The Ohio was a stern-wheeler built at Cincinnati, Ohio in 1879 as the Clifton. She was 251 x 39 x 5.5 feet; 716 tons. This stern wheel Clifton was sunk by ice in the mouth of the Kentucky River on January 21, 1881. She was raised, rebuilt and renamed the Ohio on October 4, 1881. The Ohio ran in the cincinnati - Memphis - New Orleans trade along with the DeSoto, Buckeye State, Granite State and others under the White Collar Line. Enroute from Memphis to Cincinnati on February 17, 1894, she struck a stump in backing out from the landing at Cottonwood Point, Missouri, 120 miles above Memphis, Tennessee. She then sank proving a total loss. The boat was valued at $25,000. The cargo was damaged $9,000. No lives were lost.
Record of masters, mates, pilots, and engineers of merchant steam, motor, and sail vessels kept by the United States Steamboat Inspection Service in 1898.
Adam Jacobs (built 1885 in Brownsville, Pa.) at port. Vessel had electric lights and an arc searchlight (seen at far right), one of the first see in the region.