Wednesday, March 19, 2025

U.S. Mail Steamship Company's New York-Panama Route Began Dec. 1, 1848


Summary: SS Falcon pioneered US Mail Steamship Company's Atlantic routes for mail and passenger service between New York and Isthmus of Panama Dec. 1, 1848.


(title; first line) "U.S. Mail Steam Ship Company's Ships"
(second line) "Deposited in the Clerks Office So. Dist., N.Y. Feb. 20, 1850"
colored lithograph of U.S. Mail Steamship's two steamships, Ohio and Georgia, with vessel Romer, as described by MIT Museum; lithography by Louis R. Menger; printed by Endicott & Company, New York: No known restrictions on pubication, via Library of Congress (LOC) Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

SS Falcon pioneered the U.S. Mail Steamship Company's Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea routes for mail and passenger service between New York and the Isthmus of Panama Friday, Dec. 1, 1848.
The formation of the U.S. Mail Steamship Company reflected the changing geography of the United States in the last half decade of the 1840s. Increased distances created by territorial acquisitions revealed the cruciality of finessing communication and travel between the nation's east and west coasts.
Two treaties in the mid-nineteenth century expanded the western border of the United States to meet the Pacific Ocean. The Oregon Treaty (official name: Treaty between Her Majesty and the United States of America, for the Settlement of the Oregon Boundary), signed Monday, June 15, 1846, in Washington DC, placed under the sovereignty of the United States western chunks of present-day Montana and Wyoming as well as the Pacific Northwest, comprising present-day Idaho and the Pacific coastal states of Oregon and Washington. With the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo (official name: Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States), signed in Guadalupe Hidalgo (Spanish: La Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo; now a neighborhood in northern Mexico City) on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 1848, the United States expanded its Pacific coast reach via acquisition of the Mexican federal territory of Alta California. In addition to present-day California, Nevada and Utah, the United States gained most of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, and a small portion of Wyoming.
On Thursday, Aug. 6, 1846, John Wesley Davis (April 16, 1799-Aug. 22, 1859), American physician, Democratic politician and 17th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (Dec. 1, 1845-March 4, 1847), read before the House ". . . a very important communication from the President of the United States . . ." Addressed "To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States," the presidential message emphasized a priority subsequent to the conclusion of the Oregon Treaty: "It now becomes important that provision should be made by law, at the earliest practicable period, for the organization of a territorial government in Oregon.” President Polk then noted an equally crucial priority: "It is likewise important that mail facilities, so indispensable for the diffusion of information and for building together the different portions of our extended Confederacy, should be afforded to our citizens west of the Rocky Mountains," as printed in Aug. 6, 1846. issue of The Congressional Globe (page 1199).
In January, February and March 1847, during the second and last session (Dec. 7, 1846-March 3, 1847) of the Twenty-Ninth United States Congress (March 4, 1845-March 4, 1847), the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate debated a bill from the Committee on Naval Affairs for building and equipping four steam warships. On the session’s closing date, Wednesday, March 3, 1847, both chambers of Congress passed the bill and James Knox Polk (Nov. 2, 1795-June 15, 1849), 11th President of the United States (March 4, 1845-March 4, 1849), signed the legislation. In addition to construction of steam warships, the bill authorized the Secretary of the Navy to enter into contracts with private operators for the transport of the United States mail in ocean steamships, as explained by John Haskell Kemble (June 17, 1912-Feb. 19, 1990), American maritime historian and Pomona College professor of history, in The Panama Route, 1848-1869 (1943; page 12).
Three options, via land, land and sea, and sea, existed in the mid-nineteenth century for travel between the east and west coasts of the United States. The overland route discouraged with reliance upon wagon trails. The sea route entailed inter-oceanic voyages via Cape Horn (Spanish: Cabo de Hornos), the meeting place of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Cape Horn occurs as the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and as the northern boundary of Antarctica's South Shetlands Islands' Drake Passage. The land-and-sea route ventured across the Isthmus of Panama (Spanish: Istmo de Panamá) and comprised two services. The Atlantic portion routed between New York and Chagres, Caribbean sea port at the mouth of the Isthmus of Panama's Chagres River (el río Chagres). The Pacific portion coursed between Panama City (Spanish: Ciudad de Panamá), also known as Panama (Spanish: Panamá), Pacific sea port on the Gulf of Panama (Spanish: Golfo de Panamá), and Oregon Erritory.

photographic portrait of American bridge contractor, financier and U.S. Mail Steamship Company co-founder George Law by by American Civil War and portrait photographer Mathew Brady (May 18, 1822-Jan. 15, 1896); "Early Steamboat Man," wet collodion negative (glass plate), between 1855 and 1865; Credit Line Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Brady-Handy Collection: No known restrictions on publication, via Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

In 1848, American bridge contractor and steamship businessman George Law (Oct. 25, 1806-Nov. 18, 1881) co-founded the U.S. Mail Steamship Company in New York with American railroad and steamship businessman and art collector Marshall Owen Roberts (March 22, 1813-Sep. 11, 1880) and Bowes Reed McIlvaine (1794-Aug. 30 1866). The company was designated as the provider of the Atlantic Ocean portion of mail and passenger service between New York and the Isthmus of Panama.
"An act to incorporate the United States Mail Steamship Company" was introduced in the New York State Senate, the upper house of the New York State Legislature at Albany, on Tuesday, March 21, 1848, according to the Thursday Morning, March 23, 1848, issue of The New York Herald. The act identified "George Law, Marshall O. Roberts and B.R. McIlvaine, of New York, and their associates" as constituents of "a body corporate, by the name of the 'United States Mail Steamship Company.'" The government had granted to the company a contract for steamships, required ". . .to be built for the general government, and under the supervision of a naval officer; . . . to be built so that in war they may be speedily converted into war steamers. The contract indicated a completion date "by the middle of October next" for two of the company's steamships. Passage of the bill on Thursday, March 23, 1848, followed favorable consideration by the Committee on Commerce and Navigation and the Committee of the Whole, according to John Haskell Kemble (June 17, 1912-Feb. 19, 1990), American maritime historian and Pomona College professor of history, in The Panama Route, 1848-1869 (1943; page 17).
The U.S. Mail Steamship Company's contract called for construction of five steamships, with tonnages of at least 1,500 for the larger four and tonnage of at least 1,000 for the smallest. Bishop and Simonson Shipyard and Smith and Dimon Shipyard, the two New York-based shipbuilding companies for the first two steamships, however, exceeded specifications in their construction. The tonnage with spar deck for Bishop and Simonson Shipyard's SS Ohio measured about 3,000. The tonnage with spar deck for Smith and Dimon Shipyard's SS Georgia weighed about 3,300 (Kemble, pages 25-27).
Engines for the Georgia and the Ohio were ordered from New York City’s T.F. Secor and Company. American marine engineer Theodosius Fowler Secor (March 22, 1808-April 29, 1901) had founded the leading American marine engine manufacturing company in 1838 at the foot of Twelfth Street, on the East River. The sizes of the engines and boilers for the larger than usual two steamships, however, exceeded the usual scales encountered by American ironworkers and translated into lengthy delays in schedules (Kemble, page 27).
Delays in the schedules for the Georgia and the Ohio prompted the U.S. Mail Steamship Company to purchase an existing steamer for placement in service, according to Victor Maximilian Berthold’s The Pioneer Steamer California, 1848-1849 (1932; page 12) and historical geographer Ellyse Stauffer in “Rising Tide” chapter of her research article “Making Way: Steamship Mail in the 19th Century” on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum website. With a tonnage of only 891, SS Falcon was a smaller steamer than the Georgia and the Ohio. The side-paddle steamer was built in 1848 by William H. Brown Shipyard, located foot of Twelfth Street, on the East River, according to “Steamships on the Panama Route -- Both Atlantic and Pacific” Marjorie Kohli and Susan Swiggum on their website, TheShipsList (http://www.theshipslist.com/index.html).
The launching of the Ohio finally took place Saturday, Aug. 12, 1848. The Georgia subsequently was launch Wednesday, Sep. 6, 1848 (Kemble, page 27). The first runs of the SS Ohio and the SS Georgia for the Atlantic service occurred, respectively, on Thursday, Sep. 20, 1849, and Saturday, Jan. 28, 1850 (Kohli and Swiggum, TheShipsList.com).
The U.S. Mail Steamship Company's pioneeer run of mail and passenger service between New York and Caribbean coast of the Isthmus of Panama happened Friday, Dec. 1, 1848. The SS Falcon garnered that honor.

(title; second line) "View of the U.S. Mail Steamship Company's Premises, Aspinwall, N.G"
(first line; left) "C. Parsons lith."; (first line, center) "Sketched from nature by F.N. Otis M.D. Surgeon in U.S.M. Steamship Co's. Service"; (first line, right) "Printed by Endicott & Co. N.Y."
1854 hand-colored lithographic print by American physician, urology pioneer, art collector, author and U.S. Mail Steamship Company and Pacific Mail Steamship Company's ship surgeon (1853-1861) Fessenden Nott Otis (March 6, 1825-May 24, 1900); lithography by Hampshire, England-born American artist and lithographer Charles Parsons (May 8, 1821-Nov. 9, 1910):
No known restrictions on publication, via Library of Congress (LOC) Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

Acknowledgment
My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication
This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:
(first line; left) "Ohio Lieut. J.F. Schenck U.S. Navy Commander"; (first line, right) "Georgia Lieut. D.D. Porter U.S. Navy Commander"
(title; second line) "U.S. Mail Steam Ship Company's Ships"
(third line) "Deposited in the Clerks Office So. Dist., N.Y. Feb. 20, 1850"
colored lithograph of U.S. Mail Steamship's two steamships, Ohio and Georgia, with vessel Romer, as described by MIT Museum; lithography by Louis R. Menger; printed by Endicott & Company, New York: No known restrictions on pubication, via Library of Congress (LOC) Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003671783/; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._mail_steam_ship_company's,_ships_LCCN2003671783.tif; via MIT Museum @ https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/object/CC-E-0009
photographic portrait of American bridge contractor, financier and U.S. Mail Steamship Company co-founder George Law by by American Civil War and portrait photographer Mathew Brady (May 18, 1822-Jan. 15, 1896); "Early Steamboat Man," wet collodion negative (glass plate), between 1855 and 1865; Credit Line Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Brady-Handy Collection: No known restrictions on publication, via Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/item/2017897323/
(title; second line) "View of the U.S. Mail Steamship Company's Premises, Aspinwall, N.G"
(first line; left) "C. Parsons lith."; (first line, center) "Sketched from nature by F.N. Otis M.D. Surgeon in U.S.M. Steamship Co's. Service"; (first line, right) "Printed by Endicott & Co. N.Y."
1854 hand-colored lithographic print by American physician, urology pioneer, art collector, author and U.S. Mail Steamship Company and Pacific Mail Steamship Company's ship surgeon (1853-1861) Fessenden Nott Otis (March 6, 1825-May 24, 1900); lithography by Hampshire, England-born American artist and lithographer Charles Parsons (May 8, 1821-Nov. 9, 1910):
No known restrictions on publication, via Library of Congress (LOC) Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/93500069/; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_the_U.S._mail_steamship_company's_premises,_Aspinwall,_N.G._-_C._Parsons_lith._;_sketched_from_nature_by_F.N._Otis_M.D._surgeon_in_U.S.M._Steamship_Co's._service_;_printed_by_LCCN93500069.jpg

For further information:
Berthold, Victor M. (Maximilian). "The Pacific Mail Steamship Company and the United States Mail Steamship Company." Pages 11-12. The Pioneer Steamer California, 1848-1849. Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Co., MDCCCCXXXII [1932].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/pioneersteamerca00bert/page/11/mode/1up
Buchanan, James; and Richard Pakenham. "Washington, August 5, 1846. The United States of America and her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, deeming it to be desirable, for the future welfare of both countries, that the state of doubt and uncertainty which has hitherto prevailed respecting the sovereignty and government of the territory on the northwest coast of America, lying westward of the Rocky or Stony Mountains, should be finally terminated by an amicable compromise of the rights mutually asserted by the two parties over the said territory, have respectively named plenipotentiaries to treat and agree concerning the terms of such settlement -- that is to say, the President of the United States of America has, on his part, furnished with full powers James Buchanan, Secretary of State of the United States, and her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has, on her part, appointed the right honorable Richard Pakenham, a member of her Majesty’s most honorable Privy Council, and her Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States; who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles . . .” The Congressional Globe. Aug. 6, 1846: 1199-1200.
Available @ https://www.congress.gov/congressional-globe/page-headings/29th-congress/n-a/16588
Hale, John Parker (U.S. Senator). "In the Senate of the United States. January 29, 1861. – Ordered to be printed. Mr. Hale made the following Report. [To accompany bill S.542.] The Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, to whom was referred the memorial of Marshall O. Roberts and others, trustees of A.G. Sloo, contractor for carrying the mails between New York, New Orleans, Havana, and Chagres, praying compensation for extra mail facilities on that route, respectfully report." 36th Congress, 2d Session. Senate. Rep. Com. No. 292: 1-77.
Available @ https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SERIALSET-01090_00_00-009-0292-0000/pdf/SERIALSET-01090_00_00-009-0292-0000.pdf
Kemble, John Haskell. "The Panama Route, 1848-1869." In: H.E. Bolton, G.H. Guttridge, and F.L. Paxson, eds., University of California Publications in History, vol. XXIX [29]. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, Oct. 5, 1943.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000817066
Knox, James K. (11th U.S. President). "To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States." House of Representatives, Thursday, Aug. 6, 1846. The Congressional Globe. Aug. 6, 1846: 1199.
Available @ https://www.congress.gov/congressional-globe/page-headings/29th-congress/n-a/16588
Law, George. A Sketch of Events in the Life of George Law, Published in Advance of His Autobiography; Also, Extracts From the Public Journals. New York: J.C. Derby, Publisher, 1955.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/eventslifegeorgelaw00newyrich/
LiquiSearch. "Ships of The U.S. Mail Steamship Company." LiquiSearch > U.S. Mail Steamship Company > Ships of The U.S. Mail Steamship Company.
Available via LiquiSearch @ https://www.liquisearch.com/us_mail_steamship_company/ships_of_the_us_mail_steamship_company
Marriner, Derdriu. "Culebra Station Marked Summit of the Continental Divide in Panama." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 12, 2025.
Available via EASN @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2025/03/panama-railroad-reduced-isthmus-transit.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Panama Railroad Reduced Isthmus Transit From Eight Days to Four Hours." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
Available via EASN @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2025/03/panama-railroad-reduced-isthmus-transit.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Panama Railroad Train First Transited Isthmus of Panama Jan. 28, 1855." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
Available via EASN @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2025/02/panama-railroad-train-first-transited.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Robert Louis Stevenson's Wife's Brother-in-Law Is Buried in Panama." Earth and Space News Blog. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
Available via EASN @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2025/02/robert-louis-stevensons-wifes-brother_0853012172.html
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Available via EASN @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2025/02/where-is-robert-louis-stevensons-wifes.html
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Available via Nautical Channel @ https://nauticalchannel.com/new/the-impressive-process-of-launching-a-ship
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Available via Library of Congress @ https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030313/1848-03-23/ed-1/?sp=1&r=0.709,0.787,0.31,0.18,0
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Available via Smithsonian National Postal Museum @ https://postalmuseum.si.edu/research-article/making-way/rising-tide
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Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20100109025733/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/panamafleet.html
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Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20100121030057/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/usmailearly.html
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