On This Day: August 19

On This Day: 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...
On This Day: August 18

On This Day: 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...
On This Day: August 17

On This Day: 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...
On This Day: August 16

On This Day: August 16

1871 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...
On This Day: August 15

On This Day: August 15

1856 The WELLAND (sidewheel steamer, wood, passenger-package freight, 145 feet, 300 tons, built in 1853 at St. Catharines, Ontario) burned to a total loss at her dock at Port Dalhousie, Ontario. She was owned by Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railroad Co. 1873 Thomas...