The World Citizen
Published by G. Zahm, 373 Main Street, near the corner of Mohawk, Buffalo, N.Y.


October 5, 1839, page 2

Bishop Stephan leveled charges in the district court in Jackson, Missouri against those of his followers, who forcibly robbed him by confiscating his property. They countercharge that he may no longer come onto the territory belonging to his former congregation. His suit claims $3000 in damages, which he believes will compensate for the loss of the library consigned to him, precious items, clothing and money in bar form.


October 12, 1839

A large portion of the Old Lutherans, who just arrived here, have gone on to Wisconsin where plots of land have already been purchased for them. A large portion of those remaining here have found employment on the canal and other places.


October 26, 1839 - page 3, column 2

Through a private communication, the Anzeiger des Westens states, we have learned that in the district court of Jackson, Missouri Bishop Stephan has won his lawsuit in the amount of $3000 for damages incurred as a result of the confiscation of his property. — Everyone, who knew the witless manner in which his property was seized, could foresee the outcome. Shortly before registering the complaint, he had attempted to settle the grievance but the attempt was scornfully rejected by the pastors, who stated that they would be participating in the injustice if they agreed to the settlement.


August 13, 1841 - Page 2, column 1

Dreadful, Heart-Wrenching Disaster!
The Burning of the Steamship "Erie"
and the Loss of over Two Hundred Human Lives

Early Tuesday morning [August 11, 1841] our city was suddenly placed into great anxiety and sorrow as the report was received that approximately 33 miles from here the steamship Erie burned the evening before. The Erie left the wharf here on Monday afternoon at 10 minutes past 4, laden with wares for Chicago and about 250 passengers on board. The total number of passengers cannot be exactly determined at present. The ship was practically brand new. It was just a few days ago that the ship was delivered from the hands of the carpenters and painters, who had completely renovated it and despite a brisk wind, all signs pointed to a good trip. Nothing happened to bode misfortune until 8 PM when people heard a muffled explosion from the ship as it was 33 miles outside Buffalo and 8 miles from the shores of Silver Creek. Immediately after the explosion the ship was engulfed in flames. Captain Titus, who was on the upper deck, rushed down to the women's compartments to get the 150 life preservers (small air-filled sacks) he had there, however it was impossible to get in because the fire had spread throughout the entire boat within the span of 2 to 4 minutes. The headwind and the boat's velocity helped spread the fire with incredible speed to the aft sections, so on his way back to the upper deck he gave the order to the engineer to halt the engines but the engineer could not obey the order because the fire was too intense to get to the engines. The captain then ordered that the course be adjusted at the helm so the ship could sail to the shore. This was done but by now nearly everyone was convinced that they wouldn't reach the shore before the fire completely engulfed the ship, so the order was given to launch the life boats. There were three, however after being lowered the first two were sunk by the waves caused by the wind and intensified by the wake of the ship's course change. One can hardly imagine how the passengers felt as they witnessed this sight unless he has already been in a similar circumstance and we can scarcely bring ourselves to describe it. Some were frantic with fear and terror, others insanely jumped into the water, still others grabbed whatever first came to hand in order to save themselves; some threw their children into the lake in order to save them from fiery deaths. The third small boat at the front of the ship was lowered and quickly came to the side of the wheel with three or four people in it. The captain jumped into the boat but in the same moment the boat was jostled by choppy movement of the water. A woman was seen in the waves. The captain had an oar and a plank. He threw the plank to the woman, she grabbed in and was rescued. Her name was Mrs. Lynde of Milwaukee and she was the only woman to be rescued. Her husband and child perished. The ship now was a horrible ball of fire. The passengers and crew swam in every direction or looked for any objects they could find to keep them afloat until around 10 that night when the steamboat Clinton came to their assistence. The Clinton left the local harbor Monday morning and stayed in the Dunkirk harbor the next day due to the high winds.


August 13, 1841 - Page 2, column 2

The Clinton left port at sunset and was already on its way to Barcelona when, just as darkness was falling, someone saw the fire of the Erie about 20 miles behind. The ship turned around and reached the burning hull at about 10 PM. It was a dreadful sight. The entire upper section of the Erie was already burned out and all that remained of the hull was the steam engine and blaring, red mass of flames. Passengers and crew members swam and floated about, crying and screaming for help. The lifeboats from the steamship Clinton were immediately lowered and manned and everyone, who could be seen or heard, was rescued. The small steamship "Lady" from Dunkirk quickly pushed off as soon as someone noticed the fire from the harbor however the Clinton arrived first. By 1 AM nobody heard anything but the crackling of the flames. Not another soul was heard from the ever wilder water. Someone secured a rope to what remained of the rudder of the burning ship in an attempt to tow it back to shore. The steamship "Chautauqua" arrived and lended assistance. They towed the burning hull to within 4 miles of land, where at sunrise it sank into the water at a depth of 41 fathoms. The rope was detached and the Clinton made its way back here, arriving at 6 o'clock. Of those saved there are many with severe burns but none so critical that their injuries are life-threatening. A total of 31 people was rescued.

Causes and Origins of the Fire - Among the passengers on board there were 6 painters, who were hired by Mr. G. W. Miller and were on their way to Erie in order to paint the steamship "Madison". They carried large drums of spirits of turpentine and vanish without informing the captain. These were placed on the upper deck just above the boilerroom. One of the firemen who was rescued reported that he had put them in a different spot but they were then put back in their original spot by some unknown person. A moment before the fire broke out, someone heard, as others on board can attest, a muffled explosion. It is surmised that the explosion came from one of the drums since moments later the drum was engulfed in flames which spread throughout the ship. Besides this there was fresh varnish and the fire caught like gunpowder.

Not a scrap of paper or anything else could be saved, therefore it is impossible to give a complete listing of the passengers on board. Captain Titus stated there were between 30 and 40 compartment passengers on board, of which twelve were women. There were about 210 to 230 deck passengers, mostly German and Swiss immigrants. Most had their families with them, wives and children. Oh, the heart bleeds when one thinks about it!

A small boat from Dunkirk ventured out to give assistance but it was capsized by the waves. Its crew was rescued by the steamship "Robert Fulton", which also picked up a boat from the Erie and the "Dunkirk", which had capsized. Other people from Dunkirk managed to save 2 more people, who are included in the above total.

It is a remarkable coincidence that the steamship "Washington" burned in the supposed same spot in June 1838. Captain Brown, who commanded the Washington, was on board the Clinton and proved himself very useful in the rescue of the survivors of the Erie.

It is exceedingly sad when immigrants, after sacrificing so much, withstanding suffering and danger and seeing the end in sight, must become sacrifices to their own hazardous ventures in such a stormy hurry and in such a horrible manner and on whom shall we lay the blame for this tragic incident? Oh, how terribly this warns us that in all our actions we must be careful even when they seem unimportant. If the person who had placed the spirits of turpentine containers so close to the heat had been thinking then perhaps he would have placed them somewhere else, but no, he had to be fumbling around blind and thoughtless and because of the carelessness of one individual 200 human lives suffered in the process. We understand that the immigrants were, for the most part, well off and had significant sums of gold and silver on board, which sank with the hull of the ship to the bottom of the lake; we will not mention the bank notes, however some of those banks might be happy with the sinking of the ship.

Below we give a list of those rescued and the names of the unfortunate ones, as far as we could determine them after a great deal of effort. Without a doubt there are still many, who died, whose names we could not find.

Those rescued were:

Jerome McBride, helmsman, badly burned
James Loverty, helmsman, badly burned
Hiram DeGraff, passenger
Dennis McBride, first helmsman
Theodor Sears, painter
J. H. St. John, passenger
C. Hogg, passenger, badly burned
Williams Wardsworth, from Erie, PA
Alfred O. Wilkeson, from East Euclid, Ohio
William Hughes, second helmsman
Luther B. Sears, fireman
Thomas J. Tann, from Pittsford, NY
John Winchel, from Buffalo
A son of Georg Bebee, Cleveland


August 13, 1841 - Page 2, column 3

Harrison Forrester, Harbor Creek, PA
Thom. Quinlin, Middlefield, Massachusetts
Robert Robinson, colored man, barber
— Johnson, colored man, third cook
Giles Williams, from Chicago
Capt. Titus, ship's captain
Mrs. Lynde, from Milwaukee
— Rice, Hydraulics, Buffalo, badly burned
Fried. Parmerlee, bar owner on the boat
Alexander Lamberton, from Erie
An American, name unknown.

The Germans:

Christian Durler, from Holmes County, Ohio
Carl Dietrich, Swiss
— Dietrich, his brother
Jacob Siegwald, from Miedersulz, Alsatia
Adam Minker, from here, along with another German man, whose name we were unable to discover, both badly burned

The Dead:

W. M. Camp of Harrisburg, PA
Willett Weeks, from Brooklyn
John E. Pool, from New York
E. C. Cobb, from New York
Lloyd Gerston, from Erie
— Joles, ship's steward
Elisa Packenhan, ship's chambermaid
John Allen, second engineer
Mrs. Wm. H. Smith with child, Schenectady
Y. Sears, Wilh. Thomas, — Evarts, Peter Finney, painters from Buffalo
Miss A. Miller, from Buffalo
J. D. Woodward, New York
Wm. Grifin, Mississippi
D. S. Sloan, Geneva
F. Stow, Canada
Wm. Sacket, Michigan
Mrs. Sprenger and 2 children
Mrs. Dow
Mrs. Robinson, from Ballstone Spa, NY
Miss Robinson, from Ballstone Spa, NY
Miss King, from Ballstone Spa, NY
Mr. Moore, wife and 2 children, from Yates, NY
Orin Green, from Ruschville, Yates, NY
Roome Button, from the vicinity of Fort Plain
Charles S. Mather, Mt. Clemens, Michigan
Robert Hughes, from Erie, PA
James Heck, from Erie, PA
Joseph Sterritt, from Erie, PA
John C. Cluff, from Erie, PA
— Dimm, from Erie, PA
— Scherman and daughter, from Hamburg, Erie County
— Nelthrope, a Danish man
Henry Freeman, from Jamestown, Chautauqua County
Peter Vaughert, wife and 3 children, from Buffalo
John Harrington, wife and 3 children
Luther Fuller, from Buffalo, fireman
William Cheats, colored man from Buffalo, steward
William Winters, fireman, colored
James Read, fireman, colored
Robert Smith, first cook, colored
Henry Vosburg, second cook, colored
David Wills, fourth cook, colored
Israel Vosburg, porter, colored
Wm. Sparks, second porter, colored
Doctor Hacket, from Lockport, colored

The Germans:

Philipp Barbier, from Buffalo (formerly from Habkirchen, Rhine-Bavaria), wife and children left behind here
Heinrich Weber, from Buffalo, previously from Sand, Rhine-Bavaria
Georg Ziegler with his entire family, 6 people originally from Hochsaxheim, Baden
Martin Sulzer and one person, from Grosssaxheim, Baden
Georg Steinmann, with 3 people, from the same district
Peter Schmitt, with 6 people, from the same district
Johann Rettinger, with 4 people, from the same district
Joseph Flang, with 4 people, from the same district
G. Christian, with 6 people, from the same district
Anton Weichel, with 8 people, from the same district
Peter Stein, from the same district
Lorenz Kling, with 2 people, from the same district
M. Rehbold, with 3 people, from the same district
G. Niegold, with 8 people, from the same district
J. Neininger, with 5 people, from the same district
R. Felling, with 3 people, from the same district
A. Siegel, with 3 people, from the same district
Georg Kraft, from the same district
Johann Lorg, with 4 people from Birkenau, Darmstadt
Lorenz Julich, with 3 people from Birkenau, Darmstadt
Michael Kreis, from Schönbach
Valentin Ackermann, from Erie, previously Rhine-Bavaria
Philipp Feigert, from Erie, previously Rhine-Bavaria
L. Schappler, with 7 people from the Baden area
Conrad Oberst, from Bedbennen, Baden, left behind a wife and 4 children here
Johann Metzel
Johann Vögele, with 10 people from Wilderswiel, Canton of Bern in Switzerland
Jakob Wieler, with 7 people, from Oberwiel, Canton of Bern in Switzerland
Johann Milleman, with 4 people, from Bennigen, Canton of Bern in Switzerland
Christian Balmer, with 8 people, from Inderlachen, Canton of Bern in Switzerland
Caspar Liethold, with 8 people, from Derstetten, Canton of Bern in Switzerland
Jacob Karle, from Duntingen, Canton of Bern in Switzerland
J. F. Beyer, from Miedersulz, Alsatia, left behind a wife and 6 small children here
Christoph Munsch, with 2 people, from Miedsulz, Lower Alsatia
Karl Kellermann, from Miedersulz, Lower Alsatia
Margaret Burgart, with 3 children, from Fockenberg near Kusel in Rhine-Bavaria, on her way to her husband in Portsmouth, Ohio
Elisabeth Stemmler, with 2 grown daughters, from Fockenberg, near Kusel in Rhine-Bavaria, on her way to her son in Zannesville, Ohio.

Damages to the ship are very extensive. There were about 30 tons of cargo on board with a value of about $20,000. The immigrants had about $180,000 in gold and silver with them and the ship was worth approximately $75,000. The total loss comes to a little under $300,000.


August 21, 1841, page 2

At a meeting of Buffalo's German citizen held on the 16th of this month a committee of nine people was appointed to take up contributions for relatives left behind by the dead passengers for the steamship Erie. It was also decided tp hold another meeting in Mr. Mochel's place next Monday evening to discuss details on distributing the contributions. However the portion of the committee taking collections in the 4th Ward will not be finished until next Wednesday so we have been asked to announced that the next meeting will be on Wednesday, the 25th of August, which we faithfully do here.

_____

The Steamship Erie - The memory of the unfortunate accident, which overcame so many with the burning of the boat, lives on ever more in renewed horror here and in the surrounding area. New names appear daily as victims while the number of the rescued only increases by one. There are not 170 to 200 victims, as first reported. The number has already grown to 270 and people will not be mistaken if they assume that 300 suffered that dreadful fate. This unthinkable loss of human lives does not account for all the tragedies caused by this horrible accident. One must also take a look at those left behind by the victims. How many undisciplined children became fatherless orphans and will now become pawns of chance or wards of misery; how many mothers have lost their husbands, their supporters, their everything! How many aged mothers and fathers will have to suffer privation in consequence and thus see their days shortened by grief and the wish to rejoin their loved one? And who could describe the scene when the news reaches the homeland of the dead Germans and Swiss! Thus we describe what will be thought and felt and now in the aftermath we report the names of more dead and further details of the event.

Continuation of the List of Victims

Silas Green, fireman of the boat, from Erie, PA
Oliver Nadeau, from Montreal, wanted to visit his brother in Dubuque, 19 years of age
Peter Wimgart, a German whose name we reported as Peter Vaughart in our last issue. He, his wife and 3 children died; 6 children were left behind in Erie. They were on their way to Chicago to visit his sister.
Reverend William Morris
Miss Griffin of New York
— Carpenter, owner of the racehorse on board
Maria Jones, a single person
A. Strugler, from Cleveland with 2 people
Mr. Wiltemore, a dentist from Chicago
5 or 6 passengers who left the steamship Hotel and took passage on the Erie, names unknown, one of them from Ontario County
John Angell, from Providence, New Jersey
Miss Sherman and her father
Clement A. Strong from Collins, Erie County, NY
Ambrose Stratton, from Collins, Erie County, NY
Noah Parker, Kannadea, Allegany County
A. O'Connor, fireman, Mill Creek, Erie County, PA
Daniel O.Connor, fireman, Mill Creek, Erie County, PA
Henry Granger, fireman, Quincy, NY
Patrick Foley, deckhand, Erie PA
Jerry Chaue, deckhand, Erie PA
M. O'Connor, deckhand, Erie PA
R. Fitzgerald, deckhand, Erie PA
Sam. Brunkhard, deckhand, Erie PA
Thomas Conroy, deckhand, Buffalo
W. Daily, deckhand, Buffalo
Lucius P. Luce from Barre, Orleans County, NY
Heinrich Hagemann and his mother from here, the father Christoph Hagemann was rescued.
Jerome McBride, who was listed under those rescued, died of burns sustained.

In pieces of correspondence there are persons named, who were on a trip and perhaps had sailed on the Erie since it was about the right time for them to leave Buffalo via the lake. No one has heard from these people since. It is certain that the full count may never be known.

Rescued - only the above-listed Christoph Hagemann. After receiving the tragic report of the needs of the survivors, the City Council resolved that the mayor should give them assistance. Since nearly all those rescued were naked, clothing was sent to them from the local government. In addition the American population took up collections. At the theater there was a benefit performance given on the survivors' behalf. One was also held at Hart's Garden, and Mr. N. Davis delivered a scientific lecture in order to turn the proceeds over to this cause. Our German population also did not hold back. In the Lutheran church last Sunday a collection was taken up and on Monday a number of German citizens held an assembly, at which a committee was appointed to take up collections in the various wards. What the individual societies did is not yet known but one hopes there will be substantial contributions. But all the collections in the world cannot bring back to life the victims, who now float lifelessly upon the lake, or those brought back and buried here or in other places. Risky attempts were made in small boats to help in their rescue,


but what can a canoe accomplish against a storm, against the wave-tossed lake! The boats were either capsized or had to make their way back to the harbor without accomplishing anything. Some couldn't make it back to the harbor and couldn't reach the ship and had to battle dangerously and steadfastly against the elements until morning. Some of the misfortunates came from Erie and ships were sent out from Erie, Dunkirk and Buffalo in order to scour the area for remnants and corpses. The steamship "Vermillon", sent out for this purpose, had a canon on board which was intermittantly fired in order to produce shock waves in the water and bring up the corpses. We have not yet heard of the ship's return but believe that it is still in that area. One man, W. E. Camp of Harrisburg, was picked up by Canadian sailors and buried at Point Albino, later dug up and brought back here, along with $565 found in his clothing.

In Evans and other areas assemblies have taken place in order to provide assistence to the needy.

The owner of the ship, Mr. Jas. M. Reed of Erie, Pennsylvania, wrote a letter to the coroner stating his hope that there would be a full investigation in order to determine if the misfortune was the result of negligence or accident. However this investigation is already underway. Dr. Harris, the coroner, has organized a sworn panel to conduct the investigation. The panelists are:
Joseph Clary, foreman
E. D. Efner,                   E. C. Haddock,
William Williams,           N. Vosburgh,
Thos. R. Stocking,         S. Chamberlin,
S. S. Case,                    R. H. Maynard,
S. N. Callender,             L. Storrs,
R. Pomeroy,                  S. Mathews
H. R. Seymour,              E. Hathaway,
— Alcott

After the jury was enpaneled it began to hear testimony in the City Council chamber. The following witnesses were sworn in and heard: Johann St. John of Mississippi, Theodor Sears from here, Captain T. J. Titus, William G. Murray from here, Hiram De Graff from Illinois; Johann Hibbard, steamship inspector from here; Timothy Quinlin, ship's barber; Alfred Harris, Engineer; Dennis McBride, first helmsman; Will. Hughes, second helmsman; Edgar Clemens, engineer; Silas Williams from here; and Harrison Foster, ship's carpenter. All witnesses agreed for the most part that the explosion was heard moments before the fire broke out and that they could not find a way to extinguish the blaze, that they had to hurry to escape the flames, and that from the time of the first alarm to when the last person on board fled to the water no more than 10 minutes could have passed, and that the great external heat may have caused the stopping of the engine since when the boat tipped over you could hear the engine start back up. The following is the verdict of the coroner's jury with regard to the cause of the fire:

"We confirm that, in our opinion, the fire on the steamship Erie originated with the explosion of a container of spirits of turpentine, which stood on the upper deck above the ship's boiler. The spirits of turpentine seeped through the upper deck to the fire below and ignited, and that the named container split due to the heat, which caused the spirits to expand. We further find that the boat was freshly painted and varnished and that this helped spread the flames, along with the strong headwind and that it was impossible for the men on board to extinguish the flames or save the boat.

We further confirm that the destruction of the ship is the result of accident and that no one is guilty of the deaths, either as a inciter or as a participant. So decided in Buffalo on the 16th of August, 1841."
                        Signatures listed.

Two resolutions were reached by the sworn panel.

Resolved: "That the steamship Erie was of the best quality, that it was well provided for with extinguishers and that more than usual precautionary measures had been in effect for performing rescues in times of danger."

Resolved: "That in consideration of the great number of human lives lost by the burning of the steamship, we recommend to the owners of steamships that they carry an adequate number of lifeboats on their ships along with a number of planks made of pine or poplar, approximately 10 feet long and 12 to 16 inches wide, with ropes attached so that those, who cannot swim, can be lowered down into the water while laying on the boards; that way they could easily be cast overboard. Furthermore there should be life preservers for at least 100 people, already inflated and placed on the passengers' bunks as soon as a boat leaves the harbor."

Before these resolutions were passed, many steamships already had the recommended planks on board as they left our harbor.


August 28, 1841 - page 2

The Dead - Among the dead, who forfeited their lives with the Erie and were brought back to Buffalo this past week, are the following people:
1. A German with a green jacket, blue vest with small metal buttons, light blond to nearly red hair; aged 20 years, height 5 feet, 6 inches; had small gold rings in his ears.
2. A German, aged 20 years, wearing a bombasine coat and pants and black silk tie; 5 feet, 8 inches tall; monogram on his clothing, "G. S."
3. A German, 24 years of age, green cotton jacket, blue linen vest, striped cotton pants, cloddy shoes and woolen socks; 5 feet, 7 inches tall. Monogram on his clothing, "F. M."
4. A German female, 35 years old, wearing a blue dress, wool stockings and a white flannel slip; 5 feet, 3 inches tall; monogram on her dress - "A. E."

An examination of the corpses turned up personal effects, which have been stored and will be given to their relatives when they reclaim the bodies.


September 4, 1841 - page 2

More Dead - On Wednesday evening the steamship Rochester brought back five bodies, 3 men and 2 women, all Germans, which were floating in the vicinity of where the steamship Erie sank. The ship's captain, Mr. Allen, says he saw more than 20 bodies floating about but considered it wise to sail on with the bodies already on board and send out an extra small boat. The violent storm, which raged Monday night, may be the cause for the surfacing of these corpses. Here is a description of those brought back:
1. A German, aged 25 years; 5 feet, 11 inches tall; homemade trousers; the shirt with the initials H. B.; red hair.
2. A German, 6 feet tall; jacket and pants of German cloth; striped cotton vest; shirt with the initials H. B.; red hair; had a German silver watch and $1.25 in silver.
3. A German, 6 feet tall; coarse, homemade pants and shirt; his shirt was marked with the initials H. B.; badly burned; had a silver watch and 9 5-Franc pieces.
4. A German female, 30 years old; 5 feet, 3 inches tall; blue calico dress; woolen stockings
5. A German female, 5 feet, 4 inches tall; woolen stockings; wearing almost nothing but a slip.

On the same evening the steamship Chautauqua brought back another body, found near Sturgeon Point; it too was a German of about 50 years of age, 5 feet, 10 inches tall; wearing a velvet jacket and coarse woolen pants; 4 5-Franc pieces and 6 Shillings were found in his pocket.

Following private reports from Dunkirk the steamship Wayne passed by 15 to 20 bodies in the vicintiy of Silver Creek without bothering to stop for them!!! At the same time reliable people were sent out to pick them up.


September 11, 1841 - page 2, column 1

More Dead - Since our last issue so many bodies have been found and brought back for burial either here, in Dunkirk, Erie or Silver Creek that we are not certain whether we can list them all let alone have sufficient room to decribe in our newspaper all those Americans and foreigners found. However we will attempt a count and more closely describe the Germans.

These people were found:
A German with 5 5-Franc pieces in his pocket and a silver pocket watch without inscription; he was brought to Fay's, 18 miles from here, and buried.
The body of D. P. Roane was brought back with him and buried.
Mrs. Smith of Schenectady was taken to Erie and buried.

The following came here:
A German, 35 years of age, white suit marked H. P. S. 5 feet, 9 inches tall, coat of unbleached linen, striped vest, white cotton shirt, blue cotton pants, boots, silver pocket watch, 2 keys, 4 5-Franc pieces, along with $6 and 15 coins.
Judge Sherman
Wm. Williams Jr. (according to papers found on him this appears to be his name.)
A German, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 25 years of age, brown satin pants, cotton shirt, brown cloth vest, $1 and coins.
One American on whom music was found with the name Chauncy Blosson written on it.
An American, with watch, considerable sum of money and letters to Mr. Smith in Jefferson County, W. T. and others.
E. S. Cobb, an American, jewelry, considerable sum of money, papers, keys, etc.
A German, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with blue jacket, striped vest, blue pants, boots, cotton shirt.
A German with a velvet jacket and vest, blue cotton pants, cotton shirt monogrammed L. S., silver watch, 5 5-Franc pieces, 5 Shillings in coin and tobacco.
A German, dark coat, patterned velvet vest, blue cloth pants, plain shoes, gold pieces, half-sovereigns. $2 in silver, with German letters.
An American with invoices for B. P. Storm and about $14 in money.
A German, had a steamship card for J. Wyler, 6 passes from P. L. Parsons & Co., blue cloth jacket, plain vest, striped cotton pants, white shirt, boots, silver watch, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 35 years of age, 4 5-Franc pieces, 65 cents in coin, German letters, portfolio, shirt and gunny sack marked J. W. According to his papers he was Jakob Wyler of Oberwyl, Canton Bern.
A German with velvet jacket, black cloth vest, striped pants, white shirt labeled A. S., 6 feet tall, 35 years of age, 5 5-Franc pieces and 80 cents in coin, knife and fork, lighter, 2 leather moneybelts and 2 keys. According to his papers, he is Adam Siegel.
Eduard Griffin with about $200, a note for $2000, jewelry, knife, etc.
One of the ship's crew.
A German woman, blue dress, white monogram "C. L. W.", 30 years old with 23 5-Franc pieces and 33 cents in coin.
Elisa Packham, the chambermaid.
A German, white suit with H. R. monogram, blue cloth vest, blue linen pants, white shirt, boots, knife, keys, 28 cents in coin, pearl pouch and comb.
An American, 35 years old, identity unknown.
An American woman, with hat and veil, ring, pearl pouch and money.
A German woman, blue dress, white wool stockings, thimble and key in the pocket, 20 years old.
An American, 40 years old, identity unknown
A fireman from the ship, 35 years old.
Miss Alrathea Miller from here.
An American, 30 years old, gold wrapped in a silk pouch around the body, identity unknown.
A fireman with red hair, 28 years old.
A German with 2 silver watches, 5 5-Franc pieces, and various trinkets; papers on his paper identify him as Caspar Liethold.


September 11, 1841 - page 2, column 2

A colored man
A German, 20 years old, shirt with the monogram R. J. K.
A German boy, 15 years old, had nothing on him and no markings.
An American, identity unknown, had $93.13 on him.
Hiram Carpenter, owner of the racehorse on board the ship.
Henry Weber, identified by his mother and brother, who live here; he was one of the painters.
Wm. Van Avery, another painter, only wearing a shirt but identified.
G. Niegold, Swiss, had a ship's card for 7 people.
A German with blue cloth jacket, Marseille vest, blue corderoy pants, fine socks, $3 and tobacco tin.
Patrick Foley, an American.
An American with $76 in Michigan Wildcats money and $6.75, identity unknown.
Among those taken to Silver Creek there are the bodies of four Swiss females and 6 males, no other details given.
Noah Crittenden from Genova.
Philipp Feigert, musician, a German from Erie, had $27 on him.
David Mills from Collins.
Thm. J. Moore from Milo.
Mr. Lynde.
Osman Maddocks from East Java, Genesee County.
Georg Hacket from Lockport.
James R. Miltimore from Akron, Ohio.
Joh. Allen, 2nd engineer, from Erie.
Joh. Angel, had a large sum of money on him.
Phil. Barbier was brought here on Monday and identified by us and others, his wife and some of his relatives.
The same for a man believed to be from England.

Brought to Dunkirk were:
Lynde Jr., Joh. E. Pool from New York and Mr. Angel from Providence, Rhode Island, along with ten others, who were not identified. One American woman and two German women were among that number.
In all, 23 bodies were taken to Dunkirk and as many to Silver Creek. Among these later are:
A German, bright coat, badly burned, checked vest, gray pants, silk hankerchief, pocket knife, leather money pouch and 76 cents.
Noah Crittenden
A German, well dressed, had $1.87 ½ in money.
A German, who had four letters in German.
J. Rettinger, a German, had two German bills of lading with him.
A German woman, wearing a ring on her finger, had a thimble, a needlecase and needles, a pocket knife and a crepe cap.
A German woman, wearing gold earrings, had a pocket knife and cotton cap.
A German, with $12.29, a pocket knife, glasses with case, German papers and a leather briefcase.
A German, clothing monogrammed F. J. B., brass lapel pin, steel ring, calves' leather briefcase.
A colored man, possibly David Mills.
A German, had a leather money pouch with $2.89 in coin, a knife and two keys.
A German female, had gold earrings, an ivory comb, steel thimble, 2 keys, needlecase and needles.
Ambros Stratton, had $16.04 and papers
Two German children, a boy and a girl.
Thomas J. Moore, had $49.25 and important papers dated for Milo Centre.
An American, identity unknown.
Charles J. Lynde had $110.13 in cash, 4 keys, jewelry, watches, etc.
Joseph B. Steratt.
Osman Muddocks had $224.97 mostly in gold and paper.
An American, reported to be J. D. Williams. Money, etc.
A. W. Strang had $48 in notes.
Mr. Hughes of Erie was identified by his friends.

We are not surprised that the corpses cannot be better described because there are few people, who can summon the courage to do so. After laying in the water for close to 4 weeks and perhaps many days floating about in the burning sun, the bodies are scarcely recognizable.


September 18, 1841

[From a submitted letter]

An Ecclesiastic Ban burned - Last Sunday in the so-called Prussian church of this city an order of excommunication was issued against another old Lutheran congregation, which calls itself Silesian, and the ban pertains to all members of that congregation, both those living here and those living in Wisconsin. The bull of excommunication, issued by Messrs. Grabau, Krause and company against the Silesian congregation, was publically burned on a fire in an open place in front of the Prussian church amid a large crowd of people by the Silesian congregation members. If they had burned these insane clerics along with it, they would have performed a better service for the deluded old Prussian community and exercised sound judgment. The reason for this ban lies, as I see it, in the fact that the members of said Silesian congregation no longer wish to be led around by the nose by the above-named clerics.
                                                            G. P.


October 23, 1841, page 2

The body of a German female was found on the 15th of this month in Lake Erie and it's supposed she got there as a result of the tragedy on the Erie. Her clothing, with the exception of where it was tightly secured to the body, was washed away. They found the initials E. B. S. on what remained of the clothing.