The Sailing Adventures of Captain James A. Sheehan & Captain Daniel W. McShane
His first home in Bay View (1894-97)
2218 South Woodward Street
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living at 2218 S. Woodward St. (1894-97)
Above Left: The Milwaukee Fire Department fireboat Cataract, 1894-97; Sailing adventures aboard as crewman (1894) and captain (1895-97): fought many fires while aboard, exact dates unknown; note promoted to captain of this fireboat while living at this address in Bay View. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
His Second Home in Bay View (1898)
2208 South Allis Street
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living at 2208 S. Allis St. (1898)
The Milwaukee Fire Department fireboat Cataract (see photo above under first house), 1898; Sailing adventures aboard while captain (1898): fought many fires while aboard, exact dates unknown
His Third Home in Bay View (1899-43)
2119 South Mound Street
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living at 2119 S. Mound St. (1899-43)
The Milwaukee Fire Department fireboat Cataract (see photo above under first house), 1899-1903; Sailing adventures aboard while captain: fought many fires while aboard, exact dates unknown.
Above left: The Milwaukee Fire Department fireboat James Foley, 1904-20 (and possibly 1924); Sailing adventures aboard while captain: fought many fires while aboard, exact dates unknown; note the Foley was also captained by Bay View Lake Captains Hugh Clark and Joseph La Gue. Photo courtesy of the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University.
His Ships and Sailing Adventures Before Bay View (1878-93)
Around 1878-83, sailed around the world multiple times as captain of a sailing ship; many stories rounding Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope, name of ship(s) unknown; after arriving Milwaukee 1884-88, Great Lakes sailor, probable crew or officer, ship(s) and sailing adventures unknown; 1889 – 93, member of first crew, MFD’s first fireboat Cataract (see photo under first house above); Sailing adventures aboard as crewman: fought many fires while aboard, six of these documented as major fires, the most notable being the Third Ward fire of 1892 that consumed 16 city blocks and threatened to destroy Milwaukee. He lived in the Third Ward at the time of this fire (not yet married), so he may have even lost his own home or apartment (unknown).
The Sailing Adventures of Captain Daniel W. McShane (1871-1943)
His Only Home in Bay View (1908-09)
2973 South Kinnickinnic Avenue
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living at 2973 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
Above left: the steamship Abraham Stearn, taken in when Captain McShane and his wife Helen were aboard and their home was 2973 S. Kinnickinnic Avenue in Bay View.
Above center: blow-up photo of one at left showing Captain McShane and Helen leaning over the starboard rail.
Above right: further expanded view of Daniel McShane and wife Helen.
All three photos courtesy of the Daniel W. McShane family.
In 1908, he captained the steamship Abraham Stearn. While it’s unknown what ship he captained in 1910, it was also likely the Abraham Stearn. Sailing adventures as captain: unknown.
The reverse of the above photo of Daniel and Helen McShane aboard the steamship Abraham Stearn when he was captain. The inscription above reads, “Dan and Helen McShane” on the top line and then below, “Early 1900’s.” Daniel and Helen’s daughter, Mary McShane Spicknall, gave the original photo to her niece Barbara McShane Stainback and confirmed that this was her parents in the picture. Also of interest is that the photo is contained in the original frame showing a photography studio in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, which is likely where the photo was taken. The inscription on the back using first names may indicate the photographer knew both of them personally when he took the photo. That wouldn’t be unusual at the time as local merchants often knew lake captains that frequented their ports.
Back of photo courtesy of the Daniel W. McShane family.
Above left: Daniel and Helen exchanged many postcards over the years, both before and after they married. Here is a postcard mailed on 18 August 1908 from Helen to Daniel from Calhoun, Wisconsin, to Daniel Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and – most significantly – “c/o the steamer Abraham Stearn.” This is further confirmation Daniel was captain of the Abraham Stearn while living in Bay View. The Soo locks are in Sault Ste. Marie and connect Lake Huron with Lake Superior. This was obviously a sailing route for him and the mail was likely delivered to the ship (and others as well) as it/they inched its/their way north and south through the locks.
Postcard courtesy of the Daniel W. McShane family.
His Ships and Sailing Adventures Before and After Bay View
Before Bay View: Per details in the text, he was a crewman, officer from 1900-06 when he became a captain of steamships, likely the steamship Abraham Stearn which was built in 1906. He would have been its first captain and likely captained it from 1906, through his entire duration living in Bay View from 1908-09, and until it was sold to a new owner in 1911. His ship after the Abraham Stearn through his retirement in 1925 is/are unknown; Sailing adventures as crew, officer, and captain: unknown
After Bay View: he remained a lake captain (of steamships, certainly) 1910-1925, name(s) unknown; Sailing adventures as captain: unknown
Photo of the steamship above, the Abraham Stearn, is courtesy of the Daniel W. McShane family.
McShane Family Photographs
Here are two fun photographs of Captain McShane and his brothers during their logging days up in northern Wisconsin at North Lake. When combined with the information above about their upbringing, these photos show that they and their families were close throughout their lives and that they had a good and happy life together.
Above left and right: Daniel McShane, far right in both photos (both taken in 1906), with what appear to be his brothers (in the photo at right, the three farthest to the right. Left to right in the photo at left are Edward, Frank, and Daniel. Daniel would work logging over the winter months when the lakes froze, then return to captaining steamships when the ice thawed.
Photo Credit (both photos): The Daniel W. McShane Family; both photos dated 1906.
Above left: the McShane family home in Long Lake, Wisconsin. Daniel would go here during the winter with his brothers to work in the logging camps when the Lakes froze over, then resume captaining ships out of Lake Superior when the spring thaw came. That would make him Bay View’s only lake captain also documented to be a “logger.” The fun photos above this group are from these times.
Above center: the back side of the photo at left, identifying it as the McShane home, written by Helen McShane, Daniel’s wife.
Above right: the resort owned by friends where Daniel’s sister Mary worked as a maid and encountered naked men and gangsters from Chicago as relayed by her daughter (and Daniel’s granddaughter) Donna Spicknall Gladson. Granddaughter Barbara McShane Stainback recalls seeing the resort as a child and remembers it having beautiful stained-glass windows on the second floor.
All three above photos are courtesy of the Daniel W. McShane family.
Captain McShane’s Master’s Certificate. Note that he is licensed to captain any steamship of ANY tonnage…a huge deal! Also
Equally significant is confirmation that “pilot” means “captain,” so anywhere in his records (and that of other captains) where his occupation is listed as “pilot,” it also means he was a lake captain. “First Class Pilot” being capitalized also emphasizes the
Significance of the license here to which he entitled. The author is not familiar (and did not research) with the various merchant officer licenses that were granted at this time in history (1920’s) but having a “First Class” license or ticket of any kind has to mean the highest license certification available. This was issued at the start of the 1924 sailing season and Captain McShane retired after the end of the 1925 sailing season. This wasn’t his first certificate as a lake captain, as he had been one for at least 20 years at the time this was issued to him. It may be he had to get periodically recertified or recertified as new technology (like conversion of steam power plants from wood to oil) became implemented. Finally, the handwritten description of the places he mail sail using this certificate is basically….the entire Great Lakes! So this is as high as it gets: First Class Pilot of ships of unlimited tonnage that can sail anywhere in the Great Lakes. Daniel McShane was a lake captain literally of the highest possible order. Not insignificant! Certificate courtesy of the Daniel W. McShane family.
Above left: Daniel with brother Frank. Date of photo unknown, possibly early 1920’s.
Above center: Captain McShane on the open bridge on his ship. Date of photo but likely pre-1909. His ship here is unknown. This photo is duplicated here from the one above to begin this chapter because of what is written on the back of it by the captain at right.
Above right: his writing on the back of the center photo. The family believes this was sent to his future wife Helen but that they were not yet married. Since they were married in 1909, this photo and note are likely before that. Note his humor remarking about himself as “…a noble looking stiff.” Note he also says a passenger took this photo of him.
All three photos courtesy the Daniel W. McShane family.
Above left: Captain McShane holding his second son, Frank Forrest, nicknamed “Frankie” by his mother
Helen. Because son Frank was born in 1918 and in this photo appears about age 2, this photo was likely
taken in 1920. Note it was taken aboard ship as the door sill entry behind him is a foot above the deck,
indicating it’s aboard ship. This door could be an entry door to the bridge, and here he is standing outside
on the bridge wing, or the door could be the entry to his private captain’s quarters. It was quite common
in these days for captains to bring family aboard while underway. Based on other photos of captains’
quarters aboard steamships during this time, Captain McShane’s quarters would have been quite spacious
and more than capable of hosting his family for long durations underway.
Above right: Here he is again with son Frank, this time inside the pilot house. Captain McShane may
be seated for this photo, as there was often an elevated “captain’s chair” on the bridge available for
his use at all times. There also appears to be a hand at far right holding the ship’s wheel, likely
indicating the ship was underway when this (and likely both) photo was taken.
Both photos are courtesy of the Daniel W. McShane family.
This 8 x 10 inches photo (per Donna Gladson, granddaughter of Daniel McShane) in the McShane Family Collection shows 21 steamships underway together in almost unbelievable close proximity in thin ice. The red arrow indicates what the author has confirmed through his own photo analysis to be Captain McShane’s ship, the Abraham Stearn, when this photo was taken. He was captaining it at this moment. It is only five feet behind the ship in front of it (a great feat of seamanship by Captain McShane!), and it is only 10 feet ahead of the ship following it! This may be the ship he was captaining when it was the first ice cutter on the Great Lakes, but that is unknown. Date of the photo is circa 1906 (per his granddaughter Betty Spicknall Katz). Because the Abraham Stearn was built in 1906, the fact that this photo is traced to that year as well as being still held in the McShane family indicates it is highly likely Daniel McShane was the first captain of the Abraham Stearn and remained so while living in Bay View. The location and even the purpose of all of these ships steaming so close together while sailing in ice is unknown. This is an astonishing photo regardless but it may also be a very significant historical photo as well if it was a private shipping company that used a couple of its ships to cut thin ice to keep the harbors and channels open for its fleet of ships. Photo courtesy of the Daniel W. McShane family.
Above: Captain McShane (2nd from right) with boy scouts at the camp on Lake Bloomington. Could he have built the large hall behind him in this photo? It’s unknown but notice the vertical logs along the front wall. Who else but a former logger?
Photo courtesy of the Daniel W. McShane family.