Hi , Did this railroad go through Iowa Falls , Iowa ? My grandfather worked for the railroad there. Thanks, Susan Peavey Cole

Chapter 34 Cont. CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILROAD The Davenport & St. Paul Railroad was organized in 1868 and the road was completed in 1870 from Davenport through the county. Meeting with financial difficulties in 1874, the road was placed in the hands of a receiver, at which time it was completed to Fayette, Iowa, and a branch from Eldridge to Maquoketa, about 160 miles of road. August 1, 1880, it passed under the control of and is now operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. The Davenport & St. Paul road was organized by local capital. In 1894 Frank P. Blair secured control of a charter granted twenty-two years previously and four years later succeeded in financing and promoting the Davenport, Rock Island & Northwestern Railroad & Bridge Company. A road was constructed from Davenport to Clinton, Iowa, and the bridge was built and thrown open for traffic January 1, 1900. In 1901 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railways purchased this line, including the bridge, under a joint ninety-nine year lease. This gave the main line of the Burlington between St. Paul and St. Louis access to this city and also brought about the construction of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul cut-off, which brings through Davenport the main line of that road between Chicago and Kansas City. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/

Chapter 34 cont. The most remarkable thing that ever happened to an engine in my hands was the throwing of all four of the drivers of the 188, on the night of February10, 1883. It was about 9:45 in the evening, between Midway and Iowa City. I was pulling passenger No. 1, and we were running up close to sixty miles an hour. Something smashed; I thought it was the siderod under me, and jumped down off the seat to the floor of the cab. The rear of the engine was sagging down till the ashpan was on the ground, its front end carried by the forward truck, and the train was crowding us along from the rear by its momentum, John Neiswager, the fireman, yelling like mad to me to stop her. It was 1,120 feet from the first mark on the ground to the point where the engine stopped. Jim Rayner was conductor. He came up to see what was the matter. I told him a driver was gone on my side, and supposed that was all there was to it. Later I found that, except the wheels of the forward truck, there wasn't a wheel under her. Both drivers were gone on both sides. It all happened so quickly that I don't know which one went first, or the order in which they went, or whether they all went at once. The reain held the track and not a soul was hurt. We sent in a messenger to Iowa City, and the construction train came out, bringing with it a pair of pony trucks that they used about the roundhouse there. The rear end of the engine was jacked up and this pony put under it, and the wheels were gathered up and in this way the cripple was taken to the hospital. Drivers, eccentrics, links, all went in the wreck; the right sylinder head was knocked in and the left main ord was broken in the center, but all these things were soon and easily mended, and the 188 had years of good service in her after that. I had the first run of the famous Silver engine, the America, and Al Lund fired for me. Grant, her builder, rode with us, and the cab and tender were filled with other persons, both gentlemen and ladies. they were members of a big party of railroad people who came out here on that occasion. The America ran only to Council Bluffs, her first trip a sort of advertisement of the road, but later she was in the passenger service. Jack Williams, now of Stuart, ran her for years on the west end. If there were room for it a good many old memories of the old engineers of those first days might be aroused. There was Johnny Buswell, whom I mentioned; and Doc Weatherby, who came off the Little Miami and who started in by firing for A. Kimball's brother, Moody Kimball; and there was Moddy Kimball, a natural clown for fun, always at some joke or prank, and as different from a. K. as one man could be from another; and John Mousley, who died here in Rock Island last holidays, engineer of the 33, and the John A. Dix, and later foreman at Brooklyn for years following 1870; and there was J. E. Morrill, who ran the A. C. Flagg, the 80, and the McPherson, which the company got in the days of the war, and who succeeded Twombley as master mechanic at Davenport when Twombley went to Chicago as general master mechanic; and there was Mose Hobbs, who ran the John A. Dix and the A. c. Flagg and the Iowa City - a generous man to anybody in need; and John H. Williams - Jack, we called him - who was running a stationary engine at Iowa City when I first knew him, and who went firing on the John A. Dix for Mose Hobbs, and later became her engineer - a fine man whom everybody on the road liked; and Tom Holmes, who fired and ran an engine here for years, now in partnership with Jack Williams at Stuart in the implement business; and from these I might go on and take up others - Frank Bliss and George Weed and 'Dite Smith, yardmaster, and so on to the end of a long chapter, but it would take me more than one day to tell it. Very dear to me are the memories of some of those men, pioneers in the railroad history of the country west of the Mississippi, but I am not so sure that everybody else is as much interested in them as I am. Since writing this account Mr. Davis and G. B. Swan have been put on the pension list of the Rock Island system and have retired. Mr. Davis draws the road's largest pension with one exception, that awarded Ex-Supt. H. F. Royce. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/

Davenport Democrat Davenport, Scott, Iowa July 20, 1924 STEAMBOATING ON MISSISSIPPI ROMANTIC TALE The Old Side Wheelers Opened Up the Middle West to Civilization WAS PAYING INDUSTRY Davenport and Other River Cities Depended on Boat Transportation The majestic Mississippi, glorified in the histories of many lands, owned by many countries, holds within its muddy waters a tale of intrigue and war, civil strife and prosperity, love and hate. Many are the historic figures who have ridden on the prince of steams from the head-waters at Lake Itasca to where it discolors the salt waters of the gulf. Few Davenporters live yet to tell of those picturesque days before the Sixties, when the packet, the steamboat circus, the fair ladies in crinoline, the "darkies," the two-quart hatted gentlemen, and the gay-vested gambler were common sights along the levee. How many Davenporters still live who would at the whistle of a distant steamboat rush to the levee and watch the wood monster paddle its way to the muddy shore? And how many are left who lay on the river's bank, under the shade of a tree and wondered just why they worked, just why the big wheel would churn the water? Now the little boys of Davenport dream of being the man who opens the throttle on one of the limited cross-country trains; before the Sixties how many Davenport boys who are gone now, perhaps dreamed of being the captain of the "War Eagle," or the "City of Quincy?" Men With Painted Vests. Are they forgotten, those Mississippi river gamblers with their "painted vests", their calm, calculating eyes, their gentleness which was predominated at times by gunplay when marked cards, other than their own, entered the game. Frequent lodgers they were in the old Burtis House, LeClaire House, Worden House, and the New Pennsylvania House. Gay fellows, who always stopped at Davenport's best hotels. They're gone, of course, with the hotels, an undying memory the only thing that remains. And are those Davenporters gone, too, who gave them their hard-earned money-in the early Sixties? Many are the stories that have been written about gambling on the Mississippi. "Skinning suckers" was a staple profession in those days. And in due reverence to posterity, times have changed, the names of those gentlemen will remain a secret. Only the "suckers" know, and they are gone, and only a few of us were told the names of those "fine" gambling gentlemen of the past. But its true that some of their children's children are among us in Davenport-and they are mighty fine citizens. Card playing in those early days was a commonly accepted form of amusement-expensive of course. Professionals who lived in the boats and stayed in the best hotels made it their business to "skin" the unwary. They always played with their own cards-marked cards. "No Limit" Poker Five dollars ante, and no limit, was considered a big game in the early Sixties. Few were the Davenporters who could indulge in this expensive sport. A game of this kind, of course, allowed the gamblers enough scope to soon rid their victims of their money and invite new "suckers" in the game. Luckily, there was never gambling for the faithful family servant or the beautiful quadroon girl in the vicinity of Davenport. Such practices , of course, were quite frequent before the line. Today we have automobile, horse and airplane racing. Thrilling? Yes, but no half so thrilling, nor picturesque as the steamboat races that were staged here between rival owners. While the race between the "Robert E. Lee" and the "Natchez" between St. Louis and New Orleans remains as the biggest steamboat race in history, the many that were staged right along the banks of the Mississippi in the vicinity of Davenport would remain fresh in the memory of those "old timers" if they were with us today. Men have always raced against time; endeavored to out-do the elements. Snorting engines now race across the country and out-timing each other. Such it was in the early Sixties with the steamboats. Glory it was to the "skipper" of a boat who cut off a few minutes from the time between Davenport and points north and south. Steamboats were built for speed or for towing. In some of the fastest boats on the upper Mississippi were engines that were the "latest" thing in designing-they were; a little later the locomotive came along and steamboating was a thing of the past. His Chain of Saloons. In writing about steamboats it wouldn't be fair to omit the saloons and the steamboat saloon keepers. In fact, they were the first form of a trust that Mississippi river folks knew. The head of this trust lived in St. Louis. He was a very rich man. He owned all of the saloons of a large number of boats. In those early days-before the Sixties-nearly everyone drank. Those were the days, of course, before prohibition. It's a safe bet that some of the old time Davenporters, if they were with us today, would laugh, maybe they did laugh, because prohibition has been with us for many days now, if they saw men using "chasers" after taking a drink of "Old Crow." The old timers would remember that whiskey was some cheaper than water on the steamboats during the low-water season. It is pretty safe to say that when the Mississippi river lost its steamboats, it lost its life, its picturesqueness. Even if it were to come back today, where would the gambler fit, and where would be the old-time barkeepers, and the be-whiskered "skipper"? It's a thing of the past and its pretty sure that fifty years from now they'll be writing about the wonderful days in the early "20's". Many a story is told of a steamboat that caught fire and some of its passengers cremated in the flames while the boat struggled in the mid-stream current. There were no headlines in those days to acclaim some steamboat captain who had heroically saved the lives of his passengers. But if some of the old-time Davenporters were here they could narrate some tales. Sometimes when the boats were built and sometimes it was several days before they were rescued. [ Sentence transcribed as written]. Several such wrecks occurred near Davenport. What stories they would make for the newspapers today! Among the old-time steamboats that stopped at Davenport were the "City of Quincy", "Fanny Harris", boats of the Diamond Joe line, "Grey Eagle," "Itasca", "Northwesterner", "Key City", "West Newton", "Kate Cassell", "Nominee", and a dozen or so more. Then, of course, there were dozens of smaller boats, tugs, that piled up and down the river. Many are the songs that the old-time Davenporters sang when they road on the palatial steamboats. They're forgotten songs now, with a few exceptions. They're gone too with the steamboats, the gamblers, and the old timers. If today we could only see those picturesque pilots who knew every inch of the river between New Orleans and St. Paul. There were lights along the shore to guide them as they plied their boat through the muddy water. Only the familiar land sights were the guides to where the sand bars extended out into the river. And those old pilots of the days before the Sixties knew the river. Every tree, hill, and bluff was a landmark. Today the government has buoyed the river so that by day the modern pilot if he is on the job runs no chance of going around. At night there are lights to direct him on his course. A familiar boat was the "Davenport", a side wheeler built in 1860 and which was sunk near St. Louis in 1876 by the breaking of an ice gorge. Later the boat was raised at a cost of approximately hit the Rock Island bridge in 1858 and was a total loss. [ Sentence transcribed as written]. Sinking of "Grey Eagle." One of the largest boats to sink here was the "Grey Eagle," large side wheeler built at Cincinnati at a cost of $63,000, a lot of money in the early days. Her length was 250 feet and she maintained an average speed of 16 1/2 miles an hour. On May 9, 1861, when caught in a gust of wind which veered her from the course it struck the Rock Island bridge and sunk rapidly. Captain Harris was in the pilot house with the rapids pilot who took the boats thru from Clinton to Davenport. "Grey Eagle" sank within five minutes with a loss of seven lives. Captain Harris, who was one of the best known Mississippi pilots and known in early Davenport, was broken-hearted over the loss of the boat. Soon after he sold out his interests in the packet company and retired. He died of a broken heart, the loss of the most beautiful and fastest boat on the Mississippi was more than he could endure. Another boat which was to sink near here was the "Iowa", which hit a snag near Iowa island in 1845. She was a side-wheeler and cost $22,000. The "J.M. Mason" sunk in 1852 above Duck creek when it hit a large rock. Another historic boat that sank opposite Davenport was the "Rollo." It was built at Galena in 1837 and on its maiden trip had Major Tallafero, U.S.A. aboard with a party of Indians. The boat arrived at Fort Snelling during November of the same year bringing delegates of chiefs who had been at Washington to make a treaty whereby the St. Croix valley was opened to settlers. Later in November on its first trip down the Mississippi it caught fire while moored on the Davenport levee when a flue collapsed. One fireman was killed and several severely scalded. Destroyed in Civil War. Many of the boats that stopped in Davenport were destroyed during the Civil war. A dozen or so were destroyed by the great wharf fire at St. Louis. Several burned during a great fire at LaCrosse, Wis. A dozen or so were crushed in ice floes when too adventuresome pilots took to the stream. In an account of the early boats it is found that many of them were built at Pittsburg and Cincinnati. A great number of the smaller were built at Galena. St. Paul and St. Louis were also steamboat-building towns. But the art of steamboat building has been forgotten. And so the steamboat days on the Mississippi are a thing of the past. A few remain, innovations in steamboating have been introduced and have failed. Gone are the picturesque of the side-wheelers, gamblers, the crinoline gowns, the two-quart hats and the people who ran to the levee to welcome the packet. Cathy Joynt Labath Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm Iowa Old Press http://www.IowaOldPress.com/

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Yl.2ADE/2684.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Thanks

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Yl.2ADE/2684.1.1.1 Message Board Post: I would suggest you contact the Davenport library for a check of the city directories. That would possibly give you a better idea of when he disappeared and may list his occupation as well. The library also has the probated wills of Carsten Jakobson Holdt and Julia Holdt on microfilms as well. Once you have pinpointed his disappearance, a newpaper check would probably indicate something. Visit the Scot co website for add'l info. www.celticcousins.net/scott/ Dick

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Yl.2ADE/2684.1 Message Board Post: That's not much to go on Doyle. Whats the background on your data? Doe he have a given name Chris/Christopher/Christian/???. Age? Nativity? parents? family?

Chapter 34 cont. I may say here that I remember only two occasions on which Mr. Kimball could be said to have used a profane word, and on those occasions he was very much in earnest. The other time was down at the Davenport shops, when he fired Doc Gerbert for lying to him. Mr. Kimball was the finest man I ever knew in railroad service. He had been an engineer, and he knew what an engine man has to go through, and so he knew what to expect; what he ought to ask of the man, and what the man ought to ask of him. He was a good railroad man, and he was a good man with his men; fair and square, kind and considerate, and the soul of honor. A man could not lie to him and stay on the road five minutes. And there wasn't a man in the service that didn't think the world of him. I have had some narrow escapes but have never been hurt in a wreck in all the forty-eight years I have been firing and running. At the foot of Summit between Muscatine and Wilton, I went with my engine into a slough once, and seven or eight cars followed. I stepped out of my cab window to the ground, which was level with it. Among those ditched cars was one that was loaded with castiron stoves. There wasn't a wheel left under that car and there wasn't a stove broken. Out at Ainsworth, one time, I was pulling a mixed train, and just about crossing the 100-foot Howe truss bridge over a good sized creek. The fireman was outside oiling the valves. I thought I saw the forward end of the engine dropping, as it would if the bridge was settling under it. I jerked it wide open and she gave such a jump that she broke the pin behind her and fairly leaped across to the other side. The bridge went down and there was a first class wreck in that creek. The baggage car turned sidewise and the first coach went endwise into the middle of it. Three men were killed. In 1863 I was running the N. B. Judd, with George B. Swan, for years yardmaster here and in Rock Island, now of Des Moines, for fireman. We had left Stockton - then Fulton - coming east. We were carrying a lot of green wood, cut about the day before in LeClaire's pasture, but on the back end of the tender we had some dry wood that we carried to use when we had hills ahead of us. George was back after some of that dry wood and down where he couldn't see me or the engine. I got down on the deck and stood, with one foot on the front end of the tender and the other on the sill of the engine, deck, taking a look into the fire, when just at that instant the engine parted from the tender and shot away ahead. Of course I went down between engine and tender, clear to the ground, between the rails. I didn't think - I grabbed, and caught the safety chains at the front end of the tender. We were running about four or five miles an hour, but that was enough. I pulled myself up and climbed up into the tender, and just then George looked forward from the rear end over th pile of wood he had been heaving up. "What's the matter? Is she slipping?" he asked. "Yes, she's slipping," I said. "There she goes!" Her smoke was a mile ahead of us. She ran clear to "the Irishman's farm," a good seven miles, and there we found her, without fire, water or steam. after she was on the pit in the roundhouse here he put a plank across the pit in front of the tender and cut her loose from it, and there wasn't a man in the house that could start off that plank, holding to the house, I couldn't do it either. George Swan told the incident to a man the other day in Des Moines, and the man turned his back on him and walked away without a word; but George and I both know that the thing happened. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Yl.2ADE/2680.1 Message Board Post: I found this, thanks

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Yl.2ADE/2672.2 Message Board Post: I live in the 300 block of 4th street, (I see your correction for 3rd st) My husband knows the people with the local historical society. I will see what I can find out for you, if you are still looking for information. Ann [email protected]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Holdt Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Yl.2ADE/2684 Message Board Post: Looking for information on Chris Holdt, Davenport policeman that went missing between 1915 & 1920 and was never heard from again.

This is the 3rd time I am sending it. Is anyone else having trouble with their posts not going through? Chapter 34 cont. Well, we had steam gauges in those days that were differently rigged from those we carry now. Now the safety valves are set with a wrench and you have to get out to the valve, on top of the boiler, and make something of a job of it, to set one of them; but then all you had to do was to merely slip a block under the end of the lever that came back into the cab and let the pressure go on rising; and every one of us carried his little block. I had mine with me that day, but I didn't keep it in my picket while we were approaching and climbing that hill, you bet! Twombley came to me afterward and said, "Well you got up the hill. How much steam did you carry?" "I had enough," said I. One hundred and thirty pounds was the limit in those days, and many engines carried less than that. When I cam here J. W. Moak was roadmaster, later becoming superintendent, and A. Kimball was master mechanic, and they were both good ones. Moak came off the Rome & Watertown, and he was a fine man. Mr. Kimball later succeeded him and T. P. Twombley left an engine to take the place of Master mechanic that Mr. Kimball thus vacated. addison Dad was superintendent in 1857, when I began with the company. He was a man of fine religious scruples, and wanted no swearing among his men. When I got on the payroll there were about twenty engines, and we were running two passenger trains a day each way between here and Iowa City. Later, when the panic came on and times got hard, these trains were mixed, to carry both passengers and freight. Those were not the palmy days of railroading, for company or employe. I was too poor to won a pair of overshoes in the winter, and went in the snow with my shoes muffled up in rags. I remember, just after I was married, when I had hardly a quarter in my pocket, trying to find a house to rent in Iowa City. C. W. Phillips, long with the company there as superintendent of the water service, told me he had one, a nice little one of three rooms, so I went and looked at it. There were four cords of good hard wood, all cut and dry in the shed, and the place was cosy and neat and attractive, but I could see that it was too rich for me, and I went back and told him so. But he would not let go. "You go back there and look it over again," he said, "and I guess we can fix the rent right." I went. Somebody had been there in the meantime. On the kitchen table was a sack of flour, with potatoes, a ham and all the other necessaries and a note that said, "Move in and make yourself at home, and pay when you get ready." It was worth being poor to meet such a man as that. We used to have some fun with the snow in those days, too. I was stuck once within four miles of Grinnell with a passenger train, four engines and 100 men shoveling hard, and we stayed there three days. I had the old Antoine LeClaire one time, out toward Wilton. A. Kimball dropped off No. 3, westbound, to take a hand. He found Jack Tarsney on the snowplow with an engine that wouldn't steam, so he cut him off and put Walt Hess on in his place. Walt had an engine that was no better, so Mr. Kimball came to me and asked me if I thought the 'Tony would handle the snowplow. She was pretty light, but I said I would do what I could with her, so we rigged her and started on. The snowplow was mounted on a frame, the rear of which was attached to the front of the engine, while the point of the plow was carried on wheels on a truck. This side of Bear creek we saw a cut ahead that was drifted level, and we raced at it. It turned dark when we got into the snow, there was so much of it in the air, and right in the thick of things I heard something cracking. We didn't get far after than, and when we stopped we found that the snowplow had turned off to one side and was at right angles to us, and Mr. Kimball was nowhere in sight. I was scared and began to call, "Kimball! Kimball!" "All right!" he said, somewhere down in the snow to the rear, and pretty soon he climbed on. I told him I thought something had happened to him. "Oh, no," he said; "I got off when i heard that plow going." We had a siderod bend and the cylinder cocks knocked off, and other damage on that side, and we had a hard time getting out of there, but we did get out, and that night the engine was safe in the roundhouse at Brooklyn. It was about 11 o'clock that night when I got there. Old man Skinner was in the office of the hotel. He would let me have a room, but he said I couldn't have supper; girls were all in bed. "All right," I said, "I guess I won't go the room just yet," so I sat there in the office and waited, and after a while A. Kimball came in, following me on the train for which I had opened th way. "Had your supper, Charley?" he asked me, first thing after we met. "No," I said, "Mr. Skinner says I can't have any supper tonight, for the girls are all in bed." Mr. Kimball turned on Skinner with that look that we all knew would stand for no fooolishness, and said, "You get this man some supper, and you get it damn quick." Pretty soon I had a hot beefsteak, hot biscuits, potatoes, honey, coffee, and anything else there was in the house. It happened that the house stood, by Mr. Kimball's permission, on the company's ground. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/

Chapter 34 Cont. When I came here Rock Island wasn't much of a town. The Chicago & Rock Island road ran in just as it does now, only it continued on till it reached the passenger station, at the foot of Twentieth street, instead of turning off at the slough bridge as it does now. The roundhouse was about where the power plant of the Tri-City Railway Company is. I got out and looked around when the train stopped in Rock Island that day of my first visit. All about the depot and particularly across the street, nothing was to be seen but low grinmills. I thought if that was the character of the country I had come to I wished I was back home. Davenport was reached without change of cars, the Chicago & Rock Island cars being taken by another engine, after they came in from Chicago, and switched across the old slough bridge - somewhere near the location of the present viaduct - across the island and the Mississippi bridge, and to the M. & M. The old M. & M. passenger station stood just about where the present C. R. I. & P. freight house is on Fifth street. The first passenger station of the road was the old homestead of Antoine LeClaire, which stool on that very ground. The present line of the Rock Island road out of Davenport to the west is the third that has been followed. The first one left Fifth street at a point a couple of blocks east of the present southwest junction, passed to the north of St. Mary's church, passed close to the old F. H. Griggs' house down there, and wound its way up the hill on a three per cent grade, by a double reversed curve that crossed the present line a couple of times. The next one, somewhat gentler in gradient, was mainly different in coming into the city on the south side of St. Mary's church. I can show you some of the old grade there yet, and not long ago some of the old ties could be found still in place. That was an awful hill; it was all that an engine could do to climb it with three or four cars. The Samson was an unusually powerful engine for those days and four loads was all she could take up; and then she didn't always make it. But engines were different in those days, and so was steam pressure - except upon occasions. One of the occasions arrived on the day in 1869 that I pulled an excursion train carrying a lot of railroad men and their folks out to Mr. Kimball's Cherry Bluff picnic grounds, near West Liberty. I had the old Davenport, and a big load for her. Twombley came to me before we started and said, "Charley, get up that hill if it's in her!" He also told me not to let anybody ride with me on the engine, knowing that some of the boys would insist on keeping me company in the cab. Just before we pulled out an old acquaintance climbed on with me. I told him to get off, and he refused. "Twombley told me not to let anybody ride on the engine," I said, "you'll have to get off." "I'm going to ride right here with you." he answered. "All right," I said, "but if you ever tell anything that you see on this engine today I'll hit you with the coal pick." Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/

Isn't it true that someone coming over on the boat from Ireland in 1883 would have had to have a sponsor? If so, can you find out who that sponsor was if you know exactly when your people came over? How do you do it?

No doubt carrying Passengers and Freight up and down the Mississippi River from New Orleans to as far up river as their route was. Martha in VA who used to live in Davenport ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, September 11, 2004 8:32 PM Subject: [IASCOTT] steam boat occupation question > I have three brothers in the 1880 census in Davenport who work on a steam > boat. I know there were a lot of boats around back then, but does anyone have any > clue as to what they may have been doing or where the boat would have taken > them? After 1880, I can't find any of them and so I'm wondering if being > associated with the boats may have some thing to do with that. They obviously left > Davenport.... > > They are James, Michael, and John Tynan. (Oh, I know that Michael died in > Davenport in 1899 so...I guess I know what happened to him) > > Any ideas would be appreciated. > > Thanks, > Chris > > > ==== IASCOTT Mailing List ==== > Check out Cathy Labath's IAGenWeb site! > http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ > It has a wealth of information about Scott county, Iowa > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 >

I have three brothers in the 1880 census in Davenport who work on a steam boat. I know there were a lot of boats around back then, but does anyone have any clue as to what they may have been doing or where the boat would have taken them? After 1880, I can't find any of them and so I'm wondering if being associated with the boats may have some thing to do with that. They obviously left Davenport.... They are James, Michael, and John Tynan. (Oh, I know that Michael died in Davenport in 1899 so...I guess I know what happened to him) Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, Chris

Chapter 34 cont. After a time, however, the Chicago & Rock Island and the M. & M. companies began to seek for a way to use the soft coal of this part of the country. It was all a new thing to them, and they had to work it out. The locomotive builders of the east were giving them no aid, for they had no such fuel back there, so they had to puzzle it out here, and they were years in doing it. The little Iowa was one of the first attempts in this direction. In 1857 she was equipped with Wright's coal burner. Malding Wright was the boss blacksmith here at the M. & M. shops. His device consisted, broadly, of a grate space, one by two feet, in the middle of the bottom of the fire box. The rest of the bottom of the fire box, extending from this central grate in all directions to the walls of the fire box, was solid brick or iron. All the draught there was to be had came through that small space. Of course there wasn't enough. The device was expected to be a great success, and the company offered Wright $20,000 for it, which he refused, expecting bigger money. But the ting wouldn't work; it was impossible to keep fire enough going with it. After this he devised another form of coal burner which was applied; a water table in the bottom of the fire box, connected with the boiler by pipes. Some twenty-four holes, or flues, pierced this water table, on top of which the fire lay. These flues admitted draught from the ashpan below, as the other had done; but, like the other, this device did not give draft enough, and failed. After these efforts the company and all the other roads out here practically quit trying to burn coal for the space of about ten years, except for some occasional experimenting, and went back to wood burning. But in 1868 the company began to succeed in burning coal. The old Davenport, later numbered the 78, was converted int hat year and with some qualifications she worked. She had been built for the Hudson river road and guaranteed to make forty-five miles an hour with fifteen cars, but she had failed to fill the bill down there and had been sold to the M. & M. She came to us with a six-foot wheel, which was too high for her on our grades. These wheels were taken out and five-foot wheels were put in their place. The Davenport's old drivers lay for years north of the roundhouse in Davenport. In this conversion the Davenport was fitted of pouch-like extension in the fire box back of the flue sheet, and around this the flame was forced to curl before it entered the flues. This gave great increase of heating surface, and worked well, but there was leakage at the side of the fire box, and after a time it had to come out. It was Superintendent Kimball and Master Mechanic T. P. Twombley who equipped the old 78 in this way. The test with her lasted about two years; then Jerrett's water table was thrown out and they fell back on coal burning in a plain fire box. They had given the 78 a copper fire box, but it cut out so fast under the wear of the coal that it had but very short life, so they went back to the iron fire box. The difficulty, in the main, was due to lack of fire surface, and insufficient heating surface exposed to the fire. The 78's fire box was only about four and a half feet long, by three and one-half feet wide, where a modern fire box will run from nine to eleven feet long and be proportionately larger in heating surface. From the time that the company got to burning coal in a plain fire box on down to this day there has been a serial story of improvement, but there are no interesting features in it. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/

Davenport Feb 10, 1952 Mrs. Mary Seng, 71, native of Davenport, who resided with her sister, Mrs. Emma Rogge, 2006 Gaines street, the last two years, died Saturday at 12:15 p.m. in St. Anthony's hospital, Rock Island, following an illness of four months. The former Mary Heeney was born in Davenport May 17, 1880, and attended the Davenport schools. She was married to Sam (sic) Seng in Davenport and for 26 years lived in Lost Nation, Ia. Her husband preceded her in death in 1937. Survivors include four sons, Joe and Paul, both of Lost Nation, and Leo and Edward, both of Maquoketa, Ia; her sister, Mrs. Rogge, Davenport, a brother, Conrad M. Heeney, Davenport, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The Catholic Messenger December 12, 1935 Mrs. Delilah Foley, 83, a resident of Davenport for more than half a century, died at the family home, 414 East Eighth street, Sunday night. She was the wife of the late Michael Foley who died 19 years ago. Born in Galway, Ireland, July 1, 1852, she came to this country and direct to DAvenport in 1883. Since making her home here she has been a member of Sacred Heart cathedral. Survivors are two sons, Michael, Jr., Chicago, and James, at home. The funeral was held from the Fred N. Ruhl funeral home to the Sacred Heart Cathedral at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. The Rev. H.E. O'Connor celebrated the Requiem High Mass and pronounced the burial absolution. He also preached the funeral sermon. The Rev. E.F. Collins gave the final blessing at the grave in St. Marguerite's cemetery. The pallbearers were John Tierney, Ezra Burkholder, Walter Dunn, Edward Toynbee, Louis Sternberg, and Harry McGee.

The Catholic Messenger January 11, 1923 PIONEER OF DAVENPORT PASSES AWAY PHILIP J. HEANEY RESPECTED CITIZEN AND MEMBER OF CATHEDRAL PARISH The death of Philip J. Heaney occurred at his home Friday evening after an illness of nine months duration. For the past few years he has been retired from business. Mr. Heaney was born in Ireland, May 1, 1845, and came to St. Louis 54 years ago, where he lived six years. He moved to Davenport 48 years ago and had since made his home at the present address. Mr. and Mrs. Heaney celebrated the fifty-sixth wedding anniversary last March. Since coming to Davenport Mr. Heaney has been an active member of the Cathedral parish and faithfully did his share towards any movement to advance the interests of church or school. He was a charter member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Roman Catholic Mutual Protective society of Iowa. Surviving besides his wife, Mrs. Ellen Heaney, are one son, John of Davenport; three daughters, Miss Nellie Heaney at home, and Mrs. Maggie Hammond, and Mrs. Edward Dunn, both of Davenport, and one sister, Mrs. Delia Foley of Davenport. The funeral was held Monday morning from the home, 423 East Ninth street, with services at Sacred Heart cathedral at 9 o'clock. Very Rev. J.T.A. Flannagan celebrated a Requiem high Mass and pronounced the absolution. Rev. Herbert Duren gave the final blessing at the grave in St. Marguerite's cemetery. The pallbearers were James Carroll, James Mitchell, V. Hesse, Patrick Powers, Michael Lynch and Louis Sternburg.