# spoon from confederate steam boat c.e. hillman



## Dansalata (Jun 27, 2019)

so.i decided to go to the porterville college flea market..it was pretty hot but i managed a few rows...the last aisle i walked i saw a pile of silverware...looking for sterling i noticed this soup spoon with "steamboat c.e.  hillman stampedon thehandle..i was intrigued..never seen this before..there weree 3 of em ,the man said 5 bucks..im like cool...so i came home and looked the steamship c.e.hillman...holy s(&^%$  a confederate stemboat captured april 28 1861...there are letters online from abraham lincoln commenting on it...the hillman had 1300 pounds of gunpowder in it,tons of lead..150pistols and other stuff....still trippin on this  UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY


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## RCO (Jun 27, 2019)

if there stamped as being from the steamer C E Hillman it would certainly seem to be the case that they came from an old steamer .

were you able to find anything else about the history of it ? how long was it in operation for ? a lot of these old steamers eventually sank or had something happen to them


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## CanadianBottles (Jun 27, 2019)

Wow that's an amazing find!  Probably one of the most historically significant things posted on here in quite a while.  Did you notice that John Wilkes Booth rode on the C.E. Hillman in 1864? https://books.google.ca/books?id=vS...ACegQICRAB#v=onepage&q="C.E. Hillman"&f=false  I've been trying to find out what happened to her in the end but can't find any references after February of 1866.


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## Dansalata (Jun 28, 2019)

there were theories that thehillman was made into a ironclad,,butonly rumours...i didnt know booth was in the hillman..whoa..the awesomeness continues...thanks for the replies..


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## nhpharm (Jun 28, 2019)

That is super awesome!  I collect nautical stuff...have a bronze engraved capstan cover from a Confederate blockade runner and a ships bell from a Union steamship.  No doubt those spoons are from that vessel.  Great find!


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## Dansalata (Jun 28, 2019)

thanks nhpharm......union steamship bell......wowser


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## RCO (Jun 28, 2019)

usually there is books about those old steamers , in Canada there is a fair number and usually if you find the right book you can look up specific vessels and read about there history 

so if there is any books on confederate steamers or steamers from the south ? that might be a place to look for more info


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## CanadianBottles (Jun 28, 2019)

Dansalata said:


> there were theories that thehillman was made into a ironclad,,butonly rumours...i didnt know booth was in the hillman..whoa..the awesomeness continues...thanks for the replies..


Pretty sure those rumours aren't true, there's a newspaper article from 1866 about the C.E. Hillman colliding with another steamer and sinking it.  It definitely wasn't an ironclad at that point.


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## Screwtop (Jun 28, 2019)

THAT IS AMAZING! I am a huge Civil War buff, and that has me oozing with envy, but in a good way. Way to go on that find, and research!


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## Dansalata (Jun 29, 2019)

thanks 4 the replies!!!


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## BF109 (Jul 3, 2019)

WOW!  Super find, congrats!


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## Oldsdigger (Jul 3, 2019)

nhpharm,
               I have a Civil War nautical map I'd be willing to sell if you are interested? It is of the southern Carolina's and if I remember it might also have some of the ship names on it.


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## Dansalata (Jul 13, 2019)

thank you!!!


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