A Sermon, Preached in Christ Church, Hartford On 2nd Sunday After Epiphany, 1840 (After Loss Of Steamboat Lexington In Long Island Sound)

Hartford: L. Skinner, 1840. First edition. Wraps. Very Good +. 5 3/8 x 8 3/8 inches. 15 pages. A few light spots and light dampstain at bottom of outside pages. Otherwise, pages bright and clean and free from marking, soiling or staining. Bound in original brown wraps which are lightly soiled. A very clean copy of this scarce sermon on this important event. The Lexington was a paddlewheel steamboat that operated along the Atlantic coast of the Northeastern United States between 1835 to 1840, before sinking in January 1840 due to an onboard fire. Commissioned by industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt, the ship was considered one of the most luxurious steamers in operation, and began service on a route between New York City and Providence, Rhode Island. On the night of 13 January 1840, midway through the ship's voyage, the casing around the ship's smokestack caught fire, igniting nearly 150 bales of cotton that were stored nearby. The resultant fire was unable to be extinguished, and necessitated the evacuation of the ship. The ships' overcrowded lifeboats were sunk almost immediately after their launch, leaving almost all of the ship's passengers and crew to drown in the freezing water, with rescue attempts impossible due to the rough water and lack of visibility. Of the estimated 143 people on board the Lexington, only four survived, having clung to large bales of cotton which had been thrown overboard.