Today in Great Lakes History – August 21

Today in Great Lakes History – August 21

1856 CHARTER (wooden propeller vessel, 132 feet, 197 tons, built in 1849 at Huron, Ohio as a sidewheeler) was bound from Cleveland for Buffalo with flour, oats, and rye. She swamped and sank in a storm 6 miles above Fairport, Ohio. By the end of August, she had been...
Today in Great Lakes History – August 20

Today in Great Lakes History – August 20

1852 ATLANTIC (wooden sidewheeler, 267 feet, 1,155 tons, built in 1849 at Detroit, Michigan) was loaded with immigrants when she collided with the propeller freighter OGDENSBURG and quickly sank south of Long Point on Lake Erie at about 2:30 a.m. Of the 600 on board,...
Today in Great Lakes History – August 19

Today in Great Lakes History – August 19

1865 The PEWABIC, Captain George P. McKay, was downbound on Lake Huron when she was rammed by her sister ship, METEOR. The PEWABIC sank with an estimated loss of 125 lives and a cargo of copper ingots, ore, and hides valued at $500,000. 1868 The package freighter...
Today in Great Lakes History – August 18

Today in Great Lakes History – August 18

1871 GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT (wooden schooner, 114 feet, 213 tons, built in 1852 at Black River, Ohio) was carrying lumber from Menominee to Chicago when she sprang a leak during a gale and capsized off Spider Island near Death’s Door on Lake Michigan. The crew...
Today in Great Lakes History – August 17

Today in Great Lakes History – August 17

1869 At 4:00 p.m., the schooner CARLINGFORD was launched at the Fitzgerald and Leighton yard in Port Huron, Michigan, with plenty of spectators on hand. Robert Montgomery of Buffalo, the owner, built the vessel for the grain trade. Her capacity was 30,000 bushels of...
Today in Great Lakes History – August 16

Today in Great Lakes History – August 16

Unknown The captain of the two-year-old, 125-foot wooden schooner barge JOHN F. RITCHIE brought his wife, two other women, and several small children as guests on a voyage from Bay City, Michigan, to Buffalo, New York. The RITCHIE was one of a string of four barges...