Links to the Past

Hello, my name is John F. Whiting, b. December 16, l918. In April of 1940 I was chosen out of 200 men in the Lake Carriers hall in South Chicago for the job as ordinary seaman on the ore carrier “Cygnus”  I had no sailing experience.  My father, Russell C. Whiting.  (1865-1934),  was born at Port Hope, MI in 1865 to a Great Lakes maritime family.  I can only surmise the the Captain of the Cygnus had recognized the name Whiting and my father’s birthplace of Port Hope, MI on the applications he had been perusing in the office.  When I was called into the office, the office manager protested vehemenently that there were other seamen with more experience than I, but this Captain insisted he wanted me.  My start of a twelve year sailing in the Merchant Marine in three Wars and seventy-six Ports of call.

Now I am into genealogy and would like very much to know who that kind Captain was. When the Coast Guard took over the Merchant Marine from The Dept. of Commerce I had to trade my “Copeland Book” in for a Coast Guard Document #3360.  I would be grateful for any help that you can give me.

If anyone has any information on the captain of the Cygnus, plese onctact John. whiting@goes.com

Dear Ladies and gentlemen,
Having sailed on call as a deckhand as well as Porter/cook for 30 years
I wanted to get a reunion for the crew. We can't locate John A. Curran.
He was our Third Mate. The ship was the SS Silver Bay. The year we
sailed was 1973. I made contact with the Wilson shipping company but
they had no leads. We tried many mates and pilots sites but they lead us
to dead ends.I contacted Toledo for their officers listing but they couldn't find
John. Could you offer any suggestions? We would like to know if he's
still around. It's not often that you have a good officer and crew that
work together as a unit.
Have a great day!
Jim Nemecky

I have been transcribing the Soldiers and Sailors Census for 1885 for Waukesha County.

I have added the new names to the Civil War lists.

Surnames include:

ADAMS, AGATHAN, AITKIN, ANDREWS, ANRANN, ARNOLD, BANCROFT, BARKER, BARNDT, BATKER, BEAS, BEAUMONT, BECKER, BERNKARD, BISHOF, BLAIR, BLAZING, BLESSINGER, BLITCH, BLOTT, BODE, BORHARDT, BOTTRELL, BOWERS, BOWMAN, BRIMMER, BRISBIIN, BROWNWELL, BUTLER, CARPENTER, CARR, CARVES, CHAMBERLAIN, CHAMPION, CHRISTMAN, CLAFLIN, CLARK, CLAYTON, CLEVELAND, CLIMONS, COOK, COX, CROSSMAN, CUMMINGS, CURPHY, DAUGHERTY, DAVIDSON, DEVEREAUX, DIENBERG, DOWNIE, DRAPER, EISINGER, EMPEROR, EVENSON, FAHY, FALLON, FERGUSON, FIELDHACK, FINNEY, FITZMORRIS, FLYNN, FOAT, FOSTER, FURGESON, GALE, GILLARD, GOODWIN, GORDON, GRANT, GREENGO, GROSS, GUNTHER, HALL, HAMMER, HAYES, HENGEN JR., HENRY, HIGGINS, HINKLEY, HOAG, HOLLENBACH, HOLZER, HORN, HOWARD, HOWIE, HUGHES, JACOBSON, JENSON, JOHNSON, JONES, KEELER, KELHER, KIEBLER, KILBOURN, KLINE, KNOBLE, KRAMER, KRAUSE, KUPPER, LANDON, LANE, LAUGHLIN, LEE, LINS, LOHMAN, LOOMIS, LOZER, MALIA, MARKCKLEY, MARKHAUR, MARSH, MARTIN, MASN, MCGOWAN 2ND, MELDER, MILLER, MONROE, MONTIE, MORRIS, MUELLER, MURPHY, NICHOLS, PANTENBERG, PARDEE, PARSONS, PATERSON, PECK, PEFFER, PETERS, PHILBROOK, PIPPIN, POTTER, POWERS, RATHER, REASING, RIDGEWAY, RIES, RIEVES, ROBERTS, ROBINSON, ROE, ROLL, ROSENBERG, ROWE, RUEHLE, RYAN, SCHAEFER, SCHLAGENTER, SCHMIDT, SCHMITT, SCHNEIDER, SCHOCKNECHT, SCHREK, SCHUET, SCHULDENBERG, SCHWANTE, SHEETS, SHROEDER, SIEFERT, SIMONS, SMITH, STACY, STANLEY, STEPHENS, STICKLES, SUMMERS, SUTEL, TANNIS, TESS, THACHER, THIELE, THOMAS, TITUS, TURNER, VELEY, VICK, VOSBURG, WALDORF, WALTERLIN, WALZ, WATSON, WAY, WEAVER, WELCH, WESTON, WHITE, WICK, WILE, WILLIAMS, WYKOFF, YOUNG, ZUENDLER

Added to the pre-1907 marriage index in progress; Joan is now working on late-autumn of 1892