Edgar C. Lewin

Edgar C. Lewin, of Detroit, Mich., was born in Fall River, Mass., in the year 1844, and moved to Detroit when quite young. He went on the lakes after leaving school, beginning as fireman on the tug George B. McClellan, then owned by Hunter, Wilcox & Trowbridge, on which he was engaged one season, and the following year he fired on the steamer Sheridan. He then enlisted in the regular army and went West for seven years, at the end of that time returning to the lakes. He served a season on the P. H. Birckhead as second engineer, and another season in the same capacity on the steam barge Tempest, after which he fitted out the steam barge Bessie, in which he remained for one season as chief engineer, the following year shipping on the steam barge Ruby, where he remained four years, the first two as second engineer, and the last two as chief. After leaving the Ruby he became chief engineer of the steam barge Marsh, which was chartered in the lighthouse service, and he was on this boat when the Cleveland lighthouse was removed from the piers to the crib on the breakwater. Later Mr. Lewin was chief of the steambarges Shephard and Mary Pringle, one season each, and he then went to Chicago, where he served as chief during one year on the tugs Hood and Protection. He started the following season on the Protection and then returned to Detroit to take the position of chief engineer of the tug Carrington. Mr. Lewin left the lakes in 1890, and for two years was engaged in hoisting stone for the Hammond & Hudson buildings in Detroit, in 1892 becoming chief engineer for the Gaylord Iron Company, where he is still retained. Mr. Lewis is married and has two sons: John and William.

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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.