Civil War, U. S., 1861-1865; Correspondence; Fortune telling; Love-letters; American Civil War, letters and diaries; Military life
Ernest Schleicher, a soldier in Company I 38th Regiment Indiana Infantry, wrote letters home during the Civil War to Harriet Jackson of New Providence, Indiana. Ernest mustered in as a private in 1861 and was discharged in 1865 as a sergeant. These...
History; County government; Pioneers; Families; Farm life; Farming;
Mr. McCormick describes his work as an "An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with an Extended Survey of Modern Developments in the Reclamation of Lands and the Progress of Town and Country".
The "America" was built at Jeffersonville as a packet boat. Her hull and machinery came from the "Indiana" which had burned at Cincinnati on May 1, 1916. She was later remodeled to a full-fledged excursion boat operating mostly out of...
Steamboats; Riverboats; Excursion boats; "Belle of Louisville"; "Idlewild"; "Avalon"; Rivers
The "Idlewild" was sold to J. Harold Gorsage in 1947 and the name was changed to "Avalon". She became the most widely traveled excursion boat on the rivers. During her tramping days she made stops at Omaha, Nebraska; New Orleans; Stillwater,...
The "Carmania" was built at Newport News, Virginia in 1896 and was originally of Mexican registry called the "Tlacotalpan". After being sold to Mobile, Alabama she rammed a dock and killed some 50 people. She was then renamed "Margaret". She was...
The steamer "City of Louisville" was billed as the "fastest boat in the world". Its dimensions were: length, 307 feet; beam, 43 feet; hold, 7 feet in depth. It was chartered to carry 1,500 passengers. It had 72 state rooms with sleeping...
A group of people are shown on the "Falls City" on the Kentucky River. The "Falls City" was built in 1890 at New Albany and worked the Louisville to Frankfort route until she had to be replaced with another boat bearing the same name in 1898.
Steamboats; Riverboats; W. S. McChesney, Jr.; Diesel; Ohio River
The "Froman M. Coots" began life as a steam ferry built for the Wiggins Ferry Company of St. Louis. At that time she was called the "W. S. McChesney, Jr." She served the Louisville and Jeffersonville areas. It was converted to diesel-electric...
The "G.W. McBride" was built in 1916 at Elizabeth, Pennsylvania as the "Conqueror". The "Conqueror" was upset in a storm and sank. She was raised, rebuilt, and named the "G.W. McBride" by Captain Birch McBride. She was sold to the Ohio River...
"General Pike"; Steamboats; Riverboats; Steamboat accidents; Mail steamers
On January 1, 1891, the "General Pike" collided with one of the Middleton and Wymond coal barges, causing both to sink in a very few minutes. Captain Sam Bryant, Clerk Ed Long, and Pilot Bowen managed to save everyone on board. She was built for...
According to Way's Packet Directory the "Homer Smith" was build by Howard's in 1914. The "Homer Smith" ran excursions on the lower Ohio in 1915 and briefly tried the Louisville and Cincinnati trade. It became a regular excursion boat at Pittsburg...
Steamboats; Riverboats; Excursion boats; "Belle of Louisville"; "Avalon"; Ferries; USO clubs; Rose Island
Built in 1914 this boat went by the name Idlewild from that date to 1947. She then became the Avalon from 1947 to 1962 when she was dubbed "Belle of Louisville". She is a shallow draft boat which enables her to glide over water that would not be...
This boat was built in 1910 by Howard as the "J. H. Menge" and later the "M. A. Burke," a cotton packet. It was sold to the Louisville and Cincinnati Packet Company in 1919 and then was sent to Mount City for extensive alterations before being...
She was built as the "Dolphin No. 3" at Jeffersonville, Indiana and was called the "Harry Anderson" for a brief period before receiving the name "Julius Fleischmann." She was owned by the Hatfield Coal Company and towed between the Kanawha River...
Built in 1916 by the Howard works, she ran excursion in the Louisville area. This might be an excursion to Fern Grove. She was rebuilt in St. Louis and the name was changed to "Harry G. Drees".
Steamboats; Mail steamers; "Queen City"; Excursion boats; Riverboats; Steamboat accidents
The "Queen City" was built at Cincinnati Marine Railways for the Pittsburg and Cincinnati Packet Line. Coming back from a Mardi Gras trip she sank at the Falls of the Ohio on February 17, 1914. She laid up in the Kanawha River at Point Pleasant...
Photographer Theodore Eitel’s album, About a Town in Southern Indiana, depicts the Ohio River town of Utica, Clark County, Indiana circa 1920s. The fifteen village scenes are mounted on board with vellum. Eitel was a native of Louisville,...
In the early 1900s Marks and Benson, a men's clothier, began an advertising campaign that they would continue for over 25 years. Some of the rules and offers changed over the years, but basically when any boy, accompanied by a parent, purchased a...
