If you have never visited the National Archives, do not use your cell phone. Trust me! The hours on Thursday extend till 7:00 PM. which is perfect for me. I have time to review four Certificate of Enrollment books each visit. On my drive south last Thu, I missed the serious morning rush hour traffic in DC; reviewed four volumes of Enrollment data, and missed the evening rush hour. Dinner at Jaleo’s completes my day.
Last Thu (31 May 2012), I requested the first five volumes of the Certificate of Enrollment from the port of Pittsburgh (Volumes 6624-6628) covering the years 5 Jan 1831 through 16 Mar 1846. Volume 6624 (26 Oct 1839 to 30 Jun 1841) could not be located. Whether the volume had been misplaced, lent, or was truly missing was unclear to me. I will ask for the volume on my next visit to determine whether it is permanently unavailable. Other volumes of those early years are missing pages and damaged to the degree that groups of pages are unreadable.
The good news is that I discovered three new steamboats that Georgetown men had an interest in. I did not see entries for keel boats or other types of vessels in this group of books.
On my next visit I will examine the volumes for the period 16 Mar 1846 to 24 Dec 1949. Anyway, I will review all the port of Pittsburgh volumes over time, 4 volumes per visit, till all 45 are reviewed.
Copyright 2012 © Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved
Tags: capt george w ebert, ohio river steamboats, richard calhoon, The National Archives