Archive for the ‘River history’ Category

Civil War Pension of Samuel Clemens Lyon

Friday, October 15th, 2021

Accidentally found an interesting bit of Georgetown history this evening.  The Georgetown Lyon men were listed as steamboat engineers on many of the Poe family steamers.  According to an ancestry.com hint, Samuel C Lyon’s wife, Louisa Long (b1842-d1914), was awarded a survivors pension for his Civil War service.  The pension was awarded by the Senate and House of Representatives of the USA for his service as assistant engineer on the ram TD Horner which is listed in the Dictionary of Transports and Combatant Vessels, Union Army, 1861-1868 compiled by Charles Dana Gibson and E Kay Gibson reproduced in 1995.  The pension, approved by Congress on 8 Mar 1904, paid Louisa a pension at the rate of $12 per month.

To the best of my knowledge, none of the Georgetown captains received pensions for their service as captains, pilots,  and owners of civilian transports.  They received zero compensation for the loss of their boats – str Clara Poe and Str Horizon.  So, I was surprised to see this official notice of a pension.

In the Gibsons dictionary, the sternwheeler TD Horner was purchased by Charles Ellet on 18 May 1862 at Pittsburg(h) for inclusion in the Ellet Ram Fleet.  That ram fleet became part of the Mississippi Marine Brigade which served in the Red River Expedition in the spring of 1864.  The TD Horner was last located at Louisville on 30 Jun 1865.  No other details on the actions of the TD Horner were listed.

Before today I had assumed that Samuel C Lyon was an engineer during the Civil War on one of the Georgetown steamers commanded by Jacob Poe or Thomas W Poe or George W Ebert.  These Georgetown men were Union men.  Their beliefs were deeply felt.

 

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Ohio River Islands

Friday, November 13th, 2020

An article in the The Beaver Valley Times dated 14 Oct 2007 described the two Ohio River  islands near Georgetown: Phillis Island and Georgetown Island.  The size of both islands changed dramatically over the years.  Georgetown Island 25 acres at one time is now 4 acres.  Phillis Island from 108 acres to 20 acres.  The rate of change is approx the same.

 

Both islands were inhabited and farmed until the end of WW II.  Although the article suggested that the decrease in size was due to dredging, it was more likely caused by the increase in water level with The Canalization of the Ohio River.  Lock #7 was build in 1913 and the New Cumberland dam was opened in the 1950′s.  The water level increased enough to cover the sandy beaches in front of Georgetown and the Indian Rocks across the river.

 

Dravo Corp sold the islands to The Nature Conservancy in 1989 for $5.  The Nature Conservancy sold the islands to the federal government for $82,500 in 1991.  If my home had appreciated equally, I would today be a multi-billionaire.

 

Georgetown Islands part 1 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

 

Georgetown Islands part 2 (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

 

 

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WW II Navy LST

Tuesday, September 29th, 2020

 

Navy LST ca 1943-6 (Anna and John Nash Collection)

This  photo was taken in Georgetown from the high riverbank near the steps leading to the ferry landing now long gone.  The image is a 2×3 print ca 19400.  The vessel was probably a Navy LST (Landing Ship Tank) built by Dravo at Neville Island during WW II.  River pilots who were enlisted into the Coast Guard, referred to as “The Catfish Navy”, drove the vessels south.

Over 1K LST’s were built between 1943-1946 at various boatyards along the Ohio River.  American Bridge also built the vessels..  Some claim the LSTs won WW II.

 

 

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Poes and Wyandots

Sunday, August 30th, 2020

A series of articles in the Hancock County Courier, Sep 1966, comprise the 14th rendition of the Poes battle with the Wyandots Indians along the shores of the Ohio River.  The author, Kathryn Minesinger, was the librarian at the Sweeney Memorial Library in New Cumberland, WV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Georgetown: Lock No 7

Saturday, June 20th, 2020

Lock No 7 at Mile 36.5 below Pittsburgh is identified as Midland, PA, although it is nearby Georgetown.  The lock master’s residence is on the south bank approximately 2.5 miles from Georgetown.  There is only one access road from Georgetown to the facility, appropriately named The Dam Road.

In 1913, a year of serious flooding on the Ohio River at Easter, Lock No 7 was under construction.  When the Montgomery Dam was opened in 1959 Lock No 7 ceased  operations.

Lock No 7 Construction in 1913 (F Nash Collection)

The photo of the construction of the dam has 1913 written on  its reverse.

 

 

 

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Licensing Pilots and Engineers

Saturday, May 16th, 2020

Pittsburgh Daily Post 3 Jun 1857, Wed · Page 3.

The Steamboat Act of 1852 required that pilots and engineers pass a knowledge-based test before a license was granted.  The license was valid for twelve months.  Pilot, the prince of the river, training required years of apprenticeship.  Pilots were the most skilled and so best compensated of the steamboat officers.  As a cub pilot, a trainee had to learn the name of every town, point, bend, island, sandbar, snag, and wreck on the river.  There was no external aid to navigation; it was all in their brain.  The pilot was the flesh and blood GPS without whom a tall stack packet could not move.  Not all captains were qualified pilots, and not all pilots aspired to be captains.  Even when serving a captain who himself was a qualified pilot, the pilot at the wheel reigned supreme during his allotted watch.  The actual navigation of the boat was the responsibility of the pilot on duty.  His word was law before which everyone bowed.  A pilot’s chief indulgence was hero worship.  Their heroes were those of their own profession who had undertaken the most thrilling adventures.

On 3 Jun 1857, the successful and not so successful candidates licensed by the local inspectors in the month of May were named in the Pittsburgh Daily Post.  The number  of pilots licensed was eleven.   A close looks at the pilots included Geo W Ebert (my double great grandfather), Geo W Poe ( brother of Jacob and Thomas), Jonathan Kinsey (often clerk on many Poe family boats), Jno N Lyons (son of Samuel Lyons who wasan engineer on many Poe family boats), and John S McMillen.  Five of the eleven licensed pilots were residents of Georgetown.  Two pilot license applications were refused for “want of knowledge”.

Nineteen pilot licenses were awarded and twenty-one refused   None of named candidates were residents of Georgetown.

 

 

 

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Georgetown Steamboats List

Thursday, April 16th, 2020

The current number of steamboats attributed to Georgetown captains and owners is 107.  Additionally, the same men have registered 3 tow boats and 34 keelboats in the Custom House at the Port of Pittsburgh.  Not all of the boats listed were owned.  On some of the early boats especially, Georgetown men served as officers, captains and clerks.   To make the list, a Georgetown name had to be associated with the boat either with a Certificate of Enrollment entry or a newspaper report.

The following newspaper clippings identify early references to a Georgetown family name associated with a registered steamer.  The first is a river news column from the Pittsburgh Daily Post – dated 17 Dec 1844.  It is impossible to say which Poe brother was the captain.  A good guess would be either Jacob or Adam.

 

Belmont 441217 PittDailyPost p31

 

 

The str Cashier was registered by Capt Josh Dawson in 1847.  AJ McClure of Georgetown was a partner in the purchase of the str Cashier on 26 Dec 1850.    The paper trail of Capt McClure is slim.

 

Cashier 500126 PittDailyPost p2

 

These bits of information combined paint a detailed picture about each steamboat and their captains.

 

 

 

 

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Pilot Jacob Poe

Saturday, April 11th, 2020

Jacob Poe with Str Belmont Card (Anna L and John F Nash Collection)

Few steamboatmen traveled farther or as wide-ranging or on as many rivers as Capt Jacob Poe.  In 1837, Capt Jacob steamed to Olean, NY on the Allegheny River; in 1848 Chillicothe, OH on the Scioto River; in 1849 Ft Des Moines on the Des Moines River; in 1851 Warsaw MO on the Osage River; in 1854 Ft Riley on the Kansas River.  During the Civil War, Capt Jacob Poe was transporting troops and supplies on the Red River, White River, Yazoo River, and of course the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. After the Civil War he was on the furious upper Missouri River making several trips to Ft Benton in the Montana Territory.  He spent his life steaming on the sharp edge of a constantly moving American frontier.  Few steamboatmen are gifted to read the waters of one river, fewer exceed the scope of Jacob Poe’s travels.

From the details available, Capt Jacob Poe was often described as the pilot.  He seemed to favor work in the pilot house more than the packet  management position of the master or captain.   He preferred to read the waters rather than count the money.  He not only drove the boats and shared their ownership with his brothers, he often watched over the construction of new family boats.  No doubt his ideas were the foundation of the Poe favored mid-sized sternwheel design.

In 1837, Jacob Poe was hired for his first command – the captain and first pilot of the str Beaver No 2.  That same year he was the pilot of the str New Castle which was one of two boats ever that went up the Allegheny River to Olean, NY.

Jacob Poe’s last US Inspection Certificate was dated 1 Dec 1890.  It was his fifteenth masters license and thirty-second pilots license for the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers.  In total, fifty-three years working on the Ohio River as a steamboat pilot.  (The Steamboat Act of 1852 established in law for the first time, the license certification process for pilots, engineers, and vessels.)

The following table summarizes a few newsclips by date indicating that Jacob Poe was often employed as a pilot.  His son, George WE Poe, quit business school in Pittsburgh to serve the Union during the Civil War as a cub pilot.  After the Civil War, together the father and son team worked as pilots on some Poe family owned boats and other boats of business partners centered around Pittsburgh.  Without certain proof, Jacob Poe was assisting the development of his son’s career on the river.

 

Steamboat officer: Pilot Jacob Poe

Date Officer Steamer Name Destination Note
13 Nov 1855 Master Clifton Nashville

1

31 Oct 1864 Master Yorktown Cincinnati

2

25 Jan 1869 Pilot Sallie Louisville

3

01 May 1869 Pilot with son Argosy Cincinnati

3

20 Jan 1871 Pilot with son Glencoe New Orleans

3

23 Feb 1871 Pilot with son Silver Lake No4 Cincinnati

3

02 Mar 1871 Pilot with son Brill Cincinnati

3

09 Apr 1873 Pilot EH Dufee Ft Benton

3

18 May 1874 Pilot AJ Baker St Louis

2

15 Apr 1877 Pilot Carrie Brooks Zanesville

4

26 Nov 1878 Master John D Sully New Orleans

4

 
 

 

 

Notes:

1. The Pittsburgh Daily Post, p3

2. The Pittsburgh Daily Commercial, p4.

3. The Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, p3.

4. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, p3.

 

 

 

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More Maps

Wednesday, March 25th, 2020

More Maps

A map of Georgetown dated 1860 with a list of subscribers followed by a map of Greene Township property owners also dated 1860.

 

Georgetown 1860

 

Geene Township 1860 Property Owners

 

 

 

 

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Maps

Monday, March 23rd, 2020

I have a deep interest in maps.  “My Genealogy Hound” produced a portion of an 1911 map by Rand McNally.  The portion is Beaver Co.  Note the missing names, like Midland.  Note the town names listed that are no longer, like Bellowsville and Shousetown.

 

 

Beaver Co 1911 Rand McNally.

 

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