The Warsaw, the Gladys and the A.C. Jaynes: Ferry service in Cape Girardeau

The death certificate of Alvin Charles Jaynes lists his occupation as "retired farmer." Likewise, his son Roy A. Jaynes' certificate says he was a farmer and stock dealer. A second son, Finis Jaynes, was a self-employed refrigerator repairman.

But those familiar with Cape Girardeau's history know these men for a much different occupation. They were river men who ran the ferry between Cape Girardeau and the Illinois shore for almost 30 years.

A.C. Jaynes' got into the ferry business here around 1907, purchasing the ferryboat City of Warsaw from Capt. J.M. Craig. I'm not sure how long Craig operated the transport here, but around about 1906 he asked the Cape Girardeau City Council and merchants to allow him to charge larger fares for his services. After more than a year of waiting for the raise, Craig had enough and sold out to Jaynes.

I haven't been able to find a photo of the Warsaw, perhaps because its tenure here was brief. In December 1909 the vessel was ripped from its moorings by ice. It ended up lodged against rocks and a sandbar at Commerce, Missouri. Attempts to retrieve the boat failed, and it sank.

Taking up the slack until a new ferry could be secured was a gasoline-powered boat owned by E.M. Hobbs, the Lorena Booth. The L.B. served until Jaynes' new boat, the Gladys -- named for his daughter -- arrived in February 1911. That boat, in turn, was replaced in 1925 by the A.C. Jaynes.

(The ferryboat Gladys.)

Jaynes and his sons apparently offered good service to the people of Cape Girardeau and Southern Illinois. In 1923 a man named J.L. Clifton attempted to force the City Council here to grant him a license to operate a ferry, even threatening to take the city to court if it didn't agree to his demands. But in the end, the council supported the Jaynes' operation. A seven-year franchise was adopted by the council in 1926. The franchise included an agreement that the ferry would make a round trip over the river each hour, operating from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. from March 1 to Nov. 1, and from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Nov. 1 to March 1.

The franchise also included a new rate schedule:

Auto and driver, $1.25

1-ton truck, $1.50

1 1/2 & 2-ton truck, $2.50

3 to 5-ton truck, $4

Tractors, $2.50

4-horse wagon, $2

2-horse wagon, $1.50

Market wagon, $1

Hay wagon, $1.25

Lumber wagon, $1.25

The day after the council and Jaynes came to this agreement, President Calvin Coolidge signed a measure authorizing the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Inc., to construct and operate a bridge over the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau. The opening of that bridge two years later spelled the end of ferry service here. Twenty-one days after traffic began moving across the new bridge, the ferry stopped running. A story in the Southeast Missourian that day gives a good history of the business.

(The ferryboat A.C. Jaynes.)

Alvin Charles Jaynes died at a St. Louis hospital on Oct. 15, 1933, at age 79. His obituary notes that, after working as a farmer, a real estate agent, a farm manager, and a teacher, "he went into the ferry business, which he carried on until 1928, when the bridge was erected across the Mississippi River... He was a familiar figure on the river and in later years was assisted in the ferry enterprise by his sons, Roy and Finis. After closing out the ferry business, he retired."

He was survived by a daughter, Mrs. A.C. Elkins, and three sons, Roy, Finis and Alvin. His wife, the former Sarah Rice, preceded him in death in 1930.

Roy Jaynes died in 1941 and Finis Jaynes in 1956.