Eastland Chronicles: James Gardner, Survivor
Introduction
James Gardner was aboard the Eastland and survived. His letter was published in the Galena Daily Gazette on 27 July 1915. This is the text in its entirety.
Note: I also narrated the letter and posted it YouTube. James Gardner's Harrowing Tale of Survival - The Eastland Disaster
FORMER GALENIAN TELLS OF ESCAPE FROM DEATH
James Gardner Was Among Those on Board Steamer Eastland When Disaster Occurs.
ALSO HELPED TO SAVE LIVES OF OTHER PERSONS
Was on Top Deck of Steamer When He Noticed the Ship Listing Badly to One Side.
James Gardner, formerly Galena, who is now employed at the Western Electric Co. plant in Chicago, gives the following interesting account of his experiences On the ill-fated steamer Eastland in Chicago river, in which so many lives were sacrificed:
Chicago, Ill., July 26, 1915. To The Galena Gazette:- No doubt you have had stories in The Gazette of the recent terrible disaster of the steamship Eastland, which sunk in the Chicago River Saturday, July 24, but I doubt if any one has given you a story from real experience, and as I was a passenger on the boat when it sunk, and Galena being my home town, I feel as though it is my duty to give you an outline of the actual happenings.
The Western Electric Co, holds a picnic in Michigan City, Ind., every year, and the employes had been planning on this picnic as one of their greatest accesses, as it was going to be the most beautiful picnic ever held in Michigan City. The parade alone consisted of 3100 people, all employes of the Western Electric Co. They spent months in the making of floats and different designs for the parade. The people of Michigan City also took a great interest in the picnic by decorating the town in glorious colors.
Owing to the large number of people employed by the Western Electric company it requires several boats to convey the crowd across the lake. They had the "Eastland," the Roosevelt," and a few more chartered for the purpose. The Eastland was scheduled to leave at 7:30 a. m., so, being the first boat to leave, everybody was anxious to get that boat if possible, especially those taking part in the parade. For that reason the boat carried mostly girls, women and children. I left home about six o'clock so as to get there in plenty of time, but when I got to the ear line I had to let 3 or 4 cars go by because there were so many people on them I could not get on, so I went a different way which took a little longer to get there, I met a friend on the car but he did not get on because he was to meet someone before he got on the boat, and probably that saved his life.
I went directly to the boat and when I first caught sight of it and saw the way it was crowded, something seemed to tell me it was not right, but I paid no attention to it. The boat consists of five decks three open and two down in the hull. Well, I got on at the bottom and started for the top deck, but I had quite a time to get through the crowd. Then is when I realized that the boat was overloaded. It was also hard walking because the boat was in a slanting position, but no one else paid any attention to it so I did the same.
I managed to get to the top at last and then I noticed how bad it was leaning, and I noticed that it kept getting worse all the time, but the thought ran to my mind that a large boat like that could not tip over, but any way I decided to get off the top deck and get down inside but the steps leading to the top deck are very narrow, not room enough for two people to pass each other. Just as I was going to go down some people started to come up, so I thought I would wait until they got up and then I would go down, but before they got up the boat started to tip and when it got tipped so much that the people could not stand on the floors they had to all slide to one side, and it made a regular human ballast. By that time the captain came out alongside of me and gave the warning that the boat was going to upset. The whistles all started to blow and the people went insane all over the boat.
I have heard many screams, screeches and groans of different kinds but I never heard anything to compare with that. You could hear the wailing of the women and girls and the crying of the children, the shouts of the men; it was something awful. They fought and tore each other to pieces, any way to get out. Well, I climbed over the railing of the top deck. Below me on the two open decks people were climbing out over the sides as thick as bees, 'so I must have walked on peoples' heads from the top deck to the third deck. When I got to the hull I let go. The side of the boat was wet and very slippery and I went down so fast that I could not catch my breath. At the water line there is a piece of wood about the size of a two by four; it is called a protector; it runs the length of the boat and sticks out two or three inches to keep the side of the boat from getting damaged. Well, my feet hit this protector and I felt as though my legs had been driven up through my body, which no doubt they would have been had I landed on any solid material. I was thrown forward and my head struck the brick building at the edge of the dock, but I had a hard straw hat on which saved my head from being split open. Another fellow came down like I did. He had a cap on and his head was split from the front to the back; it just resembled a cracked watermelon. If I had not hit this protector I probably would have been among the missing because had I gone straight into the river I was going at such a rate of speed that I would have gone to the bottom and stuck in the mud. I saw one fellow dive head first from the same place I was and he never came to the top again. I suppose he stuck in the mud. When I came to myself I started to rescue. I saw all the heads and arms sticking out, the river was just full of them. So I began to save what I could, helped nine women and girls and two men to safety and by that time the police and firemen had arrived and started the rescue work. The bodies were taken out in all shapes, they were cut and bruised something awful. It certainly is a sad day in Chicago, everybody seems sad, and especially when I went to work this morning, faces that I used to see every morning were missing--they were drowned. It seemed as if everyone at work was crying, and when I think of those things now I think of how lucky I was to escape, and certainly feel sorry that there were not many more as lucky as I was. So, in conclusion, I wish to say that I hope there will be no more such accidents as that, and also that this letter will be interesting to those who read it.
Yours respectfully,
JAMES L. GARDNER,
2449 Grenshaw Street,
Chicago, Ill. July 27 1915 Galena Daily Gazette
Discoveries about James Gardner’s life
Generative Art imagining James on the day of the Eastland Disaster. Note: no photos of James Gardner are yet available.
I located the 1900 Census Record for James and his father, William, who were living in Galena, IL. James was 10 and William, a widower, was 54.
According to James’ 1917 Draft Registration card, he was a supervisor at Western Electric, Hawthorne Station (Cicero, IL).
For now, this is all the information available and I’ll add new information to this page as I discover it.
1900 Census, Illinois - Jo Daviess - West Galena - District 0046. James was 10 years old (born January 23, 1890 in Galena, IL) and was a student. He lived with his father, William, who was 54 (born September 1846 in PA) and a widower. William was a carpenter, unemployed for 4 months at that time and was renting at 347 Dodge Street, Galena, IL.
James Lawrence Gardner’s draft registration card from June 5, 1917. He is a supervisor for Western Electric Company, Hawthorne Station, Chicago.
Original article from the Galena Gazette, July 27, 1915 Click the link to open the article on the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections site.
Video excerpt link
Facebook post:
Ever heard of a guy who jumps off a capsizing ship and then thinks, "You know what? I should jump back in the water!" Meet James Gardner! In my latest podcast excerpt, we dive (excuse the pun) into a letter sent to the Galena Daily Gazette (July 27, 1915) penned by this daring Eastland disaster survivor.
Gardner not only had a miraculous leap of faith but also turned into a one-man rescue squad, helping several others to safety.
As I continue to unearth these remarkable yet often overlooked tales of survivors, heroes, and unfortunately, victims, my website is starting to feel like a historical hangout spot. And I think my Aunt Martha is very cool with the growing guest list!
Check out the video for a story that's equal parts harrowing and heroic. And remember, sometimes history's best lessons come from those who wrote their stories in the nick of time!
