Click image to see full-size version.
- named after Helen Elizabeth McDade Bush, born in Gallipolis, Ohio, Feb. 11, 1907, died Jan. 1, 1993.
Her husband, (Major General - U.S. Army) George Elial Bush, Jr., born June 3, 1905, died Sept. 11, 2001.
The Helen E. was originally built as a single decker at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, 1913 - named for W.E. McDade's daughter Helen Elizabeth.
Her dimensions were:- 105 by 19.7 by 2.8 feet; 33 tons.
She ran on the Ohio and Kanawha rivers; the last short run packet on the Ohio River.
In January 1918 she was carried off by ice from Point Pleasant to below Madison, Indiana, 293 miles below; laid up at the time, nobody aboard.
She ran all bridge piers, passes at the dams, etc., with nobody aboard and made a good job of it; worst damage was from vandals who stripped her when she was near shore, taking all available brass fittings, equipment, etc.
Returned under her own steam.
In June, 1918 Captains Sam and Jim Williamson bought this boat, added a cabin, and ran her in the Wheeling-Matamoras trade for the next ten years.
She ran regular as clock work and was always clean, freshly painted and trim looking.
In 1921 she received a new battery of boilers at the Acme Boiler Works shop in Gallipolis, Ohio.
Sold to Captain Ben Raike who dismantled her and rebuilt her into a towboat named "Clarimont", or possibly "Clerimont" or "Clerimond", in 1934.
My image of Helen E. is sadly out of focus, so there isn't much info I can give you, other than she just passed under a train bridge. ...Sorry.
However, I did find a few interesting images online, so here they are:
Another not well-done image of her:
...no link to larger image, this was the original size.
On this next image, there are 3 laborers sitting on handcarts at the bow.
Next astern, there are 2 boys and possibly a girl (hard to see), and they are all wearing hats.
Next to them are two women, probably their mothers.
There is another person about half-way to the stern on that same deck.
There are 3 men in suits and ties and hats, of course, on the middle deck. They look like they are watching the photographer.
The Helen E. has her gangplank on the beach, and there is another boat, "Liberty", next to her.
Now, this last image looks to be the same image as just above, but it is attached to a waybill!
The waybill reads:
Mata??? 9/28 1918
Consignee - J J Young
S. V. Williamson, Master - (Sam Williamson, June 1918-1930)
15 ...somethings? War Tax - $3, Freight - $100, Charges - $10, Amount - $113.
