EXPLOSION OP THE GLENCOE.
On the 3d day of April, 1852, the Glencoe, Captain Lee, from New Orleans, arrived at St. Louis, and had just been moored at the levee, foot of Chestnut street, when three of the boilers exploded, with the most appalling and destructive effects. The sound of the explosion was heard in the most remote quarters of the city; in the neighborhood of the levee the shock was like that of an earthquake, the houses for several squares around appeared to reel under the force of the concussion. The boat was crowded with people at the time; the passengers were engaged in looking after their baggage, and numbers of citizens, hotel-runners, hackmen, &c., had pressed into the boat. There was a fearful loss of life, but the names and number of the killed are beyond the scope of inquiry, as many of the victims were strangers; the bodies of a large number blown overboard were not recovered from the water, and many of the dead were so shockingly disfigured or torn to pieces that all recognition was out of the question. Fragments of wood, iron, and dead bodies were thrown to a surprising distance.
The shock of the explosion drove the steamer far out into the river, ani immediately afterwards she took fire, the furnaces having been dismantled, and the burning fuel scattered over the decks. As the Glencoe floated down the stream, she presented a frightful spectacle. The whole forward part of the boat to the wheel-house, and down to the water line, had been swept away, and all the after-part was a commingled mass of timbers, freight, and human bodies heaped together in the wildest confusion. The fire burned fiercely and spread rapidly. The spectators on the shore beheld men, women and children running, with phrensied gestures, from one part of the burning steamer to another, seeking some means of escape from the dreadful death which threatened them-some who had been caught between the falling timbers were writhing in agony, making ineffectual efforts to extricate themselves, and imploring others to assist them. Numbers of the crew and passengers were compelled by the advancing flames to throw themselves overboard; some of these succeeded in reaching the shore, but many of them were drowned.
In the meantime, several small boats were actively engaged in rescuing the drowning people, and a considerable number were saved in this manner. The wreck finally lodged at the foot of Poplar street, where it burned to the water's edge, and then sunk, carrying down with it the ashes and bones of the dead. Near the spot where the explosion took place many dead bodies and dying persons were extended on the levee. Thirteen mutilated corpses were soon after removed to the office of the Board of Health, that being the most convenient place where they could be deposited. Twenty or thirty: of the wonnded were conveyed to the Sisters' Hospital. Others who were less injure(l, some with their faces scalded or blackened by the fire, were running about the levee in a frantic manner, crying for assistance. The dead bodies of five persons who had been blown from the deck of the Glencoe were found on the steamer Cataract. They were dreadfully mangled, the limbs in some cases being torn from the trunk-heads were mashed and disfigured to a degree which defied all attempts at identification. The body of a woman was found on the levee stretched across a marble slab, (the top of a table which had also been blown from the boat;) every bone in this corpse was broken, and " the limbs," says an eye-witness, "were so badly mangled that they could scarcely hang together."
The body of Mr. John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe, was found on the hurricane deck of the steamer Western World. Few external injuries were found on this body, but life was totally extinct. The body of a little girl, with the legs torn off, was recovered from the river. The dissevered leg of a man was picked up on the side walk in Commercial street; the boot which remained on the limb, led to the recognition thereof as a part of the mortal remains of William Brennan, one of the engineers. Of the thirteen wounded persons who were sent to the hospital, three died during the night, and scarcely any of the others were believed to be curable.
Capt. Lee, his lady and one of his children, left the boat as soon as she landed, and a very few minutes before the explosion. The Captain's little son, ten years of age, who remained on board, was killed. Mr. A. R. Jones, a merchant of St. Louis, was instrumental in saving a great number of lives, lie obtained a yawl, and approached the burning boat near enough to take off a great many passengers. As an acknowledgment of his humane services in the time of danger and affliction, the steamboat men of St. Louis presented Mr. Jones with a handsome silver mug, bearing a suitable inscription.
LIST OF THE KILLED.-John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe; Henry Balsar, pilot; John Curtis Lee, son of the Captain, aged ten years; Edward McCarty, hack driver, St. Louis; Mrs. Schenil, passenger, Memphis, Tenu. ; (every bone in her body was broken, as mentioned in the preceding narrative John Grey, aged 12 years, a pedlar boy, from Memphis; William Brennan, assistant engineer; a family, consisting of a man, his wife and three female children, names unknown ; George W. Rolfe, runner at the American Hotel, St. Louis; David Cree, Belfast, Ireland; George Reeder and James Wile, runners at the Virginia Hotel; a woman, name unknown; and many others, whose bodies could not be identified; making a total of sixty killed.
BADLY WOUNDED.-William Callahan, fireman; Jesse H. ilarrington, passenger, Cook county, Ill.; Samuel High, a citizen of St. Louis, who went on board after the boat arrived; Thomas Carroll. passenger, Liverpool, England; Frederick W. Burlog, German emigrant; Thomas Donahoe, Dubuquc, Iowa; Patrick McLaughlin, New York; Daniel B. Henman, Gibson county, Ill.; James McLean, Ohio; Michael Dunn, one of the boat's crew; Sarah Matthews, passenger, aged thirteen, mortally wounded; WT. B. Catherwright, passenger, Mississippi; William Bratliwed, an Englishman; (he had with him $1,900 in specie;) George Buchanan, engineer.
SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.-Mr. Lane, bar-keeper; Mr. Studdiford, Ohio; Francis Cafferty, hotel runner; Thomas Foley, assistant engineer.
Very few of those who were badly wounded lived twenty-four hours after the accident. In addition to those mentioned in the foregoing list, some of the wounded were conveyed away by their friends, and their names were not ascertained.
Two or three steamboats which lay near the Glencoe, were much damaged by the explosion. A lady from Illinois was killed in her state-room in the steamer Cataract, which lay next to the Glencoc.
(source: Lloyd's Steamboat Directory from 1856)
https://www.steamboats.org/archive/2342-2.html
On the 3d day of April, 1852, the Glencoe, Captain Lee, from New Orleans, arrived at St. Louis, and had just been moored at the levee, foot of Chestnut street, when three of the boilers exploded, with the most appalling and destructive effects. The sound of the explosion was heard in the most remote quarters of the city; in the neighborhood of the levee the shock was like that of an earthquake, the houses for several squares around appeared to reel under the force of the concussion. The boat was crowded with people at the time; the passengers were engaged in looking after their baggage, and numbers of citizens, hotel-runners, hackmen, &c., had pressed into the boat. There was a fearful loss of life, but the names and number of the killed are beyond the scope of inquiry, as many of the victims were strangers; the bodies of a large number blown overboard were not recovered from the water, and many of the dead were so shockingly disfigured or torn to pieces that all recognition was out of the question. Fragments of wood, iron, and dead bodies were thrown to a surprising distance.
The shock of the explosion drove the steamer far out into the river, ani immediately afterwards she took fire, the furnaces having been dismantled, and the burning fuel scattered over the decks. As the Glencoe floated down the stream, she presented a frightful spectacle. The whole forward part of the boat to the wheel-house, and down to the water line, had been swept away, and all the after-part was a commingled mass of timbers, freight, and human bodies heaped together in the wildest confusion. The fire burned fiercely and spread rapidly. The spectators on the shore beheld men, women and children running, with phrensied gestures, from one part of the burning steamer to another, seeking some means of escape from the dreadful death which threatened them-some who had been caught between the falling timbers were writhing in agony, making ineffectual efforts to extricate themselves, and imploring others to assist them. Numbers of the crew and passengers were compelled by the advancing flames to throw themselves overboard; some of these succeeded in reaching the shore, but many of them were drowned.
In the meantime, several small boats were actively engaged in rescuing the drowning people, and a considerable number were saved in this manner. The wreck finally lodged at the foot of Poplar street, where it burned to the water's edge, and then sunk, carrying down with it the ashes and bones of the dead. Near the spot where the explosion took place many dead bodies and dying persons were extended on the levee. Thirteen mutilated corpses were soon after removed to the office of the Board of Health, that being the most convenient place where they could be deposited. Twenty or thirty: of the wonnded were conveyed to the Sisters' Hospital. Others who were less injure(l, some with their faces scalded or blackened by the fire, were running about the levee in a frantic manner, crying for assistance. The dead bodies of five persons who had been blown from the deck of the Glencoe were found on the steamer Cataract. They were dreadfully mangled, the limbs in some cases being torn from the trunk-heads were mashed and disfigured to a degree which defied all attempts at identification. The body of a woman was found on the levee stretched across a marble slab, (the top of a table which had also been blown from the boat;) every bone in this corpse was broken, and " the limbs," says an eye-witness, "were so badly mangled that they could scarcely hang together."
The body of Mr. John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe, was found on the hurricane deck of the steamer Western World. Few external injuries were found on this body, but life was totally extinct. The body of a little girl, with the legs torn off, was recovered from the river. The dissevered leg of a man was picked up on the side walk in Commercial street; the boot which remained on the limb, led to the recognition thereof as a part of the mortal remains of William Brennan, one of the engineers. Of the thirteen wounded persons who were sent to the hospital, three died during the night, and scarcely any of the others were believed to be curable.
Capt. Lee, his lady and one of his children, left the boat as soon as she landed, and a very few minutes before the explosion. The Captain's little son, ten years of age, who remained on board, was killed. Mr. A. R. Jones, a merchant of St. Louis, was instrumental in saving a great number of lives, lie obtained a yawl, and approached the burning boat near enough to take off a great many passengers. As an acknowledgment of his humane services in the time of danger and affliction, the steamboat men of St. Louis presented Mr. Jones with a handsome silver mug, bearing a suitable inscription.
LIST OF THE KILLED.-John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe; Henry Balsar, pilot; John Curtis Lee, son of the Captain, aged ten years; Edward McCarty, hack driver, St. Louis; Mrs. Schenil, passenger, Memphis, Tenu. ; (every bone in her body was broken, as mentioned in the preceding narrative John Grey, aged 12 years, a pedlar boy, from Memphis; William Brennan, assistant engineer; a family, consisting of a man, his wife and three female children, names unknown ; George W. Rolfe, runner at the American Hotel, St. Louis; David Cree, Belfast, Ireland; George Reeder and James Wile, runners at the Virginia Hotel; a woman, name unknown; and many others, whose bodies could not be identified; making a total of sixty killed.
BADLY WOUNDED.-William Callahan, fireman; Jesse H. ilarrington, passenger, Cook county, Ill.; Samuel High, a citizen of St. Louis, who went on board after the boat arrived; Thomas Carroll. passenger, Liverpool, England; Frederick W. Burlog, German emigrant; Thomas Donahoe, Dubuquc, Iowa; Patrick McLaughlin, New York; Daniel B. Henman, Gibson county, Ill.; James McLean, Ohio; Michael Dunn, one of the boat's crew; Sarah Matthews, passenger, aged thirteen, mortally wounded; WT. B. Catherwright, passenger, Mississippi; William Bratliwed, an Englishman; (he had with him $1,900 in specie;) George Buchanan, engineer.
SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.-Mr. Lane, bar-keeper; Mr. Studdiford, Ohio; Francis Cafferty, hotel runner; Thomas Foley, assistant engineer.
Very few of those who were badly wounded lived twenty-four hours after the accident. In addition to those mentioned in the foregoing list, some of the wounded were conveyed away by their friends, and their names were not ascertained.
Two or three steamboats which lay near the Glencoe, were much damaged by the explosion. A lady from Illinois was killed in her state-room in the steamer Cataract, which lay next to the Glencoc.
(source: Lloyd's Steamboat Directory from 1856)
https://www.steamboats.org/archive/2342-2.html
EXPLOSION OP THE GLENCOE.
On the 3d day of April, 1852, the Glencoe, Captain Lee, from New Orleans, arrived at St. Louis, and had just been moored at the levee, foot of Chestnut street, when three of the boilers exploded, with the most appalling and destructive effects. The sound of the explosion was heard in the most remote quarters of the city; in the neighborhood of the levee the shock was like that of an earthquake, the houses for several squares around appeared to reel under the force of the concussion. The boat was crowded with people at the time; the passengers were engaged in looking after their baggage, and numbers of citizens, hotel-runners, hackmen, &c., had pressed into the boat. There was a fearful loss of life, but the names and number of the killed are beyond the scope of inquiry, as many of the victims were strangers; the bodies of a large number blown overboard were not recovered from the water, and many of the dead were so shockingly disfigured or torn to pieces that all recognition was out of the question. Fragments of wood, iron, and dead bodies were thrown to a surprising distance.
The shock of the explosion drove the steamer far out into the river, ani immediately afterwards she took fire, the furnaces having been dismantled, and the burning fuel scattered over the decks. As the Glencoe floated down the stream, she presented a frightful spectacle. The whole forward part of the boat to the wheel-house, and down to the water line, had been swept away, and all the after-part was a commingled mass of timbers, freight, and human bodies heaped together in the wildest confusion. The fire burned fiercely and spread rapidly. The spectators on the shore beheld men, women and children running, with phrensied gestures, from one part of the burning steamer to another, seeking some means of escape from the dreadful death which threatened them-some who had been caught between the falling timbers were writhing in agony, making ineffectual efforts to extricate themselves, and imploring others to assist them. Numbers of the crew and passengers were compelled by the advancing flames to throw themselves overboard; some of these succeeded in reaching the shore, but many of them were drowned.
In the meantime, several small boats were actively engaged in rescuing the drowning people, and a considerable number were saved in this manner. The wreck finally lodged at the foot of Poplar street, where it burned to the water's edge, and then sunk, carrying down with it the ashes and bones of the dead. Near the spot where the explosion took place many dead bodies and dying persons were extended on the levee. Thirteen mutilated corpses were soon after removed to the office of the Board of Health, that being the most convenient place where they could be deposited. Twenty or thirty: of the wonnded were conveyed to the Sisters' Hospital. Others who were less injure(l, some with their faces scalded or blackened by the fire, were running about the levee in a frantic manner, crying for assistance. The dead bodies of five persons who had been blown from the deck of the Glencoe were found on the steamer Cataract. They were dreadfully mangled, the limbs in some cases being torn from the trunk-heads were mashed and disfigured to a degree which defied all attempts at identification. The body of a woman was found on the levee stretched across a marble slab, (the top of a table which had also been blown from the boat;) every bone in this corpse was broken, and " the limbs," says an eye-witness, "were so badly mangled that they could scarcely hang together."
The body of Mr. John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe, was found on the hurricane deck of the steamer Western World. Few external injuries were found on this body, but life was totally extinct. The body of a little girl, with the legs torn off, was recovered from the river. The dissevered leg of a man was picked up on the side walk in Commercial street; the boot which remained on the limb, led to the recognition thereof as a part of the mortal remains of William Brennan, one of the engineers. Of the thirteen wounded persons who were sent to the hospital, three died during the night, and scarcely any of the others were believed to be curable.
Capt. Lee, his lady and one of his children, left the boat as soon as she landed, and a very few minutes before the explosion. The Captain's little son, ten years of age, who remained on board, was killed. Mr. A. R. Jones, a merchant of St. Louis, was instrumental in saving a great number of lives, lie obtained a yawl, and approached the burning boat near enough to take off a great many passengers. As an acknowledgment of his humane services in the time of danger and affliction, the steamboat men of St. Louis presented Mr. Jones with a handsome silver mug, bearing a suitable inscription.
LIST OF THE KILLED.-John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe; Henry Balsar, pilot; John Curtis Lee, son of the Captain, aged ten years; Edward McCarty, hack driver, St. Louis; Mrs. Schenil, passenger, Memphis, Tenu. ; (every bone in her body was broken, as mentioned in the preceding narrative John Grey, aged 12 years, a pedlar boy, from Memphis; William Brennan, assistant engineer; a family, consisting of a man, his wife and three female children, names unknown ; George W. Rolfe, runner at the American Hotel, St. Louis; David Cree, Belfast, Ireland; George Reeder and James Wile, runners at the Virginia Hotel; a woman, name unknown; and many others, whose bodies could not be identified; making a total of sixty killed.
BADLY WOUNDED.-William Callahan, fireman; Jesse H. ilarrington, passenger, Cook county, Ill.; Samuel High, a citizen of St. Louis, who went on board after the boat arrived; Thomas Carroll. passenger, Liverpool, England; Frederick W. Burlog, German emigrant; Thomas Donahoe, Dubuquc, Iowa; Patrick McLaughlin, New York; Daniel B. Henman, Gibson county, Ill.; James McLean, Ohio; Michael Dunn, one of the boat's crew; Sarah Matthews, passenger, aged thirteen, mortally wounded; WT. B. Catherwright, passenger, Mississippi; William Bratliwed, an Englishman; (he had with him $1,900 in specie;) George Buchanan, engineer.
SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.-Mr. Lane, bar-keeper; Mr. Studdiford, Ohio; Francis Cafferty, hotel runner; Thomas Foley, assistant engineer.
Very few of those who were badly wounded lived twenty-four hours after the accident. In addition to those mentioned in the foregoing list, some of the wounded were conveyed away by their friends, and their names were not ascertained.
Two or three steamboats which lay near the Glencoe, were much damaged by the explosion. A lady from Illinois was killed in her state-room in the steamer Cataract, which lay next to the Glencoc.
(source: Lloyd's Steamboat Directory from 1856)
https://www.steamboats.org/archive/2342-2.html
On the 3d day of April, 1852, the Glencoe, Captain Lee, from New Orleans, arrived at St. Louis, and had just been moored at the levee, foot of Chestnut street, when three of the boilers exploded, with the most appalling and destructive effects. The sound of the explosion was heard in the most remote quarters of the city; in the neighborhood of the levee the shock was like that of an earthquake, the houses for several squares around appeared to reel under the force of the concussion. The boat was crowded with people at the time; the passengers were engaged in looking after their baggage, and numbers of citizens, hotel-runners, hackmen, &c., had pressed into the boat. There was a fearful loss of life, but the names and number of the killed are beyond the scope of inquiry, as many of the victims were strangers; the bodies of a large number blown overboard were not recovered from the water, and many of the dead were so shockingly disfigured or torn to pieces that all recognition was out of the question. Fragments of wood, iron, and dead bodies were thrown to a surprising distance.
The shock of the explosion drove the steamer far out into the river, ani immediately afterwards she took fire, the furnaces having been dismantled, and the burning fuel scattered over the decks. As the Glencoe floated down the stream, she presented a frightful spectacle. The whole forward part of the boat to the wheel-house, and down to the water line, had been swept away, and all the after-part was a commingled mass of timbers, freight, and human bodies heaped together in the wildest confusion. The fire burned fiercely and spread rapidly. The spectators on the shore beheld men, women and children running, with phrensied gestures, from one part of the burning steamer to another, seeking some means of escape from the dreadful death which threatened them-some who had been caught between the falling timbers were writhing in agony, making ineffectual efforts to extricate themselves, and imploring others to assist them. Numbers of the crew and passengers were compelled by the advancing flames to throw themselves overboard; some of these succeeded in reaching the shore, but many of them were drowned.
In the meantime, several small boats were actively engaged in rescuing the drowning people, and a considerable number were saved in this manner. The wreck finally lodged at the foot of Poplar street, where it burned to the water's edge, and then sunk, carrying down with it the ashes and bones of the dead. Near the spot where the explosion took place many dead bodies and dying persons were extended on the levee. Thirteen mutilated corpses were soon after removed to the office of the Board of Health, that being the most convenient place where they could be deposited. Twenty or thirty: of the wonnded were conveyed to the Sisters' Hospital. Others who were less injure(l, some with their faces scalded or blackened by the fire, were running about the levee in a frantic manner, crying for assistance. The dead bodies of five persons who had been blown from the deck of the Glencoe were found on the steamer Cataract. They were dreadfully mangled, the limbs in some cases being torn from the trunk-heads were mashed and disfigured to a degree which defied all attempts at identification. The body of a woman was found on the levee stretched across a marble slab, (the top of a table which had also been blown from the boat;) every bone in this corpse was broken, and " the limbs," says an eye-witness, "were so badly mangled that they could scarcely hang together."
The body of Mr. John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe, was found on the hurricane deck of the steamer Western World. Few external injuries were found on this body, but life was totally extinct. The body of a little girl, with the legs torn off, was recovered from the river. The dissevered leg of a man was picked up on the side walk in Commercial street; the boot which remained on the limb, led to the recognition thereof as a part of the mortal remains of William Brennan, one of the engineers. Of the thirteen wounded persons who were sent to the hospital, three died during the night, and scarcely any of the others were believed to be curable.
Capt. Lee, his lady and one of his children, left the boat as soon as she landed, and a very few minutes before the explosion. The Captain's little son, ten years of age, who remained on board, was killed. Mr. A. R. Jones, a merchant of St. Louis, was instrumental in saving a great number of lives, lie obtained a yawl, and approached the burning boat near enough to take off a great many passengers. As an acknowledgment of his humane services in the time of danger and affliction, the steamboat men of St. Louis presented Mr. Jones with a handsome silver mug, bearing a suitable inscription.
LIST OF THE KILLED.-John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe; Henry Balsar, pilot; John Curtis Lee, son of the Captain, aged ten years; Edward McCarty, hack driver, St. Louis; Mrs. Schenil, passenger, Memphis, Tenu. ; (every bone in her body was broken, as mentioned in the preceding narrative John Grey, aged 12 years, a pedlar boy, from Memphis; William Brennan, assistant engineer; a family, consisting of a man, his wife and three female children, names unknown ; George W. Rolfe, runner at the American Hotel, St. Louis; David Cree, Belfast, Ireland; George Reeder and James Wile, runners at the Virginia Hotel; a woman, name unknown; and many others, whose bodies could not be identified; making a total of sixty killed.
BADLY WOUNDED.-William Callahan, fireman; Jesse H. ilarrington, passenger, Cook county, Ill.; Samuel High, a citizen of St. Louis, who went on board after the boat arrived; Thomas Carroll. passenger, Liverpool, England; Frederick W. Burlog, German emigrant; Thomas Donahoe, Dubuquc, Iowa; Patrick McLaughlin, New York; Daniel B. Henman, Gibson county, Ill.; James McLean, Ohio; Michael Dunn, one of the boat's crew; Sarah Matthews, passenger, aged thirteen, mortally wounded; WT. B. Catherwright, passenger, Mississippi; William Bratliwed, an Englishman; (he had with him $1,900 in specie;) George Buchanan, engineer.
SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.-Mr. Lane, bar-keeper; Mr. Studdiford, Ohio; Francis Cafferty, hotel runner; Thomas Foley, assistant engineer.
Very few of those who were badly wounded lived twenty-four hours after the accident. In addition to those mentioned in the foregoing list, some of the wounded were conveyed away by their friends, and their names were not ascertained.
Two or three steamboats which lay near the Glencoe, were much damaged by the explosion. A lady from Illinois was killed in her state-room in the steamer Cataract, which lay next to the Glencoc.
(source: Lloyd's Steamboat Directory from 1856)
https://www.steamboats.org/archive/2342-2.html
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