Marietta, Ohio - Navigation

Ship-Building

Curiously enough the energies of the Marietta people in the line of navigation were first directed to the far away ocean. They built ships instead of river boats, and Ma- rietta, two thousand miles from the sea, was made a port of clearance from which barques and brigs, full-rigged and laden with the produce of the country, sailed for foreign ports.

Ship-building was commenced in Marietta in the year 1800, and was a flourishing industry and very beneficial to the village until stopped in 1808 by Jefferson's unwelcome and unjust "embargo act." The first ship built was a small one - a brig - of one hundred and ten tons, named the St. Clair, in honor of the governor of the Northwest Territory. She was built for Charles Greene & Company by Stephen Devol. The St. Clair took a cargo of flour and pork, and in May, 1800, cleared for Havana, Cuba, under the command of Commodore Whipple, a gallant mariner of the Revolution, by whose hand had been fired the first gun at the British upon the ocean. The brig passed the falls of the Ohio in safety, and arrived at New Orleans early in July, where she lay for several days while taking in stores, anchored in the Mississippi, not tying up at the landing on account of the high price charged for that privilege by the Spanish. Before the close of July the St. Clair started for Havana, and Comodore Whipple was again upon the ocean wave with which he had been so familiar in his younger days. The occasion of the old commodore's return to the sea was made the subject of some verses by Captain Jonathan Devol, of Marietta. Neptuneand the tritons are supposed to welcome the brave sailor:

'The triton crieth, 'Who cometh now from shore?' Neptune replieth, "Tis the old commodore.' Long has it been since I saw him before. In the year seventy-five from Columbia he came, The pride of the Briton on ocean to tame; And often, too, with his gallant crew Hath he crossed the belt of ocean blue, On the Gallic coast I have seen him tost, While his thundering cannon lulled my waves And roused my nymphs from their coral caves,

But now he comes from the western woods, Descending slow with gentle floods, The pioneer of a might train, Which commerce brings to my domain. Up, sons of the wave, Greet the noble and the brave - Present your arms unto him. His grey hair shows Life's near its close; Lets pay the honors due him. Sea maids attend with lute and lyre, And bring your conches my Triton sons; A chorus blow to the aged sire

Commodore Whipple was the only man upon the St. Clair on this trip who understood navigation and had he met with accident, incapacitating him for service, the ship would have been at the mercy of the waves. The crew was made up mostly of landsmen. The first and second mates were good common sailors, but not competent to take an observation or ascertain latitude. The St. Clair sailed in safety to the Cuban capital where her cargo was disposed of at advantageous terms. The money received for the flour and pork being invested in a cargo of sugar, the brig sailed in August for Philadelphia, Commodore Whipple in the meantime having met his son John, an accomplished navigator, whom he engaged as mate. Nearly all of the crew were taken sick with yellow fever before reaching Philadelphia and some of them before leaving the Cuban coast. Several died. The voyage was a remunerative one for the owners and encouraged the enterprising men of Marietta so that they continued building ships and sending them down the river to the sea. The St. Clair, which was the first rigged vessel built upon the Ohio, was sold in Philadelphia and her commander returned to Marietta by land.

The St. Clair was built near the foot of Monroe street, where Charles Greene & Co. established their shipyard. Several others were established about the same time. Benjamin Ives Gilman had one on the Harmar side of the river where the lock works are now located. Edward W. Tupper built ships at the foot of Putnam street on the Marietta side of the Muskingum. Colonel Abner Lord had a shipyard near where the Phcenix mills now stand. Colonel Joseph Barker built several ships and boats about six miles up the Muskingum, among the latter the flotilla engaged by Aaron Burr.

The following is a list of the ships built at Marietta at an early period, together with names of owners and commanders, furnished Colonel Ichabod Nye by James Whitney, Charles Greene & Company's master builder:

Schooner Belle, 103 tons, by J. Whitney for Gilman and Woodbridge, Captain Boyle, 1808. Schooner Maria, by J. Whitney for B. I. Gilman, 70 tons, 1814.

bargo act. This was a severe blow to Marietta. Shipbuilding had become an important industry and employed a large number of men. Three rope-walks were in operation to supply the rigging and cordage for the ships. These, too, were of course suspended by the passage of the act. No other town in the whole country was injured so much in proportion to its size by this measure as Marietta.

Ship-building was not resumed until 1844. In the summer of this year the Marietta Ship company was organized, consisting of John Mills, William and S. Slocomb, Bosworth & Wells, William R. Wells, John O. Cram, and A. T. Nye, and subsequently Nye & Hayward. A shipyard was opened where the Phoenix mills now stand. The company emplowed Captain Ira Ellis, of Portland, Maine, as master builder, and Captain William R. Wells as superintendent of construction. The first ship built was the Muskingum, launched in January, 1845. She was rigged at Marietta, with the exception of her sails which were made in Boston and sent to New Orleans. She was placed in command of Captain William R. Wells, and on the first of March left Marietta, being towed to Cincinnati, where she took on a load of pork, lard, and oil-cake. From Cincinnati she was towed to New Orleans, and, securing her sails, departed for Liverpool. At the latter place she took a return cargo and sailing for Boston, reached that port in safety and was sold.

In the meantime, the Marietta, the exact counterpart of the Muskingum, had been built by the same company. Captain Wells took her from the mouth of the Mississippi to Boston with a cargo partly from Cincinnati and partly from New Orleans. Not finding a sale for her at Boston, as he had expected to, Captain Wells made two voyages to Cuba and one to Savannah. He then went to Montevideo with a cargo of salt. While there (on shore) he heard the name Muskingum spoken, and turning in the direction of the voice he saw a young man with a spy-glass watching a vessel coming into port. As she neared the harbor Captain Wells saw that it was indeed the Muskingum. She came to anchor by the side of the Marietta, and the sister barques, built at the same yard upon the same draft and measurements (they were each of about two hundred and fifty tons capacity) were thus united in a foreign port.

About the time the Marrietta was built the business of the company was placed in control of A. T. Nye, esq. The brig Waldhoning, of about two hundred' and forty tons, was built by the Marietta Ship company in 1847, and left Marietta with Captain Jacob Cram as supercargo, and Captain Conway, of Portland Maine, as navigator. Taking on a load of pork at Madison, Indiana, she went down the Mississippi and to New York. Returning to New Orleans for an other cargo she got back to New York so late that she was quarantined and compelled to

The company built three schooners - the America and the Grace Darling, for a Mr. Kimball, of Salem, Massachusetts, each about one hundred and thirty tons capacity, and another of about the same size for a Mr. Cochrane of New Orleans.

A. B. and I. R. Waters built, in 1846, the barque John Farnum, their yard being at the point where A. T. Nye's foundry now stands. She was of two hundred and fortynine tons burden. The John Farnum was launched in February, 1847, and towed to Portsmouth. She there took on a cargo of corn, went down the river and in May, 1847, during the great famine in Ireland, arrived at Cork. From there she returned to Philadelphia and was sold to the firm of Potter, McKeever & Co., of that city. Captain A. B. Waters had charge of the vessel and cargo, and Captain George Hatch was navigator. He was afterwards mayor of Cincinnati. The master builder of the John Farnum was Captain William Knox, of Harmar.

Ohio River Navigation

In 1811 the Orleans, the first steamboat to descend the Ohio, passed Marietta. She was succeeded by the Comet, the Vesuvius, the Enterprise, the A'tna, the Dispatch, the Buffalo, the James Monroe, and in 1816 by the Washington. The Washington was the first boat whose success demonstrated the navigation of the western rivers to be practicable. This boat exploded her boilers near Harmar June 7, 1816. All the men on board except two or three were scalded, and six of them died. One man was blown overboard and drowned. Although several ladies were on board, they escaped without injury. 'lhe Washington was afterwards repaired and used in clearing out the Red river raft, and also was run on the river below Louisville. She was worn out in 1822. She was two hundred and twelve tons burthen.

The whole system of river navigation has undergone a vast and radical change since 1827. At that date towing was unknown. Everything was carried on the boat. Once in a while a boat would tow a disabled boat into port, but such things as barges were unheard of. The towing business began in the decade 1830-40. A few coal barges were first towed. Now the largest boats that pass Marietta take three hundred thousand bushels of coal in one tow. The average boat takes from one hundred and forty thousand to one hundred and sixty thousand bushels. This coal is towed from the Monongahela to Louisville for less than two cents a bushel.

An ordinary boat, from 1827 to 1831, was about one hundred feet long, eighteen feet beam, and about six feet hold, very strongly built. When light such a boat would draw from three and a half to four feet, and when loaded about six feet. She would carry from forty to eighty tons. Such a boat would have two boilers about twenty feet long and three feet in diameter.

dred to two hundred and thirty-five feet long, about thirty-six feet beam, six feet hold, draws only twenty inches light and about six feet loaded, carries from six hundred to eight hundred tons, and only has about twice the amount of boiler. The speed is very much greater than in the old days, with less steam in proportion to the size and load. The larger boats navigating the Ohio carry from fourteen hundred to eighteen hundred tons, and have less draft when light than the old boats had.

This wonderful increase in carrying capacity is owing to the vast improvements in boat-building, the boats being now made lighter and flat-bottomed. The increase in speed is owing to the great improvements in the machinery, better construction of furnaces, larger wheels, and a better proportioned power, and also to the burning of coal instead of wood. The improvement in the management of boats is also very great. The old habits of reckless intemperance among officers have, in a large measure, died out. Officers are carefully selected.,

The explosion of the Washington in 1816 has already been spoken of. There were quite a number of similar accidents during the early years of river navigation - far more than at present. The steamboat Kanawha exploded at Guyandotte June 24, 1829. This was one of the most serious casualties on the river. Four persons were instantly killed; four more died very shortly after, from injuries sustained, and quite a number of others were seriously hurt. Captain Hiram Burch, of Marietta, one of the pilots, but not at the time on duty, was thrown a considerable distance into the water and badly bruised. Caytain Burch in his long experience upon the river met with several other accidents, but by a strange providence escaped death.

The steamboat Tri-color, Captain N. Drown, of Harmar, exploded at Wheeling, April 19, 1831. Captain Drown was killed and also Henry Cherry, Joseph Wortsell, and O. B. Nowland, of Marietta. Eight persons were killed and the same number severely injured.

Washington county was, as we have seen, identified at an early date in navigation and has always been largely interested in it. The boat yards of Harmar and Marietta have furnished a very large number of the boats engaged in the river navigation, as well as some ocean ships. Many a green country boy has started from Marietta for his first sea voyage. In the decade from 1820 to 1830 boat building began and has always been carried on quite extensively. Harmar has been the chief point for boat building in the county. Many boats have been built at Marietta, and a few small ones at other points. As complete a list as can be gotten of the boats built in Marietta and Harmar is here given.

Steamboats Built At Harmar And Marietta

Other steamers built during the past four years have been as follows: The Lizzie Cassell and the Mink for Captain Davis; the General H. F. Devol for Captain Martin; the Diurnal for Captain McClure; the J. H. McConnell for Captain S. Davis; the Scotio for Captain

Until 1870 Marietta was a very bad landing place. Very few boats could make a landing at Marietta at all. The low water channel was on the Virginia side of the river, and the bar at the mouth of the Muskingum added still more to the difficulty.

A wharf boat was kept out in the river past the middle of the stream, and all the freight was carried to and from it, or else ferried across the Muskingum to and from Harmar.

The channel between the island and the Virginia shore above Marietta was always considered a bad one. The Duck Creek bar was at the head of the island, and the Muskingum bar at the foot. In 1866 the Government began to consider the matter of the improvement of the river in this part. Engineers were sent out, and reported in favor of a dam at the head of the island, shutting up the Ohio side of the river. This would, perhaps, have been best for general navigation, but it would have shut Marietta completely out from all the advantages of the river navigation. 'The people of Marietta opposed this plan strenuously, and sent a delegation to Washington to urge their interests. They succeeded in getting an order to the engineers to consult the interests of the town. In 1869 it was decided to shut up the Virginia side of the river at the head of the island, and in 1870 the contract for the dam was let to Captain Cole, of Harmar.

Atter the building of the dam, it was found that the water spread too soon below the island. To remedy this, a dike was built below the island, extending to a point opposite the mouth of the Muskingum. The work was entirely successful, and Marietta has now as good a landing as any place on the river. 'This work cost altogether forty-five thousand dollars.

'There are various other dams and improvements along the shore of Washington county. 'These are at Blennerhassett's island, Muskingum island, Cole's island, Mill Creck island, Sheets Ripple, Collins Ripple and Petticoat Ripple. These have cost altogether something over one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Nearly all of them have been made by Captain Cole, of Harmar, as have also the large majority of the completed works throughout the whole extent of the river.

The Muskingum valley is very fertile and formerly produced more than it now does. Most of the produce was at an early day brought down the river to Marietta and thence to New Orleans or Cincinnati. Now railroads furnish nearer and easier markets, and very much less is taken down the river. This is the case, although navigation for steamers is now more regular and certain than it used to be.

Prior to 1836 steamers could only go up the river in high water, and had to run the risk of getting fast in the mud somewhere by a sudden fall in the river. Thus steam navigation was very uncertain. But in 1836 the State, at an immense expense, built dams and introduced the slack water system of navigation.* Since that time the navigation of the river has been certain and regular.

The Rufus Putnam, the first steamer that ascended the Muskinum river, was built at Marietta by Captain John Green, in 1822 or 1823, for the Ohio river trade. She was what we would now term a small side-wheel boat of sixty tons. At that time it was seldom that the Muskingum river was in such a condition as to admit of the ascent of a steamboat. In January, 1824, in passing up the Ohio, Captain Green found the Muskingum high enough by reason of a freshet to admit of his going up with his boat. He gave notice to the citizens of Marietta of his intention to make the trip, and in a short time his boat was crowded with passengers quite beyond her accommodations. She left Marietta on a Friday of the month of January, 1824. The current of the river was very strong and the progress of the boat very slow. She arrived at Waterford in the evening, between eight and nine o'clock, where several joined the Marietta party. At Luke's Chute the current was so strong that she was obliged to lay by for a considerable portion of the night, but she finally got through.

As no fuel had been provided, the captain had to depend on purchasing fuel on the route. The boat passed McConnelsville about the middle of the day on Saturday, and reached Zanesville about ten o'clock Saturday night. The banks of the river were lined with people, who having seen the lights of a steamboat at a distance, and not aware of any cause tor the singular appearance, had assembled in uncertainty as to what to expect. The company on the boat were hospitably received, and many were entertained at private houses in Zanesville and Putnam. On Monday the boat made two excursion trips to Duncan's Falls and back, to gratify the desire of the people of Zanesville and Putnam to see her. Monday evening an entertainment was given the passengers and others by Judge Buckingham, of Putnam. Tuesday the boat started on her return trip. The current of the river was so strong that she descended to Marietta in about eight hours.*

The first steamer which navigated the Muskingum after the slack-water improvement was made, was the Tuscarawas. She arrived in Marietta September 18, 1841, from Zanesville, and returned the same day.

At a later date were the Emma Graham, Julia, Buckeye Belle, Malta, Viroqua, McIntyre, John Buck, Charlie Bowen, Charlie Potwin, Jonas Powell, J. H. Best, and Carrie Brooks.

The boats now running from Marietta are the Lizzie Cassell and General Devol for the through trade, and the Hubbell and a few smaller ones for the local trade.