J.O. Snyder

J.O. Snyder, of Detroit, Mich., at present employed in fitting out boats for the well-known vessel firm of Parker, Millen & Co., of that city, was born in Bavaria, Germany, in the year 1850. Mr. Snyder was raised and educated in his native place, and when he first started to work went to sea on the North German Lloyd steamer city of Bremen. He was firing on the Bremen for eighteen months, and then left the sea for the Great Lakes. He lived for several years in Clayton, N.Y., and while there became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Mr. Snyder's first season on the lakes, that of 1870, was spent on the Lake Ontario tug Nelson Summer, on which he was employed as fireman. He then entered the government service, and for three years was firing on the United States survey boat Ada. Leaving government employ. He was engaged by the Detroit, Belle Isle & Windsor Ferry Co. as second engineer of their new ferryboat Excelsior. On her he remained two years, and then went on the steambarge Alpena as second engineer during the next season. He was also second engineer of the steambarge Alcona for two seasons, and left to be chief engineer of the steamer Germania, owned by McClaren & Co., of Toledo. He was on the Germania two years, and then returned to the Alcona as chief, in which capacity he served four consecutive years. He then entered the employ of Parker, Millen & Co., and has been with them the past nine years or so. During his first season with that firm he was chief engineer of the Iron Chief, and for the four following seasons was chief of the Iron King. During the last four years he has been engaged in repairing and fitting out boats.

Mr. Snyder is married, but has no children. He has been a resident of Detroit for the past nineteen years.

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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.