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F-2 Arsenal Blast| 0f 1864 One of | Most Painful Expericnces Remembered by Residents. Steamer Fire a Spectacular and Startling Cause of Loss and Agony. By John Clagett Proctor.| HE recent calamity which took | I place at the grade crossing at| Rockville, 16 miles to the north of Washington, in which the lives of 14 fine, promising stu- dents were needlessly sacrificed, calls to mind some of Washington'’s own heart-rending accidents, and takes us back, as well, to the historic town of | Williamsport, Md., whence these high | school children came, a place once suggested as a desirable site for the | National Capital. Accidents, which cause the loss of tife, are always to be deplored, but particularly are they distressing when | young men and young women, still in their teens, are taken away as they are fast approaching a time they would quitely likely make valuable and outstanding citizens, of which this | country cannot have too many. In & very large percentage of cases, such accidents could be avoided by | the exercise of due caution, but re- gardless of this no doubt there will be calamities in the future, just as there have been in the past, although | many lives can and will be saved 4n the future through the exercise of preventive measures and the em- ployment of additional safeguards. Grade-crossing accidents can be foreseen, and can be avoided by the elimination of the dangerous grade crossing, but that has not always been the case with the calamities occurring in this city, where every precaution, seemingly so at least, had been taken, and yet the accident did occur. One such event was the explosion | which took place in one of the rooms of a four-room building at the Wash- ington Arsenal on June 17, 1864, the building being on the grounds now occupied by the United States En- gineer Corps and the Army War Col lege, and in the room 29 young wom- | en were employed making cartridges for small arms. Only eight escaped, together with the chief clerk, Hosea B. Moulton. OME years ago the writer had a pleasant interview with Judge Moulton (once a justice of the peace) in his office, then in the Washington Loan & Trust Building, in which he told of the events of that day in June, when he barely escaped with his life. He said it was a very warm and sultry day, that a large quantity of fireworks, in course of preparation, &had been placed in trays out in the yard in the hot sun. Among the fireworks, it seems, were what were knowr. as “red star” fireworks, which could not stand a high temperature. In placing these outside, the ex- treme heat of the sun was not taken into consideration, with the result that they ignited and a piece of fuse floated through an open window into one of the rooms in which were seated . the 29 girls. It landed in some loose powder, from which the cartridges were being made, and a terrific ex- plosion followed. One girl was res- cued by the judge, although her cloth- | ing was ablaze as he ran with her from the puilding. There was little, | if any, time for escape, for in 8 second or two the whole interior of the building was in flames. The judge said the scene was a heart-rending one. Seventeen bodies were taken from the ruins. The funeral took place from the Arsenal on Sunday, June 20. Rev. Father A. Bokel of St. Domlflc‘t Catholic | Church and Rev. 8. V. Leech of Gor- | such Chapel conducted the services. | In the funeral procession were Presi- | dent Lincoln, Secretary Stanton, of- | ficials of the Arsenal, relatives, em- | ployes and others, the whole being led by a band and 90 pallbearers. The interment took place in two large | graves on the west side of Congres- sional Cemetery and the spot was | one year later marked with a hand- | some monument of white marble. Here today, inscribed at the base of a large marble shaft are the names of the women who perished that the Union of the States might remain intact. They are: On the west side— Emma Baird, Kate Brosnahan, Louise | L. Lloyd, Helissa Adams, Emily Col- lins, Rebecca Hull, Annie S. Bache, | Mary Burroughs, }EllEH Roche, Julia McEwen, Bridget Dunn, W. E. Tippett, Margaret Moran, Johanna Connors, Susan Harris, Liz- | zie Brahlet, Margaret G. Yonson, | Bettie Branagan and Eliza Lacey. JUDGE MOULTON, the lone sur- ) vivor of the room in which the | actual explosion occurred, was born | in Concord, N. H., June 28, 1843, and |early joined the Union Army, with two brothers. He was twice wounded before reaching Gettysburg, where he | was shot in the breast and was dis- charged from the Army by President Lincoln. Later he was assigned to the position of chief clerk at the Arsenal, where he was serving at the time of the explosion. His father fought in the War of 1812-15 and his grandfather in the American Revo- lution. i Several years ago- the judge gave up his legal practice and took a po- sition at the Capitol, where he goes to work daily, though fast approach- ing his 92d year. In 1872 he grad- uated with the first class of the Na- tional University Law School and is the only known survivor of this class today. Last November the writer received a letter regarding the Arsenal ex- plosion, which is sufficiently interest- ing to print, since it brings to light a woman who also played s part in the stirring events of June 17, 1864, at the Arsenal’ Her name is Miss Mary F. Mills and, though Judge Moulton ssys she wasguot an occu- Sallie McElfresh | | and Pinkey Scott. On the east side— | T < PEOPLE AND Cemetery. pant of the particular room in which the explosion occurred, yet he does recall her as having worked there at the time in an adjoining room, and no doubt her location in the building was entirely too close for comfort. The letter referred to reads: “November 26, 1934. “John Clagett Proctor, “Evening Star Publishing Co. “My Dear Mr. Proctor: “Some months ago you mentioned, in one of youy articles in The Star magazine section, the explosion that occurred at the Arsenal, now the Washington Barracks, in which you stated that the only survivor now living was Hosea B, Moulton. I beg the privilege of stating that there is another in the person of Miss Mary F. Mills, who, 8s & girl of 13 years, was working there at the time, and one of those that escaped injury, ex- cept to cause perpetual nervousness. She is now living with her niece at the above address and states she knows Mr. Moulton and no doubt he will recall her and verify this statement. She can be seen at home any day except Sunday or Monday. “I am one of the old boys of Wash- | ington, and look for your articles of | early Washington and residents. My family have lived in this city for five | generations and my grandfather, John Murphy, who lived at Twelfth and K streets southeast, was one of the old meat dealers during and prior to the Givi.anlr. . “J. W. MURPHY, 428 fl:fll 8. NE” PLACES ARTICLE. : Top, left: Monument in Congressional Cemetery, erected to the memory of the women killed in the arsenal explosion during the Civil War. At right of monument: Hosea B. Moulton, Civil War veteran and survivor of the arsenal explosion in 1864. Above, right: Ruins of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal at Williamsport, Md., reproduced from & Civil War view. In center: Printers and bookbinders employed in the Ford Theater Building at the time of the disaster of June 9, 1893. Center, right: Gen. Otho H. Williams, patriot of the Revolution, for whom Williamsport, Md., was named. Below: Burial plot of the Reed family, victims of the burning of the Wawaset in 1873, in Congressional HE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, OF MR. PROCTOR’'S | INE years elapsed between th | arsenal explosion and the burn- | | ing of the steamboat Wawaset, which occurred on August 8, 1873, and which caused widespread grief here | at that time This steamboat, well known to the old-timer, plied the Potomac between Washington and points as far South as Coan River Bay. It was built at ‘Wilmington, Del., in 1863, came here the following year and was regarded as the finest excursion steamer on the Potomac. It was about 11 o'clock on the morn- ing of the disaster, when the boat, filled mainly with passengers bound for a Summer outing, was off what was then known as Chattertons Land- ing, 40 miles down the river, that the fire was discovered. Capt. John Wood, the commander of the boat, immedi- ately ordered the vessel headed for the shore, where she struck on the Virginia side about 200 yards from the water's edge. The captain and the pilot displayed the traditional heroism of their offices and remained at their posts until the end, the cap- tain being the last to leave the vessel, and the pilot did not precede him un- til the pilot box was completely en- veloped by the flames. A report of the accident says: “The air was filled with the piercing shrieks of women and children, while strong men stood aghast at the hoplessness of their situation.” Most of those who were lost met their deaths by water, leaping into the river as the heat became unbearable. Among those on the boat on this fatal occasion were many women, with » large number of children, who were en route to v‘t their friends at the D. C. APRIL 28, 1935—PART FOUR. different river landings. There were also many colored people on board, who suffered equally in the great mis- fortune so long to be remembered. Of the two lifeboats on the vessel, one was pitched into the river by in- experienced hands and nearly all of those within were thrown out and drowned. Indeed, this is an old story that we still read about in present- day marine disasters. When the fire was first discovered the women and children were in the deck saloon, and it is said that within three minutes all communication was cut off between the bow and the stern of the boat. John Reed, & brother | of & local police officer, father of some f the children who perished, who was a passenger on the doomed vessel, was kept busy throwing overboard planks for the women to catch hold of, though he was badly burned about the bead in doing so. [EN the survivors were returned to the city that same evening they were met at the Beventh Street Wharf by relatives of the victims of the accident, who frantically sought information regarding their lost ones, and when Policeman Reed, who had on board a wife, three children and a niece, was told his family was all lost, he broke into a wail of despair. The children were all under 8 years of age, and the niece, Betty Reed, was a beau- tiful and amiable young lady, about 18 years of age. “Another distressing scene,” ac- cording to The Star, “following upon Mr. Reed’s terrible display of agony, was presented on the arrival of Mr. William Muse (a neighbor of Mr. Reed’s), who had a wife and two chil- dren on the Wawaset. His distress was shown in a somewhat quieter form, but was painful to witness from the convulsive workings of his face, in his attempts to subdue violent ex- pressions of grief, and, from the silent | tears running down his face and his almost inarticulate attempts to frame words of inquiry.” Continuing, The Star gives a list of those up to that time known to be lost or saved, but subsequent accounts greatly increased the former. “List of passengers saved (white): Mr. McAshton, J. B. North, O. Eddy, J. H. Wise, A. Melvin, Benjamin Bart- lett, A. J. W ‘Thomas Massie, Thomas Owen, W. T. Emmerson, Nash, John Reed, G. Emerlvie. “List of colored: R. D. Beckley, J. Tate, William Saunders, James Brooks, Henry Street, George Parker, Samuel Blackwell, Charles Shankland. John Hughes, John Scott, Thomas Coxton, Lewis Scott, Robert Gaston. H. Taylor, William Herring, Moses Gordon, Ed Hawkins, J. Christopher, M. Walker, A. Stout, J. H. Wood. boy; Thomas Rich, H. Blackley, William Johnson, William Brooks, Lewis Woodie, James Newman, Lindley Jackson, Mrs. Ogle- ton Taylor, Laura Taylor, Kate Mc- | Pherson, Mrs. Price and child. “Susan Parker, May Blackwood, Eliza Matthews, Layra Barnard, Julia Christopher, Mary Campbell, Matilda | Dunlop, Daffrey Winters, Mary Nor- | | man, Julia Shankland, Clara Jackson, | Nancy Baylor, Sarah Payne and M. | Ball were also saved, but more or less | burned. | «’THE white ladies and children | | known to be lost are Patsie Sands, iJulxl Kelly, Esther Griffin and two | children, Mrs. J. W. Reed and three | children, Miss E. Reed, Cordelia Hobbs | and Miss Marbury. “George Tibbs, a colored deck hand, was lost, and Adeline Jenkins, the chambermaid. “Robert Nash, the engineer, came up this morning. He was saved his son, Samuel Nash, a young man, who | jumped overboard and swam ashore with his father. The son was assist- |ant_engineer on the Wawaset. “The wife of Mr. J. W. Reed, who was lost, was on the bow deck and could no doubt have been saved but for her alarm and anxiety about her | children. It is believed that she | jumped overboard with them. | tween Fourth and Fifth streets, was under the protection of Mr. McGuigan | before he could get her to the side of the boat her clothing took fire and he | was forced to leave her. She perished | in the flames and Mr. McGuigan swam | ashore. | “Miss Bettie Reed, the niece of Offi- | | cer Reed, was a young lady 17 years of age and worked at Lansburgh's. | She was on her way to pay a visit to | her relatives in Westmoreland County. “Mrs. Hester Grifin (a daughter of Capt. Ragan of South Washington, now residing in Alexandria), was drowned, as also was her two children. | Her body was brought up, but the children are missing.” The Reed burial plot is just inside the main entrance of Congressional Cemetery, and here lie buried the members of that family lost in the burning of the Wawaset. TH‘! Ford's. Theater disaster is one many will never forget, especially those who lost their loved ones on that fateful June 9, 1803, when the floors of this building, then used by the Record and Pension Division of the War Department, gave way, killing outright 22 Government employes and wounding and maiming over 100 others. At the time of the accident about 475 persons were working in the build- ing, which happens to be the one on Tenth street in which President Lin- coln was shot, and the wonder is that the fatalities were not even greater than they proved to be. Congress ap- parently felt a certain responsibility, at least, for the dangerous condition of the building which largely contributed toward the accident, and two years later appropriated $5,000 for each loss of life, to be paid to the heirs of the following persons: George R. Allen, George Michael Arnold, Samuel P. Barnes, John E. Chapin, Jeremiah Daly, John Bussius, Joseph R. Fagan, Joseph Barket Gage, David Clark Jor- dan, Justus Boyd Jones, Frederick B, Loftus, Jay Hirst McFall, Otto F. W. Meder, Howard S. Miller, Benjamin F. Miller, Burrows Nelson, Emanuel G. Shull, Frank M. Willlams, Alfred L. Ames, Arthur N. Girault, Michael T. Mulledey, George W. Robey, Charles John T. Raynolds and uiul-:-, | " “Miss »Cornelia Hobb, a beautiful | young lady residing on K street be- | and he went to her assistance, but | o o s ey ST el 4 — GRIEF WRITTEN BY TRAGEDIES IN CAPITAL HISTORY el eies ¢ 7 | E. 1qulw likely George Christopher Bol- | 1 nger. Congress later appropriated $144,800 ‘for the wounded and disabled. | COMING down to a more recent date, the Terra Cotta wreck of December 30, 1906 —on the same branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- | road as occurred the accident of a | fortnight ago—was due to a rear-end | collision, when train No. 66, standing | at a siding at Terra Cotta station, | 4 miles from the center of the city and within the District of Columbia, | was telescoped by another train. The | deaths at the time of this wreck were | placed at 43 and the injured at 80. Still more recently was the Knick- erbocker Theater disaster of January | 28, 1922, with its startling loss of 96 | lives, which included in the promi- nent list Edward H. Shaughnessy, Second Assistant Postmaster General. The number of injured was very high This accident was directly due to a fall of 26 inches of snow, the weight of which caused the roof of the thea- | ter to fall in, the balcony being also carried into the orchestra by the im- | pact. The rescue work was carried | on under great difficulties, due to the almost impassable streets caused by the heavy fall of snow: and it was could be reached and removed. | MUCH has been said of the bus acci- | dent at Rockville which occur- red a little over two weeks ago. but | not so much has been said of the lit- tle town of Willlamsport, Md., with its historic background, where resided the 14 high school pupils who were | so suddenly taken away on the 11th day of this month. Roughly estimated, this little town of about 2,000 inhabitants is about 75 | miles from Washington. It is on the Washington County, and when a site | was being sought for the Nation's | Capital this embryonic village, at that time, was a bidder for the honor, | not knowing, of course, that if its tal were moved there, that the po- | litical franchise of its people would | be lost, just as it was lost in George- | town and in other parts of the Dis- | trict of Columbia, because Maryland | did not protect the political rights of |its residents when it ceded its part | of the 10-mile square to the Federal Government. Nevertheless, it did, unconsciously as to results, petition the Maryland curing the Capital, and is recorded s having sald: “The subscribers, citizens of Wash- ington County, most respectfully rep- resent that the law of Congress re- specting a district for their perma- nent residence presents us with an occasion to hope that the said dis- trict may be located in this county; | and as we are willing to make every commodation of Congress that can reasonably be expected or that our circumstances can afford, we pray | that the General Assembly will be pleased to pass an act agreeable to the aforesaid law of Congress and the Constitution of the United States, to appropriate a district 10 miles square within this county, wherever it may please the President to make the loca- tion. And we will ever pray, etc.” ‘Williamsport was shown every con- sideration, and we are told that Presi- dent Washington, much to the de- light of the busy but patriotic towns- people, paid them s visit in order to see what the advantages of the sit- ation were as a suitable location for the Capital. says, “the President’s visit was a great event for Williams- port. He arrived on the evening of the 14th of October, and a Hagers- town paper, in a brief account of the visit, states that he was in most ex- cellent health, and was received with several days before all the dead bodies | | Potomac River, in the lower part of | request were granted, and the Capi- | State Legislature for its aid in se-| | contribution toward the necessary ac- | “OP COURSE,” as Scharf, the his- | torian, every demonstration of affection lndl “Every house in the town was brilliantly illuminated and bonfires burned at every street corner. He | remained for the night in Williams- stopping with Gen Elie Willlams, at Springfield Farm, the homestead near the village, and left the next morning on his. way up the river as far as Cumberland. s was not, however, Washing- ton’s first visit to the locality. More than 30 years before, during Brad- dock’s War, when the place was & wilderness, he had visited the spot He pointed out to his host, as they stood at the fountain at Springfield farm, an old hut, which, he said, was the only improvement to be seen on the face of the country 30 years before. This hut had been the dwelling of the noted Col. Cresap.” But owever exalted was Gen. Washington's opinion of Williams- port when he visited the site in 1855, vet he did not deem it sufficiently well located for the National Capital Washington really owes much to this little town, for, back in the early days, before and after the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was put into operation, from here were shipped to Georgetown large quantities of | wheat and other products raised on | its fertile farms, in one of the garden | spots of the world. Indeed, the writer has kindly feel- ings for this grief-stricken town, for it was from here that his father left for Washington, when a young man of about 18 years, in a canal boat owned by his cousin, & member of the Smith family, and when he ar- rived here he got a job in the print- ing office of Columbus Alexander, in the first ward, and later made good in other and more important fields, and there are many other families in Washington with strong ties for Washington County, Md. The Col. Elie Williams of Spring- field Farm, at whose house Washing- ton is said to have stopped when visit- ing Williamsport, later moved to Georgetown, D. C., and died there in 1823, in his 75th year, leaving two sons and three daughters. His daugh- ter, Crudence Holland Williams, mar- ried Col. John I. Stull, at one time cashier of the Farmers & Mechanics’ Bank of that place. Willlamsport was named for Gen. | Otho Holland Williams of the Con- | tinental Army, who laid out the town |in 1787, the act of incorporation | reciting to the General Assembly of brother, | Maryland “that Gen. Williams pose |sesses a tract of land called Ross' Purchase and a tract adjoining thereto called Leeds, contiguous to the mouth of . Conococheague Creek, and that for the advantages of navigation from the head branches of the Potomac | River to the mouth of Conococheague, and the great purport of the naviga- tion of the said river being extended to tidewater,” etc. The town was not to exceed 150 acres and the commis- sloners created by the act were Thomas Hart, Thomas Brooke, Moses Rawlings, Richard Pindell and Alex- |ander Clagett, and not many miles away was John Clagett’s mill on the Antietam Creek. DURLNG the Civil War Williams- port was a very lively place, and upon more than one occasion the Confederates availed themselves of the easy fording of the river at this point to cross over into Virginia (now West Virginia). When Gen. Lee ve- tired from Gettysburg his army crossed the Potomac at this point. Gen. Williams had four sons, Wil- liam Elie, Edward Green, Henry Lee and Otho Holland. Willlam Elie Wil- liams married Susan Cook, Edward Green Williams married the daugh- ter of William Gilmore. Henry Lee Williams and Otho Holland Williams, jr., remained unmarried. On one side of the marble monu- ment erected to Gen. Williams at Williamsport is this inseription: “He died in 1794, aged 45 years, beloved, honored and deplored.” What better trl‘xu could we pay him?