South
America
Weekly Courier Journal, Louisville Ky. Wednesday, 1 January 1851, page 2
From the officers of the Chief Justice Marshall, we learn that the South America, with her entire cargo, is a total loss. It was supposed that between thirty and forty lives were lost. All the officers and cabin passengers were saved, except one lade, the wife of the carpenter of the boat. The S A had a detachment of recruits from Newport Barracks on board, of whom only seventeen answered at the roll call after the disaster.
It was supposed that some of the recruits had deserted. The boat took fire at a wood pile in Morgan's bend. So rapid was the spread of the flames that, although she was run ashore in a few minutes, many were driven into the water to escape the flames and were drowned.
We have in the New Orleans Picayune the full details of the burning of this steamer. The South America took fire while in Morgan's bend, on the 18th at 4 pm in the afternoon. In two minutes she was made fast to the bank and in five minutes the whole boat was enveloped in flames. She had on board 400 tons of freight, 30 cabin passengers, of whom 4 were ladies, 100 recruits from Newport Barracks, under command of Lieut. Williamson and several deck passengers.
The lost of life amounts to 27 persons. Mrs. White, the wife of the carpenter of the boat, was the only cabin passenger that was lost. Her husband, seeing no escape from the flames, threw her into the river and sprang in after her, but was unable to save her from downing. The chief cook, Jackson Noles, three firemen, the porter of the boat, William Sheppard and a young man from Elizabethtown Ill. were either drowned or burned.
One soldier's wife jumped overboard and was drowned. Another threw her child overboard and sprang after it; both were drowned. The following are the names of the soldiers missing; Gildermaster, Hunt, Frank Reaser, Rosendale, Drury, Dumont, Daily, Dwyer, Girard, Hyer, Johnston, Kimble, Loomis, Werther, Lindpainter and Downie.
A few of the passengers saved their trunks. All others as well as the officers and crew and the soldiers saved nothing but the clothes they wore. The clerk saved about one-half the boats money. The book and papers were all destroyed. The wreck sunk in 80 feet of water. The officers were the last to leave the boat and the pilot, Charles B Brazier, stood at the wheel until the flames enveloped the pilot house. He was the last to leave the boat. The sufferers were treated hospitably by many of the planters in the neighborhood of the disaster. Most of them were taken to New Orleans on the steamer Rookway No 2.