Ship Model, <i>George W. Neare</i>
date: label: date made
content: ca 1920
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: This model is incorrectly named after George W. Neare, a former steamboat captain who went into the insurance business in 1865. By 1889, Neare, Gibbs, and Company were the main river agents for the Insurance Company of North America, whose successor company CIGNA, donated this model to the Smithsonian.
label: Description
content: According to a CIGNA article, this model constructed by the boat’s engineer is actually of the steamboat J. S. Pringle, which Neare captained in the 1850s. Measuring 307 tons, J. S. Pringle was built in 1854 in Brownsville, PA for Captain William Stoops, who ran a ferry service across the Ohio River. It was sold in 1855 and moved to the Missouri River. J. S. Pringle ran from St. Louis to St. Joseph under Captain William Conley. In 1861 it carried army supplies from Cincinnati to Nashville under Captain George W. Neare. Captain Hazlett ran it from Louisville on the Tennessee River in Spring 1862. In March 1865 it was acquired by the US Quartermaster’s Department. Steamboats on the western rivers were notoriously bad risks, having relatively explosive high-pressure engines, wooden hulls, and flammable cargo.
label: Description
content: A gold finial, projecting uprights and four smokestacks painted black have red and gold spiked crowns. An eagle on a gold ball is on top of the captain's cabin. Two lanterns hang from the smokestacks, and there is a bell on the upper deck. A red, blue and gold emblem is on the bow and an American flag flies at the stearn.
topic: label: Subject
content: Maritime
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: Many Voices, One Nation
label: Exhibition
content: Many Voices, One Nation
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0279.068
label: accession number
content: 2005.0279
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0279.068
objectType: label: Object Name
content: ship model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: tin (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 18 in x 40 in x 12 in; 45.72 cm x 101.6 cm x 30.48 cm