John Kelly

John Kelly, who at the present time holds the position of second engineer on the ferry Excelsior, of the Detroit, Belle Isle & Windsor Ferry Co., is the son of Patrick and Kate (McGregan) Kelly, both of whom were natives of Ireland. He was born January 11, 1867, at Downpatrick, Ireland, and lived at that place until he reached his sixteenth year, when he came to America, settling in Detroit, Mich., where he has had his home for the most part since. Soon after his arrival in this country he determined to follow the occupation of sailor, and accordingly fitted himself for that life, first shipping on the Sappho, owned by Walker & Son, upon which boat he remained two seasons as fireman. He then served in the T. S. Christy in the same capacity one season, and spent the following season on the John Owen as second engineer, since which time he has been engaged by the ferry company. His first season in their employ was spent as second engineer on the Excelsior, from which he came to the Promise and then returned to the Excelsior in the position which he still holds.

Mr. Kelly was married, January 24, 1888, to Mary A. McArdle, of Windsor, and they have three children: Maggie, Francis and Joseph, the eldest of whom is now in school.

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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.