Bertie County NcArchives History .....Davenport's Steamer Disaster 1899
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Gerald Thomas gerald_thomas00@comcast.net March 28, 2017, 11:18 am

CAPT. HAYWOOD DAVENPORT’S DISATROUS LAST 
TRIP ON THE STEAMER, MAYFLOWER, JUNE 30, 1899

In early November 1898 the steamer Bertie, which had served as a passenger and
freight transport on the Cashie and Roanoke rivers between Windsor and Plymouth
for almost three decades, was replaced on the route by a new steamboat, the
Mayflower. The Mayflower arrived at the docks along the Plymouth waterfront on
Wednesday, November 9, under the command of Capt. Haywood Davenport. Davenport
was a veteran steamboat captain who had sailed the sounds and rivers of eastern
North Carolina and the Chesapeake Bay and adjoining tributaries. The Roanoke
Beacon, Plymouth’s local newspaper, noted that the new steamer was “a beauty”
and Captain Davenport looked as if he felt “good in his new home.” The Windsor
Steamboat Company, a constituent entity of Branning Manufacturing Company of
Edenton, owned and operated the Mayflower which immediately began transporting
passengers, freight and mail along the Plymouth-to-Windsor route.
	Water-borne transportation between the two towns entailed navigating rather
treacherous stretches of the waterways. Steamers bound for Windsor, upon
departing the Plymouth waterfront, was required to steam up the Roanoke River
for approximately four to five miles where they exited the river to the right
and entered the Thoroughfare, a narrow, crooked tributary connecting the Roanoke
and Cashie rivers. The Thoroughfare is more than a mile in length and required
steamboat captains to execute a number of alternating turns to navigate through
the waterway. Upon entering the Cashie River, the steamboats would turn to the
left and proceed upriver to Windsor. The approximate six-mile stretch of the
river between Windsor and Greenleaf Johnson’s lumbering operation at the
junction of the river with Wading Place Creek, commonly known as Johnson’s Mill,
was somewhat dangerous to steamers. The river was narrow and extremely crooked
with sunken logs and stumps imperiling travel. Numerous trees and limbs hung out
from the banks into the waterway, obscuring visibility and impeding navigation.
The return trip from Windsor was equally challenging to riverboat pilots.
	The Roanoke Beacon of December 2, 1898, contained an article that conveyed the
editor’s utmost confidence in Davenport’s capabilities. The paper noted: “Those
who predicted that the Mayflower would be smashed up before she had made many
trips up the Cashie, did not know the ability of Capt. Davenport. While this is
a difficult route for a boat of her size, yet Capt. Davenport is equal to the
task and takes that magnificent palace steamer up the crooked Cashie with as
much grace, if not the ease, as he ever did the Conoho up the Chesapeake [Bay].
He is the right man in the right place, and when he trods the hurricane deck all
is well with the ‘Mayflower.’ When this steamer floats out from her dock and
steams away to the West over the placid, golden bossom of the Roanoke she looks
more like a floating palace or great white swan than a river steamer.” Davenport
had quickly become a popular steamer captain, at least to the people of Plymouth.
	But, soon, Davenport was initiated to the perils of navigating the Roanoke and
Cashie rivers, and the Thoroughfare. A little more than a month after beginning
the routine trips between Plymouth and Windsor, the Mayflower suffered its first
mishap. While steaming through the Thoroughfare on Monday night, December 12,
the steamer struck a log, breaking a flange from its wheel. The damage
necessitated that the vessel’s wheel be replaced. On Saturday morning, January
7, the steamboat “had the misfortune to get stuck on a log in the Cashie River,
delaying its arrival in Plymouth for approximately two hours. On February 16,
the boat became ice bound in the Cashie River. In late February the Mayflower
wrung its main shaft into and had to be taken out of service for repairs. (The
steamer Bertie returned to its old familiar route to fill in for the Mayflower.)
On Tuesday, March 7, the steamer broke its steering mechanism and became stuck
on a mudflat. In late April the vessel was taken out of service to have its
“speed wheel” replaced.
	About mid-afternoon on Friday, June 30, 1899, the Mayflower eased away from the
docks at Plymouth and began steaming up the Roanoke River destined for Windsor.
Captain Davenport and his steamer had been navigating the route for almost eight
months. On this day the Mayflower was heavily loaded with hay bales and plaster.
The steamer also carried seventeen persons (passengers and crew), including
James Marcus Russell, a five-months-old-baby, the son of William J. Russell and
Rutha Maude Johnson Russell, of Bertie County. The day’s trip to Windsor was to
be Davenport’s final run of the route. A new captain, J. E. Hayes, was being
placed in command of the Mayflower by officials of the Windsor Steamboat
Company. Hayes accompanied Davenport in the pilot house for the trip.
Davenport piloted the steamboat into the current of the Roanoke and guided it
into the Thoroughfare. At about five o’clock the Mayflower was negotiating the
second bend in the Thoroughfare when the boat began to list. The vessel, being
round bottomed without sufficient bearings for its upper work, was immediately
imperiled. Captain Davenport was unable to stop her on the keel, and despite his
efforts to “throw her up[right],” the Mayflower went completely over and sank to
the bottom of the Thoroughfare.
Panic overtook the passengers, some of whom saw the situation unfolding in time
to escape by climbing on the high side of the boat. However, others, especially
those in the saloon, went down with the boat and were nearly drowned. All of the
passengers and crew members were saved except the five-months-old infant. In the
excitement and confusion associated with the capsizing of the Mayflower, James
M. Russell, the baby, was hurled from its mother's arms by tumbling furniture
and perished in the saloon.
Davenport placed the passengers and some members of his crew on the shore. He
then took one of the steamer’s small rafts and with two men, went to Sans Souci
to obtain boats and wraps for the care of the women and children. Before
Davenport returned to the scene of the accident, Captain Hayse and several other
individuals took a raft and came out to the Roanoke where they hailed the
steamer C. W. Petit. The Petit steamed into the Thoroughfare and took on board
the half-frozen passengers and crew, and transported them back to Plymouth.
Capt. Davenport, since taking charge of the Mayflower, had a number of “rough
experiences” in the vessel. But, according to the Roanoke Beacon, Davenport
“seemed to have had confidence” in the boat, although some people considered the
boat rather unsafe, especially in rough weather. Speculation circulated among
area citizens that the steamer had been overloaded at the Plymouth docks, making
it somewhat unstable, especially if the load shifted for any reason.  
In less than a week following the sinking, wreckers were at work getting the
Mayflower up from the bottom of the Thoroughfare. The body of James M. Russell
was recovered on Thursday, July 6, and turned over to the grief-stricken parents
for interment. The Mayflower, after being raised and refloated, made it to
Edenton under its own steam on Monday, July 10. Necessary repairs were made at
the Chowan County port and the Mayflower was back in service by July 17 (less
than three weeks after capsizing) and was plying the Plymouth-to-Windsor route
by July 21. During the vessel’s absence, the “old landmark” – the steamer,
Bertie – filled in on the route.
___________
Author’s comments: The Mayflower continued to ply the Roanoke and Cashie rivers
for several decades into the twentieth century. In early December 1908, the
vessel was docked near the Wellington and Powellsville Railroad depot in Windsor
when the depot caught fire. The Mayflower, being in close proximity to the
burning structure, was in “great danger” and was released from its mooring and
allowed to drift downriver away from the blaze. On Saturday, February 20, 1915,
the Mayflower sank near the wharf at Windsor just before the boat was to return
to Plymouth. Subsequently (date not determined), the steamer caught fire near
the town of Plymouth and sank. Remnants of the steamer were left in the Roanoke
River.
	William J. Russell filed a suit against the Windsor Steamboat Company within a
few days of the sinking of the Mayflower. Russell, as “administrator” for his
infant son, James M. Russell, claimed that Captain Davenport’s negligence in
permitting the boat to be overloaded contributed to its capsizing and caused his
son’s death. A Washington County Superior Court jury ruled that Davenport was
negligent and awarded Russell $1,000 in damages. The steamboat company appealed
the ruling to the North Carolina Supreme Court which affirmed the ruling of the
lower court. Rutha Maude Russell died in Bertie County in November 1900, less
than eighteen months after her baby boy was ripped from her arms and sent to a
watery demise in the Thoroughfare between the Roanoke and Cashie rivers.

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