The Hart's Steamboat Line was based in Brown County, Wisconsin. I ran across this little article in the Reedsburg Free Press, dated June 16, 1899. So of course, I had to find out more about the Fannie C. Hart steamboat. (pictured at left) (Fannie C. Hart Photo: WI State Historical Society)
The Hart Steamboat Line was founded soon after Edwin Hart moved his wife Eliza and eight children to Green Bay in 1841. At the time the area was home to Menominee Native Americans, loggers and 3 sawmills.
Edwin's son Clifford Belden (C.B.) Hart's sailing career began on the Great Lakes when he was 12. He started as a cook and eventually worked his way up to captain.
At 16 he purchased a 2-masted, open sail ship in to transport passengers and goods between Green Bay and Oconto. C.B. and his brother founded Hart Steamship Line in 1873. The business that grew over the years to include a number of steamships. I found the (C.B.'s Ship Master Certificate photo: WI Maritime Museum) advertisement below in the Appleton Crescent, 7/19/1890 .
The steamship Fannie C. Hart was built in 1888, then remodeled from barge to passenger ship. Here is a bit of what the Green Bay Press Gazette reporters had to say about the ship August 5, 1899:
The Frannie C. Hart was remodeled stem to stern as a first rate passenger and freight boat with accommodations for 114 passengers in 38 state rooms. Each was fitted with a toilet and the furnishings are plush, elegant with lighting in the style of Pullman's Palace railroad cars. Every system was designed to insure safety from fire and storms, including 200 life preservers and 4 lifeboats for a capacity of 200 people. Comfortable quarters were located on the lower deck for crew. Newly designed machinery allowed crews to easily move 1,000 barrels of salt per hour. The ship easily reached the speed of 13 miles per hour. It made weekly trips from Green Bay to Mackinac, connecting there with the Cleveland & Detroit Steam Navigation line for ports south.
I trimmed the above article, it was an entire two newspaper columns long! I haven't found any additional reports of steamboat shenanigans so the Hart Steamboat Line must have been safe from further tossing of rotten eggs, bloodshed and mayhem. Stay tuned!
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