ber 1, 1873, when he went back to the Utica, which was then running as a railroad ferry 
at Ogdensburg, N. Y. He sailed on her until the fall of 1874, when she was sold. 
In the spring of 1875 he shipped on the Inter Ocean as second assistant engineer, 
sailing on her until 1879 when he shipped as chief engineer of the tug Niagara. In that 
season he went back as second engineer of the Inter Ocean. In 1880 he was made chief 
engineer of this vessel. In 1881 he shipped as chief engineer of the Escanaba, sailing on 
her until the winter of 1886, when he superintended the compounding of the Inter Ocean 
and the Argonaut. He then went to Cleveland to superintend the building of the Ira 
H. Owen. He had a small interest in this vessel and was her chief engineer until 1880, 
when he superintended the building of the Parks Foster. He was chief engineer of her 
until 1891, when he accepted the position of port engineer of the Menominee Transpor- 
tation Company’s steamers. In 1892 he was appointed port engineer of the Mutual 
Transit Company’s steamers in conjunction with the above. 
On March 1, 1894, he accepted the position of superintendent of the Dry Dock 
Engine Works, Detroit, holding this position until 1899, when he was appointed general 
superintendent of the Detroit Shipbuilding Company. He held this position until the 
fall of 1905, when he resigned. He was one of the incorporators of the Toledo Ship- 
building Company and was made general manager of that firm. In 1909 he was elected 
vice-president and general manager, which position he held until his death. 
JONATHAN IRVIN CHAFFEE 
MEMBER 
In the death of Prof. J. Irvin Chaffee on December 3, 1919, the sciences of naval 
architecture and marine engineering suffered the loss of an educator who had been of 
marked service. 
When the United States entered the World War, 80 per cent of the 192 graduates 
of Webb’s Academy of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (now the Webb 
Institute of Naval Architecture) engaged in war work—in the Army and Navy, in ship 
design for the Navy, in the Emergency Fleet Corporation, in shipbuilding, and in special 
allied work. This brilliant record is due very largely to the ability, faithfulness and 
untiring labor of Professor Chaffee, who for twenty-four years taught mathematics and 
applied mechanics at the academy, and also during a considerable part of that period 
was its resident manager and the head of its faculty. 
Jonathan Irvin Chaffee was born at Seekonk, Mass., on January 3, 1861. He was 
of old New England stock, the descendant in the ninth generation of Thomas Chaffee who 
in 1635 was a landowner and resident of Hingham, Mass. On the maternal side, Pro- 
