Harvey Depuy

Harvey Depuy, a marine engineer of good report, is a son of Reuben and Margaret (Brown) Depuy, and was born July 8, 1860, in Bloomer township, Montcalm Co., Mich., where his parents had located about the year 1855. In 1862 his father enlisted in a Michigan regiment to serve during the Civil war, but he contracted a fever in the South and died the following year, leaving a widow and four children. The eldest, Elias, is now living on a farm in Gratiot county, Mich.; George, the second, was engineer of the steamer Flint and Pere Marquette during the season of 1897; Julia is the wife of Jehial Wood.

Harvey Depuy, the third son, attended the public or district schools of his native place until he reached the age of seventeen years, and assisted in the farm work until 1882, when he shipped as fireman on the steamer Michigan. Following this he served a season on the Flint and Pere Marquette No. 2, and on the steamer Rube Richards as fireman. In the spring of 1855 he went as oiler on the steamer Milwaukee, and the next season, having secured engineer's license, was appointed second engineer of the Roanoke, holding that berth three seasons. In the spring of 1889 he entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Transportation Company as second engineer of the steel steamer Cayuga, and was in her when she was driven on Horse Shoe reef, broke her wheel, several frames and one or two plates. Before she was released he shipped as second engineer on the Araxes, which went on the rocks at Point aux Barques and was eventually taken to the boneyard at Saginaw. The crew were rescued by the life- savers stationed near the Point. Mr. Depuy then shipped as second in the steamer E. P. Wilbur, closing the season without further mishap. In the spring of 1891 he became second engineer of the steamer Osceola. That winter, in January, the Osceola was run from Port Huron to Frankfort, and on entering that port she struck on a bar, breaking off her steam-pipe and tearing away the stanchions in such a manner that the escaping steam filled the chief engineer's room, scalding him so severely that he died a few hours after. Mr. Depuy had a narrow escape on account of the breaking of the cylinder head. He held the berth of second engineer on the Osceola until the season of 1893, when he was appointed chief. The next season he was appointed second in the steamer Newaygo, and the succeeding season served in the same capacity in the Madagascar. In the spring of 1896 he was appointed chief engineer of the steamer Pawnee, owned by H. McMoran, of Port Huron, which he ran three seasons.

On June 28, 1893, Mr. Depuy wedded Miss Mary A., daughter of John and Julia Connors, of Port Huron. Two children have been born to this union: Julia Ethel and William H. The family home is at No. 319 Butler street, Port Huron, Mich. Mr. Depuy is a prominent member of the M. E. B. A., of which he is now serving as chaplain; previous to his election to that office he was conductor. He also belongs to the C. M. B. A.

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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.