Captain Edward Mooney

Captain Edward Mooney was born in Manchester, England, May 1, 1843, and came with his parents, John and Margaret Mooney, to the United States in the spring of 1851, and settled in Cleveland, where he attended the parochial schools until thirteen years of age.

John Mooney was a sailor on the Great Lakes for over thirty years, and his son Edward early manifested an inclination for a marine life, and in the spring of 1857 began sailing on the propeller Iron City as forecastle boy, with Capt. Ed. Turner as master. He remained on this boat until the fall of 1862, when, in January, 1863, he enlisted in the navy and was sent to the gunboat Lafayette, under command of Captain Walker, and stationed at Cairo. He was in service on her till May 6, 1863, when he shipped on Mississippi river boats and remained on them for sixteen months. He then returned to his home and accepted a position of wheeling under Capt. George P. McCoy on the propeller Pewabic, remaining on her till she was lost on Lake Huron August 9, 1865. The balance of the season he went wheeling on the propeller Ironsides, Capt. Ed. Turner, master, and in 1866 accepted the position of second mate on the propeller Mineral Rock and with his old commander, Capt. John McCoy.

During the seasons of 1867-68-69-70, he was mate on the steamers Michael Groh, Manitowoc, Union, and Adriatic, and the following season, 1871, found him master of the Adriatic, running between Chicago, Goderich and Saginaw. During the winter of this year this vessel was sold at sheriff's sale and dismantled. In 1872 he became first mate of the Union line's propeller Pacific, under Captain Murch, and in 1873 started the season as first mate on the steamer Arctic, Capt. Ed. Turner. During the summer the Captain sickened and died, so he took command of the boat for the balance of the season. For three full seasons, 1874-75-76, and part of 1877 he was master of the passenger steamers Atlantic, Pacific, and St. Louis, and during 1878 served the steamer Japan as her mate and pilot, thence going to the propeller Arizona as master for the seasons of 1879-80-81, and in 1882-84 continued in this position on the propeller Winslow. In 1885-86 was master of the steamer India. Leaving the passenger service in 1887, he took command of the steambarge Vienna, then assumed charge of the steel steamer Cambria for the seasons of 1888 and 1889, after which, in 1890, he entered the employ of Lake Superior Iron Company, which was building two steel steamers, and took out the first one, the LaSalle; in 1891 two more steel steamers were constructed by this company, and he was placed in charge of the Wawatam (one of the newly built boats), a charge he held since that time.

He is a member of the Ship Masters Association, of Cleveland, and was the first recording secretary of that branch.

On January 9, 1868, he was married to Miss Sharon, of Rockport, Ohio, and by this marriage had seven children, four of whom are living: James, Frank, William and Charles. Edward, May and Leo are deceased. Two years after the death of his first wife he was again married, this union being with Miss Margaret, a sister of his first wife. They have one child, Zita.

Return to Home Port

Volume I

This version of Volume II is based, with permission, on the work of the great volunteers at the Marine Captains Biographies site. To them goes the credit for reorganizing the content into some coherent order. The biographies in the original volume are in essentially random order.

Some of the transcription work was also done by Brendon Baillod, who maintains an excellent guide to Great Lakes Shipwreck Research.