The large monument in the cemetery is the gravestone for
The ship began service in May 1838, and the trip from Savannah
Theresa Halsey Parkman, who died in 1837. Letters from her
on June 13 started as smoothly as the Pulaski’s three previous
family in the 1830s reveal that Theresa had been seriously ill
voyages. The steamer arrived in Charleston without incident, and
several times. Her health deteriorated even more after the birth
most passengers disembarked to enjoy the evening in the city. The
of her ninth child, a son, in November 1836, and she died the
following morning, the ship departed for Baltimore.
following fall.
That night, off the coast of North Carolina, the boiler exploded.
Theresa Parkman left behind seven children, the youngest only
The ship sank rapidly, and of the 197 passengers and crew, fewer
11 months old. Perhaps her husband felt that a trip to visit their
than half were rescued. Samuel Parkman and his children were
Northern relatives would help the children recover from the
among those lost in the disaster.
heartbreak of their mother’s death. Leaving the three youngest children in Savannah with their aunt, Samuel Parkman and his four older children left for Baltimore on the steamship SS Pulaski on Wednesday June 13, 1838. There were many of their fellow Savannahians on the ship, heading north to enjoy the cooler summer weather. In the 1830s, steamship technology was in its infancy and boilers were prone to failure. Frequent accidents left the public demanding safer equipment and wary of the new mode of transportation. Therefore, the SS Pulaski, a new steamer designed
The tragedy hit the Lowcountry hard. Many local people had family and friends aboard the Pulaski. The city of Savannah set aside July 5, 1838 as a public day of mourning. All businesses were closed, the bells of the churches tolled and there were religious services to commemorate those who died. At the Octagon Cemetery, the names of Samuel Parkman and the four children who perished with him, Allethena Phebe, Caroline, Theresa, and Whitney, were added to Theresa Parkman’s monument. Their names were the last additions to the cemetery.
for the Savannah-Charleston-Baltimore route, was outfitted
Julia, Lucy, and Breck, the surviving Parkman children, remained
with specially-made, reinforced, copper boilers “of great strength”
in Savannah under the care of their aunt. Eventually, Julia and
to prevent any mishaps. Newspaper advertisements for passage
Lucy married and moved away; Breck went to Harvard and
on the Pulaski promised that, “Her qualities for ease, safety
returned to Savannah to practice law. At the start of the Civil
and speed are superior to any steamer that ever floated on the
War, Breck enlisted in the Confederate army. He died at the
American waters.”
Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) in 1862 and is buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah.
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