Captain John Radigan

Captain John Radigan, master of the tow barge J. R. Edwards, is one of a family of ten children, four of whom are sailors. He is the son of James and Mary (McCormick) Radigan, the former a farmer at Marysville, on the St. Clair river, where John was raised and went to school, and where his mother still resides.

Our subject was born in 1844 at London, Canada, where he lived with his parents until about five years of age. At the age of fifteen he began life on the lakes as deckhand on the old propeller Globe, remaining on her two seasons, and then for the same period was before the mast on the schooner John Rice. Later he was in the same capacity on the schooners City of Tawas and Otter. His first experience on a steam- boat was as lookout on the steambarge Celina, for one season. For different seasons since in his career he has filled mate's berth in the following named vessels; scows - Medora and D. G. Williams; schooners - Margaret R. Groff, Home of Port Huron, Jupiter, Mattie C. Bell, Rose Sunsmith and Racine. Those of which he has been master are the Mary Stockton, Yankee, Constitution, A. T. Bloss, Michigan, Bahama and Jr. R. Edwards, of which latter he has been in command since the beginning of the season of 1893. She is owned by the Pewanee Boat Company, of Port Huron, and is one of the consorts of the barge Pewanee, the others being the Orton and William A. Young, also owned by the same company.

Captain Radigan has encountered the usual experience of a life on the lakes, but he has had very little trouble in the way of mishaps. Only once has he gone ashore, that being when he was master of the Bahama; she went ashore in a gale at Kincardine, Ont., but was raised the spring following. While in the Constitution an accident occurred at Dollar bay, while they were unloading coal, a coal handler being struck by a swinging bucket and knocked from a platform to the vessel's deck, being killed instantly. This was the only death that took place while Captain Radigan was master of a vessel.

Captain Radigan was married in 1879 to Miss Belinda Strong, by whom he has had three children: John Roy, William and Belinda. They reside at No. 381 Niagara street, Tonawanda, New York.

Return to Home Port

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.