The Steamboat Named M. Martin

On Thursday, Gossips reproduced this item from the Hudson Evening Register for September 3, 1892, reporting that the steamer M. Martin took sixty barrels of kerosene from the Standard Oil depot in Hudson to Newburgh.

The mention of the M. Martin prompted Ian Nitschke to send Gossips this image of the steamboat, named for Milton Martin, a wealthy merchant and banker who lived in Claverack, and some information his research has uncovered about the steamer's illustrious history.

During the Civil War, the M. Martin was drafted into war service and became the dispatch boat for General Ulysses S. Grant. The following excerpts are from the Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, published in 1886:

General Grant and the Steamboat M. Martin

On the last day of January 1865, peace commissioners from the so-called Confederated States presented themselves on our lines around Petersburg, and were immediately conducted to my headquarters at City Point. They proved to be Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, Judge Campbell, Assistant-Secretary of War, and R. M. T. Hunter, formerly United States Senator and then a member of the Confederate Senate. 

It was about dark when they reached my headquarters, and I at once conducted them to the steamer M. Martin, a Hudson River boat which was very comfortably fitted up for the use of passengers. I at once communicated by telegraph with Washington and informed the Secretary of War and the President of the arrival of these commissioners and that their object was to negotiate terms of peace between the United States and, as they termed it, the Confederate Government. I was instructed to retain them at City Point, until the President, or some one whom he would designate, should come to meet them. They remained several days as guests on board the boat. . . . I directed the captain to furnish them with the best the boat afforded, and to administer to their comfort in every way possible. No guard was placed over them and no restriction was put upon their movements; nor was there any pledge asked that they would not abuse the privileges extended to them. They were permitted to leave the boat when they felt like it, and did so, coming up on the bank and visiting me at my headquarters.

In a series of articles entitled Old Timers--Boats of the Hudson River, published in the Greene County News between December 1963 and April 1966, F. Van Loon Ryder wrote this about the M. Martin and another steamboat called the Tremper on February 25, 1965.

The M. Martin and the Tremper

Yes, the two old work horses and there are many of us oldsters who still remember them. Though in the early part of their careers they were considered small, luxurious, night boats, later they primarily carried freight: produce brought down to the landings by farmers and their steady income from the breweries in Albany and Troy. How well many of us remember them with their entire forward decks stacked high with beer kegs!

The M. Martin stands alone in her historical background. Named after a prosperous Hudson merchant and banker, she was one of the most beautifully proportioned of the medium sized steamboats that made Hudson River history. Shortly after being launched she was drafted by Civil War service. Due to her smart appearance and elegant furnishings as well as staunchness and speed, she was chosen as General Grant's dispatch boat on Chesapeake Bay troops and dispatch passengers and messages. During this period she was known as the "greyhound" of the Federal Government's fleet of inland steamboats. After the Confederate Capitol fell to Union forces, President Lincoln and General Grant visited Richmond and held conferences aboard the M. Martin.

Upon her honorable discharge from service the Martin returned "Down East". In 1867 she ran as an opposition boat on the Bangor-Portland (Maine) route.

The M. Martin was then acquired by Romer & Tremper Steamboat Company of Rondout, New York, who placed her on the Newburgh-Albany run, having Eagle as consort. On April 2, 1884, while near Milton Landing, fire was discovered on the Eagle. Captain Rogers, with the help of John L. Hasbrouk, succeeded in landing the vessel at Milton Cock, where passengers and crew were discharged without loss of life. However, the Eagle burnt to the water's edge and became a total loss. In 1885 the new Jacob H. Tremper was added to the Line and became the Martin's consort. A peculiarity of the Martin and the Eagle was to announce their approach to a landing with a bell, instead of the customary whistle.

Near Collision  On the morning of May 19th, 1878, in a light fog, while near New Hamburg, the Martin narrowly missed a collision with the Mary Powell. When the Martin's whistle was heard on the Powell, the latter's pilot rang to stop the engine. Both pilots rang to go astern, but both had headway when the Martin's bow struck the Powell's paddlebox and an eight foot gash was made in her guard, but her hull was undamaged.

Then again, May 5, 181 [sic], in mid-morning, Martin figured in another incident with the Powell, then lying in Rondout Creek. The ferryboat Transport was bound out the creek while the Martin was entering to make her landing. The Transport's pilot put his wheel over hard to change course but the vessel steered over to port and he was unable to check her. He then ran full speed astern but was unable to prevent her (the Transport) from running into the Powell.The Powell which was docked lurched over and her guard coming up snapped five piles off along the dock. More serious damage included about 50 feet of her joiner work stove in. Captain A. E. Anderson, standing on the dock, was an amazed spectator.

The Central Hudson Steamboat Company of Newburgh purchased the Martin in 1889. Although then 36 years old she was in excellent condition. Because of her success in combating ice, Martin was often the first vessel to make the trip in the spring and the last to leave the Hudson when winter set in.

Serious Accident  Throughout her long and varied career of nearly 60 years she had only one serious accident. Laden with freight and carrying 20 passengers the mishap occurred near Esopus Island as the Martin was southbound from Albany on the morning of June 16, 1919. Captain George Hadley noticed smoke curling from the pilothouse and immediately headed the vessel for the shore east of the island near Staatsburg. The passengers were quickly removed in small boats to safety.

Then Captain Hadley got the firehose playing on the flames and within 10 minutes the incident was over with only a blackened pilot house as a reminder. The Martin then picked up her passengers and proceeded to Newburgh, little the worse for the experience.

The M. Martin continued on the Newburgh Albany route until laid up in the fall of 1919.

Her last commander was Captain H. Fairbanks; her last Chief Engineer Fred Requa. The following summer in 1920, she was dismantled after 56 years of service. The hull was bought by Pat Doherty for use as a dock at Eavesport, near Malden. . . .