Captain William Henry Martin is my Great Grandfather.
Owned a fleet of three steam tugboats that operated around Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
In 1903 William Martin earned his Captain’s papers and bought the ‘Sweet Mary’ to start a successful towing business working for the numerous lumber Companies along the South shores of Georgian Bay.
With a family of ten sons he was able to expand his operation rapidly, keeping it a family business.
Over the years he operated three other tugs - the ‘Geraldine’ , the ‘Frances M’, and the ‘Penola’, plus three powerful gasoline powered boats, the ‘Boy’, ‘The Rat’ and ‘The Mouse’.
Information taken from photo- copy pages found in my Father’s estate (Grandson of Captain William Martin) from a book called - This was yesterday - A Pictorial History of the Early Days of Penetanguishene.
Burial was on October 10 1934, St. Ann's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Penetanguishene.
Autobiography of L.J. Parker circa 1989
Thanks to Margaret Parker for starting this profile.
"Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-Y3SV-HXG?cc=1307826&wc=3LVJ-YWL%3A1584243504%2C1584291601%2C1584293401 : 27 April 2019), Deaths > 1934 > no 28001-30390 > image 2305 of 2458; citing Registrar General. Archives of Ontario, Toronto.
https://northsimcoecemeteries.ca/tombstone/1002 Interment of Captain William Martin was at St. Ann's Roman Catholic Cemetary 53 Owen Street Penetanguishene, ON L9M 1N3
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/166595161/william-henry-martin: accessed 01 April 2023), memorial page for Capt William Henry Martin (5 Jan 1867–7 Oct 1934), Find a Grave Memorial ID 166595161, citing Saint Ann’s Cemetery, Penetanguishene, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada; Maintained by Jennifer Allen (contributor 48610470).
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