Jennie Gilchrist (Towboat, 1877-1900)

Date

• 1885

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel
• BOAT TYPE: Towboat
• BUILT: 1877 at Le Claire, Iowa
• FINAL DISPOSITION: Wrecked near Island 21, 100 miles below Cairo in July 1900. A rising river washed the sand out from under her hull and she broke in two
• OWNERS: H.M. Gilchrist; J.T. McAnally; Aluminum Ore Company?
• OFFICERS & CREW: Captain William Lewis (master, circa 1897); Captain Dorrance (master, pilot); D.W. Holsapple (master, 1879)
• RIVERS: Mississippi River
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - T1357; Built by H.M. Gilchrist who owned a coal mine at Rapids City, Iowa. She worked briefly as a packet between Hampton and Moline in the fall of 1881 as the Western Union Railroad was under water. In October 1881 she sunk in the Rock Island area with three crew members and six passengers being lost. She was raised and refitted at Rock Island