Captain John Edgington Obit

Ohio River Captain John Edgington is Buried

No source given but was from a scrapbook that contained articles from the Herald-Advertiser and Ironton newspapers

New Richmond, Ohio – Services were scheduled today for Capt. John Emory Edgington, an Ohio River steamboat captain, and tug boat pilot for more than 70 years.

Capt. Edgington, who was skipper of the excursion boat “Avalon” before his retirement 10 years ago, died Monday at the Clinton Memorial Hospital in Wilmington, after a long illness. He was 96.

The Avion, which plied the Ohio River between Pittsburgh and Louisville, was renamed “The Belle of Louisville” after it was acquired by the city of Louisville and Jefferson County, Ky. Capt. Edgington was an honored guest aboard the vessel last summer when the Belle lost to Cincinnati Delta Queen in the annual steamboat race at Louisville.

Burial will be in Neville Cemetery. A native of Manchester, Capt. Edgington had made his home on a farm near Blanchester, in recent years.