IAGenWeb - Scott County
MISSISSIPPI RIVER FOLK BACKGROUND
DANIEL R. HANLEY It is not without interest to recall that Daniel R. Hanley, prominent river man of those days and now a resident of Davenport, was fireman at the time on the D. A. McDonald. He escaped death in the McGregor explosion by reason of not making the trip in question. He had remained at Le Claire and was in a Scott county harvest field when the boilers of the steamer gave way. Mr. Hanley declares it is a fiction that colored men or boys were made to sit on the safety valves, when steamers were racing or trying to break records. He admits, however, that the valve braced down with heavy timbers, were sometimes tied down or braced down with heavy timbers. D.R. Hanley is a brother to J. A. Hanley the well known lawyer and raconteur.
Source: Davenport Democrat, Davenport, Ia., 03 Feb 1929.
Contributed by Sue Rekkas.