Memphis wharfboat

4 Responses to Memphis wharfboat

  1. Stacy Sasala says:

    Hello, I was wondering if you kept logs on your past employees ? I’m doing a family tree and I have a great great grandfather who worked on a wharf boat in Memphis in 1860 as a clerk. His name was Louis p wilkinson ( Wilkerson) he was originally from louisiania. I found him on a census record in 1860 in Memphis, TN.
    Thanks for all your help
    Stacy Sasala

    • leelinesteamers says:

      Stacy, thank you for visiting leelinesteamers.com. The Lee Line did not begin business until
      after the Civil War. My great great great grandfather James Lee came to Memphis in 1858 and
      operated several boats until the war forced Memphis river commerce to end when Union forces seized
      and occupied Memphis. The old city directories which can be found at http://register.shelby.tn.us/
      under the old city directories 1859 – 1923 tab. These old directories list the occupation along with
      the name and address of each adult in the city. You can sort by street or name to find your ancestor.

      Hope this helps
      Jim Lee

  2. Nur Abdalla says:

    Good afternoon,

    My name is Nur Abdalla and I am a curator at the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. I am currently working on a exhibit for the city’s upcoming Bicentennial. There is a section in our exhibit that will cover steamboat travel and I believe the Lee Line Steamers would be a good illustrator. Do you have access to have access to high resolution scans of the images below (see links) and if so, would you be willing to share them to possibly be used in the exhibit? All credit is given to original sources for images used.

    http://leelinesteamers.com/?page_id=910
    http://leelinesteamers.com/?p=2695
    http://leelinesteamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Lee-9-4-006print.jpg

    Thank you!

    Sincerely,

    Nur Abdalla
    Coordinating Curator
    Pink Palace Museum

    • leelinesteamers says:

      Nur, thank you for your interest in these images. The first image of the Memphis
      wharf boat with the mule in the foreground was taken from a postcard I purchased
      a number of years ago. The second image showing the James Lee with cotton bales
      was taken from the original picture and would need to be removed from the frame to
      scan. This image would need to be scanned on equipment larger than a regular desktop
      scanner. The final image of the Rees Lee near the Lee Line wharf boat was taken from
      a glass negative. I would be happy to meet with you to discuss further the use of
      these images and certainly would be happy to participate in this upcoming exhibit.
      Unfortunately due to commitments, I will not be available until after Oct. 21.

      Jim Lee

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