In 1849 Baxter completely rebuilt the superstructure and pilot house of the steamer Angelina, which was the first steamer to navigate the Neches River in 1846. During the 1850s, other shipbuilders such as Alexander Gilmer and Samuel Levingston founded shipyards at Orange. However, no other steamer on the Sabine-Neches waterways could remotely compare to the Florilda in size or bale capacity.
The Florilda was built at Louisville, Kentucky in 1857, expressly for the Missouri River trade, and cost $35,000. The sidewheel steamer was 225 feet long, 34 feet wide, and had a cotton bale capacity of 2,500. For the first year, she traveled between St. Louis and St. Joseph, MO., at which point the wagon trains began their long journeys to California.
In 1859, the Texas and New Orleans Railroad bought the Florilda, as well as the Josiah Bell from the Trinity River trade. Both vessels were transferred to Sabine Pass with intent to transfer rails, crossties, and bridge timbers, as well as locomotives and rail cars, inland to Beaumont and Orange. At that moment construction crews were building road beds and laying rails across both Orange and Jefferson counties.
The crew of the Florilda was enumerated in the Beaumont 1860 census as follows: T. A. Packard, captain; John J. Price, supercargo; Fred Donne, 1st mate; James Fullerton, chief engineer; James Ables, 2nd engineer; Augustus Overhue, pilot; John Hahn, laborer; Henry Schram, laborer; Wm. Amiss, laborer; Jerry Harrington, watchman; Mike Dyer, cook; David Scott, physician; and Bridget Gallagher, cook. This was the only occasion when a physician or a woman were listed among the crew of an East Texas steamboat.
Galveston Weekly News of early 1861 observed that many loads of rail equipment were unloaded at Sabine Pass, which the Florilda transported inland. One Texas railroad historian doubted that the 1860 rails ever reached Orange. However, Galveston Tri-Weekly News of Sept. 2, 1862 nullified that error when it reported that: "...The steamer Florilda leaves Niblett's Bluff, La. every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 300 AM and arrives at Orange at 630 AM in time to catch the rail cars to Houston..."
In Aug. 1859, Henry R. Green booked passage on the Florilda from Beaumont to Sabine Pass. He attended a ball aboard the steamer: "..where there were lots of beautiful women, a few ugly men, dreadful music, and the most accursed wine ever served to saint or sinner..."
Late in 1861 the Texas Marine Department took control of the Florilda for the Confederate Army, and John J Price became the new steamer captain. In Feb. 1863, when the railroad east of Beaumont became impassible, the Florilda became "the workhorse of the Sabine," transporting troops and munitions from Beaumont, to Orange, to Niblett's Bluff. In Oct. 1863, Col. A. Buchel at Niblett's Bluff complained about the high contract cost that the owner of the Florilda charged for the vessel's services.
When the war ended, the Florilda was tied up at Ochiltree's Wharf when a hurricane struck Orange on Sept. 13, 1865. The Florilda capsized and sank, blocking the harbor; later it had to be blown up and allowed to float out to sea.
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