Archive for April, 2010

The Golden Highway

Monday, April 26th, 2010

In 1866, the str Amelia Poe commanded by Capt Thomas W Poe was the first boat from Georgetown to venture to Ft Benton in the Montana Territory.  Thomas S Calhoon was the 1st clerk.  The log of his trip up the Missouri River to Ft Benton in the Montana Territory has been loaded on the page TS Calhoon’s Book 1866.   

This Missouri River adventure was transcribed from a copy of a copy of “Thomas S Calhoon’s Book 1866” [1]  The original journal I have not seen, nor know where it is.  The Heinz History Center research library has a typed copy which I assume was transcribed from the original by Harriet (Calhoon) Ewing.  I have attempted to stay true to the copy.  It presents some challenges:  There is no punctuation; spelling is phonetic such as Schiann for Cheyenne, kild for killed, etc.  Still it is full of swash and buckle. 

 

Of the 51 boats that departed St Louis that season, 32 docked at Ft Benton.  Millions of dollars of gold from the mines flowed down the “Golden Highway”.  It was impossible to estimate the amount of gold because it flowed down the Missouri in pockets, in chests, in a buck wagon, and as payment for freight delivered.  Freight that year was bringing 10-12 cents per pound; steamboat passage from St Louis was $150-200.  While a barrel of salt was $1.25 in St Louis, it brought $45 in Helena.  The total freight up was 6,644 tons and passengers up was 502. [2] 

 

Arriving on 11 Jun 1866, the Amelia Poe delivered 200 tons of freight and 40 passengers.  Downward gold and passengers was not recorded.

 


[1]  The Ewing Family Papers, Thomas S Calhoon’s Book 1866, Box 5, Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, PA.
[2]  Joel Overholser, Fort Benton World’s Innermost Port, (River & Plains Society, 1987), p 54.

George WE Poe – Herb Juice Salesman

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

A fun story I wanted to share from an unknown and undated newpaper clipping about George WE Poe.   This clipping is one of the sources I used to identify George WE Poe in my photos.  Many inherited photos are still unidentified.

George WE Poe lived a long life.  From piloting troop transports at at he end of the Civil War till his retirement in 1895, he saw and accomplished much.  His remaining days (48 years) were lived well in Georgetown, PA with an occasional business venture in Pittsburgh.

 

Poe George We coffe salesman

Packet Memorabilia

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

My collection of boarding passes and advertisements for the Poe and Georgetown steamboats lacks richness and volume.  The sad number is  doleful four.  The scanned images of these mementos have been loaded on the page entitled Steamboat Memorabilia

 

One recently acquired boarding pass for cabin passage on the steamer Yorktown was dated 1868 for passage from St Louis to Ft Benton;  a boarding pass for the steamer Mollie Ebert after the packet was sold by Capt George W Ebert is circa 1874; a boarding pass for the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Packet Line dated 1900 was signed on the reverse by T Poe (Theodore Cochran Poe of Georgetown, PA who managed a wharf boat in Pittsburgh); and one advertisement for the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Packet Line was dated 1896 based on the packets listed in the pool of steamers.

Have a look.  Steamboat Memorabilia.

Lightly Touched by Time

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

Mr and Mrs John A Trimble celebrated the 35th anniversary of their wedding on Thursday, 5 Jan 1893 in their home in Georgetown, PA.  The celebration was the most important society event of the season according to a local newspaper report. 

Mollie Ebert and John A Trimble Anniverary 35th (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Mollie Ebert and John A Trimble Anniverary 35th (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

 

Preparations for the anniversary included the redecoration of “their handsome parlors… by a force of artists from Pittsburg”. 

 

The guests included Capt Thomas S Calhoon and his wife (groomsman and bridesmaid of the original event), the wives of Capt Andrew H Parr and George Poe, and other river and business men.  Of the one-hundred people who attended the wedding in 1858, only twenty some were alive in 1893.

 

Mollie Ebert Trimble and John A Trimble ca 1910 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Mollie Ebert Trimble and John A Trimble ca 1910 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Gifts were given and received.  The gift giving was notable.  Mollie Ebert and John A Trimble presented each of their guests with a commemorative  silver spoon.  To date, I have failed to find one. 

 

Dinner for the elderly guests was served at 2:00 PM.  At 8:00 PM, dinner for the younger guests was served.  “An elegant supper was served at 10 o’clock.”  At midnight the celebration ended.

Grace Wilkins Thayer

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

How Grace Thayer fits into Georgetown and steamboats is a puzzle.  There are no Thayers or Wilkins in my Poe genealogy reports.  My data on the Calhoons and Parrs is weak so I do not know whether she was related to the Calhoons or Parrs or another old Georgetown family.  I do know that the photos were included in the Poe boxes inherited so I assume Grace Thayer was related either to the Poes or a Calhoons.  I do have a list of Georgetown steamboat men with a Wilkins who was a steamer captain and/or pilot.  More effort required.

 

Grace Wilkins Thayer 14 Oct 1889 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Grace Wilkins Thayer 14 Oct 1889 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

The photos of Grace Thayer are dated 1889, 1900, and 1912.  A twenty-three year long relationship with either Lillian May Poe or Parthenia Parr Calhoon.  The photo of interest to me is dated 1912 with writing on its backside.  It was signed by Grace W T.  Its location was Bois Blanc Island which is three miles of water from Mackinac Island, MI.  As the back of the photo indicated, Mad Anthony Wayne built the blockhouse on Bois Blanc Island in the photo postcard.

 

Another reason for a Poe to visit this specific area was to visit the works of Orlando Metcalfe Poe , and/or relatives.  During the Civil War,  Orlando M Poe was the chief engineer of the XIII Corps and gained fame for his defense of Knoxville.  He followed Gen Sherman on his march to the sea and the later Carolinas campaign.  After the Civil War, Poe also served with Sherman in the Indian wars from 1873-1883. 

 

Grace Wilkins Thayer 1900 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Grace Wilkins Thayer 1900 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

In 1870 Orlando M Poe was promoted to Chief Engineer of the Upper Great Lakes 11 Lighthouse District where he designed unique lighthouses which became known as “Poe style lighthouses”.   A total of eight Poe lighthouses were built.  He also designed and built the first lock and dam, named the Poe Lock in Sault Ste Marie.  That lock, made larger in 1960, continues to serve the Great Lakes freighters today.

 

Orlando Poe died from an on-duty accident  at the Soo Locks on 2 Oct 1895 and was buried in Arlington Cemetery.

 

Grace Wilkins Thayer at Mad Anthony Wayne Blockhouse 1912 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Grace Wilkins Thayer at Mad Anthony Wayne Blockhouse 1912 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

I am amazed by the Georgetown Poes and the range of their travels.  Two trips to New Orleans and one to Ft Benton in the year 1869 is unthinkable today for a normal family.  Vacationing by steamboat and horse and buggy in remote upstate Michigan is beyond amazing.  I have a photo postcard of a sunken steamboat from Chautauqua, NY where I assume the Poes vacationed because of their longtime support and membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.   Simply amazing!

Grace Wilkins Thayer at Mad Anthony Wayne's Blockhouse back 1912 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection

Grace Wilkins Thayer at Mad Anthony Wayne's Blockhouse back 1912 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection

 

 

Theodore Poe with Mary Ellen Lyon and Grace W Thayer abt 1899 GPN

Theodore Poe with Mary Ellen Lyon and Grace W Thayer abt 1899 GPN