Captain Henry Harris

Captain Henry Harris was born at Henderson, N. Y., and there received a common-school education. His father, Hiram Harris, was a pioneer of that place, where he had lived from the age of three years, coming from Vermont, in which State the family had lived for over a hundred years. The journey was made in a wagon drawn by oxen, and through sixty miles of the wilderness they had nothing to guide them but blazed trees. The grandfather, Caleb Harris, was born in Vermont served in the war of 1812, from which he came uninjured; he lived to be ninety-six years old.

Captain Harris went on the lakes in the spring of 1854 aboard the Trade Wind, as boy. He only remained on her one season, going next to the Chieftain as seaman, and for some years following he was man-before-the-mast on boats leaving Oswego, N. Y. In 1858 he was mate on the Daniel Webster, and in 1859 on the Troy, at the close of his service on this boat leaving the lakes and living on a farm till 1864. When he resumed sailing he went on the S. C. Lumgeford [sic] as mate, and the following season serving in the same capacity on the C. G. Mixer, later shipping in the Dashing Wave, Czar, Itasca, Hallaran and Newburgh. In 1870 he engaged as mate on the steamer D. M. Wilson, of which he was master for two seasons following. For the next five years he remained ashore, engaged in farming, and then returning to the lakes took command of the Minnehaha, on which he remained one season, during which he was shipwrecked on Lake Huron. In 1883 he again left the water, returning in 1891 as mate of the steamer Pioneer. In 1892 he took the Fontana, which he has since commanded.

On August 28, 1854, Captain Harris was married to Miss Louise Nutting, who died August 28, 1889. She had three brothers, Harrison, Alonzo and Simeon Nutting, who were all sailors on the Great Lakes. On April 13, 1893, our subject was married to Margaret Kelsey. He is the father of six children; Ellen, the wife of Henry Fuller; Henry, Jr., married to Ellen Lane; Jay, married to Carrie Place; Nora, Mrs. L. Filhart; Hally; Mrs. George Jenkins; and Linda, unmarried, who resides at home with her father. Henry has been on the lakes for six years, and is at present master of Barge No. 101. In 1872 Captain Harris removed to Woodville, N. Y., where he has lived ever since.

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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.