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Introduction to Steamboat Maid of Iowa

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The Maid of Iowa was a small steamboat built by partners and at , Iowa Territory, in 1842. The following year, Jones became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which “injured [his] influence as a Steam Boat Captain,” and caused Moffet to complain “seriously of the loss he was sustaining thereby.” Moffet eventually aired his complaints to JS, who agreed to buy Moffet’s half share of the boat and become Jones’s partner. JS made the purchase on 12 May 1843 and completed the necessary paperwork in June.
The Maid of Iowa was used in a variety of roles, including as a ferry, freighter, and passenger ship. Shortly after JS purchased the boat, he took steps to run it as a much-needed ferry across the between and . It was also used to carry British Saints to from after they had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean . For example, in April 1843 the Maid of Iowa and her captain brought over two hundred British converts to Nauvoo. JS and , however, struggled to turn a profit with the boat, which had incurred many debts and struggled to pay its crew. In September 1843, JS directed to sail with the Maid of Iowa and manage the accounts. When the boat stopped in , Clayton noted that “creditors began to come on board with their claims, but in consequence of our disappointment, we were compelled to ask them to wait longer.” In October the boat’s clerk, , wrote a letter to JS to update him on the boat’s finances. Derby stated that he believed there “are more debts against her than She can pay this fall.”
The ownership of the Maid of Iowa changed several times during JS’s involvement with it. In May 1843, JS reached an agreement to sell half of his interest in the steamboat to and his wife, Harriet Denton Adams, as a partial payment for over 1,500 acres of land in . In July 1843, JS deeded his remaining portion of the boat to his wife . In December of that year, JS and Emma leased their share of the boat to for a year in exchange for $600. sold his share of the boat to O. A. Miller, a Louisiana steamboat captain, in January 1844, but Jones regained his share of the boat that March. Then in April, the Maid of Iowa returned to $1,700 in debt, and JS bought the boat from Jones in an effort to manage the mounting debts. Shortly thereafter, ownership of the boat was transferred to the church’s trustee-in-trust, which at the time was JS. In June, JS, as the trustee-in-trust for the church, leased the boat to and for one hundred dollars a month for a period of up to six months. The boat remained in the trustee-in-trust’s possession after JS’s death in June 1844. By August, Morrison had hired his son-in-law, steamboat captain Charles Ross, as the pilot, and later that month rumors circulated that they were trying to lay claim to the steamboat. To secure ownership of the Maid of Iowa, took steps to become the administrator of JS’s estate in and to sue Ross to recover the boat. Moffet was apparently unsuccessful, but church leaders still considered the steamboat the property of the church. In April 1845, trustees and were told “to sell ‘the Maid of Iowa’ for what they could get.” By June 1845, the boat was owned by Peter Hotelling, who used it to carry freight on the Wisconsin River.
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Editorial Title
Introduction to Steamboat Maid of Iowa
ID #
20465
Total Pages
1
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    Footnotes

    1. [1]

      The boat was just over 60 tons and measured 115 feet long. (Enders, “Steamboat Maid of Iowa,” 321–326; Sonne, Ships, Saints, and Mariners, 134–135; Ship Registers and Enrollments of New Orleans, Louisiana, 4:173.)

      Enders, Donald L. “The Steamboat Maid of Iowa: Mormon Mistress of the Mississippi.” BYU Studies 19, no. 3 (Spring 1979): 321–335.

      Sonne, Conway B. Ships, Saints, and Mariners: A Maritime Encyclopedia of Mormon Migration, 1830–1890. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.

      Ship Registers and Enrollments of New Orleans, Louisiana. 6 vols. University, LA: Louisiana State University, 1941.

    2. [2]

      JS, Journal, 12 May 1843; Dan Jones to Thomas Bullock, 20 Jan. 1855, [21], CHL.

      Jones, Dan. The Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, 1855. CHL. MS 153.

    3. [3]

      JS, Journal, 12 May and 2 June 1843; Clayton, Journal, 2–3 June 1843. For financial documents related to this transaction, see Statement of Account, Maid of Iowa to Levi Moffet, ca. 12 May 1843; Maid of Iowa List of Debts, 12 May 1843; Statement of Account from Maid of Iowa, ca. 12 May 1843; and Agreement with Dan Jones and Levi Moffet, 12 May 1843.

      Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    4. [4]

      JS, Journal, 12 May 1843; Clayton, Journal, 3 June 1843; 5–6 May 1844; see also Statement of Account, Maid of Iowa to Thomas Bullock, May–June 1844.

      Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    5. [5]

      JS, Journal, 3 and 12 May 1843; “Steam Ferry at Nauvoo,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 May 1843, [2].

      Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    6. [6]

      JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1843; Pratt, Autobiography, chap. 41.

      Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

    7. [7]

      The ledgers and bills among the records for the Maid of Iowa show the various expenses and debts charged to the boat. For example, see Maid of Iowa List of Debts, 12 May 1843; Statement of Account from Maid of Iowa, May 1843–1844; Statement of Account, Maid of Iowa to Thomas Bullock, May–June 1844; Invoice and Receipt, Daniel C. Davis to Maid of Iowa, 24 Aug. 1844; and Statement of Account, Foster & Pickering to Maid of Iowa, 1 June 1843.

    8. [8]

      Clayton, Journal, 21 and 26 Sept. 1843.

      Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    9. [9]

      Letter from Erastus Derby, 9 Oct. 1843.

    10. [10]

      Deed from James and Harriet Denton Adams, 29 May 1843; Trustees Land Book B, 19.

    11. [11]

      Clayton, Journal, 15 July 1843. Although JS deeded his interest in the boat to Emma Smith in July 1843, under the common law doctrine of coverture, the property remained under his control.

      Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    12. [12]

      Lease to David S. Hollister, 2 Dec. 1843.

    13. [13]

      Ship Registers and Enrollments of New Orleans, , 4:173.

      Ship Registers and Enrollments of New Orleans, Louisiana. 6 vols. University, LA: Louisiana State University, 1941.

    14. [14]

      Clayton, Journal, 15 Apr. 1844; see also Statement of Account from Maid of Iowa, May 1843–1844.

      Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    15. [15]

      Clayton, Journal, 15 Apr. and 1 May 1844; Maid of Iowa, Enrollment Certificate, St. Louis, MO, 2 May 1844, photocopy, Ship Enrollment Certificates, CHL.

      Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

      Ship Enrollment Certificates, 1838–1844. Photocopy. CHL. Originals at National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC.

    16. [16]

      Agreement with Arthur Morrison and Others, 15 June 1844.

    17. [17]

      See Introduction to Moffet Administrator of the Estate of JS.

    18. [18]

      Richards, Journal, 9 Apr. 1845.

      Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

    19. [19]

      “A New Line of Communication with the Lakes,” Mineral Point (WI) Democrat, 25 June 1845, [3].

      Mineral Point Democrat. Mineral Point, Wisconsin Territory. 1845.

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