1843 BOL OH RIV STEAMBOAT "ASHLAND" Saddletrees Portsmouth OH Louisvillle KY

1843 BOL OH RIV STEAMBOAT "ASHLAND" Saddletrees Portsmouth OH Louisvillle KY (image 3/[null, null, null, null])

1843 BOL OH RIV STEAMBOAT "ASHLAND" Saddletrees Portsmouth OH Louisvillle KY (image 4/[null, null, null, null])

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1843 Bill of Lading with Engraved VignetteOHIO RIVER STEAMBOAT ASHLAND (see notes) Master "Jenken"(?)--Commission and Forwarding MerchantsCONWAY & ROBINSON OF PORTSMOUTH, OHIO (see notes)SHIPPING 31 DOZEN "SADDLETREES" DOWNRIVERPortsmouth to Louisville, KY c/o John Diven--Includes an Extensive List of References for Conway & Robinson 7.75 x 9.75" bi-fold - unfolds to 15.5" - 2 leaves, 4 pp. Bill of lading on the front page - printed form with hand-inked entries. Blank back page. One internal page blank. Other internal page has a extensive list titled "Conway & Robinson, Commission and Forwarding Merchants, Portsmouth, Ohio. References" including lists of companies from Cleveland, Newark, Columbus, Chillicothe, Portsmouth, Wheeling, Pittsburgh, Maysville, Louisville, Evansville, St. Louis, N. Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Cincinnati. Dated November 10, 1843 at Portsmouth, Ohio Handsome engraved vignette of a boxy river vessel under steam and flying a flag - credited to S. W. Johns, Cincinnati. Once folded several times as if for postal mailing, and sealed with red wax, residue of which still clings to the paper - the unsealing left the usual seal-sized chip to the opposite paper.A rather unusual early 1840s BOL in that it includes advertising by way of an extensive list of references for the commission and forwarding merchants Conway & Robinson of Portsmouth, OH. Portsmouth is in Scioto Co. at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio Rivers at a point in the mid southern edge of the state. It's an old Ohio town, having been founded in 1803 and established as a town by 1815. It was an important Ohio and Erie Canal town in the early 1800s and a significant industrial town until its decline in the second half of the 20th c.The freight is interesting too - consisting of 31 dozen "Saddletrees." These are the frames of equestrian saddles, made of wood (typically yellow poplar and/or birch) and typically covered in rawhide before being covered in other leathers. The shipping weight was 1,085 pounds, and the rate was 20 cents per 100 lbs. This particular contract included a reshipping privilege, which we have only rarely seen stated in a BOL this early. About the steamboat Ashland : The Wooldridge Steamboat List shows three steamers named "Ashland," but only one before 1843 - an 1842 vessel about which no other information is given. This is likely the steamboat that pertains to this BOL. (Ref: The historic Wooldridge Steamboat List can be viewed at the U. of Missouri- St. Louis website available at the time of this lising at: https:///mercantile/collections/pott-library-special-collections/assets/pdf/collections/Woold_Ridge_Steamboat_list.pdf .) Also, we found a c. 1840s antiquarian image titled "Portsmouth from the Kentucky Shore" at the Ohio Historical Society's Ohio Memory website that shows the steamboat Ashland in the water with another steamer Scioto . The image came from Henry Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio , 1847 and almost certainly the Ashland that pertains to this BOL. (Ref: This image and its description are viewable at the time of this listing at: https:///mercantile/collections/pott-library-special-collections/assets/pdf/collections/Woold_Ridge_Steamboat_list.pdf .) The Master's name for the Ashland on this BOL appears to read "Jenken," but we could not validate that through historic records, even with a serious search. Experts in this niche area may know more and be able to identify the Master/Captain with certainty. About Conway & Robinson: We found several references to Conway & Robinson (as well as B. F. Conway, B. F. Conway & Co. and later B. F. Conway & G. E. Tomlinson) in a publication of the The Canal Society of Ohio titled "Ohio Canal Boats with Home Ports in Scioto County - 1839-1855." In 1844 approximately at the time of this BOL, Conway & Robinson owned their own scow Davy Cole (homed at Portsmouth) and their own iron packet Koonrod (homed at Pine Cre... read more

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1843 BOL OH RIV STEAMBOAT "ASHLAND" Saddletrees Portsmouth OH Louisvillle KY

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