John Ernest Proctor
John Ernest Proctor sailed the Great Lakes for seven seasons. He sailed on the John Owens Tug. He ran the boiler room and shoveled coal for the steam ship. One day there was a bad storm and he climbed up into the crow's nest to see if there were other ships. He fell out of the crow's nest. As a result, one leg was shorter than the other. This took place on Lake Eerie.
He was an inventor. He invented the vacuum cleaner and had a patent for it, but he couldn't afford to manufacture them. His son told of going with his father to demonstrate the vacuum. They would go into homes in Detroit and give demonstrations of carpet and drapery cleaning. They cleaned carpets for a nickel. To give a demonstration he would put a straight pin standing up under the carpet and them vacuum it up. He also invented a hot water heater.