I am slogging through “The Book” written by BM Laughlin in 1904. Of the first 200 steamboats listed in the BM Laughlin book, 22 are not included in The Lytle- Holdcamper List. Boat number 200, the str Sea Gull, had an enrollment date of 16 Mar 1833. The str Sea Gull, rated at 21 tons, was built in Warren, OH per The Lytle-Holdcamper List and its three supplements. Per BM Laughlin it was built in Pittsburgh?!?
From 1831, BM Laughlin included both the month and day of the vessel enrollment. The Lytle- Holdcamper List provided only the year. BM Laughlin provided “remarks” on each year’s enrollments such as on the page for 1834 “The Kittanning was not built at Pittsburgh as she was not registered in the Custom House records”. The only Kittanning listed in the Lytle-Holdcamper List was originally the str Elizabeth built in 1839 and renamed the Kittanning on 3 Nov 1842.
BM Laughlin commented numerous times that his information came from US Custom House records in Pittsburgh 1811-1904. The National Archives maintain the records from the US Custom House in Pittsburgh from 1831 -1904. Before that Pittsburgh was a port under the jurisdiction of New Orleans from 1807-1874 where all the records for the Ohio River and its tributaries were maintained. Lots of overlap and gaps! Much to understand.
My analysis will list the boats identified by BM Laughlin between 1811 and 1848 in an MS Excel spreadsheet. Data from The Lytle-Holdcamper List will also be entered to enable other researchers to perform their own sorts and analysis.
Tags: Benjamin M Laughlin, georgetown, ohio river steamboats, pittsburgh custom house, The Lytle-Holdcamper List