This serving dish is in the collection of the Woodruff Fountain House 680 Adams Ave. Memphis Tennessee. Likely there are only few of these serving dishes in existence since the Lee Line wharf boat burned sometime in the mid 1920’s taking with it quite a number of Lee Line boat furniture, serving dishes and boat parts taken from various boats the family owned.
I have a silver plated pitcher marked Meriden Brit’a Company from the Robert E Lee steamboat whose maiden voyage was in Oct 1866. The piece has “R.E. Lee” engraved, in cursive, on the front within a cartouche. Any idea of the value?
Judith, thank you for your interest in leelinesteamers.com. My first thought is, you have
an amazing piece of steamboat history. My second thought is the Robert E Lee you own this
remarkable pitcher from is not a Lee Line boat. The Robert E Lee you are referring to is the
famous racer that is depicted in paintings and legend racing the Natchez. As to its value,
I would think it is worth in the thousands due to its age and its being used on a very famous
steamboat. How did you come to possess this fabulous piece of history? I would love to see
a picture and use it on my site. Way’s Packet Directory has a lengthy history of this famous
boat. Thank you again. Jim Lee
Thank you for your quick response. The boat that raced the Natchez was the Robert E Lee paddle-wheel steamer. Was this steamer not part of the Lee lines?
Many thanks,
Judith
Hi, I have a small silver fork on the front it’s engraved “Robert E. Lee” on the back “war co v overlay” I’ve been looking for information on this for years and these comments are the closest I’ve gotten. It looks quite old do you think it’s origin could also be the R.E. Lee steamer?
Thank you for this information. I would love to see a picture of this great old fork.
Most likely this fork was from the much older Robert E Lee which could have been the
same boat that was in the famous race with the Natchez (and was not a Lee Line boat).
To my knowledge all the utensils used on Lee Line boats were stamped with Lee Line.
Again thank you for your interest in my web site.
Jim Lee