1875 — Sep 10, Propeller Equinox sinks, Lake Michigan Storm, ~Big Sable Point, MI –21-25

–21-25 Blanchard estimated death-toll.*

— 26 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 101.
–20-26 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 81.
— 26 U. S. Central Publishing Co. Important Events of the Century: 1776-1876, p. 204.
— 25 Shelak. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. 2003, pp. 152-153.
— 25 Swayze. “Great Lakes Shipwrecks beginning with the letter E.”
— 24 Chicago Tribune. 9-12-1875, p. 4, col. 1.
— ~24 Mansfield, John B. (Editor). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899. pp. 779-780.
— 23 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 687.
— 22 Boston Daily Globe. “Foundered in the Storm,” Sep 13, 1875, col. 5.
— 22 Janesville Gazette, WI. “From Chicago,” Sep 11, 1875, p. 1, cols. 2-3.

* Blanchard estimated death-toll. Why there are so many different estimates of the death toll mystifies us in that there was a survivor who presumably knew exactly how many were on board. However, we have been unsuccessful locating a report citing the survivor on that score. Rather we see reports noting death tolls ranging from 20 to 26. There are too many reports of 22 deaths for us to accept twenty as the death toll. In that a number of such reports were put forward before a survivor was found and brought to land, it is probable that there were at least 21 deaths.

We can only speculate how higher death-toll estimates came about. Most of the early reporting was that there were twenty-two people aboard. In shorter versions, presumably to fit space limitations, we have seen reports of Captain Woodsworth and his crew of twenty-two. This wording could well lead the reader to conclude there were twenty-three aboard. Then there were reports that the captain had his daughter and grand-daughter aboard, as well as reports his wife was also aboard. If one were to conclude these two or three females were passengers and not crew or not in the original estimate of twenty-two aboard, then one can see how readers might come to believe that there were twenty-five or twenty-six aboard. Whether there were twenty two or up to twenty-six aboard, there was one survivor, thus the range of deaths would be twenty-one to twenty-five.

Narrative Information

Mansfield: “1875. Loss of the Equinox. – In a gale of great fury that swept over Lake Michigan September 10, 1875, the propeller Equinox, with all on board, about 25 persons, including three young ladies, was engulfed near Point au Sable. The Equinox left Saginaw September 5, for Chicago, with the schooner Emma A. Mayes in tow, loaded with salt. The gale struck them off Point au Sable about 11 o’clock on the night of September 10, blowing furiously from the northeast. The crews of both vessels were on deck. The Equinox began reeling from side to side, but kept making steam and going ahead. The gale increased. The night was pitch dark, and through the roar of the wind and waves Captain Lusk, of the Mayes, stated that he heard the sudden cry, ‘Cut that line.’ It was immediately loosened and a moment later, without sign of distress, the propeller careened over to the leeward side and went down to the depths, leaving no trace behind. The schooner ploughed onward and reached Chicago with the tidings Saturday morning. Two days later the Schooner Havana arrived at Chicago with Reuben Burr, a survivor of the Equinox. He had been picked up Saturday morning 80 miles south-southwest of Manitou island. He was floating on the pilot house and had been thirty-one hours on the water. Burr said the sea had been frightfully rough. The Equinox began to leak aft, and all efforts to keep out the water were in vain. The water rose rapidly, and calls were made to the schooner to come alongside. Burr thinks the schooner could not have heard the cries, as the schooner was astern several hundred feet and the noise was great. Some of the men started to lower the boat on the port side, which was down in the water. The passengers and remainder of the crew were aft on the fantail. Eleven of the men had entered the boat when the vessel went down. Burr had been forward, and, with the captain, ran to the starboard side to lower the boat, when the ship went from under them. The captain caught the gangway, and Burr and the second cook managed to climb on the pilot house. The sea kept washing over them, but they held on. The next day the cook became exhausted and slipped away. Several schooners passed by, and it was not until Saturday morning the Burr was discovered by the Havana and rescued. The Equinox belonged to the Grand Trunk and Sarnia line.” (History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899, pp. 779-780.)

Shelak: “….Serving as a bulk freighter, the Equinox was constructed by R. N. Jones of Buffalo in 1857. On September 10, 1875, the Equinox was carrying a cargo of salt and towing the schooner barge Emma A. Mayes. Both vessels were en route to Chicago from Sarnia when they encountered a heavy gale.

“Shortly after midnight on the tenth, the Equinox signaled the crew of the Emma A. Mayes to release the towline. At 1 a.m. the Equinox foundered in heavy seas. Counted among the missing were the captain, his daughter, and his grand-daughter. The sole survivor, the helmsman, was found by the schooner Havana two days later. He was the only one of 26 to survive.” (Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. 2003, pp. 152-153.)

Swayze, Great Lakes Shipwrecks: “Foundered in huge waves while bound Sarnia for Chicago via Bay City with the lumber-laden schooner Emma A. Mayes…in tow. Went down quickly at around 1 a.m., just after the schooner was warned to cast off her towline. Passengers included the captain’s daughter and granddaughter (17 and 15 years old). The single survivor, her wheelsman, was picked up from the floating wheelhouse roof by the schooner Havana on the 12th.” (Swayze. “Great Lakes Shipwrecks beginning with the letter E.”)

Swayze, Shipwrecks!: “Equinox. Wooden steamer, probably a 200 t. [ton], 100 ft. propeller.
Lake Michigan: The position of this steamer at the time of her loss has not been reported, but it is said that 20 to 26 lives were lost when she foundered on September 10, 1875.”

Newspapers

Sep 11: “Chicago, Sept. 11.—A terrible disaster occurred on Lake Michigan early yesterday morning, which has just been reported here. The propeller Equinox, on the way from Chicago to Bay City, Michigan, with a cargo of salt and towing the Schooner Emma E. Mayes, loaded with lumber, was overtaken by the storm about two o’clock yesterday morning, near Point au Sable, 280 miles north of Chicago. Capt. Woodsworth, of the Equinox came to the stern of the propeller and called out to cut the lines. This was done, and the propeller careened and sunk in a few minutes after. She had on board a crew of 19 men and Capt. Dwight Scott, of Cleveland, a well-known lake captain, who was accompanied by his wife and grand-daughter, making a total of twenty-two. The first intimation that the schooner had of the catastrophe, was the shrieks of the drowning. The Mayes could render no assistance whatever, in the terrible sea that was going, and the entire crew of the Equinox went down. The Mayes arrived here this morning.” (Janesville Gazette, WI. “From Chicago,” Sep 11, 1875, p. 1.)

Sep 12: “Chicago, September 12.—Captain Lusk, of the schooner Emma A Mayes, which reached this city yesterday, gives the particulars so far as he knows of the terrible fate which overtook the propeller Equinox during the storm which prevailed on the lake, Thursday night and Friday morning. The Equinox started from Saginaw for Chicago on Sunday evening last….There were two passengers on board and the captain and crew, consisting of nineteen men. The Captain was Dwight Scott of Cleveland. The two passengers were Miss Minnie Scott, the captain’s daughter, aged nineteen years, going home; and Miss Hattie Scott, aged seventeen, a grand-daughter….” (Boston Daily Globe. “Foundered in the Storm,” Sep 13, 1875, col. 5.)

Sep 13: Chicago, September 13. — Reuben Burr was brought to this port this afternoon by the schooner Havana, Capt. Ross, having been picked up after floating thirty-one hours on the pilot house of the wrecked vessel Equinox. He was helmsman of that craft, and is supposed to be the sole survivor of the crew. He was picked up 80 deg. S. S. W. of Manitou Island, Saturday. He stated to a Tribune reporter substantially the following facts: The sea was very rough all the night before the catastrophe, ‘and the vessel sprung a leak while he was at the wheel. At 1 A. M. Friday a tour of inspection showed the bulwarks stove in aft. Burr and the mate attempted to stop the leak, but found it impossible, and after a consultation it was decided to lower the boats. The schooner was hailed and asked to come along side, but probably she did not hear and was at all events unmanageable. Signals were given and lights displayed, but without avail. A boat was lowered, and the mate, owner, watchman, five deck hands, engineer and two firemen got in. The ship went down almost immediately. Burr swam for a long distance side by side with the Captain. They finally caught the spars and separated. Afterwards Burr caught the pilot house and occupied that with the second cook, the latter, however, after nearly a day’s sailing was unable to stand up, became unconscious and slipped off. Burr was taken up by the Havana much exhausted on Saturday morning. He is, however, feeling well now, owing to having the best treatment from the crew of that vessel.” (Steubenville Daily Herald and News, OH. “Lake Disasters,” 9-14-1875, p2.)

Sources

Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Foundered in the Storm.” 9-13-1875, col. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=164144549

Chicago Tribune. 9-12-1875, p. 4, col. 1. Accessed 11-23-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-sep-12-1875-p-4/

Janesville Gazette, WI. “From Chicago” [Equinox Loss], Sep 11, 1875, p. 1, cols. 2-3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52845222

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

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.

Shelak, Benjamin J. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. Big Earth Publishing, 2003. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=4CBCcye0n6IC

Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC

Steubenville Daily Herald and News, OH. “Lake Disasters.” 9-14-1875, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=6416383

Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter E. Accessed 4-9-2010 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/

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

United States Central Publishing Co. Important Events of the Century: 1776-1876. NY: U.S. Central Pub. Co., 1876. Google preview accessed 1-22-2018 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=OGZt1HGsgmEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false