Captain William H. Smith was born in Sombra, Lambton County in November of 1863. He was the son of Abram Cyrus and Martha (Bury) Smith. His mother was the daughter of William and Margaret (Oughton sic) and she was the granddaughter of John C. Bury, an early settler of Kent County.
According to his obituary, Captain Smith was married three times and we believe his first marriage was to Lily McDougall. Lilly was the daughter of Captain Richard and Helen (Marsh) McDougall and was born in Kent County, Ontario. The McDougall family were a true mariner family. Lily’s three brothers were vessel masters well known on the lakes – Captain Thomas A. McDougall, Captain C. Richard McDougall and Captain William L. McDougall, and one of her sisters who was married to vessel master Alexander McDonald.
To the union of Captain William H. and Lily (McDougall) Smith were born – Mrs. Helen Schueler, Lieutenant Lewis A. Smith, Mrs. Marie Dixon, Mrs. Dorothy Green Stewart and William Smith.
Captain William H. Smith’s married his third wife Lenore Sullivan in about 1927.
To the union of Captain William H. Smith and Lenore (Sullivan) Smith were born – Patrick Henry, Mary Ann and Ellen Lenore. They were all under the age of nine at the time of their father’s death in 1938.
In 1879 Captain William H. Smith began his career on the water when he hired on to the ferry steamer Scoville as it steamed back and forth between Sombra, Ontario and Marine City, Michigan.
- 1880 he worked as a firemen of the passenger steamer Hattie which went between Fairhaven and Detroit.
- 1881 on the tug W. B. Castle as a watchman for three years.
- 1884 on the steamer Burlington as a wheelsman.
- 1885 on the Don M. Dickinson as a wheelsman.
- 1885 he finished off the season on the lake tug Admiral D. D. Porter.
- 1886 on the tug W. B. Castle as wheelsman.
- 1886 he closed the season as mate of the tug Kittie Haight.
- 1887 he took out his first papers as pilot and was appointed master of the tug O. W. Cheney.
- 1888 on the lake tug Oswego as master of the tug.
- 1888 later in the year he transferred to the Wm. A. Moore and finished the season.
- 1889 on the tug George N. Brady.
- 1889 he closed the season on the W. B. Castle.
- 1890 he took command of the wrecking tug Henry Howard.
- The Captain spent a season on the steamer Masabaa as a mate he was then appointed master of the steamer S. C. Clark.
- 1894 on the steamer Wm. H. Barnum as the master.
- 1894 he finished the season on the passenger steamer Unique going between Port Huron and Detroit.
- 1895 he assumed command of the steamer Raleigh and stayed with her for two seasons.
He gained employment with Captain William Mack as master of the steamer George W. Roby and then transferred to the Pascal P. Pratt. This list of the vessels he sailed on only takes us up to 1900. Captain William H. Smith was instrumental in rescuing a crew of twelve from the Steamer Florida before it sunk in about twelve minutes off Presque Isle.
One of the companies Captain Smith sailed for was the Jenkins Steamship Company. In 1911 he took command of the Harvester, which had just been launched by the International Harvester Company. He sailed the Harvester up until the time of his retirement in about 1928.
Captain William H. Smith retired in about 1928. He spent his summers as a resident of Harsen’s Island, near St. Clair Michigan, and spent his winters at his home in Lake Worth, Florida.
On April 20, 1938 Captain William H. Smith passed away at his winter home in Florida and was laid to rest in Hillcrest, West Palm Beach.
Contact Us
Subscribe to this page