Callie Leach French

Callie M. Leach French ("Aunt Callie" 1861–1935) was an American steamboat captain and pilot. For much of her career as a captain, she worked with her husband, towing showboats along the Ohio, Monogahela and Mississippi Rivers. She played the calliope, cooked, sewed, and wrote jokes for the showboat theater. She never had an accident in her career and was the first woman to hold a masters and pilot's license for a steamboat.

Biography French was born in Jackson County or Jefferson County, Ohio and lived in Cincinnati. French married Captain Augustus Byron French in 1878. He taught Callie to pilot and suggested that she should pursue her pilot's license in New Orleans, where she earned a first class license in 1888. It also helped save the couple money. In April 1890 she earned pilot's license for the Ohio and Monogahela Rivers. French's New Sensation showboat, owned by A.B. French and Callie French. French's steamboat was called the Mary Stuart and it towed a houseboat named the Sensation which had a theater which could seat 600 people. Shows such as melodramas typical of the day were performed in the theater and French wrote jokes for shows as well. The boat also had a calliope which could be heard from the river with French playing it to attract customers. She cooked, sewed and acted as a nurse when necessary. French continued to travel on the river until 1907, then sold out her share and retired to Alabama. She never had an accident or lost a boat. She died in 1935 and was buried in the Columbia Cemetery. In 1991 French was inducted into the National Maritime Hall of Fame. French was inducted into the National Rivers Hall of Fame in 2001.