Charles Lorenzo Hutchinson
CLEVELAND, in relation to the transportation business of the Great Lakes, has the double distinction of leadership both in the building and operation of vessels. It is the home port of the largest number of the vessels engaged in the handling of bulk freights and also is the headquarters of shipbuilding and repair yards for the construction and equipment of vessels for lake service. In that city are located many of the leaders in the lake shipping business, one of the best known of whom, having spent a lifetime in the lake transportation business, is Charles Lorenzo Hutchinson, senior member of Hutchinson & Company and president of the Pioneer Steamship Company.
Mr. Hutchinson was born in Cleveland, January 25, 1862, the son of J. T. and Emma (Camp) Hutchinson. He was educated in the Cleveland Public School and began his career on the Great Lakes about forty years ago, serving in various capacities in connection with steamship management and operation and conducting business later in a small way until 1901, when he or-ganized the Pioneer Steamship Company, of which he has ever since been president, and of the firm of Hutchinson & Company, which is the operating company.
The first steamship built by the company was the "J- T. Hutchinson," of 3,690 gross tonnage, and since then the company has built and is now operating, in addition to that vessel, which is still in service, the following, with gross tonnage as noted the steamers "J- J- Sullivan," 7,077 tons; "D. R. Hanna," 7,023 tons; "Joseph G. Butler, Jr.," 6,588 tons; "A. A. Augustus," 6,390 tons; "G. A. Tomlinson," 6,361 tons; "F. R. Hazard," 5,494 tons; "Frank Billings," 5,494 tons; "E. L. Pierce," 5,494 tons; "Price McKinney," 4,671 tons; "John Stanton," 6,129 tons; "Wm. A. Paine," 5,798 tons; "James P. Walsh," 5,326 tons; "Martin Mullen," 4,635 tons; "Harold B. Nye," 3,851 tons; "Australia," 3,845 tons; "Polynesia," 3,640 tons; "Amazon," 3,702 tons.
With these vessels the Pioneer Steamship Company carries on a large and active business throughout the navigating season on the Great Lakes, in cargoes of ore, stone, and grain, the business extending to all of the American ports of the Great Lakes, and the company rendering efficient service to the entire satisfaction of its customers, who include many of the largest business firms and corporations in the various lake cities. The firm of Hutchinson & Company, which is the operating end of the business, has provided itself with all the necessary resources and equipment for maintaining the line in the most effective condition for large operation, and has its own repair yard, with a complete equipment for that work.
Mr. Hutchinson, who is at the head of the business, is one of the best-informed men in connection with the conditions and methods of lake transportation, and is a man of influence in the business, being a director and one of the executive committee of the Lake Carriers' Association. He has always been identified with every organized effort to improve lake navigation and to promote the success of the lake transportation business. He is identified with other important interests in Cleveland and the lake region, is a director of the Central National Bank of Cleveland, and a director of the Great Lakes Towing Company.
During the war period the speeding up of the necessary industries created an increased demand for the carriage of cargoes in bulk of ores, stone and grain, and, like all the other well-equipped and well-managed lines of steamers operating on the Great Lakes, the Pioneer Steamship Company was kept busy up to its capacity from the opening to the close of lake navigation. With the return of peace and with the expected enlargement of manufacturing operations, the conditions of accelerated business which the war created will have a tendency to become normal, and to call for not only the activities of existing tonnage but for further additions to the well-established fleets of high reputation that operate upon the Great Lakes.
In his personal and social relations Mr. Hutchinson is a member of the Union Club, the Clifton Club, the Westwood Country Club, and the Cleveland Yacht Club (member of the Mobilization Committee).
