Darby Davis and wife Mae (Island Queen in the background)

Description:	Darby Davis and his wife, Mae are shown relaxing along the Ohio as the Island Queen floats by. Darby Davis was born in Carroll County, Kentucky in 1886. In his younger days he was a blacksmith and boat tender, and in later years worked in the tobacco houses and as a fisherman. The couple lived on a little houseboat on the river. Darby died in 1955 and Mae followed a few years later. They were part of the colorful river characters along the Ohio. The Island Queen was built as an excursion boat for duty, primarily, around the Coney Island Amusement Park (later Kings Island) in Cincinnati. She also plied up and down the Ohio and in 1937 the Madison Courier declared in an advertisement, The palatial glass-enclosed steamer Island Queen will pay a return visit to Madison, Ind. on Sunday night October 17, to stage another of its popular Moonlight dance excursions. At that time, Bob Sidell and his Kentucky Swingsters provided the dance tunes and Sidell also doubled on the boats massive calliope. The Island Queen exploded in Pittsburg in 1954 killing 19.
Origin:	1930
Created By:	Harry Lemen, photographer;
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4038coll5/id/201
Collection:	River to Rail and Lemen Collection
Copyright:	Permission to reproduce this image for other than personal use must be requested from the Director of the Madison-Jefferson County Public Library. Please contact at 420 W. Main Street Madison, IN 47250 (812) 265-2744
Geography:	Indiana-Jefferson County-Madison
Subjects:	People Steamboats Waterfronts

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