1868 — June 20, boats Morning Star & Cortland collide/sink, Lake Erie, ~Black Riv. OH-37-60

–37-60 Blanchard death toll estimate.*

Totals for both the Cortland and the Morning Star:
— 81 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 686.
–37-60 Blanchard range based on Cortland and Morning Star reports below.
— 58 Journal of the Steamship Historical Society. “Steamboat Bill.” Is. 257-260, 2006, 149.
–39-55 Swayze. Great Lakes Shipwrecks “C” and “M”
— 42 Mansfield. Lakes Maritime History – History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899.
–23-32 Thompson. Graveyard of the Lakes. 2004, p. 167.
— 30 Alchem Inc. Lake Erie Shipwreck Map “B” and Index.
— 11 New York Times. “The Old Year. Chronology of 1868,” Jan 1, 1869.

Cortland/Courtland/ Courtlandt ( 7-10)
— 31 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 686.
— 10 Mansfield. History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899.
–7-10 Swayze. Great Lakes Shipwrecks “C.”
— 7 Alchem Inc. Lake Erie Shipwreck Map “B” and Index.
— ~7 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 61.
— 5 OSU, Columbus, OH. “Moring Star…Story of the Loss.” Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales.
— 2 Kohl. The 100 Best Great Lakes Shipwrecks. 2005.
— 2 Thompson. Graveyard of the Lakes. 2004, p. 167.

Morning Star: (30-50)
— 50 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 255.
— 50 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 262.
— 50 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 686.
–32-45 Swayze. Great Lakes Shipwrecks “M.”
–30-45 OSU, Columbus, OH. “Moring Star…Story of the Loss.” Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales.
— 32 Mansfield. History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899.
— 31 Kohl. The 100 Best Great Lakes Shipwrecks. 2005.
–21-30 Thompson. Graveyard of the Lakes. 2004, p. 167.
— 26 Compendium of History and Biography…Detroit…Wayne County, MI. 1909, p. 171.
— 26 Maritime History…Great Lakes. “Morning Star (Steamboat), sunk by collision, 20 Jun 1868.”
— 23 Alchem Inc. Lake Erie Shipwreck Map “B” and Index.
— 23 Case Western Reserve Univ. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. “Maritime Disasters.”
— 23 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 161.

* Blanchard death toll estimate. *Unfortunately, there is a very large range of estimates. We feel the need to try to narrow the range of 11-81 we show from the sources noted above.

For the low-end of the death toll for the Cortland (7) we will follow Alchem and Swayze.

For the low-end of the death toll for the Morning Star (30) we use the high end of Thompson’s 21-30 deaths which is the low-end of the Ohio State University estimate of 30-45 deaths.

Thus we come to the low-end of our range – thirty-five deaths.

For the high-end of our estimated death toll range (60) we follow Mansfield (10) and the upper end of Swayze’s range of 7-10 deaths for the Cortland, and for the Morning Star (50) we follow Berman, Lytle and Holdcamper, and Nash. We suspect that both Berman and Nash followed Lytle and Holdcamper.

Of course, the reader should look through the information provided below as well as conduct additional research to come to their own conclusions.

Narrative Information

Alchem Inc.: “Courtland: Freight bark run over in a night time collision with the side-wheel passenger steamer Morning Star and sank 6/21/1868 off Lorain, Ohio. Seven crew members lost their lives in the wreck….”

“Morning Star: Wooden side-wheel steamer of 243 ft ran over the bark Courtland in a night time collision and sank 6/21/1868 off Lorain, Ohio. All 23 people aboard drowned when the vessel rapidly sank. The Morning Star carried a cargo of iron bars and glass at the time of the wreck.”
(Alchem Inc. Lake Erie Shipwreck Map “B” and Index.)

Case Western Reserve Univ.: “On the morning of 21 June 1868, the steamer Morning Star and the schooner Courtland collided off Lorain. The Morning Star sank, with 23 aboard. It was later determined that the Courtland was running without lights while its lamps were being refueled.”
(Case Western Reserve University. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. “Maritime Disasters.”)

Compendium of History and Biography: “The latter steamer [Morning Star] was lost in collision with the schooner ‘Cortlandt’ on the 20th of June, 1868, with a loss of twenty-six lives…” (Compendium of History and Biography…Detroit…Wayne County, Mich. 1909, 171.)

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive: “On 21 June 1868, the D&C Line’s Morning Star (wooden side-wheel steamer, 243 foot, 1,075 tons, built in 1862, at Trenton, Michigan) was late in leaving her dock in Cleveland, Ohio, because she was loading some last-minute freight (iron bars and glass). As she sailed on Lake Erie to Detroit during the dark and rainy night, she collided with the heavy-laden bark Courtland and sank quickly, 10 miles off Lorain, Ohio. Twenty feet of the steamer’s bow had been torn off while the bark was swept into one of the paddle wheels and destroyed. The side-wheel steamer R N Rice arrived on the scene at 3:00 a.m. and picked up the survivors – only 44 of them. In September, Morning Star was raised, towed to Lorain and resunk in 55 feet of water, for possible future rebuilding. Attempts were made to raise her again several times, but in the summer of 1872, she was abandoned because it was determined that the previous attempts had reduced her to rubble.” (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (June 2009).)

Great Lakes Shipwrecks “M”: “At about 3 a.m., the D&C steamer R.N. Rice, bound from Detroit to Cleveland, came upon the wreck site. Captain Bill McKay and his crew took aboard the survivors from both ships and transported them to Cleveland. Two seamen were lost on the Courtlandt, while between twenty-one and thirty of those who had been aboard the Morning Star went down with the ship. The bloated bodies of many of the dead were later found afloat on the lake.”

“Bound Cleveland for Detroit, the steamer Morning Star had been late leaving her dock because she was loading some last-minute freight. On the dark and rainy night she collided with the heavy-laden bark Courtland…and sank quickly [10 miles off Lorain, OH]. Most of the survivors were providentially picked up by the passing steamer R. N. Rice. In Sep she was raised towed to Lorain and re-sunk in 55 feet of water, for possible future rebuilding. Attempts were made to raise her again several times, but in the summer of 1872 she was abandoned because it was determined that the previous attempts had reduced her to rubble.” (Great Lakes Shipwrecks “M”)

Mansfield: “Steamer Morning Star and Bark Cortland collided between Cleveland and Point Pelee, both vessels going to the bottom; 32 lives lost with the steamer, and ten with the bark; the steamer was en route to Detroit from Cleveland, in command of Capt. E.R. Viger.” (Mansfield 1899.)

Ohio State University. “Saturday, June 20, 1868: Collision with the steamer Morning Star, approximately 16 miles north of what is now Lorain, Ohio. (See the Morning Star entry for more detail regarding the collision).

“The Cortland was a 170-foot-long bark built by Mr. A. G. Huntley of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1867 and was lost on the night of June 20, 1868, after a collision with the Morning Star, a side-paddlewheel ship carrying cargo and passengers from Cleveland to Detroit. The Morning Star sank very quickly and took many lives with her. The Cortland drifted about 3/4 mile southwest and sank an hour or two later.

“The cause of the accident was never totally clear. One account indicates the Cortland’s green navigation lantern had been taken down for cleaning by the first mate, leaving the Morning Star unable to see her. Ironically, the mate was returning the lantern to the rigging when the collision occurred, and he was killed when the Morning Star impacted the Cortland on the starboard side just behind the mizzen mast where the lantern was hung. Another newspaper (Chicago Tribune 6/24/1868) reported the captain of the Morning Star stating, “The bark had shown no lights, and although there was rain and fog, rang its bell only immediately before the crash.”

“The captain of the Cortland was reported to have answered this accusation by calling the Morning Star’s captain a liar.

“The Cortland was heavily salvaged soon after the sinking, and early divers reported she lay nearly on her side on a soft mud bottom in 12 fathoms (72 feet) of water. Despite early optimism, however, she was never raised. Prior to her sinking, the Cortland was less than a year old and built only two years after the end of the Civil War. No expense was spared when she was built, and she was one of the largest and best appointed sailing vessels on the Great Lakes at that time. It was also one of the earliest examples of the large sailing vessels that would come to dominate Great Lakes trade for the next decade.” (Ohio State Univ. Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales of the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail. 2011.)

Swayze: “CORTLAND
Other names : at least 1 author insists the name was spelled CORTLANDT, an 1848 brig had that spelling
Official no. : 5397
Type at loss : bark, wood, bulk freight, 3-mast
Build info : 1867, A.G. Huntley, Sheboygan, WI
Specs : 174x34x14, 676 t.
Date of loss : 1868, Jun 21
Place of loss : off Lorain, OH
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : collision
Loss of life : 7-10
Carrying : iron ore (coal?)
Detail : Run down on a dark and rainy night by the sidewheeler MORNING STAR…and quickly sunk. The survivors were picked up by the steamer R.N. RICE.
Out of Sheboygan, owned by J. P. Lyman.”
(Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter C.)

“MORNING STAR
Official no. : 16463
Type at loss : sidewheel steamer, wood, passenger & package freight
Build info : 1862, A.A. Turner, Trenton (or Detroit), MI
Specs : 243x34x14, 1075 t.
Date of loss : 1868, Jun 21
Place of loss : 10 mi off Lorain, OH
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : collision
Loss of life : 32 (to 45)
Carrying : iron bars, glass, farm equipment, general merchandise

“Detail: Bound Cleveland for Detroit, the steamer MORNING STAR had been late leaving her dock because she was loading some last-minute freight. On the dark and rainy night she collided with the heavy-laden bark COURTLAND(qv) and sank quickly. Most of the survivors were providentially picked up by the passing steamer R. N. RICE. In Sep she was raised towed to Lorain and resunk in 55 feet of water, for possible future rebuilding. Attempts were made to raise her again several times, but in the summer of 1872 she was abandoned because it was determined that the previous attempts had reduced her to rubble. Registered out of Detroit, owned by the D & C line [Detroit & Cleveland Steam Navigation Co.]. One source claims she was in tow at the time.” (Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter M.)

Thompson: “The Morning Star was a five-year-old passenger and freight steamer that was operated by the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company….

“D&C’s Morning Star had departed Cleveland at 10:30 p.m. on June 19, bound for Detroit with fifty-one passengers, under the command of Captain E. R. Viger….

“As the Morning Star steamed west, the bark Courtlandt, under the command of Captain G. W. Lawton, was heading east toward Cleveland. The Courtlandt was nearing the end of the long voyage down from Lake Superior, where the ship had taken on a load of iron ore for the mills at Cleveland.

“The wind had been blowing steadily out of the north all day, and the waters of Lake Erie rose and fell in huge swells. There was a chill in the air that night, and an entry made in the pilothouse log of the Morning Star at midnight noted that it was also overcast and dark out on the lake. Captain Viger was in the pilothouse of the D&C steamer at the time. With a stout wind on the Courtlandt’s stern quarter she was fast approaching Cleveland, and Captain Lawton had also take up a position on the afterdeck of his ship.

“Shortly after midnight, the lookout on the Courtlandt complained to the mate on watch that their starboard running light was burning very dimly. The mate reportedly removed the light from its mounting, cleaned the soot off the red lens, and trimmed the wick. He then relit it and, confident he had solved the problem, set about reattaching the light to its mount. At that very moment, Captain Lawton saw the bow of the Morning Star emerge from the darkness. Lawton quickly reached up and rang the Courtlandt’s bell three times, then spun the wheel hard over. On the Morning Star, Captain Viger and those with him in the pilothouse heard the ringing of the bell, but too late. Running at full speed, the bow of the steamer sliced into the Courtlandt at the very spot where the mate was stooped over reattaching the running light. The mate was instantly crushed as the bow of the Morning Star cut deep into the hull of the smaller bark.

“The Morning Star hit the Courtlandt with such force that the steamer’s two bow anchors were ripped loose from their mounts. One anchor skidded clear across the deck of the bark and fell into the water on the far side, chaining the two ships together. At the two wooden ships began riding up and down on the passing swells, their crews could clearly hear the hulls grinding together – grinding to pieces.

“The crew of the Courtlandt worked frantically to free themselves from the Morning Star. Through an almost superhuman effort they were finally able to slip loose of the steamer’s anchor chain, and their badly damaged ship began to drift away toward the south shore of the lake. After drifting about half a mile, taking on water all the time, the Courtlandt quietly settled beneath the waves. Most of her crewmembers kept from drowning by hanging onto floating debris.

“On the Morning Star, Captain Viger had the lifeboats swung out ready for launching. Many of those aboard scrambled into the boats, although it was later reported that crewmembers outnumbered passengers. It made little difference at that point. Before the lifeboats could be launched, the Morning Star plummeted toward the bottom. As it sank, the hurricane deck was torn loose and fourteen of those who had been thrown into the water when the D&C steamer went down managed to scramble aboard, including Captain Viger….

“Two seamen were lost of the Courtlandt, while between twenty-one and thirty of those who had been aboard the Morning Star went down with the ship. The bloated bodies of many of the dead were later found afloat on the lake.” (Thompson 2006, pp. 166-167.)

VanZandt: “The bark Cortland sank in Lake Erie on 21 June 1868 in a collision with the passenger steamer Morning Star off Avon Point, Ohio. Historical research determined a search area for Cortland and a sidescan sonar survey was conducted. On 30 July 2005, a wreck was found. A reconnaissance archaeological survey was conducted and the site was documented. Archaeological, historical, and circumstantial evidence was used to establish the wreck’s identity
as Cortland.” (VanZandt. “The Discovery and Identification of the Bark Cortland.” ACUA Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, pp. 209-217, 2009.)

Newspaper

June 21: “Cleveland, June 21. The steamer Morning Star, hence for Detroit, collided with the barque Cortland, 30 miles from here, last night at 21 o’clock [9 p.m., June 20]. The boat sunk. Total passengers of the steamer 40, crew 30 men; crew of the barque 13; of these about 20 are missing; the remainder were picked up by the steamer R. M. Rice….” (Dubuque Daily Herald, IA. “Steamboat Disaster.” 6-22-1868, 1.)

Sources

Alchem Incorporated. Lake Erie Shipwreck Map “B” and Index. Accessed 1-28-2009 at:
http://www.alcheminc.com/huron.html

Case Western Reserve University. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. “Maritime Disasters.” Accessed 7-2-2009 at: http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=MD

Compendium of History and Biography of the City of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan. Chicago: Henry Taylor & Co., 1909. Digitized by Google and accessed 12-12-2020 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=IEk22rbVL9QC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Dubuque Daily Herald, IA. “Steamboat Disaster” [Morning Star, Cortland collide]. 6-22-1868, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=36124124

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (June 2009). Accessed 12-12-2020 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/6-09.htm

Journal of the Steamship Historical Society. “Steamboat Bill.” Issues 257-260, 2006, p. 149. Snippet view accessed 12-12-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Steamboat_Bill/mWtWAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Kohl, Chris. The 100 Best Great Lakes Shipwrecks. Seawolf Communications, Inc., 2005.

Lytle, William M., compiler, from Official Merchant Marine Documents of the United States and Other Sources; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. “The Lytle List.” Mystic, CT: Steamship Historical Society of America (Publication No. 6), 1952. Accessed 8-16-2020 at:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018039084&view=1up&seq=8&size=125

Mansfield, John Brandts (Ed. and Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899. http://www.linkstothepast.com/marine/chapt36.html — Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=iHXhAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Maritime History of the Great Lakes. “Morning Star (Steamboat), sunk by collision, 20 Jun 1868.” Donated by William R. McNeil. Accessed 12-12-2020 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/details.asp?ID=53319

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

New York Times. “The Old Year. Chronology of 1868,” Jan 1, 1869. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B01EFDE103AEF34BC4953DFB7668382679FDE

Ohio State University, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales of the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail. “Explore Shipwrecks: Cortland.” 2011. Accessed 8-7-2011 at: http://www.ohioshipwrecks.org/ShipwreckDetail.php?AR=2&Wreck=4

Ohio State University, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. “Moring Star…Story of the Loss.” Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales of the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail. Accessed 12-12-2020 at: http://ohioshipwrecks.org/shipwreckdetail.php?Wreck=11

Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter C. Accessed 9-6-2009 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/c.htm

Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter M. Accessed 9-7-2009 and 12-12-2020 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/m.htm

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.

Thompson, Mark L. Graveyard of the Lakes. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2004.

VanZandt, David M. “The Discovery and Identification of the Bark Cortland.” ACUA Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, 2009, pp. 209-217, 2009. Accessed at: http://www.clueshipwrecks.org/PDFs/SHA_Cortland_2009_ACUA_proceedings.pdf

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.