onlinesteamboatmuseum

Steamboat Documents, Page 2


CurrencyFarmersMerchantsBankOfMemphis10Dollars1stAugust1854

CurrencyBrownvilleBankThreeDollars1stSept1857

CurrencyWesternExchangeInsuranceOmahaCityNebraska2ndNov1857

1. FARMERS' & MERCHANTS' BANK of MEMPHIS TENNESSEE $10.00 - 1st August 1854

2. BROWNVILLE BANK AND LAND COMPANY of OMAHA CITY, NEBRASKA $3.00 - 1st September 1857

3. WESTERN EXCHANGE INSURANCE of OMAHA CITY, NEBRASKA $5.00 - 2nd November - 1857

JC_Crossley_StatementWithPhotoEXP

J.C. Crossley - "Hire of Lighter" under sundries probably means they rented a barge for some purpose.

Lighter was an archaic word for a flat bottomed barge.

I guess this dates from 1870 if that is a zero behind December 187_

this just arrived today

SteamerAtLandingPennMotorOilAdBlue40percentForNORI

A steamboat promoting Pennsylvania motor oil

The steamboat at the landing here bears similarities to the GOLDEN EAGLE and AVALON so the artist may have combined elements from various photo research in their graphic. Undated Saturday Evening Post ad of PENNSYLVANIA Motor Oil. The style of the vehicle at the landing suggests that the ad might date from the 1950's. Where it wasn't black and white the ad was a butterscotch golden-brown color which I have converted to blue.

SteamNavigation1896forNORI

National Board of STEAM NAVIGATION ~ ST. LOUIS 1896

2.10 x 6.50 inches purple ribbon worn by attendees of a convention of the "National Board of STEAM NAVIGATION ~ ST. LOUIS 1896"

On the top is secured a .90 inch pin-back bronze medallion of the Seal of St. Louis that included a bas relief steamboat.

Not mentioned on the ribbon are the month, days and location that the convention took place but in May of 1896 a devastating tornado struck St. Louis with the loss of two of the Anchor Line steamers and damage to another one of theirs as per the following:

Wikipedia

"Historians say that the Anchor Line was ultimately doomed by the 1896 St. Louis-East St. Louis tornado that struck on May 27. The tornado touched down in the core of St. Louis and swept eastward across the river into East St. Louis, Illinois. The resulting death toll was a confirmed 255 people, though estimates put the number at close to 400. This is in part because the Anchor Line's floating palaces (as well as other steamboats) stationed at the St. Louis landing lay directly in the tornado's path. The Anchor Line's boats the Arkansas City and the City of Cairo were completely destroyed, and the City of Monroe was badly damaged."

Further information is given in posted in the following article on the National Centers for Environmental Information online site.

This Month in Climate History: May 27, 1896, St. Louis Tornado
ncdc.noaa.gov
Photo of the Eads Bridge after the May 27, 1896, St. Louis, Missouri, tornado
In crossing the river from the Missouri to the Illinois shore, the tornado tore away some 300 feet of the super structure of the Eads Bridge. Some of the stone blocks were hurled several hundred feet, and a wagon that was on the bridge was dashed to pieces with its two occupants. Credit: NOAA Photo Library

What remains the third most deadly tornado in U.S. history struck St. Louis, Missouri, on the afternoon of May 27, 1896, nearly 120 years ago. At the time, St. Louis hadn't experienced a major weather disaster in nearly 25 years, and the city had grown into a large metropolitan area. Shortly before five o'clock that Wednesday afternoon, the devastating tornado struck the city from the southwest, near the Compton Heights district. From there, the tornado made its way down the Mill Creek Valley, destroying countless homes as it headed toward the Mississippi River.

Once the tornado made it to the Mississippi, it decimated the steamboats and other vessels in the harbor, breaking them to pieces and scattering them from the Missouri shore to the Illinois shore. Even the Eads Bridge, which was considered "tornado proof" as the first major bridge constructed by making use of true steel, was damaged by the powerful tornado with nearly 300 feet of its eastern approach being torn away. Much of the central portion of St. Louis was also destroyed, as were factories, saloons, hospitals, mills, railroad yards, and churches throughout the city.

Across St. Louis, the tornado completely destroyed block after block of residential housing. Hundreds of miles of electric wires and thousands of telephone and telegraph poles were torn down by the fierce winds. The tornado also uprooted trees more than half a century old and hurled them a distance of several blocks. Heavy iron fences, like the one that surrounded Lafayette Park, were twisted and tangled until they were nearly unrecognizable.

During the less than half an hour that the tornado—which would most likely be rated as an EF-4 today—was on the ground, it tracked a three-mile-wide path of destruction across St. Louis, killing 255 people, injuring 1,000, and rendering countless families homeless.

SteamboatsTrafficAssociation4March1905EXP

Steamboats' Traffic Association examples

Envelope from Steamboats Traffic Association

Postmarked New Orleans, 4 March 1905

Steamboats Traffic Association

Chas. W. Drown Freight Traffic Manager

(rubber stamped supplement to address):

523 Hibernia Bank Building

New Orleans, Louisiana

Among the many Steamboat Rates listed, Authority 3809 pertains to Captain Fred Way Jr.'s BETSY ANN Various other steamboats have their own Authority numbers assigned to them including some other examples below:

Excerpts from:

THE NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF LOUISIANA. JANUARY 1, 1908.

BATON ROUGE:

THE DAILY STATE PUBLISHING COMPANY

STATE PRINTERS 1908

STEAMBOAT RATES AUTHORIZED BY THE COMMISSION and in Effect January 1, 1908 APPENDIX "F."

Authority No. 3569.
Steamers Alice and Jessie.
Rates between New Orleans and landings on Amite River,
as far as Bayou Manchac and Hope Villa: also down freights.
Issued January 25, 1906.

Authority No. 3587.
Natchez & Bayou Sara Packet Co.
Rate of 1% cents per bushel on grain and bran, carload quantities,
from Vidalia to points on west bank of Atchafalaya River to Union Point,
Black Hawk and Red River landings.
Issued February 6, 1906.

Authority No. 3809.
Steamer Betsy Ann.
Rate of $1.50 per ton on cotton seed meal and hulls.
from Vidalia and Tenses to landings on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivera.
Effective March 11, 1908.

Authority No. 4068.
Steamer Carrie.
Rates on commodities between New Orleans and landings on Bayou Lafourche.
Issued October 18, 1906.

Authority No. 4145.
Steamer Annie P.
Tariff applying on cotton from Bayou Bartholomew to New Orleans and Monroe.
Effective December 18, 1908.

Authority No. 4601.
Steamer Grand Isle.
Tariff applying on commodities from New Orleans to Grand Isle.
Effective August 15. 1907.

Authority No. 4696.
Steamer G. H. A. Thomas.
Tariff applying on commodities, from New Orleans to Springfield.
Effective September 11, 1907.

MississippiValleyBargeLineEnvelopeForNORI

Mississippi Valley Barge Line Co. 1948

Envelope from the M.V.B.L. (Mississippi Valley Barge Line Co.) NEW ORLEANS St. Louis 1, Missouri Canceled 20 April 1948 Cairo, Illinois Addressed to Bill Forbes San Antonio, Texas There is nothing in the envelope now but it may have have contained a pay check. Reference to the M.V.B.L. can be found in the 1st sentence of the article on John Hartford below.

Old-time Music Stays Gentle On His Mind
February 13, 1992
By LANE KELLEY, Staff Writer
Sun Sentinel
Deerfield Beach, Florida

John Hartford bought his first Gibson banjo with money he made working on the Mississippi Valley Barge Line when he was 15 years old. He started playing the fiddle about the same time.

Since then, Hartford has turned his obsessions with the river, the banjo and the fiddle into an inimitable style that has made Hartford the Mark Twang of American music.

On Saturday, Hartford brings his instruments, the amplified board he dances on and his bizarre sense of humor to the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

"My job description is that I've spent the last 40 years attempting to play the world's two most despised instruments in one of the world's two most commercially unacceptable forms of music," Hartford said in his deep baritone voice during a phone interview. "One is bluegrass music and the other is polka."

But Hartford, 54, has had plenty of commercial success. He has won three Grammy Awards, two of them for a song that has gotten more radio airplay than just about any other record in country music, Gentle on My Mind.

Glen Campbell's recording of Hartford's tune has been played nearly 5 million times since it was released in 1967, according to Broadcast Music Inc., in Nashville, which tracks radio airplay of songs. Only three other records tracked by BMI have been played more: Yesterday by the Beatles, Never My Love by the Association and Campbell's recording of By the Time I Get to Phoenix.

After Gentle on My Mind and a regular stint as sideman on Campbell's popular TV show, Hartford lit out for the territory like Huckleberry Finn. He became one of the first bluegrass hippies, scattering dope references, jibes at the establishment and zany songs such as Boogie on his albums, mostly recorded for independent labels. On Mark Twang, the album that won him a third Grammy in 1977, Hartford spoofed the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, by recording Monroe's Little Cabin Home on the Hill a cappella. Hartford sounded as if he were singing underwater.

vintage booklet

From teenzy vintage booklet about St. Louis/Tennessee River Packet Co. For that rainy day with nothing better to do. - Dave

riverlorian post

Uncle Charley Elmore was apparently an early "Riverlorian" . . . doesn't say what instruments he played but he also served as narrator to passengers about the "passing scene" viewed from the Mayflower. Charley dreamed up the guide and distributed it, imagine the packet co. foot the bill for printing.

LetterANTELOPE1856

Here's a genuine artifact from my early collecting days written on June 7th, 1856 at Cairo, Illinois by James W. Brannon, President of the New Orleans & Cairo Mail Company giving authority to Captain Van Dusen to settle the accounts of the steamboat Antelope and any other boats chartered as mail packets operating between Cairo and New Orleans at his discretion.

Transcript:

"Cairo June 7th (18)56

Cap't Van Dusen is hereby autherized (sic) to settle the accts with steamer Antelope or any other boats which may be now or hereafter chartered as mail packets in mail service between this point and New Orleans - and make such arrangements, and give such direction in performance of the service as he may deem best.

Jas. W. Brannon
Prest. N.O.&.C. Mail Co."

ANTELOPE
Way's Packet Directory Number 0301
Sidewheel Packet
Built at New Albany, Ind., 1853. 587 tons.
Ran Louisville-New Orleans, Capt. E. Brown, master.
Snagged and lost at New Orleans, Louisiana on Sept. 27, 1864.

StrStPaulTicketNoMarginsForNORI

1.80 x 3.70 inch ticket for a Special Trip aboard "the beautiful SAINT PAUL" for United Dance Clubs opening Excursion and Moonlight Dance that left the foot of Washington Avenue at 8:30 p.m. "rain or shine" on May 9th which fell on a Monday in 1938 so this cruise may have been initiated at Pittsburgh the last year the ST. PAUL was operating there before she went to Paducah in 1939 where her name was changed to the SENATOR.

Note: A 1954 Pittsburgh Legal Journal includes the following: "Washington Avenue was a thoroughfare, which we believe corresponded with the road now extending from the Liberty Tubes through Dormont and Mt. Lebanon and thence on to Washington, Pennsylvania."

Excursion16May1933ST.PAUL_ HALFsizeForNORI

1933 flyer for an excursion aboard the ST. PAUL leaving from "the foot of Washington Avenue" (which flowed onto the Eads Bridge) across the Mississippi at St. Louis. The sponsor of the excursion was the"Show Boat Dance Palace" located on Iowa Avenue in St. Louis, was one of at least half a dozen "dance halls" in St. Louis during the 30's. On the top and bottom of this handbill the "job" printer used vignettes of an ocean-going ship rather than a steam riverboat which would have been more appropriate.

The ST. PAUL was built in 1883 at St. Louis, MO for the St.Louis & St. Paul Packet Co. and ran under the Diamond Jo flag. Also briefly chartered to the Anchor Line. Rebuilt in 1892 at the Eagle Yard in Dubuque, Iowa by Diamond Jo - then rebuilt again at Dubuque in 1903. She went to the Streckfus Line in 1911. In 1917, Streckfus rebuilt her into an excursion boat running in the St. Louis area. Rebuilt again at Paducah, KY in 1939 as the SENATOR. Retired from excursion service in 1942. Abandoned near St. Louis in 1953.

Allegheny Boatmen 1919 Composite 25 percent EXP

Another vintage broadside from my earliest days of collecting this material during the 1980's.

This broadside measures 11 X 18 inches announcing the last annual meeting in 1919 of the ALLEGHENY RIVER BOATMEN'S ASSOCIATION

at Kittaning, Pennsylvania on the Allegheny River around 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

THE ALLEGHENY
by Frederick Way Jr.
Farrar & Rinehart, NY
1942

From the opening of CHAPTER 20

Captain Dan Fry was a little fellow who, if he were found under a Christmas tree, would pass for Santa Claus dressed up in store clothes.

Same twinkly eyes, ruddy cheeks, perky nose, beard and all. He showed up every year at the annual meeting of the Allegheny River Boatmen's Association and was the center of the scene.

He always was called upon to make a speech. Captain Fry would slowly get to his feet and take a good, long lingering look all around the hall until silence reigned supreme.

Then, in a quiet, almost unbearable voice, he would say, "Mr. Chairman of the meeting and my friends of the Allegheny River, the most noble stream in the world."

Another pause. Captain Fry's merry eyes roved around until he discovered a particular face in the audience which suited him.

Thereafter all remarks were directed to that individual. "I am not much of a speechmaker, but . . ." he said.

His story usually picked up a thread of the long and adventurous life he had spent keelboating and steamboating on his beloved river.

The homely little reunions of this Boatmen's Association started back in 1897 and met annually, without interruption, until 1919.

Each one had a new tinge of sadness, inasmuch as the members were growing old, and tragedy stalked in all eyes when a new arrival announced, "No, Jim can't get here today: he's down with rheumatism bad and can't make it."

To men who have lived a river life an inability to gather among old friends and rehearse the glories of a past yesteryear is worse than the inevitable visit of the Grim Reaper in person.

"Jim can't get down today." Real trouble, there. Heads would shake, canes would pound the sidewalk in mute appeal, and tears would come. "Jim can't get down, did you hear?"

A whole year has rolled around since any one of those veterans has seen Jim. No word, no sign. Christmas has come and gone without the exchange of a postcard greeting.

Yet Jim belongs at the meeting of the Boatmen's Association. Jim is one of the fellows.

Rivermen, as a group, are an odd lot in this respect: those bitter tears were springing from a knowledge of how Jim felt about it—laid up at home with that persecuting, damnable, inhuman failing of old age: rheumatism.

Each old-timer could see Jim sitting at a window looking out on the valley and aching his heart out to be at "the meeting."

TowboatCoHuntingtonStLouisFrontBackReducedForNORI

H. F. FRISBIE
Way's Steam Towboat Directory Number T1010
Sternwheel towboat 1885-1903 b Cincinnati, OH, 169.4 x 32.2 x 5.8
Engines 20's - 8 ft. stroke.

Owned by the Huntington & St. Louis Towboat Co. of which Fred Hartweg was president and treasurer, Gottlieb Hartweg, secretary, with offices maintained at the foot of Race Street, Cincinnati. When this undated 3 X 5 inch advertising card was printed the office was located at the foot of Vine Street. On the reverse of the card is the company's promotion of their other enterprise - Coal Haven Harbor for the mooring of "all classes of boats and barges."

The H & St. Lou Towboat Company also operated the towboat WASH HONSHELL.

Her skipper in 1888 was Capt. William Rutter of Clarington, Ohio and on one trip, just leaving Cincinnati with a big tow of coal, produce, etc., the tow struck the Kentucky pier of the Southern bridge, sinking two barges.

Capt. Rutter fell dead of heart failure as a result of the excitement. Capt. Rutter was then about 65 years old, a tragedy all the worse because his wife and two children were aboard making the trip south.

The FRISBIE made frequent trips to the upper Mississippi, towing cross ties to Burlington, Iowa.

Capt. Henry Nye and Capt. Henry C Pownall were masters on her.

"Buck" Nye was chief engineer for some time and Ernest P Cropper was 2nd, Noah and Sam Ellis were on her later.

The Combine bought her and towed her to Pittsburgh with the BOAZ in September, 1903, then dismantled her at Elizabeth, Pennsylvania.

Her machinery went to the SARAH EDENBORN.

H. F FRISBIE, for whom she was named, died in January, 1912.

RegisterPassageSteamerVICTORIA1839forNORI

The steamboat VICTORIA made a trip from Fort Gibson to Smithland, Kentucky in May of 1839.

I recently purchased from John Miller in Iowa a rare passenger register from the steamboat VICTORIA that made a trip from Fort Gibson to Smithland, Kentucky in May of 1839. I edited the following short paragraph from John's auction description.

"There are three pages measuring 15 x 10 inches. Some names of male passengers written in pencil can be seen faintly in the register. There is no history available thus far regarding the VICTORIA and how long it operated, although generally for the time frame, these packet boats had a very short life span."

The following consists of observations regarding two pages and research of place names:

PASSAGE REGISTER, STEAMER VICTORIA.

STATE ROOMS. NAMES. EMBARKATION. DESTINATION. REMARKS

"No Berth considered engaged until the Passage money is paid and in no case a Berth or State Room to be changed, without consulting the Captain or Clerk"

The LADIES' CABIN consisted of only 8 berths - 4 lower and 4 upper No penciled names are written next to them so apparently there were no female passengers aboard.

The GENTLEMEN's CABIN consisted of 14 berths 2 berths (1 upper, 1 lower) in each to accommodate 28 male passengers

Of the six (or seven) gentlemen whose names are written in pencil the following are tolerably legible:

9 lower berth E. Campbell Louisville Home
10 lower berth Thos. S. Blanford (?) Louisville Yellow Banks

Yellow Banks, Kentucky, was the name of the rustic community founded by pioneer William Smeathers or Smothers around 1790 on the banks of the Ohio River. The name was derived from the yellowish banks along the river. In 1817, Yellow Banks became the established town of Owensborough, in honor of Col. Abraham Owen (also the namesake of Owen County in Kentucky).

10 upper berth V. Darrel? Cloverport

The town of Cloverport is on the banks of the Ohio River in Breckinridge County, Kentucky

The destinations of the previous voyage of the VICTORIA had been crossed out: "from Louisville to Port Gibson 27 April, 1839"

The destinations of the following voyage were: "from Fort Gibson to Smithland, Kentucky May 1839"

Smithland in Livingston County, Kentucky is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers.

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma was originally established as a military garrison named "Cantonment Gibson" in April 1824

The Neosho River follows the northwest border of the Fort Gibson and joins the Arkansas River, which flows just west of the town boundary and then forms the southern boundary of the town.

As one of the oldest non-Indian settlements in Oklahoma, Fort Gibson was the first to have a steamboat landing.





moremusejmphotosclickhere

With the exception of images credited to public institutions,
everything on this page is from a private collection.
With the exception of images credited to public institutions,
everything on this page is from a private collection.
Please contact Steamboats.com for permission for commercial use.*

All captions provided by Dave Thomson, Steamboats.com primary contributor and historian.

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