Saturday, August 25, 2007
By THOMAS A. BERGBAUER
For the Courier-Post
The need to cross the Delaware River has existed for centuries.
Ferry service, which began in the 17th century between Saxamaxon Street in
Philadelphia and Cooper's Point on this side of the river, led to Camden's
founding and growth.
According to records, ferry service between the two cities was formalized in
1687.
From the 17th to 20th centuries, ferries not only sailed out of Market Street
in downtown Camden, but also from the foot of Vine Street in Camden, near
Market, and from Kaighn Avenue. Ferries also crossed to Philadelphia from
Gloucester City, Palmyra and Burlington City.
In winter, people sometimes walked or skated across the river. During the
early 1800s, at the end of what was known worldwide as the Little Ice Age, the
Delaware was routinely frozen almost solid in winter.
Ice floes created a hazard at times, and records show that George Washington
encountered them while trying to cross the Delaware on Dec. 25, 1776, in his
surprise attack on the Hessians in Trenton.
In 1856, they were the cause of one of Camden's most tragic events.
Walkers and riders
Pedestrian traffic on the ice-clogged river during the early 1800s was
expected, and it usually did not hinder the ferries.
Research at the Camden County Historical Society reveals that horses
sometimes towed the ferries like sleds across the frozen river in winter. To
successfully glide across the Delaware, the ferries had to be fitted with skids
or runners on either side of their keels.
The ice wasn't always solid, though. When floating ice impeded the ferries,
boats with very sharp bows were pressed into service. Extending from their bows
was a platform, where a worker would sit. With boat hook in hand, he would brace
himself with his legs and feet and push the floating ice away.
Sometimes, the ice was so bad that it would take a ferry from one to two
hours to work around the floes and complete a crossing. It was that type of
manuver that led to the Camden tragedy.
Saturday, March 15, 1856, was a cold and windy day. All day, ice floes had
floated down the river past Camden, according to newspaper reports. Some thought
the broken ice was the promise of an early spring, but there was nothing
springlike about that day.
That evening, nearly 100 people climbed aboard a ferry called the New Jersey
in Philadelphia, eager to get to their warm homes in Camden.
Sailing into darkness
According to county historical documents and newspaper reports, the ferry,
owned by the Philadelphia and Camden Steamboat Company, left the Walnut Street
wharf at 8:30 p.m. and sailed into the darkness toward Camden.
Documents show that Capt. William S. Corson of Camden was in command. As he
guided his vessel toward the channel, heavy ice floes made it impossible to
navigate, so he turned the ferry upstream in search of another place to cross.
Moments later, smoke poured from a spot on the deck near the smokestack. When
flames became visible, passengers notified the captain and tried to put out the
fire.
They grabbed buckets from the walls, dipping them overboard, filling them
with water and then passing them forward to douse the flames. In a desperate
attempt to save the ferry, Corson turned the boat around and tried to make it
back to Philadelphia, hoping to reach the dock before the fire raged out of
control.
As the boat limped back, flames swept across the upper deck and forced
passengers to the windward side, creating a bad list. It was reported that the
New Jersey came within 30 feet of the Philadelphia dock when the pilothouse
collapsed in flames, causing the boat to veer out of control.
Corson, who reportedly survived, watched as panic set in. He saw women try,
in vain, to beat out the flames that engulfed their long dresses, and he saw men
tear benches and chairs loose to help those who had jumped overboard.
He saw passengers leap into the frigid water and climb on top of ice floes. A
short time later he followed them overboard. Those passengers already in the
water clung to the benches, chairs and floating wood.
One report showed that 61 people perished in the fire, 30 survived and others
were missing.
Eager for news
As the tragedy unfolded, families in Camden took to the streets waiting for
the return of their loved ones or news about them.
Later, shrieks of joy sounded as survivors arrived in Camden on other
ferries. However, the joy was short-lived as news spread about how many had died
or were missing in what became one of early Camden's worst tragedies.
An investigation later showed that the ferry's boilers, fireplace and the
brickwork surrounding them were defective. Other records revealed that the New
Jersey had no lifeboats or life preservers.
Records also showed that a law requiring safety equipment on steam-powered
vessels had exempted this type of boat because it was believed that such short
trips could never place passengers in serious danger.
One newspaper reporting on the fire later said that every family in Camden
had been touched by the tragic event through the loss of a loved one, a friend
or an acquaintance.
By 1953, ferry service from Camden to Philadelphia was nothing more than a
memory. The last boat between the two cities made the trip in 1952.
Thomas A. Bergbauer is a retired Courier-Post copy editor and can be reached
at (856) 346-0371, tbergbauer@verizon.net,
or through Communities, Courier-Post, P.O. Box 5300, Cherry Hill, N.J. 08034.
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