Annie boarded General Slocum for an Evangelical church picnic with her mother and four younger sisters at 10:00 AM. A few minutes later, the steamboat was in flames from the cause of a careless lit up kerosene lamp in the lamp room. Hundreds perished by drowning (because they weren't able to swim with life-jackets being rotted) or being burned to death. Annie and her infant sister Julia (8 months) sadly perished.