The annals of Albany, Vol. VI, Part 3

Author: Munsell, Joel, 1808-1880
Publication date: 1850-1859
Publisher: Albany : J. Munsell
Number of Pages: 382


USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. VI > Part 3


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The Clermont continued her trips with great exactitude till the first of October, on which day it was announced in the New York Evening Post that the steam boat had arrived from Albany in twenty eight hours, with sixty passengers! The same paper of the 2d Oct. contained the following notice:


Mr. Fulton's newly invented steam boat, which is fitted up in a neat style for passengers, and is intended to run from New York to Albany as a packet, left here this morning with ninety [ Annals, vi.] 4


32


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


passengers against a strong head wind, notwithstanding which it was judged that she moved through the water at the rate of six miles per hour.


Six miles an hour! What a triumph of speed! The ninety passengers had a different experience on that trip, as we learn from the Gazette of October 6th. The little Clermont, which was about as large as a modern canal boat, was subjected to a complication of disasters.


In consequence of the nonarrival of the steam boat at the ex- pected hour on Saturday evening, and the violent gale on the river the whole of Friday and the night following, great fears were entertained lest she had met with some accident; and as the whole of Sunday passed away without her arrival or any tidings of her, those fears were almost converted into realities of some fatal disaster. At 10 o'clock last evening, however. all apprehension was removed by her sate arrival; and the follow- ing communication from a number of respectable gentlemen, passengers, giving an account of the occurrences which took place from the time of her leaving New York, can not fail of being highly acceptable to the public :


We the subscribers, passengers on board the steam boat, on her passage from New York to Albany, on the 2d of October, conceive it to be a duty we owe the public as well as the pro- prietor of the boat, to give a correct statement of the occurren- ces which caused her late arrival at the latter place.


We left New York at 10 o'clock in the forenoon of the 2d inst, against a strong tide, very rough water, a strong gale from the north; she made a headway beyond the most sanguine expecta- tion, and without being rocked by the waves. The gale in creased, the tide became more urgent, and at the distance of twelve miles from New York, her headway was checked; we cast anchor and laid to over night.


Oct 3. This morning, after proceeding six miles, run foul of a small sloop at anchor, through the mismanagement of one of the pilots, which tore away one of her paddle wheels. Having now a force only on one side, we determined if she was manageable, to continue our course, and at nine o'clock again got under way. Our expectations were fully gratified by the trial. At Tarrytown we were detained a long time on account of passengers. This evening we were also detained, being under the necessity of replenishing her with bread, water, &c.


Oct. 4. This day were detained again for a considerable time, at Chancellor Livingston's; and at Hudson were obliged to pro- cure a new supply of coals for fuel. Arrived here at 10 o'clock


33


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


this evening; making the time from where the accident happen- ed, which was eighteen miles from New York, 37 hours. We were detained at least 43 hours, making the passage from that place, with one paddle wheel, against a strong uninterrupted wind, in 322 hours. Albany, Oct. 4, 1807.


Gerard Steddiford, Samuel Satterlee Jr.


John Brinckerhoff,


Ira Scott,


Juo. J. Staples,


C. White,


L. Bloodgood,


H. Galpin,


E. Weeks,


Amos Ketchum,


Andrew Mercem,


P. W. Gansevoort,


Henry R Teller,


Elias Hoffman,


Chris. C. Yates,


Daniel Mc Donald.


H. Ketchum,


The loss of the wheel was remedied as soon as possible by attaching buckets to the fly wheel, and she made one or two trips in that condition. The imperfectly con- structed paddle wheels were frequently crippled by acci- dents, and then the fly wheel was called upon to do double duty. Although the time promised in the adver- tisements was thirty-six hours, her trips were usually performed in less than thirty. We find in the American Citizen the following advertisement:


THE STEAMBOAT- Being thoroughly repaired and arranged for passengers, with a private dressing room for ladies, it is in- tended to run her as a packet between New-York and Albany, for the remainder of the season. She will leave New York exactly at nine o'clock in the morning, and always perform her voyage in fromn 30 to 36 hours.


It was then the steam boat, indeed; no other floated on any of the waters of the world, and profoundly did the good folk admire at the courage of those who ventured to trust themselves to the perilous enterprise. It was a prodigious advance upon previous modes of conveyance, when the trip from one city to the other was actually accomplished in thirty-six hours with certainty, instead of three days by the lumbering stage coach, or an in- definite time, sometimes extending to a couple of weeks, by the tub-like sloop. There were a few who had faith in the invention, and foresaw dimly its grand results; of these was the writer in the Evening Post of Oct. 4, 1807.


y 34


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


Among thousands who viewed the scene, permit a spectator to express his gratification at the sight this morning of the steam boat proceeding on her trip to Albany on a wind and swell of tide which appeared to bid defiance to every attempt to perform the voyage. The steam boat appeared to glide as easy and rapidly as though it were calin, and the machinery was not in the least impeded by the waves of the Hudson, the wheels moving with their usual velocity and effect.


The experiment of this day removes every doubt hitherto entertained of the practicability of the steam boat being able to work in rough weather. Without being over sangui :: e, we may safely assert that the principles of this important discovery will be applied to the improvement of packets and passage boats, which for certainty, safety, expedition and accommodation, will far surpass anything hitherto attempted. The invention is highly honorable to Mr. Fulton, and reflects infinite credit on the genius of our country.


The Clermont.


Such were the doings of steam boats forty-seven years ago, and they were considered as wonderful in the ex- treme. Now we step on board of a boat at seven o'clock in the evening, and by four or five in the morning we arrive at New York. Who can conceive what the next fifty years will accomplish, and what in the year 1900 will be the running time on the noble Hudson!


Time has justified the vision of this seer, and gone infinitely further than the promise. Could the veil of the " to come " have been lifted before the eyes of the prophet


35


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


and the log book of the ocean steamer, or the time-table of a railway train been presented to him, how incon- ceivable must have been his astonishment. How short the time it takes now-a-days to work wonders!


In the spring the steam boat made her appearance promptly. The Gazette of the 28th April has the fol- lowing announcement :


The steam boat arrived last evening from New York, and sailed again at ten o'clock this morning. She is fitted up in a. very superior style of accommodation.


She was now remodeled and enlarged, and advertised to leave New York every Saturday evening at 5 o'clock, and Albany every Wednesday morning at 8 o'clock. Her accommodations were ample for over a hundred passen- gers, and the number of travelers at that day may have required only a trip a week. The people were yet ac- customed to travel in their own conveyances, and to go from home less frequently than now, either for pleasure or profit.


The Bee, printed at Hudson, gives the following unique account of the Clermont.


The steam boat is certainly an interesting curiosity to stran- gers. To see this large and apparently unwieldly machine, without oars or sails, propelled through the element by invisible agency, at a rate of four miles an hour, would be a novelty in any quarter of the globe, as we understand there is none in Europe that has succeeded on the plair upon which this is con- structed. The length of the boat is one hundred and sixty feet, and her width in proportion, so as not to impede her sailing, The machine which moves her wheels, is called, we believe, a twenty horse machine, or equal to the power of so many horses, and is kept in motion by steam from a copper boiler eight or ten feet in length. The wheels are on each side similar to those of water mills, and under cover; they are moved backwards or forwards, separately or together at pleasure. Her principal ad- vantage is in calms, or against head winds. When the wind is fair, light square sails are employed to increase her speed. Her accommodations, fifty berths, besides sofas, &c., are said to be equal or superior to any vessel that floats on the river, and are necessarily extensive, as all the space unoccupied by the ma- chinery is fitted in the most convenient manner. Her route, between New York and Albany, is a distance of 160 miles,


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36


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


which she performs regularly twice a week, sometimes in the short period of thirty-two hours, exclusive of detention by taking in and landing passengers. On her passage last week, she left New York with one hundred passengers, upwards, and Albany with eighty or ninety. Indeed this aquatic stage from Albany, with the Experiment from this city, bid fair to attach the greatest part of the travelers which pass the Hudson, and afford them accommodations not exceeded in any other part of the world.


The Experiment which is spoken of above in con- nection with this aquatic stage, was a sloop, the account of which is not only apropros to our purpose, but of sufficient interest to admit of being introduced here.


PASSAGE SLOOPS ON THE HUDSON.


In the year 1800, merchants residing a hundred miles or more distant from New York, and distant from the North river ten or fifteen miles, sent their bed and bed- ding to the landing from which they were to sail for the city, by a team, and themselves followed on horseback. At the landing, their bed, &c., was placed on board the sloop that conveyed their produce to market, and by it they took passage for the city. The horse was put to pasture or in the stable until their return, when the owner rode him home; and by the team that went for the merchandise the bed and bedding were returned. Such was the convenience of traveling at that day.


In November, 1800, five gentlemen associated them- selves together for the purpose "of rendering the passage between Hudson and New York by water more expedi- tious, convenient and pleasant, to ladies and gentlemen traveling north and south through the state of New York, as well as to promote the interest of those con- cerned" (as expressed in the words of the agreement), -by building a packet of one hundred and ten tons burthen, for the purpose of carrying passengers only. To accom- plish this object they bound themselves to each other to furnish the sum of $6,000. . In accordance with this agreement, the superior packet sloop Experiment was built, and superbly fitted up with state rooms and berths, her whole length below decks, for the accommodation of


37


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


passengers, and performed the passage between New York and Hudson in an unprecedented short space of time.


In January 1807, some new names were added to the original subscribers, and a further agreement entered into to build another packet of the same class and for like purposes, to accomplish which the subscriptions were increased to twelve thousand dollars. This packet, like the first, was fitted up in style, and placed with the other on the North river; and at the time the two cre- ated quite an excitement. We have before us a bill and receipt for a passage on board one of these vessels dated forty four years ago. It is somewhat formal, and we give it at length as a curiosity, as it shows the manner in which things were done on the North river at that day. The passage referred to was performed in twenty- seven hours :-


Sloop EXPERIMENT, Lahan Paddock master, for the accommo- dation of passengers on the North River, will sail from Hudson every Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock, and from New York every Saturday evening at 6 o'clock. And the sloop EXPERI- MENT, Elihu S. Buuker master, for the same purpose, will sail from Hudson every Sunday morning at 9 o'clock, and from New York every Wednesday evening at 5 o'clock throughout the season.


On board the EXPERIMENT. Capt. Laban Paddock. May 2, 1810.


Dr., I- P -- ,


Dollars Cts.


· For passage and provisions from Hudson to New York 5.00


Spirits


Lative


Maderia Wine


Port


do


Sherry do


Porter.


Cider


Punch


Received payment in full,


ABISHA JE


In connection with the sloop Experiment was a pro- ject by the same parties to run a horse boat on the North river from Hudson to Albany, uniting at the former


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38


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


place with the sloops. This appears from articles of agreement entered into by the parties, which are now before us. This experiment was made in 1810, and proved a failure. There is reason to suppose the sloops proved profitable at first, but they were driven from the river by the steam boats. They were sold and a final settlement of their accounts made in February, 1813,


THE ADVANCE OF STEAM NAVIGATION.


In 1807, Fulton made his successful passage to Albany by steam, and in 1810 the old North River steam boat was performing the distance between Albany and New York professedly in 36 hours, though occasionally making the trip in eight or ten hours less; and Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, was predicting that the person was then living who would see the distance between Philadelphia and Boston accomplished in three days. This individual was many years in advance of the age in which he lived. HIe finally died in New York about the year 1819.


The old North River boat, in her original construction, had a strange appearance. Her water wheels were with- out houses as at the present day; and cross-heads con- nected with the piston, instead of the walking-beam now in general use. The countryman, when he first saw her from Hudson, told his wife he had seen the devil going to Albany in a saw mill.


After the North River, the Car of Neptune was built, the Richmond, the Paragon, the Chancellor Kent, and others. Afterwards, lines were formed to New Bruns- wick, New Haven, and Providence, and to Charleston and New Orleans; and at a later period, from Liverpool to Boston and New York, and from New York to Bre- men. Recently, Collins's splendid line of steamers from New York to Liverpool have commenced their trips. In the meantime, the Mississippi and the great lakes are alive with steamers; and lines are forming to connect with other European cities. Rail roads are threading the country in every direction, even to competition with the North river. What is to be the end, for steam is yet but in its infancy ?


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39


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


FUEL.


Steam boats on the North river first performed their trips with wood. Lackawana coal was afterwards in- troduced, by which the expense of fuel was reduced from $150 a trip to $30. This was the commencement of a new era in steamboating.


THE HENRY ECKFORD.


The following reminiscence was published in the Morn- ing Express newspaper in 1851:


In going our usual rounds this morning, our attention was di- rected to a boat, but a trifle longer than our canal boats, lying at the foot of State street bridge, laden with coal We were told, that it was the hull of the steam boat Henry Eckford, which in by-gone days was a passenger boat on the Hudson river, and in those days was looked upon as a magnificent vessel. If our memory serves us correctly, she first made her appearance. about 1819 or 1820. She was built by the Messrs. Mowatts, of New York, under the auspices of the late Charles Smyth, who was the father of steam towing transportation lines. In that as in other enterprises Mr. Smyth shook the bush for others to catch the birds. After running as a steam tug between this city and New York, until the buisness had become so large as to require a more powerful boat, she was kept in New York to tow vessels about the harbor, and finally in 1840, her boiler ex- ploded while lying at the dock.


THE FULTON. ,


The steam boat Fulton was placed on the line in 1814. She had been built to run on the East river, but the danger of capture by British cruisers, induced the pro- prietors to run her on this river until that danger was over. She ran in opposition to the old line, which was then in the full tide of successful operation. The boats of the latter consisted of the North River, Car of Neptune and Paragon. The following advertisement of her run- ning arrangements is taken from the Albany Argus of May, 1814. The accommodations, where not on a very extensive scale but rather select, as they advertised to carry sixty passengers at ten dollars each, which paid quite as well as a thousand now at twenty-five cents !


40


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


The public are respectfully informed that the subscriber has commenced running the steam boat FULTON, between the cities of New York and Albany, for the accommodation of passengers.


This boat was built for the purpose of plying between New York and New Haven, but will be employed on the Hudson river, until a cessation of hostilities enables the proprietors to put her on her destined route.


'The Fulton has good accommodations and is a very swift boat. The comple:nent of passengers is limited to 60, and the price of passage therefore necessarily raised to Ten Dollars.


She will start from Albany every Monday morning at 9 o'clock, and from New York every Friday morning. at the same hour.


For passage apply on board at Steam Boat dock.


ELIHU F. BUNKER.


Albany, May 16, 1814.


Captain Bunker died on the 4th of August, 1847, aged 75.


SAFETY BARGES.


In 1826, the steam boat Commerce, Capt. Geo. E. Sey- mour, towed the safety barge Lady Clinton, while the Swiftsure performed the same honor to the Lady Van Rensselaer. For safety and comfort, these barges were perhaps unrivaled. Lacking speed, however, they soon became unfashionable and went out of use.


LIST OF THE HUDSON RIVER BOATS.


The following list embraces all the passage boats built and running for any considerable time on the Hudson river between New York and Albany, since the intro- duction of steam navigation by Fulton in 1807.


When


built. Name of Boat. Tons.


Remarks.


1807. Clermont


Name changed to N. River.


1808. North River


165. Broken up.


1809. Car of Neptune


295. Sunk.


1811. Hope 280. Broken up.


1811. Perseverance


280. do.


1811. Paragon .


331. Sunk, 1825.


1813. Richmond 370. Broken up.


1814. Fulton


327. do.


1815. Olive Branch 295.


do.


1816. Chancellor Livingston . 526. do.


1819. Henry Eckford.


do.


41


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


When built. 1823. 1824. 1825. 1825. 1825. 1825. 1825. 1826. Sun.


Name of Boat. Tons. . Remarks.


James Kent Hudson


170, - do.


Sandusky.


289. Towing. 276. Now Indiana, towing.


Constellation


276. Tow barge.


300. Lost on L. I. Sound.


250. Tow barge.


280. Burnt 1831.


New Philadelphia


300. Runs on Delaware.


Albany


298 Broken up.


Independence


368. On Philadelphia route.


North America


49 .. Destroyed by ice, 1839.


Victory .


290. Sunk, 1845.


De Witt Clinton


571. Tow barge.


Ohio


412. do.


1832. 1832. 1833. 18°'5.


Erie


472.


do.


Helen


Destroyed, 1834.


Robert L Stevens


298. Runs to Saugerties.


1836.


Rochester


491. Broken up.


Swallow


426. Sunk, 1845.


Utica.


340. Runs to Catskill.


Diamond


398. Broken up.


Balloon


204. Gone South.


18339.


North America


491. Runs to Rondout.


1840.


South America


640. Runs to Hudson.


1840.


Troy


724. Runs to Trov.


1841. 1841. 1842.


Rainbow


230. Towing.


1843. 1843.


Einpire


936. Funk.


Knickerbocker


858. East river.


1815. 1845. 1845.


Express


288. Gone South.


Niagara


730. Towing.


1815. Rip Van Winkle.


510. Runs to Albany.


1845.


Hendrik Hudson


1170


do.


Oregon


1050. Hauled off.


Alida


900. Runs to Albany.


Isaac Newton 1400.


do.


New World


1400. Hauled off.


1849. Manhattan 500. Runs to Albany.


1851. Reindeer 1000. Burnt.


1854. Hero.


575. Runs to Albany.


1826. 18 7. 1827. 1827. 1827. 1828. 1829.


1830. Novelty


477. Broken up.


Champlain


4:1. Tow barge.


1836. 1837. 1838. 1839.


Columbia


391. Runs to Hudson.


Curtis Peck.


On James river.


Belle


430. Towing.


1845. 1847. 1848. 1849.


364. Broken up.


Constitution


Chief Justice Marshall. Saratoga


42


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


Besides the foregoing, a great many boats have been run for a short time as opposition boats, or taken the place of other boats during the time required for repairs. Among them may be mentioned the ill-fated Henry Clay, the Armenia, Iron Witch, Eureka, &c.


.


STEAM BOAT SOUTH AMERICA.


The South America.


Among the boats which have been most noted for speed and popularity is the South America. In her day, she was acknowledged to be unsurpassed in beauty of finish, accommodation, economy in fuel and adaptation to her business. She was run at the rate of 21 miles per hour, and her friends asserted that when the opportunity presented she would prove herself the fastest boat in the world.


The length of the steam boat South America was 266 feet; breadth, 27 feet; depth of hold, 9 feet 6 inches; tonnage, 640 tons.


The engine was built by James Cunningham, with an improved half stroke, an invention of his own, which proved itself to be superior to any other mode of cutting . "off steam, and has, since its introduction in the South America, been adopted by a number of boats plying on the Hudson, and Long Island Sound. Her cylinder was 54 inches in diameter; length of stroke, 11 feet ; her main water wheel shafts were of wrought iron, and 15 inches in diameter, and were forged at the West Point foundry, , at Cold Spring, N. Y.


She had two improved boilers, also made by James Cunningham, which were models for economy and dura- bility. The consumption of fuel was one ton of anthra-


43


'Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


cite coal per hour, which was burned by the use of a blast from blowers driven by small engines, entirely uncon- nected from the main engine.


The hull was built by D. Burtis & Co. The whole construction and fitting out was done under the imme- diate direction and supervision of Isaac Newton, Esq., of New York city, at the cost of $83,000.


She had in her main cabin, below, 294 berths, 54 in the ladies saloon, which was 81 feet in length, on the main deck aft, and 46 in a route of 20 state rooms, on the upper deck; this, together with the berths assigned the officers and crew (amounting to 44 in all), afforded sleep- ing accommodations for about 450 persons.


Perhaps there is nothing that has improved so greatly as boat building within the last twenty or thirty years. Its progression has been so rapid, that we scarcely can conceive the strides it has made in that period. Our steamers are now floating palaces, costing in their con- struction from $80,000 to $200,000, and furnished in a style of magnificence never excelled by the craft of any other section of the Union. And the progressive spirit, it will be readily observed, is not confined to the arrange- ment of boats as to comfort and splendor, but it is visible in the speed with which they accomplish their specified distance of travel. Steam fairly wafts them along, and nine hours occupied in coming from New York to this city is accounted as only an ordinary trip .- Ev. Journal.


But the opening of the Hudson River rail road, and the transit from New-York to Albany in the short space of four hours, produced a new era in the annals of travel. The steam boats had reigned supreme over the noble waters of the Hudson for forty-four years. The coincidence of the times and seasons for the commence- ment of steam navigation and 'of steam travel by rail on the river is striking. And the contrast of the time and fare table with that now used on the rail road is quite as remarkable.


[ Annals, vi.] 5


44


Steam Navigation on the Hudson.


NOLTE'S ACCOUNT OF THE CLERMONT.


The following account of the first voyage of the Cler- mont is to be found in the Autobiography of Vincent Nolte, a Frenchman. It is inserted here for the purpose of showing how little some writers' eyes and memories are to be relied upon for a correct account of what they wit- ness. Mons. Nolte describes the event in this wise :


It was exactly at this time, Aug. 1807, that I, then staying at one of the most celebrated boarding houses in the city of New York, the Widow Gallop's on Broadway, while engaged in making my preparations for departure, by mere chance, at breakfast, made the acquaintance of a gentleman who was just about to give the world the first example of steam navigation. The reader will readily guess that I am now referring to Robert Fulton, and his newly-built steamer Clermont, constructed by him at his own expense. It was then a topic in the mouth of every body, as the attempt he proposed in a short time to make to carry his plan into execution, was the object of universal curiosity. My new acquaintance wanted me to be present, and witness the departure of his steam boat, which was to take place from the bank of the Hudson river at 12 o'clock; and. indeed it did not require much persuasion to induce me to accede to this request. So I saw this curious and wonderful structure-130 feet in length, 16 feet broad, 7 feet depth of hold, rating 160 tons, as it had been described, and containing about 450 passengers * - leave the wharf as the clock struck twelve, make right for the middle of the stream, and describe a circle three times in succession. Then, defying the force of the wind and the waves alike, it dashed gallantly along its way to Albany, as though the most favorable breeze were filling its sails. A vociferous cheer arose from the thousands assembled on both banks of the Hudson to witness, with their own eyes, the reality of this truly grand experiment, and its brilliant success.




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