Paterson family excited about the discovery of a historic vessel

THUNDER BAY — A spokesperson for the Paterson family says the news that a historic component of the former Paterson Steamships Ltd. fleet had been located came "out of the blue."

Rob Paterson, who served as CEO of the marine division of NM Paterson and Sons Ltd., was reacting Tuesday to the discovery of the James P. Donaldson on the bottom of Lake Superior a few kilometres from the Welcome Islands. 

Saturday's accidental find by two local divers is the first publicly disclosed sighting of the boat since it was scuttled after a fire almost 100 years ago.

"It is clearly very exciting that they just happened upon it. I know people have been looking for this sunken hull for quite a long time," Paterson said.

He added that he wishes good luck to the men who found it, and to others who may dive down to explore it, as his family waits to hear more about the ship's condition.

After learning about its discovery, he said he went through some of the company's records to familiarize himself with the James P. Donaldson's history.

The 185-foot vessel was built in 1880 and was the second ship acquired by the family-owned company.

"My grandfather bought it in 1920 to replace the D.R. Van Allen, which was the first ship he had. It was originally built to trade in the lumber business in the U.S.  My grandfather was the fourth and last owner, and he bought it to move grain within the port," Paterson said.

He explained that the boat was used to transport grain that was damaged.

"He would clean it and re-sell it into the trade. And he relied on rail to move it over from the Kam River to the waterfront. That proved to be expensive sometimes, so he decided he would float it rather than rail it...and that's what sort of got him started in that part of the business that we ended up being in."

At its peak, Paterson's marine division had 49 ships by 1959, the year the St. Lawrence Seaway opened.

By 2005, the fleet was down to seven grain and ore-carriers, and only three remained active.

In June of that year, the last two vessels in the fleet – the Vandoc and Quedoc – were towed from Thunder Bay after being sold when the company closed the marine division.