Steamboat: EDWARD J. GAY
Built: 1859
Tonnage: 823
Clemens' Service: 2 August - 1 October 1859
Captain: Barton Bowen
Fate: 1863 acquired by Confederacy and taken up Yalobusha River; later burned on 17 July 1863 to prevent capture.
These dates were theorized by Branch for June 25, 1859 to July 28, 1859, not corroborated by Marleau
Edgard Branch, the source for Day By Day, had originally dated Clemens' service on the RUFUS J. LACKLAND as 11 July - 3 August 1857. Further research by Michael Marleau, includes a new interpretation of Clemens' personal journals and indicates the 1859 dates are the most likely dates of service for the RUFUS J. LACKLAND. July 9 – July 30, 1859
December 13 Monday – Sam and Horace Bixby left St. Louis on the Aleck Scott (709 tons) under Captain Robert A. Reilly. Sam remarked on the Aleck Scott: I will remark, in passing, that Mississippi steamboatmen were important in landsmen’s eyes (and in their own, too, in a degree) according to the dignity of the boat they were on.
Steamboat: NEW FALLS CITY
• Built: 1858
• Tonnage: 880
• Clemens' Service: 30 October - 8 December 1858
• Pilot: probably Horace Bixby
• Captain: James B. Woods
October 30 Saturday – Sam left St. Louis on the New Falls City (880 tons; built in January of that year, the largest ship Sam served on. Sam took passage on the boat in January as well) Pilot Horace Bixby, Captain James B. Woods.
November 8 Monday – New Falls City arrived in New Orleans.
November 10 Wednesday – New Falls City left for St. Louis.
Steamboat: WHITE CLOUD
• Built: 1857
• Tonnage: 345
• Clemens' Service: 20 - 26 October 1858
• Pilot: probably Samuel Bowen
• Captain: Daniel Able
October 20 Wednesday – The Dickey was laid up for repairs, so Sam and probably Sam Bowen and Captain Able, made the St. Louis to Memphis run on the White Cloud (345 tons).
October 22 Friday – Sam’s article was printed in the St. Louis Missouri Republican using the signature “C” [Branch, “Dickey” 199-200].
Steamboat: JOHN H. DICKEY
• Built: 1857
• Tonnage: 403
• Clemens' Service: 4 August - 19 October 1858
• Pilot: possibly Samuel Bowen
• Co-Pilot: possibly Strother Wiley
• Captain: Daniel Able
• Fate: Survived the Civil War; dismantled July 8, 1865
Between St. Louis and Memphis:
Steamboat: ALFRED T. LACEY
• Clemens' Service: 11 - 28 July 1858
• Built: 1857
• Pilot: possibly Barton Bowen
• Co-Pilot: possibly George Ealer
• Captain: John P. Rodney
• Fate: burned April 26, 1860 with loss of sixteen lives including Captain A. T. Lacy's daughter
June 11 Friday – Two days behind Henry on the Pennsylvania, Sam left New Orleans bound for St. Louis on the Alfred T. Lacey with Captain John P. Rodney and Sam’s Hannibal friend Barton S. Bowen, pilot [MTL 1: 82n3].
Steamboat: PENNSYLVANIA
17 February - 5 June 1858
ABOARD THE PENNSYLVANIA:
February 6 Saturday – The Pennsylvania, now repaired and refitted, left New Orleans with William Brown as pilot, George Ealer as co-pilot, John Simpson Klinefelter (1810-1885) as Captain. Sam had procured a job for Henry as “mud clerk,” so called because the job required leaping to shore in places where there was no pavement or dock. The job did not pay, but was a way to rise in the ranks. Henry Clemens was nineteen, and would make six trips with his brother Sam [Powers, MT A Life 84].