Mississippi Queen Bell Update

MQ bell

Great news Keith and thanks for the update. I am sure you guys are excited to see it arrive on the grounds after this long wait.

It is a very fitting tradition for the bell to reside at the museum, across from the shipyard where the MQ was originally built.

Countdown!

Indeed, it is an EXCITING time at the museum! The concrete pad has been poured and we anxiously await the delivery of the bell on Friday!

Looking forward to Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM!

Y'all Come!

If it was Sunday instead of Saturday, I'd be there in a heartbeat. I already have to be in Milwaukee for an Air Force gathering on Saturday afternoon. Once I make the drive to southeast Wisconsin, I know I can make it anywhere from here.

MQ bell

Ditto for me as we are out of town Saturday. I saw the freshly poured pad last night and hope you guys and girls have a wonderful ceremony. The looks darn near perfect and it should be a great time for all.

Midwest Riverboat Buffs

Likewise I'll not make it as the Midwest Riverboat Buffs are meeting in Hannibal Mo. this weekend. This was planned back in January...

The MQ Bell has Landed!!!

The historic and BIG bell from the Str. MISSISSIPPI QUEEN has landed! An enthusiastic crew delivered the bell to its resting place in front of the pilothouse this beautiful morning. Yvonne and I were practically dancing with delight! The bell is beautifully polished and rings beautifully -- and LOUDLY. WOW!

George and Kim Burch (owners of the MQ mermaids and nameboard) were headed down Market Street and pulled over just in time to hear the first reverberating ring!

Indeed, GOOD things DO come to those who wait! We are most grateful to have this important and historic artifact of steamboating! THANKS to ALL who played a part in making this happen!

"Curator Keith!

The MQ Bell has Landed!

An enthusiastic crew from Jeffboat delivered the historic bell from the Str. MISSISSIPPI QUEEN to its final resting place at the Howard Steamboat Museum this morning! Yvonne and I were practically dancing with delight! Placed just in front of our new pilothouse, the bell looks fabulous, glisteningly polished, and rings beautifully - and LOUDLY. Wow!

George & Kim Burch (owners of the MQ mermaids) were driving down Market Street and pulled over just in time to hear the first reverberating ring! Lucy Belle (their faithful dog) was watching from the back seat and seemed to enjoy it too!

THANKS to ALL who played a part in the acquisition of this fabulous steamboat artifact!

"Curator Keith"

"Be There When the Band Starts Playin"!

Just a friendly reminder that the program to dedicate the pilothouse replica and the bell from the Str. Mississippi Queen begins at 2:00 PM today on the rear lawn of the Howard Steamboat Museum. Capt. Bill and Becky Ray will be providing the river music, and that "prelude" begins at 1:30.

Following the program, we'll have cold lemonade and cookies, served from the recently restored laundry house.

Looking forward to a fun afternoon and hope to see you! Oh, how I wish my mentor and patron saint of steamboating Ruth Ferris could be here, but I know she'll be smiling down from Heaven!

"Curator Keith"

After the Ball is Over

Had a fine turnout for the bell and pilothouse dedication. Capt. Bill and Becky Ray played and sang some great river tunes and everybody seemed to enjoy the afternoon very much. Just before the program started, the BELLE of LOUISVILLE passed by and blew a salute!

Following the program, refreshments were served in the newly restored laundry house. Ice cold lemonade and a variety of cookies were enjoyed by all and many lingered for conversation in the shade near the pilothouse.

Children REALLY enjoyed getting to pull the braided cord and ring the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN bell!

Pictures later!

It was a very lovely afternoon. I'm glad I left the office long enough to attend. And the cold lemonade tasted mighty fine on a pleasant afternoon on the museum grounds. The pilothouse and bell are great additions. So good to see and hear Capt. Bill and Becky Ray again. Thanks Yvonne and Keith for another well executed event.

MQ bell

A huge congrats to Keith and the whole crew at the museum. As I drove in to work this morning I could not help but steal a glance at the MQ bell, sitting there very proudly, looking over the grounds and towards Jeffboat.

I will share a couple of pictures we took late yesterday.

1. MQ bell and pilothouse.
2. MQ bell up-close
3. MQ Belle and Lucy Belle

MQ 101 (again, please?)

Might someone help with a brief re-retelling of the history of the MQ bell?

Thanks!

Wesley
from the back of the class in SB 101. 🙂

The Magnificent MQ Bell

The MQ bell was cast in 1874 by the Buckeye Bell Foundry (also known as Van Duzen & Tift) at Cincinnati for the Holy Cross Monastery there. When that religious institution closed in 1975, the MQ was under construction at Jeffboat and it was decided to donate the bell to the new boat as a gift from the people of Cincinnati. This is inscribed on the bell.

When scrapping operations began, the bell was offered to the Howard Steamboat Museum through the courtesy of Boland Marine (Scott Fassler) Great American Steamboat Company (Capt. John Sutton) American Commercial Lines (Mark Knoy) and Jeffboat (Patrick Sutton). George Childers, director of maintenance for Jeffboat, supervised the construction of the new stand in consultation with Kenny Howe (HSM board member and chief engineer who put the MQ engine room together) and Curator Keith. Our heartfelt THANKS to ALL who made this possible!

The bell was delivered to Jeffboat aboard the AMERICAN QUEEN on her first trip up the Ohio in May for the Great Steamboat Race. The concrete pad was prepared by Derek Paprocki, skilled builder of our new pilothouse replica. The enthusiastic gang from Jeffboat polished the bell before and after its delivery.

When locations were considered for the bell, I requested that it be placed in front of the pilothouse, facing Jeffboat, where the MQ began her life 35 years ago, and where the famed Howard Shipyards were in business from 1834 until 1941, constructing some 1300 vessels. Aside from its operation by the Navy during the war years when over 100 LST's were built there, the shipyard, now operated by Jeffboat, enjoys the distinction of being the nation's oldest continuously operated shipyard in the United States.

At the Howard Steamboat Museum we are very pleased, proud and privileged to be the caretakers of the bell and are honored to share it with the community and all steamboat buffs and buffettes who loved the MQ. Do come and enjoy it with us!

"Curator Keith"

*MQ's bell/'signal cannons on steamboats*
Steamboating colleagues:
Thanks to Keith, George and Wesley for posting the history and pictures of the MQ's bell now mounted at the Howard Steamboat Museum. Looks terrific and placing it 'forward' of the pilothouse just the right spot.

QUESTION: Keith, I uncovered an old monograph in the Literary Club archives here giving detailed information on the 1825 visit/tour of the Marquis de Layafette in 1824/1825 to America. Not only did Lafayette survive the sinking of his steamboat on the Ohio, but further details of cities, towns he visited. His final departure from Cincinnati upriver mentions the great parades, ceremonies with, "...cannons being fired from the Newport, KY battlement, steamboats illuminated...steamboat bells ringing, signal cannons being fired." Did the Howard family ever own one of these steamboat signal cannons? They're rare as hen's teeth today and I recall seeing one dating from either the 1840s or 1950s owned by a now long deceased neighbor. 'Dud shot' for such a cannon difficult to obtain and our neighbor resorted to cutting apart shotgun shells for the powder, repacking for loading. Tom Schiffer [AKA Cap n' Walnut] no doubt has seen such cannon along with knowing how to load, fire them.

Seems I posibly heard once that Capt. Tom Greene sought such a cannon for the DELTA QUEEN. Even Betty Blake put out feelers for a cannon when the MQ was finished, arrived here in great triumph. She settled on fireworks from a big barge. Any memories of this from any of you with long memories? Cheers!

R. Dale Flick - Librarian/Archivist, Literary Club of Cincinnati founded in 1849.
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.

*A 'typo' addition*
I meant to type RE: the steamboat signal cannon, "1840s or 1850s." DUH!

R. Dale Flick

Cannons on the River

Dale, I have no knowledge of any cannons at the Howard, other than two Civil War cannons which formerly graced the front lawn in front of the mansion and which show up in various photographs. These were donated for the WW II effort and melted down.

Seems the Ohio River Museum once had a small signal cannon on display, but I haven't been there in nearly a decade and neither know if it still is exhibited nor it's provenance.

Cannons on the river

Years ago when the DQ Co. staged the beginning of the DQ/MQ 'race' to St. Louis for the NOLA 6 PM newscast, they had the puniest 'cannon' I've ever seen on the wharf. It couldn't have been more than a foot long WITH stand and looked like it came from a toy store...it was as authentic as the 'race', I guess.
After the 'race' began at Canal St. for the newscast, one of the boats returned to Robin St. to pick up her later-arriving passengers. Don't think that would have happened in 1870!

Dale: I maintain a couple of cannon ready to start a steamboat race or mebbe stop one! Shantyboat Mike has loaned me his uncle Herb's Winchester 10 gauge cannon winch has also been used in similar capacity. The latter is a breech loader and Peters Cartridge Company once loaded "Yachtgun" shells just for that. They were loaded with black powder, not smokeless...made a fine BOOM and a nice balloon of white smoke. Breaking open shot gun shells will most likely yield smokeless powder which is likely to generate either a fizzle or blow up the piece due to high pressure. Cannons are dangerous in the hands of those who do not know what they are doing...mebbe moreso in the hands of those who THINK they know what they are doing. Just ask the Mythbusters about cannons...they sure hushed the one up where they put a shot thru a residence and into the back seat of a car! I think that the TOM GREENE had a cannon made by someone in Newport. Whether that is in Kentucky or Ohio I donno as they had connections to both places. I used my golf-ball cannon (without a golf-ball) to start steamboat races in Covington...likely against the law but there were NO problems. Cannons can be great fun and great danger...add a little ethyl alcohol to the mix and... Cap'n Walnut

Years ago, when the DQ left Cincinnati, after travelling down river some hours, someone would shoot off a cannon from their house on the river, as we passed by. Anybody know who that might have been?

Lexie: There wuz pirates on the river back then. You could ask Big Cap in hiz day...he knew all about them. There wuz a nest of them down about Hamilton Landing. Usta give the pax a thrill or two thereabouts. Hard to believe but some sed Big Cap was complicit in these activities. They coulda been bought off with a fair damsel or two or mebbe something of equal value like a quarter barrel of beer. Shantyboat Mike and Crazy Clifford both knew about them but Clifford's lips are sealed and Mike might be bribed to tell what he knows. As for me, I know nothing! Nothing at all! Cap'n Walnut

Maybe some of those folks had kinfolks that used to sit around the round table? eh what?

Guilty, guilty

Hey, I Know Nothing Schultz, you might have sed 2 much.....