Links

Ohio River Resources: A GCLC Collection Guide
Greater Cincinnati Library Consortium, History and Archives Interest Group (1999)

River to Rails
The Rise and Fall of River and Rail Transportation in Madison, Indiana

Nicholas Roosevelt's 1811 Steamboat New Orleans
by J.H.B. Latrobe [John Hazelhurst Beneval Latrobe]
Baltimore, October, 1871

The First Steamboat Voyage on Western Waters
By Carl R. Bogardus, Sr., M.D.

Collections

Charles Staudinger Papers, new jersey Historical Society, Newark, NJ. Staudinger was Fulton’s chief engineer, he sent Nicholas Baker and William Robinson to serve as resident engineers on the New Orleans 1811, went to Pittsburg himself in 1812 to build the Vesuvius and Aetna, and become director of the Fulton Company after Fulton died in 1815. Staudinger papers contain hundreds of water colors and drawings of the Fulton steamboats and their steam engines. No scholar has searched this collection for information or pictures of the New Orleans.

Robert Livingston Papers, New York Historical Society, Albany, NY. These papers have been microfilmed and 18 reels are also at Library of Congress. These papers include a one volume account book, 1809-1814, of disbursements and receipts, contracts and correspondence, relating to Ohio River steamboats and other steamboats.

Robert Livingston Papers, Clermont State Historical Site, Germantown, NY. Contains 1/3 cubic foot of letters to Livingston from Fulton with cost estimates and legal problems relating to Mississippi River navigation.

Robert Fulton Papers, New York Public Library, NYC. Samples of these, including one from Nicholas Roosevelt, have been scanned and can be seen on the internet.

Benjamin H. Latrobe Papers, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD. Includes his correspondence with Nicholas and Lydia Roosevelt, Robert Fulton, and many others. Latrobe’s journal has been printed, but the printed version stops in 1808 and resumes in 1817, leaving a gap from 1809 to 1816 that would relate to the New Orleans. This gap could be filled researching the Latrobe papers. Latrobe’s correspondence has also been published, but, again, many letters relating to the New Orleans were not printed. This massive collection is available on microfiche, but not microfilm.

Daniel French Papers, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, In. 1 box, 1 folder, 1 microfilm reel. French is very important to Western River Steamboat design, and his papers might reveal details about the small Shiras boat he built in 1811 and subsequently his designs for the Comet and Enterprise.

The Dr. Carl Bogardus Ohio River Collection is among the archives of NKU. Dr. Bogardus, no deceased, built this large collection of books and photos during a lifetime on the River in Warsaw, KY. He also wrote several books and pamphlets about river life.

B.F. Callis Collection, ca. 1860s - ca. 1940 (P0347), Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN. Approximately 1,490 black-and-white photographs along with manuscript items.

General Picture Collection, 1860s - 1980s (P0411), Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN. This is a large collection of pictures that were acquired from many different sources by the Indiana Historical Society as either individual items or small batches of items that did not necessarily warrant being designated as collections of their own. Box 10, Folders 14 – 16 contain the most relevant steamboat images.

• Box 10, folder 14:  Steamboats:  Eclipse, French’s New Sensation and Little Clyde, Indiana, dining room on the Ohio River boat Kentucky, Coney Island Steamer Princess, unidentified.
• Box 10, folders 15 and 16: Steamboats—Pictures used in Fishbaugh’s From Paddle Wheels to Propellers:  The America, Arthur Hider, Ben Franklin, Cape Girardeau, City of Cincinnati (broken by ice), City of Louisville, City of Memphis, Clyde, Cordova, DeKoven transfer boat, Demopolis, Falls City, Frank Pargoud, Henry Frank, Howard’s ship yards at Jeffersonville, Inco. No. 1, Island Queen, J.M. White interiors, James Howard, James Lee, John W. Cannon, U.S. mail boat Kate Adams, Katie Robbins, La Belle tow boat, Loretta Howard, Louisiana, Major Anderson, Minnesota, U.S. mail boat Morning Star, Robert E. Lee, Ruth, T.P. Leathers, Tarascon, Tom Greene, multiple boats, unidentified boats.

John M. Killian Collection, 1900-1906 (M 0418), Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN. One box of photographs, 4 OVA photographs of steamboats and Rockport, Ind.  There are also diaries in this collection.

R.M. Lintner Riverboat Collection Ca. 1860s–1990s (M 0945, OM 0464), Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN. The collection features several thousand photographs of mid-nineteenth century through late twentieth century riverboats that were active on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.  The collection also includes postcards, negatives, slides, and films of riverboats as well as riverboat research and information from nineteenth and twentieth century newspapers.

Marcus R. Sulzer Collection, ca. 1890–ca. 1920 (P 0061), Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN. The collection contains approximately 60 black-and-white prints of steamboats and paddle steamers in operation on the Ohio River in southern Indiana. Most of the photographs are exterior views of the boats made between circa 1890 and circa 1920. Most vessels are identified, and a small number of images show interior views of cabins and lounges.  As no original order was apparent, the collection and collection guide are arranged alphabetically by boat name.  Descriptions are taken from visuals and/or text from each photograph.  The collection is in fair condition, but several items have been repaired and reinforced.  Photographs are stored in one half-size document storage case and two OVB boxes.  The first OVB box contains a large curved photograph of the General Lytle.