The Wiggins Ferry - A Connecting Point Over the Mississippi River

 

When I was plotting out the details of Ainsley - Book 8 in the Love Train Series, I knew Ainsley MacKenzie was from Boston. Therefore, she'd need to travel as far as the Mississippi River on regional train lines until she arrived in East St. Louis, Illinois. However, in 1872 there were no railroad bridges spanning the river in that area. 

So, how would she get across to the Union Pacific Train 1216 to get to New Hope, Kansas?

Through my research, I discovered the Wiggins Ferry Company. In 1797, Captain James Piggott was granted the right to operate a ferry between St. Louis and the opposite shore of the Mississippi River. Passengers loaded into small hollowed-out tree trunks at Piggott's ferry house just below Market Street and were shuffled across the river by poles or paddles with long sweeps. After a few changes in ownership, Piggott's ferry ended up in the hands of Samuel Wiggins, whose name would be tied to it for than a century to come.

Like the one in this painting, Wiggins ferries had one platform on each side of the pilothouse. Typically, new passengers and cargo loaded onto one side, and outgoing passengers and cargo disembarked on the other.   Missouri Historical Society Collection

Crossing the river in the earliest years of the Wiggins Ferry was a gargantuan task. John Darby, who became the mayor of St. Louis in 1835, moved his family and their belongings across to St. Louis in 1818 over a three-day period and for the fee of $50--no small sum of money at the time.

 

"The ferry consisted of a small keel-boat, which was managed entirely by Frenchmen. Every portion of the body--every muscle, in fact--was brought into play...the vessel rocked so that the trace-chains at the end of the tongue often dipped into the river...so that the enterprise seemed a dangerous and hazardous undertaking."

Mr. Wiggins soon acquired some 900 acres of land along the Illinois banks of the river directly across from present day St. Louis, Missouri. Not only did the ferry company operate a service for individuals wanting to cross the river, but it also developed boat yards, depots, warehouses, railroad tracks, and elevators. Soon, the Wiggins Ferry Company became a major connecting point for the many railroads terminating at East St. Louis, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri.

Through the haze of early 1900s St. Louis, the Eads Bridge looms over the icy Mississippi River. Murphy Library Special Connections, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

Winter river crossings in 1839 became easier thanks to the Iceland and its pointed, ice-smashing iron hull. Despite some setbacks--including an 1851 ferry explosion and the loss of four boats to an ice field in 1864--the Wiggins Ferry company kept expanding as did St. Louis.

From those small beginnings and makeshift rafts, the Wiggins Ferry Company built an empire transporting people to and from St. Louis. By the 1820s, Wiggins had a fleet of ferryboats with names fit for battleships, such as the Sea Serpent, Rhinoceros, and Antelope. He even experimented with ferries by horses on treadmills. In 1830, the company upgraded to steam power, with the St. Clair and the Ibez ferries making two regular daily river crossings. By the early 1870s, the company was averaging river crossings of 1,500 people, 10,000 bushels of coal, and 750 wagons each day.

The company's stock reached $1 million just as the Eads Bridge, St. Louis's first bridge across the Mississippi was rising in the middle of the river. As the bridge would not be completed until 1874, I had my answer!

The Love Train series is now complete! Penned by ten best-selling and award-winning authors, each book is a stand-alone romance that you don't want to miss!

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If you'd like to read an excerpt of Ainsley, CLICK HERE

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Ice Cream - Our Nation's First Frozen Treat by Jo-Ann Roberts

Ice cream has been part of the American culture since our Founding Fathers built our nation.

Records show that George Washington spent $200 on ice cream in the summer of 1790. He even had a 306-piece ice cream serving set at Mount Vernon while entertaining guests. His contemporary, Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing the first ice cream recipe to the United States after tasting the frozen treat in France. At Monticello, he had ice boxes installed so that he could serve ice cream all year long. He also popularized ice cream in the United States when he served it at the President's House in Washington.

 

Partial recipe of Jefferson's recipe for ice cream.

Until 1800, when insulated ice houses were invented, ice cream was reserved for the elite. These ice houses helped to popularize the treat for everyone. Even immigrants coming to Ellis Island were often given ice cream as their first taste of America. In the 1920's immigration officials became convinced that serving new arrivals ice cream "was an efficient method for making our future citizens more at home in their new environment."  

Manufacturing ice cream soon became an industry in America, pioneered in 1851 by a Baltimore milk dealer named Jacob Fussell. From there, as refrigeration, mechanization, and pasteurization advanced, ice cream consumption skyrocketed! During Prohibition, people substituted one vice for another (alcohol to ice cream) with a national consumption of 260 million gallons of ice cream in 1920. Later on, following World War II, Americans celebrated the end of the war by eating ice cream with returning troops once the dairy product ration was lifted.

Wide availability of ice cream in the late 19th century led to new creations. In 1874, the American soda fountain shop and the profession of the "soda jerk" emerged with the invention of the ice cream soda. 

In response to religious criticism for eating "sinfully" rich ice cream sodas on Sundays, ice cream merchants left out the carbonated water and invented the ice cream "Sundays" in the late 1890s. The name was eventually changed to "sundae" to remove any connection with the Sabbath. 

 

Americans take their ice cream flavors and toppings very seriously. (Personally, I'll take chocolate!) One of the leading ice cream brands, Ben and Jerry's boasts of having more than 54 flavors currently available, ranging from Vanilla to Pistachio to Strawberry Cheesecake, and Chunky Monkey! 

And there are so many ways to eat ice cream, too! We eat hard ice cream, soft serve (or custards in some areas of the country), milkshakes, cones to choose from (cake or sugar), ice cream trucks, ice cream parlors, and more. Many ice cream shops having topping bars that may include hot fudge, caramel, sprinkles, cookies, candies, etc. 

Summer began on Tuesday. Choose your favorite combination or switch up it every time...and don't forget July is National Ice Cream Month. Happy Summer! Happy Eating!!!

Fun Facts About Ice Cream

  

In order to create one gallon of ice cream, you need 12 gallons of milk.

Chocolate is the most popular flavor in the United States, followed closely by vanilla.

More than 21 billion dollars' worth of ice cream is sold in the U.S. each year.

The U.S. has the largest consumption of ice cream per person with about 48 pints per year.

First Lady Dolley Madison served ice cream during the presidential inauguration in 1813.

Not surprisingly, ice cream consumption shot up during the Covid-19 pandemic, with dozens of new and hybrid flavors hitting the market.

Italo Marchiony produced the first ice cream cone in 1896 and obtained a patent in 1903.

In 1920, Harry Burt was the first person to have ice cream trucks on the street.

Billy Moll, Howard Johnson, and Robert King wrote a song about ice cream with the phrase, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" in 1927. The phrase caught on, and we still say it to this day.

President Ronald Reagan established the month of July as National Ice Cream Month. The official National Ice Cream Day is now the third Sunday in July.

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...and speaking of July...my latest release, Ainsley - Book 8 in the Love Train series is now available for preorder. It will release on July 15th!

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She's running from her past.

He's seeking a future.

Will the greatest love come from each other's heartache?