Great Lakes of North America

[TropiConsul]

http://www.wmhs.org/html/gene.html

The Wisconsin Marine Historical Society (WMHS) and Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) Great Lakes historical collections contain materials that may be of help to those doing marine genealogical research. We have facilities to search for owners, ship builders, masters, captains, engineers, etc. of Great Lake vessels. Unfortunately our files only contain information on passengers and crew if they were on a vessel involved in a reported incident (sinking, stranding, rescue, etc.) or event. We suggest that you first utilize the available and existing genealogical resources to begin your search. We have listed a number of links to general and Great Lakes genealogical web sites that we hope will be of help. Once you determine your relative sailed on the Great Lakes (in one of the capacities listed above) we can then look in our collection that may contain information to verify or aid in your search. If you have the name of a vessel they sailed on, we may have more information or a photo of that vessel.

[yn9man]

Just looked at your website. Seems quite extensive. One question ...

Do the Great Lakes Historical collections contain information on individual Shipping Companies?

Thanks

yn9man

[TropiConsul]

Check out http://links.boatnerd.com/

[amazon510]

Hi,

My great-grandfather is supposed to have sailed on the Great Lakes.  I don't know for sure but I imagine he was only an able-bodied seaman or possibly a ship's carpenter.  I don't have the names of any ship or ships.  Timeframe would be sometime between 1901 and 1908.  In 1908 he married and settled in Boston, but he met his wife while in Port in New Orleans.  Most likely time he was on the Great Lakes is I'm guessing 1902-1907.

I read the "key facts" for a search on your website - what do you think, do I have enough info to possibly request a search, or do I need more?

Thanks,

Jennifer.

[yn9man]

TropiConsul -

Thanks for your prompt reply to my post. I just took a quick look at the new web address you provided. LOTS of interesting information.  Another site to spend time on ...

Thanks again.

yn9man

[TropiConsul]

I am not an authority on the Great Lakes region, but I like to highlight websites that have proven useful in my research of the area.  The last memory I have of the region was in the 1980's when I met my parents and grandmother in Huron township, Ohio and assisted in the sale and conveyance of her farm to the new owners.   The farmstead had been in our family since the early 1800's.  That makes us among the earliest settlers of the Firelands.  My grandmother's older half-brother, Howard Freeman Sprague was a noted marine artist of the Great Lakes and Spanish-American War.  You will find his works documented by the Smithsonian and other sources such as:

 "Artists in Ohio, 1797-1900" by Mary Sayre Haverstock and others-
http://books.google.com/
 Howard Freeman Sprague- "Marine painter, draftsman, and illustrator specializing in portraits of Great Lakes and other deepwater steamships.  Born in Huron (Erie), January 16, 1871, he was descended from Jonathan Sprague, who had helped to build merchant schooners on the Huron River early in the century.  The younger Sprague painted in the busy port of Cleveland (Cuyahoga) during the early 1890s, them moved to Duluth, Minnesota, where he drew commercial illustrations for the American Barge Company, shppers of iron ore.  He is known to have then worked briefly in Detroint before accepting an illustrating assignment for Century magazine during the Spanish American War.  These illustrations, including some of the ill-fated Maine, appeared in the Century in October and December 1898 and March and May 1899.  On May 15, 1899, Sprague died of tuberculosis in New York City."

Good luck with your inquiries.

[yn9man]

TropiConsul -

I am not an expert on the Great Lakes area / region either.  I recently found some information about my maternal great grandfather that led me your post.

He was a chef / steward for the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company in the early 1900s.  (I have had a difficult time in locating historical information about D & C Navigation).  His body was found floating in the Niagara River in December 1924.  Not known if he fell off a ship, just fell into the river or was mugged.  My grandmother saved a news article about finding his body in the river.   

Thanks again for your prompt responses. Good luck in your family research.

yn9man

[TropiConsul]

Do you have his death certificate?  That should be easy to locate if you know the competent jurisdiction or authority.

[yn9man]

TropiConsul -

No, I haven't been able to locate any death certificate yet.  Cemetery information was also incomplete.

yn9man