Captain Thomas Slattery

Captain Thomas Slattery, master of the steamer Commodore, of the Western Transit line, for the seasons of 1897 and '98, has not been in the lake service many years, but during his time has proved himself to be a capable seaman. He was born August 8, 1864, at Prescott, Ontario, and is a son of Thomas and Honora (Kelley) Slattery, the former a native of Tipperary, Ireland, and by occupation a laborer. The other children in the family are named as follows: Bridget, James, Mary and Katherine, all residents of Prescott but the last named who is now deceased.

Captain Slattery has a good clean record, as the following facts will show. At the age of twenty-one he shipped out of Ogdensburg in the fall of the year, as deckhand on the steamer Pacific of the Central Vermont line. After three months he changed to watchman of the Otego for a month, and then went as deckhand of the steamer B.W. Blanchard of the same line. On July 6, 1887, he transferred to the Simon Langell as watchman, then to the Russia as wheelsman, and closed the season as wheelsman of the Gordon Campbell. The next season he wheeled the Cuba the first thirteen trips, changing to the Arabia, of the Western Transit line, which he wheeled the remainder of the season. The first fourteen trips of the steamer New York for the season of 1889 he was her wheelsman, and closed the season in the same berth in the Chicago, which he also filled during that of 1890. For the season of 1891 he was wheelsman of the Boston, and during the season of 1892 he was wheelsman of the Commodore until September 15, when he was promoted to second mate filling same continuously until the end of her first trip in the season of 1894, at which time he was again promoted, this time to mate. The latter berth he filled continuously until July 15, 1896, when he was given command of the Commodore, remaining her master until the close of that season, and at the beginning of 1897 he received his appointment to continue as such.

Captain Slattery was married at Buffalo, in 1894, to Miss Bridget Norton, by whom he has two chided, Mary and James. The family reside at No. 183 Orlando street, Buffalo, New York.

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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.