In the summer of 1885, members of the Sunday Schools of Nyack’s Dutch Reformed and Grace Episcopal churches set out for Iona Island on what was meant to be a day of sunshine, song, and river breezes. The trip had been heavily promoted with the promise of the spacious, two-deck excursion barge Walter Sands, known for broad decks, an airy upper level, and room for more than 700 passengers.
But when the excursionists gathered at the Nyack dock that morning, they found no Walter Sands. The excursion company sent the Wm. J. Hackett instead—a smaller, slower, far less comfortable barge. The local paper later branded it “miserable.” With no engine of its own, it went under tow behind a tug, its cramped decks already crowded before the gangplank came up.
At 10:00 a.m., the Wm. J. Hackett cast off for the 20-mile run to Iona Island with 300 children and 400 adults. What began as a slow ride in hazy heat would, by day’s end, become a struggle to keep the vessel—and its passengers—safe.
Iona Island: A Hudson River Playground in the 1880s
In the 1880s, Iona Island ranked among the Hudson’s favorite excursion grounds. Before it became an amusement park, the Grant family owned the property and introduced the Iona grape, a red-skinned variety used to make white wine. The estate later evolved into a summer resort with a hotel, dance pavilion, carousel, picnic groves, and broad meadows. Church and community groups came by the hundreds. From Nyack, the upriver route—past Hook Mountain, across Haverstraw Bay, and through the narrows above Grassy Point—offered a slow, scenic morning voyage..
Excursion Barges
Hudson River excursion boats used two barge types. Safety barges—usually double-deck and built without paddlewheels—served passengers wary of steamboat boiler explosions and fires. After the Civil War, New York City’s demand for hay soared, and shallow-draft hay barges proliferated on the river. These double-deckers carried tall masts for stiffening stays, small pilothouses, and rudders, and many worked as weekend excursion boats. Neither barge type had an engine; a tug provided all propulsion.
The Sudden Turn in the Weather
After a full day of picnicking, music, and games, the Wm. J. Hackett left Iona Island around 5:00 p.m. for the return trip. Many passengers still grumbled about the vessel swap after a long, hot day on a crowded barge.
The first miles passed under a hazy sky as the tug chugged steadily south. Then, off Tompkins Cove, the air shifted. A stronger wind chopped the river into uneasy waves. To the west, a black wall of cloud rose. Thunder rolled. Lightning forked across the sky.
A sharp gust hit. Hats and coats flew. Rain slanted across the open deck and soaked everyone in seconds. Canvas awnings snapped under the force of the wind. Passengers crowded below until people stood shoulder to shoulder on the lower deck.
The tug pulled against the seas, the towline snapping taut with each swell. The Wm. J. Hackett pitched and rolled; each lurch drew gasps. In the worst moment, the top of the upper deck tore loose and knocked over light spars “like toothpicks.” For a moment, no one knew whether anyone had gone overboard. Roughly 300 people on the upper deckstood fully exposed to wind and rain. In the same chaos, a section of canopy crashed down and struck Mrs. A. F. West in the face.
Keeping Order in the Gale
Children huddled together and whimpered. A fresh crack of timber sent fear through the crowd. Those on the upper deck had no shelter and no assurance of safety. Several women fainted—including Mrs. A. W. Johnson of Port Jervis—while others neared panic.
Charles McElroy, a Nyack builder with a steady voice, and a half-dozen local carpenters moved through the crush. They spoke calmly, steadied those clinging to the bulkheads, and went to work. They dragged down loose topwork and secured anything that could break free. They kept gangways clear and braced passengers at the rails. The commander later wrote that he had never seen such “bravery of people under trying circumstances.”
“Bravery of people under trying circumstances.”
Wm. J. Hackett commander, after the storm
By the time the storm slackened, their shirts clung to them, but the vessel held together, and the people aboard—wet, shaken, and alive—owed much to their work. “Many a ‘thank you’ issued from the lips of men, women, and children.”
A Slow, Wet Ride Home
South of Haverstraw, the tug finally found some lee. The captain stopped at a riverside telegraph office along the West Shore Railroad—likely Rockland Lake Landing—and wired Nyack: the Wm. J. Hackett was battered but under tow and still coming.
From Tompkins Cove to Nyack runs about 12 miles by river, but into wind and current the distance felt twice as long. The weather eased only after they passed Hook Mountain.
Arrival at Nyack
Near 8:00 p.m. the Wm. J. Hackett nosed toward the Nyack dock at twilight. A large crowd of anxious parents and friends waited, drawn by the telegram.
As the barge came alongside, the Nyack brass band led by Philip Doersch began to play. Doersch stood on a chair and led “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow.” Many voices joined him.
Passengers stepped ashore dripping, hair wild, clothes plastered to their backs. Children clutched parents. Friends embraced. Carriages took the injured; lamplight flashed on wet coats and bandages. Laughter, cheers, and brass swelled together—a simple message: home, and safe.
Aftermath
The next day’s papers praised the DeBaun brothers, Charles McElroy, and William E. Blauvelt, whose quick work steadied the vessel and the crowd. They also scolded the excursion company for substituting the “miserable” Wm. J. Hackett for the promised Walter Sands. Local carpenters who inspected the broken topwork and canopy reported rotten wood. The day’s lesson stuck: the Hudson can dazzle and it can punish—and on rough water, the right boat matters.
Mike Hays lived in the Nyacks for 38-years. He worked for McGraw-Hill Education in New York City for many years. Hays serves as Treasurer of the Historical Society of the Nyacks, Vice-President of the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, and Upper Nyack Historian. Married to Bernie Richey, he enjoys cycling and winters in Florida. He has written the Nyack People & Places column since 2017. You can follow him on Instagram as UpperNyackMike.
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by Sun River Health and Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty. Sun River Health is a network of 43 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) providing primary, dental, pediatric, OB-GYN, and behavioral health care to over 245,000 patients annually. Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty is the lower Hudson Valley’s Leader in Luxury. Located in the charming Hudson River village of Nyack, approximately 22 miles from New York City. Our agents are passionate about listing and selling extraordinary properties in the Lower Hudson Valley, including Rockland and Orange Counties, New York.
