Henry Bullard

Henry Bullard, son of Joseph and Agnes Bullard, was born in 1856, in Toronto, Ontario, and removed with his parents to Buffalo in 1861. His father was a volunteer during the Civil war, enlisting at Buffalo in 1861 in a New York regiment, and serving four years. He took an honorable part in all the battles in which his regiment was engaged, including the great and hotly contested struggles at Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Petersburg. His brother was also a member of the same regiment.

The subject of this sketch, after receiving a fair public-school education, traveled to some extent in the West, passing through Kansas, Omaha (Neb.) and Colorado, and locating in a hunting camp near Dodge City. He enjoyed all the pleasures of the life of a hunter for a number of years, and on his return to Buffalo shipped with Captain Pratt on the propeller Waverly as porter for the season. In the spring of 1880 he shipped as watch on the steamer Starrucca; in 1881-82 was fireman for engineer Beatty on the tug Compound; in 1883 was fireman on the A.J. Wright, and in the spring of 1884 was appointed engineer on the steamyacht Baby, finishing that season and going the next one on the tug Mary E. Pierce as chief engineer, with Capt. P. Linn. In 1886 he engineered the tug Lorenzo Dimick with Capt. J. McDowell, and shipped on the same tug the following season with Capt. James Doyle. In the fall the steamer Avon was outside in a storm, dragging her anchor and in danger of becoming a total loss; the Dimick ran out to her and got the line aboard, which parted three times, yet the tug succeeded in getting her under the breakwater, where she went ashore. Mr. Bullard finished the season on the steamer Siberia, and in the winter was appointed engineer and janitor of the public-school building on Delaware avenue, where he remained until the spring of 1887, at that time being appointed engineer of the steamer Hecla for the season. That winter he again took charge of the Delaware avenue school building. In 1889 he entered the employ of John Johnson's Tug line, and took the John Johnson as chief engineer, holding that berth three seasons. In 1892 he had charge of the tug Townsend Davis until May, and finished the season in the Gazelle. In 1893 he went to Toledo and engaged in the fruit business. The following season he went as chief engineer of the tug John Johnson, remaining on her until May, when he took the excursion steamer Gazelle, and finished the year in the Johnson. In 1895 he shipped in the tug Conneaut, until the excursion season opened, then went in the Gazelle, and finished the year in the tug; and in 1896 he opened the season in the tug Townsend Davis, again engineered the Gazelle through the excursion season, and finished in the tug Davis.

Mr. Bullard has nineteen issues of license. During the winter months he usually works in the shops, and has been employed at Mr. Trout's shop, putting machinery up for the steamer J.H. Jewett. He also worked for Mr. Whitman two winters, and in Howard & Robert's shop, chipping and caulking boilers. During the winter of 1896-97, he worked for Capt. William Smith, overhauling the pumps and steam windlass on his steamboat. Mr. Bullard has been a member of the Select Knights seven years, and is a Knight of Pythias. He is married and has two sons, William Edward and Joseph Francis.

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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.