(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final part of a two-part series by Bowman a Wheeling author, steamboat model builder and one of West Virginia’s History Heroes.)

At Wheeling, Ebenezer Zane inaugurated the west, back channel “Current” ferry (also known to some as a “Lea-board” ferry) in 1796, operated by his son-in-law, Elijah Woods. Zane had placed this ferry in service in anticipation of the opening of “Zane’s Trace.”

The United States Congress granted Colonel Zane a contract on May 17, 1796, to establish a path between Wheeling, Va., and Limestone, (Maysville) Ky., and the requirements imposed in the contract would have Zane complete the path by Jan. 1, 1897.

Colonel Zane was also required to operate ferries across the Muskingum, Hocking and Scioto rivers. He had his “Zane’s Trace” open in 1797. This ferry operated from the Island to Bridgeport or Canton until the Zanes’ covered bridge was completed in 1837. Walker Hunter officiated as Zane’s ferryman.

The Zanes had a second (east channel) Wheeling-Wheeling Island ferry, a four-horse “team-boat” ferry in operation, by 1807. A four-horse ferry at Wheeling was noted by a traveler in 1832.

Horse-propelled ferryboats had replaced poled ferryboats by the early 1800s and these, in turn, were eventually replaced by steam-powered ferryboats. Both of the Zanes’ horse ferries operating daily from 1807 were suspended in 1846.

In 1846, the McNaughton & Dunlevy Boat Yard at West Wheeling, Ohio, built the steam-powered ferryboat Island Packet for the Zanes using Wheeling-built A.M. Phillips steam engines. The Island Packet replacing their horse-propelled ferriess would serve the Island until Charles Ellet, Jr. completed the Wheeling Suspension Bridge in 1849. The Suspension Bridge blew down in 1854, and steamboat ferries were hastily placed back in service.

The ferry Minnehaha served Wheeling for a short time and for the most part, ferries filled the void until 1856, when the Suspension Bridge was back in service

The John S. Pringle Yard at West Brownsville, Pa., built a steam-powered ferryboat for Ebenezer Martin in 1841. It was named the Isaac Martin for Ebenezer’s newborn son. Ebenezer ran his ferry service into late 1844 and sold it to his nephew, Hugh Nichols. Hugh had the side-wheel ferry Jane Nichols built at Wheeling in 1851. It served Martins Ferry and Wheeling from 1851 to 1859, maybe later.

Nichols ran the ferry service into 1859 and sold it to Price, Updergraph and B.J. Long. The service was sold to Levi W. Inglebright of Martins Ferry in 1862.

Inglebright was operating the stern-wheel packet City of Chartiers from Jefferson Street, Martins Ferry, to First Street, Wheeling, in 1889, and he was running the ferry Conveyor built at Middleport, Ohio, from 1898 to 1905 from Martins Ferry to First Street in Wheeling and to Wheeling’s wharf.

The Aetnaville Bridge built in 1891, cut into Inglebright’s ferry business considerably. A 1900 W.C. Brown photograph of the ferryboat Conveyor taken at the Wheeling wharf has written on the margin, “This was the most direct route to Martins Ferry.”

Judge John S. Cochran mentions in his 1907 book, “Bonnie Belmont,” that his mother hauled produce to market leaving her home on Buckeye Run at 1:30 a.m. taking the ferry to First Street, Wheeling, setting up at 3:30 a.m. at Wheeling’s First Ward Market at Tenth Street. History records, this same trip was earlier taken by Betty Zane McLaughlin with produce from her Westlawn Addition farm off Ferryview.

Henry N. Warwood, for whom the town of Warwood, W.Va., was named, in 1854 was a tool manufacturer in Martins Ferry. In 1892, he moved the business to Wheeling, and in 1905, Warwood Tool Co. moved to Warwood at North Nineteenth Street.

Many generations of Martins Ferry families had remained working with the company and thus the following took place. Luther Hoskinson began running a motorized passenger ferryboat ferrying passengers, mostly women finishing their shifts at Warwood Tool and the “Can Factory” over to a floating dock near North Nineteenth Street. Hoskinson was making the same trip that Absalom Martin originally made from the beach landing at Center Street. This service was later taken over by the Cruise family who lived on an Ohio shore houseboat.

From 1911 into the late 1920s, John Paul Gray of Martins Ferry was operating this service with the gasoline-powered ferry Mary K. I n 1917, Lock and Dam No. 12 was placed in operation necessitating a move to the old Burlington, Ohio, landing just south of Glenns Run where he crossed over to Warwood. In 1931, Norman H. Cooper of Martins Ferry was using a motorboat, the B.U. Davis in this run. One could well imagine what a cold winter ride this would have been.

From the early 1830s, James Benson’s ferry was running from Whiskey Run, West Wheeling, Ohio, where Interstate 470 now crosses the Ohio River to the Belmont Mill Landing, Twenty-Fourth Street, Centre Wheeling. Listed is a Captain Cunningham who ran a horse-propelled ferryboat in this run followed by the steam-powered ferry Amulet, from 1844-1846, built at the McNaughton & Dunlevy Boat Yard at West Wheeling. This was the site of the old Gardner Flatboat yard.

The steam-powered ferry Virginia Farmer served in this run from 1850-1854. The stern-wheel ferry West Wheeling built at West Wheeling by McNaughton & Dunlevy in 1865, sinking once in 1867, made this run into at least 1895. John Long was running the Jessie Berger ferry from Benson’s Landing to Wheeling in 1896.

W. Scott Heatherington of Bellaire made runs with his towboat Eliza from Benson’s Landing in 1896. Albert C. Polley was making this run to Wheeling from 1914-1916 with the stern-wheel ferry Albert built at Dravosburg, Pa. In 1916, Polley traded Albert for the ferry Buckeye, which he sold in 1920. Capt. Scott Heatherington piloted the Buckeye for Polley from 1916-20.

In 1889, R.M. Gilleland was president of the Benwood & Wheeling Ferry Co., which he ran out of Bellaire into the 1920s. This ferry service ran two ferryboats daily from Bellaire to the Forty-Third Street, Bloch Bros. Tobacco dock, Wheeling, and to Seventh or Ferry Street, Benwood.

Gilleland had the stern-wheel ferry Charon built at the Axton yard, West Brownsville, Pa., in 1889 for his Ferry Co., which he ran into 1928. In 1911, Gilleland was running the 1895 ferry Ironton built at Levanna, Ohio. In November 1923, Ironton was involved in a ruinous fire. She was rebuilt at Moundsville where her name was changed to Ruth Ann, March 7, 1924. Ruth Ann served Wheeling, Benwood-Bellaire from 1924-28.

The stern-wheel ferry Emily was built by the Howard boatyard at Jeffersonville, Ind., in 1891. William Manley and C.W. Dickens of Bellaire bought the ferryboat Emily in 1913 and ran her from the Bellaire wharfboat to Benwood into the early 1920s. Emily had earlier ferried vacationers to the Sister Island Amusement Park.

The accompanying photo of the Wm. Manley & Son Bellaire Wharfboat shows the last people on ferryboats running out of Bellaire. They were the Hazel and Gertrude passenger ferryboats powered by Fairbanks-Morse gasoline engines. These boats could safely ferry a dozen people over to Benwood and or to the Forty-Third Street, Wheeling landing. Many Bloch Bros. workers took this ferry daily.

Bellaire’s ferry service ended when the Bellaire Toll Bridge was built in 1926. These same type motorized ferryboats were running from Martins Ferry to Warwood in the 1920s-1930s.

We have read of ferryboats ferrying people, horses, and livestock, produce, etc. but, what about this – starting in 1855, ferryboats were used by the Baltimore and Ohio and Central Ohio Railroad to transfer their railcars from Benwood, Va., to Bellaire.

Early in 1855, the B&O R.R. placed an order with the Wilson & Dunlevy boatyard in Wheeling, Va., for two specialized barges, 21 feet by 100 feet, heavily reinforced, and equipped with rails to transfer railcars from Benwood to Bellaire. The B&O R.R. ferried railcars from Benwood to Bellaire from 1855 to 1871 and beyond.

The packet Brown Dick ran transfer barges for the B&O from 1855-62.

The packet Adelia, with Capt. G.W. Graham in the summer of 1855 assisted Brown Dick making five transfer trips a day from Benwood to Bellaire.

The B&O towboat Wm. H. Harrison replaced Brown Dick and ran transfer trips from Benwood to Bellaire from 1862 until the Great Stone Viaduct Bridge was opened in 1871.