Posted by M. Saleh on October 28, 1999 at 21:15:57:
In Reply to: Lady Elgin Wreck posted by Ron Falconberry on July 28, 1999 at 22:18:27:
: I am working on a speech to give to my Toastmaster's club about a person involved in the 1860 wreck of the Lady Elgin. His name was Edward Spencer and he reportedly rescued 17 people from drowning.
: I am interested in getting historical information on the wreck, such as the name of the ship that ran into it, possibly the name of the captain and any well-known individuals that may have been on board. Additionally, where did the Lady Elgin come from and where was it going?
: Is there a web site or another way of getting a good historical breakdown of the wreck or of Edward Spencer?
: Any information you could give me would be appreciated!
: Thank you;
I am honored to return to submit my final articles on Captain Jack Wilson of the Lady Elgin. Now that the Lady Elgin was lost on September 8, 1860 with 300 passengers and 100 more that Captain Jack Wilson had rescued with the assistance of Edward Spenser, the news of the terrible disaster had already spread quickly to Milwaukee and Chicago.The reports of Captain Wilson's fate continued to be in doubtdue to the conflicting reports on the way he may (or may not have been lost) with his passengers, and most people continued to have great hopes that the brave and heroic Captain jack wilson had survived this disaster as he had survived all the other disaster of his illustrious life and career. The people of Milwaukee and Chicago, and the wife and children of Captain Wilson, however did not have too long to wait, however, to know the painfully unbearable truth by September 10, 1860 about their beloved friend at 3pm of that same day when a certain James Hoy of Chicago, in his failed search for his wife, also a Lady Elgin passenger was assumeed to be lost. Instead of finding his wife, on the shores of Lakeview, north of Chicago, Mr. Hoy discovered five bodies washed to the shore. One of the bodies, which was that of a tall, strong man, was being dishonorably robbed of all he had left before he lost his life. Pete Ceasar in his 1981 book "The Lady Elgin Is Down" give a greatly detailed and dramatic account of the greater respect and reverence that the majority of people would give to Captain Jack Wilson. When James Hoy quickly made it his business to fight off those who exploited the pockets of the deceased man, he soon discovered that the body belonged to none other than Captain Jack Wilson himself, after the grief stricken Mr. Hoy found a gold watch and other documents that the Captain had carried with him after the Lady Elgin had sunk. The tugboat McQUEEN, commanded by Captain John Prindiville, with great respect and dignity, picked up the unfortunate body and carried it to Chigago where it was claimed by a Lady Elgin porter, then taken to be examined by a city Coroner who legally designated it "Body No. 73", and declared that Captain wilson had died of a skull fracture. The body of the Captain of the Lady Elgin was placed in a metallic coffin and transferred to Captain Wilson's occasional Chicago home at the Richmond House hotel, until Saturday afternoon, September 15, 1860, while the Chicago Tribune gave daily reports and editorial comments on Captain Jack Wilson, and his wife and children were already telegraphed about their wonderful husband and father, as to their yet unbelievable loss they would be forced to endure, along with the people of Chicago and the Great Lakes area. The peopel of chicago were determined to give Captain Jack Wilson the same high honors he had recieved in life as he now was to recieve after his death, in spite of the rather morbid words that were engrave on a metal plaque on his closed casket that read "Capt. John Wilson: Died Sept. 8, 1860. The casket was transported by horse and flat bed carriage to Chicago's famous Wigwam Exposition and Convention Center for the funeral service at 6 pm that evening. Members of the Chicago military and Captain Wilson's Masonic Lodge fraternity
"brothers" stood as honor guards for their deceased friend as Rev. Dr. Clarkson of St. James Episcopal church and Rev. Pratt of Trinity Methodist Church of Chicago offered their prayers and eulogies on Jack Wilson to the large crowd of his friends and admirers from Chicago, and everywhere else.Rev. Pratt loudly and respectfull description of Captain Jack Wilson as "noble, generous, unselfish, and courageous...He stood higher than a wave". Rev. Pratt gave reasons why Captain Jack Wilson of the Lady Elgin was so well loved, respected, and admireed for "living for his manful and faithful spirit. The choirs of St. Jmes and Trinity also sang their tributes to Captain Wilson. After the funeral the casket containing Captain Wilson's body was taken in procession through Chicago's Van Buren Street for the people of Chicago and other cities to bid their final farewell to their highly honored and best-of-all ship captain who did not not deserve to be lost at the young age of 38 and had his whole life ahead of him at his permanent home at Coldwater, Michigan where Mrs. Wilson and her children now waited for Captain Jack Wilson who had always promised to faithfully and lovingly return to them, though he had never planned to return to them in a baggage car of the Michigan Southern Railroad, accompanied by his grief-stricken best friends from ColdWater, namely R.F. Mockridge and D.S. Harrington. When Captain Wilson's body arrived at Coldwater, Michigan,accompanied by his two friends, they were met by a naturally bereaved, shocked, and grief-stricken Wilson family.(Although Pete Ceasar and the Chicago Tribune of Sept. 1860 never disclosed the first names of Mrs. Wilson and Captain Wilson's 13 year old son, these resourses did reveal that Captain Wilson's oldest daughter, Mary, was a tall 15 year old beauty and mature young lady who was already an accomplished musician and an expert on several musical instuments, while Captain Wilson's 11 year old handicapped, but lovely, daughter's name was Josephine.)The Wilson family had the terrible misfortune of having to leave Sault Ste. Marie, where they had waited for the past week in the hope that Captain Wilson would return to take them on his scheduled fall Great Lakes tour, though now they were forced to take a more sad and sorrowful journey from St. Ignance and Mackinaw City South through Michigan to meet Captain Jack Wilson in a way which the Captian, himself, had never planned or scheduled at any time now or in the future. Most of Captain Wilson's friends and admirers who attended his funeral and burial in Coldwater, Michigan, also could never believe that their best friend, ship captain, and brave hero was gone from them. They felt that it simply could not be possible for the Strong, brave and young Captain Jack Wilson could have been taken away so suddenly. Pete Ceasar states,"His strength, constant encouragement and never say die spirit should never have killed this powerful man. Death, in this case especially, makes life so difficult to understand. Only God knows why." The Chicago Tribune graciously described Captain Jack Wilson in the following Words, "In all these years therelived no man who could declare that he ever ever betrayed a trust, or deserted a friend, or proved faithless to duty. With a great generous heart, a clear, cool head, a strong warm hand, he was a thorough sailor, and all-in-all a man".