2:08 PM
Welcome back to my blog- today I worked on the side bar and added the info below- Have a nice Memorial Day and remember those involved in Wars-
The most interesting War Veteran from the Steamboat Arabia's Consignees was Henry W Tracy (alais Henry Wilson) who joined the Confederacy. He fell hopelessly in love with the spy Belle Edmondson.
ORIENTATION FOR NEW BLOGGERS
After a meeting with Greg Hawley, the curator of the Steamboat Arabia Museum and seeing the collection in 1991, I committed myself to researching the history of the Steamboat, the consignees and social events with the intention of answering the question, what was it like to work in the 1850s and publish my findings.
I am finally writing up my findings. I'll be posting in “Real Time” all forms of ephemera from my collection and others (documents, letters, journals, maps, newspapers, photographs) as well as my frustrations...Your feedback is welcome. Who knows maybe one day, this will be an American Experience Documentary!
This blog is registered under Blogspot as Steamboat Arabia Museum: Exploring thru Ephemera which will appear at the bottom of each posting. The museum thought not everyone knows what Ephemera so that’s why the title appears as Steamboat Arabia: A Historian’s Blog. Perhaps my blog will help to make Ephemera a household word.
ABOVE- The Flow Chart above is my working road map for the business's that ran the Arabia- there will be a second chart developed for the consignees.
Project Introduction
The steamboat Arabia seems to have been an insignificant boat at first glance. It was built in 1853 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, passed from owner to owner until September 5, 1856 when it sank near Parkville, Missouri, with a hull full of merchandise. For three years on the inland waterways, it appears this side wheeler was operating without a planned route and nothing could be further from the truth.
The significance of this steamboat only comes into focus when we step back and see the bigger picture. Steamboat lines, whether formal or not were becoming the norm and each time Arabia changed ownership, she became part of another line, serving a different purpose and showing us another facet of early Americana. The two hundred tons of merchandise on exhibit in the museum, now artifacts, were winter supplies for businessmen trying to make a living while serving a variety of consumers.
Arabia is our stage and it is only through the eyes of those who owned, worked, consigned, and walked her decks andwaved to her on the shore that brings an unbiased picture of daily life in the mid-century nineteenth century.
My Shortcomings
Remember this is a blog and blogs aren’t perfect- I have two shortcoming- Lyme Disease and a hearing loss (due to a food allergy to milk protein- whey, cassinate) causing me to have minor difficultly hearing the middle syllables in some words- so this is fair warning there will be mistakes in spelling, laying out photos and skipping words et al. I tend to write straight from my consciousness and this can cause long sentences that I try to revise after posting and then re-post it. If anything, this proves that anyone can do what I did if they have enough curiosity and the desire to share.
How this blog works
It's best to begin Reading my first posting
1856- The Real Gateway to the West now the site of the St. Louis Gateway Arch Register as a Follower.This allows you to post and lets know who is reading.
For anyone who wants to post a comment, click on the title of the blog you want to comment on (ie 1856- The Real Gateway to the West now the site of the St. Louis Gateway Arch). You'll see the comment box on the bottom of the page.
Navigating pages
As you see below- Older and Newer Postings can be accessed by clicking on the word at the bottom of the page.
Or you can go to the Blog Index as seen in the side bar or the search box in the upper right corner.
In the above Box you contract me directly- I have my email ElizabethCT@aol.com- (my facebook account is only family- so don't be offended just send an email)
Other Links
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