Newhanover-Cumberland County NcArchives News.....The Burning of the Bladen February 25, 1886
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Bill Gibson bgibson@uncfsu.edu November 14, 2006, 9:41 pm

Observer And Gazette - Fayetteville, NC February 25, 1886
	The loss of the steamer Bladen, briefly mentioned in the account of 
the fire at Wilmington on Sunday morning last, was caused by fire which 
occurred when the steamer was within 150 yards of her wharf. The most 
strenuous efforts immediately became necessary to save the lives of the 
passengers and crew, as the flames increased with fearful rapidity, and the 
Bladen was run in at the shed of the New York steamers, where the passengers 
were with difficulty landed in safety from small boats, but with the loss of 
all their baggage.

	The Bladen was a stern-wheel steamer of wooden hull, remodeled in the 
spring of 1885, was fitted up for both passengers and freight, and had a 
capacity of about 800 barrels of rosin.  She was owned by the “Bladen 
Steamboat Company,” and Messrs. A. E. Rankin & Co. were the agents at 
Fayetteville.  She was built at a cost of $9,000, and was insured for $5,500, 
with $2,500 on cargo.  A lot of 112 bales of cotton shipped by Mr. R. M. 
Nimocks to Messrs. Sprunt & Son, Wilmington, was protected by a floating 
policy.  Capt. R. H. Tomlinson had recently been made commander of the Bladen, 
and at the time of its burning both he and Capt. Jeff. D. Robinson were on 
board.

	The passengers on board the Bladen, were Messrs. Robt. Lee, of 
Wilmington, A. J. Harmon, of Bladen county, Dodson, a commercial traveler, 
Mrs. Thos. Hundley and child, of Fayetteville, Miss Erambert, of Richmond, 
Va., and one or two others whose names were not learned.

	We learn that Miss Erambert was for a few moments in great danger, her 
hair being singed and clothing scorched before she could be rescued from the 
boat.

Additional Comments:
The Bladen was a 100 ton river steamboat, 125 foot long, with a 21 foot beam 
and 5 foot hold.  In January of 1886, both the “Bladen” and the “A. P. Hurt” 
had struggled down the frozen Cape Fear River from Fayetteville.  Unable to 
continue on, both boats had tied up at Tar Heel, NC, until the thaw.

In 1863 Capt. Samuel Skinner had piloted the steamer, “A. P. Hurt” from 
Wilmington to Fayetteville in 11 hours with an average speed of 10+ mph.  
Captain Skinner was married to Emily J., who was the sister of Louis B. 
Erambert.  Around 1880, Capt. Skinner had bought a marine railway & shipyard 
located on the waterfront between Nun and Castle Streets in Wilmington.  It 
was to Captain Skinner's marine railway that the burned hulls & boilers of 
the "Bladen" and "River Queen" were brought after being raised.

During the Civil War, Captain Skinner had lived on Church Hill in Richmond, 
VA.  Dr. Thomas F. Wood, before joining the Confederacy, had worked for Louis 
B. Erambert in his newly opened drug store in Wilmington.  In 1861, Dr. Wood 
was taken ill and received a pass to leave the front lines for rest & 
recuperation.  During this time, he came to Richmond and found the house of 
Captain Skinner, who welcomed him warmly.

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