1867 — May 21, steamer Wisconsin burns, Lake Ontario ~Grenadier Isl./Cape Vincent, NY– 23

— 23 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

— 50 Historical Great Lakes Vessel Accident Database, 1867.
— 30 Weekly British Whig, Kingston Ont. “Terrible Disaster…Cape Vincent,” 23 May 1867.
–25-30 Wrecks.net. “Wisconsin.”
— <30 Swayze. Shipwreck!...Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes.. 1992, p. 250. --20-30 West Eau Claire Argus, WI. “The West,” June 12, 1867, p. 2. -- 24 NY Local History Network. “The Burning of the Wisconsin.” Accessed 2-10-2021. -- 23 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 268. -- 23 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 243. -- >23 Mansfield, John Brandts. History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899, pp. 707 and 902.
— 23 McNeil. “Wisconsin (propeller), fire, 21 May 1867.” Maritime History…Great Lakes.
— 23 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 686.
— 23 US SIS. “Annual Rpt.…Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats,” Oct 1867, 314.
— 22 Cape Vincent Eagle, NY. “Who Remembers Catastrophe of Str. Wisconsin.” 2-5-1931, 2.
— 20 Dubuque Daily Herald, IA. “From Cape Vincent,” May 23, 1867, p. 1.
— ~20 Janesville Gazette, WI. “A Sad Story,” June 6, 1867, p. 1.
— 20 Lloyds Weekly Newspaper (London). “Affairs in America,” June 9, 1867, p. 1.
— 19 Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter W.
— 13 New York Times. “The Old Year. Chronology of 1867,” Jan 1, 1868, p. 2.

* Blanchard estimated death toll. After reviewing material in sources cited and attempting to compile a listing of named crew and passenger fatalities we have seen in those sources, we choose to follow the number of twenty-three deaths reported by the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service, and noted as well in several other sources cited. While it could be the case that there were twenty-four deaths as noted on the NY Local History Network genealogy cite, we are skeptical of a loss-of-life of thirty or fifty people, as stated in several sources.

Narrative Information

Lytle and Holdcamper: “Wisconsin…352 [tons]…burnt…5 21 1867…Grenadine Island, l. Ontario…23 [lives lost].” (Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 243.)

Mansfield: “Disasters During 1867. – Nine hundred and thirty-one disasters were reported during year of navigation on the lakes, and 211 lives lost.

“Burned on the St. Lawrence. – The steamer Wisconsin burned on the evening of May 21, on the St. Lawrence river, six miles from Grenadier island, with a loss of life reaching 23 or more. When the fire was discovered the boats were gotten ready, and the vessel was headed for the shore. Considerable confusion existed. The Wisconsin had about 70 passengers aboard. She was the property of the Northern Transportation Company, and plied on Lakes Ontario and Erie, touching at Ogdensburg, Oswego, Cape Vincent, Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit. She was built in 1852, and was of 352 tons burden.” (Mansfield. History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899, p. 707.)

“Wisconsin, stmr., 352 t., b. [built] ’52, burned St. Lawrence r., ’67, 23 lives lost.” (Mansfield, John Brandts. History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899, p. 902.)

Swayze: “Type at loss: propeller, wood, passenger & package freight
Build info : 1852, Stevens & Presley, Ohio City, OH
Specs : 137 x 25 x 11, 352 t.
Date of loss : 1867, May 21
Place of loss : 3 mi from Cape Vincent, NY [beached on Grenadier Isl.]
Lake : Ontario
Type of loss : fire
Loss of life : 19 of 92* [*at least. Numbers up to 30 are given.”]
Carrying : misc. freight, luggage
Detail : She caught fire above her boiler and was beached – where she burned to the water’s edge. The passengers and crew who were lost panicked and dropped their lifeboat into the water while the ship was still moving full ahead, capsizing it, though the captain and others recognized that there was little immediate danger. She had just left Cape Vincent, bound for Chicago. Owned by Northern Transportation Co. Master: Capt. S. Townsend. The hulk was recovered in June. (Swayze. Great Lakes Shipwrecks.)

U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service: “The Wisconsin was burned on the night of the 21st day of May, 1867, on Lake Ontario, near the head of Grenadier island. This steamer was bound westward from Ogdensburg, with passengers and freight, and was first discovered to be on fire in the hull near the back head of the boiler. The fire pumps and buckets were immediately brought into use, but the flames spread so rapidly that all hopes to save the vessel were soon abandoned, and the vessel being not far distant from the shore, her head was turned in that direction.

“The engineer was driven from his engine room by the flames, and leaving his engine running he proceeded to assist in clearing away the small boats and getting them in readiness for launching, with their complement of passengers therein, in the event that the engine should stop running before the vessel reached the shore. Under the strict order of the captain the small boats were then got in readiness and filled with people.

“The boats were lowered nearly to the water, with the view of readily launching them at the proper moment, so that they could go hastily to the shore with their loads and return again for those left on board the burning vessel.

“The engine continued to work for several minutes after the vessel bad grounded upon the shore, and all persons on board who observed and obeyed the instructions of the captain gathered forward upon the deck and were safely landed upon the beach. But while the steamer was running at a rapid rate towards the shore, one of the small boats, containing the first mate and both engineers of the Wisconsin, together with several passengers, left the steamer against the orders of the captain, and it is supposed that the boat must have come in contact with the wheel of the steamer as the boat passed astern. This would seem to be a reasonable conclusion, from the fact that the lake was perfectly smooth at the time of the disaster. The small boat was found the next morning full of water, with the dead bodies of two of the passengers therein, and all others that left the vessel in the boat were missing.

“The other small boat, which was likewise in readiness, full of passengers, and partly lowered down, was cut adrift by some one of the passengers in the forward part of the boat cutting the fall of the bow tackle, thereby pitching the bow of the small boat downward into the water, while the stern remained fast, and casting all persons that were in the boat overboard.

“The steamer was under rapid way at the time, and all who were thus cast overboard were scattered along in the wake of the vessel and drowned, except one person, who clung to the small boat until the steamer grounded and stopped.

“If the small boat left the steamer under direction of the mate and engineer having them in charge, and in opposition to the order of the captain, then the conduct of these officers could not be too strongly condemned, as it is believed that, had the boats remained as directed by the master, no lives would have been lost.

“The above case was thoroughly investigated both by the local board at Cleveland and a coroner’s jury, near the scene of the disaster. It was ascertained that nineteen passengers and four of the crew of the ill-fated vessel lost their lives on this occasion; the first mate and both engineers were among the lost, and by the investigation referred to the surviving officers of the steamer were exonerated from blame.” (US SIS. “Annual Rpt. …Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats,” Oct 1867.)

Newspapers

May 22: “Cape Vincent, May 22. The following particulars of the loss of the Wisconsin are as correct as can be obtained amid the confusion that prevails here:

“The propeller left her dock about 11 o’clock last evening. When at the head of Grenadier Island, about two miles from shore, was discovered to be on fire. The Captain ordered the boats to be got ready, and made preparations for the safety of the passengers. The propeller now lies about six rods from shore, a total loss. She had about 70 passengers, but the exact number of persons lost cannot be ascertained. The citizens here are doing all in their power for the comfort of those who were rescued. The following, as near as can be ascertained, were lost: [17 names are listed plus three unidentified deck hands].” (Dubuque Daily Herald, IA. “From Cape Vincent,” 5-23-1867, p. 1.)

May 23, Weekly British Whig: “The “Wisconsin,” which was commanded by Capt. S. Townsend, left Cape Vincent on her regular upward trip for Oswego about 10 p.m., with about 80 souls on board, including the crew. About half an hour afterwards, when the ill-fated boat had reached a point two miles below Grenadier island, which itself is about seven miles and a half from the Cape, the cry of fire alarmed the passengers, and but a moment of excitement sufficed to convince all on board that the boat really was in flames. The captain, with remarkable coolness, ascertained the point of danger, and sought to extinguish the fire, but it having broke out in an awkward place – under the boiler – the efforts of the crew to conquer it were useless, and they were reluctantly compelled to retire and abandon the boat to the mercy of the fiery element. The after part of the vessel was almost instantly enveloped in flames, and the passengers crowded in one mass to the forward portion of the boat.

“No time was taken for saving property, the excited passengers rushing eagerly towards the boats to escape from the already doomed vessel. The officers of the boat were unable to control their actions, and the scene -the night being dark and overcast added to the confusion – was for a few minutes one of unparalleled terror and excitement. The boat had been headed for Grenadier island, and soon was grounded at the nearest point. Three of the small boats were successfully launched, and with their living freight reached the shore in safety. The fate of the fourth boat was heartrending to relate.

“The passengers and some of the crew rushed into it until it was very much overcrowded. Before it could be successfully launched it was swamped, and its occupants, about 25 in number, met a watery grave. No good effort could be made to save them, the night was so suited to the work of death, and the elements seem to have combined to add to the terror on the occasion. One excited passenger was seen to leap from the burning vessel into one of the boats, as it was pushing off, but missing his balance he fell into the lake and was drowned. One of the firemen refused to leave his post in the hold, and died, as it were, at the stake, meeting the flames, and with heroic boldness incurring a horrible death.” [Names of 18 known dead are provided at end of the Weekly British Whig article.] (Weekly British Whig, Kingston, Ont., May 23, 1867.)

May 23, Kingston Daily News: “The greatest sympathy is felt for the Captain of the Wisconsin. He had formerly been mate of the vessel, and had not been long in command. His great regret is the terrible and unnecessary loss of life, occasioned by the headstrong recklessness and want of coolness on the part of the passengers, none of whom, he feels assured, need have lost their lives had his instructions been attended to….The boat from which so many persons were consigned to almost instant destruction was the fourth that had been launched, three others having got their precious living freight safely ashore. The main cause of the accident was not so much the over-crowding of this boat as the unfortunate fact that someone, in haste to get in into the water, had cut the forward rope, giving it just such an inclination as would be sure to cause it to fill immediately.” [Article notes that 14 bodies had been recovered.] (Daily News, Kingston, Ont., May 23, 1867.)

May 25, NYT: “The wreck of the Santiago de Cuba, on the Jersey coast, and that of the Wisconsin, on Lake Ontario, will possibly stimulate, as such occurrences sometimes do, a passing inquiry into the progress we are making in the improvements of life-saving apparatus. There is, usually, a momentary excitement over a calamity of the kind—if the attendant horrors reach anything above the average. Neither of the disasters named, however, present the tragic element in such a light, or with such force as to greatly startle the public sensibilities.

“The Wisconsin caught fire less than three miles from the shore, at the extreme end of the Lake, and ten minutes or less brought her into shallow water. There was no storm at the time; the passenger list was small; two fair-sized boats, promptly launched, might have saved the whole of
them and the crew as well. The result, nevertheless, was the loss of a score or more of persons, who, finding no means of escape from the raging fire around them, jumped into the water and were drowned. This itself was a fair foundation for a thrilling narrative; but the more harrowing details are thus far withheld. What we know, aside from the general summing up of the list of victims, is that, as usual, the menus and facilities for escape were in inverse proportion to the chances of safety offered by favorable weather. The nearer to a safe landing place, the less provision against accidents is ordinarily deemed necessary: the fewer hands and these of the least skillful kind; the smaller the number of row boats, and the meaner the appliances generally….

“Few mature persons have even yet forgotten the terrible disasters of the Reindeer and the Henry Clay. These were startling enough to live in people’s memories for years. Are our guarantees for the safety of passengers on the steamers engaged in the coasting trade, or on our inland waters, any better now than they were then? That seems to be a question really worth some consideration….

“…a careful inquest nearly always brings us in these cases—old boilers, defective engines, a rotten hull, a deficiency in the supply of small boats, a scarcity of hands, the employment of irresponsible landlubbers at nominal wages—these are the great dominating evils in many of our coasting and inland steam lines. They are evils which, if we tried to conceal from ourselves, we could not conceal from the outside world. They are evils, moreover, which are not to be eradicated by Commissioners sitting in judgment upon lifesaving apparatus, but by a thorough overhauling and reform of our whole mercantile marine, and by a system of inspection which shall mean something.” (NYT. “Steamship Disasters – The Santiago de Cuba and the Wisconsin,” 5-25-1867, 4.)

May 27: “Crew Lost” [We reorder alphabetically.]

1. Henry Chatman, Deck Hand, Ogdensburg, buried at Cape Vincent.
2. David Horan, Deck Hand, Prescott, not found.
3. Edw. McCormick, Watchman, Clayton, not found.
4. A. F. Morrison, First Engineer, Clayton, not found.
5. [A. W. Morrison, Second Engineer, Clayton, Abram Morrison was son of A.F. ]
6. Jno. Powers, First Mate, Ogdensburg, not found.

“Passengers Lost As Far As Known.” [Reordered alphabetically.]

1. James Cassey, Colton, St. Lawrence Co., taken to Colton.
2. Mrs. C. Chisholm, [recently arrived from Scotland ]
3. [Miss] Ann [Chisholm],
4. [Miss] Catherine [Chisholm],
5. Eliza [Chisholm], [Another report states that she escaped. ]
6. [Miss] Mary [Chisholm],
7. Master Thos. [Thomas] Chisholm buried at Cape Vincent by directions of Mr. Chisholm.
8. Ira Cook, ticketed Aurora, Ill., buried at Cape Vincent.
9. Mrs. Nancy Creed, Potsdam
10. Miss Catherine Creed, Potsdam, buried at Cape Vincent by order of Mr. Creed.
11. Frederick Creed, Potsdam, not found.
12. Mr. Galligher, Pembrooke, C.E., buried at Cape Vincent by wife.
13. Geo. Lindsley, Colton, St. Lawrence Co., taken to Colton.
14. Henry McAlpine, Edwardsburgh, C.W., sent to Ogdensburg.
15. A. White, Keesville, sent by express.

(Oswego Advertiser & Times. “Crew Lost…Passengers Lost As Far As known.” 5-27-1867; in McNeil/Maritime History of the Great Lakes (webpage).)

June 6: “Among the passengers of the steamer Wisconsin, recently burned near St. Vincent, was a Mr. Chisholm from Canada, on his way to Missouri, in company with his wife and six children. He was a man about fifty-five years old, had bought a farm in the State to which he was traveling, and was moving with his family and goods. When the fire broke out he was sitting on deck, but his wife and children had retired for the night. He called them up hurriedly, and sought to save their lives in a most unfortunate way. One of the small boats was let down to about a foot of the water, and about twenty passengers leaped into it, and Mr. Chisholm assisted his wife, three daughters and a son to get in. One of the frightened crowd cut with a knife the rope which connected the bow of the small boat with the davit, and the loosened end dropped down like a spoon and the boat at once filled with water. The passengers were thrown out and nearly all drowned.

“This happened not more than a minute and a half before the steamer struck the shore on Grenadier island, and had they all remained on board, as the captain ordered, not a life would have been lost.

“Mrs. Chisholm, the three daughters; aged respectively 20, 10 and 15, and the boy of 1 years, were all drowned. The father and the two older sons who stuck to the steamer were saved. Mr. Chisholm had $4,000 in greenbacks, his only fortune which was in his wife’s satchel, and was destroyed by the flames. Thus he was left in a strange land, a widower, bereft of four children without money or property with his grief resting upon his soul, to commence the world anew. The bodies of his wife and children were recovered and interred in the graveyard at Cape Vincent, and the sad, broken-hearted husband and father, with his two remaining sons, will go to his homeless home in the West. Few life dramas have sadder chapters than this.” (Janesville Gazette, WI. “A Sad Story,” June 6, 1867, p. 1.)

Jan 1, NYT: “Propeller Wisconsin burned on the St. Lawrence, thirteen persons drowned.” (NYT. “The Old Year. Chronology of 1867,” Jan 1, 1868, p. 2.)

Sources

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Cape Vincent Eagle, NY. 3-19-1931; transcribed in Donahue. Accessed 2-10-2021 at: https://tilife.org/ThePlace/History/HistoryArticles/tabid/484/ID/1669/Catastrophe-of-the-Steamer-Wisconsin-Reference-Material-compiled-by-Laurie-Donohue.html

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