Henry Miller Shreve

Henry Miller Shreve
Captain Henry Miller Shreve
Born	October 21, 1785 Mount Pleasant, Mansfield Twp., Burlington Co., New Jersey
Died	March 6, 1851 (aged 65) Saint Louis, Missouri
Nationality	American
Education	Home schooled
Spouse(s)	Mary Blair Lydia Rogers
Children	Harriet Louise (b. 1811) Rebecca Ann (b. 1813) Hampden Zane (b. 1815) Mary
Parent(s)	Israel Shreve Mary Cokely
Engineering career
Projects	Cleared the Great Raft
Significant design	Steamboat Washington Steamboat Heliopolis

Henry Miller Shreve (October 21, 1785 – March 6, 1851) was the American inventor and steamboat captain who opened the Mississippi, Ohio, and Red rivers to steamboat navigation. Shreveport, Louisiana is named in his honor.

Shreve was also instrumental in breaking the Fulton-Livingston monopoly on steamboat traffic on the lower Mississippi. He was the first riverboat captain to travel the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans and back, as well as the first to bring a keelboat from the Ohio River up the Mississippi to the Fever River in Illinois. Shreve also made significant improvements to the steamboat and the steam engine, such as separate boilers to power side paddlewheels independently, horizontal cylinders, and multiple decks to allow for passengers and entertainment.

Shreve was born to Israel Shreve, a Quaker who had served with honor in the American Revolution, and the former Mary Cokely at Mount Pleasant, the family homestead near Columbus in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. On July 7, 1788, the Shreves left New Jersey for their new home on property owned by George Washington in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Young Henry's new home was close to the Youghiogheny River near the present day borough of Perryopolis. After his father's death in 1799, Shreve served on several riverboats to help support his family. After purchasing his own boat Shreve began trading between Brownsville, Pennsylvania, where he resided, and ports as far away as New Orleans. On a voyage in 1814, Shreve's barge was registered at New Orleans on February 11. After his boat was loaded with cargo, Shreve and crew hauled and poled the vessel 2,200 miles against strong river currents, probably reaching Brownsville before July, 1814.