Capt. James B. Symes

Capt. J. B. Symes of the big steamer Seguin, which wintered at Toronto, is one of the most noted of the Prominent Men of the Great Lakes. He was born at Leith, Scotland, in 1837, and was brought to Canada by his parents while yet very young. His education was attended to at Halifax, where they dwelt. Capt. Symes father was a salt-water engineer, who crossed the Atlantic in the first steamers to make the trip. For a few years Capt. Symes bent his energies toward farming, but as he grew to manhood he felt he would rather plough the water than the land. Yielding to that desire, he began sailing in 1855, when seventeen years old, in the schooner Fashion, of Buffalo. In 1865 he commanded the ill-fated Waubuno running between Collingwood,Parry Sound, and Sault Ste. Marie. That year he took an active part in the first election in Algoma, working hard for Reform principles. He conveyed Simon J. Dawson and party on the Waubuno from Collingwood to Prince Arthur's Landing [now Port Arthur] to start the Dawson road to Winnipeg in August, 1866.

The year 1868 found Capt. Symes in command of the steamer Algoma, the original City of Toronto. running between Collingwood and Port Arthur. He was first to take a steamer, the Algoma, up the Nipigon River,Lake Superior, in 1870. He was the recipient of a handsome gold watch and chain from the residents of Silver Islet. The first and last barrel of silver ore from Silver IsletCapt. Symes had the honor to carry. In 1871 he took command of the steamer Manitoba, now the Carmona, and was the first to start the Beatty Line from Sarnia to Fort William and Duluth in 1872.

In 1880 he received a gold watch from the Dominion Government for attempting to save the crew of the schooner Mary and Lucy of Goderich, which was ashore near Southampton on the 6th of September, 1879. He lost two of his crew in the attempt. The boat capsized and he and his crew were two hours and fifteen minutes in the water, hanging to the boat, before she drifted ashore. He took the first steamer, the Manitoba, in 1873, up the far-famed Kaministiquia River at Fort William. He also towed a barge from Sarnia to Fort William with the first two locomotives for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1880. That year he commanded the steamer Northern Belle plying between Collingwood and Parry Sound, and in 1881 he took command of the steambarge Lothair for the Parry Sound Lumber Company, and had an interest in her. In 1884 he was in the steamer Quebec, and in 1886 he had charge of the steamer Roanoke. Then, in 1888, he sailed the steambarge Lothair, and subsequently, in the year 1889, he went into company with Mr. J. B. Miller and Mr. F. B. Polson, of Toronto, and superintended the building of the steamer Seguin at Owen Sound, and has commanded her ever since. He will command her this season.

Among Capt. Symes' narrow escapes was when he almost lost his life at the sinking of the steamer Quebec in the Sault River in 1885.

Capt. Symes was married in 1861 to Miss Margaret J. Campbell in Bruce Township. They have two sons and one daughter alive. One son, Capt. A. Symes, is master of the steamer Cadillac. Another son, Capt. John C. Symes, who sailed the Cadillac for three seasons, died last year.

Capt. Symes' was the first certificate issued by the Association of Canadian Underwriters, which event occurred in 1866. Among his treasures is a letter from General Wolseley, dated July 20, 1870, returning thanks to the captain for forwarding a telegram stating that war had been declared between France and Prussia.

Return to Home Port

The entire file of the Globe and Mail and its predecessors is now online via subscription at Micromedia ProQuest