Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

One Saved Lives. One Survived Twice. One Drew the Truth: Recovered Stories of the Eastland

• Natalie Zett • Season 3 • Episode 120

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In this episode, I’m circling back to three stories I’ve covered before—but they’re too important to leave behind.

First up: Floyd C. Smith, a hardworking Chicago salesman who was near the dock when the Eastland capsized. He assisted and was later recognized by Coroner Peter Hoffman as a citizen hero. I found Floyd through his granddaughter, Ann, who shared his story in The Chicago Genealogist (Vol. 48, No. 3, Spring 2016).

Next: Gertrude Berndt, who survived the Eastland—and twelve years later, survived The Favorite, another boat that capsized and claimed four members of her family. She had warned them about the boat. No one listened. Among those who helped with the rescue that day? A young lifeguard named Johnny Weissmuller, who would later swing to fame as Tarzan of the silver screen.

And finally: Bob Satterfield, a political cartoonist who was on the Clark Street Bridge when the Eastland went over. He didn’t just witness it—he captured it in a searing cartoon and a raw, first-person account.

Like so many Eastland stories, these didn’t make it into the version of history that gets repeated the most. But they’re part of the record—and they’re not going away.

As we approach the 110th anniversary of the Eastland Disaster, remembrance isn't something we perform once a year—it's the work of uncovering each story, name by name.  

Watch the Promo for this Episode here: Promo for “One Saved Lives. One Survived Twice. One Drew the Truth. 

Natalie Zett:

Hello, I'm Natalie Zett and welcome to Flower in the River. This podcast, inspired by my book of the same name, explores the 1915 Eastland disaster in Chicago and its enduring impact, particularly on my family's history. We'll explore the intertwining narratives of others impacted by this tragedy as well, and we'll dive into writing and genealogy and uncover the surprising supernatural elements that surface in family history research. Come along with me on this journey of discovery. Hey, this is Natalie, and welcome to episode 120 of Flower in the River. I hope you're doing well. This episode is part of my ongoing retrospective where I'm shining a light on lives that were overlooked and ignored in the retelling of the Eastland disaster. I have featured these people most of these people in previous podcasts, but since once is not quite enough, especially when a story's been lost over 100 years, I wanted to share their stories again with you, and since the 110th anniversary of the Eastland disaster is coming up, I suspect there will be commemorations. However, once a year is not enough. What else is going on the other 364 days of the year? Is there in-depth research? Are there source citations being added to existing research and that includes mine? Information like that, because it's not a once-a-year commemoration that makes a difference. It's this ongoing research and in-depth chronicling of the people of the Eastland that makes a difference, of the people of the Eastland that makes a difference. Many members of my mother's family ultimately immigrated to Chicago, and, of course, my great aunt was one of the Eastland disaster victims and, as one who did not grow up in Chicago, to me it made good sense to become a member of the Chicago Genealogical Society so I could learn more. There is so much that I don't know when it came time to begin doing the research for the people of the Eastland, this also seemed like an obvious resource to utilize, and it has not disappointed. By the way, one of their publications led me to yet another mostly untold story of an Eastland disaster witness and hero. I found this story in their magazine, which is called the Chicago Genealogist. It was published in 2016, so that's almost 10 years ago. The author is Ann Smith, who discovered that her grandfather was part of the Eastland disaster rescue efforts, and so I did a pretty extensive search online to see if this man's name appeared anywhere in any of the Eastland disaster history that is currently online. As far as I could tell, it has not. Fortunately, I was able to contact the author and she was extremely gracious and she gave me permission to share the story and she also sent me a photo of her grandfather both sets of her grandparents and I got to see them and they just look like such cool people, and so I'm going to share her story, or the story of her grandfather again. I think you'll really enjoy this this.

Natalie Zett:

In episode 48 of this podcast, which was dropped on February 3rd 2024, and was called Coroner's Conundrum Pete Hoffman and the Eastland Disaster, I featured Peter M Hoffman, whose history has been documented extensively. He was the colorful and memorable Cook County coroner and, I have to say, one of my favorite people that I've never met. Coroner Hoffman was the main feature of this episode. However, his life intersected with the story of Floyd C Smith, who was the grandfather of the writer Ann Smith, who shared her grandfather's story in the Chicago Genealogist magazine in 2016. The title of the article is the Eastland Disaster A Personal Connection Discovered and after I finished reading it that first time, I wondered how did this story get ignored? This story belonged in the greater narrative of the history of the people of the Eastland disaster. Here's the article.

Natalie Zett:

My memory of my paternal grandfather is, as an old man, after having had several strokes that left one side of his body weakened and needing to be helped from the dining room table into the living room. My five-year-old eyes remember that he would doze in his chair on the periphery of the family conversation. He would listen to the baseball game on the radio, but his lower eyelids drooped, giving him a saddened and bloodshot expression. This was five years prior to his death at the age of 79. Floyd Cameron Smith was born in 1868 and married my grandmother in 1898, when he was 30. He was brought to Chicago from New York at age 14 by his father, who had arranged a job for him with Hibbard Spencer, Bartlett and Company, a wholesale hardware dealer. He began work as a cutlery salesman and remained there until his retirement due to his second stroke in 1937. As an adult I was interested in my family's stories and became known as the keeper of our collective history. In going through the Smith family letters and memorabilia, I found what appeared to be a sheriff's badge. I took it to my Uncle, floyd, grandpa Smith's son, and learned of the heroic deeds for which Grandpa received the badge and letter of commendation from the Chicago coroner. Here is the story my uncle told is the story my uncle told my paternal grandfather. Then a 47-year-old family man was at work on July 24, 1915.

Natalie Zett:

Across the bridge of the Chicago River was the excursion steamer Eastland, boarding passengers from Western Electric for a Saturday outing for employees and their families. At 7.28 am, still moored to her dock between LaSalle and Clark Streets on the South Bank, the vessel slowly rolled over. Minutes before, at 7.24 am, captain Harry Petterson had ordered the stern lines off and signaled the tugboat of their imminent departure. They were headed for the Western Electric Annual Company picnic in Michigan City, indiana. As the stern began to swing away from the dock, the ship began to list toward the port side and never stopped. The Eastland gradually and continually rolled over to the left side at the dock, as thousands of horrified witnesses watched by 7.28 am in 20 feet of water. The engine room was soon swamped and those who had gone below the deck level were trapped. The ship lay on its side as the scramble to save lives began. Of the 2,572 persons on board, 844 perished on that beautiful Saturday morning.

Natalie Zett:

The Clark Street dock was across the Chicago River, approximately one block from Hibbert, spencer and Bartlett. Many citizens who were in the vicinity rushed to the scene to be of assistance. Authorities had no suitable equipment or rescue plan for such an accident. The photographs of the tragic event clearly show the desperate efforts underway. The commendation to my grandfather and the silver medal star received from the coroner's office show an image of the Eastland on her side and the inscription quote for valued servicesed Services Rendered to the Coroner Eastland Disaster 1915. Ironically, jay Bates, my grandfather on the maternal side of the family, was called to the temporary morgue scene following the disaster. His mother had recently remarried to Ernest Gauthier, who worked for Western Electric. They had been scheduled to be on the day cruise. Jay was asked to come to the morgue to identify them, only to learn much later that they had decided to skip the trip and had never been on board.

Natalie Zett:

I had attempted to learn more about the accident but only pursued it intermittently After I retired. I was a volunteer in the history department at the University of Florida. I told the story one day in the coffee room. One of the professors was a student of maritime history and knew about it. He gave me the long and short versions as he had studied it. The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 had set off a series of changes in vessel safety. The publicity over what had been purported to be an unsinkable ship created new regulations and a series of changes to many ships, including the Eastland. Lifeboats had been added and other changes made, making her unstable and top-heavy. The Lusitania had been sunk in May 1915 as a result of a torpedo 11 months into World War I and now, in 1915, the Eastland disaster.

Natalie Zett:

My grandfather was not a tall man. People knew him as a lover of baseball, a man of clever humor and an ardent cigar and pipe smoker. There was nothing to indicate to a little girl watching her grandfather nod off after dinner that he was in fact a citizen hero. And then Anne shared in this article a copy of the coroner's letter and a photo of her grandfather's star. And I want you to read the letter that Floyd Smith received from Coroner Hoffman.

Natalie Zett:

Mr Floyd C Smith, dear sir, during the trying hours of the disaster, there were many of our esteemed citizens who rendered valuable service in rescuing the lives of the Eastland passengers and assisted in taking care of the dead and aided in the identification thereof. From the beginning of time, man never engaged in a more noble purpose than that of prolonging, protecting and rescuing the lives of his fellow. I have no way of compensating the hundreds of good citizens who rendered service except to thank them from the bottom of my heart. I, however, take the liberty of presenting you with a little star bearing a cut of the passenger ship Eastland and an inscription reading Valued Service Rendered. I trust that you will accept this little token, not for its intrinsic value or worth, but in memory of this terrible of all disasters, which should teach us the lesson of safety first and of extending to our fellow man kindness, courtesy and consideration. Very respectfully, yours, peter M Hoffman, coroner. That's the end of that letter. And what a class act Peter Hoffman was. I have nothing but respect for him. He didn't have to do this. He was already up to his neck in the coroner's inquest, all the problems that were going on, but he stepped in to help and he also took the time to say thank you. So again, thank you, ann Smith, for sharing the story of your grandfather with members of the Chicago Genealogical Society. And now thank you again for your permission to share it with this greater audience.

Natalie Zett:

Some stories stretch the limits of belief. It's not because they are exaggerated, but because they actually happened. 1915, a woman named Gertrude Berndt. Her name is spelled B-E-R-N-D-T. Survived the Eastland disaster. There was also another woman with a similar sounding name who did not survive and then, 12 years later, in 1927, she was aboard another ship in Chicago that capsized. She was aboard another ship in Chicago that capsized. Gertrude survived again, but this time she lost four members of her family. Even more astonishing Johnny Weissmuller yes, that, johnny Weissmuller, olympic swimmer and future Tarzan, was in Chicago at that time and helped with the rescue effort. The story was well covered and in many newspapers at that point, including the Chicago Daily Tribune the day after it happened. And yet, in the nearly 110 years since the Eastland disaster, gertrude Barron's name has disappeared from the retellings. She's not included in any of the accounts that I've read other than the original newspapers, the first podcast that I did about her, and that seems to be it, at least for now. So let's revisit this story. I shared this story the first time in my podcast on January 21st 2024.

Natalie Zett:

Tarzan's Chicago Adventure Eastland survivor faces second maritime disaster the article from the Chicago Daily Tribune, friday, july 29th 1927. Ironically, the Eastland disaster took place on July 24th 1915. So that's mighty close in terms of the months, even though there were a few years. In between both incidents, headline Mother again escapes death but loses four Eastland Survivor. Talks of New Disaster. By James O'Donnell Bennett, saved when the excursion boat Eastland tipped over. Mrs Gertrude Berndt, 7655 South Hermitage Avenue, was saved 12 years and four days afterward when the excursion boat Favorite tipped over yesterday. The scenes of both of her escapes are within signaling distance of each other by steamboat whistle. Seven members of the Berndt kindred were on the favorite. Four were drowned.

Natalie Zett:

Before she plunged from the favorite into Lake Michigan, mrs Berndt threw her five-year-old daughter, lois Lorraine, into the water. I have heart trouble, said the mother, and to avoid dragging my baby down if I should collapse in the water, I kept away from her. I knew she could swim and after we both struck the water I saw her swimming without any panic. I knew my duty was to keep away from her and to keep my mouth shut. I asked some man in a rowboat to pull us into their boat, but they refused. Finally they threw us a rope.

Natalie Zett:

We were towed to a beautiful yacht that took us on board, says she Feared Boat when we started to go on board the favorite. I said to my husband I don't like the looks of this boat, it has a tendency to lean to one side. He said oh, don't spoil the party. They all laughed at me and my mother-in-law said oh, you're tired and cranky, but I know a good deal about boats as the result of a trip on the Pacific and one thing and another. And I didn't like the looks of the favorite. Didn't like the looks of the favorite. So I said before we got on, why not wait until that other larger boat comes in and take it? They all laughed again and called me a crepe hanger. So I went aboard.

Natalie Zett:

When the storm struck the boat. She was tipping so badly that I called out to some of the people to go to the other side. Go to the other side. I hollered, go to the other side. But that was the side the rain was driving in on and they wouldn't Go on. Get wet. I shouted you won't shrink. But some man said mind your own business and the words were hardly out of his mouth before the boat keeled over.

Natalie Zett:

The crew was very dumb and very slow about helping. The screaming was terrible. It entered my mind and I think I said the words if it's my time to go, it's my time to go and my baby's time to go. After that I kept my mouth shut when the favorite tipped over. It was not a slow tip but a rush. Even if the life preservers had been convenient it would have been hard to get into one in time. But they were not convenient and I said to my folks soon after the favorite started if this boat goes over we'll never get a life preserver. They're so inconvenient. The children's life preservers were below the deck and the ones above would not come loose as they should have. Even one of the men himself said he couldn't untie them. They had a little girl on the boat to blow the whistle. I think she was about 12 years old. She untied the ropes. When they pulled the gangplank out I saw only four men who looked like crew.

Natalie Zett:

Her Eastland Escape. When Mrs Berndt escaped death in the Eastland disaster, she jumped from the second deck into the Chicago River and was picked up by men in a small boat Of the Berndt party. The saved were Mrs Gertrude Berndt, her husband Edward and her daughter Lois, and the lost were Mrs Berndt's mother-in-law, mrs Amanda Berndt, her sister-in-law, mrs Clara Young, mrs Young's daughter Lois, age 5, and Mrs Berndt's nephew Robert Erickson, age 4. Edward J Berndt, clinging with one arm to the overturned favorite, sustained his mother with the other, but she died of shock when the rescue boat carried her and her son ashore. So Gertrude Berndt's story isn't just remarkable, it's essential. It belongs with the history of the Eastland disaster. She survived the Eastland disaster and 12 years later found herself in yet another maritime tragedy, this time losing four members of her family.

Natalie Zett:

Gertrude Berndt reminds me of Cassandra from Greek mythology the woman cursed to speak true warnings that no one would heed. After the Eastlands, she certainly knew what an impending disaster felt like, and when it came again, she recognized it. But like so many others throughout history who've sensed danger before it struck, her voice didn't carry far enough. And yet her voice, her courage and her trauma were recorded in many major newspapers of that time. And yet this story never made it into the broader retelling of the Eastland disaster history. By now you're seeing a pattern too of how much has been overlooked, and we've barely scratched the surface. However, we are going to move on to our third and final story in this episode. But the final story is not the final story, by the way. We have a lot more people to revisit who somehow got lost in the popular retelling of the Eastland disaster history, but we're trying to make that right by doing this podcast. So many of these people are just fascinating and I think you will enjoy getting to know them and getting to know a little bit more about 1915, give or take a few years.

Natalie Zett:

Moving on to our final story, I first featured Bob Satterfield in the February 11th 2024 episode called From the Mayflower to the Sketchpad, unveiling more Eastland connections. Satterfield was a nationally syndicated political cartoonist, sharp-witted, fearless and widely read in his time, and he happened to be in the wrong place or maybe the right place on the morning of July 24, 1915. He was crossing the Clark Street Bridge when the Eastland rolled. He didn't work for Western Electric, he wasn't boarding the ship, but he was there. He saw the Eastland capsize with his own eyes just 100 yards away and immediately began documenting what he had witnessed, first with a powerful cartoon and then with a raw, unfiltered, first-person article that was published just two days later, on July 26, 1915. So I will share his cartoon again, but I want to read his account from the Cairo Bulletin, monday, july 26, 1915. Editor's note Cartoonist Robert W Satterfield was crossing the river on an elevated train when the Eastland disaster occurred. He saw the whole disaster and watched the frantic struggles in the water from a distance of only 100 yards. He made the above picture of the catastrophe while the terrors and horrors of it were still fresh in his mind. His story follows River grew black, with people like flies on sugar, when boat toppled by. Robert Satterfield, the famous cartoonist who was an eyewitness of the sinking of the SS Eastland, chicago, july 24th.

Natalie Zett:

I was just crossing the Clark Street Bridge when I noticed the steamship Eastland, crowded with people and with flags and pennants. Flying Tugs were just beginning to haul her away from the pier. I noticed the crowds that blackened the decks, then looked away, for it was 7.40, and I was hurrying to the office. As I did so, I heard a woman shriek, just one long, piercing scream that rose high above the din and the bustle of the early morning traffic. I looked toward the Eastland again and the big excursion boat was turning over on her side toward the middle of the river, tumbling its holiday deckload of passengers into the swirling waters. The people, in order to see the tugboats start pulling the Eastland into the river, had rushed to the port railing. The weight of thousands was too much and the top heavy boat rolled over practically turning turtle. The air was filled with the shrieks of men and women and the thinner, shriller screams of hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of little children, for, as I learned later, it was the annual picnic excursion of the thousands of employees of the Western Electric Company.

Natalie Zett:

As I ran toward the end of this bridge to reach the pier, I could see the tumbling thousands of pleasure-seekers fighting and scrambling as they were swept into the water. Women and children and babies, with a sprinkling of men, were brushed into the river as if some giant hand would sweep crumbs from a huge table. For an instant, the part of the deck that still showed the railing and the slimy moss-grown, now upturned bottom of the vessel were cleared. The next instant it was blackened with human beings as flies swarming on a lump of sugar blackens it on a lump of sugar blackens it. Only, instead of flies it was half-crazed picnickers crawling and fighting their way from inside the boat. Hundreds, screaming and scrambling, managed to crawl through portholes and hatchways and reach and cling to the side and railing on the starboard side of the boat that now protruded from the water. Still more hundreds were trapped below.

Natalie Zett:

It was an hour or more later, before rescuers managed to reach these hundreds of drowned. Many more passengers were below decks than above. They had been herded and jammed into the big passageways in the lower deck just as the order to cast off was given. The big gates across the entrance hatchways had been put in place and as the boat turned they were trapped like cattle in a pen. Hundreds were drowned without a chance. They could not reach the upper decks for the crowds. They could not try to leap for the pier because of the gates. Women near the gates tried to toss babies and children to the outstretched hands on the pier. Some were caught and others dropped into the water between the boat and slimy pilling and sucked under and drowned. Police from the nearby streets rushed to take charge With their clubs. They cleared the pier of the terrified hundreds, the overflow of picnickers who had been waiting to get on the boat but could not.

Natalie Zett:

I turned back and managed to climb down on a bulkhead under the bridge. There I could see the water filled with bobbing heads. Life preservers were reined into the river by the wagon load. Everybody that could grab something that would float threw it to the struggling mass of victims. I saw women with babies in their arms being swept away under the Fifth Avenue Bridge. A short distance away, one woman reached for a grappling hook thrust to her from a rowboat. She missed it. With a last effort she jerked up in the water and tried to toss her little girl to them. The effort plunged the mother down under the surface again and she did not reappear. But the child fell a yard nearer the boat. Its white frilled holiday dress with its ribbons spread out kept her afloat. Frilled holiday dress with its ribbons spread out. Kept her afloat. Then the grappling hook caught it and she was dragged into the boat. Meanwhile, police and firemen had leaped onto the slippery side of the boat that now stuck up from the river. Firemen with ropes tied to their waists were lowered through the portholes that now gaped to the sky. The first victims they could reach were hoisted up by ropes. Girl after girl was hauled up, their soaked holiday attire standing out in pitiful contrast against the scene of death.

Natalie Zett:

So Bob Satterfield was there. He not only brought his talent to the situation, he brought his years and years of training and experience in doing this type of work, cartooning as well as writing. The capsizing took place actually in just a matter of minutes and yet he was able to break it down, to sketch it, but also able to talk about it in such a way where it unfolds cinematically. It's one of the most graphic and immediate descriptions of the Eastland tragedy. He doesn't hold back. It's like he's writing a screenplay. Almost he describes hearing a woman scream. Remember that. Almost he describes hearing a woman scream. Remember that Just one scream that pierced the usual morning bustle. Right away you feel that You're there with him. He brings you back to 1915 with him and you get to see what he saw.

Natalie Zett:

Satterfield's writing is blunt, visual. So this article and the cartoon communicated what no official report ever could, and for a city where many people at the time struggled with English, satterfield's visual storytelling had the power to reach across language barriers. That's the power of art. It's a universal language. When done right, his cartoon was more than illustration. It was a testimony of a witness who was there. So Robert Satterfield was also known as Sat and he was very popular in his day. He was born in 1875 in Sharon, pennsylvania, and died in 1958 in Glendale, california. He created several comic strips, including the Family Next Door, and even played a role in early comic book-style political messaging. He created A Pictorial Life of Herbert Hoover in 1928, a kind of proto-graphic novel.

Natalie Zett:

So I'm really glad that you joined me as I revisit these stories, and next week I'll have more stories for you, all of which I've shared previously. But again, it's been a while and since this podcast is the first time many of these stories have been shared it's the first time many of these stories have been shared. Many of these names have been spoken. It's important to mention them more than once. So have a good week, take care of yourselves, take care of each other. Talk to you next week. Hey, that's it for this episode and thanks for coming along for the ride. Please subscribe or follow so you can keep up with all the episodes, and for more information, please go to my website, that's wwwflowerintherivercom wwwflowerintherivercom. I hope you'll consider buying my book, available as audiobook, ebook, paperback and hardcover, because I still owe people money and that's my running joke. But the one thing I'm serious about is that this podcast and my book are dedicated to the memory of all who experienced the Eastland disaster of 1915. Goodbye for now.

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