Jayne, Great story! As you have requested, I have Forwarded your email [below] to the two Message Boards, and Jacki Wilson of the Pens Historical Society. All of this coverage can include a lot of experts--- let's see what happens. There are some REAL experts on these Boards--- Dean DeBolt, Lee Scott, Jacki, maybe Suzanne Weathers, or Cynthia Dean, and who knows what others? Good luck---it will be interesting to see the outcome! Thanks for writing to me. Would THIS be related in any way to the "Hannah book" that was donated to us last year---I don't remember his name, but he was quite well known in this area in his work with the, was it the military, government; I think think his wife died early, etc., etc.?? I'll have to check our library on Friday to find the Hannah book I am referring to. Evan P.S. Boards::: Below is Jayne's original query to me, for your perusal. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = Evan Since you were of great help to me a few years ago on some West Florida genealogy AND because I've lost my email for FLESCAMB, I am writing you direct with a question I would have sent to Flescamb. The attached file will tell you all I know about this subject. My great-grandfather, John Mathew Hannah, was born in Milton and was a resident there all his adult life. He built and captained ships, mostly steam tugs, from the 1880s till his death in 1913. I am particularly interested in any information anyone has on the "Okoloosa," a tug he built in cooperation with James Albert Bishop in the late 1880s. You can see the detail in the file of information I attached AND, I am most interested in the last item, a poem called "Ode to the Okoloosa" which was written by someone at Mary Esther in 1902, probably after the ship had gone out of service. A notation at the bottom of the poem says PROGRESS, but this meant nothing to me. My mother, now dead, typed out the poem on one of her visits to her mother-in-law, Carrie Hannah Allen, who was a daughter of John Matthew Hannah. I would appreciate it if you could put me in touch with anyone who might know anything about these mysteries, as well as any other information on the Hannah family and/or the descendants of James Albert Bishop. Also, if it is possible to put it on the FLESCAMB email list, please do. Thank you very much. Jayne Allen Lipe-- = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = == == == = = = = The following are "attachments" that were sent by Jayne, also. ================================================== Notes on John Matthew Hannah's Maritime Interests 1886 and 1887 An article in The Pensacola Daily Commercial on 3 February 1886 said: "Capt John Hannah, of the steam tug 'J.A. Bishop,' is getting a lot of cypress and other timber landed at Hoodless ship yard preparatory to building another tug boat. It seems like the "Bishop" does not exactly suit Capt. John." NOTE: J. A. Bishop was Capt. John Hannah's father-in-law. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 Jun 1886 The Pensacola Daily Commercial said: "Capt. John Hannah's new steamer, now being built at the foundry, is a beauty; she is now receiving her machinery. I suppose in another month she will open Blackwater river and plough her way down among Pensacola's fast tugs and be classed as one among them." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Jul 1886 The Pensacola Commercial said: "ITEMS GATHERED FROM OUR SISTER CITY, MILTON Capt. Johnnie Hannah's new steamer, now nearly completed and ready to be launched from the ways near the Blackwater foundry, is a model of beauty, symmetry and strength. Presuming that she will be named after a celebrated Indian chief, of Florida, we will say that the Osceola is 72 feet long, 15 1/2 feet beam, 6 1/2 feet deep, and a 64 foot keel. Her machinery is from the Whitney Iron Works, New Orleans, and will be put in position next week. The engine is 20x20 inches, the whole including the boiler weighs 42,000 pounds--the boiler alone weighing 8 tons. Mr. J. A. Bishop, a gentleman of much practical experience, is the supervising carpenter, and when she is ready to ride the waves will no doubt creditably exhibit the work of Mr. Bishop." 10 Jul 1886 The Pensacola Commercial said: "On last Saturday Capt. Jno. Hannah's new steamer was launched. Her name is Okolousa (sic) (Indian for Blackwater). She is a beauty, and does great credit to the ship builders of Milton, especially to Capt. John's father-in-law, Mr. James A. Bishop, who was the head builder. I understand that Capt. John would have no champagne broken over her; she is a Good Templar boat. These little acts of discarding the old time customs which required the use of liquors, all tend to show the increase of public opinion against the liquor traffic." ----------------------------------------------------------------- 19 Feb 1887 The Pensacolian said, "HOME-MADE STEAM TUG The steam tug, 'Okoloosa', owned and commanded by Capt. John Hannah of Milton, steamed up to one of the city's wharves last week and at once attracted a great deal of attention. The 'Okoloosa' invited inspection, not alone on account of her being a strange craft, but for the additional reason that she is the out-and-out product of home skill and labor. She is a trim little steamer and plows the raging main as majestically as any of the imported tugs. Capt. John is fast establishing a reputation as a steamboat builder, as this is the second he has built and put into operation in the last five years. May she prove a profitable investment to the indefatigable commander?" --------------------------------------------------------------- "An Ode to the Okoloosa" Dear old faithful Okoloosa; some one tells me you're at rest, Idly swinging at your moorings, by the swirling waves caressed. When you proudly skimmed the waters of the Pensacola Bay, Something whispered with the zephyrs--"progress marches on her way!" Can it be your days are numbered, as your former owners' are Or are you just simply resting; have you felt the weight of care; Dear old faithful Okoloosa answer me with just one blast Of that dear old shrieking whistle memory brings from out the past. I have loved your wild cat screeches as they echoed through the hills, As you ploughed the dark gray waters 'round the busy, noisy mills All is hushed; the whirring castings slowly eating out with rust, As the bones of former owners--surely crumbling into dust. Okoloosa, Okoloosa, thoughts of thee I will not check Friendships dear have long been cherished, sealed, while seated on your deck Friendship true, though separated far apart from, they and thee Memory leaves no darkening shadow, only whisperings of the sea. Proud to grasp the hand of friendship of the Captain at your wheel As he gazed with pride upon your spotless white, from house to keel-- Noble manhood at the engines, answering every tingling bell Promptly doing every duty, how with pride my heart would swell. As I watched him grasp the lever with a cool and steady hand, Bravely meeting any danger with manly heart and honest palm As you proudly ploughed the waters, midnight, noon or early dawn; Always steady, smoothly gliding, graceful as the snow white swan. Fairest, dearest Okoloosa, you have been my Hiawatha You have been a bright oasis as I traveled life's lone pathway May your whistle soon re-echo through the woods and o'er the hills As you gaily plough the waters 'round the Simpson Co.'s mills PROGRESS Mary Esther, Fla., Sept. 7, 1902" ---------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: After her death this poem about John Matthew Hannah's steamer was found in Eugenia Allen's genealogy papers. It is typed on plain paper and the typewriting resembles most of the papers we know she typed, so she must have copied it from something given to her by her mother-in-law, Carrie Allen, John Hannah's daughter. Eugenia could not have written it herself. She wasn't born until 1912. The Okoloosa was based in Milton, Florida and Mary Esther is a town near Milton. We did not understand the reference to PROGRESS at the bottom of the page. " = = = = = = = = = Jayne Lipe jayne@lipe.ws 425 739 0472