Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1925-09-03
SAW LEE SURRENDER
TO GENERAL u. ;. GRANT

TO GEN ElGAI u. >. 0feANA
The following article which ap-
neared in Sundays Columbus Dis
patch, will be of interest to many
readers of the Democrat:
The surrender of Lee to General
U. S. Grant, at Apponattox' Whlch
marked the end of the Southern
Confederacy is one OF the three
things that stand out prominently IN
the memory of Captain Charles 7.
Leayitt. 543 Gilbert street, Civil war
veteran, and former Ohio river
steamboat master and pilot for more
than a half century. He witnessed
that. The other two in which he
takes an equal degree OF prlde are,
that the cavalry division with Whlch
he served during that war never
lost a gun and captured every gun
that was trained upon it, ana that
during all of his river experience no
steamboat, with which he was con-
nected, ever figured in an accident.
Entering upon his career as
rnaster and pilot at the age OF 70,
Captain Leavitt, who is now VI, mas
lived to see Ohio river transportation
pass through two stages and ad-
vance into the third. He was grant
ed a pilots license to run between
Pittsburgh and Louisville and later
received his masters and pllots S IL
cense to operate on 5oth the Little
Tanawha in West Virginia and the
Ml,skingum. as well as the OHIO.
For many years he saw steamboat
transportation flourish at It's peak
Then came the period when competl-
tion from the railroads forced many
of the packets to the bank, or 10
other waters. The building and com
pletion of the system OF LOCKS ana
dams on the Ohio marked the open
ing of the third stage of river traflc'
which has brought revival OF thfs
class of transportation. Today, ne
says. there are as fine packets III OPP
Grafton as ever nOsed their way
through the waters of that river.
Captain Leavitt commented on the
great Cud1S6 III Sltd -
early DAYS without any government
lights to guide their way, pilots were
forced TO pick out trees, hills, houses
and harms, to serve as guides.
May times, before the advent OF
the locks and dams, boats were
forced to go to the bank because of
the low stages of water, often for a
coed portion of the summer, but
3, Of n
been changed so that a sufficient
amount Of water is provided, max
il it possible for the steamboats,
lc operate most of the year
For one stretch of seven years.
CAPTAIN Leavitt ran on the mail
boat Chesapeake, a side-wheel pack
et between Parkersburg, W. Va,
and Gallipolis, Ohio. Between these
points. the boat made 81 landings.
The owner Of the boat had a con-
tract with the government for car
rving mail and when that contract
ended, Captain Leavitt became the
owner Of a boat, the Henry Logan
later he owned two other packets,
the Harry d. Knox and the Genera.
Dawes, the latter being named for
the father of Charles G. Dawes, vice
DIGSluNIl
During his ownership of the Hen
ry Logan and the General Dawes.
Captain Leavitt made trips beyond
The limits of the Ohio river. which
his captains license permitted him
10 do. He traversed the Mississippi
70 it's mouth. as we'll as to the north
ern waters of that river. He recalls
two long trips. Once he transported
- ,glN Il ain
McConnelsyille. Ohio, on the Mus
quarters, to the southern waters OF
the Mississippi, and to the Gulf OF
Mexico He also transported the
John F. Stowe minstrels down the
Ohio and on the Mississippi.
. Captain Leavitt retired from ac-
tive river service in 1917 and moved
80 Columbus The. same year, al
cough his license as fua ter and
Jlsot did not expire until 1924. Prior
. coming TO Columbus he resided at
BelleTille W. Va. fo" .-an- E H..
The 0hio river Still has fGCa- csI
for him, and every once in while
he responds by joul&eTing 10 Cin-
'inGal OF q waeI o. Two 10 keep in
& ouch with steamboat doE e.opmenJ
eud recall experiences Of past wears
with Old-time friends and river men.
He is stil vigorous for one OF his
Years and viii leave, Monday, as
member Of the Old Guard to attend
be national G. a. r. encampment at
Grand Rapids Mich. He enlisted at
ParkersburE, w. Va, Jan, Z. 1869.
and was DISCHARGED at Wheeling IN
tunc, 1865. following the close OF