HUDSON RIVER DAYLINE
The Story of a Great American Steamboat Company
First Edition 1965 Published by ISBN 0-8232-1290-4 |
ENLIVENED by remarkable illustrations, this book relates the history of steamboating on the Hudson River from the days of Robert Fulton to the present.
Although the emphasis is on the Hudson River Day Line, almost all the companies who operated on the river are also covered, since they were either predecessors, successors or competitors.
The men who worked on the river, whether captains or deckhands, took great pride in their occupations, to such an extent that this pride gave the line its special character and color. Author Ringwald, in his vignettes of the Day Line’s personnel, highlights the Yankee flavor of these men.
Millions of people fondly remembered the beautiful scenery along the banks, and chose this slower method of transport over the cinders and noise of the much faster trains. Besides, the Day Line offered art displays, chamber music, cool decks to stretch one’s legs and a de luxe cuisine to be leisurely enjoyed.
The company stressed PASSENGERS ONLY and so achieved a cachet of elegance the freight carriers could not boast. It reached its zenith of operations in the 20s, and at that time had the largest and finest fleet of steamers to be found on any river. The hard times of the 30s began the decline of the line as a through carrier to Albany, despite a flurry of activity during World War II.
Today all of the old Day Line fleet is gone. The Alexander Hamilton, the last of the sidewheelers on the Hudson, retired in 1971, and her sunken remains lie at Leonardo, New Jersey. The Chauncey M. Depew was recently broken up in the Hackensack River.
PREFACE
Steamboats have been running on the Hudson River for well over a century and a half. In that period, there has been a vast number of them, of all sizes and shapes, operating on a wide variety of lines.There is a tendency to think of Albany, the capital of New York State, as having been the head of navigation for passenger steamboats. Here the wharves were about 143 miles from the mouth of the Hudson at New York City. Actually, there was service to Troy, a few miles above. During the heyday of steamboating, every landing along the approximately 150 miles of tidal water of the Hudson from its mouth to Troy, was served by a steam-propelled vessel of some kind.
Of the many Hudson River steamboat lines, the one which became the best known in this country and abroad, was the Hudson River Day Line. Its “white flyers” were famous for their speed and their appointments, and represented the acme of elegance in water travel. No one had seen America until he had seen the Hudson River, and no one had seen the Hudson River properly unless he had done so from the deck of a Day Line steamer.
This is primarily the story of the formation of the Day Line in 1863, of its development into the greatest organization of its kind, and of its decline through the closing season of operations, 1948. Then, as an epilogue, there is an account of the Day Line under new owners, from 1949 to the present.
DONALD C. RINGWALD
Albany, New York, 1965
 Donald C. Ringwald 1917-1987 |
Donald C. Ringwald 1917-1987
BORN AND REARED in Kingston, New York, Donald Ringwald was fascinated with its busy waterfront and the tales of those nautical members of his family who had been a part of steamboating for decades.In 1937 he joined the Day Line where, in the purser’s department, he served principally on the Hendrick Hudson and the Alexander Hamilton. In 1941 he went ashore to enter the army, but his first military duty was a brief assignment as deckhand on the Governors Island ferries at New York! Then followed 56 months with the military in World War II in the Pacific theatre. He emerged in 1946 as a captain. Later, he worked for the Veterans Administration for many years.
The author was editor-in-chief of Steamboat Bill, the journal of the Steamship Historical Society of America, Inc. He was considered a prime authority in this field, and this book was the culmination of a collection of Hudson River steamboat material and years of personal experience and wide acquaintance with Hudson River history.
Donald C. Ringwald died on June 19, 1987.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A prime difficulty in preparing a work on the Hudson River Day Line is not the lack of material, but the superabundance of it. The management of the line from its formation in 1863 until the sale in 1949 was in the hands of one family, so probably much more was retained in the way of records and other material of all kinds than would otherwise have been the case.After the old company ceased operations, the late Alfred Van Santvoord Olcott, with great wisdom stemming from his inherited regard for the history of Hudson River steamboating, presented to the New-York Historical Society in New York City a vast amount of Day Line material, including ledgers, letter books, scrapbooks, timetables, picture postcards and even Bibles that were at one time carried on the steamers. Recently, Mrs. Alfred V. S. Olcott has presented still more material to the Steamship Historical Society of America, Inc., for its reference library in Staten Island, New York. Neither of these Day Line collections has been catalogued.
In addition, the Day Line has always been attractive to collectors of steamboat material, and much exists both in private hands and in marine collections in museums.
To explore thoroughly all of this would obviously be an impossibility without having years of free time available. What I have tried to do is set down an over-all account which is reasonably comprehensive, but which will not tell you how much money the Day Line spent for bunting in 1913 or many of the other facts so dear to the heart of the esoteric marine historian. This can be left for some following student who may one day write a definitive account of the line that, with the existing material, could run through several volumes.
Having been delving into the history of Hudson River steamboating for many years, I am not so sanguine as to lay claim for utter accuracy. Wherever possible, original sources or the closest things thereto have been used.
The New-York Historical Society kindly permitted full utilization of its Hudson River Day Line collection. I am particularly indebted to Arthur B. Carlson, Curator of Maps and Prints, and Wilmer R. Leech, Curator of Manuscripts, for enabling me to accomplish the most possible in periods when time was limited. Likewise, thanks to Mrs. Alice S. Wilson, secretary and librarian of the Steamship Historical Society of America, Inc., for her help when using the Hudson River Day Line collection in the SSHSA library.
The writer also used information gleaned from Hudson Valley newspapers over a period of many years, from official documents in the National Archives, and had access to private collections. Amongst the latter are the major collection of steamboat material of Elwin M. Eldredge of Clermont, New York, and the extensive Hudson River steamboat collections of Captain William 0. Benson of Sleightsburgh, New York, and Roger W. Mabie of Port Ewen, New York. Also very helpful were a number of old and fruitful scrapbooks owned by Fred J. Johnston of Kingston, New York.
I appreciate, too, the critical reading of the manuscript by Elwin M. Eldredge, Roger W. Mabie and C. Bradford Mitchell. Amongst the many other kind people who rendered esteemed assistance in various ways, are:
Francis J. Barry, present operator of the Day Line;
Herman F. Boyle, collector of Hudson River steamboat material;
Frank O. Braynard, marine historian and author;
the late Captain Frank E. Brown, who approved the portion on the loss of the Washington Irving;
Captain George Carroll;
Edward O. Clark, marine historian and photographer;
De Witt Clinton, who participated in the christening of the De Witt Clinton;
Harold C. Collins of the University of Vermont;
Harry Cotterell, Jr., marine historian specializing in ferryboats;
William King Covell, marine historian specializing in the Fall River Line;
Richard V. Elliott,
J. Joseph Fitzgerald,
David G. Forrest,
Thomas Garvey, all Hudson River Day Line enthusiasts;
Captain Edward M. Grady;
R. Loren Graham, marine photographer;
Dr. John I. Griffin of City College, New York;
Kenneth R. Hall of the National Archives;
Douglas L. Haverly, who rendered great assistance in research;
Arthur Helmke;
Erik Heyl, marine historian and author;
Forrest R. Holdcamper, National Archives;
the late Captain Maurice A. Howard;
George V. W. Kelly;
Thomas Kraljic, formerly Day Line First Mate;
Charles O. L. Lawesson;
the late Captain Grant B. Lezatte;
John L. Lochhead, librarian of the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia;
Mrs. Sophie Miller, newspaper columnist;
Conrad Muster, Jr., student of marine engines;
William G. Muller, who, amongst other things, did the jacket;
Alexander P. Olcott, son of Alfred V. S. Olcott and once a Day Line employee;
Mrs. Alfred V. S. Olcott;
Chief Engineer Elvoid E. Post;
George Sanders, formerly president of the Hudson River Day Line, Inc.;
the late A. Fred Saunders;
Victor E. Scrivens;
Frederick C. Shipley;
Miss Jane F. Smith, National Archives;
Alan J. Staight, Marine Board, Hamilton, Bermuda;
W. du Barry Thomas, marine historian;
Walter A. Tuttle.
Finally, I would like to thank the two men who are responsible for your reading this volume: William H. Ewen, Hudson River steamboat historian of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, who urged me to write it; and George W. Hilton, author of The Great Lakes Car Ferries and The Staten Island Ferry, who urged me to submit the manuscript to Howell-North Books.
THE AUTHOR