Remembering The Mary Frances: A Heartbreaking Tuscaloosa Tale

A summer on the Black Warrior River has always meant something to residents and tourists in West Alabama: Lazy afternoons on the water, families together, creating the kind of day you don't forget.

June 15, 1919, was supposed to be a peaceful summer day. It became something else entirely.

This is the story of the most devastating maritime disaster in Tuscaloosa’s history: the sinking of the Mary Frances.

Who Owned the Mary Frances?

Mary Frances was a 30-foot motorized yacht owned by prominent Tuscaloosa banker Samuel Fitts Alston. Alston and Mary Frances Captain Dick Antonio regularly offered free scenic tours of the Black Warrior River to local families, a generous offer many folks loved.

Families enjoyed these excursions, and many children had been on board before without incident.

On June 15, 1919, an estimated 65 tourists climbed aboard for a peaceful cruise. 26 of those sightseers would never make it home.

What Caused the Mary Frances to Sink?

As the boat navigated a turn near Holt, the Mary Frances took on water and capsized.

The river quickly claimed those on deck, and escape was nearly impossible for those down below. Women and children were trapped as the Mary Frances sank. Rescuers eventually cut a hole in the hull to pull out survivors and recover the dead.

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Twenty-six people died when the Mary Frances sank.

Among them were Emma Springer McGee and her daughter, Lera Mae, a mother and child who tragically died together. Ruth V. Tucker of Coker also perished. You can find their names inscribed on a tombstone in Dunn's Creek Cemetery No. 2 in Echola, one of the few physical memorials that still exists to this day.

How Did Tuscaloosa React to the Mary Frances Disaster?

Tuscaloosa resident Mrs. W.A. Collier put words to what most couldn't in the Tuscaloosa News, writing that "the city is covered with a pall of sorrow," as "one cortege after another wended to the cemetery carrying the mortal remains of those to whom death had come in the most hideous and tragic form."

Scheduled events across the city were postponed. D.B. Robertson, President of the Board of Commissioners, requested that all businesses close at noon the following Tuesday so residents could attend a memorial service at the Elks' Auditorium.

Condolences for those who lost their lives were also published in the Tuscaloosa News.

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Who Was Held Responsible for the Mary Frances Sinking?

The capsize was ruled an accident, and investigators cleared both Alston and Captain Antonio of any wrongdoing.

Antonio, however, could not clear his own conscience. Reports indicate that the captain fell into deep mental depression in the days that followed. Alston, the man who had owned the boat and invited the community aboard, took the Antonio into his own home, hired a trained nurse, and kept a physician close.

Alston also covered the burial costs for most of the Mary Frances victims.

Were There Any Survivors of the Mary Frances Wreck?

Approximately 40 of the boaters survived the wreck.

A man named L. Rosenfeld took out a card of thanks in the Tuscaloosa News, a public notice expressing gratitude to the strangers who had pulled his wife and four children to safety.

READ MORE: The Shocking Story of Tuscaloosa's Forgotten Graves

In the chaos after the sinking, two people were believed to be among the dead. Their names circulated among a list of casualties. They were alive and had never boarded the boat.

Is There a Memorial to the Victims of the Mary Frances?

There is no public memorial to Mary Frances or the people who died on the Black Warrior River that June. Victims are buried at Dunn's Creek Cemetery No. 2 in Echola and at Evergreen Cemetery in Tuscaloosa.

The Black Warrior River still runs. People still enjoy it on summer days.

Most don't know what happened there more than 100 years ago.