I have been thinking about Capt Jacob Poe.  Uncle Jake as he was known to all in Georgetown, PA had a fascinating life which deserves more homage than I have offered.  Events involving Jacob Poe and the str Clara Poe interest me on two levels:

            (1)  What was the pilot certification test in 1890?  Could a steamboat man aged 77 years know every bar, chute, shoal on the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers between Pittsburgh and Nashville?

            (2)  Who was Chas C Townsend?  As the US Army Deputy Quartermaster General in 1890, Chas C Townsend signed the letter denying Jacob Poe compensation for the loss of the str Clara Poe which was burned by rebels on 17 Apr 1865.  It was Chas C Townsend who wrote a note in the margin of an earlier letter requesting an investigation of the event by the Dept of War.  That undated letter I assume was written much earlier than the final correspondence.  The battle for compensation was waged over 25 years through six presidencies ― with the same man ― Chas C Townsend. 

I hope to find some reasonable explanations to both questions.