U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
The Explosion of the Steamboat General Manning Shook Jacksonville's River World
Seven Blacks and Seven Whites Killed Several Badly Scalded
This article is compiled by Julian Williams.
Robert Fulton successfully put the first steamboat into operation in 1807. That was the same year Telfair County was formed out of Wilkinson County and probably about the time settlers started thinking seriously about taking the river completely away from the Indians. But across the river were the Indians and they did not cede that land to the settlers until 1818 (same year as the Battle of Breakfast Branch - evidently some of the Indians did not want to give up their land or their river!).
But progress was coming and the Indians could not stop it. Pretty soon steamboats could be seen chugging up and down the river carrying freight and passengers. The first steamboat making the trip from the ocean all the way up to Macon was the North Carolina in January of 1829. For the better part of a century, these leviathans of the Ocmulgee would snake their way up and down the river to fuel the economy of the middle and southern sections of the state.
An early settler on the south side of the Ocmulgee had this to say (from Ward's "History of Coffee County") when Captain John L. Day built another steamboat (he named them for his children - the Tommy Day, the Ida Barrett, the John L. Day, and the Harry G. Day): "There was quite a celebration when this boat (the Harry G. Day) made its first trip as far as Old Jacksonville Ferry, which was almost opposite our plantation. The new boat was in charge of Capt. Charley Phillips and he treated the entire village of Jacksonville and its countryside to a free ride back to Barrows Bluff, on our side, for a fish fry. The big boat with its bright red roofs and fresh white painted sides, grey decks and big water wheel delighted my young mind as we all went aboard in line to inspect its plush carpeted cabin, staterooms, dining hall, and upper decks. It was one of the most memorable occasions people had enjoyed since "Befo' de Wah (Before the War)."
But this atmosphere of gaiety and celebration had been preceded by a terrible tragedy. In the Spring of 1860, the steamboat The General S.M. Manning was carrying freight and passengers below the Jacksonville landing in the vicinity of Coffee's Landing and Manning's Lower Fence Landing. Suddenly, its great boilers exploded, its stacks heaved asunder and the craft split in twain. Some passengers were instantly killed; others were blown into the water and one of the sons of Captain Taylor was blown by the great concussion to the river bank and survived unharmed! Several were horribly scalded by uncontrolled steam and hot water and suffered severe injuries. Seven blacks and seven whites died in the watery holocaust. My uncle, several times removed, Joseph B. Williams, was killed (he was father of Lt. Col. Wiley J. Williams (CSA) and son of Lt. Joseph Williams, Revolutionary War). My cousin, Jacque Hardy of Hawkinsville, several times removed, told me he was never found and that, in his grave, reside only his tin-type photograph, his watch and other personal effects. Also losing their lives were Williams' neighbors, John Harrell and Jacob Parker of the China Hill section.
Major A.T. Dopson (great grandfather of John Edward, Clyde, Lester, Dean, Alex, and Harriet) wrote on that fateful day: "This morning we had the dreadful intelligence of the blowing up of the Steamer, S.M. Manning, near Col. Manning's place some time in the night. Report says all lost but Capt. Taylor, and two others. The Captain had one leg shattered. We hope the statement is greatly exaggerated, our physician was sent for and every man from our village has gone down to the unfortunate Manning, to render all the services they possibly could." According to another letter, the two injured with Capt. Taylor were another Mr. Williams and a Mr. Bowen. The report stated that "none of the bodies have as yet been found" and that "a young man got on at Darien, supposed to be Mr. Spencer, he is lost." (Macon Messenger, 1860).
And in the old Paceville Cemetery, across the river in that section where the Ashleys and Mannings had their great plantations, lie the remains of Captain Taylor's other son, Jefferson Taylor. Here, in silent repose, not with father or mother or brother, but with the storied representatives of the Ashleys and Mannings - is a youthful victim of what was the weakness of the steam boiler - sudden and devastating explosion.
Steam boiler regulations would be passed but these efforts could not erase from the memory of Jacksonville, Georgia, that March 12th tragedy prior to the beginning of the Civil War when the great boat exploded. The noise could be heard for miles and the timbers of the steamer were strewn for hundreds of yards along the banks of the river.
The old boat was visible for many years and the site was known as Sunk Boat. Guy Bland even has an old iron fastener (pin) from the remains of The General Manning. Jack Dorsey, formerly of this area, told me the old steamboat was about 120 feet long and some 40 feet wide. Somewhere on the bottom of the river is a lot of history.
Note: At the end of the Civil War, the scene was repeated on the Mississippi River but on a much larger scale. Union prisoners leaving Andersonville, Georgia, and Cahaba, Alabama, had been released and were on their way home (the North). They boarded the steamer Sultana. A greed-driven Union officer had overloaded the boat to make personal profit by increasing the large cargo of humanity (to 2,400 or more). Maximum capacity was only 600-800. The great boilers could not stand the strain and exploded. Between 1700-1800 hundred lives were lost (more than the Titanic!). Thus, the Sultana tragedy remains as perhaps the greatest water vessel tragedy in history.
But no sadder hearts lingered than those of the friends and relatives of those 14 persons who died on the General Manning just below Jacksonville, Georgia, on a Spring day in 1860. The people of Jacksonville were listening for its port-of-call whistle but heard instead the deafening crescendo that opened up the portals of heaven.
Credits:
Chris Trowell; Douglas Enterprise;
Ronnie L. Williams;
Macon Messenger;
Jacque Hardy;
Jack Dorsey;
Floris Perkins Mann;
Fussell Chalker;
Internet sources;
and others.
