H. Jaenke

H. Jaenke was born in Namslau, Germany, November 20, 1862, son of William and Caroline (Ossig) Jaenke, the former of whom was an officer in the German army, and soon after the birth of our subject the family removed to Breslau, where the father was stationed. He died in 1876. There were seven children in the family, all of whom are living; two are in America - Charles, who acted as watchman on the Grecian in 1896, and Herman, whose name introduces these lines.

Mr. Jaenke came to America in 1882 and settled first in Buffalo, N. Y., from this port shipping on the Wallula as deck hand, and there remaining one season, also keeping ship at Chicago during the winter. The following season he acted as watchman on the same boat with Captain Morton, afterward serving in the Sitka under the same command and the command of Captain Carlyle. A part of the next season he acted as second mate on the Saxton, which was new, and finished the year on the Roman, also new, with Captain Chapman. Going to Sault Ste. Marie he ran a lighter for some time, and afterward came to the Briton with Captain Gotham, at first holding second mate's berth. With Captain McDonald he then served on the Aurora as second mate, and in 1895 was given the position of mate on the Norman, which was lost on Lake Huron. The remainder of that season he spent on the Charles A. Eddy as mate, and in 1896 came on the Briton in that capacity; this boat being laid up early he finished the season on the W. D. Rees. Mr. Jaenke is a young man who holds a high place in the confidence of his employers, and he has been attended thus far with great success in his marine life. He is unmarried.

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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.