Ships of John Gregory

JohnGregory

John Gregory (1822-1894) was a Great Lakes shipbuilder. He arrived in the United States in 1844 and after he received his citizenship in New York in 1849, he relocated to the midwest. He was listed in Chicago directories as a shipwright, ships carpenter and shipbuilder from 1863 on. His only son, John S,. was born in Sheboygan, WI on 26 Dec 1855. He has built over 20 ships, which Gregoryology is currently gathering data.

Most of Mr. Gregory’s ships were tugs, although he did manage to build a few schooners just prior to the domination of the steam ship. His last schooner, the Mary A. Gregory, was built in 1875 and was the very last commercial schooner to enter Chicago when she ran her last voyage in 1924. More details are beginning to surface in regards to the shipyards that Mr. Gregory used to build his ship, but it seems that the Doolittle & Olcott shipyard that he built the Mary A. Gregory was located on Goose Island. He also had another shipyard in Sheboygan, Wisconsin that was named Thayer & Gregory. In 1865 Mr. Gregory bought the Jacob Banta shipyard that was located at West Charles and Harrison streets.

The largest and most important shipbuilder was Miller Brothers & Co., located on the Chicago River just above the Chicago Avenue Bridge. The firm built steamships, tugs, canal boats, and schooners. When the shipping industry was booming the Miller Brothers dry docks, the largest on Lake Michigan, were constantly occupied with ships being rebuilt while carpenters were busy with one or more new ships. The busiest time of year for new ship construction was in the late winter and early spring. Sailors idled by the close of shipping joined with the professional ships’ carpenters and caulkers to finish new vessels before the navigation season began again in April. Mr. Gregory built the A. B. Ward at this shipyard.

After the Great Fire of 1871, Mr. Gregory built his ships out of Sheboygan, Wisconsin while Chicago was rebuilding. When he returned in 1873, three out of the ten vessels that were built in Chicago were his. Overall from the period between 1873 and 1876, he was responsible for 13% of all ships built in Chicago. From 1878 to 1883 all of his vessels were built in Wisconsin. His last, the Mariel, was built in Chicago.

Original Name
US
No
Canada
No
Year
Built
Last
Year
Build Location
Type
381
1866
1911
Chicago, IL
Tug
105617
1876
1887
Chicago, IL
Tug
105414
1874
1915
Chicago, IL
Tug
105948
1880
1888
Sturgeon Bay, WI
Tug
2935
1872
1920
Sheboygan WI
Schooner
2767
111930
1871
1947
Sheboygan, WI
Tug
5548
1868
1885
White Lake, MI
Barquantine
125222
1873
1891
Chicago, IL
Tug
8981
1873
1900
Chicago, IL
Tug
120333
1878
1916
Chicago, IL
Tug
9200
1865
1922
Chicago, IL
Tug
18746
1872
1908
Sheboygan, WI
Schooner
76400
1882
1923
Manitowoc, WI
Tug
76025
1878
1904
Green Bay, WI
Tug
76064
1879
1925
Green Bay, WI
Tug
14808
1867
1918
Green Bay, WI
Schooner
17746
1867
1906
Michigan City, IN
Schooner
91564
130772
1883
1940
Chicago, IL
Tug
90018
1869
1886
Chicago, IL
Tug
90776
1875
1926
Chicago, IL
Schooner
91228
1880
1909
Fort Howard, WI
Sidewheeler
91131
1879
1937
Green Bay, WI
Tug
18931
1865
1950
Chicago, IL
Tug
155041
1881
1904
Chicago, IL
Tug
20471
1873
1913
Chicago, IL
Tug
24893
1870
1910
Chicago, IL
Tug
26841
1868
1899
Chicago, IL
Tug
Ship Owners’ Dry Dock Company
The business that became known as the Ship Owners’ Dry Dock Company in 1901 began operations in 1855 as a partnership between E. M. Doolittle and Andrew Miller in Chicago, Illinois. Miller, born in Londonderry County, Ireland in 1820, was an experienced shipbuilder by the time he joined with Doolittle to purchase land on Goose Island in the north branch of the Chicago River for constructing a shipyard. Miller had built boats in St. John, New Brunswick and in Cleveland, Ohio before arriving in Chicago in 1848. Miller remained in Chicago until his death in September of 1881.

In 1860 the company was named the Miller Brothers Dry Dock Company and retained this name until 1901. The Miller Brothers Company developed a large clientele for repair work and tug construction, but seemed to be in chronic financial difficulty because of Andrew Miller’s unaggressive bill collection methods. Miller was known as the vessel owners’ friend and often left debts owed him to accumulate for lengthy periods. Business was good enough to allow expansion to three dry docks during the life of the company.

After Andrew Miller’s death in 1881, Thomas E. Miller and Bryce L. Miller ran the family business until 1900 when the decision was made to sell the company to the newly incorporated Ship Owners’ Dry Dock Company. Investors from Chicago, Cleveland and New York pooled resources to start the new shipyard. C.A. MacDonald and J.J. Rardon of Chicago ran the local affairs of the company. William W. Watterson was hired from Lorain, OH as the Bradley and James Corrigan of Cleveland were joined New Yorkers August Belmont and G.L. Boissevain as significant stockholders.

Financial and labor trouble hindered growth for several years. Robert J. Dunham was hired as president in 1903 in order to seek new construction contracts and labor agreements through his contacts. A new contract with the Ship Carpenters Labor Union was negotiated. Profits, however, remained lower than expected.

In 1907 the owners decided to sell the Ship Owners’ Dry Dock Company to the Chicago Ship Building Company. Over the next five years portions of the company were sold to the American Ship Building Company’s Chicago subsidiary. The Goose Island facility served as a repair yard until 1916 when the yard was closed. The dry docks were filled in when the Ogden Ave. Viaduct was built in about 1928.