10/12/2026
The stories we tell at Haunts at the Font are rarely told. Why? While they inform our understanding of Cragfont, they're not central to our regular daily tours. Events like this give us a chance to bring those stories to life.
One of those stories will be told by Caroline Wi******er, who was born to Susan and James Wi******er in 1802. She married Orville Shelby but died at the young age of 25. Caroline spent time in New Orleans with her sister, Maria Wi******er Breedlove, and was an experienced steamboat passenger. Her father owned the Steamboat Cumberland, and her brothers-in-law, Mr. Breedlove and Mr. Robeson, were partners in the Steamboat Tennessee.
In February of 1823, the Steamboat Tennessee hit a snag in the Mississippi River and rapidly sank, sending around 60 passengers to their graves. The disaster led to the General Survey Act, which expanded the Army Corps of Engineers and funded surveys of rivers and canals. Those surveys led to navigational improvements that made waterways safer in the United States.
Caroline, though not a passenger on the Tennessee, witnessed the aftermath, including the financial ruin that befell her brothers-in-law. River travel was dangerous, and while steamboats were fast, disasters were common. In a letter to her daughter, Susan Wi******er admitted she feared traveling by steamboat. Stating that she might travel on the vessel owned by her husband, James, but she never did. She likely worried a great deal about her daughters and sons, who routinely traveled to New Orleans.
The Wi******ers, including Caroline, would have read survivors' stories from the Tennessee and probably knew some of those who perished. Caroline was likely in New Orleans in the winter of 1823 and would have returned by steamboat after the disaster. It surely was an unsettling prospect knowing the fate of the passengers of the Tennessee.
Hear the harrowing tale of the Steamboat Tennessee at Haunts at the Font on October 17th.
