The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

SHIP BUILDERS BIOGRAPHIES By Paula Shorf and Matthew Weisman AUGUSTUS JONES (1782-1841) Augustus Jones was born on August 28, 1782 in Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut. He was a master shipbuilder, building vessels at the mouth of the Connecticut River in Essex (Potipaug). After the yard was burned by the British in 1814, he relocated - ultimately arriving in Black River, Ohio in 1822. Jones was contacted by Judge Meeker in 1822 to go to Vermilion to build a vessel for him. The schooner Eclipse was launched that summer. Augustus was her master during her first year on the lakes. He also built the Lady of the Lakes in Vermilion in 1824. Augustus Jones established the earliest yard at Sandusky, Ohio, where between the years 1824-1836, he built the Mariner, Commerce, Constitution, Lapwing, Young Tiger, Marie Antoinette, Cincinnati, Ohio, Sandusky and Cincinnati. The Sandusky yard was sold to Daniel Dibble. After leaving Sandusky, the Jones vessels were built at his yard in Black River. Captain Jones is also credited with building two vessels in the Toledo area. According to Marine historian, Richard Wright, Augustus Jones built the steamer Commodore Perry in 1835 in Perrysburg, Ohio. This was the first documented instance of a vessel being built in that city. Jones built the steamer for the Perrysburg Steam Boat Company. The steamer Chesapeake was built at Maumee, Ohio by Jones who, according to Wright, was likely assisted by Daniel R. Stebbins. The following is an account of the building of the Chesapeake: The Chesapeake - This is the name of the new steamship on the stocks at Maumee, finishing under the superintendence of that veteran Lake Admiral Capt. Jones of Black River. Length 166 feet, breadth of beam 25 feet. The Chesapeake is to be a clipper, and will be propeller by a powerful, low pressure engine manufactured in Montreal. Capt. D. Howe, well known on western waters as an accomplished seaman will command. Herald, January 31, 1838. Augustus was married to Saba Murdock Jones (1785-1830). They were blessed with seven known children. Their five sons, William Augustus, Benjamin Buel, George Washington, Frederick Nelson and James Monroe, 135