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Politicians Killed in Watercraft Accidents and Disasters

Very incomplete list!

in chronological order

• Thomas Lynch, Jr. (1749-1779) — of South Carolina. Born in South Carolina, August 5, 1749. Son of Thomas Lynch, Sr.. Member of South Carolina state legislature, 1776; Delegate to Continental Congress from South Carolina, 1776; signer, Declaration of Independence, 1776. While on an ocean voyage to France, was lost at sea, in the North Atlantic Ocean, 1779; his remains were not recovered.
  • See also: congressional biography; Wikipedia article.
  
  
• Samuel Holden Parsons (1737-1789) — Born in Lyme, New London County, Conn., May 14, 1737. Lawyer; member of Connecticut colonial assembly, 1762-74; member of Connecticut state house of representatives, 1784-85; justice of Northwest Territory supreme court, 1788-89. Drowned in a canoe accident, near Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, November 17, 1789. Burial location unknown.
  
  
• John Pegram (1773-1831) — of Virginia. Born in Dinwiddie County, Va., November 16, 1773. Member of Virginia state house of delegates, 1797-1801; member of Virginia state senate, 1804-08; U.S. Representative from Virginia 19th District, 1818-19. Lost his life during the burning of a boat on the Ohio River, April 8, 1831; his remains were never recovered.
  • See also: congressional biography.
  
  
• Josiah Stoddard Johnston (1784-1833) — also known as Josiah S. Johnston — of Alexandria, Rapides Parish, La. Born in Salisbury, Litchfield County, Conn., November 24, 1784. Half-brother of Albert Sidney Johnston. Democrat. Member of Orleans territorial legislature, 1805; state court judge in Louisiana, 1812; U.S. Representative from Louisiana at-large, 1821-23; U.S. Senator from Louisiana, 1824-33; died in office 1833. Killed by an explosion on the steamboat Lioness, on the Red River, in Louisiana, May 19, 1833. Interment at Rapides Cemetery, Pineville, La.; cenotaph at Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
  • See also: congressional biography.
  
  
• George L. Kinnard (1803-1836) — of Indiana. Born in Pennsylvania, 1803. Democrat. Member of Indiana state house of representatives, 1827; U.S. Representative from Indiana 6th District, 1833-36; died in office 1836. Died from injuries received in an explosion on the steamer Flora on the Ohio River, November 26, 1836. Interment at Presbyterian Burying Ground, Cincinnati, Ohio; cenotaph at Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
  • See also: congressional biography.
  
  
• Oliver Hillhouse Prince (1782-1837) — also known as Oliver H. Prince — of Macon, Bibb County, Ga. Born in Montville, New London County, Conn., 1782. Member of Georgia state senate, 1824; U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1828-29. Perished in the wreck of the packet ship Home, in the North Atlantic Ocean off Ocracoke Inlet, N.C., October 9, 1837; his remains were never recovered.
  • See also: congressional biography.
  
  
• William Beatty Rochester (1789-1838) — also known as William B. Rochester — of New York. Born in Hagerstown, Washington County, Md., January 29, 1789. Democrat. Member of New York state assembly from Allegany and Steuben counties, 1816-18; U.S. Representative from New York, 1821-23 (20th District 1821-23, 28th District 1823); candidate for Governor of New York, 1826. Perished in the wreck of the steamer Pulaski in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Carolina, June 14, 1838; his remains were never recovered.
  • See also: congressional biography.
  
  
• Stephen Allen (1767-1852) — of New York, New York County, N.Y. Born July 2, 1767. Mayor of New York City, N.Y., 1821-24; member of New York state senate 1st District, 1829-32. Killed when the steamboat Henry Clay burned and sank, killing about eighty passengers, in the Lower Hudson River, next to what is now the Riverdale section of the Bronx, July 28, 1852. Entombed at New York City Marble Cemetery, Manhattan, N.Y.
  • See also: Wikipedia article; Find-A-Grave page.
  
  
• Alexander Anderson (c.1812-1855) — of California. Member of California state senate, 1852; justice of California state supreme court, 1852-53. Killed by the explosion of the river steamer Pearl, January 27, 1855. Burial location unknown.
  
  
• John B. Macy (1799-1856) — of Wisconsin. Born in Nantucket, Nantucket County, Mass., March 25, 1799. Democrat. U.S. Representative from Wisconsin 3rd District, 1853-55. Lost his life in the burning of the steamer Niagara, on Lake Michigan, near Port Washington, Wisconsin, September 24, 1856; his remains were not found.
  • See also: congressional biography.
  
  
• Stephen Clarendon Phillips (1801-1857) — of Massachusetts. Born in Salem, Essex County, Mass., November 4, 1801. Member of Massachusetts state house of representatives, 1824-29; member of Massachusetts state senate, 1830; U.S. Representative from Massachusetts 2nd District, 1834-38; mayor of Salem, Mass., 1838-42; Free Soil candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, 1848, 1849. Perished in the burning of the steamer Montreal on the St. Lawrence River in Canada, June 26, 1857; his remains were never recovered.
  • See also: congressional biography.
  
  
• James Hamilton, Jr. (1786-1857) — of South Carolina. Born in Charleston, Charleston County, S.C., May 8, 1786. Brother-in-law of Barnard Elliott Bee. Major in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812; lawyer; mayor of Charleston, S.C., 1822; member of South Carolina state house of representatives; U.S. Representative from South Carolina 2nd District, 1822-29; Governor of South Carolina, 1830-32. While en route from New Orleans to Galveston, through some mishap, was drowned in the Gulf of Mexico, November 15, 1857. His remains were probably never found. Hamilton County, Tex. is named for him.
  • See also Bee family of South Carolina
  • See also: congressional biography; National Governors Association biography.
  
  
• Rufus Wheeler Peckham (1809-1873) — also known as Rufus W. Peckham — of New York. Born in Rensselaerville, Albany County, N.Y., December 20, 1809. Father of Rufus Wheeler Peckham (1838-1909). Democrat. Lawyer; law partner of Lyman Tremain; U.S. Representative from New York 14th District, 1853-55; Justice of New York Supreme Court, 1861-69; judge of New York Court of Appeals, 1870-73; died in office 1873. Member, Kappa Alpha Society. En route to Europe on the steamer Ville du Havre, he was among 226 passengers and crew who perished when the steamer collided with the Scottish sailing vessel Loch Earn, and sank, in the North Atlantic Ocean, November 22, 1873; his remains were never found. Cenotaph at Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands, N.Y.
  • See also: congressional biography.
  
  
• Kirkland C. Barker (1819-1875) — of Detroit, Wayne County, Mich. Born in East Schuyler, Herkimer County, N.Y., September 8, 1819. Mayor of Detroit, Mich., 1864-65. Drowned, when the sailboat in which he was transporting ballast-lead to his yacht Cora suddenly sank, in the Detroit River near Amherstberg, Ontario, May 20, 1875. Interment at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Mich.
  
  
• Joseph I. Stein (d. 1880) — of New York, New York County, N.Y. Lawyer; member of New York state assembly from New York County 20th District, 1877. Jewish. Member, Freemasons; Odd Fellows. Killed in the wreck of the steamboat Seawanhaka, which burned and sank in the East River, June 28, 1880. Interment at Linden Hill Cemetery, Queens, N.Y.
  
  
• A. C. Rand (1832-1885) — of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minn. Born in Boston, Suffolk County, Mass., December 31, 1832. Republican. Mayor of Minneapolis, Minn., 1878-82. Drowned in a boat explosion on Lake Minnetonka, July 12, 1885. Burial location unknown.
  
  
• Thomas T. Minor (died c.1889) — of Seattle, King County, Wash. Republican. One of the founders of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad; delegate to Republican National Convention from Washington Territory, 1880; mayor of Seattle, Wash., 1887-88. In 1889, he set off on a canoe trip to Whidbey Island with G. Morris Haller, and was never heard from again; presumed drowned in a watercraft accident, but no bodies were found.
  
  
• Isidor Straus (1845-1912) — of New York, New York County, N.Y. Born in Otterberg, Germany, February 6, 1845. Son of Lazarus Straus and Sara Straus; married, July 12, 1871, to Ida Blum; brother of Oscar Solomon Straus; father of Jesse Isidor Straus; uncle of Nathan Straus, Jr.; grandfather of Stuart Scheftel; granduncle of R. Peter Straus. Democrat. U.S. Representative from New York 15th District, 1894-95. Jewish. One of the owners of the R. H. Macy & Co. department store in New York. Perished in the wreck of the steamship Titanic, in the North Atlantic Ocean, April 15, 1912; his body was subsequently recovered. Originally entombed at Beth-El Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.; later interred at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, N.Y.; memorial monument at Straus Park, Manhattan, N.Y.
  • See also Butler-Straus-Belmont-Pickens family of New York
  • See also: congressional biography.
  
  
• Robert McNeely (c.1883-1915) — of Monroe, Union County, N.C. Member of North Carolina state house of representatives, 1908-10; U.S. Consul in Aden, 1915, died in office 1915. While en route to Aden as a passenger on the British liner Persia, he was one of 385 passengers and crew who perished when the ship sank (probably hit by a German torpedo), in the Mediterranean Sea, December 20, 1915. Burial location unknown.
  
  
• Alfred L. M. Gottschalk (1873-1918) — Born in New York, New York County, N.Y., February 8, 1873. Son of L. G. Gottschalk and Louise de L. Boucher Gottschalk. Newspaper correspondent; sugar grower; U.S. Consul in Callao, 1903-05; U.S. Consul General in Callao, 1905-06; Mexico City, 1906-08; Rio de Janeiro, 1916-17. Member, Delta Kappa Epsilon. While en route from Bahia, Brazil to Baltimore on the U.S. Navy ship Cyclops, during World War I, he was one of 306 sailors and crew who perished when the ship sank, in the North Atlantic Ocean, March, 1918; the wreckage was never found.
  
  
• John W. Speakman (1900-1942) — of Danville, Vermilion County, Ill. Born in Vermilion County, Ill., March 5, 1900. Republican. Lawyer; member of Illinois state house of representatives; elected 1936, 1938; member of Illinois state senate 22nd District; elected 1940. Member, Freemasons. Drowned when his boat capsized, June 7, 1942. Interment at Spring Hill Cemetery, Danville, Ill.
  
  
• Carl Frederick Zeidler (1908-1942) — also known as Carl Zeidler; "Singing Mayor"; "Boy Mayor" — of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wis. Born in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wis., January 4, 1908. Brother of Frank P. Zeidler. Mayor of Milwaukee, Wis., 1940-42; resigned 1942; served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Carl Zeidler Park, in downtown Milwaukee, is named for him. Killed when the munitions ship La Salle was struck by torpedos, exploded, and sank, about 350 miles southeast of the Cape of Good Hope, in the Indian Ocean, November 7, 1942; his remains were never found. Cenotaph at Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wis.
  • See also: Wikipedia article; Find-A-Grave page.
  
  
• Albert Denis Cash (1897-1952) — also known as Albert D. Cash — of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. Born in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, August 21, 1897. Democrat. Served in the U.S. Army during World War I; lawyer; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Ohio, 1940; mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, 1948-51. Was fishing when a freak storm overturned his boat and drowned him, on a lake in Michigan, August 2, 1952. Burial location unknown.
  
  

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