Henry Miller Shreve

Henry Miller Shreve (October 21, 1785 – March 6, 1851) was an American inventor and steamboat captain who removed obstructions to navigation of the Mississippi, Ohio and Red rivers. Shreveport, Louisiana was named in his honor. Shreve was also instrumental in breaking the Fulton-Livingston monopoly on steamboat traffic on the lower Mississippi. He was the first riverboat captain to travel the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans and back, as well as the first to bring a keelboat from the Ohio River up the Mississippi to the Fever River in Illinois. Shreve also made significant improvements to the steamboat and the steam engine, such as separate boilers to power side paddlewheels independently, horizontal cylinders, and multiple decks to allow for passengers and entertainment. Early life Shreve was born October 21, 1785, to Israel Shreve, a Quaker farmer who had served as a colonel in the American Revolution, and the former Mary Cokely at Mount Pleasant (Burlington County, New Jersey), the family homestead near Columbus, New Jersey in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. On July 7, 1788, the Shreves left New Jersey for their new home on property owned by George Washington in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Young Henry's new home was close to the Youghiogheny River near the present day borough of Perryopolis. After his father's death in 1802, Shreve served on several riverboats to help support his family.