1895 — Jan 21, steamer Chicora sinks, Lake Mich. storm, btw. South Haven-St. Joseph, MI-24-26

–24-26 Blanchard estimated death toll range.*

— 29 Alma Record, MI. “Vessel Foundered…Fate of the Steamer Chicora.” 1-25-1895, p.3, c.6.
–25 crew
— 4 passengers [not proven]
— 26 Defiance Evening News, OH. “Steamer Lost. Result of Storm on Lake Michigan.” 1-24-1893, 1.
— 26 Defiance Evening News, OH. “The Chicora is Lost. No Doubt…” 1-25-1895, p. 1.
–25 crew
— 1 passenger
— 26 U.S. Steamship Inspection-Service. Annual Report 1896, p. 61.
— 25 Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (January 2009).
— 25 Sterling Daily Standard, IL. “Steamer May Have Gone Down.” 1-23-1895, p. 3, col. 3.
— 25 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 51.
— 25 Thompson. Graveyard of the Lakes. 2004, p. 25.
— 24 Mansfield, John Brandts (Editor). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899, p. 768.
— 24 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 691.
— 24 Ratigan, William. Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals (Revised). 1969, p. 242.
— 24 Shelak, Benjamin J. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. Big Earth Publishing, 2003, p. 127.
–>23 Michigan Shipwreck Research Association. “Chicora.” Accessed 11-17-2020. (Names 23)

* Blanchard estimated death toll range. Via the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) we find the names of 22 crewmen and one passenger. The MSRA does not note a death-toll, rather, they provide the names of the men they had been able to identify as lost. In that the sources noting 24, 25, or 26 deaths tend, for the most part, to be reliable sources, we have not been able to land upon a specific number of deaths that would put the other references to rest. Thus we employ a range of 24-26.

Narrative Information

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive: “On 21 January 1895, Chicora (wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 199 foot, 1,123 gross tons, built in 1892, at Detroit, Michigan) was bound from Milwaukee for St. Joseph on a mid-winter run when she foundered with little trace. All 25 on board were lost. The ship’s dog was found wandering on the beach by St. Joseph, Michigan, a few days later. A well-organized search for the wreck continued until mid-June. Many small pieces of wreckage were washed ashore in the Spring.” (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. (Jan 2009).

Mansfield: “1895. Loss of the Chicora. – In a terrible mid-winter storm the steamer Chicora, of the Graham & Morton Transportation Company’s line, was lost January 21 between Milwaukee and St. Joseph with her crew of 23 and her only passenger. The steamer left Milwaukee for St. Joseph about 5 o’clock on the morning of January 21 while the weather was mild and the lake smooth, shaping her course directly for her destination. The barometer was unusually low, but Capt. Edward George Stines, her commander, nevertheless left port promptly on time. President Graham at his home in St. Joseph that morning discovered the alarming atmospheric conditions, and hastily notified the commander of the steamer Petoskey, not to sail till the storm had passed. He wired the same instructions to Captain Stines of the Chicora, but a little later learned that the vessel had already departed. The storm burst upon the lake as the day advanced, and no tidings to this day have come from the ill-fated Chicora, save that her spars and other wreckage drifted ashore between South Haven and Saugatuck some days later. The Chicora was due at St. Joseph at 12:30 in the afternoon, and for a day it was believed she might have sough shelter in some neighboring port;; but hope fled as rescuing vessels plowed their way in vain through thick fields of ice and in zero weather which followed and continued for several weeks. It is believed she went down a few miles off South Haven.

“The Chicora was built in Detroit in 1892. She was 217 feet long, 35 feet beam and 15 feet in depth. She was built for the heavy freight traffic of the Graham & Morton line, but the passenger quarters were luxuriously furnished. Her guaranteed speed was seventeen miles and hour. As she was engaged in mid-winter service, there was no insurance. The loss of vessel and cargo was $175,000.” (Mansfield, John Brandts (Ed. And Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899, p. 768.)

Swayze: “Chicora. Passenger and package freight steamer of 1,122 t. [tons] and 217 ft., launched at Detroit in 1882.

“Lake Michigan: The Chicora is one of those vessels which ‘sailed through a crack in the lake,’ disappearing with all 25 hands and leaving little evidence behind. The steamer left Milwaukee on a late season run with a load of flour on January 21, 1895, but never made port at St. Joseph. Sudden squalls and roving ice floes probably did the ship in somewhere off St. Joseph. According to one report, the ship’s dog was found wand4ering on the beach near St. Joseph a few days after the accident.” (Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 51.)

Thompson: “The 217-foot passenger and freight steamer Chicora…sank on January 21, 1895, after departing Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on a cross-lake run to St. Joseph, Michigan…twenty-four crewmembers and one passenger were lost with the ship…” (Thompson 2006, p. 25.)

U.S. Congress, House Merchant Marine Committee: “Mr. Morton. The Chicora was caught in a blizzard, similar to the blizzard a short time ago on Lake Huron, and she happened to be in the center of it, with ice conditions all around her; and so far as she is concerned, she went out of sight; that is all we know of. She was a new, substantial vessel, built as well as a vessel can be built. It is our idea that she broke; something happened to her, since the vessel would have weathered the storm, notwithstanding it was the severest ever occurring on Lake Michigan.

“Mr. Thacher [Congressman]. That was about 20 years ago. In effect?

“Mr. Morton. Yes, sir….

“Mr. Bruckner. Was that a vessel of your line?

“Mr. Morton. Yes, sir.

“Mr. Bruckner. And you never received any report?

“Mr. Morton. No, sir; the upper works came ashore, and we got a quantity of them.

“Mr. Bruckner. Was her captain saved?

“Mr. Morton. There was nobody saved; everybody lost. And it was impossible for anybody to be saved under those circumstances, because the wind reached a velocity of 85 miles an hour, with ice all around. It was in the middle of the month of January—on the 25th day of January—and there would be no such thing as any human being living under such conditions. On the bluff where we were watching for the steamer we could not stand facing the storm two minutes; we would have to get under shelter in some way.” (Morton, in: US Cong.. House Merchant Marine Cmt. The Seamen’s Bill Hearings, 1914, 345.)

U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service: “The steamer Chicora cleared from Milwaukee at 5.45 a. m., and has not since been heard from. She was lost in Lake Michigan during a terrific storm that set in on that day, probably at a point within a few miles of South Haven, Mich. The steamer was in charge of Capt. Edward Stines, and had a crew of 25 men and one passenger….. Her cargo consisted of flour…” (U.S. Steamboat Inspection-Service. Annual Report 1896, p. 61.)

Michigan Shipwreck Research Association: “….The crew consisted mostly of Michigan men including:
Captain Edward George Stines of St. Joseph, MI
Grant A. Downing, oiler, Lapeer, MI
James R. Clarke, clerk, of St. Joseph, MI
Alfred Downing, coal passer, Lapeer, MI
Cornelius D. Simons, 1st mate, Benton Harbor, MI
Nathan Reeves Lynch, cook, St. Joseph
Benjamin Edward Stines, 2nd Mate, St. Joseph
M. W. Morgan, waiter/steward, Benton Harbor, MI
Joseph Marks, Wheelman, Benton Harbor, MI
James Malone, pantry man, Chicago, IL
Robert Mc Clure, 1st Engineer, Detroit, MI
Jesse Davis, porter, Benton Harbor, MI
Alfred Wirtz, 2nd engineer, Detroit, MI
Thomas Cass, dockhand, Benton Harbor, MI
John Werner, fireman, Sweden
Jack Ryan, dockhand, Benton Harbor, MI
William M. Scheck, fireman, Philadelphia, PA
William Dunn, dockhand, Benton Harbor, MI
Thomas Robertson, watchman, Baltimore, MD
Joseph Felix, dockhand, Benton Harbor, MI
John Hoogeboon, watchman, Saginaw, MI
John Mattison, watchman, Benton Harbor, MI
Joseph F. Pearl, passenger, of St. Joseph, MI
(Michigan Shipwreck Research Association. “Chicora.” Accessed 11-17-2020.)

Newspaper

Jan 25: “Benton Harbor, Mich., Jan. 25. – There now seems to be no doubt that the steamer Chicora foundered in the gale which swept Lake Michigan Monday and Monday night, and that the twenty-five members of her crew and one passenger on board found watery graves. Advices received from South Haven are to the effect that a great deal of wreckage was found in the ice off port, and from the telegraphed description has been identified by the owners as having been part of the ill-fated craft.

“A dispatch from Mr. Morton at South Haven says a shutter of a passenger gangway and a portion of the bulwarks of the steamer Chicora were found.

“A steamer’s hull, probably that of the Chicora, was seen floating off Glenn Haven, twenty miles north, at noon.” (Defiance Evening News, OH. “The Chicora is Lost. No Doubt that the Steamer has Foundered. Pieces of Wreckage are Found.” 1-25-1895, p. 1.)

Sources

Alma Record, MI. “Vessel Foundered…Fate of the Steamer Chicora.” 1-25-1895, p.3, c.6. Accessed 11-17-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-alma-record-jan-25-1895-p-3/

Defiance Evening News, OH. “Steamer Lost. Result of Storm on Lake Michigan.” 1-24-1893, 1. Accessed 11-17-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/defiance-evening-news-jan-24-1895-p-2/

Defiance Evening News, OH. “The Chicora is Lost. No Doubt that the Steamer has Foundered. Pieces of Wreckage are Found.” 1-25-1895, p. 1. Accessed 11-17-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/defiance-republican-daily-express-jan-25-1895-p-1/

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. “Report News (January 2009).” Accessed at: http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/1-09.htm

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

Michigan Shipwreck Research Association. “Chicora.” Accessed 11-17-2020 at: http://www.michiganshipwrecks.org/shipwrecks-2/shipwreck-categories/shipwrecks-lost/chicora

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.

Ratigan, William. Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals (New Revised and Enlarged Edition). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1969.

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

Sterling Daily Standard, IL. “Steamer May Have Gone Down.” 1-23-1895, p. 3, col. 3. Accessed 11-17-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sterling-daily-standard-jan-23-1895-p-3/

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.

United States Congress. House of Representatives, Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries. The Seamen’s Bill (Hearings, on S. 136, an act to promote the welfare of American Seamen in the Merchant Marine of the U.S…., Part 1). Wash.: GPO, 1914. Digitized by Google: http://books.google.com/books?id=fDkuAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1896. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1896, 287 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=Q1YpAAAAYAAJ