Captain David Blom

Captain David Blom,, a business man of Holland, Mich., was born in that city, on May 2, 1869, son of Capt. Cornelius B. and Jane (Maries) Blom. His father was an owner and master of lake craft for many years, his last command being the schooner Tempest, and David has been conversant with marine matters from boyhood. After acquiring a liberal public-school education he engaged in gill-net fishing on Maratawa Bay and Lake Michigan, eventually selling his boats and nets to carry on business ashore, which he has conducted with good financial success. He has sailed as boy on the steamer City of Holland, as pilot on the Fanny Schreiber and Henry S. Brown, on Black Lake, and on the east shore of Lake Michigan, as master of the steamyacht Minnie S., which he purchased in the spring of 1898. After some practical experience and much study, Captain Blom went to Grand Haven, Mich., and applied to the United States local inspectors for a license to sail his own steamyacht, the Mamie S. He also had aspirations of becoming a master, in order that he might be competent to take practical charge of either or both ends of his charming yacht, and after solving the problems placed before him relative to the mysteries of marine engineering, he at once set to work to delineate the duties and emergencies of the full-fledged captain, all of which he accomplished to the satisfaction of the powers which preside over papers maritime. Thus at one sitting, or, more accurately speaking, without sleeping, Mr. Blom became possessed of both master's and engineer's papers, a notable achievement in the annals of the inspection service.

Captain Blom was married on November 22, 1890, to Miss Eva Kniffen, daughter of Fred and Fannie Kniffen, of Holland, Mich., and one daughter, Jeanette, has been born to this union. Their home is on West Seventh street, Holland. Socially the Captain is a member of the Order of Elks.

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Volume I

This version of Volume II is based, with permission, on the work of the great volunteers at the Marine Captains Biographies site. To them goes the credit for reorganizing the content into some coherent order. The biographies in the original volume are in essentially random order.

Some of the transcription work was also done by Brendon Baillod, who maintains an excellent guide to Great Lakes Shipwreck Research.