The Steamboat Jenny Lind Disaster - San Jose, CA - E Clampus Vitus Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The Steamboat Jenny Lind Disaster

In the 1850s, the dock at Alviso served as Santa Clara County’s access to the San Francisco Bay. From this port, passengers boarded steamboats loaded with goods and produce bound for San Francisco and points beyond. In the early days of the California gold rush, San Jose provided hay, lumber and large amounts of food through this port.

During the height of its shipping activity, Alviso experienced a devastating maritime disaster. On the eleventh of April in 1853, the steamer Jenny Lind left Alviso bound for San Francisco. Midway through the voyage, steam trapped by a torn boiler pipe exploded outward through the ship’s furnace, scalding those who were in its path. Residents of San Jose were stunned, as many of those killed had been leaders in their community, and the incident is still remembered as a major tragedy.

Soon after, business at the Port of Alviso began to suffer. The completion of the San Francisco-San Jose Railroad in 1864 diverted most of the passenger traffic from Alviso and hastened the port's decline. Although Alviso's commercial prominence faded, its past
is forever linked to the history of the ill-fated steamer, Jenny Lind.

The following are known to have perished in the Jenny Lind disaster

A Baudichon, age 35
Athalie Baudichon, age 32
Blanche Baudichon, age 1
Charles Baudichon, age 5
Adolf Behn, age 5
CE Adolf Behn, age 39
William Bell, age 24
Franklin W Bosworth, age 26
John S Bradbury, age 29
John Brady, age 25
Mr. Carpentier, age 46

SF Drake, age 29
Rosilla Emerson, age 32
Thomas Godden, age 26
Jonas Hawkins, age 30
Jacob D Hoppe, age 37
Thomas J Kell, age 23
Francis H Macabee, age 27
Bernard Murphy, age 35
Mrs. Sarah Ann Paige, age 34
Sarah Anna Paige, age 8

Annie F Ripley, age 6
Charles E Ripley, age 8
Mary Burtois Turk Ripley, age 30
Noah Ripley, age 50
Sarah F Ripley, age 9
Christopher A Shelton, age 27
Jeremiah Van Buren, age 26
Jane B Winlack, age 35
Caleb Winsor, age 30
Charles White, age 45
Roswell A Wyman, age 36

and others whose names will never be known.
They were lost to tragedy, may they not be lost to history.

Dedicated in 2013 on the one hundred and sixtieth anniversary of the disaster by

E Clampus Vitus, Mountain
Charlie Chapter 1850

Native Sons of the Golden
West, Observatory Parlor
No. 177

Argonauts Historical
Society

California Pioneers of
Santa Clara County

South Bay Yacht Club

Free and Accepted Masons,
San Jose Lodge No. 10

Native Daughters of the
Golden West, Vendome
Parlor No. 100

E Clampus Vitus Yerba
Buena Chapter 1

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