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.Ever alert to whatever was happening aboard his boat, he had a reputationfor seldom sleeping while the boat was in operation.On one rare occasion, though, he did fall asleep and became the victimof his crewmen s practical joke.A mild-mannered, good-humored man (whoseharshest expression was by the Lord Harry! ), Scott was well liked by hiscrewmen, but they sometimes took advantage of his gentle nature.One nightas his boat, the Majestic, was steaming up the Mississippi, Scott took a seaton the capstan, one of his favorite spots, and while sitting there, dozed off.Several crewmen noticed him sleeping and gingerly turned the capstan halfwayaround so that instead of facing the jackstaff on the bow, Scott was facing theboilers while he slept.On a signal, the firemen opened all the fire doors atonce, revealing the flames in the furnace, glowing brightly in the darkness,and at the same time they roused the captain.Seeing the light of the flamesin front of him, he instantly concluded that another steamer was bearingdown on his bow.He leaped from his seat on the capstan and yelled up tothe pilothouse, Stop her, Mister Pilot, or by the Lord Harry she will be intous! When his crewmen broke into laughter, he realized his mistake and beganlaughing himself, enjoying the joke almost as much as the crew.129 130 Three.The CircumstancesSome owners, such as James Dozier, from Nash County, North Car-olina, were businessmen who were engaged in other enterprises and seeingopportunity in the steamboat business, entered it as well.As a young manDozier moved to Paris, Tennessee, and began farming, became prosperous atit, then went into the mercantile business and later operated a tanning busi-ness with his father-in-law.After that he became a steamboat owner.By 1844he had owned six steamers and with his sons he later became owner of at leastthree others.After the Civil War he moved to St.Louis, where he founded alarge bakery.Another steamboat entrepreneur was St.Clair Thomasson of Louisiana,who was a partner in a wholesale dry goods business and in 1843, with hisbusiness partner, Theo Shute, built the steamer Baton Rouge, which he cap-tained and operated between New Orleans and Vicksburg.Joseph Throckmorton was an owner-captain whose business career wentthe opposite way.He first owned several steamers that he operated on theupper Mississippi in the 1830s and 1840s, but around 1850 he decided toleave the river and try something else.He went into the insurance businessin St.Louis and when that venture failed, he returned to what he knew best,steamboating.After he died in 1872 at age 72, a biographer poeticallyinformed his readers that Throckmorton had crossed the river that ferriesbut one way. In some cases owner-captains started their careers as boat-builders andknew steamboats from the inside out.James Ward first worked in a boatyardand from that job went to work as a carpenter on the steamer Ione and thenon the Amaranth, operating out of St.Louis.In 1844 with three partners hebuilt the steamer St.Croix and joined its crew as mate.He then sold his inter-est in the St.Croix and with two partners built the St.Peters, which he servedas captain, running between St.Louis and Dubuque.Many owner-captains in the 1830s and 1840s had first operated keelboatson the Mississippi and had then graduated to steamboats when they saw thesteamers greater potential and superior working and living conditions.W.J.Koontz, born in Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1817, began his career on akeelboat that was owned by his brother.He later became a steamboat pilot,then a captain and then an owner-captain.He volunteered his services toU.S.general George B.McClellan during the Civil War, was made a com-modore, posted to St.Louis and placed in charge of river transportation forUnion troops.L.T.Belt, born in St.Clair County, Illinois, in 1825, one of twelve chil-dren, was another owner-captain who advanced from keelboats to steamers.He and his brother Francis gave up keelboating and bought the steamer Planter 10 " Owners and Officers 131in 1847 and operated it on the Mississippi between New Orleans and St.Louis.From that beginning Captain Belt eventually became president of theNew Orleans and Bayou Teche Packet Company, operating steamers on BayouTeche in Louisiana.Belt had other laudable accomplishments.For years hewas superintendent of the Sunday school at the Rayne Memorial Methodist-Episcopal Church in New Orleans and was also, his biographer pointed out,an unusually dutiful son: For the twenty years previous to her death, henever, but once, no matter how great the distance, failed to visit his agedmother on her birthday. Many other Mississippi River captains, of course, were not boat own-ers, but rather salaried employees of the companies that owned the steamersof which they were masters.Charles S.Rogers, born in New Hampshire in1816, moved to St.Louis when he was 22 and got a job as clerk on a Missis-sippi River steamboat in 1842.From that job he rose over time to captain andlater became president of Naples Packet Company, which operated twenty-three steamboats and a number of barges and wharf boats.Henry W.Smithbegan his working life at a country store in Missouri in 1855, then took a jobas second clerk on the General Lane, a Missouri River steamer.He advancedto captain of another Missouri River steamer and later became captain of asteamboat running between New Orleans and St.Louis.After the Civil Warhe became president of the St.Louis & Memphis Packet Company and dis-tinguished himself for building the company s steamboat fleet into one of thefastest and finest on the Mississippi.One of the more unusual captains was William F.Davidson, who latein life became a Christian, got caught up in the temperance movement andthereafter banned bars on the several steamers he controlled, which operatedbetween St.Paul and St.Louis.William Dean, whose career spanned thirtyyears as a pilot and captain, was so conscientious in his Christian beliefs thathe would not operate his boat on a Sunday.Another unusual captain was Mor-timer Kennett, who was something of a violin virtuoso and every eveningplayed his violin for his passengers. No navigation, it was said of him, wastoo difficult or night too dark to induce him to decline the very pleasant dutyof entertaining his passengers with the sweet strains of his violin. 1The tasks of the owner-captain were varied and many
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