Arquivo F731 - Gildersleeve family fonds

Henry Gildersleeve (1776-1851), expert shipwright, came to Bath to participate in the construction of the S.S. Frontenac which commenced in 1815. The S.S. Frontenac was the first stemaboat to operate on the Great Lakes. In 1818 he participated in the construction of the "Queen Charlotte" after which he moved to Kingston. He continued in the shipbuilding trade while also becoming owner and operator of steamboats on Lake Ontario and the Bay of Quinte. The family continued in this business for nearly 100 years entering the steamship merger of 1913. Henry Herchmer Gildersleeve, grandson, continued in active steamboat operation service as manager of Northern Navigation Company until 1930, dying at Ottawa in 1933. His father, Charles Fuller Gildersleeve (1833-1906) had also served for many years as General Manager of the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Company. Four-time magistrate Overton Gildersleeve (1825-1864) served as the mayor of Kingston in 1855, 1856, and 1861-62.