Category: Mississippi River

Riverboat Cruise to Arkansas City, August 1912

On August 19, 1912, Jessie wrote in her diary, “This afternoon we left on the Kate Adams for our boat trip to Arkansas City. I realize fully that I cannot begin to write what a perfectly wonderful time we did have. There are 31 in our party – Marie Louise, Winnie, Cooper MacFarland, Elizabeth Roston, Sara C., Carolyn H., Emma R., Mary Carr, & myself, Glenn, Mitch, Jack Burch, Joe T., Herbert H., Billy, Bernard, Perry, Milton, Monty, Julius, Shep, Hurley, Lee, Cecil, Canuck, Paul, Everette, Swayne & Lucious, Mother & Mrs. Buck are our chaperones.” Who’s counting? But there are 9 girls, 20 boys – all teenagers – and 2 chaperones, Mrs. Latham and Mrs. Buck. Those two women must have had their hands full! Family stories about my great-grandmother, Mrs. Latham, also named Jessie, were that she was hilarious and a lot of fun to be around. All the kids enjoyed having her as chaperone on their river boat cruises or house parties.

Party on the Kate Adams, August 1912. Jessie is sitting in the 2nd row with a dark collar.
The girls. Jessie’s mother is wearing black and Jessie is leaning out right in front of her.
The boys.

For much of the summer Jessie had a crush on Glenn. This understandably made her long-time boyfriend Richard quite jealous and they had a few arguments on this topic. Glenn went on the River Boat Cruise but Richard did not.

Is this Glenn with Jessie? Jessie captioned this photo “At Sea.”
Jessie captioned this photo, “Can you name it? I can.” Is that Glenn on the right?
“Posing – the morning after”
“Cack and Emma R.”

During the second day of the cruise the boys and at least one of the girls put on a circus.

“Our gymnasts. Bernard, Marie Louise, Everette.” Jessie Latham, August 1912
“Oh! Circus Day.” Jessie Latham, August 1912
Friends. Jessie is on the left.
Jessie captioned this photo “The Fight,” but she does not mention a fight in her diary. Perhaps it was a performance for the ‘Circus.’
“Up in the air.” The circus!

Wednesday, August 21, 1912, Jessie wrote, “We reached Memphis late to-night. A bunch came home with us and we had a house party. Glenn, Monty, Perry, Lucious and Elizabeth P. spent the night here.”

“Home again.” Jessie Latham, August 1912

The Flood of 1912 – Memphis

1912 Flood, Market St. in Memphis, J.C. Coovert, photographer
1912 Flood, Market St. in Memphis, J.C. Coovert, photographer

The Flood of 1912 was one of the worst floods ever documented on the Mississippi River. It was also the first major flood on the Mississippi River to be photographed. Throughout March and especially at the end of the month, Jessie wrote several times in her diary of the rain. On Thursday, March 28, 1912 she wrote: Rain! Rain! Rain! Will it ever stop? Seems as though we have been swimming around for the last month. The River is awful high, highest it’s been in years. In fact, the Mississippi had reached flood stage (35 feet) several days before on March 24th and would not go below that mark for 60 days. There had been a lot of snow that winter in the northern U.S. It suddenly melted, flooding the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Levees all along the River failed. On April 1 a huge chunk of the levee failed at Greenfields Landing, just across the River from Cairo, Illinois. The water from that break covered most of Mississippi County in Missouri. I read that at one point during this flood, the Mississippi River was 60 miles wide in one section. Perhaps this was the area.

Camping on the levee. Memphis 1912, J.C. Coovert, photographer
Camping on the levee. Memphis 1912, J.C. Coovert, photographer

The River crested for 3 days (April 6-9) in Memphis at 45.3 feet. Levees on both sides of the River at Memphis failed. Because most of downtown Memphis is built on a bluff overlooking the River, much of the city was spared. But in the lower lying areas as many as 1200 people were driven from their homes, primarily from the flooding of the tributaries. In the northern part of Memphis near the Bayou Gayoso  and Wolf River, homes were flooded by as much as 6 feet of water. People were camping out on the tops of levees. African Americans were disproportionately affected by the flood since many of their homes and farms were in these lower lying areas.

Mill Bridge at Bayou Gayoso in Memphis. J.C. Coovert, photographer
Mill Bridge at Bayou Gayoso in Memphis. J.C. Coovert, photographer
Main & Mill in Memphis, 1912. J.C. Coovert, photographer
Main & Mill in Memphis, 1912. J.C. Coovert, photographer

 

Vaudeville, Hats & the River

Here is another collection of cultural tidbits taken from Jessie’s diary. ~

Vaudeville sister act, Madeline & Dorothy Cameron
Vaudeville sister act, Madeline & Dorothy Cameron

Vaudeville was the biggest form of live entertainment in 1912. All kinds of acts were included in the traveling shows — magicians, dramatic sketches, opera singers, comedians, barbershop quartets, etc. etc.   I think Jessie and her friends saw most of the shows that came to town. The Orpheum was one of the theaters she frequented, and it was there on February 6, 1912, that Jessie saw 1,000 Pounds of Harmony – the hefty men of the Primrose Quartette and thought they were “grand.” These gentlemen were quite popular for some years on the vaudeville circuit, and they got their name, as you might guess, because each of them weighed about 250 pounds.

Vaudeville c.1910, You Naughty boy!
Vaudeville c.1910, You Naughty boy!

On March 30th Jessie took her friend Willie Swift to the Orpheum to see the show. She especially enjoyed  a sketch called The Woman Who Knew. Not everybody enjoyed that act though. A review in Variety (22:6, 4/15/1911) about a performance at the Keith Theatre in Philadelphia had this to say:  “The bill at Keith’s was running smoothly and at a good speed until The Woman Who Knew came on stage. Mme. Besson is featured in the Victor H. Smalley piece. According to the program she is a famous portrayer of Zaza and Camille. If this is true, she might be able to get away with a similar role on vaudeville, but as The Woman Who Knew she is hopeless. The sketch has no merit and is badly played.”

Also on March 30th Jessie writes: “Enjoyed being with Willie so much. After the show we bumbed around and saw every-body sporting their new lids. I wore mine of course. It’s real mannish – English shape.” I would love to know exactly what that hat looked like, but instead here are some 1912 advertisements for women’s hats.

fr. Sears Catalog 1912
fr. Sears Catalog 1912

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the end of March Memphis was soggy with rain and the Mississippi River was higher than it had been in years. After church on Sunday, March 31st, Jessie and her family drove over to see how the River had risen. “It’s awful,” said Jessie.  The Great Flood of 1912 was beginning, and I’ll look at that in my next posting.

A train in Memphis finds the tracks are submerged. Flood of 1912.
A train in Memphis finds the tracks are submerged. Dated April 2, 1912.

 

Riverboat Cruise, August 1911

Kate Adams
Kate Adams

Toward the end of the summer of 1911, Jessie and about 20 friends and relatives went on a riverboat cruise to Arkansas City and back. Jessie’s mother and cousin Mary chaperoned, and for some reason there were only 5 girls on the trip and the rest were boys. The boat was the Kate Adams, a luxury riverboat that ran from Memphis to Arkansas City twice a week. There were three Kate Adams, the last of which burned at dock in Memphis on January 8, 1927. These riverboats were 240 feet long and had staterooms on the upper deck. There was also a large dining/dance hall with electric chandeliers surrounded by a promenade deck. The lower deck was used for storing cotton and other cargo. Memphians called the last Kate Adams, which was built in Pittsburgh in 1898, the “Lovin’ Kate.” According to the diary entries Jessie wrote for August 21-24, 1911, it seems there was a lot of dancing, eating, and merry-making, but not much sleeping.

"On our way to Arkansas City in 1911 [on the] Kate Adams.
“On our way to Arkansas City in 1911.”
 

"Monty and my green dress."
“Monty and my green dress.”
Jessie, summer 1911
Jessie, a few days before the cruise, August 1911.

Riverboat Trip to St. Louis, August 1910

"All aboard for St. Louis"
“All aboard for St. Louis”

Jessie had a busy summer seeing relatives and friends. In the latter part of July, she and Sara took the train to Gates, Tennessee to visit Ethel, who I think was either a youngish aunt or an older cousin. She stayed  a week in the country with Ethel. But the big trip she was really excited about was a riverboat cruise up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. Jessie, her mother and Swayne, along with about 12 other friends formed the boating party.

The boating party
The boating party, Jessie (R), Swayne (L)

On Monday, August 15th, they left on the steamer Rees Lee for St. Louis.  Jessie and Sara shared a stateroom. There was a band on board and lots of dancing throughout the trip. After several days aboard the ship and several stops along the River (Caruthersville, MO; Hickman, KY; Cape Girardeau, MO; Chester, IL), they arrived in St. Louis at 6:30 in the morning on Thursday, August 18. They stayed in the Laclede Hotel, a grand old luxury hotel in St. Louis, now demolished, famous for serving riverboat and rail travelers. They only stayed one night in St. Louis, but while they were there they were busy shopping, touring around the city, and going to a big amusement park called Forrest Park Highlands. Friday afternoon they left St. Louis on the Rees Lee for the return trip to Memphis. Within a few hours the ship had struck rocks or land and run ashore. Another ship came to the rescue, and after some time, managed to pull the Rees Lee from the land, but almost immediately it became stuck on a sandbar. They spent the night on that sandbar, though Jessie said she couldn’t sleep a wink. After almost 24 hours on the sandbar, a tug was able to free the ship after unloading all its cargo. The steamer made several stops on its way back to Memphis, including a brief excursion up the Ohio River for a stop at the Cairo, Illinois landing. The party finally made it back to Memphis on Monday night. Jessie said, “My! how I hated to get off the boat, for I had one of the finest times I ever had in my life.”

In Cape Girardeau, MO. Jessie & Swayne are on the right
In Cape Girardeau, MO. Jessie & Swayne are on the right
The Rees Lee at the landing in Cairo, IL
The Rees Lee at the landing in Cairo, IL