River Queen (steamboat)

The "River Queen" was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket during the late 1800s.

Construction

"River Queen" was built at Keyport, NJ in 1864.citation
url = http://sdr.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mdp/pt?seq=1&view=image&size=100&id=mdp.39015020219674&u=1&num=243
title = Steamboat Days
first1 = Fred Erving
last1 = Dayton
chapter = Nantucket Sound
publisher = Frederick A. Stokes company
page = 243-5
year = 1925] [Turner, Harry B. "The Story of the Island Steamers" (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910) [http://books.google.com/books?id=n2kEAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage] ] [ [http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/VMSearch.cfm Ship and Yacht Register Search ] ] It was one of four steamers operating for the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. when it was organized in March 1886 (The other three were "Island Home", "Martha's Vineyard" and "Monohansett".) [ [http://www.mvgazette.com/commentary/gazette_chronicle/?document=19061200_100_years_ago Vineyard Gazette Online ] ] However, it had sailed this route since 1871 by the company's predecessors. [Turner, Harry B. "The Story of the Island Steamers" (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910) [http://books.google.com/books?id=n2kEAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage] ]

Civil War Service

It was used by General Ulysses S. Grant as his private dispatch boat on the Potomac River in 1865. [Turner, Harry B. "The Story of the Island Steamers" (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910) [http://books.google.com/books?id=n2kEAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage] ] On February 3, 1865, the Hampton Roads Conference took place on the River Queen in an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate an end to the American Civil War. During this conference on the saloon of the ship, it was lashed to the Mary Martin, another ship. Abraham Lincoln met with General William T. Sherman and General Grant aboard the "River Queen" near the end of the Civil War. Both Lincoln and Grant liked this vessel, Lincoln rode it 48 hours before his assassination. Capt. Nathan B. Saunders of the Fall River steamer line was captain of the "River Queen" during its Civil War service.

Ferry career

After the war, "River Queen" was operated by the Newport Steamboat Company between Providence, RI and Newport, RI. [Turner, Harry B. "The Story of the Island Steamers" (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910) [http://books.google.com/books?id=n2kEAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage] ] The "American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping" during 1865-1872 records the "River Queen" as a 500-ton vessel with a homeport in Providence. Its owner was listed as R. Buffon and its master as Capt. Williams. [ [http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/VMSearch.cfm Ship and Yacht Register Search ] ]

"River Queen" was sold by the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. in 1893 [ [http://www.mvgazette.com/commentary/gazette_chronicle/?document=19061200_100_years_ago Vineyard Gazette Online ] ] to the Mount Vernon & Marshall Hall Steamboat Co. of Washington, D.C. [Turner, Harry B. "The Story of the Island Steamers" (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910) [http://books.google.com/books?id=n2kEAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage] ] During 1897-1900 the" Record of American and Foreign Shipping" lists the "River Queen" as a 181' long, 426-ton sidewheeler hailing out of New Bedford, owned by "Mt. Vernon & Marshall Hall S. B. Co." and under the command of a Capt. Wood. [ [http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/VMSearch.cfm Ship and Yacht Register Search ] ]

"River Queen" was still operating in 1910 on the Potomac River, by that time among the oldest side-wheelers still in service. [Turner, Harry B. "The Story of the Island Steamers" (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910) [http://books.google.com/books?id=n2kEAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage] ] In July 1911, newspapers reported the burning of the "River Queen" "to the water's edge" following the explosion of a signal lantern on board. The press reported that "For the past year or two the "River Queen" has been used as an excursion boat for negroes." ["The Vineyard Gazette", July 13, 1911 issue. (Story reprinted from a Washington newspaper.)]

Notes

References

* [http://www.mvgazette.com/commentary/gazette_chronicle/?document=19061200_100_years_ago] - reprint of an 1906 article in the Vineyard Gazette
* [http://www.mvgazette.com/commentary/gazette_chronicle/?document=19400000_how_it_all_started] - reprint of a 1940 article in the Vineyard Gazette
* [http://www.oldtimeislands.org/browse2.html] - 1860s photographs of Nantucket
* [http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/VMSearch.cfm] - Mystic Seaport - G. W. Blunt White Library - Ship & Yacht Register
* Turner, Harry B. "The Story of the Island Steamers" (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910) [http://books.google.com/books?id=n2kEAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage]