Rescue on Kerr’s Island: Part Two – Off to Kerr’s Island

In 1857 an auction notice was published by John A.J. Creswell (trustee), in 1869 by Jacob Tome, by 1877 it was referred to as Silver Island. By 1930 it had been acquired by the company building the Conowingo Dam and by 2006 it was referred to as Robert Island when it was donated to the Maryland Park system by Exelon, the current operators of the Conowingo Dam.

It should be noted for context, that while no one is known to have died during this flood; Mrs. Duke referenced below was given the distinction of having endured the flood posthumously.

From the 25 January 1873 edition of the Cecil Whig:

“On Kerr’s Island, opposite Rock Run, two families were located at the time of the flood, on Monday evening, on the ice breaking up and gorging, the angry waters reached the helpless prisoners, imprisoned by ice and water. Their cries for help, which could not be rendered after dark, were heard on the shore. Their cries were heard also on the Harford shore, and soon the exciting news spread through Havre de Grace. Too late to attempt a rescue that night, the brave waterman who are upon the river in the ducking and fishing season, made preparations for an endeavor the next morning to bring the families to shore; and at day-break nine brave men set out to make the hazardous attempt. The correspondent of the Baltimore Sun gives the following graphic description of the rescue of the islanders.”

“The rescue of the families imprisoned on Kerr’s Island, above Port Deposit, whose cries for help had enlisted such profound sympathy on the mainland, was the great event of the day. In Port Deposit, Mr. J.J. Abrahams, of Baltimore, and Mr. J. Caveny, of Port Deposit, had offered $100 for the rescue of the islanders, but there was no one to undertake the task. In Havre de Grace, on Wednesday, however, a rescue party, composed mainly of duckers and fisherman, was formed, who went to Lapidum, and from that point accomplished the difficult and honorable feat. The expedition was organized and headed by John Leitheiser, who on Tuesday evening last called for volunteers among his comrades. In a few moments at least a dozen brave and hardy men enrolled themselves, and all the necessary preparations for the next day, when it was resolved to attempt the rescue, were made.”

“The party met at 6 o’clock on Wednesday morning, when a two-horse wagon was loaded with the life-saving appurtenances. These consisted of two good-sized lifeboats, covered with tin. Upon the bottom of each boat worn three wooden runners, covered with iron plates in sled style, designed as a means of passing the boats over the ice during the winter season. A number of boat hooks and a coil of rope 700 feet- in length were also provided, and with these the party set out. Owing to the funeral of Mrs. Duke, no second wagon could be procured to convey the men; but nothing daunted, they decided to start on foot and walk the distance necessary, which they did, going around and over the hills the river road being blocked up a distance of seven miles to the village of Lapidum.”

OUT ON THE lCE GORGE

“The party proceeded thence about a mile higher up, to Bell’s Ferry, at the site of the old Susquehanna turnpike bridge. which was washed away in the great flood of 1857, being met on the way by persons, men and women, who begged them not to attempt so foolhardy an undertaking, and declaring that the ice gorge had moved only twenty minutes previous. The ‘duckers,’ however, had started to go to the island, and one of the number, a gray-haired old fellow of sixty years, replied, ‘Never mind us, we’re all right; we’ll cross that ’ere ice or go under it,’ and cross it they did, as the sequel shows. The boats were gotten out, placed on the ice gorge, which was nineteen feet above ordinary water level, and the following party were assigned to manage them; John Leitheiser, John Mahan, Grafton Day, Wm. Dobson, John Kurtz, John Cameron, John Teppish, Albert Raisin and Chas. W. Hubbard.”

“The whole party stripped off their coats, attached the rope to the first boat, and thence to the second, leaving John and Robert Mitchell and John T. Ives to handle the ropes on shore. The start was then made, at about 9 A.M., and a crowd of perhaps fifty persons, who bad assembled on shore, watched with breathless anxiety the slow and labored progress of the party. At a distance of one hundred yards from shore John Cameron went through the ice, but clung to the boat’s side, and was soon up again. A few feet, further and the forward boat lurched and seemed to sink, when John Mahan, another of the party, was himself ‘gorged’ in the ice, but was quickly pulled out, dripping with the ice cold waters.”

OUT OF SIGHT

“When about three hundred feet from shore a crevice in the gorge was encountered, so deep that when the boats descended it they were entirely out of sight of those on shore, and the men say that nothing could be seen but ‘ice and sky.’ Those on shore were disposed to pull in the rope, but in a few moments the boats reappeared, and were again mounted on the high gorge.”

“Thus up and down, over the hummocks they worked on, and in one hour reached ‘Wood’s Island,’ which was almost entirely submerged, having played out 450 feet of the rope. The rope was then tied fast to a tree on Wood’s Island for the return. A shout from shore was cheerily answered by the brave duckers. Crossing the water space of this island 100 yards, they again mounted the gorge, and shouted for an answer from the family on Kerr’s Island, about 200 yards away. Receiving no answer, some of the party concluded the unfortunates had perished, but they pushed on and reached the island, over which the water was flooded five to eight feet deep.”

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