37.
DIARYOF ALSON WARD
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April 1845 10..Fatber and myself y..,orkedat tbe fe_nce if _fr_ontof the house tended mill & Titus kept the plough going.· rt has been very windy. In the morning we drew two loads of _stone from _ttie ploughed grouJ1d in the meadowto the wall . in fr.ant.of ,the;_ha:us.e·aft,er wb1,c1J.-we arew.·fo;ur/Joads of )lay fr.om the peach .ord1ard_.wh1.ch>occup.ted th~. fo,_rer,oontbe __pJqugb.went.-qnJy._i.11 tbe·il.ft.er part of:.c,tfre/ ·day·;_c _._./~--· ..:--: ·: ,.···': - ___ ,.._. ...,_ -,,~.,..... ,~..·.-......~:~ ~ 0-~/•:-·
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11.tn·· the afte-rnoon I went with Titus in the stalk lot to help him start· the plough Father and myself spent most of the day ~ctting posts working at the fence & 12.In the morning Father and myself washed the wagon aft~r which sister Mary and myself went to Pokeepsie or at least I went Mary staid at Mr Platts she and Mary Platt went to Mr Gidleys to spend the aft.ernoon I met Henry Sleight in Pokeepsie returned to Mr Gidleys some aft.er three oclock spent the afternoon and evening pleasantly I have forgotten to mention in the proper place the sad and awful accident on the river of the loss of the steamer Lwo Clow? on her passage down the river on Mondaynight nearly opposite Athens. It is stated by the papers that the river is quite shallow and the channel narrow the night quite dark stormy. By some much blame is attached to the pilotwhich I presume deserves the greatest share I will give the particulars as they are stated by the NY Evangelist.When passing through the narrow channel at Athens she ran upon a large rock called 11The Bug11 The bow ran up so high that it was impossible to stand upon the deck The keel broke and the stern bent upwards and still went down so much that in three minutes the two ·cab'ins were full of water. The scene among the passengers may be· imagined. It was nine oclock in the evening and very few of them were in their berthsThe upper part of the boat took fire which increased the alarm. The night was dark and the wind high. The baggage and freight was floating about on deck and the water rushing at the cabin doors so that with the inclination of the floor it was difficult to get out. Yet the young mothers snatched their infants from the berths where they were sleepingand rushed for their lives. There were however many circumstances of favour. The people in the forward deck climbed ·down upon the rock until no more could stand. Numeroussmall boats with torches put off immediately from the shore. The Steamer Express which was coming down but little behind was soon along side and the steamer Rochester also in companywas at the rescue as soon as possible. Several ladies who were not able to get out at the door were lifted through the skylight one so far exhausted that two hours of effort on board the Rochester was necessity to bring her back to animation. Later accounts say there has been sixteen dead persons taken from the boat there is no means for knowing the number of lives lost as the list was not fully made out when the accident happened 13.Sabbath In the morning Mary and myself went to church it being quite windy Father thought best to remain home as he had quite a bad cold.Mr Wile preached. 14. In the morning Titus came and ploughed stalk ground Father and myself workedat the fence in front of the house drilling holes in the stone for the iron posts made soap prepared some cobs for kindling In the evening I went to the Valley to meet the committee for arrangements for a temperance festivle at temperance house kept by Egbert Seaman.
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15.Father Mother and Marywent to Poughkeepsie. In the morning I sowed the long meadowwith oats. Titus harrowed and got through about the middle of the afternoon after which he went and harrowed in the'east part of the meadowor that part that was ploughed in the fall I spent the afternoon drilling holesfor the fence in front of the house.
