The Wreck of the Steamboat Home

"In October of 1837 the Steamboat Home wrecked on Ocracoke Island. It was the worst sea disaster ever to occur on Ocracoke. Ninety persons lost their lives that Monday night, October 9, as the 550-ton wooden, sidewheel steamer broke apart in the surf.

"The Home was a 198 foot luxury vessel which, although it had made two previous voyages from New York City to Charleston, South Carolina, seems not to have been designed or constructed to endure the vicissitudes of the often unpredictable and violent weather in the North Atlantic, especially near the dreaded Cape Hatteras. This harsh lesson was learned only through unspeakable tragedy."

From Steamboat Disasters & Railroad Accidents
in the United States by S.A. Howland

So begins Chapter 12 of my 2008 book, Digging up Uncle Evans.  It is a harrowing story, and it was best told by old Arcade Williams and passed on to Walter Howard. I include an abridged version of the story in my book, along with other stories, ghost tales and history. The full version of the story is available at http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news100104.htm.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.