Captain C. H. Wallace

Captain C.H. Wallace attained to the command of a steamboat when comparatively a young man, rising rapidly and filling every position on shipboard from that of second cook, and he has been master of many good vessels, giving universal satisfaction. Although he has but recently become a citizen of Chicago he has gained for himself many stanch friends in his new field of labor, as agent for the Youghiogheny & Lehigh Coal Company.

Captain Wallace is a native of Oswego, N.Y., born January 7, 1861, and is a son of Samuel E. and Maria (Palmer) Wallace, the former of whom was born in Scotland August 2, 1828, and on coming to the United States located in Oswego; the mother was born in Watertown, N.Y., a daughter Tyler Palmer, and sister of Capt. J.H. Palmer, a ship broker of Cleveland. Samuel E. Wallace, who was a reliable navigator, sailed on the ocean for many years and was also master and owner of several lake craft, among those he commanded being the schooners Grace Murray, Dolphin, George Steel, Saxon, J.B. Penfield, the bark Dreadnaught and the brig Seminole. At the commencement of hostilities between the North and South he enlisted in the navy, his ship doing duty on the coast with the blockading squadron. Soon after the close of the struggle he removed his family to Cleveland, Ohio, where he now lives, retired from active business.

C.H. Wallace accompanied his parents on their removal to Cleveland in 1868, acquiring his education in the public schools of that city. Like his father, he took to marine life when quite young, being only twelve years of age when given his first berth - second cook in the steamer Cormorant. It is thought that he did not possess the necessary qualifications demanded in the culinary department, as he made but one trip with the skipper of that boat. He is next found on the steamer Horace B. Tuttle, with Capt. Smith Moore, and in the spring of 1874 he shipped with Capt. Charles Hearness, before the mast in the schooner J.R. Pelton. The next spring he came out as boy in the schooner Emma C. Hutchinson with Captain Mullen, joining her again the year following, but closing the second season in the schooner Frank Perew, with Capt. John Lowe. In 1877 he shipped before the mast in the schooner William Grandy, and in 1878 in the Bolivia, of Oswego, but closed that season in the William Grandy. In the spring of 1879 he shipped in the schooner Bolivia, and leaving her in October entered the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company as brakeman, following that occupation during the winter months for the next ten years. In the spring of 1880 Captain Wallace entered the employ of J.H. Palmer and remained with him fourteen seasons, his first berth being that of second mate with Captain Davis in the schooner John O'Neil, in which boat he went as mate the next season. In 1882 he was appointed mate of the schooner Lucerne, and in 1883 of the schooner John O'Neil. In the spring of 1884 he was promoted to the command of the schooner C.H. Johnson, sailing her two seasons, and in 1886 transferring to the schooner Brunette as master. Two years later he received his first steamboat appointment, the command of the W.L. Wetmore, which he sailed six consecutive seasons, always with good results. His next boat was the fine steamer George Presley, which he sailed two seasons. It was in the spring of 1896 that he went to Chicago as agent for the O.S. Richardson Fuel Company, and the following year he was made agent for the Independent Fuel Company, which discontinued business, however, on May 1. The Captain then accepted the appointment of master of the steamer F. & P.M. No. 2, sailing her until the close of the season. In the spring of 1898 he entered the employ of the Youghiogheny & Lehigh Coal Company, also doing business in Chicago, as agent.

On March 12, 1888, Captain Wallace married Miss Clara Cooper, daughter of F.W. and Dorothy Cooper, of Cleveland, and they have two children: Meta Gertrude and Kenneth Eugene, both attending school in Chicago. The family reside at No. 574 Fullerton avenue, that city. Socially the Captain is a member of Erie Lodge No. 27, I.O.O.F., Pearl Tent, K.O.T.M., and the Ship Masters Association (holding Pennant No. 294), all of Cleveland.

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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.