Posted by Jim on September 23, 1999 at 21:30:50:
In Reply to: Shipwreck in Great Lakes, summer of 1850 posted by Terry Morse on September 23, 1999 at 11:00:51:
: I would like to know how to search for information on a shipwreck that occurred during the summer
: of 1850. My family history has it that my great-great grandfather was a musician on a boat in the
: Great Lakes, and he was killed when the boat went down. I have the date of his death listed in the
: Old St. Mary's records in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as August 26, 1850, but that may be the date it was
: recorded. I don't know the name of the ship, or the type of ship. His name was George Zirkle, and
: he was a German immigrant. He lived in Milwaukee with his wife and son. Any help on how to
: search for this information would be appreciated.
: Terry Morse
This sounds like a tough one. I hope others post more helpful responses than what I have to offer. You may want to look into the G.P. Griffith. She was headed from Buffalo to Chicago in mid June, 1850 when she burned and sank in lake erie with a loss of 200 - 300 lives.
A few other candidates are St. Clair, sunk 8-5-1850; American, sunk 7-31-1850 in Lake Erie; A.D. Patchin, Sunk 7-27-1850 in Lake Michigan near Skillagalee.
The National Archives may have passenger lists for ships that sank around this time, but for something this old, records will be spotty.
Good luck with your search.
Hey, how about some help from some of you experienced researchers out there.