On the afternoon of Friday, June 6, 1890, as Clara Parker was coming down Youngs River with a heavy deck load, Charles Hamlin a deck hand aged about 23, fell overboard and drowned. Hamlin had been walking around the deckload on the outside rail of the boat, when he lost his balance and fell into the river. The steamer was stopped, but Hamlin went under before a boat could be launched and was not seen again. Attempts on the day of the drowning to recover Hamlin's body by grappling were unsuccessful.
