A stated meeting of this Club was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday evening, March 5th.
    On motion, the Club went into an election for officers of the Association by ballot, when the following persons were declared duly elected.
    President--Col. FRANCIS M. WYNKOOP.

    After the election, John K. Clement, Esq., in a short and appropriate address offered the following Resolutions for the Consideration of the Club, which on motion were unanimously adopted,
    Resolved, That we deplore as a great National calamity the accident on board the U.S. Steam Ship Princeton, which has deprived the country of the talent and services of the Hon. A. P. Upshur, Secretary of State, the Hon. Thomas W. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy, Commodore Kennon, and the Hon. Virgil Maxey.
    Resolved, That in testimony of our respect for the character, ability and exalted stations of the deceased, the banner of the Club be hung with mourning for thirty days.
    Resolved, That while we deeply sympathise with the family and friends of the deceased, we must mourn more for the country's loss than for their bereavement.
    Resolved, That a wise Providence who knows us better than we know ourselves, and loves us better too, administers afflictive dispensations for benevolent ends, and that we should find in this last great National calamity, a new bond, uniting us more closely as a people, and binding us to our country.
    On Motion, the Secretary was ordered to have the proceedings published in the Miners' Journal.

Franklin Kaercher, Rec. Sec.

Source:

Unknown, "Young Men's Clay Club", The Miners' Journal, Pottsville, Pa., Saturday Morning, 9 March 1844.

    The disaster referred to here, namely the explosion on the U.S. Steamship of War Princeton is one of the lesser known Naval Disasters in American history:

    On Wednesday, the 28th of February 1844, six prominent men, "among whom were two of the leading minds of the present administration", (John Tyler was President of the United States at the time), were killed on the Potomac River, outside of Washington D.C., by the explosion of a large gun, in the midst of "festivity and mirth", on board the Princeton. "The large gun which caused the terrible disaster on board of the Princeton, was fifteen feet long--weighed ten tons--twelve inches in the bore, and carried a ball which weighed two hundred and thirty pounds."

    The men killed included the Secretary of State, the Hon. Abel P. Upshur, the Secretary of the Navy, the Hon. Thomas W. Gilmer, the Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Captain Beverly Kennon, Colonel David Gardiner, (of Gardiner's Island, N.Y. fame, think Capt. Kidd and buried treasure), and the Hon. Virgil Maxey.

    The tragedy unfolded like this:

    In 1842, Captain Robert Field Stockton was told by the Navy Department to begin construction on the U.S. Steam Frigate Princeton. A remarkable ship for her time, she was the first steam powered ship in any Navy and was completed in early 1844. Captain Stockton was appointed to command her and brought her to Washington D.C. for a "shake down" cruise on the Potomac River. On Wednesday, the 28th of February, 1844, President Tyler, and his Cabinet, along with many members of Congress, officers of the Army and Navy, and other distinguished visitors boarded her for a cruise down the Potomac.

    During the ensuing celebration, her large guns, the Peacemaker and the Constitution, were fired so frequently that Captain Stockton felt they should be rested before they overheated. Later, however, while in the midst a speech, one of his officers interrupted him, stating that one of the company wanted the great guns fired again.

    Captain Stockton told him, "No more guns tonight," but unfortunately he was interrupted again, this time by a message from the Secretary of the Navy, making the same request. Unable to refuse, Captain Stockton went up on deck and proceeded to fire the guns one more time. The Peacemaker exploded, killing the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. David Gardiner of Gardiner's Island, and several others, not to mention wounding a large number of other people, including Captain Stockton, Lieutenant Hunt, and a seaman. Captain Stockton requested a Naval Court of Inquiry regarding the incident, and was eventually exonerated of any blame for the accident.

    Also on board that day were Col. Gardiner's two daughters, Julia and Margaret. Julia was being courted by the President at the time, his first wife having died earlier, in September of 1842. Julia, learning of her father's death, fainted and was comforted by President Tyler. His sincerity and tenderness touched her greatly, and shortly after, on June 26, 1844, she married him. She served as First Lady for a mere eight months from 1844 to 1845, when her husband's term of office expired. Julia and John Tyler had seven children of their own after leaving the White House.

    Continuing to move swiftly, President Tyler nominated, within days of the tragedy, the Hon. John C. Calhoun as the new Secretary of State, and the Hon. James Y. Mason of Va., as Secretary of the Navy.

    Eventually the incident faded from the pages of History. Larger events overtook it, chief among these being the brewing trouble between Texas and Mexico, which led eventually to the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. An extraordinary number of the members of the Pottsville Young Men's Clay Club were eventually caught up in it and a great many of them died.

    Chris