Tom Hughes
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- May 27, 2019
- Location
- Mississippi
The headlines of The Weekly Mississippian that greeted it's Jackson, MS readers on November 6, 1862 was shocking:
"A DARK DAY IN JACKSON"
"...mangled bodies of men, women, and girls who had been employed in making cartridges were scattered in every direction!"
Women, girls and children made up the majority of the factory workers at the ill-fated arsenal in Jackson, MS on the day of the explosion on November 5, 1862.
Women not only took care of family, homes, and business affairs in the absence of their men, but also helped in the war effort by making rifle cartridges on the second floor of a two-story brick school house on the College Green at the edge of town. The bottom floor housed artillery shells, powder and small arms.
Army stores sprang up around the arsenal and like many similar city arsenals across the north and the south, it became a bustling community effort to support their men on the war front.
It was extremely dangerous work. But it was employment for those fortunate enough to be hired on and trained to make the rifle cartridges.
It required manually loading powder and ball in the cartridge and sealing it with wax.
A young local boy who was working as a laborer at the arsenal made a frightening observation on the day of the explosion. The loose powder scattered on the work table was sticking to the bottom of the copper plates used to melt the wax. This exposure to the flames was causing "flashing". The boy reported this to the foreman but his complaint was ignored. He complained a second time and his employment was threatened. He chose to quit and walked off the job. That act of rebellion made him the ONLY survivor that day.
At 3:30pm, a loud explosion was heard, shattering windows in the city. The explosion was heard twenty miles away in the neighboring county.
The Weekly Mississippian reported eye witness testimony to the aftermath of the explosion. The mangled burned bodies were scattered about. One report was especially heart-wrenching:
"The body of a poor girl was hanging by one foot to the limb of a tree, she was evidently dead, but her clothes were still burning. Other bodies were blown to the distance of fifty to one hundred fifty yards, and presented a mutilated and shocking appearance."
Although the site of the arsenal and explosion are within a few hundred yards of our new state-of-the-art history museums, there is no historic marker or interpretation of what happened here. It's a telling story. Women doing what women do in times of hardship. They support, they work, they make contributions, many times without fanfare or recognition for their efforts, and they sacrifice.
I made my "discovery" of the arsenal and it's secrets quite by accident.
In 2001, while driving home from work, I noticed bulldozers and excavators doing construction clearing work in a field. I stopped and talked to them to find out more about what work was being done there since I am in the economic development business and my curiosity was getting the best of me.
From the time I got out of my car to the time I reached the supervisor's trailer, to my amazement, I had picked up a civil war era percussion cap and a small cannonball exposed on the ground. The earth moving equipment had pushed out the site of the arsenal and I found several minie ball bullets and a very interesting woman's brooch. It was oval shaped with the center piece consisting of a glass prism encasing six gold stars.
I went to the Archives and began researching the area and discovered what had happened there. I was shocked! And then it hit me all at once. The civil war artifacts were all connecting me to the events of that horrible day of the tragedy at the arsenal. It was sad, but exhilarating at the same time. And what about the connection between the woman's brooch and the women workers at the arsenal? Had I inadvertently found a piece of jewelry that was blown off the body of one of the workers that fateful day?
November 5, 1862, should not be a date forgotten by time or history. A large number of our Jackson ladies went to do a job and lost their lives that day. It was horrific. Lesser events have occurred on an American battlefield and are marked by eternal markers and monuments. These ladies should receive no less.
For now, the best I can do is to use this forum to tell their story.
There is one reminder to our Southern women that stands in front of the state's capitol building in Jackson that is dedicated to the collective efforts of the Mothers, Daughters, Wives and Sisters. I've attached photographs with this story along with a picture of the brooch.
Any help you can give me in the identification of the brooch as to confirm its age or any other information is appreciated.
I additionally want to include the names of the women that were able to be identified as victims of the explosion here as a memorial to them:
Laura Hickey - Laborer
Lucy Gray - Laborer
Nancy Gray - Laborer
Leona Head - Laborer
Sarah Jones - Laborer
Adela Heard - Laborer
Caroline Muller - Laborer
Emily Grey - Laborer
Martha Patterson - Laborer
Sarah Jones - Laborer
Cammie March - Laborer
Mary Powers - Laborer
Letitia Shannon - Laborer
Mary Burns - Laborer
Mary Henderson - Laborer
Nelly Powell - Laborer
Emma Moody - Laborer
"A DARK DAY IN JACKSON"
"...mangled bodies of men, women, and girls who had been employed in making cartridges were scattered in every direction!"
Women, girls and children made up the majority of the factory workers at the ill-fated arsenal in Jackson, MS on the day of the explosion on November 5, 1862.
Women not only took care of family, homes, and business affairs in the absence of their men, but also helped in the war effort by making rifle cartridges on the second floor of a two-story brick school house on the College Green at the edge of town. The bottom floor housed artillery shells, powder and small arms.
Army stores sprang up around the arsenal and like many similar city arsenals across the north and the south, it became a bustling community effort to support their men on the war front.
It was extremely dangerous work. But it was employment for those fortunate enough to be hired on and trained to make the rifle cartridges.
It required manually loading powder and ball in the cartridge and sealing it with wax.
A young local boy who was working as a laborer at the arsenal made a frightening observation on the day of the explosion. The loose powder scattered on the work table was sticking to the bottom of the copper plates used to melt the wax. This exposure to the flames was causing "flashing". The boy reported this to the foreman but his complaint was ignored. He complained a second time and his employment was threatened. He chose to quit and walked off the job. That act of rebellion made him the ONLY survivor that day.
At 3:30pm, a loud explosion was heard, shattering windows in the city. The explosion was heard twenty miles away in the neighboring county.
The Weekly Mississippian reported eye witness testimony to the aftermath of the explosion. The mangled burned bodies were scattered about. One report was especially heart-wrenching:
"The body of a poor girl was hanging by one foot to the limb of a tree, she was evidently dead, but her clothes were still burning. Other bodies were blown to the distance of fifty to one hundred fifty yards, and presented a mutilated and shocking appearance."
Although the site of the arsenal and explosion are within a few hundred yards of our new state-of-the-art history museums, there is no historic marker or interpretation of what happened here. It's a telling story. Women doing what women do in times of hardship. They support, they work, they make contributions, many times without fanfare or recognition for their efforts, and they sacrifice.
I made my "discovery" of the arsenal and it's secrets quite by accident.
In 2001, while driving home from work, I noticed bulldozers and excavators doing construction clearing work in a field. I stopped and talked to them to find out more about what work was being done there since I am in the economic development business and my curiosity was getting the best of me.
From the time I got out of my car to the time I reached the supervisor's trailer, to my amazement, I had picked up a civil war era percussion cap and a small cannonball exposed on the ground. The earth moving equipment had pushed out the site of the arsenal and I found several minie ball bullets and a very interesting woman's brooch. It was oval shaped with the center piece consisting of a glass prism encasing six gold stars.
I went to the Archives and began researching the area and discovered what had happened there. I was shocked! And then it hit me all at once. The civil war artifacts were all connecting me to the events of that horrible day of the tragedy at the arsenal. It was sad, but exhilarating at the same time. And what about the connection between the woman's brooch and the women workers at the arsenal? Had I inadvertently found a piece of jewelry that was blown off the body of one of the workers that fateful day?
November 5, 1862, should not be a date forgotten by time or history. A large number of our Jackson ladies went to do a job and lost their lives that day. It was horrific. Lesser events have occurred on an American battlefield and are marked by eternal markers and monuments. These ladies should receive no less.
For now, the best I can do is to use this forum to tell their story.
There is one reminder to our Southern women that stands in front of the state's capitol building in Jackson that is dedicated to the collective efforts of the Mothers, Daughters, Wives and Sisters. I've attached photographs with this story along with a picture of the brooch.
Any help you can give me in the identification of the brooch as to confirm its age or any other information is appreciated.
I additionally want to include the names of the women that were able to be identified as victims of the explosion here as a memorial to them:
Laura Hickey - Laborer
Lucy Gray - Laborer
Nancy Gray - Laborer
Leona Head - Laborer
Sarah Jones - Laborer
Adela Heard - Laborer
Caroline Muller - Laborer
Emily Grey - Laborer
Martha Patterson - Laborer
Sarah Jones - Laborer
Cammie March - Laborer
Mary Powers - Laborer
Letitia Shannon - Laborer
Mary Burns - Laborer
Mary Henderson - Laborer
Nelly Powell - Laborer
Emma Moody - Laborer