Captain William O. Zealand

Our subject is descended from a family of sailors. His father was on the lakes for many years, and with him Capt. William O. Zealand began his marine life at the age of seventeen years, having been born at Hamilton, Ont., April 6, 1860. He first went on the Zealand, a boat owned and commanded by his father, and here remained in the capacity as watchman for three years. At the end of that time he came off the water and engaged in the hardware business for several years. In leaving the boat when he did he escaped the accident in which his father met his death.

He went to Dakota, and was there engaged in the hardware business for some time, and returning home in 1884, he went on the St. Magnus as purser and remained one season, serving the latter part of that time as mate.

For the next five years following he was employed on the Canada as clerk, second mate and mate. He then sailed the Steinhof, and for the four following years was in command of the Mazeppa, Macassa and Modjeska. The Modjeska was built in Scotland, and ran on Lake Ontario.

Captain Zealand is a single man, and a member of the Masonic order, Scottish Rite, and of the Knights of Pythias. During the season of 1897 he sailed the steamer Lake Michigan on the route between Montreal and Duluth, and officiated as captain of the Lake Michigan during the season of 1898.

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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.