OHIO RIVER MAIL SKIFF
In 2007 the Society received a donation of a 16’ Beaver Built skiff built on a Racine pattern. The donation was made by Douglas Albaugh who had acquired the skiff from his parents, Dave and Ruth Albaugh. The Albaugh’s had purchased the skiff from Norris and Marjorie Torner in Newport, Ohio in 1963. The skiff was marked with the letters “US” on both sides of the bow and on both sides of the transom. The skiff had reportedly been used in mail service on the Ohio River.
At the time of acquisition the above description was all that we knew. Taking a long shot I wrote a letter to the editor of the S & D Reflector which is published by Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen. The letter stating what was known was published in the winter 2008 (Vol.45, No. 4).
In late March 2009 I heard from Marlene Morris and her father’s first cousin William V. Torner. As a boy of 16 to 18 years, William who is 93 (born on 20 December 1915), helped his uncle Norris Torner and grandfather William Victor Torner row the skiff across the Ohio River between Newport, Ohio and Vaucluse, West Virginia. William is named after his grandfather and is also William Victor Torner. The senior William Torner had a contract with the US Postal Service in the 1920s and 1930s to ferry mail between Newport, OH and the B&O rail mail stop. Young William moved to his grandparents’ home in Newport in 1931.
The railroad mail stop in Vaucluse was near the Green Run ravine on the Pittsburgh to Huntington line of the B&O. Vaucluse had earlier been the western terminus of the Baltimore to Ohio River Stage Line. The river level has since been raised by the Corps of Engineers; the river shore is different from that in the 1920s and 30s.
The skiff was built in Beavertown, OH by the Beaver brothers for the elder Torner expressly for his mail contract. He never forgot that the 15’ 10” boat cost $3 per foot to purchase. The skiff has oar locks for rowing and a stern notch for sculling.
The contract required five roundtrips across the Ohio per day six days per week year round. William’s uncle and grandfather let him row since he was young. They would leave home in Newport with whatever mail needed to be taken to the railroad in the morning. On the Vaucluse side of the river they would drop off the Newport mail and use a wheelbarrow to move the two to six mail bags from the railroad shack to the skiff. They would then return to Newport. This routine was repeated four more times during the day. If the river was in pool stage the trip was pretty straightforward. If the river was in flood the Torners’ would go upstream “behind the willows” far enough to arrive on the opposite shore at the desired destination. If they misjudged the current and arrived downstream on the Newport or Vaucluse sides they would then row upriver “behind the willows” to get to their destination. On the Newport side of the river a wheelbarrow was again used to move the mail to the post office.
During the winter when the river was filled with ice one crewmember was at the stern notch with a sculling oar. A second crewmember used a pike pole to push ice aside. If the ice flows were large, they would pull the skiff onto the flow, slide it across the flow, and launch the skiff off the other side.
On Sundays young William was permitted to take the skiff out for recreation, but grandmother kept watch with field glasses from home. He had strict instructions not to swim in the river. William, however, knew a spot on the river that was behind a line of trees on the river bank out of sight of grandma. He just had to not get his hair wet, so grandma never knew. He would often spend his Sundays with the crew of the towboat Tu-Endi-Wi on the West Virginia side of the Ohio.
R. Quincy Robe, Trustee, Morgan County Historical Society
