Captain Joseph Lampoh

Among the young shipmasters sailing on the Great Lakes few have made a more enviable record than Capt. Joseph Lampoh, of Cleveland, who has been master of steamer and sailing crafts for ten years. He was born in Cleveland, in 1860, his father being Capt. Stephen Lampoh, who sailed vessels belonging to the Bradley fleet for twenty-six years.

Joseph Lampoh began sailing at the age of fourteen years, going with his father on the schooner Fayette Brown. He remained on this vessel two seasons, and then sailed as seaman before the mast on the schooner Alva Bradley, which was also commanded by his father. During the next four years he was engaged on various boats of the Bradley fleet, among them being the schooners Ahira Cobb, S.J. Tilden, Sandusky, J.R. Pelton, Negaunee, and the steamer Superior. During the season 1880 he was mate of the schooner Alva Bradley, with his father, and 1881 was mate of the schooner Escanaba. He was second mate of the steamer Selah Chamberlin, the following season, and a year later mate of the schooner Fayette Brown with Capt. Fred Green. In 1884 he was mate of the schooner John N. Martin, and the next season master of the schooner David Wagstaff. He commanded his first vessel in 1886, in that year becoming master of the schooner H.J. Webb, and the following season was master of the schooner M.E. Tremble. In 1889 he was mate of the steamer Colgate Hoyt, and master of a little steamer called J.C. Liken, and which was lost in that year off Spectacle Reef in Lake Huron. Then Captain Lampoh was given command of the schooner Sophia Minch, which he sailed for four years, in 1894 being made master of the steamer Everett for one year, then the John Glidden, which he sailed until navigation closed in 1896, and the season of 1898 found him in a position on the steamer Onoko of the Minch fleet.

On January 23, 1882, Captain Lampoh was married to Miss Effie Clement, of Brunswick, Ohio, and they have one child, Caddie M.

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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.