William Steinhauer
Cincinnati Enquirer, 8 February 1890, page 2
NEWPORT
A special memorial service will be held on Sunday at 3 o'clock at St Paul's M E Church, in Memory of the death of the late William Steinhauer, who lost his life at the time of the burning of the DeSoto.
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Cincinnati Enquirer, 12 Nov 1894, page 8
SAD FATE
A peculiar and at the same time very pathetic, incident occurred on Saturday last at Evergreen Cemetery, back of Neweprt. It was the interring of a few bones, the remains of Wm Steinhauer, by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wm Steinhauer of No 31 East Tenth street, Newport. The circumstances surrounding the event were, as stated, most peculiar and extraordinary.
The deceased was a baker by trade and served in that capacity on the ill fated steamer De Soto which sank at Owensboro Ky. January 26, 1890. All the passengers and crew were saved with the exception of Steinhauer and after they all had reached shore, having had plenty of time to do so before the steamer settled, he was missed, but as he was known to be an expert swimmer, it was supposed that he jumped into the rive and landed further down the stream.
He was never heard from again although diligent search was made for him and the conclusion was arrived at that he went down with the boat and was drowned. Two weeks ago the river was very low and the old bulk of the steamer was disclosed to view. A search of the hull revealed the skeleton of a man and from the clothes and some articles in the pockets, which were in a fair state of preservation, it was identified as that of the lost baker.
The parents were notified and they made the identification doubly sure by also recognizing the remains as those of their long lost son. An air of mystery seemed to surround the whole affair and a detective was quietly put to work. He discovered that the dead man on the the day of the accident, had $40 in his clothes and also a silver watch.
They were not on him when found. other little facts leaked out which convince the detective that Steinhauer had met with foul play; that during the excitement incident to the sinking of the boat, he was probably struck on the head by one of the roustabouts and relieved of his valuables, the sinking of the boat, of course, covering all traces of the crime.
Mr. Steinhauer, the father, is firmly convinced that such are the facts and proposes to sift the matter to the bottom. He has ordered the detective to continue his investigation and to follow up every clew until he has unearthed the truth of the whole affair if it is possible.