Captain A. McKenzie
Captain A. McKenzie was born at London, Ontario, July 16, 1844, and lived at that place until he was twelve years of age, when he came with his parents to Sanilac county, Mich. His paternal grandfather, Andrew McKenzie, was a surgeon in the British army and later a merchant of Manchester, England, and the same relative on his mother's side, Edward Carney, was a surveyor employed by the British Government to survey the Canadian country between Niagara and the lower end of Lake Huron, for which service he was granted seven hundred acres of land. John and Mary (Carney) McKenzie, the Captain's parents, were natives of Scotland and New York State, respectively. The father spent the greater part of his life in farming; he died in May, 1889, survived by his wife, who passed away in April, 1892.
Having no desire to follow the occupation to which his father had devoted his life, Andrew McKenzie decided to be a sailor, and beginning that career at age of fourteen years he shipped on the Avenger, as boy. The following season he acted as able seaman on the Harwich, afterward serving one season in the same capacity on the Falcon. The next year he was master of the New York, and after one year as mate on the Coleman was put in command, continuing thus for two years. In 1866 he bought the Malisa, and sailed her two years, soon after coming to Detroit, where he entered the employ of the Western Transportation & Coal Co., with whom he remained seven years. He then shipped on the schooner Clement, and after one season in command of that boat left the water for some time, returning in 1892, when he took command of the lighter Gray Oak, at Duluth, for the Western Transportation Company. In 1893 he came to the Bay City, of which he has since been in command, looking after the repairs in the winter season.
On December 25, 1864, Captain McKenzie was married to Miss Mary L. Ashley, of Lexington, Mich. Their children are: Florence, who is married to H. W. Belville, a marine man, and lives in Detroit; Nellie, who is married to Capt. H. W. Baker, and also resides in Detroit; Alice, wife of Edward LaPine, of Detroit; and Grace, who is married to Andrew Zimmerman, and resides in Marshall, Michigan.
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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.
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