The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852Casseday, Ben
History
The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852
Casseday, Ben
Louisville (Ky.) -- Description and travel; Louisville (Ky.) -- History
The Western Courier, published at Louisville, copies this article, with
some stringent remarks upon its contents; and attributes the authorship of
it to some actor whose efforts in his profession had not been duly honored
by the people whom he villifies. Who is in the right in this matter it is
now impossible to say; but it is certain that the author of the article in
question is guilty of an anachronism, for it will be remembered that the
theater was built previous to the commencement of the earthquakes. It is,
however, unquestionably true that the theater was built several years
before a church edifice of any kind was attempted.
The newspaper from which this article was copied was commenced here in
October or November of 1810, by Nicholas Clarke. It was published weekly
at three dollars per annum, and contained for the most part little else
than news of the wars, acts of Assembly and of Congress, and
advertisements. In 1814, Mann Butler joined Mr. Clarke in the editorship
of the paper, but did not continue long in his chair. The Louisville
Correspondent was issued at about the same time, and edited by Col. E. C.
Barry. It was discontinued in 1817. It is believed that there are no files
of it in existence now.
Reference to all the early files of newspapers published at this day, will
show how gradual and yet how certain was the progress of steamboat
navigation on the Ohio. The arrival of every boat was carefully noted and
always accompanied with a great flourish of trumpets and a renewed eulogy
on the wonders of the new invention. Much credit is due to Capt. H. M.
Shreve, lately of St. Louis, for his indefatigable and successful
endeavors to improve as well as to enlarge this prominent branch of
commerce. As is well known, Fulton and Livingston held a patent for the
entire right to navigate all the rivers in the United Stages for a certain
number of years. But Mr. Shreve, seeing the injustice of this grant and
doubting its legality, openly defied it; and finally, after much effort
and not a little pecuniary loss, succeeded in 1816 in removing the grant
and throwing open the navigation of the public highways to all. It will
not be uninteresting to the reader, while upon this fruitful topic, to
glance at a list of all the steamboats employed upon the western waters
until 1819. This list is copied from Dr. McMurtrie, whose data is not
always implicitly reliable. It has however been corrected as far as was
practicable at this remote period. The present tense, whenever employed,
is meant to refer to the year 1819.
STEAMBOATS EMPLOYED ON THE WESTERN WATERS FROM 1812 TO 1819.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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