CREDITS AND QUERIES
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New Query Added
12/04/07

Name: Roger Otis

Name: Carole Absher
Time: 3/17/2000
Dave. My great grandfather, James Guthrie was an riverboat "engineer" on the Mississippi. He lived in New Orleans. At one time there was a "Guthrie Landing on the river in NO.
I find a listing for the riverboat "James Guthrie" owned by the captain and pilots that barged coal on the Mississippi to NO. The years, 1850s, would be right. Do you have any ideas where I could look to find more information on the boat and/or my great grandfather?

Name: Larry Robert Devine
Time: 3/26/2000, 7:05 AM
Dave It's Larry Devine from Canada. I sure would like to obtain a number of blueprints of the steamers that passed along the river. Especially, plans for the SEA GULL THE BLUE WING AND THE BLUE WING ll of the KENTUCKY RIVER STEAM PACKET LINE" . I am extremly interested in obtaining plans for the Diana owned by Capt B.H. PERRY J Winston Coleman, Jr. in his book states that the Diana drew but 9" of water. This would be perfect for use on the Middle Grand at Caledonia, Ontario and even the upper Grand River.
!!!!!DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE THESE PLANS COULD BE FOUND!!!!!!!!!

Name: Larry Robert Devine
Time: 3/27/200, 7:30 AM
Dave. I am wondering if there are any shallow draft tow boats that are availible for sale. with either a steam or diesel driven power train. Can you place an advertisment for me, It must be shallow draft.I am concidering to set up a new excursion company, Called the Grand river line. I will have a barge built to accomodate between 1 and 2000 peoplke. I wish to set it up as a public company. Can you write something up. for me. Any omne intersted in investing is welcome.

Name: Forrest Fothergil
From: Denver
Time: 2000-03-28 00:30:19
Comments: The Civil War Journal of 2nd Liut. Rev. Victor M. Dewey mentiones a steamer called "Diado." I have very little information on it. All I know is it carried the 124th Ill. Inf. Vols. from Cairo to Columbus on 7 Oct 1862 My guess is that it did duty on the Mississippi for most of the war. The diary is not currently available, and frankly it doesn't give much information on the War. Most of the entries give only the specifics of where the 124th marched that day.

Name: Ana Guedes
Time: 04/20/2000, 12:49 PM
Hello,
My name is Ana, and I bought a ticket sold back in 1843 for $10, for a passage on a steamboat...I would love to have some more information about the ticket. I don't know if you can help me. I saw your email address on the Web under riverboats. If you can help the other information is (however it is not easy to read the handwriting, but it seems) that it was for Steam Belle of ?Attarapu? Attorapu? does it ring a bell? I would appreciate your help, or a hint where I could find more information.
Thank you so much
Ana Guedes

Name: Robert Combs
Time: 5/4/2000, 7:59 AM
I was wondering if you had any information about a steamboat owner and pilot named Captain Samuel Ramsey Milliken (my great-great-grandfather) of Paducah, Kentucky owned and operated steamers and packet lines on the Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio and Cumberland Rivers from about 1832 to 1859 when he moved Texas for health reasons. His brother Ulysses was a riverboat pilot as well.
Thanks your help--Robert Combs

Name: Jerry Jones
Date: 06/09/2000
I'm looking fo information on a Boat called the Lillie Lu, it worked the Tombigbee River from Fulton Ms. to Mobile Ala. sometime just after the Civil War. We found a grave of the Captains Wife and would like to find out more about who he was and maybe can help relatives locate her! Any help from your folks would be greatly appreciated!

Name: Carol Booher
Date: 06/11/2000
ON THE 1850 CENSUS IT STATES THAT MY ANCESTOR HENDERSON HANNIGAN WAS A BOATMAN. ON THE 1860 CENSUS IT STATES THAT HE WAS A STEAMBOAT CAPTAIN. THIS IS THE KANAWAH COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA CENSUS. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE I COULD FIND INFORMATION ON THIS PERSON. OR THE BOAT.

CAROL BOOHER

Name: Dawn Lindell
Date: 06/30/2000
Dear Dave,
I am doing a search on a vessel dating back from 1840's. In 1845 a palatial Mississippi River steamboat commanded by captain John Tobin, the White was chartered by one of my grandfathers for his two daughters double wedding. I searched the names in your site, and the closest I came was J.M. White. How would I know if this were the right vessel? The recored documents have "White" nothing else.
Thank you so much, Dawn Lindell

Name: Norma Key, Folsom CA,
Date: 02/23/2001
Hi David.
I have enjoyed your sight but was not able to locate any info on the Adam Heine Steamboat. Can you point me to another site that might have info on steamboats used on the Mississippi river during the civil war.
I received this info from my great grandfathers obit:
Henry C. Gerboth, Montrose Iowa.
"His experiences on the river included; during the civil war, considerable work on transport boats. He acted as engineer on the Adam Heine which was in the service of General Grant and from which he directed maneuvers of the army and navy."
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Norma Key in Folsom CA

Name: Marilyn McGuire
Date: 02/26/2001
Dave,
What a great site this is.
I am looking for infomation on my GGGrandfather James B. McGuire who was the pilot of a steamboat on the Kentucky River about 1870's. I have one of the licenses issued to him which is dated 1873. I believe that his father Hiram McGuire was also a captain of a boat on the river in the 1820s.
Do you know how I might find any information on him and the boats he might have been sailing? So far I haven't had much luck.
Thanks for your time. Marilyn McGuire

Date: 13/09/2001
Name: Not given
Hi! Ancestors, William Larimer and William B. Larimer were boat builders. Do you know anything about The Marmet Co. or the boat Florence Marmet? Possibly located in Mason, West Virginia and Cincinnati.
Enjoyed looking at your site. Thanks.
Note: there was a Capt. Larimer

Name: Jenni:
"I am researching info on my ggggrandfather who was Joseph Coe a steamboat captain on the Ohio and other rivers time period 1800-1829.

Received 12/25/02
Dave - found your interesting site. Have you any reference to a steamship named the St. Louis Zephyr? I have such a cachet on a postal cover mailed in St. Louis in 1954 and cancelled STEAMBOAT. Don't find any information.
Thanks for any help.
Don Dhonau in Denver.

Received 11/13/04, from Lil Heselton
Dave
Have you ever heard of the "CLARION" a paddlewheeler ?/ steamboat? apparently owned by Oliver Keep and Captained by him and John C Hoffman. Ran from 1857-1860 on the Mississippi from St Paul down. Sank circa 1860 in St Paul levee. Apparently she was the second ship out of St Paul April 13 1857. She was previously owned by a Captain Humbertson (location unknown). John C Hoffman is my GG Father.
This information comes from a note on Ancestry.com in the Minnesota Land Concerns database under Steamboat Traffic 1852-1871. p 144 and p 158.
I am having a devil of a time runnng this ship down.

Capt. John Henry Rives

I visited your riverboat web site searching for information on John Henry Rives Riverboat Captain.

John Henry Rives is my Great, Great Grand Father on my mother's side. He was born in 1836 and died in 1873 and is buried in Jefferson, Texas.

John Henry Rives was a paddle wheel boat captain that traveled between Jefferson Texas and New Orleans, La.

From New Orleans, the boat route went up the Mississippi about 100 miles north of Baton Rouge where the Red River enters the Mississippi River. From there the route went up the Red River to Caddo Lake just west of Shreveport, La.

The route went across Caddo Lake and connected with Big Cypress Bayou that went on into downtown Jefferson, Texas.

As you may known, Jefferson was a major port city during the 1860's up till 1873 and Jefferson was second only to Galveston in tonnage transported. Jefferson was the gateway to the frontier for early Texas settlers heading west.

At this time, I don't have the name of boats that John Henry Rives Captained, photos, name of boat owners or any other details of his history. About the only other information I have on him is;
He serve as a Sergeant in Company D, 18th Texas Infantry, Confederate Army.
He requested to be burried standing upright facing towards the Red River and his request was honored.
Question:
Do you have any information on John Henry Rives that you can share?
Do you have any recommendations for sources of information?
Thank you in advance for any help you may provide.

I look forward to your response.
Jim Paullus

04/20/06
Dave,
I know you aren't currently active in your work on your riverboat site. Don't know if you even can help - but thought I'd ask. In my family history research, I came across a Williamson Gatewood who is listed as a riverboat pilot in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 St. Louis MO censuses. Can you tell me how can I find more info on him? Thank you.
Kathie - krae@infowest.com

04/22/06
I am looking for any information on Joseph W. Mullen. May have went by J. W. Mullen. His occupation was listed as "riverboat pilot." He was born in 1836 and died in 1919. His home was in St Louis, Mo. He was also in the civil war. I have checked your "M" listings, no luck. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can find out what riverboat or anything else about him? Thanks in advance.
Lynne - onken@dtnspeed.net

05/01/06
Dave:
Your web page "sign off" was in 2002, so I hope you have been able to return to your site. You have listed the SS Rufus Putnam. According to an 1840 Texas Boundary survey map, the Rufus Putnam was sunk in 1838, approximately 15 miles north of Deweyville, Texas (Hwy 12 and the Sabine River). We are presently conducting a terrestrial and underwater archaeological survey from about 1-mile north of Hwy. 12 and south to Niblett's Bluff and are hoping you might have further information on the Putnam - maybe the namesake, etc.
Thank you.
Best regard,
Bob d'Aigle
Robert P. d'Aigle, RPA
Principal Investigator
CRC, LLC, International Archaeology & Ecology
7400 Jones Drive, Suite 313
Galveston, Texas 77551

See Information on the RUFUS PUTNAM (Dave)

Name: Margaret W.White
Date: 11/21/06
I chanced upon your website concerning river steamboats.
I wonder if you have any data concerning Capt. William Perry Dugan, my great grand-father. By family tradition he captained several steamboats on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers before, during and after the Civil War. He worked for the Union transporting supplies and men up and down the rivers, and family legend has it that several of the ships were "shot out from under him." I would love to have some documentation of his career and would appreciate any guidance you could give in helping me to research the subject.

Name: Roger Otis
Date: 12/21/06
Hello, I work in an antique store in Umatilla, Oregon. We have a 19th century photo of a steamboat with the name H.R. Thompson on it. I tried to look it up on your alphabetical index but did not find it. Any info on this boat would be greatly appreciated. I am guessing from the kind of photo on glass that it is of 1860's or so vintage...thanks, Roger

Name: Erin Jasinski Compton
Date: 01/20/07
Regarding: the C. R. Suter
Hello! I've used your site many times when cataloging photographs as archivist for the Washington (MO) Historical Society. We have some interesting photos of the US CR Suter, the snagboat. On the back of one, a note says "The snag boat was built and placed in commission 1880--named C. R. Suter. Capt. Patterson in Command. Capt. E. M. Baldwin pilot until 1914." At some point the boat's name was changed to the Missouri.
Just thought I'd pass on the tidbit in case you're still updating the site.
Erin Jasinski Compton

Name: Sally Close
Date: 05/08/07
Regarding: Capt. John Ferrell Douglas
I am hoping you can help me, I am trying to find out any information about my great-great grandfather Captain John Farrell Douglas. Here is what my grandfather wrote about him after he (Captain Douglas) had moved from Hillsboro, Illinois:

"He left there and went to New Orleans and bought a steamboat which he ran between St. Louis and New Orleans. His steamboat was fired on and sunk near Vicksburg by Union Artillery before Fort Sumpter trouble. He was probably flying the stars and bars but I don't know about this.

(when war broke out he took the whole family back to Scotland or Ireland until it was over)

My grandfather Douglas was a ship's broker when he returned to United States after the Civil war, in other words he ran the ships offices for them in the Port of New Orleans, and are now called ship's factors or agents for various shipping lines, handling all the expenses, freight cargos, etc that are involved in shipping."

Do you know how I could find out the name of the steam ship that was sunk, or what company he may have been the ship's officer for? Any information about him would be very helpful.

Thanks!
Sally Close

05/10/07
Hi Dave,
Thank you for all the work you have done on this. I do have a death certificate on a John F. Douglas from New Orleans. I suspect it's him, even if a couple of the things don't match up. One is that it says he was a widower, and his wife, my great-great grandmother was still alive. She had taken her daughter to New Mexico for health reasons, which may explain this.

The certificate was issued on the 30 of January, 1888, and says he died at age 56 in the U.S. Marine Hospital of New Orleans. Would you have any idea where that is? Or if it is still in operation?

Sally

05/15/07
Dave, I have in my possession my great Uncles Vaudeville album with includes photos of the Show boats and paddle boats he was on or ones also on the river, like the America. I saw you had limited info on “French’s New Sensation”. I have a number of shots of her plus a paddleboat with the name plate of Chas. B. Pearce on the front of the wheel house sitting between her twin smoke stacks. I did not see this ship on your list. I also have one of her side with the name again Chas. B. Pearce on it. This boat could have been just a towboat but I can not tell from the notes in the scrapbook. In the book it mentions they ran from Madison Indiana down to New Orleans, LA. Are there any records of these types of trips with passenger lists? Do you know if the Pearce was a show boat or tow boat? I can only guess at the dates they made these runs since his scrapbook was made long after he and his brother left Vaudeville and things are not in chronological order in many places. Like one area shows all of the other twin acts they played with over the years and no dates are mentioned. I believe that on the Show boat trips they were a single twin act as no other twins are shown in any of the photos. It would have also been early in there career so it should have been in the range of 1909 to 1915. Their names were Alvin and Orvin Pepper (identical twins, even their mother could not tell them apart) They appeared over the years with many twin acts: The Manning Sisters, Helen & Amy, The Dolly twins, Rose & Jennie, The DeLatour twins and the Bell twins all females and no first names given. My Uncle Alvin first married the famous cornetist Marie McNeil and they also travel with her and her sister Lottie. They all played many instruments in the acts. Any information you have would be helpful and I plan to scan all of these photos and would be able to send you copies if you send me where and how (what format) you would like them sent. Then after you received them you might be able to tell me more as well.
Thank you for your time.
Linda Chambers

Name: Wintfred L. Smith
Lake County Historical Society
06/11/07
I'm searching your website at http://www.riverboatdaves.com/ and find it a real pleasure. I have much more work to do there but thought I would take time out to let you know that and to ask for your guidance.

I'm trying to locate information on the "Cairo and Tiptonville Packet Company" also advertised as "The Fast Passenger Steamer." This steamer (or steamers?) apparently ran from Cairo, IL to Tiptonville, TN on Mon., Wed., and Fri., and from Tiptonville to Cairo on Tue., Thur., and Sat. I've found an advertisement, not dated, giving the names of Cole Boren as Master, C.J. Howe as Clerk, and Frank Cassidy as Agent, with an address of No. 411 Ohio Levee, Telephone 154. I think the address was probably in Cairo, IL.

I'm writing a history of Lake Co., TN, bordering the Mississippi River and the location of Tiptonville. Any historical treatment of Lake Co. without a discussion of transportation and steamboat traffic is badly incomplete in my estimation.

I will greatly appreciate any information, tips, leads, etc., that you might be able to provide and credit will certainly be given on publication.

Thank you.
Wintfred L. Smith
Lake County Historical Society

See the EVANSVILLE - Dave

06/12/07
Looking for the wreck of the New Hampshire, Captain Howell, early 1847. I have attached a newspaper clipping, hope it comes through.
Any help would be appreciated.

08/16/07
Dave
I have attached a photo of my boat. It is not quite a packet but is passenger carrying and definetly not a tow boat. It is a converted 1958 Lonestar Cruiser with a diesel /hydraulic driving a 4 foot by 5 foot paddle wheel. A lot of fun at 4 to 6 mph and 1/2 gallon of fuel per hour!
Float safe,
Curtis

08/18/07
I've been looking for information regarding Capt. Joseph Cyrus Kitchell, who piloted on the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers in the first third of the 1900s. I have two boat names so far ... the Lorena and the Waring. I've checked your site without success. Perhaps you can refer me to another? I've tried on my own but haven't found anything more.
Thank you.
Susan Allen

09/15/07
I have a picture of a man I found in my uncles home and on the back in pencil it says: Capt.James Maginis (sp. Magennis - d.) went with him in 1857 on the steamer Rose Douglass. I saw a Rose Douglass in your archives built in Pittsburgh in 1860 and wondered if it could be the same boat? Do you have any info on Capt. Maginis or the Rose Douglass? I will send this photo with this message.
drm1959@comcast.net