Philena

Here’s a sweet steamer I wish I knew more about, but it doesn’t appear in Merchant Vessels of the US (MVUS) by that name. There is a sailboat called Philena in 1895 copy, the oldest I can find, but that’s it. Nothing appears on subsequent dates either. There is a Memphis NY hamlet just west…

will van dorp

February 10, 2025

1–2 minutes

Here’s a sweet steamer I wish I knew more about, but it doesn’t appear in Merchant Vessels of the US (MVUS) by that name. There is a sailboat called Philena in 1895 copy, the oldest I can find, but that’s it. Nothing appears on subsequent dates either.

There is a Memphis NY hamlet just west of Syracuse. Maybe a record of the boat exists there.

I’ve no idea who any of these folks are or what the relationships might be. Any help?

Thanks to Bill Hecht for cleaning up this treasure from the collection of CSNY.

One response to “Philena”

Lee Rust

February 12, 2025 at 10:21 pm

Looks like a pleasure craft to me, even though the boiler and steam engine would have made the enclosed cabin pretty cozy. Philena’s a beautiful name… Greek for “lover of mankind”

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