''Columbia'' is former steamship owned by the New York and Charleston Steam Packet Company, and built no later than 1835. This was the first coastal steam

packet Packet may refer to: * A small container or pouch ** Packet (container), a small single use container ** Cigarette packet ** Sugar packet * Network packet, a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-mode computer network * Packet radio, a form ...

in the United States. The steamer was also the first of the Charles Morgan Line. ''Columbia'' could run on wind or steam power, holding one mast both fore and aft of its side paddlewheels and its single smoke stack.

New York and Charleston packet

''Columbia'' first ran as a coastal steam packet, with service terminating at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. Its owner, New York and Charleston Steam Packet Company, was a partnership established in June 1834 between James P. Allaire, John Haggerty, and Charles Morgan. Morgan had already established himself as a shipping agent and

chandlery A chandlery was originally the office in a wealthy medieval household responsible for wax and candles, as well as the room in which the candles were kept. It could be headed by a chandler. The office was subordinated to the kitchen, and only exist ...

merchant out of his office in New York. In 1833, he divested of his chandlery in order to focus on managing his steam packet concerns. On 21 March 1835, New York and Charleston Steam Packet Company acquired the ''Columbia''. This was one of several steamers which serviced a lucrative contract to carry

United States Mail The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

between New York and Charleston.Baughman (1968), pp. 1220. In October 1837, New York and Charleston Steam Packet Company suffered a great loss with the deadly and financially costly sinking of its newest steamship, the ''Home''. This catastrophe prompted a reorganization of the company, leaving Morgan in control of operations, with Haggerty as the only remaining partner. While there is some scant evidence that ‘’Columbia’’ had been dispatched for a trial run for

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

service early as 1835, ''Columbia'' made its first packet run between

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

, Texas on 25 November 1837.

New Orleans and Galveston packet

This reorganized partnership then consisting of just Morgan and Haggerty is considered the beginning of the Charles Morgan Line, with ''Columbia'' known as its first ship. James Reed & Company, ''Columbias agent in New Orleans, purchased shares in the steamer, even briefly owning a majority interest before liquidating on 31 October 1838. In early 1838, ''Columbia'' made a dozen runs between Galveston and

Velasco, Texas Velasco was a town in Texas, United States, that was later merged with the city of Freeport by an election conducted by eligible voters of both municipalities on February 9, 1957. The consolidation effort passed by a margin of 17 votes. Founded ...

, a town at the mouth of the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 11th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater Dr ...

. At that time, the owners of the steamship ''Columbia'' formed a cartel with the owners of the steamship ''Cuba'', an arrangement known to the public as the New Orleans and Texas Line. These arrangements included coordination of scheduling, rates, and freight. The New Orleans and Texas Line dominated this steamship market for a few years.Baughman (1968), pp. 2228. ''Columbia'' offered three classes of passenger travel: accommodations on deck, in the standard cabin, or in the main cabin, which was described in the journal of Mary Austin Holley, a distant relative of

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

. She described fine linens, silver and ivory utensils, and service from a "French cook" and a "lady-like chamber maid." During this time, the steamer was configured to accommodate sixty passengers, split between the cabin and the deck. The ''Columbia'' normally completed the New Orleans to Galveston route within a range of 35 to 40 hours, but had run its best time in 33 hours. These speeds easily exceeded the performance of sailing vessels. ''Columbia'' had two sources of power: steam and sail. Steam power propelled the ship when the wind was not favorable in terms of strength or direction. This was critical while navigating the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

below New Orleans and the narrow coastal passes near Galveston. Steam power allowed travel along a straight line. Most of the freight manifests listed personal effects. ''Columbia'' transported most of its heavy freight to the port of Galveston from New Orleans, though it also hauled

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and hides out of Texas. In the first few months of 1838, ''Columbia'' earned over $12,000 in profit. ''Columbia'' ran this route exclusively for about four months in 1839 after ''Cuba'' ran aground east of Galveston Island. ''Columbia'' departed New Orleans twice monthly, on the first and the fifteenth, and departed Galveston on the eighth and twenty-second. However, a rival dispatched its own steamer ''Neptune'' to run this route, breaking Morgan's exclusive service on the Texas Gulf Coast on 7 November 1839. The competition did not persist there long, and soon, Morgan's fleet regained its monopoly with its ''Columbia'' and the ''New York'', which had been moved from the Atlantic. In January 1840, however, the Morgan and Haggerty partnership sold ''Columbia'' to Henry Windle.Baughman (1968), pp. 3335.

References

External links

* * {{Republic of Texas Steamboats of the United States 1830s ships