''James T. Staples'', officially registered as the ''Jas. T. Staples'' and also known as the ''Big Jim'', was a

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties int ...

sternwheel

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses we ...

that ran a route between

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

and

Demopolis Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the time of the 2020 United States census, down from 7,483 at the 2010 census. The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and T ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

, during the early 20th century. She was destroyed during 1913 in an explosion while docked on the Tombigbee roughly six miles (10 km) north of the current Coffeeville Lock and Dam. It was the last major maritime disaster involving a steamboat in Tombigbee River history. The disaster saw the ship enter southwestern Alabama

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, with tales that its sinking had been foretold by supernatural occurrences.

History

''James T. Staples'' was completed at a cost of $40,000 in Mobile during 1908. She was large enough to carry a cargo of 2,500 bales of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

(562.5 tonnes). The ship was owned by Captain Norman A. Staples, son of James T. and Mary Staples. Staples ran into financial problems in 1912, leading his creditors to take possession of the ship in late December 1912. Staples killed himself with a shotgun on January 2, 1913. He was buried in the main cemetery at Bladon Springs, Alabama. One week after his death, on January 10, 1913, his former steamboat was destroyed in a

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

explosion while about four miles (6.5 km) away from Bladon Springs, at Powes Landing (). Twenty-six people were killed and twenty-one injured in the disaster. The survivors were rescued by the crew of the ''John Quill'', another large sternwheeler plying the same circuit. The explosion was variously blamed on human error and sabotage. Neither were ever proven. The hull, engines, and two boilers were later salvaged from the river and used to build the ''Peerless'', launched in 1914.

Folklore

A story began to circulate soon after the disaster that crewmen had abandoned the engine room after seeing an apparition under the boilers. Another story printed on several occasions stated that an old man, claimed to be a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

by townspeople in Coffeeville, had foretold of the disaster.

Kathryn Tucker Windham Kathryn Tucker Windham (née Tucker, June 2, 1918 – June 12, 2011) was an American storyteller, author, photographer, folklorist, and journalist. She was born in Selma, Alabama, and grew up in nearby Thomasville. Tucker got her first writi ...

immortalized the supposedly supernatural aspects of the disaster with the short story "The ''James T. Staples'', Doomed Steamboat of the Tombigbee" in her ''Jeffrey's Latest 13 More Alabama Ghosts''.

References

{{1913 shipwrecks Maritime boiler explosions Explosions in 1913 American folklore Paddle steamers of Alabama Ships sunk by non-combat internal explosions Shipwrecks of the Tombigbee River Maritime incidents in 1913 Choctaw County, Alabama Clarke County, Alabama 1908 ships Ships built in Alabama

History

Folklore

See also

References