This rousterabout song was taken from Capt. William Tippitt’s History of the Lee Line
De rousters in da cabin,
Eatin from de plate
De Captain on the levee
totin in de freight
De Stewart and de pilot
De cook and de clerk
Is humpin on de gang plank
Doin rousters work.
Wages on the Memphis River front in 1890 were $100\month for pilots
and $60\month for rousters.
These pictures are from my brother George’s collection and depict rousters moving coal from a barge onto the boiler deck storage bins. The boat is unknown but the location is probably on the Mississippi River.
