Randal W Cooper wrote: > To Faith Keahey and All Members of the Jefferson County, Ohio Mailing > List, > > The question was raised as to where the timbers were obtained for the > shipbuilding which was conducted at Steubenville, Ohio. > Hi - my great grandfather, Moses Alexander, founded a wholesale and retail lumber business in Steubenville in 1876, and while I can't find any reference to sales to shipbuilding firms in the 1880 daybook I have, that industry had probably disappeared by that time. But he had been cutting lumber on land he bought along the river for some time, and supplied all the ties for the Marietta branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad when it was first built, as well as mine props. All of this work was done, before the firm set up business on North 7th Street, just off Market, by contract, and I understand that that's the way lumber was supplied to many needs earlier in the century. Many farmers cut and sawed lumber during the winter months for regular users who would then air dry it until it was suitable for their purposes. I haven't seen much documentation of this kind of business in what I've read about the Ohio River Valley, but this is my recollection of conversations about the business with my grandfather when I was a teenager (late 1930's). Fred Murphy (frpamu@cshore.com)