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From: "Lowrey, Mary E." <>
Subject: RE: [ILPOPE-L] Re: Ohio River ferries
Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 07:38:44 -0400


this is neat -- any possibility that you know of a source of similar info
for ferries in TN - Big Hatchie River to be specific. I have found a couple
of slight references to LOWRY's ferry circa 1800 and believe it to be my
line. would love to find out more.
thanks
mary lowrey

> -----Original Message-----
> From:Jon Musgrave [SMTP:]
> Sent:Monday, May 29, 2000 12:23 PM
> To:
> Subject:[ILPOPE-L] Re: Ohio River ferries
>
> Hello,
>
> This is in response to the query about Ohio River Ferries...
>
> Battery Rock - post-Civil War era - I'm not sure who operated it.
>
> Flynn's Ferry - Below the mouth of the Tradewater in the southeastern
> corner
> of Hardin County. This one started maybe as early as 1799, definitely
> before
> 1806. This crossed at a low water point and could be forded in low water.
> According to tradition, the sandbar on the Illinois shore that made it a
> good crossing disappeared in the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812. The
> road leading from the ferry went through modern-day Lamb, then parallel to
> Route 1, up to Potts Hill and Spring. About 10 miles later the road
> traveled
> past the Great Salt Springs / Lower Lick saltworks, then to Equality. This
> road, with the exception of the southernmost mile or two is what is
> remembered as the Ford Ferry Road. Members of the Prince family purchased
> this ferry from Flynn, they sold it to James Ford who moved it about a
> mile
> or two downriver to Ford Ferry, Ky.
>
> Ford's Ferry - This is actually the second ferry known as Ford's Ferry.
> However, this is the one that people remember and still shows up on
> detailed
> Kentucky maps. It is about a mile or two upstream from Cave-in-Rock.
>
> Cave-in-Rock - Lewis Barker operated the ferry here early on, as did
> someone
> named Robin.
>
> Elizabethtown / McFarland's Tavern - James McFarland, builder of the Old
> Rose Hotel operated a ferry here at one point.
>
> Rosiclare - The town didn't development until fairly late, however it's
> site
> hosted the first ferry in the area - the Miles' Ferry around 1799 - 1800.
> The trail from the ferry crossing to Kaskaskia became known as the Miles'
> Trace. The trail also served as the first border between Gallatin and
> Johnson Counties where it ran through what is now Saline and Williamson
> Counties. Miles' son Richard ran it for a couple of years and then
> Richard's
> brother-in-law James Ford took it over. By 1807, Ford ran it and operated
> a
> tavern on the Illinois side. While we have no definite proof, this is
> probably the site of the early frontier fort near the current watertower
> in
> Rosiclare on the bluff looking upstream. This fort is the one taken over
> by
> the Sturdivant Gang of counterfeiters in the late 1810s and early 1820s.
>
> Golconda - James Lusk opened the ferry here in 1797 (I think, if not
> 1799).
> At first he lived on the Kentucky side, then moved to the Illinois side.
> When he died Sarah Lusk, his wife, operated it. She married a Ferguson (I
> think Robert, but I'm doing this from memory) and he operated it and it
> was
> known as Ferguson's Ferry, not to be confused with Hamlet Ferguson's ferry
> opposite Smithland, Ky. It's easy to remember because Hamlet's plantation
> and settlement became known as Hamletsburg which is still around.
>
> Jon Musgrave
> www.IllinoisHistory.com
>
> If anyone knows of others, let me know. Trying to keep tract of the early
> ferry operators is more fun than one person can take.
>

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