Person:Ruth Tarbet (1)

Great Disaster: Steamer City of Florence Sinks and Ruth Tarbet is Drowned: Miss Ruth Tarbet of Saltillo, aged 11 years, granddaughter of Mrs. Bettie Howard, niece of R.W. Howard and cousin of N.R. Barham of this place was drowned Saturday night about 10 o'clock while a passenger on the steamer, City of Florence, when the vessel collided wth a barge at Coffee landing eight miles below Clifton. News of the awful accident was received here Sunday morning in a telephone message to Judge N.R. Barham, and as it became known throughout the town, proved one of the greatest shocks our people have had in many years. The little girl's parents, E.E. Tarbet and wife, formerly resided here and have been frequent visitors here since their removal to Saltillo. Had it not been for the the timely appearance of Mr. C. Welch, a prominent cotton buyer of Clifton, Mrs. E.E. Tarbet would have been drowned. She had gone down in the river for the first time making an effort to rescue her little daughter. Mr. Welch sprang into the river and catching Mrs. Tarbet, pulled her to the shore with difficulty. He realized that he could not save both Mrs. Tarbet and the little girl, and he thught it was his duty to save the mother who had the care of eight children. The othes who went down with the ill-fated boat were Annie Hardy, negress and nurse of the Tarbet child; Tom Brown, negro roustabout; Allen Dorr, negro roustabout; Arthur Claxton, negro roustabout. All the bodies have been found. The rest of the crew and passengers swam to the shore in the darkness and were taken care of by farmers. Sunday the river, which has been at flood stage for several weeks, was filled with the scattered cargo, the most of which is a total loss. It is estimated that the loss to cargo will reach about $10,000. The boat itself was valued at $12,500. It carried 3,000 sacks of corn, 156 bales of cotton and numerous farming implements. According to a survivor the boat sank in three minutes after it struck the barge. Who is responsible for the collision is not known. (Additional information) Miss Ruth Tarbet is Recovered from Ill-Fated Steamboat: The body of little Miss Ruth Tarbet, aged 11 years, who went down with the ill-fated steamer, City of Florence, near Coffee Landing in the Tennessee River, Saturday night, February 8, was recovered Saturday afternoon about 5 o'clock by divers and brought to the surface. When found the body was encased in a life preserver which was fastened to the vessel. This probably accounted for the fact that she was not rescued at the time the ship sank. The burial of the body occurred Sunday at Saltillo, the home of the child's grief-stricken parents in the presence of a large concourse of relatives and friends. The relatives here received intelligence by phone Saturday night of finding of the body. No catastrophe of recent years happening in the county has more thoroughly aroused the sentiment and evoked the symapathy of all classes of people.

Ruth is buried in the Tarbet Cemetery, Hardin Co. TN next to he father and mother.

Her stone reads "DAUGHTER OF E. E. AND BINA TARBET"