USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II > Part 87
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Steamboats. Under the title "River Transportation" it has been shown that prior to the introduction of steamboats on western waters, the means of transportation thereon consisted of keel-boats, barges and flat-boats. The two former laboriously ascended as well as descended the stream; while the flat-boat, or "broadhorn," was a downstream craft, exclusively, and was sold for its lumber on arrival at its destination. As late as the year 1817, 20 barges and keels sufficed for the upward and downward commerce between
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the lower Mississippi and the Ohio region, while the commerce from New Orleans to St. Louis on the upper Mississippi was con- veyed in two or three barges. The same barge with an efficient crew could make the round trip in six months, and made one and sometimes two trips in a year. As the largest barges were of only 100 tons burden, the total tonnage of all the boats engaged in this upward trade could not have exceeded seven thousand tons. Whether steam could be employed on western rivers was a ques- tion. Its success between New York and Albany was not consid- ered as having been solved satisfactorily, and when it was sug- gested that a boat be built at Pittsburg, to ply between Natchez and New Orleans, an investigation of the waters to be navigated was first determined upon. Nicholas J. Roosevelt, of New York, undertook this work, with the understanding that if the report was favorable, Chancellor Livingston, Robert Fulton, and himself were - to be equally interested in the undertaking. Livingston and Fulton were to supply the capital, and Roosevelt was to superintend the building of the boat and engine. The report was highly favorable, and Roosevelt was sent to Pittsburg in 1810 to superintend the building of the first steamboat to be launched on western waters. Its size and plan were furnished by Robert Fulton. It was to be 116 feet in length and 20 feet beam. The engine was to have a 34 inch cylinder and the boiler, etc., was to be in proportion. Men were sent into the forest to obtain its timbers.
The Pittsburg "Navigator" of 1811 makes this unique comment on the intention and purpose of Fulton and Livingston: "There is now on foot a new method of navigating our western waters, par- ticularly the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. This is with boats pro- pelled by the power of steam. This plan has been carried into suc- cessful operation on the Hudson river at New York, and on the Delaware between New Castle and Burlington. It has been stated that the one on the Hudson goes at the rate of four miles an hour against wind and tide on her route between New York and Albany, and frequently with 500 passengers on board. From these success- ful experiments there can be but little doubt of the plan succeeding on our western waters, and proving of immense advantage to the commerce of our country. A Mr. Rosewalt, a gentleman of enter- prise, and who is acting it is said in conjunction with Messrs. Fulton and Livingston of New York, has a boat of this kind now (1810) on the stocks at Pittsburgh, of 138 feet keel, calculated for 300 or 400 tons burden. And there is one building at Frankfort, Kentucky, by citizens who will no doubt push the enterprise. It will be a novel sight, and as pleasing as novel to see a huge boat working her way up the windings of the Ohio, without the appear- ance of sail, oar, pole, or any manual labour about her-moving within the secrets of her own wonderful mechanism, and propelled by power undiscoverable." The boat was called the New Orleans, and descended the Ohio and Mississippi and landed at Natchez in December, 1811, where she took on lading and passengers for the first time, and passed on to New Orleans. The New Orleans was
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the first steamer that attempted to ascend the river, leaving New Orleans for Natchez on January 23, 1812. A week afterward the Louisiana Advertiser said, "We are enabled to state that she can stem the current at the rate of three miles an hour ; she went from the city of Houma, 75 miles, in 23 hours." She ran as a packet from New Orleans to Natchez for more than a year, when she was wrecked upon a snag near Baton Rouge. The "Navigator" tells us "her accommodations are good, and her passengers gener- ally numerous; seldom less than 10 to 20 from Natchez, at 18 dol- lars a head, and when she starts from New Orleans, generally from 30 to 50, and sometimes as many as 80 passengers, at 25 dollars each to Natchez. The boat's receipts for freight upwards, has averaged the last year 700 dollars, passage money $900-down- wards $300 freight, $500 for passengers-She performs 13 trips in the year, which at 2,400 per trip, amounts to $31,200."
Sharfs' History of St. Louis gives a long list of sixty pioneer steamboats, built for the trade on the western waters, prior to the year 1820. The great majority of these were built for the New Orleans and Louisville trade, and a noticeable feature is the num- erous points that were selected to build them, ranging from Pitts- burg to New Orleans, and the great number of persons that were ready to embark in the new enterprise. Few owners appear as such in any two boats. Fulton and Livingston who built the first boat, did not long continue in the business after the courts re- fused to legalize the authority they claimed, for the exclusive right to navigate the Mississippi for the term of twenty-five years.
The second steamboat was the "Comet" of 25 tons, owned by Samuel Smith, built at Pittsburg by Daniel French. She made a voyage to Louisville in 1813, and to New Orleans in the spring of 1814. She made two trips to Natchez and was then sold and her engine put into a plantation and used to drive a cotton gin.
The third steamboat, also built at Pittsburg, was the "Vesuvius," of 340 tons. She was built by Robert Fulton and owned by a com- pany belonging to New York and New Orleans. She was the first boat to attempt the ascent of the Mississippi above Natchez. She started from New Orleans, bound for Louisville, June 1, 1814, and grounded on a bar 700 miles up the Mississippi, where she lay until December, when the river rose and floated her off. She then returned to New Orleans and was for a time pressed into service by Gen. Jackson, in resisting British invasion. Later she ran as a packet between New Orleans and Natchez, and afterwards went into the Louisville trade, and was finally libeled by her commander and sold at public auction in 1819.
The fourth steamboat was the "Enterprise," forty-five tons, built at Brownsville, Penn., by Daniel French, under his patent granted in 1809. She went to New Orleans in December, 1814, and was employed by Gen. Jackson in transporting troops and mil- itary stores for the defence of New Orleans. She was the first steamboat ever used on western waters to expedite the military movements, for national defence. In May, 1817, she left New Or-
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leans for Pittsburg, and arrived at Shippingport on the 30th, twen- ty-five days out, being the first steamboat that ever arrived at that port from New Orleans. New Orleans was now brought two months nearer Pittsburg, and Capt. Shreve of the Enterprise was acknowledged the father of steam navigation on the Mississippi.
The fifth boat was the "Aetna," 340 tons, built at Pittsburg and owned by the same company as the "Vesuvius." She made her first voyage to New Orleans in 1815 and also entered the Natchez trade. She afterwards made six trips to Louisville, under the command of Captain Robinson De Hart.
The sixth steamboat was the "Zebulon M. Pike," built by Mr. Prentice, of Henderson, Ky., in 1815. She deserves mention as the first boat to ascend the Mississippi above the mouth of the Ohio, and the first to touch at St. Louis. The seventh boat was the "Dispatch," 25 tons, built at Brownsville, Pa., by the owners of- the "Enterprise." The eighth boat was the "Buffalo," 300 tons, built at Pittsburg by Benjamin H. Latrobe, Sr., the distinguished architect of the Capitol at Washington. In 1816 the "Washington," 400 tons, a two decker, built at Wheeling, made the round trip from Louisville to New Orleans twice in 1816-17 and first convinced the despairing public that steamboat navigation would succeed on western waters. The time consumed in her last voyage down and back was only 45 days, which opened a new era to western com- merce.
Prior to 1818, the boats had been chiefly designed for the recep- tion of freight, and with few conveniences for passengers. These first boats were built after the models of ships, with deep holds; had low pressure engines and heavy machinery, and were useless in low water, and very hard to propel against the current. "In order to attain greater speed, the builders soon made the boats long and narrow, but it was not until they came to the decision that boats would run faster on the water than in it, and began making them flat and broad, that they finally got a boat capable of carrying a thousand tons, when drawing only four feet, and when empty two and one-half feet. Then with a high pressure engine at each wheel they could make unprecedented speed; and these boats afforded travelling and freight accommodations equal to any. Although the price of passage did not exceed hotel rates, yet more bountifully filled tables were not to be found on land and the boats were marvels of splendor in their appointments. The chief im- provement made in the river steamboats was in placing one large wheel at the stern of the boat entirely behind the hulk and with long paddles the full length of the beam, operated by double engines and quartering cranks." (Historic Highways, Hulbert.) The "Gen- eral Pike," built at Cincinnati in 1818, was the first steamboat built on western waters for the exclusive convenience of passengers. Her accommodations were ample; her apartments spacious and convenient. She measured 100 feet keel, 25 feet beam, and drew only 39 inches of water. Her cabin was 40 feet in length, and 25 feet wide. At one end were six state rooms, at the other end
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eight. Between the two state rooms was a saloon forty by eighteen feet, large enough for 100 passengers.
Before 1830 the Ohio and Mississippi became literally covered with steamboat fleets, and they were also soon found on every deep tributary of these streams. In 1834 the number of steamboats on western waters was 230, and in 1844, 450. Their average bur- den was 200 tons each, making an aggregate of 90,000 tons, which at $80 per ton, was $7,200,000. By the official returns of 1842 it appears that the whole steamboat tonnage of the United States was 218,994 tons, divided as follows: Southwest 126,278 tons, North- west 17,652 tons, Seaboard 76,064 tons. From which it appears that two-thirds belonged to the West, and more than one-half to the Southwest. The steamboat tonnage of the Mississippi val- ley (1842) exceeded by 40,000 tons the entire steamboat tonnage of Great Britain (1834). In 1840-42 the best boats could make the voyage from Natchez to New Orleans, a distance of 285 miles, in 22 hours, at a speed of more than 12 miles per hour against the current of the Mississippi. The same boats would run from New Orleans to St. Louis in four days and a half, against the impetuous current, above Natchez ; or at the rate of 9 miles per hour the whole distance of nearly 1,200 miles. (Monette). After 1844 the most magnificent steamboats in all the west were built at St. Louis, and were veritable floating palaces. As illustrating their carrying capacity, we read that in January, 1846, the splendid steamboat Maria, from St. Louis, arrived at New Orleans with the enormous load of 4,058 bales of cotton.
In 1836 and 1837 the burning of steamboats on the river was very frequent. The Ben Sherrod racing with the Prairie Belle off the mouth of Homochitto, May 9, 1837, caught fire from her own furnaces, and burned so rapidly that out of two or three hun- dred passengers only forty escaped to the shore. A public meet- ing at Natchez, presided over by General Quitman, demanded the prevention of racing, and denounced the outrageous conduct of the captain of the burned steamer. The cost of the passenger trans- portation from Natchez to Pittsburg, 1,700 miles, was $33 including board, in 1835.
Four general classes of men came to be recognized in connection with the steamboat traffic; the proprietors, navigators, operators, and deckhands. The upper ranks of the steam-packet business furnished the West with many fine types of men. "The typical captain of the first half century of steamboating in the West was a man any one was glad to number among his friends and ac- quaintances. But between the pilot house and the deck lay a gulf-not impassable, for it was frequently spanned by the worthy- deep and significant. Until the Civil War 'deckoneering' was, largely, the pursuit of whites. A few plantation owners rented out slaves to steamboat owners, but negroes did not usurp the profes- sion until they were freed. This was contemporaneous with the general introduction of steam railways." (Hulbert).
Not only did the War 1861-5 put an end to the days of the "deck-
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oneering" of white men, and to the "coasting" trade of the flat- boats, but it also marked the passing of the old gambling days in the steamboat business. For more than thirty years the steamboats had been infested by a swarm of sporting men which almost lived upon the Ohio-Mississippi boats. Opulent southern planters trav- eled largely by steam packets and were a source of immense reve- nue to these card-sharps. Gambling, like drinking intoxicants, im- plied no social ostracism, and men of national reputation whiled away the long hours of leisure on the voyage by indulging in games of chance. Thousands of dollars were often wagered in a single night in games between the gamblers and rich planters. Boat- owners were at last compelled to prohibit all such pastimes to re- establish the reputations of the river boats.
Probably no interest in the Mississippi valley suffered so much from the effects of the war as did steamboating, especially at the South. On the cessation of hostilities, those who survived and had saved their boats, or could build or buy others made a determined effort to re-establish themselves in the business, and many were soon doing a flourishing business. But in the meantime the war had given their natural enemy, the railroads, a great impetus, and river transportation began to wane. Under the fierce competition of the constantly expanding railroad lines, the steamboat business on the Mississippi and the smaller rivers, is but a fraction of its for- mer volume.
Steel, a hamlet in the northeastern part of Scott county, about 10 miles north of Forest, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town. The postoffice here was recently discontinued, and it now has rural free delivery from Harperville. Population in 1900, 40.
Steele, John, first secretary of the Mississippi Territory, was a native of Virginia, born about 1755. He was a line officer during the war of the Revolution, and at the battle of Germantown was shot through the body. Before coming to Mississippi in 1798 he had served on the executive council, and when appointed to the office of secretary was a member of the commission, with George Walton and Alfred Moore, to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee Indians. During a great part of his official term as secretary he was in feeble health, but he seems to have performed a good deal of service, among other duties visiting the distant Tombigbee set- tlement. His failure to read and approve the laws of the first gen- eral assembly, in special session, 1801, may have been due, partly, to other reasons than health. He was then acting governor, a duty he performed from April until November, 1801. Governor Clai- borne was expected to arrive in time for the regular session of the assembly. His term expired May 7, 1802, but he continued to be a citizen of the Territory, living at his plantation which he gave the name of Belvidere. In 1804-05 he was a member of the house of representatives, and in various ways he was honored all through the Territorial period. Finally he was a member of the constitu-
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tional convention of 1817, but he did not long survive that date, dying at Natchez, far advanced in years and unmarried.
Steele's Administration. After the departure of Governor Sar- gent in the spring of 1801 and until the arrival of Governor Clai- borne in the latter part of November, Secretary John Steele was acting governor, apparently without any supervision from either the outgoing or incoming governor. Claiborne was appointed May 25, to fill a "vacancy existing," but the administration was not his until his arrival. The main event was the first session of the general assembly. (q. v.) Secretary Steele called this first ses- sion, May 26, 1801, to meet in July, and he addressed the two houses at their meeting, congratulating them upon the event. The assem- bly responded, welcoming his expression of a spirit of conciliation. "We reciprocate, sir, your congratulations upon the dawn of free- dom and safety under laws emanating from the people through their immediate representatives, and anticipate the advantages re- sulting from the exercise of powers so essential to the happiness of a free people, and which have been withheld from the inhabitants of the Natchez. That this extension of privilege will be used and exercised in a becoming and judicious manner, with a scrupulous regard to the laws of the superior government, we trust there can be no doubt." They deplored the absolute veto power of the gov- ernor, but hoped it would be exercised wisely; regarded the judi- ciary of the Territory as inefficient in operation, but the revision of laws was to be handled cautiously ; to the Secretary's expression that the militia laws were "in almost a total state of inexecution," they responded that this condition would likely continue "unless the people are permitted (at least) to recommend their officers for appointment."
Secretary Steele returned to the assembly, from his home at "Belvidere," without his assent, the resolutions presented to him by Banks, West and Stampley, for the change of the seat of gov- ernment from Natchez to the town of Washington. He gave as his reasons that the acts of congress contemplated that Natchez was the capital, and, in any case, the change proposed was too important to be effected by mere resolution.
The grand jury of Pickering county in November expressed regret that "the late infirm state of health of the Hon. Colo. John Steel has so far rendered him incapable of acting in his official capacity as to read or sign the laws lately passed by our legislature, and fondly hope from his recovery and the expected arrival of a new governor that this obstacle is now removed." The grand jury also gave a glimpse of conditions by deploring that there were no laws to repress "Sabbath breaking, swearing, drunken- ness and other enormities;" that "the frequent escapes of Felons from the Goal of the County of Adams is truly alarming," that pun- ishments were inadequate, and that "it is high time for such per- sons after repeated and aggravated offences to be cut off from society as pests and disturbers of the public peace ;" that a number of orphan children were permitted to run at large without a master
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or protector; that a court of equity was needed, from "alarming circumstances lately taken place in the courts," evidently referring to the rulings on Spanish land titles.
Steens, a hamlet in the eastern part of Lowndes county, on Floating Turtle creek, and a station on the Southern Railway, 8 miles northeast of Columbus, the county seat and nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice, and one rural route emanates therefrom. Population in 1900, 26.
Steiner, a post-hamlet of Sunflower county, 12 miles north of Indianola, the county seat, and nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 21.
Stella, a postoffice of Kemper county, 7 miles southwest of De- kalb, the county seat. It is situated on Pawticfaw creek, 25 miles north of Meridian.
Stephensville, a hamlet of Sunflower county, situated on Porters Bayou, 6 miles north of Indianola, the county seat and nearest railroad and banking town. It has a money order postoffice.
Sterling, or Okatibbee Station, on the Mobile & Ohio R. R., is a hamlet of Lauderdale county, 5 miles by rail south of Meridian. It has rural free delivery from Meridian. Population in 1900, 23.
Stewart, an incorporated post-town in the eastern part of Mont- gomery county, and a station on the Southern Railway, 18 miles east of Winona, the county seat, and 12 miles west of Eupora. Kil- michael is the nearest banking town. It has a money order post- office. Population in 1906, 200.
Stewart, Duncan, first lieutenant-governor of Mississippi, Octo- ber 7, 1817, to January 5, 1820, was a son of William Stewart, who emigrated from Scotland, to North Carolina, about 1730. Patrick, one of the sons of William, was a royalist officer during the revo- lution. Duncan was an officer in the Continental army. He mar- ried Penelope, daughter of Col. Tignal Jones, of North Carolina. About 1797, he and a brother James moved to Tennessee, where Duncan was honored with election to the legislature. About 1808 he removed to Wilkinson county, Miss., where he became a wealthy planter. He held the office of surveyor-general as well as lieu- tenant-governor. He died at the age of sixty years.
Tignal J., his eldest son, was a member of the legislature, prom- inent in securing the legal rights of married women. He married a daughter of Peter Randolph, Federal judge, and had two daugh- ters. James A., second son, married another daughter of Judge Randolph, and they had seven children. Charles Duncan, the third son of Duncan, married a daughter of Judge Black, afterward United States senator, and became a planter in Pointe Coupee par- ish. His son, John Black Stewart, was a famous author under the name of "Archibald Clavering Gunter," author of "Mr. Barnes of New York," and other works. Catherine, fourth child of Governor Stewart, married Judge Harry Cage. Her two sons were in the Mexican war and the Civil war, Duncan Stewart Cage as col- onel, Albert Cage as captain. Eliza, the youngest child of Governor Stewart, married Col. W. S. Hamilton.
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Stockdale, Thomas Ringland, was born in Green county, Penn., February 28, 1828, son of William Stockdale and Hannah McQuaid. After the hard life of the farmer boy in those early days, he entered college and graduated from Washington and Jefferson college in 1856. In the same year he came to Mississippi, and, after teaching four years, in 1858 he became a student at the university where he graduated in law in 1859. He entered on his profession at Holmes- ville at once, but in 1861 enlisted in the Confederate service as a private. He was promoted to the rank of colonel, and was paroled from Forrest's army in May, 1865. In 1867 he married Fannie Wicker, of Amite county, and they made their home in Summit. Col. Stockdale was a law partner of Judge Hiram Cassidy for twelve years. He was a member of the national Democratic convention in 1868, and was presidential elector in 1872 and in 1884. In 1886 he was elected to the 50th congress, and served till 1895. He was appointed in 1896 to fill out an unexpired term in the Supreme Court, and served till May 1897. He died at Summit, Miss., Jan- uary 8, 1899.
Stockton, Richard, Jr., a native of New Jersey, was educated at Princeton, taking first honors, before he came to Mississippi to practice law. "He was an eminent lawyer and man of ability," says Lynch, and "remarkably modest and unassuming in his man- ners." He had the rank of colonel on the staff of Governor Leake, who appointed him judge of the First circuit and of the supreme court, in August, 1822, to succeed Bela Metcalf, resigned, and was elected by the legislature in the following December. There was in that period in Mississippi as in other States and in the United States as a whole, great jealousy of the legislative body toward the courts, particularly in regard to the right of the court, now ad- mitted, to pass upon the constitutionality of session acts. At this period also, the legislatures in the new States were straining the rules of justice in behalf of debtors, as was, no doubt, desirable, although there was a dangerous tendency toward a general repu- diation and nullification of contracts and compacts, which it was the duty of the courts to check.
The house of representatives, in the session of 1825, required the sergeant at arms to notify the judges of the supreme court to appear at the bar of the house and show cause why they should not be removed from office in consequence of their decision in rela- tion to an act extending further relief to debtors. The committee on the subject called Judge Stockton before it, who made a state- ment of facts. In the case of Cochrane and Murdoch vs. Benjamin Kitchen, and sureties, judgment had been rendered on a note, and execution issued and levied, and thereupon the sheriff, under the act of the legislature, had sold the goods on one year's credit, taking new sureties and releasing the original ones. Stockton cited the constitution of the United States and the State, and the opinions of the courts in other States on the same sort of ex post facto laws, but the legislators contended that the supreme court went too far in fining the sheriff $100 for carrying out an act of legislature. On
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