Dear Listers: This is my first message to this list. Please excuse any errors in protocol. I have been searching for ten years on whatever happened to this ancestor. What didn't help was that his late granddaughter, the closest living relative to him, refused to talk about him as if there was something to be ashamed of. Perhaps someone has specific information on him, or can give me some helpful suggestions. Here is all I know: Capt. NICHOLAS ATTWOOD was born in Uckfield, Sussex, England on 4 Apr 1832. His parents are unknown to me. At the age of 16 in London he joined the British merchant marine in 1848, as "boy" (cabin boy?). His land residence at that time was listed as 'Wandsworth'. The next document I have on him is his US naturalization record. It is dated Dec, 1858 in Wayne Co., Michigan. On it it says that he has been in this country at least five years, the last year his residence was Detroit. His name is also spelled ATWOOD, which is how it has been spelled by the family since. The next document I have is his familie's entry on the 1860 census of Detroit, Michigan. He is listed as a 'sailor' and he is living with his family at 221 Park St., Detroit. His family consists of Julia (nee' Sutton, according to a son's death record) age 33, born in Ohio, and daughters Avis (b. 1855 in Michigan; later married Erastus Woodruff) and Elizabeth (b. 1857 in Michigan; later married Charles Linc! oln, then John McKenny), and sons Nicholas (b. 1859 in Detroit, whereabouts or marriage unknown) and George Samuel (b. 1860 in Detroit; married Mabel Mathewson; was a Detroit fireman). Other than listed as the father on the aforementioned son's death record, the last document I have of Capt. Atwood is in the Polk Directories of Detroit. In the 1864-65 volume, it says "Atwood, Nicholas Capt. 221 Park St.". Then in the 1866-67 volume, it the entry reads "Atwood, Julia, [wid Nicholas] 221 Park St.". To date I have found no information on what happened to him. The family tradition is that he died at sea. I searched through two years of the Detroit papers for any mention of his loss, but found none. There is no memorial marker in the family plot, or anywhere in the family cemetery (Woodmare Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan). Julia remained at 221 Park St. until her death in Apr 1891, she never remarried. Years ago there was in the family a painting of a masted sailing ship that was said to be the 'captain's' ship, but the older members of the family who saw it as children (in the 1930s) do not remember what the name of the ship was, and the painting has long since disappeared. I have so far not been able to connect him up with a ship to find that ship's records to see if either it sank, or if he was just a death aboard ship. It was said that he may have been part owner, but I can locate no records. I contacted the Michigan Vital Records bureau, but they had no state records going back to that time period. They said that if he died and sea, and IF they found the body, the death would be recorded in the county that the body was found in. The number of counties in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ontario that edge on the Great Lakes was prohibitive, so I have not followed up on that line. I tried to contact the port authority in Detr! oit to see if they have any archives, but I received no response. I have contacted the various Great Lakes shipwreck museums in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, etc., but there were no 'hits', one of the problems was not having the ship name, as that is how the records are indexed. I have contacted a journalist who has a weekly column recounting Great Lakes' ship wrecks and disasters, but he has found nothing in his sources. He did suggest that many Great Lakes ships were impressed into ocean service during the early 1860s in support of the Civil War effort. I contacted the National Archives, but there was no record of Capt. Atwood among the military records. I also contacted a researcher who explores by diving to the old wrecks. He searched his sources and also came up empty. I did locate a microfilm of Great Lake ships' accidents for 1865, but despite the fact that it listed the ships name, the company that owned it, the type of ship, casualities, and even the cargo, it did! not list the captains' or personal owners (only companies') names Due to the lack of success in this line of search, along with the fact that his wife/widow never remarried although she was relatively young and 'propertied', and the reluctance of that granddaughter to talk about him, I am beginning to wonder if he ever really 'died at sea', and perhaps he 'took off' (deserted) his family. So, if anyone out there has ANY information on whatever happened to Capt. Atwood, or has information as to sources I haven't tried yet, I would appreciate it greatly if you would contact me. I live in a 'remote' area of Michigan (the Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior), so all my research has had to be done through the mail or the internet. I am not is a financial position to hire a professional researcher or I would've done so long ago. I have signed on to several mailing lists in hopes of finding some leads, (various ship and emigrant lists, local interest lists like the one for Wayne Co., etc). But, as soon as I saw this list GEN-UNSOLVED-MYSTERIES, I figured if any list could help me, this would be it. I look forward to hearing from you. Ever hopeful, Kathy Atwood PS My apologies for the length of this message. I just wanted to provide a complete picture of what I had to let the listers know what I had and already had tried. Best of success in your own searches!!!