PA in 1882 with five boilers. “Capt. Mark R. Cheek was master when the Kate was discovered afire at Commerce Landing, 40 miles below Memphis, early Sunday morning, Dec. 23, 1888. She was on her 602nd trip in the trade, Memphis-Arkansas City. Her cargo included 1,161 bales of cotton, 1,900 sacks of cotton seed, and 87 sacks of seed corn. Thirty-three lives were lost….” (Way 1994, p. 263-264.)

Newspaper

Dec 23, Boston Globe: “Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 23. – The elegant passenger steamer Kate Adams, running as a semi-weekly packet between Memphis and Arkansas City, was burned this morning near Commerce. Miss., 40 miles south of this city, and about 40 lives were lost. She was en route to Memphis and had about 200 people aboard, including her deck and cabin crew of 80, and 25 cabin and 60 deck passengers, besides 25 colored cabin passengers.

“The fire, which caught in some cotton near the forward end of the boilers, was discovered about 8 o’clock. The passengers were at breakfast, and when the alarm was given they all made a rush for the forward dock. At this time the steamer was about 300 yards from the Mississippi side of the river, and her bow was at once headed for the shore.

“Pilot J. A. Barton was on watch, and he remained heroically at his post, until she was safely landed. Harry Bert, the second clerk, was seated at the table when the alarm was given. He brought all the ladies and children forward and assisted them ashore.

“Captain Mark Cheek, who was on the hurricane deck, remained there, giving his commands until the stage plank was safely lowered.

“The fire by this time had spread all through the cabin, and he was compelled to retreat to the rear, and climbed over the rails and descended to the cabin. Here he found Chief Clerk W. O. Blanker, who had made an effort to save the money and papers of the steamer, which were in the safe. He managed to grab the money, but was cut off from the bow and forced back into the cabin. As he was groping his way aft he stumbled and fell over some chairs and lost all the valuables he had secured, and it was with great difficulty that he succeeded in reaching the rear through the blinding smoke and flames which filled the cabin. Captain Cheek seized a life preserver, and placing it on Chief Clerk Blanker helped him overboard into the water. He floated down about three miles before he was rescued by parties who had walked ashore and followed him down the river. Captain Cheek assisted several others in securing life preservers and when it was no longer possible for him to remain without being burned he too jumped into the river and swam ashore. There were about 25 colored cabin passengers who were saved along with the white passengers.

“On the lower deck, however, a fearful panic seized the crew and deck passengers. Those who were cut off from escape from the bow wore compelled to jump overboard to escape the flames. The stern of the burning steamer had swung out into the river, and an effort was made to launch the yawl, but it was capsized by the crowd which filled it, and many of its occupants were drowned. They were nearly all colored men, but there were three or four women in the crowd….

The burning steamer drifted away after lying at the bank for 20 minutes and floated down the river, her hull sinking at the head of Peter’s island, four miles below Commerce….

“She was the finest and fastest steamer of her typo in the Mississippi river, and her owners this summer spent $20,000 in repairing her at Paducah….

“This would have been the completion of her six hundred and second trip in the Memphis and Arkansas City trade. Her cargo consisted of 1161 bales cotton 1900 sacks cottons and, 87 bags of seed and a good list of sundries….

“The passengers and crew lost all their clothing and effects…

“Three of the colored cabin crew who were rescued from the water died afterwards…. The water was very cold, which benumbed the limbs of those who jumped overboard, and to this is attributed the greatest loss of life. All speak in highest terms of the coolness and bravery displayed by the officers of the boat, all of whom remained at their posts until the last, and it was through their efforts and courage that all the lady passengers were safely taken ashore…..

“It is impossible to ascertain definitely how many lives were…lost, but a conservative estimate places the number at not less than 35. It may reach a much larger figure.” (Boston Daily Globe. “Two Score Lives. Miss. Steamboat Takes Fire,” 24 Dec 1888, p. 1.)

Dec 25, Columbus Enquirer-Sun: “Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 24. – William Donohue, one of the clerks of the burned steamer Kate Adams, came up this forenoon from the wreck. He was in a yawl with Clerk George Corbett, when it capsized, and the last he saw of his colleague he was floating down the river clinging to a small ladder. Donohue managed to catch a bale of cotton, and was swept out into the current and was rescued six miles below Commerce by some negroes on the Arkansas side of the river….

“The loss of life is not yet definitely known, and the prospects are that the exact number who were drowned never will be accurately stated. Thirty-five is the most conservative estimate. Out of he party of fifteen white laborers which boarded the steamer below Friars Point, only two are said to have been saved. If this is true, and there are no means of substantiating the fact, the loss of lives may reach sixty, s many negroes who were on the lower deck lost their lives in attempting to swim ashore from the stern of the burning vessel….” (Columbus Enquirer-Sun, GA. “The Kate Adams.” 12-25-1888, p. 1.)

Dec 29, The World: “Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 29. – The loss of life by the burning of the steamer Kate Adams last Sunday morning, forty miles below here, has been reduced to fourteen, of whom four were white and the remainder colored. This is conclusive, after a careful official investigation by the steamboat inspectors here. The names of the lost are not obtainable except the clerk, Corbett, and a passenger named Robinson. The fire was ignited by one of the firemen throwing a red-hot poker on a sack of cotton-seed in front of the fire-doors. Four or five hundred bales of the boat’s cargo of cotton floated off without being scorched. A wrecking boat will go from here to-night to save the property.” (The World, NYC. “The Lives Lost Were Fourteen,” Dec 30, 1888, p. 3)

Dec 31, Logansport Pharos: “Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 31. – Local Inspectors…have almost completed their investigation of the Kate Adams steamboat disaster. From statements made by William Blanker, the first clerk of the boat, they find that the Adams had 197 persons on board when she took fire. Of these 183 are known to have escaped, leaving 14 as lost.” (Logansport Daily Pharos, IN. “Only Fourteen Persons Lost,” Dec 31, 1888, p. 1.)

Sources

Annual Statistician and Economist 1888. “Chronology.” San Francisco and NY: L.P. McCarty, 1888. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=j7JXAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Baltimore Sun. “A Fine Steamer Burned on the Mississippi River.” 12-24-1888, p. 4. Accessed 9-20-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-sun-dec-24-1888-p-4/

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

Boston Daily Globe. “Two Score Lives. Mississippi Steamboat Takes Fire,” Dec 24, 1888, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=163226957

Chautauqua Institution. “Summary of Important News for August, 1888,” Chautauquan, Vol. 9, No. 1, Oct 1888, p. 64. Accessed 9-20-2020 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=UMnmAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

Columbus Enquirer-Sun, GA. “The Kate Adams.” 12-25-1888, p. 1. Accessed 9-20-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/columbus-enquirer-sun-dec-25-1888-p-1/

Daily Journal, Logansport, IN. “The Year’s Disasters.” 1-2-1889, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83142306

Elyria Democrat, OH. “Thirty Lives Lost by the Burning of the Steamer Kate Adams,” Dec 27, 1888, 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=9053853

Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Record of the Year – Principal Events That Have Occurred in the World,” 12-31-1888, 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=51376727

Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Steamer Kate Adams,” Dec 25, 1888, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=49099289

Logansport Daily Pharos, IN. “Only Fourteen Persons Lost” [Steamer Kate Adams]. 12-31-1888, p. 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83513592

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.

Public Ledger Almanac 1887. Philadelphia, PA: George W. Childs Publisher, 1888. Digitized by Google. Accessed 9-20-2020 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=jF4TAAAAYAAJ

Spirit Lake Beacon, IA. “The Burning of the Steamer Kate Adams,” Dec 29, 1888, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=102753950

Star and Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. “General News,” 1-1-1889, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2883323

Supervising Inspector General of Steam-Vessels. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1889. Washington, DC: 1889. U.S. Department of the Treasury. Accessed 9-20-2020 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=AD2E0KPaKAcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

The World, NYC. “Death on the River.” 12-26-1888, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=137325602

The World, NYC. “The Lives Lost Were Fourteen” [Steamer Kate Adams]. 12-30-1888, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=141474280

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

Wikipedia. “Commerce, Mississippi.” 7-26-2020 edit. Accessed 9-20-2020 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce,_Mississippi