Edward Trombley

Edward Trombley, marine engineer of Detroit, Mich., was born in that city in the year 1854 and has always lived there. He first went on the lakes as assistant cook on the old Evergreen City, which he left after about four months service. The next season he went as deckhand on the steambarge Superior, under Captain Desmond, and while on this boat he recovered a pocket-book containing thirteen hundred dollars which had accidentally dropped overboard. Mr. Trombley was engaged in sailing, wheeling, and firing on various boats until 1881, in which year he secured engineer's papers and went as chief of the steamer Glance. He then went to Chicago, where he was employed for three years on different tugs, principally the W.H. Wolf, the Moser, the Van Schaick, the J.L. Minor and the Hood. Returning to Detroit he sailed six years for Ruelle, the Detroit tug owner, on the J.L. Minor, Old Jack, Resolute, Carrington and C.A. Lorman, and he was afterward on the I.U. Masters, tug Swain, and for two seasons on the Salina. During part of the season of 1891, after leaving Ruelle's employ, Mr. Trombley ran the tug Joseph D. Dudley, owned by Benham, of Cleveland, which was almost lost in a disastrous storm on Lake Erie that fall. The towbarge Sawyer broke away and was totally wrecked, and the Dudley barely reached the harbor. Mr. Trombley was afterward second engineer for a season on the steamer Raleigh, in 1894 was second on the propeller Progress, and during the season of 1896 ran the tug Washburn for J. & T. Hurley, of Detroit, until August 4, when he transferred to the tug Maxwell A., continuing on her until January, 1897.

Mr. Trombley has been twice married. He is a member of Detroit Branch No. 3, Marine Engineers Beneficial Association.

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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.