1837. American side-wheel steamer Ben Sherrod, 393-tons, Captain Castleman, en route from New Orleans to Louisville carrying about 200 passengers, general freight and a large quantity of specie consigned to banks in Tennessee and a considerable amount of wealth belonging to private individuals, burned near Black Hawk, Louisiana on May 8. The Ben Sherrod caught fire while racing the steamer Prairie about fourteen miles above Fort Adams, Mississippi. According to reports, the deck and engine room crewmen were inebriated and during the race, her boilers became so overheated that they ignited about 60 cords of resin-soaked wood. The forward section quickly became a raging inferno. The fire burned through the wheel ropes as the Sherrod continued upstream with no means of steering her towards shore. Many of those onboard jumped in the water to escape the fire – people fought for floating objects – women and children were thrown aside by men, cowardly trying to save their own lives. Ironically the Prairie did not bother to stop and assist; she continued on to Natchez only to report that the Sherrod was on fire. The steamer Alton, did attempt to rush to her assistance and accidentally ran over many of the survivors in the water. The blaze continued to spread, first setting off the barrel of whiskey (like a cannon) the drunken crew had been enjoying, before reaching her boilers, which expoded with a devastating roar. The riverboat’s final death-blow came when the flames ignited forty barrels of gun power she carried. That explosion reportedly, could be heard for miles. One wealthy passenger placed $38,000 under his pillow, and though he managed to escape with his life, lost all his money while another lost $20,000 in specie. Seventy-two people were reported to have perished in the disaster.
Today, the remains of the Ben Sherrod are currently being recovered by a consortium of private investors. The vessel is lying upside down about one mile from Fort Adams and about 1.3 miles from the present channel of the Mississippi River. She was buried under approximately seventy feet of sand and mud. To date, about 50 feet of hull timbers have been uncovered. The timbers were found to be in excellent condition and the group hopes that her cargo is still intact and equally well-preserved. (Note: The Ben Sherrod was built at New Albany, Indiana in 1836. There is much confusion surrounding this particular shipwreck. An article published in Lost Treasure Magazine mistakenly claims the loss occurred near Louisville, Kentucky. The Atlas of Shipwrecks & Treasure states that 150 people perished in the disaster. Shipwrecks: An Encyclopedia of the World’s Worst Disasters at Sea by Ritchie, claims 200 people died and erroneously gives the date of the loss as January 2. The Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks list the Ben Sherrod, but also has a listing for a Sherrod, burned on the Mississippi River on May 9 and declares that 100 lives were lost. This is undoubtedly a reference to the same wreck based on the close proximity of the dates and location.)
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