Gidien King died in Pensacola on November 15, 1857 in an explosion on the steamboat Tom Thumb. He was 24 years old. Though no other information has been found on Gidien King, he was most likely only passing through Pensacola at the time of the incident.

During this period, there were a number of steamboat companies ferrying passengers to various destinations along the Gulf Coast, such as Mobile and Tampa.

However, neither the Pensacola Gazette nor the Mobile daily newspaper make any mention of a steamboat explosion or of any casualties of seamen. Further, there is no record of the Tom Thumb entering either port in the sections of the papers dedicated to ship activity.

The information on King's marble tablet, then, denotes a cause of death that would otherwise be unknown and gives voice to a young man about whom so little is known.

Podcast written by University of West Florida Public History Student, Ricky Gomez.