1927 — July 28, excursion vessel Favorite rolls over/sinks in storm 1/2M off Chicago IL– 27

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-22-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–27  Daily Gazette, Sterling, IL. “Twenty-Seven Drown in Lake Disaster.” 7-29-1927, p. 1

–27  U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report, 1928, p. 12.

Narrative Information

US SIS: “On July 28, 1927, at about 3:10 p.m., the motor passenger vessel Favorite, 0f 19 gross tons, left Lincoln Park Pier [Chicago], with 71 passengers and crew on board, bound for Municipal Pier, about 3 miles distant.  The sky was cloudy in the northwest, very little wind, lake smooth and very hot day. A squall with cyclonic force from a west-north-west direction, accompanied by heavy rain, struck the vessel when about abreast of North Avenue. As the full force of the gale struck it abeam on starboard side, the vessel rolled over on port side, and the water rushed into the interior of the hull through the engine-room openings and a small hatch abaft of the engine room, causing the vessel to sink in an upright position one-half mile from shore. As a result of the accident 27 passengers were lost.  The case was investigated by the local inspectors at Chicago, Ill., and dismissed.”  (U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service.  Annual Report, 1928, p. 12.)

 

Newspaper

July 29, Daily Gazette, Sterling IL: “This community was profoundly shocked late Thursday afternoon when word came from Chicago that Mrs. Lester B. Hendricks and daughter, Mary Janet, were among the 27 people who lost their lives when the pleasure boat Favorite was capsized about a mile off shore and midway between the Fullerton avenue dock in Lincoln park and the Municipal pier, at 3:30 o’clock, Chicago time, or 2:30 p.m. by our time.

….

“Mr. Hendricks, who is associated with his father, ex-Mayor A. R. Hendricks, in the Hendricks Drug Co., of Sterling, had promised his wife and children to take them on a motor trop to Lincoln park, Chicago some day this summer. Thursday being a half holiday at the store and the weather being favorable for motoring, they decided to go yesterday and they started off happily in the early morning. They had enjoyed the sights and pleasures of the park and the little girls and their mother had started to take a boat ride to the Municipal pier and back. Mr. Hendricks and his son, John Wilcox Hendricks, aged 13, preferred to stay at the park…

 

“The boat had not passed out of sight before Mr. Hendricks, who was watching it from the shore, saw the sudden storm. He noticed the boat laboring in the water and finally saw it turn over….Mrs. Hendricks was among those first brought in from the lake….Little Sue Hendricks was picked up by men on a yacht which was rushed to the scene of the accident and she was among a number of children taken on board while they were struggling in the water. Mrs. Hendricks and her daughters were none of them able to swim….Little Mary Janet would have been eight years of age had she lived until September….”

List of Dead in Lake Disaster

 

“Chicago, Ill., July 29. – (By United Press.) – The list of dead in the sinking of the excursion steamer Favorite are:  [We add numbering.]

 

  1. Frances Belle Hendricks, 40, Sterling.
  2. Mary Janet Hendricks, 8, Sterling.
  3. Charles Abernathy, Jr., 3.
  4. Robert Abernathy, 4.
  5. Amanda Berndt.
  6. Pearl Carpenter.
  7. Robert Erickson, 6.
  8. May Fenlon, 46.
  9. Vincent Fenlon, 10.
  10. Fanny Holmes.
  11. Harry Koutnec, 7.
  12. Olga Koutnec, 33.
  13. George Murray, 7.
  14. Margaret Murray, 3.
  15. Anthony Parentl (Parenti?), 8 months.
  16. Mabel Parentl, 23.
  17. Cecilla Polen, 26.
  18. Bessie Pozner, 9.
  19. Nathan Pozner, 40.
  20. Sarah Resnick, 24.
  21. Bernard Resnick, 5.
  22. Albert Resnick, 3.
  23. Eileen Schlander, 5.
  24. Clara Young, 34.
  25. Lois Young, 5.
  26. Mike Citra, 7.
  27. Rose Polen, 14.”

 

(Daily Gazette, Sterling, IL. “Twenty-Seven Drown in Lake Disaster.” 7-29-1927, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Daily Gazette, Sterling, IL. “Twenty-Seven Drown in Lake Disaster.” 7-29-1927, p. 1. Accessed 2-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sterling-daily-gazette-jul-29-1927-p-1/

 

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1928.  Washington, DC:  Government Printing Office, 1928.  Digitized by Google.  Accessed at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=oafNAAAAMAAJ