1886 — Nov 15-18, Lake Superior and Michigan storm; MI and WI maritime deaths — 39

–35-40 Philadelphia Inquirer. “Dead in The Lakes. Nearly Forty Seamen…” 12-21-1886, p. 1.
— 39 Blanchard estimated death-toll based on breakouts below.
— 39 Mansfield. History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899.
— 37 Geocaching (website). “Wreck of the Marinette – 1886.” 5-11-2005.
— 37 Philadelphia Inquirer. “Thirty-Seven Lives Known…Sacrificed…” 12-21-1886, p. 1.

Vessels:
— 5 Emerald, barge; foundered near Kewanee, WI, Lake Michigan.
–5 Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Appalling Record of Disasters.” 11-19-1886, p. 1, col. 3.
–5 Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (Nov 2008).

— 3 F. M. Dickinson, barge; foundered off Kewaunee, WI, Lake Michigan, Nov 17.
–3 Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. (Nov 2008).
–3 Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Appalling Record of Disasters.” 11-19-1886, p. 1, col. 3.
–3 Philadelphia Inquirer. “Thirty-Seven Lives Known…Sacrificed…” 12-21-1886, p. 1.
–2 AP. “Disasters on the Lakes.” Bloomington Daily Leader, IL, 11-17-1886, p. 2.

— 1 Florida, schooner. Dragged anchors, hit shore; mate crushed, Marquette MI, Lake Superior.
–1 Galveston Daily News. “Great Storm on the Lakes,” Nov 19, 1886, p. 5.
–1 Philadelphia Inquirer. “Thirty-Seven Lives Known…Sacrificed…” 12-21-1886, p. 1.
–1 Thompson, Mark L. Graveyard of the Lakes. 2004, p. 48. (Date was Nov 17.)

–~6 Helen, schooner. Grounds near Muskegon, MI, Lake Michigan.
–6 Philadelphia Inquirer. “Thirty-Seven Lives Known…Sacrificed…” 12-21-1886, p. 1.

–10 Lucerne, schooner; grounds and breaks off Chequamegon Point, WI. Lake Superior.
–10 Jalbert. “Schooner Lucerne.”
–10 Philadelphia Inquirer. “Dead in The Lakes. Nearly Forty Seamen…” 12-21-1886, 1.
–10 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 136.
–10 Thompson, Mark L. Graveyard of the Lakes. 2004, p. 47.

— 7 Marinette, schooner; driven ashore and wrecked, Nov 18; near Frankfort, MI, Lake MI.

— 7 Menekaunee, schooner; driven ashore and wrecked, Nov 18; near Frankfort, MI, Lake MI.
–8 Dubuque Daily Herald, IA. “Wrecked on the Lake.” 11-20-1886, p. 1.
–7 Maritime History…Great Lakes. “Menekaunee (Schooner), aground, 18 Nov 1886.”
–7 Philadelphia Inquirer. “Thirty-Seven Lives Known…Sacrificed…” 12-21-1886, p. 1.

Breakout by State:

Michigan (21)
— 1 Florida, schooner, at Marquette. Galveston Daily News. “Great Storm…,” Nov 19, 1886.
— ~6 Helen, schooner. Grounds near Muskegon, Lake Michigan.
— 7 Marinette, schooner; driven ashore and wrecked, Nov 18; near Frankfort, MI, Lake MI.
— 7 Menekaunee, schooner; driven ashore and wrecked, Nov 18; near Frankfort, MI, Lake MI.

Wisconsin: (18)
— 5 Emerald, barge, near Kewaunee. (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News (Nov 2008).
— 3 F. M. Dickinson, barge; near Kewaunee. (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping. (Nov 2008).
–10 Lucerne, schr. Lake Superior, off Chequamegon Point, WI. Jalbert. “Schooner Lucerne.”

Narrative Information
(General)

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive: “More incidents from the terrible storm swept the Lakes in mid-November 1886. On 18-19 November of that year, The Port Huron Times listed the vessels that were known to have foundered in that storm. Here is the list of vessels that foundered as it appeared on 19 November 1886. “The barge Emerald near Kewaunee, 5 lost. The barge F M Dickinson near Kewaunee, 3 lost. Two unknown schooners (one supposed to be the Helen) near Port Sherman. One unknown schooner near Hog Island Reef. The barge North Star near East Tawas, the fate of the crew is unknown.” The list then continues with vessels ashore. “The barge Wallace and consort on Choclay Beach, east of Marquette. The schooner South Haven near Pt. Sherman. The schooner Mary near Blenheim, Ontario. The schooner Pathfinder near Two Rivers, the cargo and vessel are a total loss. The schooner Cuyahoga and two scows in North Bay. The schooner P S Marsh and an unknown schooner at St. Ignore. The schooner Harvey Bissell near Alpena. The propeller City of New York near Cheboygan. The schooner Kolfage near Goderich, Ontario has broken up. The propeller Nashua on Grass Island, Green Bay. The barge Bissell near Kewaunee. The schooner Golden below China Beach. The propeller Belle Cross and barges across from China Beach. The schooner Florida on Marquette Beach is a total loss. And the barges Buckout, McDougall, Baker, Golden Harvest near East Tawas. (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (November 2008).)

Mansfield: “1886. Great Storms…. A terrible storm which occurred on the lakes November 17 and 18 caused the loss of 29 vessels and 39 lives.” (Mansfield. History of the Great Lakes (V1). 1899.)
On the Lucerne:

Jalbert: “Sprawling out into Lake Superior’s frigid sapphire waters, the red sandstone islands known as the Apostles pepper the horizon to the northeast of the quaint port town of Bayfield, Wisconsin….

“With her sleek lines, large sails, and sharp clipper bow, the schooner Lucerne was truly a majestic ship. Constructed in Tonawanda, New York…the Lucerne measured 194.9 feet in length and had a 33.7 foot beam. A large ship for her day, the Lucerne’s primary load was intended to be grain. Built to carry 52,000 bushels of corn, the Lucerne ran cargo between Lake Michigan Ports and Buffalo after her launching on April 23, 1873….

“A Tragic End — The Lucerne had offloaded its cargo of coal in Washburn, Wisconsin on November 12, 1886 before setting off for Ashland, Wisconsin in tow of the steamer Raleigh. Once in Ashland, she took on 1,256 tons of iron ore to be delivered to Cleveland…Under the command of Captain George Lloyd, the ship and crew left under sail in fair weather, planning to reunite with its tow Raleigh, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Her run to Cleveland was to be her last of the season. Unfortunately, the voyage would be the last she and her crew would ever make.

”The Lucerne was heading northeast along the Michigan coastline towards the Keweenaw Peninsula when the ferocious Lake Superior nor’easter hit, bringing with it gale force winds and vicious snow squalls. The Lucerne was sighted by two other vessels during Captain Lloyd’s attempt to navigate through the storm. Around 4:00 the following day, the steam barge Fred Kelly reported that the Lucerne was rolling and pitching in heavy seas off Ontonagon, with all her sails set except her fore gaff topsail. Then again at dusk, the mate of the Kelly reported that the Lucerne had put about in the storm, apparently making a run for the safety of Chequamegon Bay [WI]…

“Based on the reports from other vessels, and the location of the wreck site, it would seem that Captain Lloyd had hoped to navigate around Chequamegon Point, perhaps hoping to locate the La Pointe lighthouse for reference. Whether the lighthouse was not visible or the captain simply couldn’t get his bearings in the storm and feared sailing further in the treacherous shoals of the Apostles, still remains a mystery. Whatever the case, anchors were dropped suggesting they hoped to ride out the storm. Their attempt unfortunately failed, and on November 17th or 18th, 1886 the Lucerne was claimed by the violent storm, jamming her centerboard against the shallow lake bottom. The storm’s heavy wave action beat the centerboard against the shoal until her seams split open and allowed the frigid water to flood in. As the ship finally slipped beneath the water, some of the sailors tried to escape by climbing into the rigging. Their fate would be as terrible as those who stayed on deck.

”On the morning of November 19th, the light keeper at the La Pointe lighthouse awoke to a horrific scene. His report is as follows:

“From tower saw a vessel with 2 masts pretty close to the shore. I went down, I found it was a barque wrecked. It appeared that they had let go their anchors. She was lying bow to the east, about 2 miles from lighthouse. I discovered 3 bodies, one in main, 2 in mizzen rigging, did not find any bodies on the shore. Her boat is between the lighthouse and the end of the point. Her stem came ashore ¼ mile east of the lighthouse. On her arch board is Lucerne, Cleveland. The fishing tugs were out setting their nets in the morning, they saw the wreck and reported it at Bayfield. The fishing tug Browne came to the wreck at 1 p.m. and took the bodies from the rigging and took them to Bayfield (U.S. Lighthouse Service 19 November 1886).

“Searchers aboard Bayfield tugs S.B. Barker and Cyclone discovered the wreckage later that afternoon. They reported that a section of the Lucerne’s cabin was drifting near shore, and that the dead men in the rigging were covered by one to six inches of ice. The frozen sailors were cut down and brought to the undertaker’s in Bayfield….

“The body of mate Robert Jefferys washed ashore soon after the Lucerne’s wrecking. The bodies were taken to Ashland where they were embalmed and buried. Later that summer another decomposed body washed up on the shore of Long Island and was believed to have been another of the Lucerne’s crew, leaving the probable number of sailors unaccounted for at four. Three of the bodies were later shipped back to their homes for reburial….

“Today, the remains of the Lucerne lie in twenty-four feet of water off the northeast side of Long Island near Ashland, Wisconsin (N46° 43.389’, W90° 46.035’)….” (Jalbert. “Schooner Lucerne,” Sea History Magazine, July 27, 2007.)

Newspapers

Nov 16, Galveston Daily News: “Green Bay, Wis., November 16. – The steam, barge Justice Fields, with four sail of barges, coal laden, was driven into Kewanee yesterday morning. The T.M. Dickson soon broke away and went on the rocks. A small boat broke away soon after she struck, and the captain and four men sprang into the water and managed to reach the pier in a very exhausted condition. As the spars went over two men and the female cook jumped from the vessel, but were not afterward seen alive. The body of the cook came ashore about one mile south of the pier. Captain Robinson gives the names of the drowned as Jerry Pera [? unclear] and Arthur Prero [? unclear], of Green Bay, and the cook, Mary Waters, of Toledo.” (Galveston Daily News. “Great Storm on the Lakes,” Nov 19, 1886, p. 1.)

Nov 18, Galveston Daily News: “Milwaukee, Wis., November 18.—The barges Bissell and Tillie May, of the Justice Field tow, successfully weathered the gale in the breakers at Kewanee. and are all right to-day…Two bodies, supposed to be those of Captain Gorham, and one of the crew, of the wrecked barge Emerald, were washed ashore this morning. The schooner Nellie Redington, of Cleveland, which was in distress at Two Rivers last night, is reported all right today. She dragged in very close to the beach, but her anchors finally struck good holding ground and. she weathered the storm.” (Galveston Daily News. “Great Storm on the Lakes,” Nov 19, 1886, p. 5.)

“St. Paul, Minn., November 18. – The thermometer was 15 below zero this morning. The total snowfall was 13 ½ inches.” (Galveston Daily News. “Great Storm on the Lakes,” Nov 19, 1886.)

“Marquette, Mich., November 18. – A heavy northeast gale sprang up on the Lakes Tuesday night, which developed into the severest storm known here in six years. Snow had been falling all day. The sea grew higher every hour, washing over the breakwater and throwing the spray forty feet into the air. At 2 o’clock this afternoon the waves destroyed the harbor lighthouse, throwing it over into the harbor. All the docks in the city not especially protected were severely damaged during the afternoon. The schooner Eliza Gerlack, laden with coal, succeeded in coming safely into harbor. The schooner Florida was not so fortunate. She was driven in about 4 o’clock and dropped anchor outside the harbor. The tug Gillette went out to rescue he men and succeeded in getting them all off safely except Andrew Peterson, the mate, who, in jumping into the tug, was caught between the tug and the schooner as they came together and so badly hurt that he died last evening. The storm abated a little during the night, but to-day was raging with renewed fury. The barge Wallace, with her consort, are at Chocolay beach, four miles east of here. Both boats will be a total loss. A crew of sailors has been at work all day making efforts to save the crews, but without avail. The sea is running too high, and nothing can live. The rescuing crew were nearly drowned before the effort to save the men was abandoned. The barge was lying low in the water, and seems to be giving way. The waves go over her deck…” (Galveston Daily News. “Great Storm on the Lakes,” 11-19-1886, p 5.)

“Des Moines, Ia., November 18. – The storm continues with increased severity today. The railroads in the northern part of the State are blockaded. The Chicago and Rock Island passenger train No. 2 was snowbound west of here at midnight. All Chicago trains are snowbound on the west end. While a snow-plow on the Fonda Narrow-gauge-road of the Wabash system was pushing through the drift near Panora, yesterday, three trackmen…were struck and so badly injured that Farrow and his son died last evening…The storm was so blinding that the men could not be seen by the engineer.” (Galveston Daily News. “Great Storm…Lakes,” Nov 19, 1886.)

Nov 20: “Chicago, November 20. – A computation made to-day of the loss of life and property on the lakes by the storm of Wednesday and Thursday [15th-16th] shows that thirty vessels were wrecked and that thirty-seven lives were lost. By the wreck of the Dickenson three lives were lost; by that of the Emerald five; by that of the Marinette seven; by that of the Lucerne eight; y that of the Florida one; by that of the Helen six. All the vessels were cast away in the furious gale or foundered in the tremendous seas which it raised on Lakes Michigan and Superior. Many of them were barges in tow of tugs that were utterly unable to help them when the northwestern blizzard swept down….” (Philadelphia Inquirer. “Thirty-Seven Lives Known to Have Been Sacrificed to the Storm.” 12-21-1886, p. 1.)

Nov 21: “Computation of the number of lives lost in the gales on Lakes Superior and Michigan varies between thirty-five and forty. Thirty vessels are known to have been wrecked, but it is probable that not more than forty men of their crews fell victims to the blizzard and the engulfing seas. The money loss is in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million dollars.” (Philadelphia Inquirer. “Dead in The Lakes. Nearly Forty Seamen Victims of the Great Storm.” 12-21-1886, 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Disasters on the Lakes.” Bloomington Daily Leader, IL, 11-17-1886, p. 2. Accessed 12-5-2020: https://newspaperarchive.com/bloomington-daily-leader-nov-17-1886-p-2/

Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Appalling Record of Disasters.” 11-19-1886, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 12-5-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-hawk-eye-nov-19-1886-p-1/

Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Killed In A Drift.” 11-19-1886, p. 1, col. 4. Accessed 12-5-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-hawk-eye-nov-19-1886-p-1/

Dubuque Daily Herald, IA. “Wrecked on the Lake.” 11-20-1886, p. 1. Accessed 12-5-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/dubuque-daily-herald-nov-20-1886-p-1/

Galveston Daily News, TX. “Great Storm on the Lakes,” Nov 19, 1886, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=42641586

Geocaching (website). “Wreck of the Marinette – 1886.” 5-11-2005. Accessed 12-5-2020 at: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCP18T_wreck-of-the-marinette-1886?guid=8a8f21d9-52ad-4386-ba8c-f57518b4e003

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. “Report News (November 2008).” Accessed 12-5-2020 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/11-08.htm

Jalbert, Andres J. “Schooner Lucerne: Lessons from a Great Lakes Shipwreck,” Sea History Magazine, July 27, 2007. Accessed 12-5-2020 at: http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=31768

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. Accessed 12-5-2020 at: 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. “Menekaunee (Schooner), aground, 18 Nov 1886.” Accessed 12-5-2020 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/details.asp?ID=55501

Michigan Shipwreck Research Association. “Helen.” Accessed 12-5-2020 at: http://www.michiganshipwrecks.org/shipwrecks-2/shipwreck-categories/surf-zone-shipwrecks-lost-and-found/helen

Philadelphia Inquirer. “Dead in The Lakes. Nearly Forty Seamen Victims of the Great Storm.” 12-21-1886, p. 1. Accessed 12-5-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-times-nov-21-1886-p-1/

Philadelphia Inquirer. “Thirty-Seven Lives Known to Have Been Sacrificed to the Storm.” 12-21-1886, p. 1. Accessed 12-5-2020: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-times-nov-21-1886-p-1/

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.