The excursion vessel General Slocum caught fire in New York City's East River on Wednesday, June 15, 1904, and sank near North Brother Island, killing close to 700 members of St. Mark Lutheran Church, Manhattan, including the pastor's wife and daughter. There were 1,331 persons aboard the vessel, approximately 800 of them women and more than 500 under the age of 20; over 1,000 of them died. This 17th annual outing to Locust Grove on Long Island Sound reduced the congregation's baptized membership from 750 to 191.

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