Captain Joseph Doville

Captain Joseph Doville, of Cleveland, was born in Big Sodus, Wayne county, N.Y., in 1842, and acquired his education there. He was one of a large family, having seven brothers and three sisters, all of whom were born and reared in Big Sodus. The brothers all became sailors, masters and vessel owners.

At the age of thirteen Captain Doville, of this sketch, commenced his career on the Great Lakes, and worked his way steadily upward. In 1859 he was second mate on the schooner S.B. Pomeroy, and the following year was promoted to the position of chief mate, and served in that capacity until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he joined the Union forces as a member of Company G, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, at Chicago. He re-enlisted in 1863 and served throughout the war. He was transferred to the United States navy November 15, 1864, and continued in that department, serving on the Mississippi river until honorably discharged in 1865.

Returning to Ohio, Captain Doville resumed his labors on the lakes. He built a tug at Vermilion named the Ceylon, on which he himself worked daily, and also bought an interest in the schooner Hunter, built by his father and brother in 1863. In 1866 he purchased a small schooner which he sailed for some time, when he sold her to other parties. From this time on Captain Doville was master and owner of several vessels and continued to sail on the lakes until 1889, when he entered the vessel brokerage business, opening an office in Cleveland, and later on retired from business to settle on a farm which he purchased at Jefferson, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, where he expects to end his days.

In the year 1866 the Captain was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Miles, of Vermilion, Ohio, and to them have been born three children, two sons and a daughter: Henry C., Mary Lucille and Francis J. The family reside at No. 248 Waverly avenue, Cleveland, and attend the Congregational Church.

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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.