The John A. Paige was a wooden steam propeller tug built as the tug P.F. Thrall in 1881 at Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1886 the Paige Lumber Company of Duluth, Minnesota purchased the Thrall and changed the name to John A. Paige. Her official number was 150215 and the vessel was rated A1 when built. At the time of loss the vessel was worth between $6,000 to $8,000 but insured only for $3,000.
"On September 6,1892 the tug John A. Paige (P.F. Thrall-1881) burned to the water's edge while anchored in Siskiwit Bay near the mouth of the Siskiwit River to the west of the Apostle Islands. Fire broke out about 10 p.m. in the bilge below the boilers as a fireman was cleaning the boiler flues. There were five persons on board at the time and no lives were lost nor were there major injuries. This vessel was a total loss with no currently know record of salvage.

Period accounts state the fire spread rapidly and all were forced to abandon ship under direct order of Captain Daniel Cronk (Cronck), thern of Ashland, Wisconsin. The vessel was valued at $6,000 to $8,000 but insured for only $3,000. It appears there would be little of the hull left for a salvager of that time although disposition of the engine, boilers, and machinery is unknown and may have succumbed to local entrepreneurs." Report of two-day underwater survey of selected Historical Sites at Apostle Islands Lakeshore with considerations for furture research".