Steamboat Jenny Lind Disaster

THI STEAMBOAT JENNY LIND DISASTER Beginning in the 1840s, the dock at Alviso served at Santa Clara County’s access to the San Francisco Bay. From this port, passengers Boarded steamboats loaded with goods and produce bound for San Francisco and points beyond. In the early days of the California gold rush, San Jose provided hay, lumber and large amounts of food through this port. During the height of its shipping activity, Alviso experienced a devastating maritime disaster. On the eleventh of April in 1853, the steamer Jenny Lind left Alviso bound for San Francisco. Midway trough the voyage steam, trapped by a torn boiler pipe exploded outward through the ship’s furnace, scalding those who were in its path. Residents of San Jose were stunned, as many of those killed had been leaders in their community, and the incident is still remembered as a major tragedy. Soon after, business at the Port of Alviso began to suffer. The completion of the San Francisco-San Jose Railroad in 1864 diverted most of the passenger traffic from Alviso and hastened the port’s decline. Although Alviso commercial prominence faded, its past is forever linked to the history of the ill-fated steamer, Jenny Lind. The following are known to have perished in the Jenny Lind disaster A Baudichon, age 35 Athalie Baudichon, age 32 Blanche Baudichon, age 1 Charles Baudichon, age 5 Adolf Behn, age 5 CE Adolf Behn, age 39 William Bell, age 24 Franklin W Bosworth, age 26 John S Bradbury, age 29 John Brady, age 25 Mr. Carpentier, age 46 SF Drake, age 29 Rosilla Emerson, age 32 Thomas Godden, age 26 Jonas Hawkins, age 30 Jacob D'Hoppe, age 37 Thomas J Kell, age 23 Francis H Macabee, age 27 Bemard Murphy, age 35 Mrs. Sarah Ann Paige, age 34 Sarah Anna Paige, age 8 Annie F Ripley, age 6 Charles E Ripley, age 8 Mary Burtois Turk Ripley, age 30 Noah Ripley, age 50 Sarah F Ripley, age 9 Christopher A Shelton, age 27 Jeremiah Van Buren, age 26 Jane B Winlack, age 35 Caleb Winsor, age 30 Charles White, age 45 Roswell A Wyman, age 36 and others whose names shall never be known. They were lost to tragedy, may they never be lost to history. Dedicated in 2013 on the one hundred and sixtieth anniversary of the disaster by Mountain Charlie Chapter 1850, E Clampus Vitus California Pioneers of Santa Clara County Free and Accepted Masons, San Jose Lodge No. 10 Native Sons of the Golden West, Observatory Parlor No. 177 South Bay Yacht Club Native Daughters of the Golden West, Vendome Parlor No, 100 Argonauts Historical Society Yerba Brona Chapter 1. E Clampus Vitus Submitted by: Eric Goodill