Capt Richard Calhoon

Richard Calhoon, steamboat captain, was born in 1821 in Greene Township, Beaver County, PA.   In 1841, he married Elizabeth McCurdy who was born in Pittsburgh in 1824.  Richard Calhoon and his wife lived in Georgetown until 1886.  Renting their Georgetown home, they moved to Beaver, PA to live with their daughter Isadora who was the wife of Smith Curtis.  On 25 Sep 1895, Richard died at his daughter’s home in Beaver.  His wife, Elizabeth returned to Georgetown to live with another daughter, Susan Mary Peters.   Elizabeth died at the Peters’ residence in 1896 and was buried next to her husband in Beaver Cemetery.[1]

 

 

Family Background.

 

Born in 1786, William Calhoon, was a farmer in Greene Township, Beaver County, PA.  William’s wife Elizabeth Hutchinson was born in 1783 and  survived him many years.  She was the mother of ten.  All eight of the sons became river captains.  John, born on the farm near Georgetown, was the steamboat captain who drowned in the Ohio River at Marietta in 1846.  Joseph Mc was a cholera victim whose body was returned with great difficulty from St Louis in 1850.  His story was told in the Georgetown tale The Body.  Daughter Elizabeth died young;  Mary Jane became the wife of Jackman T Stockdale.  Richard has a storied career as a packet owner and pilot.

 

Richard Calhoon and Elizabeth McCurdy had five children:

(1)  Isadora M       Aug 1842   29 Feb 1904.
(2)  Eldorado                 1844       Dec 1923
(3)  Susan M       21 Jul 1848   26 Jan 1934
(4)  John N         27 Jul 1851   11 Feb 1934
(5)  Frank               Apr 1854  8 Sep 1856

While the Richard Calhoon family lived in Georgetown, they were valued members of the Presbyterian Church in Smith’s Ferry.   Always a staunch Republican, Richard Calhoon like most of the Georgetown steamboat owners was also affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.  While in Beaver with their daughter Isadora, Richard Calhoon served Judge Wickham as tipstaff in the Beaver Courts.

 

After the death of his brother John in 1847 followed by his sister-in-law Nancy in 1847, Richard Calhoon took the eldest son, Thomas Stevenson Calhoon into his home.  Thomas S Calhoon lived with his uncle for twenty years till his marriage in 1867.

 

 

 

River Career.

 

Although he lived on a farm, steamboating was the career he followed for almost fifty years.  Richard Calhoon commanded the following list of fifteen vessels.  Some he purchased.  Most he built.  He spent most of his career steaming on the Mississippi to New Orleans and the Ohio to St Louis.

 

During the Civil War, Richard Calhoon was captain and Thomas S Calhoon was clerk on the transports Leonora and Horizon.  The Horizon collided with the Moderator running the batteries at Vicksburg at night without lights resulting in great loss of life.  Richard’s brother-in-law, John N McCurdy was an engineer on the iron clad Romeo on the Mississippi.  After moving to Allegheny City in 1864, Capt Jackman T Stockdale became the business manager of their boats.

 

 

 

New Lisbon.   1836.

 

American.       The American was a sternwheeler built in Smith’s Ferry and finished in Pittsburgh in 1845.  She was rated at 118 tons.  Richard Calhoon was her first master and JT Stockdale, his first position afloat, was clerk.   The American exploded downbound between Louisville and Madison killing four and scalding ten.    In 1850, she was off the books = dismantled.[2]

 

 

America.   The America was a sternwheeler built for the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati trade in 1846.  She was rated at 142 tons.  Capt Richard Calhoon was her master; I assume Thomas S Calhoon was her clerk.  in 1848 approximately 15 miles downriver from Madison, IN, the boilers exploded.  The str America was a total loss.[3]

 

Caledonia.  A small sternwheel packet built in Industry, PA for Capt Richard Calhoon.  She was registered at 124 tons and used in the Pittsburgh and St Louis trade.  During a great storm at Evansville, IN on 9 Aug 1851, the Caledonia was capsized and lost.

 

Financier.       In 1850 Adam Poe built the second Financier steamer which he operated for three years.  The sterwheeler was owned by Adam Poe and others from Georgetown including Richard Calhoon.  Going down the Ohio one night after Paducah, a mystery passenger arrived on board.  The newborn of Mr Wilder and his wife arrived and was aptly named after the captain in accordance with river tradition.  The little stranger was named Adam Poe Wilder.  All went well for the mother and baby.  Capt Poe landed little Adam and his parents about 8 miles below St Louis.  Capt Poe never heard from the Wilder family. [4]

 

Aleonia.  Rated at 286 tons, the Aleonia was a sidewheeler built in Elizabeth, PA in 1851.  Owned principally by JT Stockdale (5/16), the remainder was shared between three Pittsburgh men and three men from Georgetown: Richard Calhoon (1/8), Thomas Smith (1/8), and Samuel Trimble (3/16).  She was off the books in 1858. [5]

 

Caledonia.  The second Caledonia was a side wheel packet built in McKeesport, PA in 1853 for Capt Richard Calhoon.  She was registered at 239 tons and used in the Pittsburgh and St Louis trade.  On 22 Feb 1855, the Caledonia collided with the Endeavor.   The Caledonia sunk and was raised.  Later in Dec 1855, she was laid up for 80 days due to ice at the mouth of the Muskingum River.  On 17 Mar 1866, Capt Calhoon weighed the risks and entered the Ohio bound for Pittsburgh.  A huge ice flow cut her down.  [6]

 

 

Metropolis.  The Metropolis was a 254 ton side wheel packet built in California, PA in 1855.  Her first owner and master was Capt CE Haslett.  One boiler exploded in West Columbia, VA killing Capt Haslett and several of the crew.  Capt Richard Calhoon bought the Metropolis for the Pittsburgh and New Orleans trade.  Downbound from Cincinnati on 26 Dec 1858 in a fog, she hit the bank.  The wreck was a complete loss.  John A Trimble and William A Trimble were listed as stockholders at the time of the wreck.[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
George W Ebber 3/16
Jacob Poe 3/16
Thomas Poe 1/4
Andrew Poe 1/8
George Poe 1/8
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 1854, Elizabeth (Poe) McClure married 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 from Richard Calhoon. 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]

 

 

Melnotte.  Built in California, PA in 1856, the Melnotte, a sternwheeler, was used in the Pittsburgh and Louisville and New Orleans tramp trades.  Original owners included her first master, Capt E Gordon.  The Melnotte was noted for its calliope.  In Mar 1861 in Wheeling, a local newspaper editor recognized “Dixie’s Land, The Old Gray Horse, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Katy Darling”.  The calliope was also mentioned in an article in the Cincinnati in Oct 1859. [10]  Capt Richard Calhoon owned and commanded the Melnotte during the Civil War.  During the war, the Melnotte was in the Army service from Apr 1, 1863 till Jul 16, 1865.  In Jun 1863, the Melnotte was used to transport artillery pieces and 300 men to counter a rebel force, Morgan’s Raiders, purported to have crossed the Ohio River. [11]

 

On 12 May 1869, the Melnotte burned in Cincinnati with five other boats.  Capt Calhoon was not the owner at that time.

 

 

Leonora.  In 1862 Richard Calhoon with John N McCurdy, Thomas S Calhoon, and William White as equal partners acquired the steamer Leonora for $20,000.  With Richard Calhoon its master and Thomas S Calhoon clerk, the Leonora was contracted by the Army Quartermaster during the Civil War to transport troops to Cairo, Nashville and Louisville.  The Leonora was part of the expedition to Pittsburg landing in Apr 1862 to remove sick and wounded soldiers.  The Leonora was sold for $9,767.12.

 

Citizen.   The Citizen was a sternwheell packet built in Brownsville, PA in 1860 for Capt Richard Calhoon.  Built for the Pittsburg and Cincinnati trade, the Citizen was registered at 233 tons.  Sometimes the Citizen steamed to Evansville, IN and Memphis.  In Sep 1865 while the Panhandle railroad bridge in Steubenville, OH was under construction, the Citizen tried to run the span.  Both stacks and the pilot house were torn from the vessel along with other damage.  Her last trip was to St Louis with two barges of crude oil (2,000 barrels) shipped by WP Logan of Pittsburgh.  She was off the lists in 1867. [12]

 

Horizon.  Built in California, PA in 1854, the John C Fremont, as the Horizon was first named, was a modest sized sternwheel packet rated at 315 tons.  At that time its principal owner, Capt Jackman Taylor Stockdale, was a young man of 26 years who lived in Georgetown, PA.  The unpretentious Fremont was manned for the most part by Georgetown men:  Capt Richard Calhoon was her master with Thomas S Calhoon (clerk) and Joseph Calhoon (steward), and William Briggs (engineer married to Capt Stockdale’s sister). [13]

 

On 22 Apr 1863, the Horizon ran the Vicksburg and Grand Gulf batteries with supplies.  Her civilian crew, except for her pilots, was temporarily replaced by Army officers and soldiers.  Badly damaged by shell fire, she ran the gauntlet successfully. [14]

 

On May 1, 1863 the Horizon collided with the streamer Moderator at night.  Both boats were running without lights.  Many soldiers were lost when the Horizon sank including Swedish members of Stolbrand’s Battery. .[15]  The government paid $18,500 for the loss of the packet.[16]

 

Capt Stockdale or Richard Calhoon was quite probably the pilot of the Horizon during its missions in the Civil War.  I have found no evidence of any other boats Capt Stockdale owned or operated between the years 1861-1863 so I assume he was aboard the Horizon.

 

Delaware.  Built in Freedom, PA in 1862, the Delaware was a sternwheel packet rated at 168 tons.  Used principally in the Pittsburgh – Cincinnati – Louisville trade, in 1866 she made a trip to Dubuque, IA towing three barges loaded with railroad iron.  She burned in Cincinnati on 16 Aug 1868 along with three other boats:  Pine Grove, Potomac, and Ezra Porter. [17]

 

Coal Bluff.      1877    No information in Way’s Directory.

 

 

Summary.

 

A body of work extending more than half a century on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers alone is enough to make Richard Calhoon a Hall of Famer in steamboating lore.  Adding Civil War service at Vicksburg and Pittsburg Landing strengthens that position.  Owning and operating fifteen boats, most of which he built, makes Richard Calhoon the most accomplished riverman whose name you will never hear.

 

 

 

 

 


 

References. 

 

 


[1] Alexander C McIntosh, A Genealogy Report on the Calhoon Family.
[2]  Frederick Way, Jr., Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 20.
[3] Frederick Way, Jr., Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 19.
[4] Adam Poe, Account of Adam Poe Sr River Experiences, 2 May 1887.
[5] Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 9.
[6] Frederick Way, Jr., Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 68.
[7] Frederick Way, Jr., Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 320.
[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. 318.
[11]  [11]  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 223.
[12] Frederick Way, Jr., Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 88.
[13] Frederick Way, Jr. Private Letter

[14] 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 152.
[15] Frederick Way, Jr., Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 217.
[16]  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 152.

[17] Frederick Way, Jr., Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 123.

 

 

 

 

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