Joseph Throckmorton
| Joseph Throckmorton | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 16, 1800 Monmouth County, New Jersey |
| Died | December 1872 |
| Occupation | Steamboat captain and builder |
| Known for | Steamboat captain |
| Title | Captain |
Joseph Throckmorton (June 16, 1800 – December 1872) was an American steamboat builder and captain during the 19th century. He was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey and first worked in a mercantile business. His first steamboat was Red Rover, purchased on the Ohio River around 1830. In 1832 he built and skippered the steamboat Warrior. The vessel and Captain Throckmorton played a key role in the decisive battle of the 1832 Black Hawk War. Following the war, he built and owned several more steamboats, and worked for a short time as an insurance representative in St. Louis. Throckmorton died in December 1872 while employed by the United States government.
Joseph Throckmorton was born on June 16, 1800 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. As a young man he was employed by a mercantile business in New York.
Throckmorton bought one of his first steamboats, the Red Rover, on the Ohio River. Though the boat sank, it was raised, transported to St. Louis and put into service on the Galena to St. Louis trade route around 1830. The same year Throckmorton and George W. Atchison built the steamer Winnebago which went into service along the same Galena to St. Louis route until around 1832. As his career progressed, Throckmorton became a familiar name along the Upper Mississippi River. In 1832 Throckmorton built the steamboat Warrior in Pittsburgh.
The 111 foot (33.8 m) Warrior was owned by Throckmorton in a partnership with Galena, Illinois resident William Hempstead. It was launched in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1832 with Captain Throckmorton at the helm. The side wheeled steamboat had no cabin or accommodations for passengers but towed behind it a barge meant for passengers. At the time, the Black Hawk War had erupted between the white settlers militia and the Sauk and Fox aligned under Sauk war chief Black Hawk. Throckmorton brought the new boat and its barge to St. Louis and then set out for the war zone by mid-summer 1832. The steamboat and Throckmorton would play a key role in the war's final engagement, the Battle of Bad Axe.
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