Steamboat Days
by: Fred Erving Dayton
Illustrated by: John Wolcott Adams

CHAPTER 4
Hudson River Steamboats

The Hudson is celebrated for Fulton's demonstration with Clermont and for the development of a type of fast river steamboat. Cold Spring-on-the-Hudson was the location of West Point Foundry, early builders of marine engines. Many operators began their careers on the Hudson, linking their names with transportation in America. Captain Samuel Jenkins and Captain Samuel Wiswall, Clermont's masters, and Stoudinger and Charles Dyker, who followed Fulton as engineer, were first of a long line of distinguished steamboat officers.

Clermont, built in 1807 by Charles Brownne, New York, was 150 feet length, 13 feet beam and 7 feet depth of hold. The Boulton & Watt engine had cylinder 24 inches diameter by 4 feet stroke, and the paddle wheels were 15 feet diameter with 4 feet face of buckets and 2 feet dip. Boilers were low pressure type, 20 feet length, 7 feet high and 8 feet wide.

Clermont was advertised as a regular passenger boat, New York and Albany service, in the New York Evening Post, Albany Gazette and other papers, September, 1807:

"The North River Steamboat will leave Pauler's Hook Ferry (foot of Cortlandt Street) on Friday the 4th of September at 9 in the morning, and arrive at Albany on Saturday at 9 in the afternoon. Provisions, good berths and accommodations are provided. The charge for each passenger is as follows:

To NEWBURGH Poughkeepsie Esopus Hudson Albany

dols 3 4 4½ 5 7

time 14 hours 17 20 30 36

For places apply to William Vandervoort, No. 48 Courtlandt Street on the corner of Greenwich street. Way passengers to Tarry Town, &c &c will apply to the captain on board." September 2, 1807.

The New York Evening Post, October 2, 1807, reported:

"Mr. Fulton's new invented STEAMBOAT 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 90 passengers, against a strong head tide. Notwithstanding which it was judged she moved through the waters at the rate of six miles an hour."

Clermont was enlarged to 18 feet beam the following winter and the name changed to North River.

"A passenger who lately came down from Albany in the Paragon cannot, in justice to his own feelings, refrain from mentioning the superior accommodations of this extraordinary vessel," said the New York Evening Post, April 11, 1812. "With more room than any steamboat on the river, being of the same length of keel with the frigate President, and considerably wider than Car of Neptune, it may be added that in speed she excels all competitors. It is not too much to say that she unites in herself convenience, neatness, elegance and dispatch beyond what has been yet seen in this country."

Car of Neptune ran until 1817, being retired when Chancellor Livingston came on. Paragon continued until 1820, when it hit a rock and sank near Albany.

Fire Fly, 1812, of 81 feet length, 19 feet beam and 7 feet depth of hold, ran to Newburgh. Richmond, built in 1814, was intended for service on James River, but the War of 1812 interfered and Richmond succeeded North River. "The public are informed that the old North River Steamboat is laid aside, and the staunch new boat, called Richmond with handsome accommodations, substituted in her stead," said a newspaper announcement. Olive Branch, Captain H. Moore, 112 feet length, running from New York to New Brunswick; Swift, running to Elizabeth; Franklin to Shrewsbury; Atlanta to Elizabethtown Point, Nautilus to Staten Island and Bellona, from Staten Island to New Brunswick, Union, 1827, William Cutting, 1827, Over, 1840, were early Fulton steamboats in New York waters.

Hope and Perseverance, sister steamboats, came in 1811, managed by Captain Elihu S. Bunker, who had operated packet sloops between New York and Hudson, in association with Albany capitalists. Robert McQueen built the engines and boilers. They were patterned after the Fulton boats, 149 feet length, 20 feet beam and 7.7 feet depth of hold, and ran one season, when the opposition was forced to quit.

Fulton was built to send abroad, but the War of 1812 interfered and also with the proposed New York and New Haven service. Fulton came to the Hudson instead, the announcement suggesting the public fear of the British fleet.

"The public are respectfully informed that the subscriber has commenced running the steamboat Fulton between the cities of New York and Albany for the accommodation of passengers. The boat was built to ply between New York and New Haven, but will be employed on the Hudson river until the cessation of hostilities enables the proprietors to put her on her destined route. Fulton has good accommodations and is a very swift boat. The complement of passengers is limited to 6o and the price is therefore necessarily raised to ten dollars. She will start from Albany every Monday morning at 9 o'clock and from New York every Friday evening at the same hour. For passage apply on board at Steam Boat Dock. Elihu S. Bunker, Albany, May 16, 1814."

Chancellor Livingston, Captain Cochran, was built by Henry Eckford and completed in 1816 for the North River Steam Boat Company, being 157 feet length, 33.8 feet beam, 10 feet depth of hold, with engine by James P. Allaire, successor to Fulton's engine building business. Chancellor Livingston's first engine had cylinder 44 inches diameter by 5 feet stroke, with two flywheels 14 feet diameter, connected by pinions to crank wheels, and rated 75 horse power. The copper boiler, 28 feet length by 12 feet width, weighed 44,000 lbs. Fulton's quest for added heating surface was shown in a cylindrical flue and two smaller return flues, and the boiler had a false front. Chancellor Livingston had two stacks originally, and later three; measured 496 tons and cost $110,000. The fastest trip to Albany, 18 hours, was made December 5, 1817. Chancellor Livingston ran on the Hudson until 1828 and then from New York to Providence.

Thomas Gibbons fought the Fulton monopoly with United States, running from Perth Amboy to New York, and, not being molested, extended the route to Albany. After two trips the North River Steam Boat Company obtained injunction claiming it was not to be disturbed "in their enjoyment of their exclusive privilege, under the several statutes of the State." United States then ran to New Haven and returned to the Hudson in 1831, as a passenger and tow boat, under command of Captain Hitchcock. United States was built by J. Williams, New York, in 1821 and was 140 feet length.

James Kent, Captain Wiswall, was built by Blossom, Smith & Dimon in 1823 for the Fulton monopoly, 135 feet length and 31.6 feet beam, with engine by Allaire. James Kent continued as a liner, then as a towboat, and latterly as a coal barge on the Delaware & Hudson canal and was only broken up in 1895, having long served as a stake boat. Saratoga, a tender for the line, was built in 1823, the last of the Fulton monopoly boats, 98 feet length, 22.6 feet beam and 8 feet depth of hold.

The Fulton & Livingston line made much money in the seventeen years of its undisputed sway on the Hudson until knocked out in 1824, but spent enormous sums defending its rights. The management was ultra conservative and did not prosecute its opportunity to the limit of possibilities, as was demonstrated immediately the river had been declared free. Many coveted the rich river trade, and when the monopoly fell the Hudson was invaded by old and new steamboats, and a new era of transportation progress begun.

The first new steamboats to come to the open field were Constitution, Captain Wiswall, and Constellation, Captain R. G. Cruttenden, built by Brown & Bell, New York, in 1823. Constitution was 145 feet length, 27 feet beam, and Constellation was 4 feet longer. J. Birkbeck built both engines, Constitution's being 42 inches cylinder diameter by 9 feet stroke and Constellation's cylinder 44 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke. Constitution's boiler exploded, June 21, 1825, near Poughkeepsie and two persons were killed. When converted to a towboat Constitution was known as Indiana. Constellation was broken up and the engine installed in a Lake Erie boat.

Chief Justice Marshall, Captain Sherman, was named for the distinguished jurist and ran to Troy, making a record of 14½ hours to Albany and known as "the race horse of the North River." Chief Justice Marshall had the honor place in the naval parade arranged for the visit of the Marquis Lafayette. Blue plate dishes pictured Chief Justice Marshall making a "fly landing."

Desire for speed and awkward handling of early steamboats in docking occasioned landing and embarking passengers from a small boat swung on a long line. Approaching a way landing passengers quickly hopped ashore, or aboard the small boat, which was then hauled in, the painter being wrapped several turns around the engine shaft and drawn in quickly by steam power. An early State law provided for fly landings, but when several persons had been drowned the "fly landing" law was repealed. Thereafter fast through liners made the important landings and local steamboats served smaller communities.

Commerce, Captain Seymour, was built in 1825 by C. Berg, New York, 130 feet length, 24.4 feet beam, 8.7 feet depth of hold and registered 371 tons. The engine was Wolff double-cylinder type, built by James P. Allaire, with cylinders 16 and 30 inches diameters by 4 feet stroke. Commerce had Swiftsure, Captain D. Peck, for consort.

Disastrous boiler explosions created fear of steamboats and William C. Redfield of Cromwell, Connecticut, devised safety barges, built in the manner of steamboats, but without power, being towed by a steam vessel. "Passengers on board the safety barges will not be in the least exposed to any accident by reason of the fire or steam on board the steamboats. The noise of the machinery, the trembling of the boat, the heat from the furnace, boilers and kitchen, and everything which may be considered unpleasant on board a steamboat are entirely avoided," said the company's announcement.

The first safety barges were Lady Clinton and Lady Van Rensselaer. Thomas L. McKenney, a commissioner of the Interior Department, made a barge trip, June, 1826, on his journey to negotiate with the Northwest Indians. He wrote of such travel:

"I left New York in Lady Clinton yesterday morning at 9 o'clock. I was struck with the admirable invention, and with the extent and variety and perfection of the accommodations. This barge resembles the finest steamboat. There is splendor, too, and as if the inventive genius of the owners was apprehensive that the ear might grow jealous of the eye that organ has been provided for also with a fine band of music.

"This beautiful barge is towed by Commerce, an unusually fine steamboat of great power. The connection is by means of two pieces of timber, six feet long, united in the form of a pair of compasses and none of the motion of the steamboat is communicated to the barge. The cabin in which we dined is below and is the same in which the gentlemen sleep, and 180 persons can sit down and each have elbow room sufficient for all purposes of figuring with the knife and fork in all the grace of which these two instruments are susceptible.

"At the bow is the bar, sumptuously supplied with all that can be desired by the most fastidious and thirsty. The berths occupy the entire sides of this vast room; curtained in such a way as to afford retirement in dressing and undressing; there being brass rods on which curtains are projected and these are thrown out at night. In the day curtains hang close to the berths.

"Next above this are the ladies' cabin and apartments- staterooms rather-furnished in splendid style, and in which a lady has all the retirement and comfort which the delicacy and tenderness of her sex require. Over the bar and upon the middle tier is an apartment where gentlemen dress, shave and read. All around this second story, it being, I judge, not over two-thirds of the width of the boat, and resting upon the middle deck, is a fine walk with settees where you sit, when you please, and lounge. Then comes the grand promenade above, with awning protection from sun or rain."

Progress was slow and unencumbered steamboats landed their passengers several hours before those of the safety barges. No serious steamboat accidents occurred during the time of their operation and when the novelty wore off the public tired and the barges were converted for cargoes. The practice suggested a system of towing freight boats, established in 1826, and fleets of freight and canal boats, sometimes numbering forty or fifty, were set in motion by Mr. Redfield, who was superintendent of the Swiftsure Line for thirty years. Towboats carried barges and canal boats alongside, strung out three abreast on each quarter. It was not until 1860 that towing by long-line hawsers was adopted for the Sam Schuyler tugs on the Albany line.

Commerce was rebuilt in Brooklyn in 1856, the hull being lengthened, and when launched changed end for end and renamed Ontario, being then 216 feet length, 27 feet beam, 9 feet depth of hold and 395 tons. The engine cylinder was increased to 48 inches diameter by 12 feet stroke. Ontario long served as a towboat, being dismantled at Perth Amboy in 1893.

James A. and Robert Stevens, sons of John Stevens of Hoboken, were among the first to enter river competition. They had operated steam ferries across North River and steamboats on the Delaware River. They placed New Philadelphia, Albany and North America, large and fast steamboats, in Hudson River service.

There were sixteen steamboats in 1826. The number increased to 100 by 1840. In this early period were the Union Line, North River Line, Connecticut Line, North River Association, Troy Line, C. & D. Transportation Company and the Steam Navigation Company and later came the Old Line, Night Line, Eagle Line, People's Line, Citizens' Line, the Day Line and local lines to river ports.

Independence, built by Brown & Bell, New York, in 1827, was 128 feet length and 26 feet beam, with engine by John Stevens having cylinder 44 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke, and served long as liner and towboat before being broken up. New Philadelphia was built at Philadelphia in 1828 for service on the upper Delaware, and began to run as an Albany day boat in 1830, being 170 feet length, 24 feet beam and the engine had cylinder 55 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke.

The advertisements of New Philadelphia read:

"She has a low pressure engine and her boilers are not on the boat, but are so placed over the water, on her guards, which project from her sides, as to render it almost impossible that any passengers should receive injury from an accident to the boiler."

New Philadelphia's boilers were the first to be placed on the guards, and the engine was the first to be fitted with double poppet valves, afterwards generally used in beam engines. New Philadelphia became a towboat.

Albany, 398 tons, was built by J. Vaughn in 1826 at Philadelphia and was 212 feet length, 26 feet beam and 9 feet depth of hold, with engine having cylinder 65 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke. During the winter of 1839 Albany was lengthened by John Englis, Brooklyn, to 289 feet and the beam increased by 2 feet. Albany was commanded at that period by Captain James Benson, a fast boat, and ran from New York to Albany, September 25, 1840, in 8 hours and 35 minutes.

Victory, Captain James B. McEntee, was built by M. Kenyon at Albany in 1827 and was owned in Albany. The engine, built by the West Point Foundry, was considered to be too powerful and frequently gave trouble. Victory was outclassed, as a liner, by the competition and went to the Connecticut River, but came back to tow coal barges out of Rondout in 1838, continuing until 1845, when it sank off Yonkers.

The same Albany interests financed De Witt Clinton, 571 tons, built by M. Kenyon in 1828. The hull was twice enlarged. The dimensions were given in 1833 as 233 feet length, 28 feet beam, 64 feet over guards, 10 feet depth of hold and 4.6 feet draught. West Point Foundry built the engine, the largest of the time, with cylinder 66 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke, and two iron boilers were carried on the guards. The Albany investors lost their holdings in Victory and De Witt Clinton, the latter being purchased by the North River Line, and ran many years as a night boat to Albany. When broken up in 1843 De Witt Clinton's engine was installed in Knickerbocker.

Ohio, built at Albany in 1829, was 192 feet length, 30 feet beam, with two engines having cylinders 60 inches diameter by 9 feet stroke. Ohio continued many years on the Hudson and sank at Castleton.

Novelty was built by Chauncey Goodrich at Hyde Park in 1830 and measured 450 tons, 165 feet length, 24 feet beam and 9 feet depth of hold. Dr. Eliphalet Nott designed the engine and boilers, having so many new features that the boat was named Novelty. The shop where the engines were built became the Novelty Iron Works, East River, New York. Novelty had two engines, with cylinders 39 inches diameter by 6 feet stroke. Steam was furnished by twelve boilers, the first tubular type to be installed in a vessel and the furnaces exhausted through four stacks. Later Novelty was lengthened to 229 feet. Novelty ran with Champion and Albany, all day boats.

Champlain, 471 tons, a four-piper and one of the finest early steamboats, was built by Brown & Bell, New York, in 1832, and had two engines. Champlain was 180 feet length, 28 feet beam and 9 feet depth of hold. West Point Foundry built the engines, having cylinders 42 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke. Champlain had Erie, Captain Benson, for consort, built at the same time. The two ran as day boats to Albany until 1840, when they were succeeded by newer boats. Champlain turned 22 feet diameter wheels 28 revolutions, making 15 miles speed. Erie's engines were afterwards installed in Troy.

Westchester, Captain A. P. St. John, built by Smith & Dimon, New York, came out in 1832 and was 230 tons, 134 feet length, 23 feet beam and 8 feet depth of hold. Westchester ran to Albany and to Peekskill, and in 1838 to Hudson, being later altered for towing. Commodore Vanderbilt owned Nimrod which ran to Albany, 1834, with Westchester.

Robert L. Stevens, 298 tons, was built in 1835 at Kingston, 175 feet length and 34 feet beam, with engine having cylinder 36 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke. After 25 years of service Robert L. Stevens' engine was placed in Charlotte Vanderbilt's hull, and the new-made combination, then known as William F. Russell, started the Saugerties route just before the breaking out of the Civil War.

Highlander, Captain Robert Wardrop, 313 tons, was built in 1835 by Lawrence & Sneden, New York, for Powell, Johnson & Wardrop, to run between New York and Newburgh, and towed safety barges, Newburgh, Susquehanna and Charles Spear. Captain Robert Wardrop had previously commanded Baltimore succeeded by Washington, Captain Charles Johnston. Highlander was 175 feet length, 24. feet beam and 8 feet depth of hold. James Madison, Captain Perry, was a rival steamboat on the Newburgh route replacing William Young, and owned by Benjamin Carpenter. William Young, Captain Halstead, was built at Lowpoint in 1830, followed by Legislator and Providence. Highlander's engine was built by the West Point Foundry and James Madison's in Philadelphia. Highlander proved faster. James Madison had no engine room, the cylinder appearing just above the deck, and the engine had no front-all that could be seen being the two lifting rods. The starting bar stuck out in the gangway. Covering most of the gallows frame was a cast iron plate bearing the name of the engine builder, "T. Hollowat, Philadelphia, 1836." Madison was retired from Albany passenger service in 1853, when then known as Oneida, but the name reverted to James Madison with the conversion to a towboat.

Swallow, a Troy night boat, appeared in 1836 and raced with Rochester, a new boat, whenever the two hooked up. Starting from Jersey City, November 8th, at 4 p. in., the two boats kept within a short distance of each other, bucking a strong tide. Swallow slowed down for a few minutes, from engine trouble, near Hudson, and Rochester reached Overslaugh Bar, 5 miles below Albany, first in 8 hours and 57 minutes, Swallow being five minutes behind, but it was generally conceded that Swallow was the better boat.

Swallow was built by William Capes, Brooklyn, 426 tons, 224 feet length, 22 feet beam and 8.6 feet depth of hold. West Point Foundry built the engine with cylinder 46 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke. Proceeding down the river in a blinding snow squall, April 7, 1845, when off Athens, Swallow struck a rock, took fire, broke in two, and sank rapidly with loss of life. Swallow was racing with Rochester and Express, Albany line rivals.

The Hudson Rural Repository, reporting the disaster by an eyewitness, said:

"On Monday evening, April 7th, the steamboat Swallow, Captain A. H. Squires, was on her passage from Albany to New York, and when opposite this city, in the Athens channel, ran upon a little rocky island, broke in two and in a few minutes sank. The alarm was immediately spread in Athens, and a large number of citizens rallied to the scene of the disaster, rescuing many lives. Soon after the steamboats Express and Rochester came down and promptly rendered assistance, taking many passengers to New York. Swallow had on board a large number of passengers, but the exact loss of life is at present unknown. (The number lost was 15.) The night was extremely dark, with a heavy gale, snow and rain and very cold. Our citizens are yet busy about the wreck."

The rock where Swallow went ashore was known as Noah's Brig, named from the incident of a raft captain who mistook it for a brig on a dark night. Swallow's wreck was hauled to Valatia, seven miles, where the material was built into a two-story home, long known as Swallow House. Lithographs picturing the burning of Swallow had a big sale.

Rochester, Captain Pug Haughton, was built in 1836 by Smith & Dimon, New York, and was famous for speed, making the Albany trip, 146 miles, June 14, 1837, in ten hours. Rochester's wheel ropes were replaced with chains in 1841, the first to be installed aboard a steamboat, a safety measure suggested by the number of wheel ropes parted in steamboat fires, which had prevented burning boats from being steered shoreward. Rochester continued in night service until 1846 and was then broken up. Rochester was 491 tons, 209.9 feet length, 24 feet beam and 8.6 feet depth of hold, with engine by the West Point Foundry having cylinder 43 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke and later replaced with a cylinder 50 inches diameter.

Utica, Captain B. Truesdell, 340 tons, was built by William Capes, Brooklyn, in 1836 and was 180 feet length, 21.6 feet beam and 8.4 feet depth of hold. West Point Foundry built the engine with cylinder 39 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke. The boiler was set on deck, amidships, an iron shell, 18 feet length, 9 feet wide and 8 feet high.

Utica was built for Albany service and was known the length of the river, but ran longest in connection with the Erie Railroad's Piermont terminal and New York City. The nearest point that the Erie could approach New York was Piermont, below Nyack, twenty-five miles up the river. The New Jersey state line is two miles below Piermont. The Erie was built under a New York charter and New Jersey excluded it from the state. A long pier was built and Erie freight and passenger trains ran far out in the river to the steamboat landing in deep water. The railroad attempted to overcome the serious lack of a New York terminal by making fast steamboat connection. When the Erie had tunneled its way into Jersey City the Piermont terminal was abandoned. Utica was converted to a towboat and condemned by the inspectors in 1875. The famous old Norwich, Robert L. Stevens and the Sandy Hook boats, William H. Webb, Newhaven, and Doctor Kane, were long in the Piermont winter service of the Erie Railroad. Norwich was then commanded by Captain Jacob DuBois.

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