Verne Swain#First </em>Verne Swain<em>
{{short description|American steam packet and excursion boat}}
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{{infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name = First Verne Swain | Ship owner = Acme Steam Packet Company, Dixon Brothers Lee Lines | Ship operator = | Ship registry = | Ship route = Mississippi River | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Swain Shipyard | Ship original cost = $10,000 | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship completed = 1889 | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship identification = | Ship fate = | Ship notes = }} {{infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship tonnage = | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|120|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|22.6|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = {{convert|5|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = | Ship depth = | Ship decks = 3 | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = Steam powered, sternwheeler | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
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{{infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name = Second Verne Swain | Ship owner = Captain George Prince; Lyons Brothers; Valley Line Steamers | Ship operator = | Ship registry = | Ship route = Mississippi River | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Swain Shipyard | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship completed = 1904 | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship identification = | Ship fate = | Ship notes = }} {{infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship tonnage = | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|131|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|28.5|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = {{convert|4.4|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = Steam powered, sternwheeler | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
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{{infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name = Third Verne Swain | Ship owner = | Ship operator = | Ship registry = | Ship route = Illinois River; Pittsburgh{{endash}}Wheeling, WV packet | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Swain Shipyard | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship completed = 1913 | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship identification = | Ship fate = | Ship notes = }} {{infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship tonnage = | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|186|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|31|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = {{convert|4.9|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = Steam powered, sidewheeler | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
Verne Swain refers to three steamboats built by the Swain Shipyard of Stillwater, Minnesota. Swain built the first one in 1886, the second one in 1904, and the last one in 1913.{{cite book|author=Frederick Way, Jr.|title=Way's Packet Directory, 1848{{endash}}1994|publisher=Ohio University Press|location=Athens, OH|year=1994|version=Revised|pages=467{{endash}}468}}
First ''Verne Swain''
The first Verne Swain was a steamboat built by David Swain of Stillwater, Minnesota, and put into packet service between Clinton, Iowa and Davenport, Iowa by Swain in 1886.
In 1889, John Streckfus purchased the Verne Swain from the Swain Shipyard in Stillwater, Minnesota for $10,000.{{cite book|title=The Steamer Admiral|year=2017|author=Annie Amantea Blum|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Charleston, SC|chapter=Introduction}} Verne Swain had a cargo deck, a passenger deck, and a Texas deck. The boat was propelled by two side-mounted paddlewheels.{{cite book|author=Brent T. Peterson|title=Stillwater|location=Charleston, SC|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|page=80}} This was his first steamboat acquisition for the Acme Packet Company of Rock Island, Illinois. He ran Verne Swain on daily service, leaving each morning from Clinton, Iowa at 7am, with arrivals scheduled for Davenport, Iowa at 10am. The return trips started from Davenport at 3pm scheduled to arrive at the home port at 8:15pm.
in 1891, Eagle Packet Company purchased the Verne Swain and commenced packet service between Peoria, Illinois and St. Louis.{{cite book|title=Peoria: A Postcard History|author=Charles A. and LaDonna Bobbitt|year=1998|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Charleston, SC|page=18}}
in 1900, Dixon Brothers of Peoria, Illinois acquired the Verne Swainand
renamed it Speed.{{cite book|title=The Steamer Admiral|year=2017|author=Annie Amantea Blum|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Charleston, SC|chapter=Chapter 1.}}
Second ''Verne Swain''
Also built at the Swain Shipyard in Stillwater, the second Verne Swain was designed for excursion. Completed in 1904, the second Verne Swain was a sternwheeler with a wooden hull ordered for running excursions from Peoria, Illinois to the World's Fair in St. Louis. The steamer was passed through various owners while serving Mississippi and Tennessee. The ship sunk in August 1929 at Dismal Point, Arkansas.
Third ''Verne Swain''
In 1913, Swain Shipyard completed the last known steamboat to be named, Verne Swain. First running on the Illinois River as an excursion boat, Captain Fred Hornbrook acquired Verne Swain in 1918 to deploy the 186-foot sidewheeler as a packet between Wheeling, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Later, Verne Swain was sold and reassigned to excursions.
The steamer persisted long enough to be renamed Rose Island, Roosevelt, and City of Memphis.
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- Kathryn Strand Koutsky and Linda Koutsky (2006). "Boat Days." Minnesota Vacation Days. Afton, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press.
External links
- [http://nafclibrary.pastperfectonline.com/photo/479BAFFB-5A52-4161-98D1-598131354721 Side wheeler Verne Swain snapshot] Indiana History Room Archives, New Albany-Floyd County Public Library.
- [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WebZ/initialize?sessionid=0:javascript=true:dbchoice=1:active=1:entityCurrentPage=Search1:dbname=LaCrosseSteamboat:style=LaCrosseSteamboat:next=NEXTCMD%7FQUERY?&context%3B:term=LaCrosseSteamboat.steam19803.bib:index=oi%3A:fmtclass=multifullnf:bad=error/badsearch.html:entitytoprecno=1:entitycurrecno=1:entitytempjds=TRUE:numrecs=12:next=NEXTCMD%7FFETCH?&context%3B:recno=1:resultset=1:format=F:next=html/nffull.html:bad=error/badfetch.html:entityresultsrecno=1%7F%7F Verne Swain (Packet, Excursion boat, 1913-1929)] UW La Crosse Historic Steamboat Photographs.
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Category:Steamboats of the Mississippi River
Category:Paddle steamers of the United States
Category:Steamboats of the Ohio River