Caleb Hoskins Booth 1814-1898

BOOTH, CARTER, CHANEY, ROGERS

Posted By: Cheryl Locher Moonen (email)
Date: 12/26/2016 at 22:25:57

BOOTH, Caleb H. (Chester, PA, Dec. 26, 1814--Dubuque, IA, June 19, 1898). MAYOR. Booth received his first education in Burlington, New Jersey. Trained in civil engineering, he was offered his first job at the age of seventeen with the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company. (1)

Soon after becoming an attorney, Booth traveled to Dubuque while it was still a part of Michigan Territory. He arrived on July 3, 1836, one day before the act establishing the new Territory of Wisconsin.

(2) Booth became actively involved in MINING and was involved in finding LEAD deposits from which seven million pounds of ore were recovered.

(3) In 1838 the firm of Booth & Carter reflected his partnership with William CARTER. Later R. O. Chaney joined the business which was renamed Booth, Carter & Company.

(4) In 1844 Booth, Carter & Company sank a shaft which resulted in the discovery of one the richest veins of lead yet discovered in the Dubuque area. The cave was 1000 feet in length, from 8-40 feet in width, and from 12-30 feet in height. Descriptions said that the mineral reflected light in all directions. Chunks weighing as much as 1,000 pounds lay on the cave floor. While estimating the value of the ore was difficult, some miners suspected the total amount of ore could reach millions of pounds.

(5)Booth held a wide variety of business interests. In 1848 he built the KEY CITY MILL, the first flour mill in the city and developed a process for drying flour that extended its storage.

(6) The firm of Nadeau, Booth and Company, became Booth and Rogers.

(7) He was a partner in the mercantile business of Booth, Townsend and Company; assistant secretary and treasurer of the DUBUQUE AND SIOUX CITY RAILROAD; secretary and treasurer of the Cedar Falls and Minnesota Railway Company; and general manager of the DUBUQUE AND DAKOTA RAILROAD until it was sold.

(8) With other partners, Booth invested in the DUBUQUE AND PACIFIC RAILROAD and was elected treasurer and one of the directors of the company in 1857. In 1856 he was one of the commissioners who established the State Bank of Iowa.

(9) In 1868 Booth helped organize the DUNLEITH AND DUBUQUE BRIDGE Company. He was also secretary and treasurer of the Iowa Land and Loan Company.
Booth designed Booth's Improved Dredge Pump.

(10) Their popularity was proven by July 1890 when contractors in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington were contacting him for business.

(11) In the Engineering News and American Railway Journal of March 26, 1892, a complete description of this pump and system was given.
By means of powerful air and suction pumps built in co-operation with the engines on the boat, light material from the depth of fifty feet can be conveyed to the banks. This method has proven very practical and valuable on rivers like the Upper Mississippi, where the soft sandy banks are
constantly filling the riverbed. When in operation the suction pipes lie on the bottom, and the material is drawn in and conveyed to tile surface to be dumped at any reasonable distance. The movement and direction of the suction pipe are under control of the engineer by machinery driven by the pump shaft. The dredge can be utilized for removing islands or sand-bars that hinder navigation, and it is believed it would be useful in gold hunting, where deposits; of the metal are washed by the mountain streams into the bed of rivers on a level.

(12) In 1893 General Booth's new sand pump barge was christened "Mound Builder" by Miss Fannie Cozech; it was built by the IOWA IRON WORKS and was 112 feet long.

(13) In 1894 two crews allowed the pump to be used around the clock to pump sand from the main channel of the river to fill in sloughs.

(14) Booth's steam flour dryer was placed into operation at the DUBUQUE CITY MILLS.

(15) Responsible for the filling of sloughs on Dubuque's southeast riverfront, Booth can be credited with lessening the rate of illness in the city and providing improved docking for steamboats. He also developed a rapid process of manufacturing SHOT that contributed to the success of the firm of Booth, Carter and Company.

(16) Beginning a long political life, in 1839 Booth was elected a member of Iowa's first territorial legislature when it convened in Burlington.

(17) Later he was elected to the first legislature that convened at the territorial capital in Iowa City. In 1841 Booth was chosen Dubuque's first mayor.

Among the actions of city government during his term of office:
(18)
a) On May 26, 1841, it was determined by the board to begin at once the improvement of the harbor under the supervision of the street commissioner,
who was directed to open a canal to connect the outer and inner sloughs at the best practical points. He was directed "to deepen the channel which now connects the slough at the lower landing with the inner slough and levee the same on the side next the town so as to make as good a steamboat landing as may be practicable."
b) The board opened Eighth street.
c) Proposals for work on the canal were called for in June, 1841 ; this work was paid for in city scrip. Another $1,000 was appropriated for canal work on June 21, 1841. Steps to deepen the mouth of the inner slough at the lower landing were taken in August, 1841. Another $1,000 for canal work was
appropriated late in August, 1841. Previous to September 6, 1841, there has been appropriated for the opening of this canal a total of $3,500; the canal to connect the outer and inner sloughs. The board on September 6, 1841 pledge the fund due the city from the land office from the sale of public lots for the payment of the above appropriation.

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