Brown, J. Crosby (James Crosby), 1929-1990.

Hide Profile

James Crosby Brown, Jr., was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1929 and spent most of his life in Philadelphia, where he pursued a career in business. After retiring in 1981, he turned full-time to his life-long avocation of maritime history. Starting around 1984 he began research on the early history of the Schuylkill Navigation Company. During that research he found that shortly after being faced with competition from the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, the Schuylkill Navigation Company offered a prize to the first person to build a steamboat suitable to canal operations. Although many designs were tried on different canals, the wash from paddles or propellers generally eroded the banks of artificial waterways, and none were widely adopted. This episode piqued Brown's interest, and he also began to study the pioneers of steamboating on eastern canals and non-tidal rivers, a neglected part of the early history of steam-navigation. In 1989 he began to write a monograph on these two subjects, but he died in Blue Hill, Maine, in July 1990.

From the description of Research notes on steam-navigation on canals. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122503428

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Brown, J. Crosby (James Crosby), 1929-1990. Research notes on steam-navigation on canals. Hagley Museum & Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Allegheny Portage Railroad. corporateBody
associatedWith Archimedean Propeller Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Blanchard, Thomas, 1788-1864. person
associatedWith Chapin, Chester W. (Chester William), 1798-1883. person
associatedWith Cist, Jacob, 1782-1825. person
associatedWith Costill, Stacy. person
associatedWith Crosland, John M. person
associatedWith Delaware and Raritan Canal Company (N.J.). corporateBody
associatedWith Elgar, John, 1784-1858. person
associatedWith Ellet, Charles, 1810-1862. person
associatedWith Evans, Oliver, 1755-1819. person
associatedWith Fairbairn, William, Sir, 1789-1874. person
associatedWith Fitch, John, 1743-1798. person
associatedWith Fulton, Robert, 1765-1815. person
associatedWith Green, Griffin, 1749-1804. person
associatedWith Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Morris, Ellwood, 1813?-1872. person
associatedWith Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Co. corporateBody
associatedWith Roberts, Solomon W. (Solomon White), 1811-1882. person
associatedWith Schuylkill Navigation Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Serapis (Ship). corporateBody
associatedWith Sullivan, John L. (John Langdon), 1777-1865. person
associatedWith Thomson, J. Edgar (John Edgar), 1808-1874. person
associatedWith Worthington, Henry Rossiter, 1817-1880. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Roanoke River (Va. and N.C.)
Merrimack River (N.H. and Mass.)
Great Britain
Georgia
New York (State)
Massachusetts
Erie Canal (N.Y.)
Connecticut River
Delaware River (N.Y.-Del. and N.J.)
North Carolina
Virginia
Connecticut
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Subject
Canal boats
Canals
Canals
Patents
Steamboats
Steam-engineering
Steam-navigation
Steam-navigation
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1929

Death 1990

Related Descriptions
Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63n4c62

Ark ID: w63n4c62

SNAC ID: 25273723