The riverboat captain is a storyteller. Captain Don Sanders shares the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This a part of a long and continuing story.
By Capt. Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune
The first time I heard that West Virginia author, historian, and personal friend, Todd A. Hanson, had a surprise for me was the arrival of this message on my social media account:
“Hey, Capt. Don, I trust all is well with you. Checking to make sure your address is still the same. I’ve something I wanted to send you.”
A week later, a heavy, well-packed envelope appeared in my mailbox. After carefully unwrapping the package, what else should appear bearing Todd’s return address from ‘somewhere along country roads’ in the Mountain State? Why, a book, of course. And a mighty fine, handsome one, too — hardbound, deep-red cover, 11 X 8 X 1-inches and stuffed with photos and the history of a diverse, employee-owned business, founded by “a pioneering family, engaged in the early development of the West Virginia coalfields,” entitled, Never Forget – A Pictorial History of Amherst Madison, Inc.
The “pioneering family,” of course, was the Jones family that I met, knew, and worked with in Charleston while I was the first captain of the stern wheel excursion boat, the P. A. DENNY, during the 1976 and ’77 seasons. In fact, my boss, “Cappy” Lawson Hamilton, hired me as we stood beneath the coal-loading tipple at Port Amherst, the headquarters of Amherst Industries, as the company was known during the Bicentennial Year, the 200th anniversary of our country, nearly half a century ago.
Mr. Hamilton and the head of Amherst, Capt. Charles Tandy Jones were not only business associates but also close friends and supporters of commerce and public recreation on the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. Through Lawson’s interest in the river, I became involved with them both after the completion of the DENNY, which became an excursion vessel built primarily at Port Amherst to operate in the West “By God” Virginia capital city.
Coincidentally, years before I went to Charleston and met the Jones family, our Sanders family owned a delightful small sternwheeler, the MARJESS, which we moored within sight of the Hatfield Coal Company docks within the Cincinnati harbor. Coal came to the Hatfield terminal aboard barges towed by the steam-powered towboat, HERBERT E. JONES, named for the sire of “Cappy Charlie” Jones, the leader of the Amherst business venture before his son.
My family and I enjoyed a special relationship with the Jones family steamboat, which we lovingly called “our boat.” Although the senior Jones patriarch passed away during my second year on the DENNY, I never had the opportunity to meet the elder gentleman. His funeral, however, was a somber occasion in the Mountain State, as I remember.
Cap’n Charles T. Jones lived a long, healthy, and prosperous life until he passed away at the age of 101, just days after his last hours at his Amherst Madison headquarters.
The closest I was to any of the Joneses was Oscar Nelson Jones, the youngest son of Cappy Charles Jones. “Nelson,” as everyone knew him, was going into his senior year at Morris Harvey College after the summer of 1976. That summer, though, he was one of my outstanding deckhands aboard the DENNY, alongside Tom Cook and Bill Barr, two other scions of the river who would later become industry leaders. All three of “my boys” now have towboats named in their honor.
Sadly, Nelson died at an all-too-early age. How different the river might be today had this fine lad not left so soon. Todd’s book pays great respect, in detail, to the many contributions made to the inland maritime industry by the late Captain O. Nelson Jones.
Never Forget keenly portrays the connection between Charleston, WV, and my hometown of Covington, Kentucky, in terms of commerce. Author Hanson illustrates and explains the relationship the two cities enjoyed during the heyday of the coal industry.
As boys, my brothers Dick, Bob, and I often climbed onto the back roof of the coach house of the Capt. James Tobias Hatfield (1865-1938) estate on Wallace Avenue, just a few doors up the street from our more humble home, to play and make a game of not getting caught and run off.
Captain J.T. Hatfield built an empire in the coal and river industry after starting to sell coal from door to door as a young boy. At age 17, according to Todd’s book, young “Toby” opened a retail coal yard on 15th Street in Covington.
By 1900, Hatfield bought his own steam-powered towboat and a coal mine in West Virginia. By 1928, the Hatfield and the Campbell’s Creek Coal Company combined to form one of the largest coal dealerships in the country. Cap’n Hatfield died in 1938 and lies buried in Highland Cemetery within sight of the superintendent’s home, where I spent many enjoyable days after my widowed grandmother, Edith, married Julius Rosenfeldt, director of the cemetery.
Todd’s book contains photos of J. T. and Ellen Hatfield relaxing in the parlor of their Covington home, as well as pictures of the Hatfield Coal Company’s office on Madison Avenue and shots of their coal storage facility on Baymiller Street in downtown Cincinnati.
Much to my pleasant surprise, on page 200, author Hanson included a photograph of Captain Fredrick Way, Jr. and me conversing aboard the DELTA QUEEN.
On many pages surrounding the one on which I held sway, the weighty tome pays homage to various industrial and business celebrities who contributed to the history of the coal and river industry centered around the Jones family on the Great Kanawha River and its surrounding areas. According to Todd, who graciously described me as “a noted writer and river historian,” he included:
“Captain Don Sanders was hired as Master on the Charleston, West Virginia’s P. A. DENNY in 1976. There, he mentored an ‘all-star cast’ of young deckhands who became leaders in the river industry. They included O. Nelson Jones, Bill Barr, Tom Cook, Tony Harrison, Todd Mace, Brad Price, Tom Price, Jeff Sanders, and Tom Elkins.”
With such a description, I will humbly enjoy the rare recognition Todd so graciously bestowed upon me in his exciting and informative manuscript.
Regrettably, sponsors only printed 125 volumes of Never Forget – A Pictorial History of Amherst Madison, Inc. I am not only grateful for my inclusion in such a rare volume, but I am pleased to receive a signed copy from the author.
Before the day comes when I can no longer enjoy my book, it may find an appropriate home in the reference section of the Kenton County Public Library in Covington. Until then, I will continue to enjoy it.
Captain Don Sanders is a river man. He has been a riverboat captain with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and with Rising Star Casino. He learned to fly an airplane before he learned to drive a “machine” and became a captain in the USAF. He is an adventurer, a historian and a storyteller. Now, he is a columnist for the NKyTribune, sharing his stories of growing up in Covington and his stories of the river. Hang on for the ride — the river never looked so good.
Purchase Captain Don Sanders’ The River book
Capt. Don Sanders The River: River Rat to steamboatman, riding ‘magic river spell’ to 65-year adventure is now available for $29.95 plus handling and applicable taxes. This beautiful, hardback, published by the Northern Kentucky Tribune, is 264-pages of riveting storytelling, replete with hundreds of pictures from Capt. Don’s collection — and reflects his meticulous journaling, unmatched storytelling, and his appreciation for detail. This historically significant book is perfect for the collections of every devotee of the river.
You may purchase your book by mail from the Northern Kentucky Tribune — or you may find the book for sale at all Roebling Books locations and at the Behringer Crawford Museum and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare gift shops.
Click here to order your Captain Don Sanders’ ‘The River’ now.