
Charles B. Calder (1853-1920) was born in Antwerp, New York, and died in
Toledo, Ohio. Over his lifetime he built a career in the shipping industry. In 1872 he
started as a cook on a schooner in Wellesley Island, New York, then worked his way from
assistant engineer to chief engineer on various ships in Oswego, Utica, Ogdensburg, and
Niagara, New York. From 1881 to 1886 he was chief engineer of a ship based in Chicago,
Illinois, then moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he served as chief engineer of several
ships working throughout the Great Lakes region, and he eventually became a shipbuilding
superintendent and port engineer. In 1894 Calder moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he
was general superintendent of two shipbuilding companies, and finally, in 1905, he moved
to Toledo, Ohio, where he was one of the incorporators of the Toledo Shipbuilding
Company and served as its vice president and general manager until his passing. He was a
member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Calder married Gertrude
Calder (b. Kent) in Clayton, New York, in 1881. She passed away in 1885, and he married
Emma Calder (b. Pearson) in Chicago in 1891. In June 1886 Calder wrote to Mary Baker
Eddy to order a copy of
Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures. Based on the records available, we have found no further
information concerning his involvement with Christian Science.
See more letters.