Archive for April, 2019

Another 150th Anniversary (16 Apr 1869)

Tuesday, April 16th, 2019

 

Today is the 150th anniversary of the departure of the str Mollie Ebert from St Louis for Ft Benton.  According to the diary of Capt Thomas S Calhoon, the str Mollie Ebert left at 4AM on Fri 16 Apr with a load of freight and passengers.  Nancy Ann (Poe) Ebert traveled with her husband, Capt George W Ebert on that trip.  Nancy Ann Poe’s journal is an invaluable historical document that reveals, first hand, the dangers, tedium, and beauty of the unsettled frontier.

Aboard the str Sallie, Capt Calhoon departed from St Louis for Ft Benton on 24 Apr 1869 in the company of the str Nick Wall and str Tacony. 

The packets Mollie Ebert, Sallie and Nick Wall were owned and operated by Georgetown men..

 

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Francis W Nash

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Posted in History of Georgetown PA, Missouri River Commerce, River history | No Comments »

Westsylvania

Friday, April 12th, 2019

Westsylvania[1]  could have become the 14th member of the colonies rather than the 35th state of the Union.  The  pioneer settlers of the area now known as the northern panhandle of West VA  were caught up in border disputes as far back as the Revolutionary War.  At times the land was considered a part of PA, OH, IN, KY, and IL.  The boundary had been a subject of great controversy, both bloody and political.

 

Both VA and PA sold the land  at different rates.  VA’s price was $25 per 100 acres cheaper.

 

In 1776, a petition was presented to the US Congress by Jaspers Yeats proposing that the new state be named Westsylvania.  On verge of war with England, it was almost one-hundred years later before action toward statehood was taken.

 

The northern panhandle, comprised of Brooke and Hancock Counties, entered the period of the Civil War as a Confederate state and emerged as a new star in the US flag.  Other names considered in pioneer days were Vandalia and Kanawah.

 

Reference.  

[1]  James F Mullooly, “Steamboat ‘Round the Bend”, Fort Vance Historical Society, 1994, p301-302.

 

 

 

 

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Packet Ownership in 1846-47

Monday, April 8th, 2019

 

In Pittsburgh, a commercial record of the steamboat arrivals and departures was published every afternoon by the Pittsburgh Board of Trade in the Pittsburgh Daily Post.  The data entered included the steamer name, the master, the port to or from, and the river condition

 

Pittsburgh aily Post 28 Dec 1846, p3.

On 28 Dec 1846, George W Ebert was the master of the str Hudson. It arrived in Pittsburgh from Wheeling, VA.   Another Georgetown captain, Capt Dawson ,was in charge of the str Wilmington which arrived from Steubenville.

 

Commercial Record published in the Pittsburgh Daily Post 18May 1847.

On 18 May 1847, 11 boats arrived in Pittsburgh.  From Wheeling, VA, Capt George W Ebert docked the str New England at the Port of Pittsburgh.  That same day, 13 boats departed.  Capt Poe was the master of the str Hudson bound for Wheeling.  Whether the Poe at the wheel was Adam or Jacob is unknown at this time.  Another Georgetowner, Capt Dawson departed the Port of Pittsburgh for Steubenville on the str Wilmington.

 

So, George W Ebert was the master of the str Hudson in 1846 while in 1847 either Adam or Jacob Poe was the master of the same boat.  This comparison is a proof that Poe family packets were shared.  Profits and losses.  Even the command of family packets was based on who was available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright©2009FrancisWNash
All Rights Reserved

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

 

 

 

 

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