1892.

Western Reserve Goes Down. -- On Tuesday, August 30, the new steel steamer Western Reserve, 2,392 tons burden, commanded by Capt. Albert Meyer, bound from Cleveland to Two Harbors, foundered during a fierce gale on Lake Superior, about 60 miles above Whitefish Point, resulting in the drowning of six passengers and a crew of 25, Harry W. Stewart, wheelsman, of Algonac, being the sole survivor. The Western Reserve had sheltered behind Whitefish Point for a time, but finally, feeling confident of her ability to reach her destination in safety, the captain headed her into the lake, and all went well until about 9 P. M., when she was about 60 miles above the point, when the first warning of impending danger was a terrible crash, caused by the steamer breaking in two, the main mast going by the board, and weakening at other points well forward. She shipped water fast from the start, and the yawl boats were lowered. Capt. P. G. Minch, owner, with his family, and the officers and crew of the steamer to the number of seventeen, got into the wooden boat, the others taking to the metallic yawl. A few moments later the great steel hull sank in deep water, but before she had disappeared the metallic lifeboat capsized.

The Western Reserve

The other boat went to the assistance of those struggling in the water, but only succeeded in rescuing two of the unfortunates, Captain Meyer's son Carl, and the steward. The 19 survivors now in the yawl headed for Whitefish Point, 60 miles away. The wind was northeast when they started, but veered to the north, making considerable sea. The small boat weathered it, however, until 7 o'clock Wednesday morning when, about ten miles from Life-saving Station, No. 12, and about a mile from shore, it capsized, and all lost their lives except Mr. Stewart. The captain's son Carl bore up for a time, but, becoming exhausted, gave up the struggle, and Mr. Stewart, who was a strong swimmer, reached the shore alone, ten miles from the life-saving station, where he lay unconscious for a time. He then walked and crawled to the station and reported the calamity. Captain Minch was accompanied on this disastrous voyage by his wife and two children, and his wife's sister, with her daughter. W. H. Seaman, the chief engineer, was a son-in-law of George Eddy, a former manager of the old Northern Trans- portation Line at Ogdensburg, N. Y. The bodies of Captain Minch and his sister-in-law were recovered.

Terrific October Storm. -- On Friday, October 28, the weather, which had been acting unsteady for 24 hours previously, veered to the north-west, and by midnight a 60 to 70 mile gale was blowing over the several lakes, resulting in a loss of a number of lives and a million dollars worth of vessel property. The principal casualties at Cleveland were the sinking of the steamers Pontiac, Maruba and Ketchum in about 20 feet of water; schooners Samana, Colonel Cook, and Glad Tidings total losses, and the yacht Matt B. sunk, all inside the breakwater.

The schooner Nellie Hammond, while seeking shelter, became a total wreck on the south pier at Muskegon, and her master, Louis Michelson, was drowned. The barge Mishicott piled herself up south of Manistee, and the crew saved only by heroic efforts of life-savers. The schooner Zach Chandler, loaded with lumber, parted her tow line near White Fish Point, on Lake Superior, and went ashore four miles east of the Deer Park life-saving station with the loss of one man, the schooner becoming a total loss. The barge Sunshine was waterlogged and abandoned on Lake Erie, the crew being rescued by the propeller Hadsen. The Sunshine was eventually picked up and towed into port. The schooner A.P. Nichols dragged ashore on Pilot island at Death's Door entrance to Green Bay, and filled with water. The schooner H.P. Baldwin was driven ashore, and filled near Colchester, Lake Erie. The steamers Canisteo, with consorts S.B. Pomeroy and Stewart, stranded twelve miles below Chiboygan(sic), and the scow Essex on Lighthouse Point, near the same place. The schooner Lillie Pratt drove ashore near Frankfort, the steamer City of Naples stranded on False Presque Isle, and the tug Onward was driven against the piers and sunk at Traverse City, Michigan.

Disappearance of the Gilcher. - There were many other casualties, but the most calamitous page in the chapter was the disappearance of the large new steel steamer W.H. Gilcher with all hands, and the schooner Ostrich on Lake Michigan laden with 3,000 tons of coal. Capt. Lloyd H. Weeks, who was in command of the Gilcher, was a master of undoubted seamanship and experience, and had a capable crew of 16 all told, none of whom escaped to verify any of the theories that were formed to account for her disappearance. The most acceptable view regarding the loss of the Gilcher is that she was in collision with the schooner Ostrich, Captain McKay, owner and master, with a crew of six. In support of the above theory, Captain Stuffelbaum, master of the Steambarge Hattie B. Perene, reported that he had examined some wreckage on High island, Lake Michigan, consisting of the "string backs," which held the canvas covers of the Gilcher's lifeboats. They had been cut into with an axe, which clearly indicated that the crew had rushed to the life- boats in great haste and did not have time to pull off the awning in the ordinary way. From the fact that the lifeboats were never found, it seems probable that the steamer went down before they could be freed from the davits. Wreckage of the schooner Ostrich and Gilcher lay on the beach not 100 feet apart.

Foundering of the Nashua. The propeller Nashua, laden with lumber from Georgian Bay to Toledo, foundered on Lake Huron, October 4, with all hands, 14 souls in all. Wreckage drifted ashore between Bayfield and Goderich.

Loss of the John Burt. On September 26, the schooner John Burt, of Detroit, was wrecked three and one-half miles south of the Big Sandy life-saving station on Lake Ontario. Two persons were drowned. The John Burt was a three-masted schooner, built in Detroit in 1871, of 348 gross tons. She was bound from Chicago to Oswego, and had almost reached her port of destination when her rudder head gave way in a furious gale from the northwest, and she became unmanageable and was driven past her port down the lake. She was sighted from the Big Sandy station under a reefed foresail and two head sails drifting toward the shore, heavy rain squalls prevailing. When the weather again lighted up, Keeper Fish, of the station, and judging that she was powerless to contend with the storm, launched the lifeboat in the creek and pulled across, landing just as the schooner came up in the wind and let go her anchors two miles to the southward, but dragging her anchors toward the shore until the cables parted and she stranded, the waves leaping completely over her, and the crew in the mizzen rigging.

The life-savers fired a line squarely through the main rigging. The crew, however, did not seem disposed to use the line thus sent them. Two abandoned their places of refuge in the shrouds and leaped into the boisterous waves. Four surfmen, with life lines attached to their bodies, reached the struggling sailors and assisted them to land. The mizzen mast soon went by the board, followed by the main mast a moment later, precipitating the hapless crew into the lake. The life-saving men then, with lines attached, entered the water and rescued three more of the sailors.

Other Events of 1892. - April: Schooner John B. Merrill sunk by collision with the steamer Mercur at Bar Point. Schooner Mystic Star sunk at Fair Haven. Schooner Sophia J. Luff wrecked in Georgian Bay. Schooner Annie Sherwood wrecked off Eagle river. May: Steamer Celtic sunk by collision with the Russia off Point Rondeau. Steambarge Yosemite burned at Emerson. Tug Saginaw burned at Windsor. Schooner Hattie Perew waterlogged near Milwaukee. Tug Spinney sunk at Toledo. Propeller Mayflower sunk at Sandusky. Steambarge W.P. Thew burned off Chicago. Barge Brooklyn waterlogged at Alpena. Schooner Josephine sunk at Lake George Flats by collision with the Aloha. Steamer Kalamazoo sunk by collision with the Pilgrim on Lake Michigan. June: Steamer Progress sunk by collision with the steamer Briton in Detroit river. Schooner Persia wrecked at Racine Reef. Schooner Magnet sunk in Detroit river by collision with the Glencora. Tug Winslow sunk near Point Pelee. Steamer A.E. Wilds sunk by collision with the Douglass off Milwaukee. Tug Danforth sunk at Duluth. Schooner Fred A. Morse sunk by collision with the John C. Pringle at Thunder Bay. July: Barge C.H. Davis waterlogged at Buffalo. Steamer Island Belle destroyed by lightning at Grand Island. Barge H.S. Walbridge destroyed by fire in Detroit river. Schooner General Burnside sunk on Lake Erie. Steambarge Nelson Mills wrecked off Nanbenmay. Steamer R.P. Flower wrecked near Waugashance. Schooner Cheney Ames sunk at Muskegon. Schooner Mary D. Ayer waterlogged off Whitefish Point. Tug Chicago sunk by collision with the steamer City of Concord off Chicago. August: Steamer Princess Louise sunk by collision off Thompson's Point. Steamer Remora sunk at St. Ignace. Steambarge S. Neff sunk at Cleveland. Schooner City of Toledo capsized on Lake Michigan; several lives lost. Steamer Kitty M. Forbes sunk at Cleveland. September: Tug John A. Paige burned on Lake Superior. Schooner Guiding Star abandoned at Big Bay Point. Schooner Fanny Campbell waterlogged off Goderich. The Dan Kunz sunk at Sandusky by collision with the steamer Roland, afterwards raised. October: Steambarge Richard Martini sunk by collision with a schooner at Bar Point. Tug McVea burned in River St. Clair. Steambarge Canada burned at Port Huron. Barge Jupiter waterlogged off Black river. Schooner J.E. Gilmore wrecked at Garrett's bay. Steambarge Roland sunk near Green Island. Barge Samona wrecked at Cleveland. Schooner Zack Chandler ashore and wrecked at Deer Park. November: Tug James Amadeus sunk near Point Pelee. Canadian schooner Marquis a total loss at Forest bay. Schooner Minnie Davis sunk by collision with the schooner Hunter Savidge near Point Mowia. Tug C.J.G. Monroe burned at Port Colborne. Schooner Nelson sunk at Lime Kiln Crossing by collision with the Susan D. Peck. Schooner Grace Murray sunk at Bar Point. Schooner Annie Vought, ashore at the Manitous, goes to pieces. December 12: Steamer Notherner burned at her dock at L'Anse. Valued at $50,000.

Return to Home Port

Volume II

Some of the transcription work was also done by Brendon Baillod, who maintains an excellent guide to Great Lakes Shipwreck Research.