This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Libby Collins Cookingham Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/pBC.2ACE/3944 Message Board Post: Seattle Post Intelligencer Sept 5 1905: Capt. John Libby Dies at Portland. Had Been Ill for Year But Death Was Due to Stroke of Apoplexy. Pioneer Steamboat Man. Operated in Puget Sound Waters for More Than Twenty-Five Years. Capt. John B. Libby, for a number of years at the head of the Puget Sound Tugboat Company and one of the most prominent figures in steamboating on Puget Sound, died Monday at the Crystal Springs private sanitarium, Portland, Oregon, where he had been for nearly a year past. The immediate cause of death was apoplexy. Capt. Libby was one of the best known men that ever engaged in the steamboat business on Puget Sound. For many years a resident of Seattle, he numbered his close personal friends in this city and all over the Sound country by the hundreds. He had a wide acquaintance. He was taken ill December 25, 1904 and after being under the care of physicians in this city for a short time was removed to the private sanitarium at Portland. He kept gradually failing until Monday when he was stricken with apoplexy and died in a short time. On Coast Many Years: Capt. Libby came to the Pacific Coast fifty years ago, and after a few years in San Francisco came to Seattle. He was identified with many enterprises on the Sound, mostly connected with the steamboating business. He was born in Virginia fifty-four years ago, and at the age of four years came to the Pacific coast with his parents. Shortly after arriving in San Francisco his parents died and he was adopted by Capt. And Mrs. S. D. Libby. Shortly afterward they moved to Seattle and which a mere boy, Capt. Libby began to follow the sea on deep water ships. At the age of 19 he was a captain on a steamer plying the waters of Puget Sound and was master of several of the vessels that operated between the different points on the Sound in early days. In 1889 he took the management of the Tacoma Mill Company and remained in that capacity for about three years, temporarily leaving the steamboating business. While engaged in the management of this company he conceived the idea of consolidating the tugboat interests of the different mill companies of the Sound, and as a result the Puget Sound Tugboat Company was organized in 1892, with Capt. Libby as manager. Head of Tug Company: He continued as active manager of the company until a year ago, when he was taken ill. Capt Libby was married in 1875 (could be 1878 or 1873) to Miss Mary Collins, daughter of John Collins of this city. Mrs. Libby died in 1884. Two children survive Capt. Libby. Mrs. Albert Cookingham and F. Libby. Both are residents of Seattle and the son is an engineer on one of the tugboats of the Puget Sound Tugboat Company. The body will be cremated and brought to this city for interment. The funeral arrangements have not been made at this time, but will be announced later.