Charles W. Kotcher 204799

This vessel was built at Lorain, Ohio in 1907 by the American Ship Building Company. Until 1915, she was owned by the Detroit Steamship Company of Detroit, Michigan. From 1915 to 1950, she was owned by the Wilson Transit Company of Cleveland, Ohio. From 1950 to 1968, she was owned by the Gartland Steamship Company of Chicago and the U. S. From 1920 to 1969, she was known as the "Frank E. Taplin." In 1969, she was towed along with the "Howard M. Hanna, Jr." to Cartagena, Spain for scrapping.

President William Howard Taft and First Lady Nellie Taft at South Bass Island

This picture shows President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen Herron Taft readying to lay the cornerstone of Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial on South Bass Island in August 1912. The monument was built between 1912 and 1915 to commemorate Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory on Lake Erie over the British fleet in September 1813. It also represented the lasting peace between the U.S., Canada, and England.