4:54 PM


Welcome back to my Blog-
As Promised I am posting the newspaper article announcing Arabia has sank and the consignee's listed on the steamboat's manifest that had lost freight.

But.....before I do that, check out the man on the wagon with 6 huge crates. He is Mr. Kahn's and oddly enough his store in New Castle, Indiana is called "Kahn's New York Store." He is advertising that he orders his goods from New York to attract customers who want NYC merchandise. (so fair warning if you see something labeled NYC or whatever- it might not be.)
Mr. Kahn's probably did not ride his wagon to NYC to buy his goods, he had them shipped either by Steamboat, canal barge or train to a Forwarding & Receiving Commission Merchant. Per my 1856 Webster's Dictionary-
A Commission Merchant- A merchant who transacts business as an agent of other men, in buying and selling, and receives a rate per cent, as his commission or reward.

So a Forwarding & Receiving Commission Merchant would oversee the transportation of goods for a rate, often having contacts or other branches of their firm in other cities such as Adams Express then is like Federal Express now. They would log each package, crate, barrel, bundle, hogs head or box in a log called a manifest and then provide storage. (Many of Arabia's Consignees were Forwarding & Receiving Commission Merchants while operating a dry goods store).
As seen below, the organized merchant would fill in his ledger with the date, articles received, Mark on the freight of the store keeper, Whose Account, Boat the goods were dropped from, Remarks if any, amount of the storage to the commission merchant.
(The only Commission Merchant  Manifest I found and own was one for an unknown firm in1852 on the Ohio- Mississippi River.....Steamboat Arabia's manifest mentioned in the article below has not been located and unfortunately may have been thrown away, lost in an archives, or in a pat rat's attic.) CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE
As you can see by John Jackson's mark, he uses an diamond form with a J printed inside. The steamboat mentioned here is the Franklin, but it is the Ben Franklin. Other marks show abrevated names

Arabia's Manifest
MY FIRST CLUE- NEWSPAPER ANNOUNCES STEAMBOAT ARABIA SANK
Back in the early 1990s Greg Hawley, then curator of the museum sent me a letter with this newspaper announcement from The Daily Missouri Democrat, dated September 11, 1856. This consignee list provided the foundation I needed to eventually solve the mystery what Arabia’s last trip to the upper Missouri River was all about.
There are several other newspapers who reported on the Arabia's sinking. Let me locate those and posting those soon about what happened the day after Arabia sank. Sorry I am not as organized as I should be, but off the top of my head, I recall....
One St Joseph newspaper initially reported that the goods could be saved and then mentioned the goods were lost.
It took time for the Arabia to have sank, so that gave scavengers, like Indians or locals from Parkville, to take windows, doors and walls  for the desperate need for building supplies. In fact, I have read a newspaper announcement that goods left on the shore were taken during the night (I will locate that citation). 
ARABIA- The Officers of this boat which was lost in the Missouri last Friday, arrived yesterday on the Tatum.  From them we learned that the sinking was a very sudden affair. The snag struck her forward of the boilers, pierced its way into the center of a lot of freight and lifted the deck several inches above its proper level. As soon as the boat was brought again under control, she was headed for the bank, but sank when she was about the distance of her own length from it. Two minutes only, elapsed from the striking until she sunk. Of course the alarm and confusion which always attend the like sudden disasters, prevailed here, but the fears of the passengers were allayed by the presence of mind displayed by her officers. We are glad to know that the only life lost on this unfortunate occasion was that of a mule, which would have been saved, but for own obstinacy.
Is it really a matter to be wondered at, how quickly boats which sink in the Missouri, disappear as a general thing. When the men left this boat on Sunday morning, the water had reached her hurricane deck, on the starboard side, and it is supposed she will now be entirely out of sight. The river is not rising, but the boat is sinking in the sand. The Arabia was insured for 10,500. We are indebted to Mr. James Spencer, one of the clerks, for the following statement of their freight and its destination:

Kay & Bailey   1 box merchandise    St Joseph   
Donnell & Saxton    8 box merchandise   St Joseph  
J H Cook   3 box merchandise    St Joseph  
Thomas Connelly   3 box merchandise    St Joseph  

E & Y [F] Impey & Co    227 packages    Savannah

R Zimmerman & Co1 sawmill and fixtures Browsby Landing

G W Brown   10 barrels of Whiskey    Iowa Point
Mc Allister, Orace [Crane] & Co   7 packages  Iowa Point
Gaines, Strickland & Co     4 packages    Iowa Point

John O’knoll    2 packages   St Stephens
H D Kirk      1 package       St Stephens

Hawk & Dillion  1 package   Hemmes Landing

Tootles & Armstrong   5 packages    Linden
Smith, Brown & McAlister   9 Package  Linden                 
Steamer Ben Bolt  1 cook stove  Linden

Hall & Baker  (?) Barrels Ale  Nebraska City
D Seigel  11 packages   Nebraska City 
J Garside  (?) packages   Nebraska City

Tootles & Green [Greene]  30 packages   Glenwood

Allen 11 packages    Bellevue
Sarpy & Kippy   3 packages      Bellevue
L M Peckham   1 package    Bellevue
B Lovejoy   2 packages    Bellevue

F M [T M] Boyer 1 package  Council Bluffs
Stutsman & Donnell  55 packages  Council Bluffs
Thompson & Butts  15 packages    Council Bluffs
Milton Rogers 13 packages   Council Bluffs
Cassady & Test 1 package  Council Bluffs
Babbitt & Robinson  4 packages    Council Bluffs
C Gore   2 packages  Council Bluffs
Keys & Co.  54 packages   Council Bluffs
J R [J E] Washington   20 packages  Council Bluffs
Tootles & Jackson  106 packages   Council Bluffs
Geo Doughty & Co  21 packages  Council Bluffs

J Jones  22 packages   Omaha
O B Smith   9 packages     Omaha
Tootles & Jackson   5 packages   Omaha 
H W Richmond  1 package  Omaha
A Sheldon 1 package Omaha
Schneider & Hardford   4 packages  Omaha
W Shirids 6 packages   Omaha
M Handon  28 packages   Omaha
Armstrong & Clark  357 PCs Lumber  Omaha
Stutesman & Donnell  202 packages  Omaha
Willimson & Roach  5 packages  Omaha

Keiler [Keller]  20,000 Ft Lumber   Florence

Blackbird Mission  29 packages  Blackbird Hill

Burnes, Roberts & Co  100 packages  Sioux City
D O Shea  3 packages   Sioux City

Tracy & Papin  720 packages   Logan
Tracy & Papin   2 Houses       Logan
J Harri   20 packages  Logan

“Since reporting on yesterday the sinking of the Steamer Arabia in the Missouri River, we have learned some particulars touching insurance upon her hull and cargo. Our information is only partial and does not include the amounts of policies existing in the St Joseph Insurance Company, and in other offices in towns in that region.  The following amounts are set down to offices in this city."
On the Hull          American Insurance Co.               1,000
                           Merchants   Insurance Co             4,000
On the Cargo--   Floating Dock Insurance Co.        8,000
                           St Louis Insurance Co.                about 400
                           Lumberman’s and Mechanics      1,800