Georgetown Steamboats

Jacob Poe, the second son of Thomas Washington Poe Sr and Elizabeth Hepher, was born on Thursday, 13 May 1813, in New Lisbon, Columbiana Co, OH.  He died on Friday, 13 Mar 1891 in Georgetown, Beaver Co, PA and was interred in Georgetown Cemetery.  

 

 

Jacob Poe was a well known riverman and grandson of the famous Indian fighter Adam Poe.  Spanning more than fifty years, his career as a steamboat pilot and owner of numerous packets witnessed the rise of steamboat commerce and its decline.  During the golden age of steamboats, he steamed on all the inland rivers and tributaries of the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri river systems.  He traveled far, saw much, and accumulated great wealth.  Perhaps most important of all, he was recognized as a generous leader of his community.

 

 

Family Background.

 

When he was ten, he moved with his family from New Lisbon, OH to Georgetown where he lived the remainder of his life.  His father, Thomas Washington Poe Sr, built a log home on the property where “The Poe House” still stands.  His family grew to ten.  With his young sons as deckhands, Thomas entered the profitable river freight business.  The business grew from rafting logs to keelboating coal and grain to ports as far south as Cincinnati.  All of the children of Thomas and Elizabeth Poe worked the rivers.  Sons, Jacob, Adam, Thomas Washington, and George W, became steamboat captains and pilots.  Andrew was the manager of the family business and a packet owner/financier and mate.  Daughters, Nancy Ann married Capt George W Ebert, Elizabeth married Capt Standish Peppard, and Sarah H married Capt George Groshorn Calhoon. 

 

According to Adam Poe’s history published in 1891, the owners of the Beaver No 2 hired Jacob Poe as their pilot and captain in 1837.  The Beaver No 2 was in the Allegheny River trade.  That same year Jacob Poe was the pilot on the New Castle that went up the Allegheny River to Olean, NY. [1]   This trip was an incredible feat for the time.  No boat had steamed so far up the Allegheny River.  According to Gladys L Hoover, president of the Mill Creek Historical Society, only two steamboats ever made the run to Olean.  At the age of 24 years, Jacob Poe’s reputation on the water was well established.

 

On 27 Dec 1838, Jacob married Mary Ann Ebert the daughter of Frederick Ebert and Mary Ann Hague.  The marriage of Mary Ann and Jacob lasted 52 years and produced six children.  Only two of the sons worked on the river: George WE as a pilot and Theodore Cochran (Dory) as a clerk.  Mary Ann Ebert was the sister of Capt George Washington Ebert who married Nancy Ann Poe, the sister of Jacob Poe. 

 

 

 

Early Business Ventures.

 In 1837 according to the Certificate of Enrollment records for the port Of Pittsburgh, Jacob Poe was the principle owner of the str Beaver.   The hand-written book by BM Laughlin lists two packets named Beaver.  The str Beaver rated at 31 Tons was built in Pittsburgh and registered on 27 Nov 1832.  Another str Beaver, also built in Pittsburgh was reigistered on 16 Apr 1837.   This vessel was quite probably the packet refered to by Capt Adam Poe as the str Beaver No 2.

Str Beaver

Owners and Partners	Share	Vol:	6627
Jacob Poe		Enroll No :	30
Robert Beer		Cert Date:	28 Mar 1837
TS Clarke		Cert Type::	Enrollment
		Build Locn:	Pittsburgh, PA
		Build Date:	1837
		Master	Jacob Poe

 

According to family lore, the Poe brothers,Adam and Jacob, bought the str Fallston in 1841 for low water work between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.  (The first found Certificate of Enrollment was dated 10 Jun 1842.  It is not improbable that I missed an earlier record because the older books are in fragile condition.  The certificate confirmed that four Poe brothers were shareholdrs in the vessel in 1842.)  The str Fallston was too small to accommodate passengers so two keelboats fitted with bunks were towed alongside.  [2]

 

Str Fallston

Owners and Partners	Share	Vol:	6627
Jacob Poe		Enroll No :	57
Adam Poe		Cert Date:	6/10/1842
Andrew Poe		Cert Type::	Enrollment
Thomas Poe		Build Locn:	Fallston, PA
		Build Date:	1837
		Master	Jacob Poe

 

In 1843 Jacob Poe purchased the Belmont which was built in Pittsburgh in 1842.  The Belmont was larger than the Fallston and was used on the upper Ohio River system.

 

Str Belmont

Owners and Partners	Share	Vol:	6627
Jacob Poe		Enroll No :	26
Adam Poe		Cert Date:	10/26/1843
Thomas Poe		Cert Type::
Andrew Poe		Build Locn:
		Build Date:

The next venture was the Tuscarora, built in 1848 at Glasgow, PA.  The Tuscarora was owned by a consortium of Georgetown persons.  Jacob Poe was its master and pilot. 

Str Tuscarora

Owners and Partners	Share	Vol:	6633
Jacob Poe		Enroll No :	135
Andrew Poe		Cert Date:	Enrollment
George Poe		Cert Type::	28 Aug 1849
Thomas Poe		Build Locn:	Glasgow, PA
GW Ebbert		Build Date:	1848

 

Few details exist defining the first three steamboats owned and operated by Jacob Poe.  The definitive source of packet information, “Ways Packet Directory, 1848-1994”, does not include boats built before 1848 as its title indicates.  It should also be noted that Capt John Calhoon drowned in Marietta, OH in 1846 while in command of one of Jacob Poe’s steamboats.  Whether the boat was the Fallston or the Belmont is unknown.  Capt John Calhoon was the father of Capt Thomas Stevenson Calhoon who arguably was the most far famed steamboat captain from Georgetown. 

 

 

Business Ventures after 1848.

 

John B Gordon.  Capt Jacob Poe had a share in the sidewheel packet named John B Gordon built in Brownsville, PA in 1848.  Its capacity was 57 tons.  Capt Jacob Poe had the distinction of making a trip to Chillicothe, Oh via the Scioto River on Jan 31, 1848.  The John B Gordon was snagged and sunk on the Arkansas River on 8 Jun 1851.  I do not know whether Jacob Poe was aboard at the time of the wreck. [3]

 

John B Gordon No 2.  Then Jacob Poe built the John B Gordon No 2.  Rated at 48 tons, it was a low water packet with a sternwheel design built in Brownsville, PA in 1849.  It ran on heavy dew! [4]  She had the distinction to ascend the Des Moines River to Fort Des Moines arriving on Sunday during church services.  The congregation was dismissed to watch the unusual and historic event.  In 1855 the John B Gordon No 2 was working on the Minnesota River, and later that same year was dismantled.[5]

 

Argyle.  The sidewheeler Argyle was built for Jacob Poe in Freedom, PA in 1853.  It was rated at 319 tons – the largest capacity Poe boat to date.  Partners in the venture were Capt George W Ebert and Standish Peppard.  Capt Ebert commanded the boat between Cincinnati and New Orleans and St Louis and New Orleans.  Standish Peppard was the clerk.  The Argyle served during the Civil War transporting Gen Grant’s troops on the Tennessee River.  Whether it was impressed or contracted is unknown.  In Apr 1862, the Argyle was sold to Capt John Kyle and others of Cincinnati.  She sunk in deep water on 17 Jan 1867 at Taylorsport, KY.  The cabin deck and pilot house floated to Louisville and lodged at the foot of Sixth Street in Feb 1867.[6]

 

Jacob Poe.  The sternwheeler, Jacob Poe was built in Freedom, PA in 1855 for Capt Jacob Poe.  It was used to carry cargo to St Paul in 1857.  In 1860, she was used in the Pittsburgh to Louisville trade.  In 1862, she was transporting US Army supplies on the Cumberland River.  Capt Jacob Poe was the master and pilot during these trips.  In July 1862, the Jacob Poe was sold to Capt John Kyle who ran her from Cincinnati to Brownsville, PA to be dismantled. [7] 

 

Belmont.  The Belmont was a sternwheel wooden hull packet (153x31x4.5) built in California, PA and finished in Pittsburgh in 1856.  Capt George Washington Ebert was her first master and part owner with others principally from Georgetown, PA.  The original ownership was divided as follows:

Str Belmont

Owners and Partners	Share	Vol:	6638
GW Ebert	3/16	Enroll No :	139
Jacob Poe	3/16	Cert Date:	23 Aug 1856
Thomas Poe	1/4	Cert Type::	Admeasurement 70
Andrew Poe	1/4	Build Locn:	California. PA
George Poe	1/8	Build Date:	1856
Elizabeth McClure	1/8

 

All members of the Georgetown Poe family shared in the profits as well as the risks of their river business ventures.  Widowed in 1854, Elizabeth (Poe) McClure married Capt Standish Peppard in 1857.  The Belmont was used in the Pittsburgh to Cincinnati to St Louis commerce.[8]

 

In the spring of 1859, Capt SC Trimble bought control. After serving as the second clerk under Capt George W Ebert, Capt Thomas S Calhoon, 26 years became the master of the Belmont under its new ownership.  On May 7, 1859 while moored at the Pittsburgh wharf, a spectacular fire burned a number of boats.  The Belmont moved to safety in mid river unscathed, but the wind blew her alongside the burning JH Conn and the two packets burned together.[9]

 

Neptune.  The Neptune was a sternwheel wooden hull packet (150×39.5×4) built in California, PA and finished in Pittsburgh in 1856.  Capt Adam Poe was her first master and part owner with others principally from Georgetown, PA.  The original ownership was divided as follows:

Str Neptune

Owners and Partners	Share	Vol:	6640
Adam Poe	3/8	Enroll No :	287
Thomas Poe	1/4	Cert Date:	24 Oct 1857
Jacob Poe	3/16	Cert Type::	Admeasurement 179
George Poe	1/16	Build Locn:	California, PA
Jacob Diehl & Co	1/8	Build Date:	1856

 

John Diehl, probably a family friend, was the owner of one of the general stores in Georgetown.  After the Civil War, he opened a grocery in Pittsburgh.

 

The Neptune was used in the Pittsburgh to St Louis commerce.[10]

 

At the outbreak of the war, the Neptune was sold to Capt John Kyle of Cincinnati, Oh.  She was used in the Cincinnati to Memphis trade and along the Cumberland River.  This use was probably transporting Union Army troops and supplies with Capt Adam Poe in the pilot house.  On 19 Mar 1862, the Neptune smashed into the Clarksville Bridge and was a total loss. [11]

 

Clara Poe.  The Clara Poe was a trim sternwheel packet built in California, PA in 1859 (149x32x4’9”) and rated at 208 tons.  Her first master was Capt Thomas W Poe.  Ownership was divided as follows:

                                    Str Clara Poe

Owners and Partners	Share
Jacob Poe	1/4
Thomas Poe	1/8
Marin L Poe	1/8
George Poe	1/8
Jonathan Kinsey	1/8
George W Ebbert	1/8

 

The Clara Poe was used in the Pittsburgh to Cincinnati trade until impressed into US service in 1862. 

 

The 78^th PA Infantry boarded “on Captain Thomas Poe’s Clara Poe…  At 6:00 PM ropes were released, whistles sounded, anchors weighed, and the Clara Poe… sailed quickly from the Monongahela River into the Ohio River enroute to their jump-off point of Louisville, Kentucky, some three days away.”  This sendoff was vividly recorded on Oct 18, 1861.  The Clara Poe was one of six steamboats chartered by Commodore WJ Kountz, who has charge of the transportation by river of troops and Government supplies.[12]  The other five steamers at the Monongahela Wharf that Oct day were the Moderator, Sir William Wallace, JW Hallman, Argonaut, and the Silver Ware.  The Moderator in May 1863collided at night with the Horizon owned by Capt Jackman T Stockdale of Georgetown, PA.  Many soldier lives were lost. 

In Apr 1862, the Clara Poe was a member of the expedition to Pittsburg Landing.  Whether the Clara Poe was chartered or impressed to service is unclear. [13]

 

On May 13, 1863 the Clara Poe transported the 14^th Illinois infantry from Memphis to Vicksburg.[14] 

 

The Clara Poe was chartered from 24 Jun 1863 for an unknown period, from 4 Dec 1863 to 4 Jan 1864, and again from 8 Jul to 15 Aug 1864. [15]  A report in the New York Times on Aug 15, 1864  stated “On Saturday noon of the last week the Clara Poe, bound for the Tennessee River with two heavy barges loaded with government stores, having on her own deck a load of fat cattle was attacked by a rebel force estimated at 700.  The rebel commander Johnson ordered the Clara Poe to bring to, and upon her Captain refusing to comply. a fire of musketry was poured upon her.”  The article goes on to state that the Clara Poe had been pierced with approximately 500 musket bullets.  It goes into great detail about the escape – discarding the barges, running the cattle off the deck into the river, etc.  A good read. [16]  

 

The last entry for the Clara Poe was on Apr 17, 1865.  The Clara Poe was burned by the Confederates at Eddyville on the Cumberland River while transporting supplies and barges of hay to Nashville.  [17]

 

Yorktown.  The Yorktown was a sternwheel packet built in Freedom, PA in 1864 with a rated capacity of 426 tons.  Capt Jacob Poe, the initial owner, brought her out in Oct 1864 for a Pittsburgh to Louisville trip.  From the files of the Pittsburgh “Commercial” dated 28 Oct 1864:  The new and pretty Yorktown, Capt Poe, leaves for Louisville Saturday.  In Jan 1865, Capt George W Ebert bought control of the packet with Standish Peppard in the office.  Her main route was Pittsburgh to Cincinnati with an occasional trip to Nashville.[18]  In Mar 1866, Standish Peppard hired as his second clerk a son who had served three years with the Union Army.  Unfortunately, the first name was not given.  

 

In 1867 and again in 1868, the Yorktown steamed to Ft Benton in Montana Territory.  In 1867, the Yorktown docked at Ft Benton on 14 Jun with 210 tons of freight and 15 passengers.  Like clockwork, the Yorktown docked at Ft Benton on 14 Jun 1868 with 200 tons of cargo and with 125 tons of freight and 20 passengers. [19]  It is unclear whether Jacob Poe was aboard as a pilot during these trips.  The Yorktown was off the books in 1869.[20]

 

Barranquilla.  The Barranquilla was a trim sternwheel wooden hull packet built in Pittsburgh, PA in 1869 under the supervision of Capt Jackman Taylor Stockdale of Georgetown, PA.  She was contracted for work on the Magdalena River in Columbia, South America.  Her first master was Capt Thomas S Calhoon; Jacob Poe and Andrew J Parr served as pilots.  No doubt other Georgetown’ers including Poes helped deliver the steamer to Columbia.[21] 

 

The route from Pittsburgh to the Magdalena River was long and dangerous.  Sternwheel packets with their low draught were not designed for ocean adventures.  From New Orleans the packet sailed along the coast to Key West.  From there she island hopped via Jamaica to reach her destination; badly battered but operative. 

 

Glencoe.  The Glencoe was a sidewheel wooden hull packet built in Shousetown, PA in 1870 and completed in Pittsburgh in 1871.  It was a big sidewheeler (275x43x7) built for deep water and operation in the Louisville to New Orleans trade.  The original owners were Capt Thomas S Calhoon and Capt Jackman T Stockdale.  The pilots who took her out for her maiden voyage were Jacob Poe and his son George WE Poe.  The first clerk was John QA Parr. [22]

 

 

General Chas H Tompkins.  In 1878, Capt Poe was a pilot aboard the General Chas H Tompkins, a sternwheel packet built in Pittsburgh for William J Kountz.  Piloted by Jacob Poe, she left Pittsburgh on May 12, 1878 for the Missouri River.  She was lost on the Arkansas River after 1881.

 

 

Personal History.

 

Family.  The Poe House was built by Jacob Poe on the property inherited from his father.  According to Harriet Calhoon Ewing in an interview conducted by Capt Way in Dec 1965, Jacob Poe was known as Uncle Jake to the entire town.  “Uncle Jake was strong-minded, level-headed, progressive, and generous to a fault.”, according to Harriet Calhoon Ewing. [23] 

 

Following the deaths of Jacob Poe’s and Mary Ann Ebert Poe on 27 Aug 1905, The Poe House became the residence of the families of Charles Edgar Poe and George Washington Ebert Poe, sons of Jacob Poe.  Late in life George WE Poe resided home with his niece, Lillian May (Poe) Wagner and his niece Parthenia Parr Calhoon until his death in 1943.  The last of the Jacob Poe line, Mrs Wagner lived in The Poe House till her death on Jul 2, 1971.

 

 

 

Jacob Poe also cared and provided for his neighbors.  At the time of his father’s death in 1846, Thomas S Calhoon was 12 years.  At a younger than usual age, Thomas S Calhoon served as  pilot or clerk on several of Jacob Poe’s steamboats suggesting that Thomas S Calhoon received at least part of his river education from Jacob Poe.  Whether this act was deemed an obligation by Jacob Poe is unknown. What is known is the families of Jacob Poe and Thomas S Calhoon lived across First St in Georgetown for four generations (approximately 60 years).  These connections indicate that Jacob Poe treated Thomas S Calhoon like a son when he was a boy and like a peer when he was grown.  The Christmas Eve dinner invitation indicates the two families also celebrated socially.

 

 

 

River Philosophy.  Jacob Poe started as a pilot in 1837 and ended his career as a licensed master after 1891.  Pilots were the princes of the river.  Without pilots, a tall stack packet was worthless.  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 issuance and revocation of pilot’s licenses controlled by the Steamboat-Inspection Service was established by the steamboat act of Aug 30, 1852.  One objective of this act was the attempt to curb riverboat racing and reduce the number passenger deaths due to steamboat disasters caused by boiler explosions.  Boat inspections and the licensing process did improve safety, but the act did not eliminate racing events which were not directly advertised yet well known to the public.  Races were falsely claimed to be the accidental departure of two packets from the same city at the same time with the same destination and no intermediate stops except for refueling.

 

Steamboat captains and pilots were high stakes gamblers.  High risks and high rewards for the rivermen, and peak excitement for her passengers.  The term “fighting pilot” was used to describe a pilot who loved racing.  For a fighting pilot, the balance between speed and safety tilted toward speed.  Fast boats attracted more passengers and better rates for cargo.  Americans of the time were obsessed with speed, as they are today.  To the best of my knowledge, Jacob Poe never held the horns for any trade route.  A boat that held the honor of fastest time on a trade route was awarded a mount of gilded antlers which were usually strung between the high stacks of the boat or mounted in the pilot house.

 

River boats were admired for their luxury, their comfort, their ornamentation – in a word their style.  They had the grace of swans on a highway which cost nothing to build.  Some were faster but were not so reliable; some were larger but also slower; some were more luxurious, but carried less freight.   

 

Personal Wealth.  According to 1860 census data, Jacob Poe had a net worth greater than $1,000,000 converted to 2007 dollars.  His declaration was second to his brother Thomas Washington Poe in the borough of Georgetown.  In 1870, the order was the same, but the amounts were reduced by 30%.  The war years had not been good for river commerce.  At the outbreak of the war, all Mississippi River commerce stopped.  During the war whether impressed or contracted to service by the US Army Quartermaster, packet business was unprofitable.  Wage scales controlled by the Quartermaster were less than pre-war rates.  Even the high profit of the Missouri River commerce during the Montana gold rush was not enough to recover from the financial setback caused by the Civil War.  Still by any measure, the Georgetown captains and pilots in 1870, especially Jacob Poe, were wealthy men for their time.

 

 

Summary.

For those who only remember the Poe family because of their celebrated fight with Big Foot in pioneer days, the record of their work as steamboat captains and pilots is astonishing.  Born within a few years of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin, they too were risk takers, doers.  Jacob Poe achieved an undying reputation as a steamboat man. 

  

Georgetown Cemetery Markersand Death Notifications .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

References.

 

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[1] Capt Frederick Way, Jr., The Steamboating Poe Family, (S&D Reflector) (Dec 1965)).
[2]  Ibid.
[3]  Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 249.
[4]  Capt Frederick Way, Jr., The Steamboating Poe Family, (S&D Reflector) (Dec 1965)).
[5]Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 249.
[6] Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 28.
[7]Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 238-239.
[8] Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 46.
[9]  Ibid.
[10] Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 342.
[11]  Ibid.
[12]  Arthur B Fox, Pittsburgh during the Civil War, 1860-1865, p. 31-32.
[13]  Charles Dana Gibson and E Kay Gibson, Dictionary of Transports and Combatant Vessels Steam and Sail Employed by the Union Army 1861 – 1868, (Ensign Press, Cambridge, MA 1995), p 63.
[14]  Internet Complete History of the 46^th Illinois Veteran

[15]  Charles Dana Gibson and E Kay Gibson, Dictionary of Transports and Combatant Vessels Steam and Sail Employed by the Union Army 1861 – 1868, (Ensign Press, Cambridge, MA 1995), p 189.
[16]  New York Times Aug 15, 1864.
[17]  Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 99.
[18] Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 493-494.
[19]  Joel Overholser, Fort Benton World’s Innermost Port, (River & Plains Society, 1987), p. 64-69.
[20] Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 493-494.
[21] Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 38.
[22]  Capt Frederick Way, Jr., The Steamboating Poe Family, (S&D Reflector (Dec 1965)).
[23]  Capt Frederick Way, Jr., The Steamboating Poe Family, (S&D Reflector) (Dec 1965)).

 

 

 

 

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