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Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott
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History of the Great Lakes
Illustrated, In Two Volumes, Vol. II
Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co., 1899

                     CAPTAIN ROBERT ROWAN McLEOD

   Captain Robert Rowan McLeod is one of the few lake masters
   who have made a success of winter navigation, in which he
   has been engaged in the interests of railroad companies for
   the last ten years. He is a son of Donald and Isabelle (Rowan)
   McLeod, and was born October 3, 1862, at Kincardine, Ontario.
   His parents are natives of Scotland, the father being born in
   Sutherlandshire, and the mother at Edinburgh. They were not mar-
   ried when their respective parents removed to America, locating
   at Woodstock, Ontario, where they met, afterward going to Kin-
   cardine, where the marriage ceremony was performed. The young
   people then made that city their home, and as their five sons
   grew up they adopted the life of a sailor; John C. became master
   of the steamer Osceola; Duncan A. also sailed the Osceola; John S.
   is wheelsman on the steamer R.W. Linn, and H.D. is second mate
   on the steamer Gordon Campbell.

   Capt. Robert R. McLeod, the subject of this article, was a pupil
   of the public schools of Kincardine until he began his life on
   the lakes, which was in 1874, his first berth being as cook on
   the schooner Maple Leaf. The next season he filled like offices
   on the steamer Mary Ross Robinson, plying between Georgian Bay
   ports and Chicago. In the spring of 1876 he shipped as deckhand
   on the steamer Ontario, but after two weeks he became watchman,
   and a month later was advanced to the berth of wheelsman, per-
   forming the duties of such for seven seasons, after which he
   transferred to the English-built steamer Campana. In the spring
   of 1884 Captain McLeod was appointed second mate of the Pacific
   railroad passenger steamer Algomah, the first of the three Scotch-
   built steamers put on the route. The next season he joined the
   steamer Rhoda Emily as second mate, transferring to the passenger
   steamer A. Booth as mate, and held that office until she was wrecked
   at Grand Portage island, Lake Superior. He closed the year as mate
   of the steamer T.H. Kemp. In 1886 he shipped as second mate of the
   steamer Roanoke, and was soon promoted to the office of mate, which
   he held until the spring of 1888, when he joined the steamer Wis-
   consin as mate, remaining with her two seasons.

   In the spring of 1890 Captain McLeod was appointed mate of the
   steamer Osceola, going onto the Colorado the next season, and
   after laying her up at the close of navigation, he went as mate
   on the railroad steamer Ann Arbor No. 2, plying between the win-
   ter months between Frankfort and Kewaunee. The next spring he
   came out as master of the Osceola, but at the close of the season
   he was appointed master of the Ann Arbor No. 1 for the winter
   navigation. In 1894 he sailed the steamers Colorado and Osceola
   between Grand Haven and Milwaukee. In the spring of 1895 he again
   brought out the steamer Colorado and sailed her until September 22,
   and on October 1, of the same year, he was appointed master of the
   large carferry steamer Shenango No. 1., and has sailed her, summer
   and winter, every since. During the twelve years that the Captain
   has being an officer of a steamboat his record has been unusually
   clear of casualty.

   Socially, he is a Master Mason of Grand Haven Lodge No. 137, and
   a member of the Maccabees.

   In December, 1888, Captain McLeod was wedded to Miss Murdena,
   daughter of Donald and Christina Martin, of Kincardine, Ont., the
   marriage ceremony being performed in Duluth. The children born to
   this union are Bella Rowan and Lulu Wilkie. Although the Captain
   has a home in Conneaut, the family homestead is in Kincardine,
   Ontario.

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