Topic starter
18/08/2015 11:31 pm
Hello to all,
I'm new to the board and new to steamboats as well. I've been researching my family history for the last few years and recently learned that my gggreat grandfather (who I knew was a 'riverboat man') was also described on his obituary as a pilot on the Monongahela River.
Charles McClain Veatch was born in 1829 at Morgantown, (W)Va and his family moved to the area around California, PA shortly afterwards. He moved to Brownsville, PA around 1850 and married and had three children. His listed home was the Bridgeport/Brownsville PA area for the next 30 or so years, although his own family members later said they "barely knew him" because he spent all his time on the river. He died at McKeesport, PA in 1895 and the obituary entry from the Brownsville newspaper at the time stated that "He was a pilot and is well known in river circles. For several years he has been watchman at the packet line wharfboat at Pittsburgh."
I have searched through the Way Packet directory and found no mention of him there. Outside of census records I haven't been able to find much else about his life on the river. I suspect he spent much of his time on the Mon' and around Pittsburgh, but it certainly seems possible that he might have traveled elsewhere if just for brief periods of time. I would be very interested in finding any other details about Charles' life on the river if anyone else here has any resources that might shed some light. I'm really curious to find what boats he might have been a pilot on and what else he may have done in his nearly 50 years on the rivers around the Pittsburgh area.
Regards,
Jeff Veatch
21/08/2015 6:18 am
C Veatch
Hi Jeff
I did a little checking on Charles; I found three references to Charles in the Pittsburg section of the annual List of Pilots and Engineers and after 1871 list of Masters mates, pilots and Engineers. In 1869 he got his 10th issue of his 1st class pilots license. In 1871 the first year you could get a mates license He got a chief Mates license 1st issue cost $5.00. Charles got his 3rd issue of a mates license cost $5.00 in 1874.
In 1871 Pittsburg issued about 100 mates license in 1874 his was number 396.
There is a book you might look for: "The Three Towns a sketch of Brownsville, Bridgeport and West Brownsville with notices of Leading Business Houses and Men " published in 1883 with a reprint in 1976 by the Brownsville Historical Society. I have a few other places to check.
Topic starter
22/08/2015 12:04 am
Three Towns and Chas Veatch
Carl, thanks so much for the invaluable information, and I look forward to any further information you are able to dig up. I have many questions on the difference licenses listed. What is the significance of a 1st class pilot's license? What were there different classes in the mid to late 1800s and where can I find a good description of the different types? Was it typical for a riverboat man to get a pilot's license and a mates' license? Same sort of question on the mates' licenses, as what different types were there and is there a good place to get info on them?
I have the e-book on the Three Towns, but I cannot find any mention of Charles Veatch in the book anywhere. My impression is that while he was well known in river circles, he was not as notable in the towns themselves. If there was a book written about the people on the rivers of the Monongahela, he would have been in it perhaps. Given that he was a well known watchman, mate and pilot, it seems he did anything and everything he could to be around and on boats all the time... and that's the story that his family has passed down as well.
Best regards,
Jeff
22/08/2015 2:44 pm
Welcome to the board, Jeff! To try to help you understand the licenses Charles Veatch had, here is a quick primer: The Captain (or more properly the Master) is in overall charge of the boat. he must hold a Master's license, though he or she may also hold other licenses. The Captain does not steer the boat; that is the job of the Pilot. As to the different licenses, a first class pilot license is the type Mark Twain had and wrote about. The applicant must draw the river from memory, showing the shape of the river, the names and characteristics of all lights, daymarks and buoys with milage to the tenth of a mile. He/she must show all islands, towns, bridges and their clearances, etc., etc. The list goes on, but you get the idea -- a first class pilot's license is not given out lightly and is a thing to be proud of.
A mate's job is somewhat different, and so is the license, but it still involved an extensive written test given by the Steamboat Inspection Service. That job (and license) dealt more with cargo and its stowage, boat construction and repair, etc. So the hierarchy in the navigation department is roughly (from the top down): Master (or Captain), Pilot, Mate, watchman, deckhand. Watchman and deckhand are unlicensed positions; you work up to mate, then either master or pilot, depending on what you want to do.
Hope this helps!
Topic starter
26/08/2015 1:39 am
Pilot Mate and Watchman
Thanks so much for the information Rob, it is very helpful! One thing that is interesting is the progression you mentioned, and that it typically goes Watchman, Mate, Pilot, Captain. However, in Charles Veatch's case, I think he was a Watchman first, then a 10 year 1st Class Pilot until 1869... and then afterwards he was a Chief Mate? Could this have been because of the new mate certifications given in 1871 and he was really just fulfilling mate duties before then? Or could he have been involved in some sort of incident that prevented him from getting a pilots license after 1870?
Does anyone have any thoughts on this sequence of events? I'm wondering if I should closely research steamboat accidents in the 1869 and 1870 timeframe around the Monongahela river and Pittsburgh area...
Topic starter
10/11/2015 4:32 am
Chas Veatch - Mate on the Packet Germania
Just wanted to update the fine folks here on a recent finding. According to the Monongahela newspaper The Daily Republican of Sept 15, 1885, Charles Veatch was a mate on the steamer Germania, which at the time was captained by H. B. Cock as the Germania was the morning packet leaving Pittsburgh back in 1885. So I now know at least one boat that my gggrandfather worked on back in the 1800's, and I suspect he probably worked the other boats in the Pittsburgh Brownsville Packet Company as well. 🙂