224 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
FIRST NAVIGATOR OF THE OHIO RIVER.
It is a most interesting but generally
unknown fact (which we have
verified by a letter from Mr. William
Loeb, secretary to the President)
that the brother of the grandfather of
President Roosevelt was the first
man to navigate a steamboat on the Ohio
and Mississippi Rivers, says
Mr. Charles C. Allen. Captain Roosevelt
was a warm personal friend of
Robert Fulton, the inventor of steam
craft, and soon after Fulton's suc-
cessful voyage on the Hudson conceived
the idea of launching such a
vessel on the Western rivers. A good
deal of doubt was expressed as to
the practicability of the undertaking,
but Captain Roosevelt was enthusi-
astic, and along about 1810 made a
personal survey of the Ohio and Lower
Mississippi to determine its feasibility
beyond all peradventure. The
result of his survey was entirely to his
satisfaction and, returning to Pitts-
burg, he began the construction of a
steamboat from plans furnished him
by Fulton and Livingston. In the spring
of 1811 the vessel was launched,
and, accompanied by his wife, who had
the true pioneer spirit and refused
to be left behind, the President's
grandfather began his voyage down the
Ohio.
He entered the Mississippi during the throes of the earthquake
which devastated so much of southeastern
Missouri, but weathered the
tumult successfully and continued his
trip to New Orleans, where he
arrived a short time after, the first
man to build a steamboat west of the
Alleghanies and the first to navigate
one on western waters.
LIFE MEMBERS.
Since the issue of the January Quarterly
the following have qualified
as life members of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society:
Mr. Frank S. Brooks, Columbus, Ohio.
Hon. Ross J. Alexander, Bridgeport,
Ohio.
Mr. George W. Vanhorn, Findlay, Ohio.
APPOINTMENT OF TRUSTEES.
On February 23, 1905, Governor Myron T.
Herrick re-appointed
Professor B. F. Prince, Springfield, and
Mr. E. O. Randall, Columbus, as
trustees of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society for the
term of three years ending February,
1908.