USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume IV > Part 18
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On November 22nd the craft was launched, at Wrightsville, and a trial of her engines indicated that without a full head of steam she could easily make five miles an hour against the current. With forty persons on board she drew only eight inches of water. The boat reached Harrisburg on December 3rd and then seems to have escaped further mention until the Spring following when she began her maiden voyage to Wilkes-Barré. From an account of the propitious arrival of the steamer at the latter port, it would appear that unsatisfactory results were being obtained from burning anthracite under her boilers and that wood had been substituted. The account of the Susquehanna Democrat, of April 14, 1826, is reproduced:
"On Wednesday evening last, just as the orb of day was hiding in the West, we were greeted with the appearance of the steamboat, Codorus, turning the point below the borough. The dis- charge of cannon and hearty cheers of the people, mingling with the sound of martial music, and the peals of several bells, proclaimed the approach of the first steamboat that ever visited the shores of Wyoming. She cast anchor opposite the borough, a little before dark, in the presence of a crowd of spectators, who assembled to witness her arrival. Next morning a company of about sixty gentlemen boarded her at Wilkes-Barre, and sailed up to Squire Myers's at Forty Fort, about three miles distant. In the journey it had to encounter nearly half a mile of strong ripples, and what is called falls. It performed the trip in one hour and eighteen minutes. After tarrying a short time she returned to Wilkes-Barre in thirty-three minutes, against a severe wind, with an increased number of passengers. At 11:30 she again anchored at Wilkes-Barre, and about 3 o'clock, Mr. Elgar, the principal of the boat, and seventy or eighty citizens, sat down to an excellent dinner, prepared by O. Porter. It is but justice to say the dinner was good, it was sump- tious. After dinner a number of appropriate toasts were drank, which will probably be published next week.
"This experiment entitled Mr. Elgar to much credit and esteem, and we heartily wish him a pleasant journey to the head waters of the Susquehanna, the place, we believe, of destination.
"The greatest difficulty to be encountered is in procuring wood, people along the river should have this article in readiness. Dry pines and pine knots are best and are plenty.
"Mr. Elgar, we understand, intends tarrying here until Monday, which will afford the in- habitants generally, an opportunity of witnessing the movements of steamboat on the waters of the Susquehanna."
The career of the "Codorus" seems to have been one of adventure, rather than the serving of any useful purpose. In June, 1826, she was at Owego. Later, she appeared at Binghamton. Late in July, she had descended the river as far as Athens. At all of these points the vessel excited great interest and engaged in the excursion business until the novelty wore off. Two years later, a stock- holder in the enterprise complained as follows:
"Between $2,000 and $3,000 have been expended upon the construction of this boat, and from the use, or rather no use being made of it, after it was built, the question may ration- ally be asked for what purpose has this large sum been expended, or what was the object of build- ing the boat? But I am in hope some better use might be made of it, than suffering it to be dis- mantled, and becoming a pray to the corrosions of time. Suppose some of the stockholders were to employ some of the arkmen to tow it down to tide, where perhaps it might be applied to some useful purpose. Something could perhaps be obtained for it to be used as craft in the bay."
Whatever merit the vessel may have possessed, the claim appears to be substantiated that she was the first iron steamboat of history. Her subsequent career was one of desultory voyages, taken as river conditions permitted, without attempting to establish a regular schedule between ports of commercial promise. In 1831, her dismantled hull was rusting at York Haven, with the investment of hier stockholders a total loss.
A second attempt to navigate the river was made by the steamboat "Sus- quehanna and Baltimore," as she was originally christened. Her wooden keel
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was laid down in a shipyard at Baltimore, also in the Spring of 1825. Her con- struction was intended by an association of Baltimore business men, who fur- nished funds for that purpose, to cement the trade of that city with the Susque- hanna country. When completed she was towed to Port Deposit, where the task was undertaken of getting her up the river to Columbia, over what was considered the river's most dangerous stretch of water. From all accounts this proved a formidable undertaking. Her pilot, Captain Cornwell, was thor- oughly acquainted with the peculiarities of current and channel, having piloted rafts and arks over the stretch for many years, but all his skill could not induce the little steamer to ascend the swifter shutes under her own power. Men and horses, tugging at hawsers, finally brought her to Middletown, where she seems to have spent the Winter of 1825-1826.
In the Summer of the latter year, she fared forth on a trial trip to the North Branch, having been joined meanwhile by three commissioners, Messers Ellicott, Patterson and Morris, representing the City of Baltimore. On her trip to northi-
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STEAMBOAT IN SUSQUEHANNA.
ern waters, the boat appears to have dropped a part of her original name, being designated thereafter merely as the "Susquehanna." With a length of eighty- two feet, stern wheels four and one-half feet in diameter and carrying a thirty horse power engine, she drew, when loaded to her passenger capacity of one hundred, some twenty-two inches of water. Her trip was without incident until Berwick was sighted. Arriving at Nescopeck Falls, opposite that point on the afternoon of July 3, 1826, an opportunity was afforded all passengers to leave the boat before a trial of the rapids was made.
Here was to occur the upper Susquehanna's most tragic accident. Pearce, who was an eye witness of the destruction of the "Susquehanna," thus describes the catastrophe in his "Annals of Luzerne County, page 460:"
"The ascent of these rapids was looked upon as the most difficult part of the undertaking. The three commissioners and all the passengers, except about twenty, left the boat, and walked along the shore. A quantity of rich pine-wood had been procured for the occasion, and with a full head of steam, the dangerous passage was commenced. The banks of the river were crowded with spectators from the villages of Berwick, Nescopeck, and from the surrounding country. The angry waters seemed to dash with redoubled fury against the rocks and against the devoted boat, as if aware of the strife. Trembling from stem to stern. the noble craft slowly advanced, cheered by a thousand voices, until she reached the middle. and most difficult point of ascent. Here her
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headway ceased. The multitude stood silent on the shores, watching with intense anxiety the boat and her passengers. In a few moments she turned slightly towards the shore, and struck a rock. Her boiler immediately burst with an explosion, that sent the dreadful intelligence of her fate many miles throughout the surrounding country. Shattered, broken, and on fire, all that remained of the 'Susquehanna' was carried down the conquering tide. The mangled bodies of her passengers and crew, dead and dying, lay upon her decks, or had been blown into the river. Men with ropes rushed into the stream to their shoulders, to save the unhappy survivors from a watery grave. The rescued sufferers were taken into Berwick, where they received the kind attentions of a sumpathizing community. The writer, then a small boy, was an eye-witness of this awful scene. The bodies of several persons were placed in a large room in the hotel of Mr. John Jones. What there presented itself will never be erased from our memory-the bloodstained floor-the mangled, scalded bodies-the groans and dying words of men far from home and kindred.
"Colonel Joseph Paxton of Cattawissa, who was on board, in a letter to the writer says, 'With our rich pine we succeeded in raising a full head of steam, and set off in fine style to ascend the rapids. The strength of the current soon checked our headway, and the boat, flanking towards the right bank of the river, struck a rock. I stood on the forward-deck with a long ash pole in my hand, and was in the act of placing it in the water hoping to steady her, when the explosion took place. Two young men standing near me were blown high into the air, and I was hurled several yards from the boat into the water. I thought a cannon had been fired, and shot my head off. When in the water I thought I must certainly drown, but, making a desperate effort, succeeded in reaching the shore. I was badly scalded, and lost my hair and a portion of my scalp.'
"Doctors Headley, Wilson, and Jackson, of Berwick, were actively engaged rendering all the medical assistance in their power. The citizens generally, especially the ladies, ministered to the wants and comforts of the suffering.
"John Turk and Ceber Whitemarsh of Green, New York, were killed instantly. William Camp of Owego died in a few hours, and his remains were conveyed to his family. Mr. Maynard, the engineer, lingered a day or two and died. He died in the triumphs of the Christian faith. He was a resident of Baltimore, and a class-leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The fireman, a brave little fellow, was most severely scalded, but recovered.
"William Fitch and David Rose, of Chenango county, N. Y., were scalded and severely wounded.
"Colonel Paxton and C. Brobst, of Catawissa, and Jeremiah Miller, of Perry county, were severely scalded. Messrs. Woodside, Colt, and Underwood, of Danville, Foster, Hurley, and Barton, of Bloomsburg; Benjamin Edwards and Isaac Lacey, of Luzerne county, were slightly scalded."
Undismayed by the failure of the "Codorus" and the fate of the "Susque- hanna", the year 1834 found discussions in vogue between Owego and Wilkes- Barré, as to the advisability of organizing a local company for further experi- ments with river craft. This discussion took practical form at Tunkhannock, by the appointment of a committee of citizens of that point to confer with like committees from Wilkes-Barré and Owego as to the formation of a corporation whose shares of stock might be purchased at all points along the proposed route of travel. The Wyoming Republican of June 18, 1834, mentions the fact that a joint meeting for formulating plans was held at Towanda and a decision had been reached to seek a charter authorizing an issue of five thousand shares of stock at ten dollars per share.
On August 27, 1834, a meeting of all interested was called at Wilkes-Barré, the Susquehanna Steamboat and Navigation Company organized with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, and the following committee appointed to solicit subscriptions and conduct the affairs of the company until its charter should arrive: Messers G. W. Woodward, B. A. Bidlack, J. L. Butler, L. S. Coryell, Messers James Pumpelly, Wm. H. Ely, H. W. Camp, Lathan A. Bur- rows, Jonathan Platt, Amos Martin, and J. S. Pumpelly of Owego; S. D. Ingham, of Bucks County and George M. Hollenback, Henry Colt and Henry Pettebone of Wilkes-Barré.
Early in the following Spring, sufficient funds were in sight to allow the building of an experimental boat at Owego the keel of which was laid down as soon as weather conditions permitted. She was ready to be commissioned by May 1st, the name "Susquehanna" having been given to her by popular vote although the same name had belonged to the ill-fated boat of 1826. On May 12,
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1835 she left Owego at seven A. M. and reached Wilkes-Barre at six P. M. the same day. Discharging some freight and passengers, and with a cargo of coal. she began a return trip the following day. But the "Susquehanna" was to find, as the "Codorus" had found before hier, that while an occasional trip on the river might be made, maintaining any sort of a schedule that might prove of commercial benefit was out of the question. She experienced such delays and found the need of so many repairs while making the ascent of the river, her owners decided that using her for excursion purposes was the only way to earn her up-keep.
"What has become of the Steam Boat?" exclaims the Wyoming Republican, May 17, 1837. "It has heretofore taken advantage of the Spring and Fall freshets. and made its periodical trips with something like regularity. It was rather pleasant than otherwise to hear the loud shout of the boys from the redoubt -- 'A Sail! A Sail!' 'The Boat! The Boat"'-and then the merry gathering of men, women, and children at the wharf, the jokes of the youngsters, and the bright eyes of the girls. To Wilkes-Barre even this trifling occurrence was of moment. The people here like fun-and grow very, very taciturn without some kind of excitement. The Boat must come-the wood is in readiness; it has been for some time in the hands of a very public spirited gentleman and the loss will fall heavy upon him if the trip is not made. If not convenient to come further than Tunk- hannock the first day, we won't complain if the arrival should be a day after. In the general depreciation of stocks and the panic and pressure which prevail, we are sorry to see that Wilkes-Barré and Owego Steam boat stock has fallen below zero."
The final appearance of the "Susquehanna," at Wilkes-Barre was in the Spring of 1838. Considerable amusement must have attended her adieu to local efforts, judged from an account of the Republican:
"The steamboat Susquehanna 'of and from' Owego, made her appearance at Wilkesbarre, on Friday morning last. It is the second time, we believe, that the Valley has been honored with the presence of this aqueous stranger.
On Saturday she made two pleasure excursions from the Borough to Nanticoke, well loaded, we understand, with the fair and gay; but unfortunately, on the return of her second trip, when about two miles below town, her stern wheel struck upon a sand bar, breaking the shaft, and bring- ing the boat to a dead halt. The votaries of pleasure on board were disembarked, and had the advantage of active exercise in walking back to the place of starting.
"We are not aware whether the experiment of navigating the Susquehanna by steam is now considered thoroughly tested."
As a matter of fact, the "experiment" was "tested" for the "Susquehanna," at least. She was floated to the mouth of Nanticoke creek where her hull was later crushed by ice, thus proving another total loss to stockholders.
It was ten years later before the largest boat that ever attempted to navi- gate the upper river was launched. She was the "Wyoming," constructed by undaunted citizens of Tunkhannock with the aid of a ship builder brought on from New York for the purpose. A length of one hundred twenty-seven feet and beam of twenty-two feet outrivaled the dimensions of any other craft. She was launched, at a total cost of $6,000, in April, 1849. After a trial trip to Towanda, the Wyoming proceeded to Wilkes-Barré, where she engaged in the coal carrying trade between the Wyoming Valley and Athens, as condition of the river permitted.
Being found an unprofitable venture at the end of three years, especially in view of canal opposition, the Wyoming was beached and permitted to dis- integrate. Local capital now being wholly discouraged as to further ventures which tied up large sums in a doubtful enterprise, it remained for citizens of Bainbridge, New York, to make a final attempt at navigation. There the "Enter-
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prise" was constructed intended, like its immediate predecessor, for coal carrying purposes. She was launched in 1851, and while the Spring months permitted profitable employment, between Wilkes-Barré and up-river points, the low water of Summer and Fall, which had left the boat high and dry upon the bank. so injured her hull that she was salvaged for what her machinery might bring.
While this venture ended all attempts to navigate the Susquehanna in the sense that the Missippippi and its tributaries were navigated, it did not de- stroy a belief that boats could be operated profitably in interurban passenger trade. Conditions in the Wyoming Valley were exceptionally favorable in this respect. The Nanticoke dam maintained a dependable stage of water throughout the year and ice dangers alone were to be feared. Populations of communities along the river were growing in proportion as Wilkes-Barré grew. The earliest boat to engage in this trade was the Winohocking which, in 1859, began to main- tain a regular schedule between Plymouth and Wilkes-Barré. Uncertainties of Civil war times and financial troubles which followed in their wake disrupted this trade for several years. Local capital came forward in 1874, to build the
"Hendrick B. Wright," a stern wheel steamer built after the pattern of Ohio river craft and capable of carrying four hundred passengers. She immediately engaged in a profitable trade between Plymouth, Nanticoke and Wilkes-Barré and came into great popularity for moonlight excursions after scheduled hours. The "Wright" is credited with an excursion to Tunkhannock on August 26, 1875, the round trip being easily made in daylight hours. The financial success of this boat quickly drew rivals to the Wyoming pool. In the Spring of 1875, the sidewheel steamer "Owego" rechristened the "Pittston," was purchased by Smith and Shiffer and brought to Pittston to engage in making two trips a day between Pittston and Nanticoke.
Plymouth capital now became interested in the purchase of the "Lyman Truman," an excursion boat then plying between Owego and a pleasure resort nearby. She was rechristened the "Susquehanna" by her new owners and at once stirred up keen rivalry. Lack of harbor facilities during periods of heavy ice took a heavy toll of this fleet. Both the "Pittston" and "Hendrick B. Wright" were crushed by ice and sunk on February 11, 1881.
The "Susquehanna" bore the same fate as at least one of her namesakes. While about to take on passengers at the Wilkes-Barré wharf, on July 3, 1883, her boilers exploded, demolishing the craft and injuring all of the members of her crew. They were fished out of the river, however, without any fatalities and their wounds dressed at the Wyoming Valley Hotel. In spite of masses of debris hurled shoreward where passengers were waiting, none were seriously injured. P. L. Raeder, an eye witness to this accident, in a contribution to the Record May 9, 1912, is authority for the statement that the boiler of the boat was hurled clear of the old covered bridge at Market street and fell into the river beyond. In the year 1885 the "Wilkes-Barré,"a side wheeler, was built, to reopen this trade, by Capt. Joel Walp, of Kingston, who likewise commanded her. En- gines of sixty horsepower were installed in this vessel and her passenger capacity was rated at four hundred. Captain Walp also placed in service a small stern- wheel craft named the "Pusher." In the Spring of 1886, two smaller boats, the "Plymouth" and "Mayflower" were rebuilt for the Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke route, by William Jenkins, Sr. and his son of the same name. Each of these was rated as one hundred twenty-five passenger capacity. In 1889, the "Glen
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Mary" from Owego entered the local trade for a season. But the development of traction lines and the appearance of a new danger to navigation in a by- product of the mines had their effect. In the eighties, the bed of the Nanticoke pool began noticibly to fill with culm, much as coral reefs make their appearance along tropical coasts. Channel uncertainties thuis added to the riverman's trials. The final trip of the "Wilkes-Barre" occurred in the Fall of 1887. She found a haven in the old canal outlet above Nanticoke where, for many years, she was a prey to weather and flood. The "Mayflower" sank in 1894, and no vestige
STEAMBOAT LANDING
at present remains of the last fleet that had contributed to the development of the Wyoming Valley.
Just as the stage coach was to give place to the canal packet and it, in turn, to lose prestige through the spectacular efforts of the swiftly moving loco- motive, so was the fleet of small carriers which landed their passengers at the dock below the almost forgotten Wyoming Valley Hotel at Wilkes-Barré to feel the influence of an easier and swifter mode of travel in the appearance of electrically propelled traction cars which passed the doors of those who must needs fare forth.
The story of transportation is, indeed, the story of development of America. That story, as this Chapter has intended to describe, was likewise written indelibly upon pages of Wyoming's history.
CHAPTER XLIII.
CIVIC EVENTS 1825-1850-THE WYOMING BANK-STAGE COACH AND CANAL TAVERNS-THE PHOENIX HOTEL-THE "BUCKET BRIGADE" AND THE "DAVY CROCKETT"-SLOW BEGINNINGS OF THE WILKES-BARRE FIRE DEPARTMENT-ROSTERS OF EARLY FIRE COMPANIES-FAMOUS FIRES-BOROUGH TREASURY BANKRUPT-PUBLIC SQUARE IN- DICTED AS A NUISANCE-THE NEW ACADEMY-TREAT- MENT OF AN EARLY. ABOLITIONIST-WILKES-BARRE INSTITUTE-WYOMING SEMINARY-WYOMING AR- TILLERISTS IN THE MEXICAN WAR.
Where Susquehanna, journeying to the main, Wyoming's fertile fields divides in twain, Lies a small village, little known to fame, From Wilkes and Barré that derives its name. * * *
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* * *
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Returning thence, upon a little height, A public school house rises to the sight;
"And here fond memory delights to trace," The various friends who've fill'd the master's place.
If worth and excellence consist in these-
A mind informed-and well disposed to please,
A friendly heart-with every virtue warm, Of gentle manners, and a pleasing form,
Then -s thou hast to excellence a claim, Which thy excessive modesty'll disclaim- Friend G-n-h next assumed the master's rule And swayed the birchen scepter of the school, His mind's a diamond of the brightest hue,
That shines with judgment-cuts and sparkles too.
Extracts from a poetical description of the Academy by an
ananymous writer, published in the Luzerne Federalist, May 9, 1806
It has been held by many who have written of the earlier history of Wyo- ming, that the turning point in affairs of Wilkes-Barré became apparent about the year 1830. The present writer is in agreement with this view. Its history, as earlier Chapters of this record have disclosed, was peculiar in the annals of America. But physically, as well as from a civic standpoint, the borough of Wilkes-Barré, in 1830, differed in small degree from other borough county seats of Pennsylvania or elsewhere.
That the prospects of the community were bright, none doubted. Hazard's
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Register, of May 1, 1830, (V-288) shared this sentiment. "Wyoming Valley is fast exciting interest abroad" said this widely read journal, "and we may safely assume is now verging towards that rank she is destined to hold in the scale with other flourishing districts. New buildings are going up in various directions and business of every kind is increasing."
But a controlling fundamental of sound business was lacking. Of banking facilities in all the northeast section there were none. The United States had but a limited coinage of gold at this period and, of this, only a small percentage was in actual circulation. Silver was more plentiful, but difficult to transport by stage from outlying districts to centers of supply. The bills of banks in Phila- delphia and Easton were in local demand for larger transactions involving cash, but these fluctuated in value from time to time. The sustaining influences of a bank, backed by local capital and under community supervision, were sorely needed.
In 1810, as has been mentioned in a previous Chapter, the Philadelphia Bank anticipated this need in opening a branch at Wilkes-Barré.
In 1814, the legislature authorized the Susquehanna Bank to be capitalized in the district of Luzerne County, but due to unsettled conditions following the capture and destruction of the seat of government, in that year, local capital could not be induced to finance the undertaking.
The Philadelphia branch bank continued in operation until 1820. Then, to preserve its parent organization intact through a period of exceptional finan- cial stress, the Wilkes-Barré branch was abandoned. For a period of almost ten years, the community was to be without any form of a financial institution.
Meanwhile, however, enterprising residents of the community had not given up hopes of a bank of their own. Early in 1829 these hopes, quickened by various commercial activities, crystallized into action.
The Pennsylvania Legislature enacted on March 30, 1829, that William Ross, John N. Conyngham and Isaac Bowman of Wilkes-Barre, Henderson Gaylord of Plymouth, and William Swetland of Kingston Township, be "ap- pointed commissioners to carry into effect from and after May 4, 1829, the establishment of a bank to be called and known as 'The Wyoming Bank at Wilkes- barre,' agreeably to an Act passed May 21, 1814, regulating banks."
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