Horace Ezra BIXBY
Horace Ezra BIXBY, was born in Geneseo, Livingston Co., NY on 8 May 1826.Around the age of 18, he moved to Cincinnati where he worked in a tailor'sshop. Soon after he became a clerk on the Cincinnati-Kanawha packet boat"Olivia", and around the age of 23 became a riverboat pilot. Unlike mostpilots who held one license, Bixby had 3: for the Missouri River, the OhioRiver, and the lower Mississippi River.
In 1857, Horace Bixby met Samuel Clemens (later known as MarkTwain) and agreed to teach him how to pilot a riverboat. Their meeting ischronicled (though somewhat fictionalized) in Twain's "Life On TheMississippi." They remained lifelong friends.
During the Civil War, Bixby fought for the Union side underCommodore Foote. He was pilot on a Mississippi river gun boat fleet for 10months. His experiences in the Civil War are detailed in an interview in"Mark Twain's Notebooks & Journals" (Notebook 20).
By 1860, Horace had married Susan WEIBLING of New Orleans, and the2 of them were living in St. Louis, MO. Susan died in 1867. They had nochildren. The next year Bixby married Mary Elizabeth SHEBLE, daughter ofCapt. Edwin A. SHEBLE and Elizabeth M. Sheble. They had 3 children: EdwinaBIXBY (born circa 1872), Edwin ("Harry") BIXBY (born circa 1874), andGeorge Mason ("Guy") BIXBY (born 1877).
Horace BIXBY remained a riverboat pilot and captain until the yearbefore his death in 1912 at the age of 86. He is buried at BellefontaineCemetery in St. Louis.
Contributed by: Janet Lundy Richmond, VA