Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013,
                           All Rights Reserved
                          U.S. Data Repository

    Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page:
                <http://www.us-data.org/fineprint.html>

Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott
for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/
=========================================================================
U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced
in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization.
Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain
the consent of the transcriber prior to use.
Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so.
=========================================================================
Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott
All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded.
===========================================================================
History of the Great Lakes
Illustrated, In Two Volumes, Vol. II
Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co., 1899

  -73-

        Capt. JOHN M. TWITCHELL is one of the most prominent masters of
     passenger steamers sailing out of Chicago, and it is exceedingly
     rare to find a master mariner who has been shipmate with so few
     vessels. He has had twenty-six years' experience and is now, and has
     been for the last ten years, master of the second steamer in which he
     ever sailed. He is acknowledged to be one of the best Lake Superior
     pilots, and has universally met with good results in all of his
     passages between Duluth and Chicago. He is thoroughly conversant with
     the operation and product of the Lake Superior copper mines, the
     working of which he describes in an entertaining manner. He has
     carried thousands of tons of this copper in barrels, billets, ingots,
     pigs, and in bulk from Hancock and Portage Lake to Chicago; also
     manufactured copper in fine wire, plate copper, boiler bottoms, etc.
     Last season when the remains of the steamer Pewaubic were discovered,
     he got a piece of pure copper taken from the wreck which he preserves
     as a relic.
        Captain TWITCHELL was born in Pulaski, Oswego Co., N. Y. , October
     17, 1850, a son of HORACE and ELMIRA (BALSLEY) TWITCHELL, also natives
     of Pulaski. His paternal grandparents, LUTHER and PERSIS (PERCEY)
     TWITCHELL, were both natives of Vermont, while his maternal grand-
     parents, NICHOLAS and RANDY BALSLEY, were natives of that county, but
     of German and Scotch descent respectively. Our subject's father was a
     lake pilot, for many years in the employ of the old Northern Trans-
     portation Company, as mate on the steamer Maine, recently burned at
     Tonawanda, N. Y., and on the Oswegatchie, with Captain CHIPMAN.
     The last vessel on which he sailed was the steamer J. L. Hurd, with
     Capt. THOMAS LLOYD. In 1882 he met an accidental death on that steamer
     by falling into the hold, just as she was entering Duluth harbor. The
     mother died in Pulaski, N. Y., in 1863.
        Captain TWITCHELL, of this sketch, aquired a liberal education in
     his native town, attending the public schools until he reached the age
     of eighteen years, after which he worked on a farm for four years. It
     was in 1872 that he went to Chicago and shipped with Capt. THOMAS
     LLOYD in the steamer J. L. Hurd, as watchman, and remained on her
     sixteen years, advancing rapidly to wheelsman, second mate, filling
     the office of mate five years, and finally becoming master, and as
     such he sailed her two seasons. In the spring of 1888 he was appointed
     master of the City of Traverse, and has sailed her ten consecutive
     seasons without serious mishap of any nature. It was the Captain's
     good fortune to assist the life-saving crew at St. Joseph in rescuing
     the crew of the steamer City of Duluth, sunk off that harbor. He has
     nothing but words of praise for the gallantry of the life savers at
     St. Joseph, who worked from 10 o'clock at night to 5 the next morning
     in bitter cold weather, and succeeded in saving forty people. The
     Captain is one of the earliest members of the Ship Masters Association
     in Chicago.
        On February 6, 1878, Captain TWITCHELL married Miss Lottie, daugh-
     ter of SAMUEL and MARGARET EMERY, of Mexico City, N. Y., and the chil-
     dren born to this union are: EARL, LESTER, and MILTON J., deceased.
     The family homestead is at No. 381 1 Michigan avenue, Chicago,
     Illinois.

===========================================================================

If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access more
information about Great Lakes Maritime History by by going to the
following URL:
http://www.us-data.org/mi/glm/
===========================================================================