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Robert Beck's Story
Kansas Fever, Going to New Orleans, On the Mississippi,
Seamen, Hired as
Apprentice Seaman
by
Kansas Fever
In 1857 our little town was struck with the Kansas fever as Kansas Territory
was then open for settlement and the beauties of Kansas were the topic of village
talk. Its riches were unlimited and the grand future and possiblities for young
men were unbounded. For two hundred dollars anyone could secure 160 acres of
the finest land on earth.
I became all absorbed in the subject and listened to all the wonderful tales
with intense interest and in short got struck with the Kansas fever. So in
the summer of 1857 seven young men organized themselves into a company to go
to Kansas. I was the youngest of the party. Our objective point was a place
called Coffagee in the southeastern part of Kansas on the Neosho River, a
place represented as the paradise of America, a land abounding in game and
everything else that is good and desirable for man.
I sold my town lot and all the timber and lumber, and after I had squared
up all round I had nearly three hundred dollars in gold. I felt quite rich
and intended to land in Kansas with at least two hundred dollars to pay for
160
acres of land.
We bought a pair of oxen, a wagon, a tent and provisions, and a breaking plough,
all of which we owned in common as each of [the] seven members had to pay his
share. When all things were ready we bid goodby to our friends at Butlerville
and started on our journey overland through Missouri and so on into Kansas.
I will here mention that about this time the Kansas excitement ran high all
through the northern states and everything was done to induce northern men
to migrate to Kansas whether it was fair or unfair, as the object of the Abolition
party was to rush men from the North into the territory to prevent it from
becoming a slave state. The whole scheme was run by the Abolition politicians
against
the Southern interest and it finally led to a small war which was the prelude
to the great rebellion of 1861.
Well, we landed in Kansas about September 1st, but three of our party left
us in the northern part of Missouri; we bought out their interest in the outfit.
We crossed the western border of Missouri a little west of Kansas City, which
was a small village at that time. We took a southwesterly course through Kansas
territory to a town called Osowatomie, which was at that time the home of
John Brown who was a terror to all Southerners and was the leader at the Harpers
Ferry insurrection and was hung in 1860. We went into camp a few miiles out
of Osowatomie for the night as we traveled a good deal like the gypsies.
That evening there came a man into our camp on horseback. He soon learned
that we were a party of young adventurers and that two of us were carpenters,
one
an engineer, and the other a common laborer. He told us that we were just the
men he was looking for. That he and his brother-in-law had just arrived in
the country from Penn., that they brought with them machinery for a saw mill
and
a grist mill but there was no one to build the mill for them, and if we
would go with him and build the mill they would pay us good wages, that their
place was about 20 miles from Osowatomie on North Pattowatomie Creek, that
there were some six or eight families there and they needed the mill. We soon
struck up a bargain with him and agreed to go there [and] build the mill for
him. The whole business was done up in fifteen minutes and he went his way
happy.
The next morning we started for Pattowatomie Creek and the next day we found
the little settlement. We put up our tent on the bank of the creek and commenced
to build a mill out of the trees that were standing all around us, and in a
couple of months we put life into the thing, so we had the honor of erecting
the first saw and grist mill in Anderson Co., Kansas. But at that time, 1857,
there was no county organization as there were not yet men enough to fill the
offices.
We liked that part of Kansas and two of us picked out a quarter section of
land, as we had the first choice. I selected a very fine piece and made the
required improvements on it, but it soon leaked out that I was not yet twenty-one
years old and so could not hold it. My plan was to keep still until the following
May when I would be 21 years old and then pre-empt it, but a man took it away
from me, and so [I] lost my improvements. After I had been there about 6 or
7 weeks I was taken sick with fever and ague but soon broke it up with quinine.
Going to New Orleans
There was a young man in our party by the name of William Malcolm that had
a great itching to go to New Orleans to stay through the winter and return
to Kansas in the spring. I also fell in love with the idea as I had some ready
money and a strong desire to see and learn someting of that part of the world
and as my education was limited and as I was yet young, concluded that a
little experience in traveling would do me no harm. But how little did I dream
of the schooling I would receive in the three years following, that I would
circumnavigate the globe, visit other continents, and that I would experience
the most interesting period of my life.
Well, I proceeded to make the necessary arrangements for a six-months' absence
from my beloved Kansas. I left my interest in the oxen and wagon and all other
loose property, also my carpenter tools, in charge of one of our party by the
name of William Johnson. He was to take care of my interest until I returned
in the spring.
About the time I had everything ready and what few clothes I had packed in
a carpet bag and the time set for starting, my friend backed out of going and
so left me in the lurch. But my head was set on going to New Orleans and all
arrangements made and nothing would stop me. So I bid goodbye to my friends
and promised them to be back in the spring, which I did in good faith.
I took passage to Kansas City with a teamster that was going there after a
load of goods. There were no railroads west of the Missouri River at that time
and the only was of travel was by wagon, horseback or on foot. There was not
even a stage line through that part of the country at that time, 1857.
After a journey of 150 miles over a very poor road we landed in Kansas City
where the next day I took [a] steamer down the Missouri River to Jefferson
City. Mo. There I took [a] train for St Louis, Mo., on the Mo. Pacific R.
R. which was the farthest westward railroad at that time. On arriving at St.
Louis
I
went to the Planters' Hotel, one of he best hotels in the city at that time.
While at St. Louis I bought me a fine outfit of clothes as my clothes looked
rather seedy and of a cheap kind. I also bought me a trunk as I wished to go
to New Orleans in good style and did not wish to be taken for a western greenhorn.
After a few days' stay at St. Louis and at a great expense at the hotel as
it was a high-priced house, I took passage for New Orleans on board the fine
packet steamer Pennsylvania as first class passenger for which I paid
24 dollars. You see I had more money than brains, as I could have gotten to
New Orleans
for half that price, but I wanted to go in fine style, and I did, and I also
wanted to show off my fine new clothes.
After a delightful trip of five days we landed ni New Orleans. I was delighted
with the city and the fine climate, for it was in the fall of the year, also
the tropical plants and fruits and the great quantity of cotton that was being
shipped and the great fleet [of] sailing ships and steamers from all parts
of the world, all of which made a great impression on me. I went to a hotel
and
the next day I went job hunting as a carpenter and joiner but when the bosses
asked me for a recommendation and reference I could only inform them that I
was a stranger in the city, that I had just come from Kansas. They would look
at me with some suspicion and others would tell me they had just bought a slave
carpenter. I began to realize some of the disadvantages of slavery. I also
found it not so easy to find a situation in a strange city and among strangers.
After trying for about two weeks I began to get discouraged and my stock
of cash began to run low, then I began to realize that I had been altogether
too extravagant in my expenses and the future did not look very bright. As
there was nothing in sight by way of employment, matters began to look gloomy.
I was in a strange city without friends and about out of money, still I felt
that I would turn up something.
On the Mississippi
One afternoon [as] I was strolling along the levee or river front I saw the
steamer Pennsylvania on which I came down the river on. While on the
passage to New Orleans I formed a slight acquaiantance with the steward of
the boat.
I went on board and the steward happened to be in the pantry. I struck up
a conversation with him. I told him what poor luck I was having in getting
a job at my trade and that my cash was nearly run out and that I was somewhat
puzzled
how I was going to winter through as I had no acquaintances in the city.
He asked me how I would like a berth on the steamer as second pantry man as
he was in need of one. I told him I would accept anything that would bring
in a living, that I was not ashamed to work, that if he could help me to a
situation I would feel very thankful to him. He told me to come on board that
evening, that my pay would be 25 dollars a month and board. I thanked him,
went [to] the hotel, paid my bill, got a dray cart to move my trunk on board,
for I was in luck until something better turned up.
When on board I reported to the steward ready for duty. He first took me to
the clerk's office where I gave in my name and was placed on the pay roll.
Then he introduced me to the first pantry man who proceeded to instruct me
as to
my duties of which I knew nothing, but soon learned as the work was not
hard nor complex.
The boat was a regular packet running between St. Louis and New Orleans. The
next day we started up the river for St. Louis with a full complement of passengers.
The trip was about six days long and I enjoyed it very much and also liked
the work and the future began to look brighter as the fall is the most delightful
season on the Mississippi and the steamer was one of the finest mail boats
on the lower river. The scenery along the lower Mississippi was at that time
indescribably beautiful as it was in the midst of the cotton picking and sugar
cane cutting time and all nature seemed to be singing and the cabin passengers
were in their happiest mood. As my work was light and [I] had plenty of opportunity
for observing the scenery and mingling to some extent with the passengers,
I certainly did enjoy my short experience on the Mississippi the best of
anything in all my life. But on our second trip from New Orleans we met with
a mishap
which knocked my fine air castles in the head and put an end to my short career
as a river boat man on the Mississippi.
The boat pulled out of New Orleans on our second trip about 4 pm and everything
looked favorable for a pleasant trip to St. Louis. The steamer Vicksburg,
which was also a fine mail steamer, had pulled out about an hour ahead of
us, and
there was a strife between the two boats for the mail and passengers along
the river. We caught up with the Vicksburg about fifty miles up the
river and the two boats began a race for the next landing, and as we were
passing through
a narrow channel in the river the Vicksburg smashed into our port
side, knocked down our port wheel and wheel house, and stove a great hole in
the boat's side
which disabled our further progress. The Vicksburg came along side
and took off the passengers, mail and cargo, which took all night to transfer,
and the
next day we limped back to New Orleans on one wheel and the boat was pulled
up on the dry dock for repairs, and so ended my steamboat job. I drew my pay
and began to look for another situation on some other boat but met with no
success.
Seamen
As I was wandering along the river front the thought struck me that I would
like to make a voyage to sea as there were so many ships in port going to all
parts of the globe and as I had not yet seen much of this world and I was yet
young and my educatiion somewhat limited and a little experience at sea on
one of these great large ships as a sailor would be quite a schooling. Of course
I had heard and read that a sailor's life on shipboard was very rough, but
[as] I was somewhat used to a rough life and had stood everything but killing,
I though I could stand a little of a sailor's life if they did not kill me.
I knew nothing of the duties of a sailor and did not know that a man had to
learn the trade and that there were different grades to sailors such as apprentices,
ordinary sea men and able sea men. I supposed all that was necessary was
to go to the captain and ask for a job [the] same [as] one would ask or apply
for a job at any common labor. Well, I soon learned to distinguish the difference
between American ships and English, Spanish or French, or other nationalities,
by the flags. So I went on board of an American ship, a very large one called
the Lancaster of Philadelphia.
She was being loaded with cotton. She was a very large and handsome full-rigged
ship of three thousand tons and when I stepped on her decks I thought if I
could only get a position on this noble ship, how proud I would feel pacing
up and down her decks. But how to get a situation and who to go to or where
to go, I certainly did not know, as there was no one in sight that looked like
a captain or anyone else that looked as if he had any authority for I saw no
one but working men all busy at work.
At the bow end sat two sailors mending an old sail. One of them was an old
tar all sunburned [with] horny-looking hands, a great big burly-looking fellow
that looked as if he could eat up a half dozen fellows like myself for breakfast.
His bare arms were very large and tattooed but looked as if he could lift
six tons. On the whole he looked like a monster of the deep and a man that
had weathered may a hard storm but still he had a kindly look in his face,
at least what little could be seen of it as his heavy grizzly beard covered
nearly
the whole face. However, I ventured to speak to him and to my surprise he
did not bite me but spoke very kindly to me from which I took courage and began
to ask him questions such as where the ship is bound for, when they expect
to go to sea and so on, all of which he answered very readily, and after a
little conversation with him he did not look so savage to me and I began to
confide
in him and ventured still further by telling him that I would like to hire
out to the captain of this ship.
I asked him what he thought of the propect of my getting a job. Of course
he knew I was no sailor and knew nothing of sailors' phrases and that I was
a greenhorn right from the country without my telling him so. He asked me if
I was in earnest about wanting to go to sea. I told him I was. Then he asked
me why I wanted to be a sailor and proceeded to tell me what it meant to be
a seafaring man which rather opened my eyes and [I] began to think that it
was not so easy to get a job on shipboard as I had thought. Just at this time
the old tar pointed out a man that had just come on board as the captain of
the ship and told me to go to him and ask him for a berth.
I hardly knew what a berth meant but surmised that it meant a job on shipboard.
However, I put on a bold front and walked toward the gentleman. He was a fine
looking man past middle age and very neatly dressed and of very fine commanding
appearance. I approached him with confidence and asked him for a berth on his
ship. He asked me if I was a sailor; I told [him] that I was not but would
like to be one. He told me I would have to ship as an apprentice and as I knew
nothing about a ship to come on board as soon as possible and learn all I could
before we went to sea. He wheeled around and went off and left me to guess
the rest.
Hired As Apprentice Seaman
Well, I was tickled all over. My joy was unbounded. I was so tickled over
my good luck I went forward and told my new found friend, my new success, I
mean the old tar. I call him my friend because he was my friend from start
to finish. I told him I had shipped as an apprentice and that the Captain wanted
me to come on board [as] soon as possible. I asked him what my duties would
be and what part of the ship I would live in. He answered all my questions
very civilly and gave me all the points he could and told me to do just as
the captain had ordered me, and when I got my trunk on board the mate of the
ship would take me in hand and instruct me as to my duties. I scampered off
and engaged a truck to take my trunk on board for I wanted to become a full-fledged
sailor as soon as possible.
On coming on board with the trunk, the old tar told me to put it in the forecastle
which is between decks and just as I got down with my trunk I saw a heavy-built
man coming down the forecastle stairs. I had not seen this man before and in
a very gruff and stern voice [he] demanded of me to open that trunk. I told
him that it was my trunk and there was nothing in it but what belonged to me
and that I would not open it for him or anyone else. He told me to open it
as he wished to see its contents. I told him I would not, that he need not
try to bulldoze me, that I was not as green as he thought I was, that I had
hired out to the captain and that I considered myself a part of the ship's
crew, and to clear out and let me alone, that I knew what I was about.
He looked at me very stern[ly] and said, "I am the first mate of this ship
and I want you to open that trunk without delay." He looked me clear through.
I began to tremble, my teeth began to chatter, and my knees knocked together.
I fumbled in my pockets for the key and unlocked the trunk. I lifted up the
tray to show him that I had nothing offensive or defensive. After looking in
he told me to close it and then proceeded to give me a lecture, and the first
lesson he taught me was to say, "Yes Sir" and "No Sir" when speaking to an
officer of a ship, and never to speak to an officer except on business and
then use as few words as possible, and to obey all orders given by an officer
quickly,
to keep myself clean and obey all orders promptly, then Iwould always get along
without any trouble. He talked to me so nice and kindly that he gained my
confidence at once; he took me in his watch and no young man ever fell into
better hands that I did while I was on board the good ship Lancaster.
He told me to take my trunk to the carpenters' state room as that would be
my place.
That evening the captain sent for me to come to the cabin. I walked into the
cabin and found myself in the presence of the captain. He told me to take my
hat off and gave me a lecture on good manners, and made me promise to remember
all instructions he should in the future give me. He then pointed to a large
paper that was spread out on the table, asked me if I could write my name,
if so to put my name on a certain spot indicated by his finger. I commenced
to read the long document and told him that I was taught never to put my name
to a document without first reading it. After reading enough of it to know
what it was, Ii signed it. Then he asked me if I had any suitable clothing
to wear at sea. I told him I had good clothes but none suitable for sea use.
He
wrote me out an order of twenty four dollars' worth of an outfit and told me
where the store was to get the goods and that one of the ship keepers would
go with me and tell me what I needed. By the ship keepers he meant one of the
old sailors that I first met.
The next day evening I took the old grizzly sailor with me and together we
picked out my outfit. When it came to the question of woolen shirts I insisted
on having bright-red color as I thought it looked more sailer-like but he thought
blue would look the best and not show dirt so easy, but nothing short of red
would do me. So when we returned on shipboard I donned my bright red shirt,
strutted about the deck as proud as a peacock, and considered myself a full-fledged
sailor boy.
This was about the last part of November, 1857, and I am writing this January
1st, 1899. All these incidents come to my mind as vivid as if it were but yesterday.
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