Most of the cities along the Hudson River, and even some of the villages, at one time had steamboats named in their honor. The old colonial city of Kingston was no exception and for a six-year period in the late 1880's, Kingston was the home port of a sleek and graceful steamboat named “City of Kingston.”

During the post-Civil War years, the Cornell Steamboat Company and the Romer and Tremper Steamboat Company operated freight and passenger steamboats out of Rondout Creek for New York, each company operating a steamer on alternate nights so as to provide daily service.  On March 27, 1882, the Cornell steamboat “Thomas Cornell” was wrecked by running up on Danskammer Paint, north of Newburgh, in a fog.  The “City of Kingston” was built to replace her and was launched at Wilmington, Delaware on March 11, 1884. 

When she first appeared, the “City of Kingston” was a sharp departure from other steamboats of the day.  Almost all steamboats then were wooden hulled side wheelers with walking beam engines, but the “City of Kingston" had an iron hull and a screw propeller powered by a 750 h.p. compound engine.  She was also equipped with 165 electric lights, which in 1884 put her well ahead of almost anything afloat or ashore.  She is generally credited with being the first steamboat of a type that later became standard as overnight freight and passenger carriers out of almost every major city along the Atlantic coast. 

Her First Trip
The “City of Kingston” arrived in New York from her builder’s yard the latter part of May 1884 and on May 31 set out on her first trip to Kingston.  With a group of invited guests, she left New York at about 1:30 p.m. and was escorted through New York harbor by the Cornell tugboats “Hercules,” ‘‘S.L. Crosy” and “Edwin Terry,” all gaily decorated for the occasion with flags and with guests aboard.  She arrived at Rondout shortly after 6 p.m. where she was greeted by a large crowd, including many local dignitaries. 

The “City of Kingston" entered regular service on June 2, 1884.  Her schedule called for her to leave Rondout at 6 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with landings at Esopus, Cornwall and Cranston's the later landing being named for the large hotel on the bluff south of the village of Highland Falls.  On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday she would leave her pier at the foot of Harrison Street, New York at 4 p.m. for the up-river run. 

During the summer, on Saturdays she would leave New York at 1 p.m. and make connections at Rondout at 6 p.m. with a special train of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad for Catskill mountain resorts.  Sunday nights, the train would make connections with the “City of Kingston’’ at Rondout from where she would depart at 11 p.m. for New York.  Arriving in the metropolis at 6 a.m., the steamer would then run right back up river to resume her regular Monday night schedule.  Normally, the steamer would run from the latter part of March until about the middle of December. 

On June 23, 1886 the “City of Kingston” had her first serious accident.  She left her last up-river landing at Cranston’s at about 9:40 p.m. and being somewhat ahead of schedule was proceeding down through the Hudson Highlands at reduced speed.  She had a good passenger list and a large load of freight, the principal item of which was Hudson River Valley strawberries.  It was a hazy night of early summer, the kind when the smoke from passing trains used to lay over the water off Conns Hook, there being no breeze to carry it away. 

Loaded With Cement
All of a sudden off Manitou, directly ahead of the “City of Kingston,” lay schooner the “Mary Atwater,” drifting with the tide.  The “Mary Atwater” had left the James Cement Company, opposite Wilbur, that morning loaded with 550 barrels of cement.  The schooner was displaying no lights, it frequently being the habit of schooner men in those days on a still night to keep all lights out so as not to attract mosquitoes and bugs. 
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They would have a lantern ready in the hold and when they heard the plop, plop, plop — plop, plop, plop of the side wheels of an approaching steamboat, they would then run the lantern up the mast.  On a quiet night, they would normally hear the pounding of steamer's side wheels up to two miles away.  The “City Kingston," however, having a propeller made no noise at all through the water.  Since she made no noise, the “City of Kingston” had become known to sloop and schooner men as ”The Sneak.”

In the haze, the “City of Kingston” was upon the darkened ‘‘Mary Atwater” too late to avoid a collision.  Her knife-like bow cut the schooner in two and the “Mary Atwater” immediately sank.  Although the schooner’s helmsman was saved, her owner and the cook asleep below decks were drowned.  The “City of Kingston" was undamaged. 

Many steamboatmen used to think nothing could surpass a sidewheeler for speed.  So on one of the “City of Kingston's” summer Saturday up-trips — July 2, 1887 — the crew of the smart sidewheeler ‘‘Kaaterskill” of the Catskill Line thought they would give a lesson to the new propeller steamer from Kingston.  The “City of Kingston” left her New York pier a few minutes after 1 p.m. and between there and Rondout was scheduled to make landings at Newburgh and Poughkeepsie.  The “Kaaterskill” got underway a few minutes later from her dock three piers below and was to go straight through to Catskill.

Accepted Challenge
On the “City of Kingston," they could tell by the smoke pouring from the ‘'Kaaterskill's’’ twin smoke stacks and by counting the strokes of walking beam, that her throttle was wide open and she was planning a race.  The “City of Kingston” accepted the challenge and, at the time, it was estimated she had a lead of nine minutes.

All the way up through Tappan Zee and Haverstraw Bay, if one was standing on the shore at Ossining, Rockland Lake or on the Haverstraw steamboat dock they could heard the heavy beating of the “Kaaterskill’s” paddle wheels pounding into the clear waters of the Hudson for more speed.  But try as she might, she could not shorten the distance.

The “City of Kingston" was cutting through the water like an eel and causing hardly any commotion in the water at her bow or stern, while the “Kaaterskill” was causing water fly in all directions from her large paddle wheels. 

The “City of Kingston” lost approximately nine minutes landing at Newburgh and Poughkeepsie which canceled her lead.  Leaving Poughkeepsie, the two steamers were almost abreast of each other, the "City of Kingston" slightly ahead.  Between there and Rondout Light, the "City of Kingston’’ steadily increased her lead and made the 10 mile run from Hyde Park to the mouth of Rondout Creek in exactly half an hour.  As she entered Rondout Creek, her rival, the "Kaaterskill’’ was below Port Ewen and the loser of the race by four minutes.  Many old boatmen told me the “City of Kingston’s” success was due in large measure to the skill of First Pilot William H. Mabie getting her in to her landings and on her way again in minimum time. 

Another Collision
The following year, on June 5, 1888, the “City of Kingston’’ was in a collision in New York harbor with the steam yacht ‘‘Meteor." The steamboat had just left her pier and the yacht was getting underway from her anchorage off 24th Street.  The yacht's bow sprit hit the “City of Kingston” on the starboard side and ripped out considerable joiner work before it broke off.  In the investigation that followed, the ‘‘City of Kingston” was held blameless and the captain of the yacht had his license suspended for 10 days. 
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In 1889, after only six years of service on the Hudson River, the "City of Kingston'’ was sold and went to the Pacific coast.  To get there she had to go all the way around Cape Horn.  

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Editor's Note: The text is an announcement for an 1840 excursion on the steamer American Eagle to the dedication of the Thomas Paine Monument in New Rochelle, NY erected the previous fall on 28  November (Thanksgiving Day) of 1839. The monument was organized and raised through the efforts of Gilbert Vale (1789-1866) of New York City, a teacher of navigation, equal rights reformer, printer, publisher, author and Thomas Paine biographer. Well over 200 persons, mostly in NYC but throughout the country, donated towards the monument's creation. Vale and the New York Assemblyman Job Haskell were the keynote speakers for the 1840 event and the banquet following was held at the Mansion House in New Rochelle aka Captain Pelor's Hotel and The Cross Keys. ​

​NEW-YORK, SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1840,
VISIT TO ROCHELLE AND THE PAINE MONUMENT ON THE 4th JULY, 1840. The steamboat American Eagle will leave the slip east of but adjoining the Fulton ferry, at precisely 9 A. M on the 4th of July and will return from Rochelle at 6. P. M. on the same day, at their usual prices 50 cents each way. Light waggons will convey passengers, who may not choose to walk, from the landing to the Monument, at 25 cents; as we are informed by a friend who has made the arrangement: and as the distance is at least two miles, we do not recommend any to walk, at least without an umbrella, if it should be a clear day. The waggons will stop at the Mansion House in the village, for a few minutes, and any person wishing to dine there at 50 cents, can leave their names. It is expected that several short addresses not exceeding twenty minutes each will be delivered at the monument or in the nearest shade. N. B. - The Captain will advertise the trip in the Sun two or three days previous to the excursion, and will there name other particulars, and as the party may possibly be large, we advise our friends to be on board the steamboat in time. Several private conveyances will go by land: these will leave the city between 7 and 8 A. M., and cali at Bradford's ("Here she goes," &c.) Harlem. No public land conveyance is engaged, but a stage runs daily at 2 P. M. from the Bowery, near Bayard street.
The Beacon. 1:32 New Series. 27 June 1840. p. 256

Editor's Note: The following text is a verbatim transcription of an article written by George W. Murdock, for the Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman newspaper in the 1930s. Murdock, a veteran marine engineer, wrote a regular column. Articles transcribed by HRMM volunteer Adam Kaplan. ​

For the past 35 summers the steamboat “Hendrick Hudson” has been a familiar on the Hudson river, and even now she awaits the coming of spring when she will sail again under the banner of the Hudson River Dayline.
               
March 31, 1906, marked the launching of the steel hull of the “Hendrick Hudson” at the yard of Thomas S. Marvel & Company at Newburgh, and at that time she was the largest marine craft ever constructed above New York city. Quite a celebration attended the launching of the new vessel, including a special run of the company’s “New York” from her winter berth.
               
W. & A. Fletcher & Company of Hoboken constructed the engine of the “Hendrick Hudson,” and on August 19, 1906, the new vessel made her first trip to Albany. She had cost more than a million dollars and could do better than 25 miles per hour. Her principal dimensions were: Gross tonnage, 2847; net tonnage, 1,598; length of hull, 379 feet, one inch (overall, 390 feet); breadth, 45 feet, one inch (over guards, 82 feet); depth, 13 feet, four inches; extreme draft nine feet, four inches. Her engine was an incline compound with three cylinders and three cranks, having a stroke of seven feet. The high pressure cylinder has a diameter of 45 inches, and the two lower pressure cylinders, 70 inches; horsepower is 6,200; boilers are the Scotch type, two being double-ended and four single-ended, with a working pressure of 170 pounds of steam; wheels are the feathering type, with 12 buckets to each of the two.
               
The appearance of the “Hendrick Hudson” created a stir in river steamboat circles. She was furnished in regal splendor and licensed to carry 5,500 people- the largest licensed passenger capacity in the world; and she continued to hold this honor until 1913 when the still larger “Washington Irving” made her debut. Under the more stringent inspection laws of today, she is permitted to take aboard 5,252 passengers.
               
Immediately upon her appearance, the “Hendrick Hudson” was placed on the Albany-New York route in line with the “New York” and later with the “Robert Fulton,” “Washington Irving,” and “Alexander Hamilton.” In 1933 she was placed on the New York-Poughkeepsie run, making a round trip daily out of New York, and since then she has continued in this service with the exception of occasional trips to Albany and the annual excursion in late August from Kingston and other river cities to Albany.
               
The “Hendrick Hudson” has compiled an extremely fine record with only one accident of any import being recorded in her history. In September 1930, on Labor Day, she had the through run from Albany down river, and that night she left New York to deadhead back to the Capital city in order to come down again the following day with the large crowd of returning vacationists. The night was somewhat clouded by fog, and at Van Wie’s Point, five miles short of her destination, she ran aground out of the west side of the channel. She was fortunately undamaged, was hauled off by tugs the following day, and returned to New York under her own power.
               
Death has recently claimed three of the principal officers of the “Hendrick Hudson”- Captain Alonzo Sickles, First Pilot Harry Kellermann, and Chief Engineer William Van Wie. During the season of 1940 Captain Frank Brown was in command of the vessel, Theodore Conklin was purser, Elmont Nelson and John Garavan  were assistant engineers, Alexander Hickey and Clarence Plank were pilots, and Thomas Kraljik and John Antoncic were mates.
               
At the present time the “Hendrick Hudson” is in winter quarters at Pier 81, North River, awaiting the coming of spring and another year of work upon the mighty river for whose explorer she is named.

Political Barometer (Poughkeepsie, New York), February 28, 1810
The EDWARD, John Foster, Jun. Master, WILL sail from the Landing of GEORGE B. EVERTSON, &Co. for the accommodation of Ladies and Gentlemen travelling on business and pleasure. As the Edward is designed entirely for the convenience of passengers, the proprietors hope that the extra accommodations will please every person that takes passage on board. Her births are furnished with sacking bottoms, new beds and bedding, and the owners pledge themselves that there shall be nothing wanting on their part to accommodate the public. Passengers will be set on shore or taken on board, if requested, at any place between Poughkeepsie and New-York.

The EDWARD will leave Poughkeepsie on Tuesday the 27th inst. at 4 o'clock P. M. and New-York, at Coentie's Slip, on Friday the 2d day of March, at 4 o'clock P. M. and continue to leave each place every Tuesday and Friday throughout the season. -- Passage 3 dollars -- children half price. Every person engaging a birth and not occupying the same, must expect to pay the usual price.

The subscriber acknowledges the favors of the public since the commencement of the Edward for passengers only, and begs leave to solicit a continuance the ensuing season. JOHN FOSTER, Jun.

New-York Evening Post, April 11, 1812, COMMUNICATION.
A passenger who lately came down from Albany in the Paragon [writes about] the superior accommodations of this extraordinary vessel. With more room than any steam boat on the river, being of the same length of keel with the frigate President, and considerably wider than the 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.


George Temple.  The American Tourist’s Pocket Companion; or, A Guide to the
Springs, and Trip to the Lakes.  New York, 1812.
The different steam-boats afford the easiest, most certain, and expeditious manner; they have, however, their inconveniences, as they leave Newyork of an evening, the opportunity is lost of viewing the romantic scenery of the highlands, the steam boats passing them during the night.  By proceeding in these vessels, little of the country is seen, the glance is transient, and as correct an idea of it might be formed by peeping into a raree-show, which exhibits the same views.  The crown and bustle on board of a steam-boat, is also disagreeable to the valitudinarian, the sedate, and all those who entertain an aversion to be jostled about like cattle in a pen.  The gay, and those in the hey-day of youthful spirits, may, however, find them agreeable, and have ample scope to indulge their exuberance of mirth.

Stages also pass alternately every day from Newyork to Albany, on each side of the river.
       
When a numerous, or a family party, are about proceeding on this tour, they will generally find it to their advantage to agree with the captain of one of the Albany sloops, for the exclusive right of his cabin, and by laying in a small supply for their voyage, will find themselves infinitely more at home, in every respect, than on board of a steam-boat.  They must, however, be possessed of patience to bear the occasional bad luck of contrary winds and calms.  However, to a party of pleasure, not pressed for time, and having no urgent cause for expedition, a day or two longer, passed on the water, especially in agreeable weather, and sailing on a fine river, the banks or which are constantly regaling the eye with a variety of interesting prospects, is no material objection, more especially if the party are happy among themselves, and carry with them books and other resources against tedium.
       
When the tourists form a duo, and are equally desirous of leisurely admiring the romantic beauties of nature, and a few days is of no consequence to them, I would advise the following manner of pursuing this tour.
       
To ferry over the Hudson to Hoboken, and proceed in the stage to Patterson; view the falls of the Passaic; proceed by a chance conveyance to Goshen; thence to the celebrated spot of West-Point, and the romantic scenery of the highlands; proceed to the agreeable village of Newburgh; thence by the steam-boat to Hudson, and wait there for the succeeding steam-boat to proceed to Albany.  Here a day may be passed in viewing the city, and visiting the mineral springs of Harrogate, or the opposite shore of Hudson river.  

. . . as a monitor, I would be careless of my duty, if I did not avail of the present opportunity . . . to caution in the strongest manner, the young, unwary, and unexperienced, against joining strangers on board of steam-boats, packets, and at boarding -houses, at cards, the smallest inconvenience, is their being involved in disputes, which are at all times disagreeable.  And sharpers are always prowling about, to take advantage of the heedless -- besides those, who are professionally sharpers, there are others who, unmindful of their situation in life, make a practice to avail of their dexterity, and boast of defraying their travelling expenses by this polite science -- of all such beware.
       
Where there is such a number confined together in a small space, as there is usually found on board of steam-boats, it is natural that some little intimacies should be formed and groups or little parties assemble, drawn together by some small similarity of taste and relish for conversation; influenced by these circumstances, we formed part of a circle composed of about a dozen ladies and gentlemen, and retiring to a corner of the deck after enjoying much cheerful and agreeable conversation, it growing rather languid, a song from the ladies was proposed; diffidence however, prevented the accomplishment of our wish, and one of the gentlemen favoured us with the appropriate song of the "Heaving of the lead," in a masterly stile.  The person whose turn it next was to regale us, declaring that nature had not favored him with any vocal powers, substituted an amusing anecdote; after which a compromise was arranged with the fair ones, by which they were prevailed on to  sing alternately with those gentlemen who could, and that those who could not, would relate a real story.  The moon rose clear, the night was charming, and the hour for dowsing the lights, and establishing tranquility in the cabins being ten o'clock, we preferred prolonging our agreeable recreation until a late hour, to descending to stew out the night in the regions below. 

Bob Williams, a Negro deckhand on the Hudson River Day Line steamer "Robert Fulton", put himself on the roll of heroes on Wednesday, September 13, when he was cheered by eighteen hundred passengers on that boat who witnessed his thrilling rescue of two students from Maryknoll Seminary, Ossining, who were clinging to a capsized canoe in the Hudson off from Ossining.

The students, Christian Fuss and Harold Dunn, had been canoeing, and when they started to change seats in the boat, the canoe shot from under them and they were precipitated into the water. They were in the water an hour and a half, when the "Robert Fulton" passed at full speed. the big steamer was a half mile beyond the struggling men before Captain Magee could stop and reverse engines.

In the meantime, Williams, with two other deckhands, had lowered the stern lifeboat and in the teeth of a strong tide Williams swiftly rowed back to the men. When the two students were pulled into the lifeboat, the eighteen hundred passengers made the highlands on both sides of the river echo with their cheers.

Dunn and Fuss were attended by a physician for ninety minutes before they were put ashore at Yonkers. Dunn paid a tribute to his rescuer by declaring that "I never thought a boat could be launched and rowed such a distance in such a short time. That man Williams is a wonderful oarsman."

​Hudson, September 26, 1809
On Saturday three steam boats came up the Hudson together, the old North River Steam Boat, and the new Car of Neptune belonging to Messrs. Livingston and Fulton, of Clermont, and the Rariton, owned by Mr. J. R. Livingston.  The old boat continued her course as usual, the new boat (Car of Neptune, capt. Roorbach) goes to Albany, to start from there on Saturday next, and the Rariton returned to New-York.
National Intelligencer (Washington, D. C.), October 4, 1809.
 
The Steam-boat Car of Neptune arrived yesterday from Albany, in 26 hours, with 70 passengers.  She made her passage up in 34 hours.  She left here on Wednesday afternoon, at 5 o'clock, and was back again on Sunday morning at 11, having been absent less than four days --  the shortest trip, we expect, ever made to Albany and back.
Columbian, March 26, 1810,
 
The Steam Boat Car of Neptune arrived yesterday in 26 hours from Albany with between 60 and 70 passengers.
New-York Evening Post, April 16, 1810,

December 7, 1809 The Evening Post (NY) Steam Boats Defeated and Stages Revived. Winter Establishment.
Passengers take notice. The New York and Albany Mail Stage will commence running on Sunday, 10th December, on the east side of Hudson river, every day, to start on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at 10 o'clock, and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 12 o'clock, and arrive in Albany in 37 hours.

The proprietors have furnished themselves with excellent horses,  carriages and careful drivers. N.B. 14 pounds of baggage allowed too each passenger, and one hundred lb to pay the same as a passenger, all goods and baggage at the risk of the owners.
REYNOLDS, HUNT & Co. For seats in the above Stage, apply to John Puffer, No. 5 Courtlandt street.

The largest steamboat ever built for service on the Hudson River was the “Berkshire” of the Hudson River Night Line, built to run in overnight passenger and freight service between Albany and New York.  Because of her imposing size, most boatmen referred to her as the “Mighty Berkshire” rather than by her mountainous name alone. 

The “Berkshire” was some 440 feet long overall, making her 13 feet longer than her one time running mate, the “C.W. Morse,” and nearly 26 feet longer than the “Washington Irving.” the largest steamer of the Hudson River Day Line.  The late Francis “Dick” Chapman of New Baltimore, her last captain, was later a pilot with me on the the Cornell tugboat “Lion” and related to me a number of incidents about the big Night Liner. 

One night back in July 1935, the “Berkshire” was preceding down river on her regular run from Albany to New York.  As they were passing Saugerties at about 11 p.m. the steam steering gear broke.  The men in the pilot house immediately shifted to the big hand steering wheels. 

How Wheels Worked
The steam gear had a small pilot wheel at the front of the pilot house which the pilot could turn with ease with one hand.  This small pilot wheel was in turn connected to an auxiliary steam engine which actually turned the rudder.  The hand steering wheels, on the other hand, were huge affairs located in the middle of the pilot house to be used in times of emergency.  They were connected directly the the rudder and when in use were turned by brute strength. 

The engineers, unfortunately were unable to make repairs to the steam steering gear, the usual means of steering the steamer, and the pilots took her all the rest of the way to New York steering her by the hand gears.  It took four men to constantly man the two big hand steering wheels and, except on straight courses, they had to run dead slow in order to get the rudder over. 

The sharp turns in the river at Magazine Point, West Point and Anthony's Nose were particularly troublesome.  In order to make the sharp turns, the “Berkshire” had to be backed a couple of times to get the rudder over so the turns could be made.  When she finally got to New York they had to get tugboats to put the “Berkshire” in her slip.  There the repairs were made to the steam steering gear and she was able to leave on her regular up trip as usual. 

The “Berkshire” also had a close call on her very last trip down river from Albany.  The year 1937 was the “Berkshire’s” last season in service and her final sailing from Albany for New York was made on the night of Labor Day.

Hazy Weather
All the way down the river the weather was hazy.  When the “Berkshire” was off Esopus Island, fog set in thick.  At Crum Elbow they could hear a bell being run [sic] rapidly at minute intervals, meaning something was anchored ahead.  On the “Berkshire” they were running slow on time courses and sounding her whistle. 

Suddenly, through the fog, the pilot house crew of the “Berkshire” dimly saw two white lights high in the air dead ahead, which they realized was a large anchored ship.

They passed the ship so close the guards of the “Berkshire” rubbed along the ship's side.  Since it was ebb tide and because of his position, Captain Chapman was afraid to back down because he thought his steamer might back across the bow of the anchored ship.  So what could have been a terrible accident, turned out all right for the mighty “Berkshire” on her last trip down the Hudson under her own power. 

The “Berkshire’s” career on the Hudson River from the time she entered service in 1913 until her final season of 1937, in general, was a placid one and relatively uneventful.  Her beginning and ending, however, were a little unusual. 

Launched in 1907
The huge steamboat was launched on September 21, 1907 from the yard of the New York Shipbuilding Co. at Camden, N.J. with the name “Princeton” painted on her bows.  Launched  in the midst of the panic of 1907, funds apparently were not available for her completion.  With engine and boilers installed but with no superstructure, the uncompleted vessel was layed up and not completed until six years later.  When finally completed, her launching name of ‘‘Princeton” had been changed to “Berkshire.”

The “Berkshire” arrived at Albany on her first trip on the morning of May 23, 1913.  The very next day, the “Washington Irving,” the new flagship of the Hudson River Day Line, arrived at Albany on her inaugural trip.  Thus by a turn of fate, the largest night boat ever built for service on the Hudson River and the largest day boat ever built for service on the Hudson both made their first trips to Albany within hours of each other.  It was a big weekend for big steamboats at Albany. 
​
After the ‘‘Berkshire’s” final trip in 1937, she was layed up at Athens.  With the coming of World War II, the big steamer was acquired by the federal government and at the end of January 1941 was towed by the Coast Guard through the ice to New York harbor.  In June, she was towed to Bermuda where she was used as a floating barracks for construction workers engaged in the building of U.S. World War II bases on the island.  After the war was over, the “Berkshire” was towed back from Bermuda to Philadelphia where she was finally broken up.

Editor's Note: The following text is a verbatim transcription of an article written by George W. Murdock, for the Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman newspaper in the 1930s. Murdock, a veteran marine engineer, wrote a regular column. Articles transcribed by HRMM volunteer Adam Kaplan. ​

​                                                A.B. VALENTINE
               
The steamboat “A.B. Valentine” is another of the Hudson river vessels that began her career under a different name than the one which she bore when her days of sailing the waters of the river were ended.
               
The original vessel was built in the early “forties”- a wooden hull steamboat used in passenger service and running under the name “Santa Claus.”
               
The “Santa Claus” ploughed the waters of the Hudson river in 1846 between New York and Albany as a day boat in the service of the People’s Line. In 1847, she ran for a short time between New York and Pierpont, and was later returned to the New York-Albany route.
               
One notable feature of the “Santa Claus” was a painting which she displayed on her wheelhouses. This painting portrayed Santa Claus himself making his entrance into the chimney of a home- the spirit of the legend of old Saint Nick coming down the chimney with his sackful of toys at Christmas-tide.
               
During the season of 1848 the “Santa Claus” carried passengers between Wilbur and New York in dayline service. At that early period there were few docks along the Rondout creek and the section did not represent the beehive of activity which later developed.
               
About the year 1853 Thomas Cornell of Rondout purchased the steamboat “Santa Claus” and converted her from a passenger-carrying vessel into a towboat. She ran under the Cornell banner as the “Santa Claus” until 1868.
               
During the winter of 1869 the towboat “Santa Claus” was entirely rebuilt at Red Hook, South Brooklyn, and when she next appeared she carried the name of “A.B. Valentine,” in honor of the New York agent employed by Thomas Cornell.
               
The dimensions of the “A.B. Valentine” were listed as follows: Length of hull, 205 feet; breadth of beam, 25 feet; depth of hold, 9 feet; gross tonnage, 308; net tonnage, 191; vertical beam engine with a cylinder diameter of 50 inches with a 10 foot stroke.
               
The overhauling of the former ”Santa Claus” and its re-appearance as the “A.B. Valentine” gave the Cornell line a practically new steamboat. She was placed on the towing route between Rondout and New York, running on this route until the fall of 1887, taking the place of the “George A. Hoyt.” The following spring the “A.B. Valentine” was placed in service between Rondout and Albany, towing in line with the towboat “Norwich,” under the command of Captain Jerry Patterson and with Andrew Barnett as chief engineer. She continued in service until the fall of 1901, when she seemed of no further use and was sold to J.H. Gregory of Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
               
A peculiar coincidence in connection with the history of the steamboat “A.B. Valentine” is found in the fact that on the day she was sold two the wreckers, the man whose name she bore, died. A.B Valentine had served as superintendent of the Cornel Steamboat Company of New York for half a century.
               
​The “A.B. Valentine” left Rondout on her last voyage on December 17, 1901, sailing to Perth Amboy, where she was broken up.

The Hudson River was a main highway for a many years for all of Ulster County, including the Wallkill Valley. The Milton Turnpike was built to connect the western part of southern Ulster with the Hudson River and the Milton Dock, where first sloops, and then steamers, came for cargo.

Many wagon loads of produce were hauled by oxen or horses along this route to reach the vessels that would take their merchandise to New York, Albany, and points along the way. There was also much trading between towns, in the Turnpike and on the river, but for river trade, of course, docks were necessary.

Alonzo Wood, the earliest Milton settler of a name still (1969) well known in the Town of Marlborough, was the builder of the "Quaker Packet," owned by a company of Friends. This was about 1800. Shortly afterward the "Stranger" made regular trips, though not very often; and after 1812 the "Eclipse" traveled to the city once a week, which was then unheard of. These were sailing sloops.

Many steamboats ran to the city with stops along the way, after steam became practiced, most of them starting at Wilbur or Rondout, both adjacent to Kingston.

In 1836-37 with Captain Tremper in charge the "Fanny" ran between Marlborough and New York.

The Central Hudson Steamboat line carried both passengers and fruit and other produce for many years – a few passengers only but the writers of these lines have traveled to the city that way on night runs in the early 1920s, perched on fruit crates on deck in the moonlight!

Ralph Young was long the agent for this line, and when trucking finally took over the fruit carrying business, about 1925 or 6 – Ralph was certain it was "only temporary," for trucks would shake the fruit to pieces.

And so they did until roads were improved, which increased truck traffic itself soon brought about.

The steamer "St. John", whose Captain was Romer Hadley of Milton, was a favorite carrier, but was burned to the water's edge in November, 1865, when her boiler exploded, opposite Elysian Fields, New York City. Thirteen lives were lost and many people injured

Furnishings on the "St. John" were removed to the home of Captain Hadley in Milton and stored there awaiting the building of another vessel. The second "St. John" was not built until the 1880s when the simple "early American" style of the first vessel's rooms was "out" and fancy late Victorian adornments were "in". The many items from the first vessel remained in the Hadley house at Milton until the last member of the family died leaving her estate to All Saints Episcopal Church. The auction held to settle the estate lasted several days, and many interesting items landed in local as well as distant homes.
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Other members of the Hadley family worked in various capacities on the new "St. John", one as purser.

Older people in the 1920s told many true tales of the small ferries that crossed the Hudson before the Mid-Hudson Bridge was built between Highland and Poughkeepsie. One ran from Milton; another from Marlborough to New Hamburg and Wappingers Creek.

​In the winter when the ice was thick enough, merchandise was carried back and forth on bobsleds pulled by horses. There are many sad accounts of the ice breaking through, with horses and cargo lost.

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The Hudson River steamboats of the past were expected to refrain from racing each other.
But when a boat was shiny and new, its officers could be expected to wonder how fast their modern beauty would go — especially if it was pitted against other steamers on the river.  And what better way to settle the matter than a friendly little “go.”
 
When the “Clermont’’ of the Catskill Evening Line arrived on the scene in 1911, Francis “Dick” Chapman of New Baltimore was pilot of the new steamer.  And one group of officers on the ‘‘Clermont’’ were convinced she could trim anything on the river.  One Saturday morning, as the “Clermont’’ was dead-heading to New York to come out on the evening run to Catskill, the “Benjamin B. Odell” of the Central Hudson Line (also new that same year), was lying at Poughkeepsie in anticipation of leaving.  Aboard the ‘‘Clermont,” officers looked upon this fact as a good chance to test out their steamer as “No. 1.”  So, on the “Clermont,” they took it a little easy to give the “Odell” a chance to get out in the river and let go.
 
As the “Odell” slowly left the dock, the crew on the “Clermont” could see by the way the black soft coal smoke was coming out of the “Odell’s” smokestack, that the crew on the “Odell” also had ideas of making ready to “have it out.”  And it took very little time for the “Odell” to show which steamboat was master of the river as far as any race between these two was concerned.
As the “Odell” landed at Newburgh, the “Clermont” was just passing Roseton.  And so ended any idea that the “Clermont” could trim the “Benjamin B. Odell.”
 
Another Challenge
 About two weeks later, as the “Clermont” was passing Newburgh, the tugboat ‘‘George W. Washburn” of the Cornell Steamboat Company was leaving to run light to Tompkins Cove to start a stone tow to New York. They could see on the “Clermont” that the “Washburn” was going to see what she could do against the new steamboat, and the “Washburn” was one of the fastest tugboats on the river.
 
Down through the Highlands, the “Washburn” was astern of the “Clermont.”  Below West Point, the chief engineer of the “Clermont” thought he would tease the “Washburn” a little and around Conns Hook he let the “Washburn” get alongside.
 
As the chief engineer of the ‘‘Clermont’’ opened her up, he found he could not shake the ‘‘Washburn.”  By this time, the “Washburn” appeared to be pushing the whole river ahead of her.  On reaching Anthony’s Nose, the “Washburn” had the inside of the turn and eased ahead of the “Clermont,’’ the great new “‘Clermont’’ doing the best he could against the lowly tugboat.
 
Going down to supper that night, pilot Dick Chapman said to the chief engineer, “Well chief, I guess she is not as fast as some will have us believe.  First the “Odell” beat us and now the tow boats are even walking by us.  What’s next?” The chief engineer replied, “You mind your business and I’ll mind mine,” and after the incident never again spoke to the pilot for years.
 
With Her at End
 Two years later, Dick Chapman left the “Clermont” and went to the Hudson River Night Line where he later became a captain.  Nearly thirty years later, in 1943, Dick Chapman went back on the “Clermont” as captain and stayed on her until she was layed up for good in 1948.
 
By this time, the “Clermont” was an excursion boat running from New York to Bear Mountain.  All during this time, from the day she entered service until she ended her career — some 37 years — the “Clermont’’ had but one chief engineer.  I never got a chance to ask Dick Chapman how he and the chief got along after he returned and if the chief had ever gotten over his losing bouts with the ‘‘Benjamin B. Odell” and “George W. Washburn.”