Remembering the SS Sultana

Beech Grove Cemetery

Held at Beech Grove Cemetery
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The Sultana was a wooden steamboat that exploded on the Mississippi just outside of Memphis on April 27, 1865. It was considered one of the deadliest maritime disasters in US history. The boat, built to carry 376 passengers, was vastly overloaded with paroled Civil War prisoners of war. On board were an estimated 2,300 people, 1,700 of whom lost their lives, including 55 from Delaware County. A monument in the Beech Grove Cemetery honors the 55 Delaware County members who died in the disaster. Despite the magnitude of the tragedy, the Sultana disaster received very little coverage as it was overshadowed by the end of the war and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln just days prior. 

Presenter: Jennifer Lewis Sparks, historical and genealogical researcher, lecturer, and cemetery enthusiast