Tom Dodsworth (Towboat, 1871-1919)

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel
• BOAT TYPE: Towboat
• BUILT: 1871 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• FINAL DISPOSITION: Dismantled in 1919
• OWNERS: James A. Blackmore and others; W. H. Brown and Company; S. S. Crump Coal Company (circa 1892); Combine (1900)
• OFFICERS & CREW: Captain George McCallam (first master); Captain Robert Brauff Robison (master for a long time); W. H. Williams (cub pilot, 1892-1894); Claude Robison (pilot); Alonzo Robison (pilot); Captain George Howder (master after 1900); Captain Al Eckler (master after 1900)
• RIVERS: Ohio River; Kanawha River
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - T2445; Built by James A. Blackmore and others for coal towing; named for a Cincinnati coal dealer who later sold out to W. H. Brown and Company. A fast boat, she was nicknamed the "Hoppin' Tom". She had a recess cabin that was later extended aft and a deer head and antlers on her pilot house roof. She held the record for a round trip between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, taking nine loaded coal boats down and bringing two empties back in four days, 20 hours, and 15 minutes. By 1892 her owners were S. S. Crump and Company. According to one of her pilots, W. H. Williams, Captain Robison owned a third of the boat, along with the Crump Coal Company. She led the parade at Pittsburgh in July 1897, to celebrate the freeing of the Monongahela locks from tolls. Retired along with many of the other big Combine boats in 1915, she was returned to service in June 1917, towing coal on the Kanawha River with the James Moren. She returned to Pittsburgh November 26, 1917 and lay at the Point Landing, Pittsburgh until July 19, 1918 when she was removed to Glasshouse Landing and eventually was dismantled at Brown's Station up Monongahela River in 1925 along with the Boaz. Her roof bell went to the John F. Klein in April 1928 and William Campbell got the big Masonic emblem that hung between her stacks. The deer horns were saved and ended up in the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen collection in the Ohio River Museum, Marietta