Scholarship on types of watercraft used in Colonial Virginia is spotty
and often buried in theses, dissertations and other gray matter. I’m not
sure what type of craft was actually used at Gloucester but the rapid
current, heavy traffic and depth, likely ruled out the scow-hulled
chain/rope ferries that were common on narrower rivers. A common craft
on Colonial American waters was the galley barge. A keeled vessel,
adapted from the ship’s barge, they typically were manned by two to four
rowers in the bow while the passengers sat in the stern area with the
“patroon” who steered the rudder. Horses could also be transported in
this manner. The Mariner’s Museum library is an excellent source of
information for watercraft types. While a great deal of archaeological
work has been done to study riverine watercraft in North Carolina and
Maryland, Virginia’s contribution is pitifully low. It’s a shame
considering the importance of Virginia’s waterways to commerce and
transportation during the Colonial and early American eras.

Bruce G. Terrell
Marine Archaeologist
NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program
1305 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, VA 20910
bruce. [log in to unmask]


Jon Kukla wrote:

>With thanks to half a dozen folks who replied off-list - Tom Costa, Peter
>Bergstrom, Henry Wencik, Greg Stoner and Sandy Treadway - I'll summarize a
>few findings about TJ & boats etc.
>   Jefferson's memorandum books (edited by James Bear and Cinder Stanton)
>don't go back before 1767 (because his earlier books and papers burned
>at Shadwell) but starting then there are lots of entries for his
>payments of ferriage - in fact the index entries under ferries fill
>about 3 pages.
>Typically when Jefferson went to/from Rosewell, he travelled either via
>the ferry at Yorktown across to Gloucester Point (often with an entry for
>food and "entertainment) to the innkeeper at York who also ran the ferry.
>  And then one typically finds TJ's entries for gratuities paid to
>servants at various of the plantations where his friends lived -
>Willis's and Burwell's en route to the Pages at Rosewell.  Jefferson
>also distinguishes between payments made for "ferriage" or to "ferrymen"
>from payments made to "watermen" at Rosewell and elsewhere.  My hunch is
>that this distinction is between regularly established public ferries
>and ad hoc boat rides by a local "waterman."
>  Its been suggested that boats don't turn up in inventories because they
>may have been regarded as "real" rather than "personal" property -- and
>I've been reminded that Arthur Middleton's under-appreciated Tobacco
>Coast has good discusssions of ferries in Va and Md.  -- and of the CW
>research reports on many subjects - copies of which are sometimes found
>at UVA and/or LVA - and access to which is easy by searching the
>Rockefeller Library's on-line catalogue at the CW website.
>
>  The Reverend William Bland and Mary ("Polly") Stith, daughter of the
>president of W&M, have also been identified - which gives me 30 out of
>32 of TJ's circle of college friends. As to the exact identities of Ned
>and Bob - there were a lot Edwards and Roberts among the branches and
>generations of the Carter family, but there's no doubt about their
>general status within this circle of tidewater gentry 20-somethings,
>etc.
>   Echoing my private responses - I extend many thanks to VA-HISTers all.
>Have a good weekend.
>
>
>Dr. Jon Kukla, Executive Vice-President
>Red Hill - The Patrick Henry National Memorial
>1250 Red Hill Road
>Brookneal, Virginia 24528
>www.redhill.org
>
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>
>

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