Chancy Lamb (Rafter/Packet/Towboat, 1872-1911)

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel
• BOAT TYPE: Rafter/Packet/Towboat
• BUILT: Clinton, Iowa, 1872
• FINAL DISPOSITION: Struck the Cumberland River bridge at Clarksville, Tennessee on February 18, 1911
• OWNERS: 1872: C. Lamb and Sons, Clinton, Iowa; 1905: Ryman Line at Nashville, Tennessee; 1907: John B. Ransom and Company, Nashville, Tennessee
• OFFICERS & CREW: 1872: Lyman Short (master), Jerome E. Short (pilot), Dick Dixon (chief engineer); 1874: Jerome E. Short (master), Lyman Short (pilot), Albert Duncan (2nd pilot), Isaac Bolman (engineer), Toliver Roman (2nd pilot), C.B. Roman (2nd pilot); 1875: Jerome Short (master), Charlie Barnes (mate), D.C. Law (clerk), Hiram Breese (2nd pilot), George Carpenter of Albany (2nd pilot); 1880: Jerome Short (pilot), Perry Lanford (2nd pilot), Jim Seinder (carpenter); 1894: Abe Mitchell (captain, pilot); 1896: Al Day (captain); Henry Fuller (pilot, master) unknown dates
• RIVERS: Mississippi River; Cumberland River
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - T0374; Chancy Lamb was founder of the lumber firm C. Lamb and Sons and his sons were Lafayette and Artemus, all of Clinton, Iowa. Rebuilt at Dubuque, Iowa in 1892, the Chancy Lamb was a longtime rafter on the upper Mississippi River. On August 19, 1878, she went downriver out of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Purchased by the Ryman Line at Nashville, Tennessee in 1905, she was sold in 1907 to John B. Ransom and Company, Nashville, Tennessee. She operated as a packet in the Nashville-Burnside trade and thereafter was a towboat on both ends of the Cumberland river. She struck a pier of the Cumberland River bridge at Clarksville, Tennessee and sank in 25 feet of water on February 18, 1911. A fireman and woman cook were drowned