1856 — Nov 4, J.W. Brooks sinks, Lake Ontario gale, off False Duck Island, Ontario –20-50

— 50 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 248.
— 50 US Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report…Year Ending June 30 1857, p. 225.
— 22 Hall. Marine Disasters on the Western Lakes During…1871… 1872, p. 15.
— 22 McNeil. “J. W. Brooks (Propeller), sunk, 4 Nov 1856.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes.
— >20 Buffalo Daily Republic, Tuesday, November 11, 1856. Transcribed by McNeil in MHGL.
–19-20 Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwreck Files. “B.”

Narrative Information

Berman: “J.W. Brooks…St.s. [steam screw (propeller)]…312 [tons] 1851 [built]… Nov 4 1856 [lost]…Foundered…Duck Light, Ontario. 50 lives lost.”

Hall: “J. W. Brooks, foundered on Lake Ontario in 1856; all lost – 22 lives.”

McNeil: “Reason: sunk
Lives: 22
Hull damage: $17,000
Cargo: $76,000
Freight: produce
Remarks: Raised and rebuilt
Date of Original: 1856
….
Geographic Coverage: False Ducks Island, Ontario, Canada…”

Swayze: “J.W. Brooks (other names: also seen as J.S. Brooks in error)
Official no.: none
Type at loss: propeller, wood
Build info: 1851, Wm. Gooding, Detroit
Specs: 136x25x10, 322 t.
Date of loss: 1856, Nov 4
Place of loss: 8 miles NE of False Ducks light (also given as Black River Bay, near
Sacket’s Harbor, NY
Lake: Ontario
Type of loss: storm
Loss of life: 19 or 20
Carrying: provisions, copper ingots
Detail: Foundered while bound Lake Erie for Ogdensburg, NY. Most of her cargo
was salvaged the following year. Ten days later the steamer Wellington encountered the Brooks lying in 50 feet of water with her stern on the bottom and 8 feet of her bow emergent. When the steamer Traveller attempted to tow her into port, she sank. One report says her safe contained $1 million. Owned by Northern Transportation Co. Master: Capt. Charles Hammond (d).”

US SIS: “On the 4th November last the steamer ‘J.S. Brooks,’ when on her passage down Lake Ontario, and between Oswego and Sackett’s Harbor, foundered in a severe storm, by which catastrophe all on board perished. It is supposed that there were about fifty persons on board, viz: thirty passengers and twenty of the crew. No information by which any opinion can be formed as to the immediate cause of the disaster. Total loss by this disaster was $54,250.” (US SIS. Annual Report 1857, p. 225.)

Works Progress Administration in Ohio. Annals of Cleveland (Vol. XXXIX, Part 1, 1856): “588 – L Nov. 15: 1/4 – Crawford, Chamberlin, and Company have received a dispatch which says that the propeller J. W. Brooks was found by the propeller Cleveland about five miles south of the False Ducks. She had settled in the water, her stern out of sight and her bow afloat. No word has been received from her crew.” (p. 82)

Newspapers (transcribed by McNeil for Maritime History of the Great Lakes)

Nov 10: “Oswego, Nov. 10. – It is feared here that the propeller J.W. Brooks, from Lake Erie to Ogdensburg, was lost on Lake Ontario in the late gale, with all on board. Posts of a hurricane deck supposed to belong to her, came ashore at Henderson, on Friday, and quantities of flour and lard were seen yesterday, floating about between Sackett’s Harbor [NY] and Kingston [Ontario]. The Brooks had a full load of produce and a crew of twenty men. She probably had some passengers also. Buffalo Daily Republic, Tuesday, November 11, 1856.”

Nov 14: “J.W. Brooks Steamer, sunk off False Duck Lighthouse, 5 miles out in the Lake. Her stern on bottom in 70 feet of water. Toronto Globe, November 14, 1856.” (Transcribed by McNeil)

Dec 15: “The Fate of Capt. Hammond.

“We learn from a gentleman who has just reached this city from the place where the body of Capt. Hammond, of the ill-fated propeller J. W. Brooks was found, the following additional particulars. The body was discovered by a sailor on the shore of one of the Gallou Islands, and when discovered was lashed to a small boat belonging to the propellor. The sailor procured the assistance of the keeper of the light-house, and the body was enclosed in a rough box with all the clothing upon it. A valuable gold watch in the vest pocket was not touched. Intelligence was sent to Ogdensburg and Caper Vincent, at which latter place the wife of Capt. Hammond resides. The agent of the propellor line and the wife of the Capt., came to the place and removed the body to Cape Vincent for internment….Oswego Daily Time. Thursday, December 15, 1856.” (Transcribed my McNeil)

Jan 31, 1857: Propeller J.W. Brooks, lost with all hands in gale on Lake Ontario. 22 lives lost…” Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, NY. “Casualty List.” January 31, 1857.” (Transcribed by McNeil)

June 22, 1857: “More Of The Brooks Disaster – The Wreck Discovered.

“By the arrival of the propeller JEFFERSON, Captain Reed, from Ogdensburg, on Friday, the Oswego Times obtains further additional facts in relation to the loss of the propeller J.W. BROOKS, Capt. Reed says the propeller CLEVELAND, on Wednesday, bound to Ogdensburg, discovered the hull of the BROOKS about four or five miles south of the False Duck Light, with her stern sunk in some 70 feet water, and her bow out so that the seven feet water mark could be seen. Both anchors were on her bows, in their proper places. Her canvas and signal of distress were wound around her fore-mast. So far as could be seen, all her upper works were gone down to the lower bulwarks. The CLEVELAND took hold of the wreck and towed it a short distance towards South Bay Point, but having parted a line, and being short of fuel, she abandoned her and proceeded on her voyage down the St. Lawrence. The Canadian steamer WELLINGTON, also had hold of the wreck on the same day, (Wed.) but as her power was insufficient, she let go after moving her a few rods. Another attempt was made to get her ashore on Thursday,
but with what success, the Times was not advise. Portions of the wreck of the propeller, with some forty or fifty barrels of pork and flour, floated ashore on Long Island. A considerable portion of the wreck is also ashore at Henderson. Buffalo Daily Republic. Monday, November 17, 1856.” (Transcribed by McNeil.)

Sources

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

Hall, John W. Marine Disasters on the Western Lakes During the Navigation of 1871… Detroit: Free Press Book and Job Printing Establishment, 1872. Accessed 10-24-2021 at:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Marine_Disasters_on_the_Western_Lakes_Du/7rc5AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=hall+marine+disasters+of+the+western+lake&pg=PP9&printsec=frontcover

McNeil, William R. “J. W. Brooks (Propeller), sunk, 4 Nov 1856.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 10-26-2021 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/40613/data?n=2

Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwreck Files. “B.” Accessed 10-26-2021 at: https://greatlakesrex.wordpress.com/alphabetical-shipwreck-list/b/

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Fifth Annual Report of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats (October 27, 1857). In: Treasury Department. Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Year Ending June 30, 1857. Washington: House of Representatives, 35th Congress, 1st Session, Ex. Doc. No. 3, 1857. Digitized by Google. Accessed 10-26-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=GIPPAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=true

Works Progress Administration in Ohio. Annals of Cleveland 1818-1935 (Vol. XXXIX, Part 1, 1856; WPA Project 14066). Cleveland, OH: WPA District Four, 1937. Accessed 10-27-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annals_of_Cleveland/I8FYAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=propeller%20j.%20w.%20brooks%201856