Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-10-01
OLD RIVER MEN SLEEP
IN BURLINGTON GRAVEYARD

1t is not generally known that we'll
nigh twenty of the old time rivermen
lie buried out at Aspen Grove GENE
terry. says the Burlington Hawkeye.
The days of their activity are gone
now, and the steamboats, plying the
river are not needed by them in their
sleep. One of the veterans in the
river service, Capt. James Harris,
who knew them all and was chief en-
gineer under one of them, has written
the following "reminiscences of these
veterans of the river. The facts relat-
ed bring up many an interesting anec-
dote about these men of the forties
and the fifties:
The following is a list Of steam
boat captains, pilots and engineers
now deceased and buried in the beau
they are quietly sleeping until Gabriel
blows for the second watch:
Capt w. b. Remey was master of
come splendid steamers on these wa
tiers. He was the father of John L.
Remey, president of the National
State bank. and Admiral George 7.
Remey. Capt. McKell was master of
the steamer Domain and chief engi-
neer of Il gunboat during the civil
war. Capt. French was master of
some of the best ferry boats Burling-
ton ever had. Among them, the first,
Flint Hills, the old nom de plume of
Burlington, in 1s4s, the colossal Joe
Gales in 1858, and the second Flint
Hills of 1855.
Capt. HilIhouse was the master of
some of the best boats that fioated
on these waters, back to the days of
the race horse boat, Lady Franklin.
Those were the days of the steamers
Bridgewater. Alps and Little Dove,
the days when a steamer could make
salt barrel full of money on one
trip,
Capt. Sam Burch was master of
the splendid railroad ferry boat Presi
dent. Capt. Vance Peel was master
of the steamer Everett, and was
drowned when the Everett was
wrecked April IS. 1852
Capt. Laden was master of the
steamer Iowa. Pilot William King
was scalded to death on the steamer
Financier, near Rock Island. Sept.
1, 1850. Pilot \. Root was pilot on
a transient southern boat named the
Saracene. And there was sorry
scene while the boat lay at FIT. Madi-
son, one time. Her captain was whip
ping a negro slave to death for at
tempting to run away. They had or
ganized a posse and gone in pursuit
of the negro, finally capturing him in
a building in town. Then they had
taken him to the boat and begun to
whip him. For il had meant that the
captain would have to pay the owner
for him if he had gotten away up in
this free portion of the country. The
people on shore interfered, and shoot
ing commenced. Samuel Henderson.
who was not interfering in the row,
and was standing off some distance,
was shot and killed. Seeing more
trouble was emminent. Pilot Root ran
into the pilot house and backed the
boat out, thus gettingl her away from
shore. None of the culprits were ever
caught.
Engineer Wallace Hovey was an
old timer. He dated back to the days
of the steamer Wisconsin,. and was
one of the engineers of the gunboat
Indianola, which ran through Vicks-
burg by a shower of shot and shell,
and was finally captured and her crew
taken prisoners.
BESIDES those sharing the watch at
the wheel with them are Pilots Amos
Bailey. Pilot Abe Giger. Pilot Fred
FogIe. Engineer Abe Martin, Engin-
Ger Joe Gieger, Engineer Phil Bacher
and Engineer Jim Burchett."