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The Passengers
Forsaken
Left behind, almost all the cabin passengers perished.
A snapshot of the victims, including their final moments, provides a peek into 1880’s Florida before it became a tourist mecca.
There were 45 souls onboard when the steamer caught fire. There were 12 documented cabin passengers although only 11 were ever identified. There were 12 deck passengers of which nothing is known of their identity or fate. There were 21 crew of which one drowning victim was identified and two were missing.
Publisher unknown
Annie and Brandon Keep
Annie Rose Keep, 26, was from St. Augustine. A devout Roman Catholic, she had married the Protestant son of a Baptist minister, Oscar Keep. His sister, Leonora, was married to J.C. Greeley, one of Florida’s most wealthy and powerful citizens.
Just 17 when she married Oscar, they were together eight years and had four children. She had been widowed 8 months prior to the City of Sanford disaster when Oscar died of fever. Her 2 year old son died the same day. Oscar was buried in Evergreen cemetery but Oscar Junior was buried in Old St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery, a different Catholic consecrated cemetery, per the religious customs of the day.
St. Augustine Old Spanish Cathedral 1880, Florida,
The Land of Flowers and Tropical Scenery, published Bloomfield’s Historical Guide
Annie Keep's Marriage License
Annie had been visiting her orange grove hoping to make enough money to buy her husband’s grave a headstone. Oscar had worked as a bookkeeper for Charles Smith, the City of Sanford’s owner. Smith gave her free transport whenever needed.
The ghastly site of Annie's body, atop the wreck, was immediately discovered at dawn. She was found with her head burned off and the charred remains of her 8 year old son, Brandon Greeley Keep, by her side. She was identified by the rosary beads she always wore.
Annie was buried next to her baby son in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery. In a touching tribute to their enduring love both Oscar and Annie are buried in the exact same grave locations albeit in two different cemeteries. Their shared final address is Block 3, Lot 22. Diocesan cemetery records did not record her as Annie. She is Mrs. Oscar Keep.
None of their graves have headstones.
Treasury Street, St. Augustine Views,
The Florida Club c1870
St. George Street, St. Augustine, Florida Views,
The Naturalist, C.J. Maynard, Editor c1870
William Shortele
Captain Shortele was traveling to Jacksonville having wrecked his schooner, the Magnolia, on the Mosquito Bar (Ponce Inlet). He was such a light sleeper and strong swimmer that his family initially refused to accept that he died. His body was the last one found. Located near the stern, his charred torso minus the head and limbs, was identified by bits of clothing.
George Downer
George Downer, traveling with a handicapped passenger, managed to escape the burning steamer by quickly jumping overboard. He and his companion were both able to stand in the shallow water. However the turbulence caused by the spinning paddlewheel knocked them off their feet and drew them both out into deeper water. Moments before rescue, Downer drowned but his handicapped companion was saved.
Mosquito Bar (Ponce Inlet), Florida, The Land of Flowers and Tropical Scenery, Bloomfield Historical Guide c1880
Willie Brooks and Charles Pierce
Seven year old Willie Brooks and his 16 year old cousin, Charles Pierce, were never found. They were traveling with the chief pilot, Willie’s father, to learn the river for future work on the steamers. Awoken by the second pilot, Willie’s father had initially intended to sling the 7 year old away from the boat toward the riverbank but saw his nephew on the deck below. He passed the young boy down to him instructing them to quickly jump overboard. He then returned to duty. They jumped from the starboard side by the spinning paddle wheel into the shallow water and were never seen again.
Spinning wildly, the stern wheel turbulence drew drowning victims into deeper water
LG Ireland c1861 Mc Callum Museum Osceola County, Sibley, Iowa
The Irelands
LG Ireland is found throughout the historic record. Standing almost 6'4", the powerfully built Maine native twice moved West and to California before being called home to help his extended family. Marriage, death of his young son, birth of a daughter and the Civil War changed the course of his life. Breveted to officer on the field at Fair Oaks during the Peninsula Campaign, his health was forever impacted. Plagued with dysentery and rheumatism he eventually made his way to Iowa as a homesteader. There he became a lawyer, judge, clerk of the Court and Mayor of Sibley. He came to Florida to improve his health, build a home and start an orange grove. A widely respected horticulturist and well known member of the Iowa community, his Florida experiences were documented on the front page of the Sibley Gazette.
The Sibley Gazette March 4, 1881, McCallum Museum,
Osceola County, Sibley, Iowa
Ireland Civil War Discharge Paper
Ireland Civil War Invalid Pension
Ireland, with his wife and two daughters, were left stranded on the stern of the ship, the huge stern wheel wildly spinning next to them. He called to an officer, who was in the water, asking what to do with his family. He was told to jump. His 7 year old daughter panicked and ran forward chased immediately by her mother. At that moment the steamer suddenly shifted. A wall of flames drove Ireland and his 22 year old daughter into the paddle wheel.
Ireland’s wife Annie and younger daughter Fannie burned to death. He and his older daughter, Capitola, were severely burned and injured by the paddle wheel. Ireland died six months later in Jacksonville. Stricken with dengue fever, the Sibley Gazette reported that shortly before dying he had said he had “nothing left to live for and was reconciled to his death”.
The Civil War had broken his health. Florida had broken his heart.
Ireland's crippled daughter traveled to their Welaka home to bury her father with her mother and sister. They had been buried there under a large tree six months earlier. Upon her return she discovered their newly built home had been ransacked, all of her father’s belongings stolen. An obelisk monument marks their final resting place in the Welaka Cemetery where the Irelands graves are among the oldest.
19th Century Iowa Farm
Gibson’s Battery of Horse Artillery near Fair Oaks c1862, published by K&H Anthony, New York
An LG Ireland Iowa GAR post was formed in his honor in 1883. They funded a 30’ granite Civil War Union soldier monument that was placed in front of the Sibley Iowa courthouse where it still stands.
Capitola, Ireland’s surviving daughter, married and moved to Massachusetts. Sadly she died from puerperal fever three days after giving birth to Ireland’s only grandchild. His son in law and grandson later moved to California.
Passenger 12
The Steamboat Inspection service documented 12 cabin passengers. However one woman’s identity and fate remains unknown. It was left entirely out of the record. Per a survivor’s account she jumped overboard with the Captain.
Crew
Dorsett Snuffles was a deckhand that drowned after being drawn out into deeper water. He had just started working on the boat. It was his first trip. Two other deckhands were missing, presumed drowned. Their bodies were never recovered.
Civil War Monument donated by LG Ireland GAR Post
Union Soldier Monument Rededication Ceremony, 5/3/2014, Iowa SUVCW Kinsman Camp, photographer Linda Linn
Contact info@afloridatragedy.com
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