Fathoms Deep But Not Forgotten: Wisconsins Historic
Shipwrecks
Part III: Milwaukee County 1825-1875
Brendon Baillod
This article is the third in
a continuing series examining the historical maritime archeology sites in Wisconsin. This
installment will review the historical shipwrecks of Milwaukee County in its early period.
Milwaukee was one of the busiest and earliest ports on Lake Michigan. Early on, it
rivaled Chicago for water commerce and was the largest grain port on Lake Michigan for much of the 1800s. The first vessel ever to visit Milwaukee was the British sloop Felicity which anchored off the
river mouth in 1779. The area became the
local headquarters for the Northwest Fur Company in 1795 and many small vessels
began to call from Mackinac and Detroit. By 1815 a
several vessels were anchoring off the area each year with trade goods. In the 1830s, Milwaukee began to receive significant settlement when Solomon
Juneau and Byron Kilbourn platted a town at the
site. In 1835, Milwaukee received her first visit by a steamboat, when the United States moored off the river.
Soon, the river mouth was dredged and shallow schooners could enter the
river. This shallow entrance required
constant dredging as sandbars built up, and many vessels stranded there before
the straight cut was made about a mile north in 1857. Following the improvement of her harbor, Milwaukee became a leading grain port with major trade in
lumber and coal. Milwaukee hosted an enormous volume of shipwrecks in her early
period. Most of these were due to the
unimproved harbor, and most of the remains of these wrecks have been removed by
subsequent shoreline changes and dredging during the industrialization of the
city. The following list details all the
historic total loss shipwrecks known in Milwaukee County from 1825 to 1875.
It is likely that many qualifying wrecks were missed in this listing due
to sparse reporting and scant records, but this lists probably comprises the
vast majority.
Schooner Sea Serpent (none) Built 1821 at Cleveland, OH by Captain D. Tyler for John Burtis
26 gt. BOM, Fall 1837 The schooner Sea Serpent
was a small, early Lake
Michigan coastal schooner
that had been brought from Lake
Erie where she had been
named Lake Serpent. She was wrecked and rebuilt at Michigan City in June 1836, but was lost when she went ashore on
the bar at Milwaukee in the Fall of 1837. (Increase
Lapham, Losses on Lake Michigan 1834 - 1841, Senate
Document 186, 27th Congress)
Schooner H. Marsh (none) Built 1838 at Cleveland, OH by H.H. Trebout 47.92 gt. BOM, 54.9 x 16.2 x 6.3 ft. 11/20/1840 The schooner H. Marsh was lost trying to enter the
harbor in a Fall gale.
She was driven hard aground at the river mouth and broke up. She was a total loss with her cargo. (Milwaukee Sentinel 11/24/1840, Lapham List)
Steam Ferry Badger (none) Launched 7/4/1837 60 gt. BOM, 64 x 12 ft
owned by Byron Kilbourn Fall 1840 The steam
lighter Badger had been used to ferry in passengers and freight from
steamers. Her cabins could seat about
100 persons and she was the first steam vessel built at Milwaukee. She had been
wrecked on the bar in 1837 but was salvaged.
She was abandoned inside the harbor, after it was enlarged in the Fall of 1840. Her
remains were almost certainly removed. (Pioneer History of Milwaukee I p. 116, Milwaukee Sentinel 7/8/1837)
Sloop Clarissa (none) Built 1836 at Chicago Fall 1840 The sloop
Clarissa was the first vessel built at Chicago. She was never
enrolled and was probably a small coastal trader. She was lost in the Fall
of 1840 when she was driven ashore at Milwaukee. (Lapham List)
Sloop Wenonah (none) Built 1841 at Milwaukee by George Barber 30 gt.
BOM 11/25/1841 The
sloop Wenonah was a small vessel, built as a lighter. Runge claims she
was built in 1836, but this seems unlikely.
She went ashore at Milwaukee
in a gale on 11/25/1841 and disappears from all records, probably a total loss. (Lapham List, Milwaukee Sentinel 12/1/1841)
Steamer C.C. Trowbridge (none) Built 1838 at Saugatuck, MI by William Wilkin 42.72 gt.
BOM, 73.0 x 16.0 x 4.6 ft. 12/5/1842 The C.C. Trowbridge was a small steamer brought to Milwaukee as a harbor ferry and lighter. She was lost on 12/5/1842 when she went ashore off North Point. She was condemned and her engines
removed. Her hull was probably also
removed. (Lytle-Holdcamper
List, Kit Lane-Built on the Banks of the Kalamazoo)
Sidewheel Steamer Boston (none) Built 1846 at Detroit by John Robinson 757.80 gt.
BOM, 205.0 x 30.0 x 12.10 ft. 11/24/1846 The Boston was Milwaukees first
major shipwreck. She lost her smoke
stack while trying to depart during a gale and was driven broadside into
shallows just south of the old harbor piers.
She was badly damaged and was salvaged in place. Her hull was left where it lay and may still
have buried remains offshore. (Milwaukee Sentinel 11/26/1846)
Schooner Solomon Juneau (none) Built 1837 at Milwaukee by George Barber 86.14 gt.
BOM, 72.6 x 19.2 x 7.0 ft. 11/1846 The Solomon Juneau was the first vessel
ever built at Milwaukee. She had
numerous mishaps and strandings before being driven
ashore at the foot of Chicago St. (off the present-day Summerfest grounds) in
November of 1846. She was abandoned
after spending the winter on the beach.
(Pioneer History of Milwaukee IV, p. 143)
Sidewheel Steamer Nile (none) Built 1843 at Detroit by B.F. Goodsell 642.64 gt. BOM, 183.0 x 26.9 x 13.8 ft. 9/6/1850 The Nile stranded at Milwaukee on November 3, 1849 at the foot of Huron St. and was released after spending the winter. She was towed to Sweets Warehouse dock near
the Jones Shipyard to be rebuilt, when on 9/6/1850, an arsonist burned the warehouse, also burning the
ships upper works. The ships engines were salvaged and she was abandoned in
the mud until November 1860, when Milwaukee shipowner Caleb Harrison
announced he would raise the hull and rebuild on it. It is unknown if he succeeded. (Lytle-Holdcamper List, Milwaukee Sentinel 11/10/1860)
Bark Buckeye State (none) Built 1852 at Black River, OH by Amos Hubbard 309.85 gt.
BOM, 132.5 x 25.1 x 10.0 ft. 11/5/1852 The 3 masted
bark Buckeye State was brand new when she stranded off South Point with
a cargo of railroad iron for the Milwaukee-Mississippi Railroad. She was released and under tow when she
beached again near the old river mouth (at the South end of present-day Jones
Isl.) where she went to pieces. (Walter Hirthe Wrecklist, Milwaukee Sentinel 11/13/1852)
Schooner Mary Margaret (none) Built 1852 at Chicago, IL 38.80 gt. BOM, 50.8 x
17.6 x 5.3 ft. 11/9/1854 The schooner Mary Margaret, sporting an ornate
figurehead and bound Milwaukee to Chicago with lumber capsized about 20 miles
ESE of Milwaukee on 11/9/1854. Her crew
clung for hours to the overturned hull before being rescued by the sch. Magic. (Buffalo
Democracy 11/15/1854)
Sidewheel Steamer Sebastopol (none) Built 1855 at Cleveland by Luther Moses
863.00 gt. BOM, 245.0 x 37.8 x 12.6 ft. 9/20/1855
The big, new steamer Sebastopol as lost when she went ashore 500 ft from shore,
3 miles south of the Government Pier (south of the present-day South Shore
Yacht Club) with a cargo of merchandise and passengers for Chicago. She missed the harbor entrance, as its lights were extinguished and mistook the lights of the
stranded schooner Rockwell for the piers.
She was driven broadside to the waves and quickly taken apart. Seven persons died, despite gallant rescue
efforts. The ships remains were located
in 1976 and were the subject of an avocational
archeology survey. (Milwaukee Sentinel 9/1855)
Brig Orleans (none) Built 1846 at Clayton, NY 173.55 gt.
BOM, 100.75 x 20.0 x 8.5 ft. 10/21/1855 The brig Orleans was bound with
lumber for Chicago when she was driven aground just south of the Government
Pier at Milwaukee. Citizens staged a
gallant rescue of the crew but the captain and mate perished. Vessel and cargo were a total loss. (Milwaukee Sentinel 10/23/1855)
Schooner J. Steinhart (none) Built 1853 at Milwaukee 68.64 gt. BOM, 72.83 x
18.67 x 5.67 ft. 10/21/1855 The schooner Steinhart was bound from Green Bay
to Chicago with lumber when she became waterlogged and capsized 6 miles north
of Milwaukee on the same day the Orleans wrecked. Her mate and cook perished. (Erie Weekly
Gazette 11/1/1855)
Schooner John F. Porter (none) Built 1842 at Buffalo, NY on hull of steamer Cincinnati 124.49 gt. BOM, 87.8 x 21
x 7.6 ft. 10/22/1855 The schooner Porter was bound from Chicago with provisions for the lumber camps when she
capsized 3 miles off North Point. All
but one of her crew made it ashore in the yawl, but the vessel was a total
loss. She drifted into the shallows
where she broke up. (Daily Wisconsin 10/23/155)
Sidewheel Steamer Alleghany (none) Built 1849 at Cleveland by Luther Moses
468.02 gt. BOM, 177.2 x 25.0 x 10.11 ft. 10/24/1855 Only a month after the Sebastopol loss, another big sidewheeler was unable to
find the unlighted harbor entrance and was driven aground just north of the Sebastopol wreck. The Alleghany was bound
from Buffalo to Chicago with heavy merchandise when, failing to find the
harbor piers, she anchored off shore.
The storm felled her stack and she dragged ashore, fetching up barely
100 ft. from shore. (Milwaukee Sentinel
10/22/1855)
Brig Nebraska (none) Built 1849 at Milwaukee by Hubbell 240.71 gt.
BOM, 121.3 x 23.9 x 9.0 ft. 10/19/1856 The Nebraska was run down by the propeller Oriental off Racine and began sinking with her cargo of brick. She tried to run for Milwaukee harbor but fetched up very near the Sebastopol wreck where she broke up. The
Oriental was libeled for her value of $5,500.
(Milwaukee Sentinel 10/25/1856)
Schooner Emily (none) Built 1853 at Milwaukee by J.M. Jones 69 gt. BOM,
65.0 x 19.25 x 6.5 ft. April 1857 The little schooner Emily vanished on a
trip from Milwaukee to Sand Bay with 5 crew, including the captains wife. She left on April 16th and was
never seen again. A storm struck soon
after she departed. (Milwaukee Sentinel
4/27/1857)
Brig Cumberland (none) Built 1844 at Cleveland by S.W. Turner 195.87 gt. BOM, 100.6 x 23.6 x 9.2 ft. 10/20/1859 The
Cumberland was moored near the end of the south pier of the new straight cut
when she was struck astern by the schooner Curlew. Her stern settled and the waves pounded her
against the pier until she broke up. She
was carrying lumber from Oconto to Chicago. (Milwaukee
Sentinel 10/21/1859, 11/5/1859)
Schooner Twin Brothers (none) Built 1848 at Milwaukee by George Barber 143.40 gt.
BOM, 90.5 x 21.5 x 8.2 ft. 3/11/1860 The Twin Brothers had departed for Sheboygan when she was found to be leaking. She ran back inside
the piers and was pounded on the south pier until she stove a hole in her
hull. She capsized and sank broadside in
the channel, a total loss. (Milwaukee
Sentinel 3/13/1860)
Bark Emily A. Roelofson (none) Built 1854 at Buffalo, NY by George S. Weeks 385.23 gt.
BOM, 138.0 x 26.0 x 11.5 ft. 11/18/1863 This 3 masted bark had been wrecked on a
reef near Eagle Harbor in Green Bay in 9/1855. She
was freed and towed to Milwaukee for rebuild, but was abandoned in the Milwaukee River (SHSW Wisconsin Shipwreck Database)
Schooner Union (none) Built 1848 at Racine,
WI, 87.90 gt. BOM 5/11/1864 The schooner Union of Racine was reported lost when
she drove ashore at South
Milwaukee on 5/11/1864. She
disappears from all lists and enrollments following this accident and is
believed to have been a total loss. (Erik
Heyl Wrecklist, Herman Runge Wrecklist)
Schooner Free Mason (none) Built 1854 at Green Bay, WI 26.96 gt., 51.9 x 14.5 x
5.6 ft. 4/2/1866 The Free Mason was bound Chicago to Milwaukee when she was
swept from her moorings below Walkers Point Bridge and out through the
straight cut into the Lake. She was
towed in by the tug Davidson and made fast to the south pier where she lay a total wreck. (Milwaukee Sentinel 4/3/1866)
Scow Schooner Tempest (none) Built 1854 at Fairport, OH 60.21 gt. BOM, 80.25 x
18.84 x 4.93 ft. 11/24/1867 The Tempest was riding out a storm with a cargo of lumber for Chicago when she dragged her anchor and went aground off
South Point. She broke her keel and was
abandoned where she lay. (Milwaukee Sentinel 11/27/1867)
Scow Schooner Sunshine (23057) Built 1856 at Mt. Clemens, MI by Jerris Deprees 60.21 gt. BOM, 97.0 x
24.0 x 6.2 ft. 9/29/1869 The Sunshine was bound from White Lake, MI to
Milwaukee with lumber when she became waterlogged and stranded on North
Point. She broke up and became a total
loss. (Milwaukee Sentinel 10/5/1869)
Schooner Adell (none) Built 1860 at Milwaukee 19.03 gt. BOM, 48 x 12 x
4.7 ft. 11/16/1869 The little schooner Adell was out in the
disastrous gale of 1869 and was driven ashore at the south pier, 1 mile below
the Bay View pier where she reportedly completely broke up. (Milwaukee Sentinel 12/8/1869)
Schooner A.B. Ward (383) Built 1854 at Philadelphia, PA as a tug 32 gt. 4/25/1870 The A.B. Ward was bound Pentwater to
Milwaukee with a cargo of potatoes and shingles when she was blown over by a
squall 20 mi NE of Milwaukee. Her three crew perished but her hull was towed in by the
scow D.R. Owen and abandoned at Milwaukee. She was a
total loss. (Milwaukee Sentinel
4/27/1870, Annual List of US Merchant Vessels)
Schooner Liberty (14805) Built 1835 at Avon,
OH by Hawley Reed 54.49 gt.,
54.6 x 17.5 x 5.8 ft. 4/6/1872 The Liberty was by far the oldest ship on the Lakes when she was
smashed against the Milwaukee pierheads and sank while
trying to enter during a gale. One of
her crew perished. She had been a
pioneer Lake Erie vessel and may have been built on the bed of the
original schooner Liberty, built by Hawley Reed at Buffalo in 1818. The
venerable schooner refused to die, as in 1898, a storm
brought up her remains and dashed them against the pierhead
light once again. (Milwaukee Sentinel 4/16/1872)
Schooner St. Peter (23516) Built 1868 at New Baltimore, MI by Peter
Perry 119.66 gt., 90.0 x 23.8 x 8.5 ft. - 5/5/1874 Bound Chicago to Buffalo with 8000 bu of corn, the
St. Peter was found to be leaking, which soon overwhelmed her pumps and sent
her to the bottom. Her crew reported
that they rowed the yawl 35 miles in a SW direction to reach Milwaukee (Milwaukee Sentinel 5/7/1874, 5/9/1874)
Schooner Union (25045) Built 1861 at Menekaunee, WI by N. Saunders 17.94 gt.,
54.0 x 18.0 x 5.5 ft. 6/15/1874 Many schooners Union plied the Lakes in the
1800s, but this one reportedly went ashore at South Milwaukee, a total
loss. She was owned out of Manitowoc and disappears from lists and enrollments after
1874. (Milwaukee Public Library Runge
Card)
Tug Ida H. Lee (100058) Built 1865 at Buffalo, NY by Hingston Bros. 35.66 gt., 44.8 x 10.0 x 5.0 ft. - 4/23/1874 The Ida H. Lee was
towing the schooner Ida 2 miles NE of the harbor entrance when the schooner
struck her stern, holing her. She took
on water, capsized and foundered in 50 ft. of water, a total loss, with one
life. She has yet to be found. (Milwaukee Sentinel 9/15/1875, Port Huron
Daily Times 4/25/1874)
Scow Sloop Hurrah Boys (95341) Built 1872 at Racine,
WI by Anthony Beffol 13.68 gt., 37.1 x 13.0 x 3.6 ft. 7/23/1874 The Hurrah Boys was carrying stone for the water
works cribs when she was driven ashore off Milwaukees Third Ward.
She was initially thought salvageable, but was dismantled and abandoned
where she lay. (Milwaukee Sentinel 8/1/1874)
Bark Tanner
(24236) Built 1863 at Milwaukee
by Ellsworth & Davidson 434.95 gt., 157.9 x
32.3 x 13.2 ft. 9/9/1875 The big bark Tanner with a full cargo of wheat
from Chicago to Buffalo was under tow into the harbor, when the line
parted. The ship was driven south past
the straight cut and fetch up on the old harbor piers where she sank with her decks
submerged. Her back soon broke and her spars fell. She was declared a total loss. (Milwaukee
Sentinel 9/11/1875)
Vessel reported lost at Milwaukee in error
or salvaged
Steamer Dewitt Clinton (b.1836) This steamer is erroneously stated as lost
of Milwaukee in 1839 in many sources. On 10/11/1839, her yawl capsized while ferrying passengers in,
drowning five. The Clinton was lost at Dunkirk,
NY in 1852.
Brig Algomah (b.1845) This brig was stranded and reported lost at
Milwaukee in March 1856 and again in July 1861. However, she appears
in traffic lists and enrollments well into 1862. Her ultimate fate is unknown.
Schooner Rover (b.1854) The Rover was sunk with only her mastheads showing on 9/13/1856 off South Point.
She was carrying brick and was reported a total loss. However, she was raised and lost off Portage,
Michigan in September of 1858.
Schooner Storm King (b.1856) The Storm King is erroneously listed in the
SHSW database as lost off Milwaukee
in 1856. She was recovered from an 1856 Milwaukee stranding and lost off the Manitous
in a June 1861 collision with the steamer Michigan.
Schooner Elizabeth (b.1856) Listed as crushed by ice at Milwaukee in 1864 on the SHSW database, this vessel was actually
recovered and lost at Kenosha on 8/11/1866.
Steamer May Queen (b.1853) Listed by SHSW as lost when she burned off Milwaukee on
1/15/1866, the May Queen was rebuilt as a barge and foundered off Saugatuck, MI
on 10/31/1868.
Schooner Challenge (b.1853, Rochester, NY, #4574) This schooner Challenge
wrecked at Milwaukee on 11/11/1873 and was declared a total loss. She was recovered and taken overseas by Captain Kelly
of Racine. She was
engaged in the British coal trade and never returned to the Lakes. Two other Challenges also existed. The famous clipper built at Manitowoc in 1852 was lost near Sheboygan in 1910, the other, built at Vermilion OH in 1842 was
lost at Muskegon, MI in 10/1872.
Scow Schooner Angelique (b.1855, #29299) This vessel (called Angeline in news reports) was driven on Milwaukees north point on 11/18/1863 bound Chicago to St. Joseph
with shingles. Her captain drowned and
the vessel was declared a total loss.
However, she was recovered and sailed until at least 1887. Her ID is verified as Angelique in the
Customs House Wreck Report Index.
Tug Traffic
(b. 1853, #24506) This vessel is reported by several sources including an
original Milwaukee Sentinel news account to have burned at Milwaukee on 10/11/1869. However, she actually burned on
the Saginaw River in Michigan where she was owned.
Schooner Buena Vista (b.1847, Chicago) Listed as stranded at Milwaukee in
1875 on the SHSW database, this vessel was actually lost in 1875 at Perrys
Pier which was near present-day Manistee, MI.
Copyright © 2009 Brendon Baillod and Great Lakes
Shipwreck Research