Commodore John McGiffin

Search the lakes from end to end, and not a more popular skipper can be found than is Commodore John McGiffin, of the Niagara Navigation Co.'s fleet, and commander of the fine steamer Chippewa, by a long way the largest vessel afloat on Lake Ontario. To the travelling public his pleasant features are well-known, and at no time does he appear to better advantage than when in his official clothes, as the picture here represents him. On the front of his cap can be deciphered those initials which have become so familiar to passengers in late years - N.N.Co.

Commodore John McGiffin was born in Oakville, Ontario, in the year 1843, and there he grew up and was educated. Early in his life he became a son of the lakes, his first venture as a sailor being when he was twelve years of age. His father was then a captain of a lake vessel, and it was with him that the commodore began his sailing apprenticeship. That he made good use of his time is evidenced by the fact that at the age of eighteen he became a sailing master.

During the years of 1862, 1863 and 1864, Commodore McGiffin had command of the schooner Eliza Wilson, and in the year 1865 he was master in the steamer Dominion, in the year 1866, at the time of the Fenian raid from the United States into Canada, he was offered a good thing to go as second mate into the schooner Cecelia. That same season he was in a number of vessels, including the Alice Grover, the Minnie Williams, the Plover, the Morey, the brig Aux, and the Kenosha.

Meantime, the schooner White Oak had been building, and when she was launched on July 1, Dominion Day, 1867, Capt. McGiffin took the post of chief mate on board her. That day is memorable to him also because it was the first Dominion Day, and he felt that the occasion was very auspicious for the launching of that staunch little schooner, still on the lakes, and a vessel which today, under command of Capt. Wilson, can show her stern to any freight sailing vessel on the great lakes. Whilst first mate on the White Oak,Capt. McGiffin helped fit her out and sailed her until the close of the season of 1867. In the season of 1868 he shipped as chief mate in the big schooner Annie Mulvey, one of those vessels that were burnt in the great Esplanade fire at Toronto in the year 1885. She is now a boathouse at the foot of Spadina avenue. Going out of the Mulvey, Commodore McGiffin shipped the following season, 1869, as mate in the schooner Sweep Stakes [sic]; then in 1870 he held a similar position in the schooner Pandora, and remained in her until the close of navigation that year.

Changing from sail to steam, Capt. McGiffin took charge as master of the harbor tug Lady Franklin in 1871, and towed in and out of Toronto port. Then he secured a more remunerative offer, and in the spring of the year 1872 accepted the position of master of the big schooner Pandora, in which he had previously sailed as mate. This vessel he sailed until the end of the season of 1873, trading from Chicago to Buffalo and down the lakes to Kingston. During the seasons of 1874 and 1875 he sailed as master in the schooner Jennie Mathews, trading all over the great lakes, and in 1881 he was appointed master of the propeller Canada, at the time one of the most important steam crafts afloat on inland waters, and trading all the way from Quebec to Duluth. Several times the Canada was engaged, while Capt. McGiffin was in command of her, by the Dominion Government to carry the lighthouse supplies to the different points on the great lakes, so that there are few harbors and bays and rocks and shoals with which the commodore is unacquainted. He is one of the best and most careful navigators sailing on the inland seas. During all his career he has had no disasters, and never has there been a man or boat lost under his supervision.

When Commodore McGiffin finally left the propeller Canada at the end of the season of 1887, it was only to take the onerous post of master on board the passenger steamer Chicora, belonging to the Niagara Navigation Co. and sailing between Toronto and Lewiston, which position he retained until the end of 1890. In the spring of 1891 he was promoted, on the death of Commodore MacQuorquodale, to the master-ship of the steamer Cibola [afterwards burned in the Niagara River at Lewiston], the Chicora's sister ship, and sailed her for two years, or until the Chippewa was built in the year 1893, since which time he has had command of the big vessel on the Niagara run, and it is the hope of his patrons that he may have for many years to come.

Commodore McGiffin. in the winter of 1871-72. came to the conclusion that he should enter the ranks of the benedicts, and his courtship of Miss Annie Barman, one of the belles of Oakville, was so successfully carried on that their marriage took place in March of the year 1872. Four sturdy boys were born to Capt. and Mrs. McGiffin, all of whom are living and in a fair way to become as prosperous as their father.

Robert B. McGiffin, eldest, has received his University training and is in New York doing well as an architect. William Reginald McGiffin, the second son, is in the wholesale grocery business in Toronto, whilst Allan McGiffin, the third son, is almost through University, and the youngest, Clare McGiffin, is attending High School. All his life Commodore McGiffin has been a Conservative in politics, but he is one of those liberal-minded men who always favor what is good for the country, irrespective of party. In religion he is a Presbyterian.

The commodore's home is at number 366 Berkeley street. Toronto, and it is one of the prettiest on the street, both outside and in. While the weather permits, the front part of the house is a veritable bower of plants, some of them costly, and the whole tastefully set off by the well-trimmed lawn. Mrs. McGiffin, a most estimable lady, is a splendid pianist, and a magnificent instrument occupies a place of honor in the drawing-room. Commodore McGiffin loves his home, and when his vessel is in port for any length of time, he is always found there.

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