Archive for September, 2012

Golden Wedding Anniversary

Sunday, September 30th, 2012

In the hand-made book by Mrs Lillian May (Poe) Wagner, I found a fun newspaper clipping of the Golden Anniversary of Jacob Poe and Mary Ann Ebert “held at their comfortable residence” on 27 Dec 1888 in Georgetown, PA.  I do not know the newspaper that published the information.  The author of the article was John A Trimble, my great grandfather.

Mary and Jacob Poe Golden Wedding Anniversary 1888 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Mary and Jacob Poe Golden Wedding Anniversary 1888 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2012 Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved

Another Find

Thursday, September 27th, 2012

Last weekend I was in Georgetown, PA, packing books that my sister and I donated to local libraries.  In an old box of books, we discovered a “home made” book by Mrs Lillian May Poe Wagner. 

Lillian May Poe Book -Cover (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Lillian May Poe Book -Cover (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

The book was a bible study book  – The Divine Plan of the Ages.  Lillian May Poe pasted photographs, newspaper clippings, obituaries, postcards, business cards, and hand written notes over the pages of the study book.  The items are dated from 1904 to 1936. 

 

I will scan and load the important pages – pages with photographs of the Georgetown steamboat captains and their wives, wedding announcements, etc.

Lillian May Poe Book - Obit (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Lillian May Poe Book - Obit (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Lillian May Poe Book - Family Photos (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Lillian May Poe Book - Family Photos (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

 

Copyright © 2012 Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved

National Archives Trip 5

Sunday, September 16th, 2012

Last Thursday (6 Sep 2012), I spent another afternoon and early evening at the National Archives in DC.  I reviewed the Certificates of Enrollment records (Record Group 41) from 3 Jan 1859 through 23 Dec 1862 (Volumes 6641-6644).  Sadly, volumes 6643 and 6644 were water damaged.  Their condition was disastrous.  For many entries the ink was completely washed out and incomprehensible.  I know not whether a conservator could recover the data.  In addition to the ruined volumes, there was no volume for the year 1862.  This catastrophe is a dreadful loss because the time frame extends through the period of the Civil War when approximately fifty percent of the civilian steamboats impressed or chartered for service on the western rivers by the US Army Quartermaster were built in the Pittsburgh region. 

 

Enrollment Record in Volume 6643 (F Nash 6 Sep 2012)

Enrollment Record in Volume 6643 (F Nash 6 Sep 2012)

 

Enrollment Record from Volume 6644 (Fnash 6 Sep 2012)

Enrollment Record from Volume 6644 (Fnash 6 Sep 2012)

On a more positive note, I found two (2) new keel boats built by  Georgetown rivermen.  The last of these unexpected discoveries was built by HW Laughlin in Industry, PA and registered on 1 May 1861.  This discovery should dispel some illusions that keel boats were quickly displaced by the technological superior steamboats.  Low water was the spur of necessity that favored the keel boat to this late date.

 

Only twenty-eight volumes of the Certificates of Enrollment for Pittsburgh to review before my National Archives research will be complete.  That said, since I last viewed the Vessel File (Record Group 92), I have discovered that I have doubled the number of steamboats from Georgetown.  In addition to the Vessel File, I was pointed to the Index of Claims for the Army Quartermaster.  There was an index entry for Thomas S Calhoon (str Horizon), but none for Thomas Poe or Jacob Poe (str Clara Poe).   If time permits, I will also review the Preliminary Inventory of the Textual Records of the office of the Quartermaster general – Part 1 Vessel records. 

The National Archives is a fascinating place to explore rare and monumental artifacts.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2012 Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved

Capt Jacob Poe Update

Saturday, September 8th, 2012

The biography of Capt Jacob Poe has been updated.  Data acquired from the Certificates of Enrollment for the port of Pittsburgh at the National Archives has been included for some of the early Poe family steamboats.  By “early” I mean before 1848 when Capt Way’s Packet Directory starts its history of steamboats. 

 

Capt Jacob Poe was also in command of several keel boats.  I intend to add data on these Georgetown keel boats in the near future.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2012 Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved

Two Strs Named Yorktown

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

I intend to refocus my attention on the core purpose of this website.  It exists to make public the journal of Nancy Ann (Poe) Ebert.  Her personal journal of the trip with her husband, Capt George W Ebert, on the upper Missouri River in 1869 was a bit of American History that I believe should be shared with river scholars.  I also want to share the stories of the steamboat men from Georgetown, PA.  The most remarkable and unique source information that I have been able to share has been the hand written book by Capt Benjamin Mackall Laughlin.  That book identified 42 steamboats built between 1832-1838 in the Pittsburgh region that were not listed by Lytle and Holdcamper.

 

To begin my renewed concentration on steamboats, a page named Str Yorktown b1853 has been loaded.  It was the second boat named Yorktown owned and operated by the Poe family.  To differentiate the two vessels, I added the build date specified on the initial Certificate of Enrollment in the title of the page.  Capt Way’s Packet Directory number was considered, as another distinguishing feature, but I preferred the build date because the Poes ran boats with duplicate names before 1848, the year Way’s Packet Directory began its list.

 

Copyright © 2012 Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved