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Kanawha and Gallipolis Packet Company; Cincinnati, Gallipolis and Kanawha River Weekly Packet; The Channeton and Charleston Daily Packet, et al.

[Lot of Kanawha and Gallipolis Packet Co. and other packet trade billheads.]

Ohio and West Virginia, 1859–1880. 52 billheads (approx. 3.5” x 8.5” to 7” x 8.5”), 5 of which include stapled receipts. 47 of the billheads are illustrated and are variously printed in green, red, blue, and black. All billheads completed in pencil or ink. 3 billheads bear stamps. Inscriptions on some of the versos of the billheads. CONDITION: Overall good, old folds, toning to a few billheads, moderate wear and dampstaining to 6 billheads.

An appealing and informative group of fifty-two billheads spanning four decades and documenting the extensive river transport of goods sold by a multitude of Ohio and West Virginia companies.

These billheads record the activities of several packet shipping companies that operated on Ohio and West Virginia’s waterways (such as the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers), including the Kanawha and Gallipolis Packet Co. (which appears under several different names here); the Channeton and Charleston Daily Packet; Cedar Grove and Charleston Daily Packet, and others. Some of the steamboats named on these billheads include Annie Laurie, Julia No. 2, Mountain Boy (one of six steamboats that moved the contents contained within West Virginia’s capital—furniture, records, and individuals—from Wheeling to Charleston between 1870–85, via the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers), Cottage No. 2, Clara Scott, Modoc, Wild Goose, Annie Laurie, Pine Bluff, David Lynch, and C.P. Huntington (named in honor of the president of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad). The billheads often identify the Masters and Captains of the vessels, the schedule of the vessels, and the presidents of the various packet companies. 

The Ohio and West Virginia companies represented here include Henking, Allemong & Co., wholesale grocers; Babbitt, Harkness & Co., grocers and commission merchants; J.S. & R. Skees, furniture manufacturers; Malden Foundry and Machine shop, and Rich’d Q. Laidley, druggist. Engravings on the bills show some of the stores and wares of these companies, as well as the vessels of various steamboat companies. Goods transported via the packets include coffee, tobacco, candles, varnish, beds, wagon wheels, hay, flour, fruit, wheat, sand, oats, seeds, hearth stoves, lumber, iron, molasses, leather, and horses.  

A handful of billheads feature such notes as the following: April 26th 1870 “We have handled but very little N[ew]. O[rleans].[?] sug[ar] this season on account of continual running, they being always wet and damp. We send you rice Demerara[?] which we trust will answer. Shall forward monthly statements occasionally as you request…Yours truly, H[enking]. A[llemong]. & Co”; October 11th, 1870 “We called Mr. Alesheries[?] attention to your sample of wheat for which he offers 1.15 delivered here provided it is as good as ample. He is afraid a sample was taken from top of the pole that you will find it soft or damp by going lower. If you find that his price is an endorsement he will furnish sacks…[Signed,] Allemong [of Henking Allemong & Co.].” 

An attractive and evocative group of billheads documenting trade on the Ohio River and its tributaries in the mid- to latter nineteenth century.

REFERENCES: “The Mountain Boy” at West Virginia State Museum Education online; “March 28th marks anniversary of WV Capitol moving to Charleston from Wheeling” (2018) at WTRF online.

Item #7806

Price: $575.00

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