Archive for March, 2015

The St Patrick’s Day Flood of 1936

Tuesday, March 31st, 2015

There is INCREDIBLE newsreel footage of the Flood of 1936 in Pittsburgh on The Odd, Mysterious & Facinationg History of Pittsburgh

 

To compliment the rawness of the video, two sets of images have been uploaded to a page named Flood of 1936.   My Aunt Flora Nash collected those images from various newspaper from towns along the river.  Those images   were pasted in a scrapbook without identifying their origin.  Towns along the Ohio, Mon , and Allegheny Rivers are exhibited: Ambridge, Apollo, Coraopolis, Dravosburg, Emsworth, Etna, Homestead, Kittanning, Montgomery Island, McKees Rocks, New Kensington, North Vandergrift, Oakmont, Tarentum, Turtle Creek, Verona, West Bridgewater, West Brownsville, Wheeling, and more.

 

 

Copyright © 2015 Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved

No part of this website may be reproduced without permission in writing from the author.

 

Census Report 1870

Saturday, March 28th, 2015

When widow Parthenia (Parr) Calhoon died on 20 May 1866, she left five young children.  Her husband, Capt Joseph MC Calhoon, had died on 21 Apr 1855 in Alton, Il a victim of cholera.  Since Parthenia Parr was a half sister of Capt George W Ebert and Mary Ann (Ebert) Poe, the children were divided between the two Ebert families.  The oldest boys, Thomas Franklin and William Albert Calhoon, lived with Capt Ebert and his family.  The twins, Joseph MC and Parthenia Parr Calhoon, moved to “The Poe House” with Capt Jacob Poe and his family.  “Aunt Parthenia” never married and lived her entire life in “The Poe House” with Jacob Poe, and then his son Charles Edgar Poe, and finally his daughter Lillian May Poe.  The oldest son, George W Calhoon, had come of age by 1866 and apparently chose not to live with either Ebert relatives.

This Census 1870 Report dated 11 Jun 1870 lists the members of the Capt Ebert home. Twelve people were under roof although both Thomas Franklin and William Albert were working on the river as a steward and pilot respectively.  Neither Thomas Franklin nor William Albert would have spent much time in Georgetown so the over-crowed condition was not truly severe.  The twelve household members included Capt Ebert and his wife Nancy Ann Poe, the two Calhoon boys, John A Trimble and his wife Mollie Ebert with their five children , and one servant.

No comment of the wealth of the household.  The values declared by Capt George W Ebert and his son-law-law, John A Trimble, approach $1M in 2015 US dollars.. Today my sister, Judy, and her husband, Nick Maravich, own the property.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2015 Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved

No part of this website may be reproduced without permission in writing from the author

Steamboat Video from 1929

Wednesday, March 18th, 2015

I was led to a fascinating Facebook page on the unusual history of Pittsburgh.  Many thanks to Pat Dunsey for finding this site. 

 

The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating History of Pittsburgh

 

One video shows a parade of steamboats on the Ohio celebrating the opening of the nine foot channel between Pittsburgh and Cairo.  Mrs Howard of Howard Shipbuilding Co strikes a bell aboard the str Cincinnati to officially open the waterway. 

The video was filmed on 18 Oct 1929 just eleven days before Black Tuesday, 29 Oct 1929 when the stock market crashed to begin the Great Depression.

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1589729194604283

 

 

The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating History of Pittsburgh is definitely time well spent.

 

 

Copyright © 2015 Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved

Mammoth Discovery in Georgetown

Tuesday, March 10th, 2015

Mammoth Discovery in Georgetown (Beaver Valley Times Mar 1988 a1)

 

Mammoth Discovery( BVTimes Mar 1988 a10)

Mammoth Discovery( BVTimes Mar 1988 a10 b)

 

 A choice tidbit from the Beaver Valley Times in Mar 1988.

 

Statistics for 2014

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015

Today I completed my review of the “visit” statistics for 2014.  The page It used to be a River Town was by far the most popular page.  It was followed by the bio of Capt Thomas Stevenson Calhoon.  Surprising me in third position was the general description of Civil War Transports.  Due to the Sesquicentennial, all things Civil War have been intensified.  Yet the biographies of the specific Civil War transports, str Clara Poe, str Horizon, str Kenton did not reveal increased activity. 

 

Not in the top ten list but interesting to me, was the number of visits to the page of Capt Adam Poe’s River Experiences.  I find this memoir of his life fascinating.  I have three copies.  All differ.  I believe that the hand typed manuscript I have loaded on the website is the most complete version.  The eBook published by the University of Pittsburgh and the serial presentation by James F Mullooly edit some personal family information.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2015 Francis W Nash
All Rights Reserved