My name is Quincy Gilmore Leslie (middle name missing an 'L') and I was writing to submit background on the naming of the tug Gillmore. My father is Quincy Charles Leslie, while my grandfather was Quincy Gillmore Leslie. My grandfather's great-grandmother was Sophia Gillmore, the sister of Quincy Adams Gillmore (see below) and Sophia married Daniel Seth Leslie, who had been a Captain in the Union Army of the Civil War.

The name of "Quincy Adams Gillmore" was well known in Cleveland, OH, around the times of the Civil War and I believe his name appears on the War Memorial in downtown Cleveland. So I am concluding that the vessel name "Q. A. Gillmore" was derived from my great-great-great uncle Quincy Adams Gillmore, who again was from the Cleveland area of Ohio, a West Point graduate and first in his class. He was a Brigadier (maybe a Major General- unclear) General in the Civil War and the first to be acknowledged to have de-segregated his black troops, i.e., he allowed them to engage in the fighting.

However, the tugboat "Q. A. Gillmore" is the second vessel to have that name. The first vessel named the "Q. A. Gillmore" was a sailing ship (a schooner), which was constructed during or after the Civil War on the Great Lakes and sailed out of Cleveland, mostly on Lake Erie. This schooner "Q. A. Gillmore" sunk in July, 1875. I do not know the circumstances of her sinking.

So I think it is fair to say that the schooner Q. A. Gillmore was named after my Uncle, while the tugboat Gillmore had a similar heritage. The tugboat may well have been named after the schooner and again was in honor of General Gillmore.

The last I heard, the tugboat Gillmore, which draws 16', is stuck in 5' of mud in Saugatuk, MI, which is on the Michigan side shores of Lake Michigan. The tug Gillmore has been donated to a Maritime Museum located in Duluth, MN. However, that museum was towing another donated tugboat and encountered heavy weather on Lake Superior in Nov. last year, 2006. The towed tug sank inshore and the USCG reports they expended over a $million in rescuing the sunken tug. So I do not know what financial impact the USCG's charges may have on the maritime museum and whether the financial impact will affect the museum's viability. If they are affected, then the Q. A. Gillmore will again be "stuck" in the mud.

Well, I hope all this reaches you! Interesting stuff.

• RE: Readying For Steam Up Again on the Great Lakes - John 12/13/2010 19:48:28 EST (0)
• RE: Readying For Steam Up Again on the Great Lakes - John Molnar 12/13/2010 19:58:29 EST (0)