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Private company

Robert Kermit Red Star Line

Logo: Germenfer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Transport company1

In 1818 the Red Star Line (also known as Red Star Packet Line, New Line, and Second Line) was founded by Byrnes, Trimble & Co. from New York. (It should not be confused with the same-named Belgian/US-American shipping company Red Star Line, whose main ports of call were New York City and Philadelphia in the United States and Antwerp in Belgium). On September 11, 1835, the line was bought by Robert Kermit from New York, a ship-owner and agent for packet ships, and was renamed Robert Kermits Red Star Line (aka Kermit Line).2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1818Founded1

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In 1818 the Red Star Line (also known as Red Star Packet Line, New Line, and Second Line) was founded by Byrnes, Trimble & Co. from New York. (It should not be confused with the same-named Belgian/US-American shipping company Red Star Line, whose main ports of call were New York City and Philadelphia in the United States and Antwerp in Belgium). On September 11, 1835, the line was bought by Robert Kermit from New York, a ship-owner and agent for packet ships, and was renamed Robert Kermits Red Star Line (aka Kermit Line). In 1851 Robert Kermit took his brother-in-law Charles Carow into partnership as Kermit & Carow to carry on the business of general ship owning, commission and commercial trading. Robert Kermit died in 1855 and Carow assumed the business. In 1867 the Red Star Line went down.2

The story

In August 1817 Thomas S. Byrnes, George T. Trimble and Silas Wood established Byrnes, Trimble & Co. This was some years before the opening of the Erie Canal, when the chief supplies of breadstuffs for this market came from Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the firm, for some years engaged in the Chesapeake trade, was among the largest receivers of flour and grain from there. Silas Wood was by birth a New Yorker but he resided at the city of Fredericksburg upon the Rappahannock River to promote that part of the business. The partners also became owners and managers of several merchant ships, and in late 1818 established the Red Star Line of packet ships.

From Wikipedia’s article on Robert Kermit Red Star Line, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1818Founded Founded1

Sources

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