Steamboat: A. B. CHAMBERS
Built: 1855
Tonnage: 410
Clemens' Service: 26 October 1859 - 24 February 1860
Co Pilots: James DeLancey and William Bowen
First mate: Grant Marsh
Captain: George Bowman
Fate: snagged and sank near St. Louis, 24 September 1860

October 13? Thursday – Sam wrote to Elizabeth W. Smith (Aunt Betsy b.1794 or 5) from St. Louis. Smith was not really Sam’s aunt, but a friend of his mother. As he explained it in his Autobiography,

October 26 Wednesday – Sam left for St. Louis as the pilot of the A.B. Chambers (410 tons), copilots James C. DeLancey and Will Bowen; Captain George W. Bowman.

November 7 Monday – A.B. Chambers arrived in New Orleans.

November 9 Wednesday – A.B. Chambers left for St. Louis.

November 20 Sunday – A.B. Chambers arrived in St. Louis.

November 23 Wednesday – A.B. Chambers left for New Orleans.

November 30 Wednesday – Sam’s 24 th birthday.

December 4 Sunday – A.B. Chambers arrived in New Orleans.

December 8 Thursday – A.B. Chambers left for St. Louis.

December 17 Saturday – A.B. Chambers arrived in St. Louis.

December 20 Tuesday – A.B. Chambers left for New Orleans.

December 22 or 23 Friday – The Chambers ran aground five miles south of Commerce, Mo., where the channel flowed between Power’s Island and Goose Island—a notorious trap. It was soon stuck hard with ice piling up around it. Out of wood, the captain ordered Sam and seven others to take a yawl and row up river to fetch a flatboat with wood. Sam’s judgment in directing the craft avoided certain death by any other course [MTL 1: 95n4]. (See this note for the full story as told by Grant Marsh, first mate.)

December 29 Thursday – A.B. Chambers reached Cairo, Illinois.

December 31 Saturday – A.B. Chambers arrived in New Orleans.

January 7 Saturday – A.B. Chambers arrived in New Orleans.

January 10 Tuesday – A.B. Chambers left for St. Louis.

January 20 Friday – A.B. Chambers arrived in St. Louis.

February 1 Wednesday – A.B. Chambers left for New Orleans.

February 11 Saturday – A.B. Chambers arrived in New Orleans.

February 14 Tuesday – A.B. Chambers left for St. Louis.

February 24 Friday – A.B. Chambers arrived in St. Louis.