James Johnson
Plot 6, Section 79, Lot 6
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Twenty-one-year-old Johnson had spent most of his working life crewing on some of the passenger boats (such as the Chicora which is identified on the monument) that operated out of the Port of Toronto. When the 1913 season ended, he signed on board the Argus, a coal carrier that plied the Buffalo-Chicago route.
On Sunday, November 9, 1913, a powerful storm swept the Great Lakes resulting in the loss of 15 ships and nearly 200 crew members. One of those ill-fated vessels was the Argus, which vanished along with Johnson and 34 of his crew mates. The date of Johnson’s interment is shown in the official records as December 1, 1914, indicating that his remains were not discovered for more than a year after the disaster.
Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded