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The Peck and Masters yard was located on the south side of the Old River Bed, just around the bend in the stream west of the Willow Street bridge. In 1864 they moved to the Scranton Flats for the same reasons as Quayle and Martin, and located near the present Baltimore and Ohio Railroad freight sheds. Another important cog in the wheel of wooden shipbuilding in Cleveland was the firm of Stephens and Presley. George Presley was born on February 22, 1820, in Cornwall, Lower Canada. While he was still young, his parents moved to Jefferson County, New York. In 1838 George  made his way to Clayton, New York, where he became apprenticed to George S. Weeks. He finished his apprenticeship in 1843 under John Oades and left the same year for Cleveland. Here he worked in turn for Sanford and Moses, George W. Jones and the Turners. In 1848 he began sub-contracting and thus became associated with Ira Lafrinnier and William Stephenson. Finally, in 1850 he became the junior partner with Harvey Stephens of Stephens and Presley. Their yard was located at the corner of Elm and Cedar Streets, in Block "R" of the Old River Bed. The Portland Cement Company elevator now occupies the site. In 1850 they built a horse-powered marine railway which was replaced in 1856 by a steam-driven one. They did not start building vessels until 1852, when they launched the propeller Prairie State. One rather unusual feature in this vessel was the upright or cone-shaped boiler which was designed to conserve space. They also built the propellers Michigan and Wisconsin, and the schooners Mariner and S. Buttles that year. On January 11, 1853 they launched the schooner White Cloud. Two schooners were built in 1854, and on March 22, 1855, they launched the bark L. M. Hubby. In that year, 1855, vessel construction in Cleveland exceeded all other ports on the lakes, both as to the number built and total tonnage.61 Stephens and Presley contributed to that record by also launching the schooners Morning Light, Miami and Muskingum. In 1856 they built the schooner Mary Ballard, and in 1857 the schooner Walrus. Their business was almost exclusively vessel repair from 1857 until 1862, when they launched the propeller S. D. Caldwell (at a cost of $48,000) and the propeller Maine for the Northern Transportation Company. In 1863 they built the propeller City of New York, although their chief source of business remained vessel repair. This is illustrated by their cutting the Northern Transportation Company propeller Young America in two parts to lengthen her in April 1864. In 1868 they built the schooner Fayette Brown and the tug W. D. Cushman. The last building that this firm did was the three tugs, the L. P. Smith (1869), Thomas Dowling and Joe Harris (both in 1873). In 1875 the firm started construction of a dry dock, but on May 24, 1875, because of financial difficulties, Harvey Stephens was forced to 41