The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1912-05-03

The other fellow, who was a halter
took the opportunity to go out and
buy some furs, which he needed, and
took them to the river to forward by
Pidcock's boat, which happened to be
lying at the wharf No one being at
the boat he crawled into the sleeping
cabin to wait until some one should
come who could take charge OF the
fnrs He was aroused some time after
by the taking down of the mast In
passing Trenton bridge, on the home
ward trip. His amazement and that
of the boatmen may be better
imagined than described. Some break
fast and reflection brought resigna-
ton to the conditions, and the furs
and their owner reached New Hope
before night, the boat making one OF
the quickest trips on record, owing
to a favorable wind all the way. Thus
the two young men saw the Fourth"
An account by Mr.. Lugar, of his
trip to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Is
sufficiently entertaining to be quoted
in full. He says, I'm 1863 | took
a Durham boat load of ships knees
to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and sold
them to Uncle Sam | cut them in
the Blue Mountains and along the
river We lived on the boat and
worked up as far as Columbia, where
we loaded what we got in the noun
tains, and the other part we picked
up as we went down the river
at Lambertville we went into the
Feeder and from thence to New
Brunswick. We were towed from
Brunswick to the Brooklyn Navy
Yard and when we got there our boat
was nearly full of water, but | knew
she could not sink If she filled full.
eve had to report our boat to the
Naval Officers and give her name, so
as to have her entered on their list
of arrivals. ! told them she had no
name. Can't you give her one :?
Yes. wen call her the Monitor
Where do you hail from Q Blue
Mountains of Pennsylvania They
wanted to know how got from the
Blue Mountains to New York. | told
| them | came across the country ON
the dew
There were 1000 men working in
| the Navy Yard at the time and they
all came down to see the boat and Its
| captain The boat was great
curiosity and it kept me busy answer
| ing questions. They all wanted to
know where | hailed from and what
the boat was for and If there were any
more of them. | found one man who
knew what it was. He came from the
! Delaware. so you see Durham boat
made a trip to New York and re-
! turned"
The Durham boat played an i'm
portant part in the history of our
country, during the Revolutionary
struggle. When Washington, aban-
doning the line of the Hudson, and
making his way across New Jersey
was preparing to put the Delaware
between his little army and the Brit.
ish under Howe, he wrote from New
| Brunswick. directing that boats be
collected for his expected crossing al
| Trenton His order directed that
! Durham boats be secured. mentioning
that one could carry a regiment, a
fact Indicating the depleted state OF
the army.
Again, when preparing for the his
! toric crossing at McKonkey's Ferry,
for the attack on Trenton, these boats
were brought into requisition. In
| "The Battles of Trenton and Prince
| ton" by Gen Stryker. 1t Is stated
| that the boats for crossing Mt McKou-
| keys were collected by Captains Jacob
Gearhart Daniel Bray and Thomas
Jones, of the New Jersey Militia, as
sisted by John Clifford. Some local
historians mention others as helping.
The boats, with others previously
collected, were stored behind the
| thick woods of the island OF Malta,
| before mentioned. and at the mouth
of Knowles Creek short distance
above the point of the projected
| crossing, at which the men of Marble
| head navigated the boats across the
Icy current Gen. Stryker states that
there were about forty Durham boats
on the river at the time.
In the historical painting by
Emanuel Leutze, of Washington
Crossing the Delaware the boat
shown bears no resemblance to the
boats used at McKonkey's, the aim
evidently being. as in most historic
pictures. for artistic effect, rather
than literal representation. The form
! of boat shown on the tablet on the
| Trenton Battle Monument Is nearly
that of the Durham boat
or the hundreds Of these boats once
on the river not one is now known to
exist, SO far as the writer has been
able to ascertain, In his investiga-
ton he has succeeded in finding but
| one survivor of all the hardy men
who, for so long a period, carried, by
| these boats, the products of industry
| to market and brought back the
needed supplies, and this man passed
| away before the completion of this
account
1t appears that at one time there
were boats on the Delaware of type
somewhat similar to the Durham boat
of which the writer has been able to
! gain but scant information In
Smiths History of New Jersey"
under date of 1865. occurs the follow
! ing
Delaware river. from the head of
| Cushietunk, tho not obstructed with
| falls, has not been improved to any
| inland navigation, by reason of the
| thinncss of the settlements that way.
! From Cushietunk to Trenton Falls
are fourteen considerable riffs, yet
! all passable in the long. fiat boats
] used In the navigation of these parts,
| some carrying 500 or Goo bushels of
wheat The greatest number of these
| riffs are from Easton downward and,
those fourteen miles above Easton,
another just below Wells Ferry and
that at Trenton, are the worst. The
boats seldom come down but with
freshes, especially from the Mini
sinks
Rates of freight to Philadelphia are
given, indicating that city to be the
objective point in the trips of these
boats, of which the following brief
description is given in a note to the
article above quoted
These boats are made like troughs,
square above the heads and storms,
sloping a little fore and aft. generally
forty or nifty feet long, six or seven
feet wide and two feet nine inches or
three feet deep and draw twenty or
! twenty-five inches of water when
loaden"
In some particulars this descrip-
ton corresponds pretty nearly to that
of the Durham boat. differing, how
| ever, with respect to length and
square ends. This and their desig-
nation by Smith as fiat" would in
dictate a different type of boat al
though probably managed in much
the same way as the Durham.
MIR, J, NJ Van Etten. of Milford, Pa,