The era of steamships suffered one of its worst early disasters when the Lexington, while steaming from New York City to Stonington, Connecticut, caught fire on the evening of January 13, 1840. As the ship burned, and finally sank into the icy waters of Long Island Sound, approximately 140 people died.

The carnage might have been avoided. It was suspected modifications to the ship's boilers caused some pipes to become hot enough to ignite the wooden ship.

And a cargo of cotton provided ample fuel for the flames.

Almost all of those who jumped into the icy waters perished. Only four men survived, by desperately clinging to floating cotton bales.

The loss of the Lexington was a shock to Americans who had gotten used to the marvel of reliable transportation by steamboat. Newspapers, in the competitive era of the penny press,carried extensive accounts of the disaster.

The horrifying scene of the burning ship was of such interest to the public that engraver Nathaniel Currier quickly produced a lithograph depicting the tragedy. In Brooklyn's historic Green-Wood Cemetery, a weathered gravestone featuring a dramatic image of the ship in flames can be seen today.

Later maritime disasters, such as the 1854 wreck of the SS Arctic, would eclipse the horror of the Lexington. But the tale of the burning ship resonated for many years.

History of the Steamship Lexington

The Lexington, a 205-foot ship with paddle wheels on its sides, had been built by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1835 to transport passengers and cargo between New York City and ports in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The ship developed a reputation as being reliable and was one of the prominent steamers on Long Island Sound.

In 1839 Vanderbilt sold the ship. The new owners of the Lexington modified the engines, and some of those changes may have contributed to the eventual disaster.

When the ship left New York City at 3 p.m. on January 13, 1840, about 150 passengers and crew expected an ordinary trip. The Lexington would typically sail overnight to Stonington, Connecticut. In the morning, passengers would meet up with a train bound for Boston.

As the Lexington steamed along in the dark, passengers conversed. Some played cards. At about 7 p.m. screams of "Fire!" were heard.

Disaster On the Water

As crewmen desperately tried to fight the flames, the captain tried to steer the Lexington toward shore, which was only a few miles away. Meanwhile, panicked passengers seized some of the small boats and tried to escape.

Newspaper reports, which relied on accounts by the few survivors, described a scene of mayhem. Lifeboats lowered from the bow of the ship were smashed by the Lexington's paddle wheels. Passengers then resorted to throwing furniture and cotton bales into the water to use as makeshift rafts.

The efforts to reach land failed when the ship's engines stopped. The Lexington was then at the mercy of the current and tide, and began to drift farther out into Long Island Sound.

A New York City newspaper, the Courier, published a dramatic report which was widely reprinted. It noted that the burning ship was visible, but beyond help:

"The conflagration of the boat was seen from Norwalk and Bridgeport, on the Connecticut shore, but the state of the tide and the ice prevented them getting out their boats to go to her assistance, and though attempt was made, it was impossible to succeed."

The account from the New York Courier described the struggle of one of the surviving passengers, a ship's captain named Chester Hillard:

"When the progress of the fire was such as to leave no hope, the passengers commenced throwing the deck freight overboard, probably in the expectation that some parts of it would remain floating and might be the means of saving some of them. Captain Hillard assisted in throwing about ten bales of cotton overboard, and in leaping on one of them.

"One of the firemen of the boat also succeeded in getting on the same bale, and these two, by means of a piece of board which they picked up, succeeded in keeping the bale head on to the sea until about four o'clock in the morning, when the bale capsized but righted again with both of them on it. Until this time they had kept the upper part of their bodies comparatively dry, but were now completely wet to the skin.

"And now the fireman began to despond, talked of his wife and children, told Captain Hillard that his name was Cox and that he resided in Oak Street, New York. Captain Hillard endeavored to cheer him up, and at last lashed him to the bale, but at about 9 o'clock in the morning he expired.

"At 11 o'clock Captain Hillard was rescued by Captain Meeker, in the sloop Merchant, of Southport."

The boat that picked up Hillard also picked up two other survivors, Charles Smith, a fireman on the Lexington, and Capt. Stephen Manchester, the Lexington's pilot.

The fourth survivor, David Crowley, the second mate of the Lexington, reported seeing the sloop Merchant on the morning after the fire. But he was unable to get the ship's attention. He continued floating on a bale of cotton through the day, and that night he somehow managed to fall asleep.

On the second day, Crowley struggled to steer toward shore. He finally reached land as night fell. He saw a light in the distance, and was able to stagger to a house, where he was given assistance.

Legacy of the Lexington Disaster

The loss of the Lexington was an enormous news story at the time. On January 18, 1840, the Baltimore Sun published an extensive report of the disaster, drawing upon accounts from various other newspapers.

The Sun noted that several prominent Baltimore citizens, traveling to New England on business, had been lost. And a published list of deceased passengers showed a cross-section of society. There were women, children, and men from a variety of occupations. There were several sea captains who, like Capt. Hillard, had arrived in New York City and were returning to their New England homes.

A professor from Harvard named Follen was reported to have died. Other occupations of the dead: banker, tailor, sugar refiner, lawyer. Three victims, named Finn, Everett, and Eberle, were said to have been comedians.

Daniel Webster, the famed orator and legislator, later said that he had been planning to take the ship on its return voyage from Stonington to New York.

The disaster led to accusations of malfeasance on the part of its owners. Newspaper accounts noted that the apparatus to fight fires on the ship entirely failed. And much was made of the cargo of cotton and where it was stored on the ship. The Lexington was not the first steamboat to catch fire, but the fame of the disaster served to focus enormous attention on the issue of steamboat safety.