Example of text files: bldr:James McLaughlin bio:McLaughlin was Saugatuck's first boat builder, arriving in the area in 1837. He built the Natural Crook, the second boat built at Singapore. McLaughlin was an amazing person who wore many hats in the early days of Michigan. In the Saugatuck district, he served in many political offices in the county, established the first boat building yard, built houses and several flourmills, helped establish an Indian settlement. McLaughlin was born in Penobscot, Maine in 1789. After military service, he settled in Allegan before coming to Newark -- early Saugatuck. McLaughlin is credited with building as many as seventeen boats while in Allegan County. He built a sloop, a scow, and schooners. McLaughlin is remembered for the terrible tragedy that occurred on the Kalamazoo River in 1841. On the 25th of July, McLaughlin's wife Abigail and a daughter, while sailing upriver with the Billings family, were drowned when their boat hit a snag and was caught with a burst of wind; the boat capsized and drowning members of three families. In 1849, McLaughlin (after remarrying) left Saugatuck for Northport in Leelanau County. He had received a commission to teach Indians to farm. James took his family from there to Elk Rapids in 1851 where he built the first sawmill and continued to build boats. McLaughlin died in 1863. :: boats:Gallow, 1838 Schooner Forest, 1839 Schooner Willie, 1841 Schooner Gallenipper, 1843 Schooner Pelican, 1845 Schooner Crook, 1845 Schooner Pamelia, 1848 Schooner Paisley, 1849 Schooner Hiram Merrill, 1849 Schooner :: bldr:John Martel bio:No other builder built more vessels along the Kalamazoo River than John Martel. John Baptiste Martel, born in Quebec Province, Canada, arrived in Saugatuck in 1872 via Buffalo, New York where he had built many vessels. He was referred to as an older and experienced boat builder. Martel built more than 35 boats in Saugatuck. Although best known for crafting tugboats, he first built "masted scows" followed by the schooners F. B. Stockbridge, L. B. Coates and the George M. Case. Amazingly the Case hull was built at Allegan -- she was 137' long with a 26' beam, -- and somehow maneuvered down the river to be finished by Martel in Saugatuck. Between 1875 and 1889, Mr. Martel was best known for the building of tugs which were used all over the Great Lakes. He also built at least four large steamers. Martel was skilled, respected and well liked. He lived with his wife and daughter on the corner of Grand and Mason Streets, Saugatuck, in a home purchased in 1881 from W.B. Griffin -- a well known lumber man. The house still stands today. Late in his career Martel left Saugatuck to form a yard at South Haven and even later built vessels near Coldwater, Michigan. He died in Grand Rapids on September 3, 1909. :: boats:Saugatuck L. B. Coates George M. Case, 1874 Alice Purdy, 1881 :: bldr:James Elliott pic:JamesElliot.jpg bio:James Elliot was the primary boat builder at the Brittain boat building yard; he built so many of the boats there that one historian refers to the Brittain yard as the "Elliot Yard." Born in England, Elliot came to the U.S. at a young age. Before arriving in Saugatuck, he lived in Allegan, Chicago and in California during the period of the Gold Rush. James Elliot built vessels between 1855 and 1894, first at Allegan then Saugatuck. Of the close to 30 that he built, he constructed five sailing craft. The others were steam tugs, lumber barges and freight carrying passenger boats. Elliot built some of the best known boats in the area. Prior to his death in 1911, at the age of 81, he served in local government for both the village and the township of Saugatuck. :: boats:H. D. Moore, 1856 Sail White Oak, 1867 Sail Mary McVea, 1870 Sail E. J. McVea, 1873 Sail J. P. Decondres, 1873 Sail Edith, 1877 Tug Two Brothers, 1878 Tug Ganges, 1881 Tug Clara A. Elliott, 1882 Tug William Rollar, 1882 Tug Edward Shelby, 1883 Tug Cora A. Sheldon, 1883 Tug Georgia, 1885 Tug Commodore Jack Barry, 1885 Tug Richmond 1, 1888 Tug C. W. Elphicke, 1889 Tug M. G. Hausler, 1893 Tug Berwick, 1894 Tug :: bldr:Charles Bird pic:CharlesBird.jpg bio:Charles Bird used his ingenuity not tools to build boats. He was an organizer and a business man who more than left his mark on the community and its boat building industry. Born in 1860 in Wheaton, Illinois, Charlie Bird came to Saugatuck right after the Civil War. Charlie was a young and ambitious boy, who worked first for Ensign's Drugstore. Then at a young age started his own drugstore and became a successful businessman. But Bird had a yearning for the romance of the shipping business and joined with Reuben Rogers in 1885 to build and operate steamboats. So was formed the Rogers and Bird Line. Their first boat and flagship was the A.B. Taylor. Charles E. Bird started a long and challenging career in the shipping and drugstore business. :: boats:see Reuben Rogers :: bldr:Reuben Rogers pic:ReubenRogers.jpg bio:Reuben Turner Rogers, the boat builder of Rogers & Bird partnership, arrived in the Saugatuck area in the 1870's. Born in Ohio in 1840, the first craft he is credited with building in the area is a schooner, the H.B. Moore. She came down the ways in 1873 and was built in partnership with the Tyler brothers. Like many of the other Saugatuck boat builders, Rube Rogers captained vessels in the shipping season and built them in the off-season. Rogers and Bird had an interest in a number of boat companies and also some large steamships in Saugatuck in their yard between Hoffman and Mary Streets. :: boats:H. B. Moore, 1873 Schooner R. T. Rogers, 1878 Riverboat Oliver C. Williams, 1879 A. B. Taylor, 1883 Bon Voyage, 1891 Steamer Pilgrim, 1888 Bon Ami, 1894 Steamer W. S. Hancock, 1890 Survey Ship City of Holland, 1893 Steamer Pup, 1894 Tug Cuckoo, 1907 Tug :: bldr:R. C. Brittain pic:Ralph_Brittain.jpg bio:Ralph C. Brittain was born in Pennsylvania in 1842. He came west to Michigan with his family and at the tender age of fourteen went to sea on the Atlantic Ocean. In his twenties he had gained the experience to obtain his ship master's papers. With a keen eye for investment, Brittain bought his first boat, a steamer called Merchant, sailed her for a few years, then captained a packet on the Mississippi River. In 1873 he bought the George P. Heath and decided to make Saugatuck his home. He and James Elliot bought the property in the area just south of the ferry landing and established a boat yard. Brittain was a "captain of industry" in early Saugatuck. Captain Brittain planned and bankrolled 17 medium sized steamers, all built at Saugatuck. The Captain was not a builder of boats in the sense that he actually laid the keels and fitted planks, but with Elliot the skilled craftsman doing that work, the Brittain boat yard, was quite successful. Brittain also held land interests throughout the Great Lakes area and owned two fruit farms within Saugatuck Township. His home stood as a landmark structure on the corner of Mason and Griffith until 1967. Captain R. C. Brittain died in Chicago in 1905. :: boats:Edith, Steam Yacht R. C. Brittain, Steamer J. S. Seaverns, Steamer Ganges, Steamer A. R. Colborn, Steamer Joseph C. Suit, Steamer H. A. Root, Steamer Frank Woods, Steamer Chas. McVea, Steamer R. C. Reid, Steamer Richmond, Steamer O. E. Parks, Steamer Harvey Watson, Steamer Mae Martel, Steamer Berwick, Steamer R. P. Easton, Steamer J. S. Crouse, Steamer :: bldr:John Priest pic:JohnPriest.jpg bio:The skills of John Priest were most important to the construction of steamboats in the Saugatuck area. Priest was a "shipsmith" -- a blacksmith for boats. In his shop on Water Street, he built, shaped and forged virtually anything metal used in boat building. Priest's shop was conveniently located between two of the major boat yards. A 1883 Commercial Record article credits John Priest with being able to do anything dealing in metal for a boat and "we note the completion of a vessel at either yard and know that Priest has something to do with their construction." Priest established his shop as a young man shortly after the Civil War. His home was at the corner of St. Joseph and Francis Streets, and he lived to be over ninety years old. :: bldr:Heath family pic:GeorgePHeathPort.jpg bio:The Heaths arrived in Saugatuck around 1866 from Bear Lake, Michigan. George Heath built the steamer G. P. Heath in 1871, which was sold at launching to Captain Ralph C. Brittain. George Heath's sons, Cal and George, carried on the family business after their father passed away in 1875. :: boats:G.P. Heath, 1871 Steamer Charles E. Bird, Tug A. R. Heath, 1898 River Steamer Uncle Sam, 1898 Launch :: bldr:Hank Perkins pic:HankPerkins.jpg bio:Hank Perkins is important in Saugatuck boat building because he spans the old era with the new. Perkins, while not the builder of Brittain or Martel stature in number or size of boats, he holds an important place in local boat building history. He bridged the 19th and the 20th Centuries as a Saugatuck boat builder. Perkins was born to a boat builder in 1858 at Vermillion, Ohio (on Lake Eire). He came to Saugatuck in 1871 from Allegan. Perkins started building at a young age, later becoming a master builder and built 20 or so boats. Hank had crafted vessels with Martel and Elliot, and at one time was in business with Charles E. Bird. While specializing in fishing tugs, he also built yachts and launches. Perkins owned part of an excursion line that went up to New Richmond, took passengers to swimming at the beach, and to the Douglas side of the River. When the new channel was opened at the mouth of the river he had spent most of his life on, the Commercial Record reported that Hank Perkins piloted the first boat through. The Green Devil went through the new channel on May 25th, 1906. Perkins is also remembered for building the last scow to serve as the Saugatuck Ferry for Ferry Captain Jay Myers in the early 1920’s. Perkins the man was remembered to use, like an old sailor, "gruff language". In 1941, he died in Saugatuck at the age of 83. :: boats:Albian, 1895, Sailboat Edna Tuscarora Frances C. Berthie G. Ella K B & L Hank Perkins Chas. F. Thompson :: bldr:Dick Hoffman pic:KuklaOllieHoffman.jpg bio:The Hoffman family moved to Saugatuck when Dick was a youth. He served a stint in the Coast Guard before returning in about 1950 to start a summer bow and arrow shooting gallery next to the Pavilion in Cook Park. In a few years he leased what is now Wicks Park from the Village where he had a miniature golf course called Anchor Park. Having property on the waterfront it was a natural for him to go into the riverboat excursion business. Dick seized the opportunity by converting an old excursion boat (Wagun) into a sternwheeler that could carry passengers up and down the river. He named her the La Carousel (the wheel). The concept proved successful and this started Dick on a twenty year stint of building steel hulled paddle-wheelers for others and for his own use. In addition he built the motor sailor La Sata. Unfortunately his lease on Wicks Park ran out and he was forced to move his business and with the new side wheeler he had just completed down the Mississippi to Kentucky Lake, Kentucky. He still lives in that area. :: boats:Island Queen, 1954 Riverboat Island Queen II, 1956 Riverboat Suwanee Belle, 1959 Riverboat Lasata, 1961 Ketch Princess, 1976 Riverboat :: bldr:Frank Denison pic:FrankDenison.jpg bio:Franklin Augustus Denison was born in Chicago in 1909. In his early twenties he got his start in the marine business by buying yachts and refurbishing them in the Benton Harbor, Michigan area. He is credited with installing the first diesel engine in a yacht in the mid 1930s. In 1948 Denison purchased a small shipyard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that he renamed Broward Marine. Their first business was in service and repair work. In 1953 Broward built its first custom motor yacht. In 1954 a large Navy contract was obtained to build minesweepers. This was the spark that launched the business into building large luxury yachts. From his youth on the lake in southwest Michigan, Frank carried a soft spot for the Saugatuck area. In 1948 he married Gertrude Winslow and purchased the large tract of land that had been owned previously by the Cook family and David Bennett. It is still known today as the "Denison property". The estate included the site of Singapore. On that site in 1977 Broward Marine established a boat building yard, 140 years after the first boat was built there. Eventually 40% of the Broward custom yacht production was to come out of the Saugatuck plant, which was active until the late 1990s. Frank Denison died in Saugatuck in 2000 at the age of 90. :: boats:Emerald and Venture Nahanni :: bldr:R. J. Peterson pic:RJPeterson.jpg bio:Tower Marine built steel-hulled houseboats from 1967 to 1973, completing nearly 500 boats during that period. The company was founded by R.E. Peterson and his son, R.J. Peterson. The River Queen houseboats were built here until 1973 when U.S. Industries purchased the River Queen rights. Tower Marine continues in the boat-building business specializing in made-to-order vessels. ::