Thanks, so much, for the information on the Canal.  I also found an
excellent little booklet published by the Eastern National Park & Monument
Association in 1963 called WATERWAY TO THE WEST.  It covers in 32 pages the
history all the way from George Washington to the rotting hulk of the last
packet boat, which finally returned to dust near Lynchburg.

Randy Cabell

----- Original Message -----
From: "Holly Wilhelm" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: Nelson County -1861


> In a message dated 7/10/03 3:11:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> > 3 - Packet Boat.  There is a reference to killing and dressing four
> > chickens for the packet boat.  Did it serve meals and have sleeping
accomodations
> > for passengers?  I assume it went between Lynchburg and Richmond.  How
long did
> > that trip take?
> >
> >
>
> Randy, I see there have been several responses to your query, but I can't
> resist adding a few more bits that may be of interest.
>
> _Lynch's Ferry_ , a journal published by the Lynchburg Historical
Foundation,
> has in its Spring/Summer 2002 issue an article by Doug Macleod entitled
> "Queen of the James River & Kanawha Canal: The Packet Boat Marshall."  In
this
> article I find that the trip from Lynchburg to Richmond took about
thirty-three
> hours by packet.  Macleod has done considerable research on the James
River
> communities in central Virginia and the article is excellent.
>
> Also in _Lynch's Ferry_ is the article "Packet Boat Days on the Canal" by
> James M. Elson (see the Spring/Summer 1997 issue).  Elson notes that the
vessel
> had a dining cabin with galley and bar in addition to a main cabin.  The
main
> cabin served as sleeping quarters at night, and had a curtain drawn across
the
> middle of the cabin to separate the men from women.  Triple deck bunks
would
> be set up at that time for sleeping arrangements.  I suspect there may
have
> been slight variations on this layout, but the pattern seems to be to have
had
> dining and sleeping arrangements on the packets.  Elson quotes extensively
as
> George W. Bagby's reminiscences of being a twelve-year-old traveling by
packet
> from Richmond to Lynchburg (ca. 1840).
>
> Holly Wilhelm
> near Lynchburg
>
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