Sidewheeler America

[N D Lipton]

The following (edited) correspondence with Curator Allynne Lang may
be of interest to the list an in the hope that that is so, I post it
here. Neil Lipton

Subj: str. America
Date: 9/5/02 11:46:56 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: hrmm@ulster.net
To: NDLipton@aol.com

The steamer America was built in 1852 as a towboat at Brooklyn, NY,
forSamuel Schuyler of Albany, NY. In 1890 she was sold to Beverwyck
TowingLine, also of Albany. In 1894 the boat was purchased by the
Cornell Steamboat Company of Kingston, NY, also for towing purposes.
In 1902 the America was sold to J.H. Gregory of Perth Amboy, NJ, for
scrap.

The America was painted by both James Bard and Antonio Jacobsen, the
two leading painters of ship portraits in the New York area in the
19th century.

Sincerely,
Allynne Lange
Curator



Dear Allynne Lang:

I am reasonably sure we are talking about the same boat but I find it
hard to believe that "America" was built, as you state, as a towboat.
The Bard painting (which I have a copy of hanging in my office)
appears to describe a passenger vessel. A picture on the Internet of
the same boat may be found at
http://www.fiddlersgreenmodelships.com/id20.htm. It is the only
picture of America on the Internet I have been able to locate. I am
curious as to where you got your information? I certainly have none
but the print.

I am curious as to how what appears to be a passenger steamer was
brought into existence as a towboat and retired as the same when it
looks like such a gaudy passenger carrier.

I thank you, by the way, for your time and effort in responding to my
initial query.

Sincerely,
Neil Lipton



Dear Mr. Lipton,

The steamer America looks like a passenger boat because pre-Civil
War towboats on the Hudson were almost all former passenger boats
converted to towing work. My information on the America comes from
two books by experts on Hudson River steamboats. One is by Donald
Ringwald, one of the most renowned experts on Hudson River steamboats
with three books on the subject to his credit as well as numerous
articles and lectures. He was a president of the Steamship
Historical Society of America. In his book "The Mary Powell," which
is an entire volume on one of the most famous of all Hudson River
steamboats, he has two illustrations of the America. In the caption
of one, which is a photo of the Bard painting, he says that, "The
America was one of the few large side-wheelers designed and built for
towing on the Hudson. Most of them were converted passenger
vessels." The other illustration is of a share of stock in
Schuyler's Steam Tow Boat Line which features the America in the
picture in the upper right corner.

The other reference is from the book, "Thomas Cornell and The
Cornell Steamboat Company" which came out in 2001. In the fleet list
in the book, William DuBarry Thomas, also an expert and past
president of the SSHSA, relates the information which I sent you
already, plus registration number of the vessel. All of the
information is carefully researched and documented.

Sincerely,
Allynne Lange
Curator

[woodburner]

Neil,

Freighters werent always plain black!

The towboat America's ornamental finish compares to highly ornamental freight steam locomotives built at the same time. In the 1850s and 60s, even freight engines were finished in green, claret, chocolate and other colors, polished brass trim, and occasionally varnished walnut cabs. The Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works even finished its freight locomotives with landscape paintings - just like the saloons of the best passenger boats.

Structurally nothing would separate a passenger vessel from a towboat, as the same boatmaking craft went into both. And towboats were extremely important vessels on the mid 19th cethury Hudson - after all, freight was the most important traffic and the 19th century logic accepted a celebration of the duty.

Jim