1903 — Oct 3, steamer Erie L. Hackley sinks, Lake MI storm, Green Bay ~Green Isl., WI–11

— 19 Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904. “Events of 1903.” 1903. p. 243.
— 12 Clinton Morning Age (IA). “Lake Steamer is Wrecked…Erie Hackley…,” Oct 6, 1903, 1.
— 12 Deseret News, Salt Lake. “Twelve…Drowned…Steamer J.H. Hackley…” 10-5-1903, 7.
— 11 Blanchard fatality estimate.*
— 11 Boyer. Ships and Men of the Great Lakes. 1977. (Excerpts by Jim & Alice LaPeer.)
— 11 Find A Grave. “Shipwreck – Erie L. Hackley.” Accessed 11-25-2020
— 11 Milwaukee Journal, WI. “Eleven Drown in Green Bay…Steamer Hackley.” 10-5-1903, 1
— 11 New York Times. “Wreck on Lake Michigan. Steamer Sinks…” 10-5-1903, p. 1.
— 11 Podgers. “Peninsula Connections…Green Bay…” Door County Magazine. Spring 2011.
— 11 Shelak. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. 2003, pp 29-30.
— 11 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 104.
— 11 U.S. Steamboat Inspection Svc. Annual Rpt.…Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904. 1904, 76.

* Blanchard fatality estimate. We have looked for and found obituaries for eleven people lost on the Hackley. We see thirteen names altogether in newspaper reports. One, Trunchley, noted as a cook, seems to be a mistaken identification of Carl Pelkey, whose obituary notes he was a cook on the Hackley, and we are skeptical there were two. The other name in early newspaper reports is that of a N. Fitzsimmons of Jacksonport. We have not been able to identify such a person and believe this to be mistaken. Thus, it appears to us there were eleven deaths, not twelve.

Narrative Information

Podgers: “The Erie L. Hackley was one of several ship lines that performed regular ‘runs’ between the various Door County [WI] ports and Menominee [MI]. Owned and operated by Four Fish Creek [WI] men, the Hackley provided a transportation service for the transport of passengers and freight. On the evening of October 3, 1903, the Hackley was returning from Menominee when a squall blew just as the ship rounded Green Island, five miles from the shoreline. Within minutes the storm entrapped the vessel and she plummeted 115 feet to the bottom of the bay. Of the 19 crew and passengers, 11 perished that night, all of them Fish Creek residents. The tragedy was shared by communities on both shores.” (Podgers, Patty. “Peninsula Connections, Opposite Sides of Green Bay Have Shared Prosperity and Tragedy.” Door County [WI] Magazine. Spring 2011.)

US Steamboat Inspection Service: “Local District of Milwaukee, Wis. 1903….

“October 16 [sic]. – Steamer Erie L. Hackley left Menominee bound for Egg Harbor, Wis. When about one hour out was struck by a heavy squall, thrown down on her beam end and sunk. Her master, cook, and deck hand, and eight passengers were lost. Valuation of steamer is estimated at $3,000.” (U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report of…for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904. 1904, p. 76.)

Newspapers

Oct 4: “Marietta, Wis., Oct 4. – During a squall last night on Lake Michigan the steamer Erie L. Hackley capsized, and eleven persons, three of whom were women, were drowned. The Goodrich Line steamer Sheboygan rescued the other seven persons on board the Hackley, all men, after they had drifted all night in Green Bay, clinging to bits of wreckage, and brought them to Fish Creek to-day.

“The Hackley was struck by the squall when off Green Island, seven miles from this port. The upper works of the vessel were blown away, and the boat then turned over and went down in deep water.

“The drowned were Capt. Joseph Voreous of the Hackley, Cook Truchly, and the following passengers: Freeman Thorp, Edna Barringer and her brother Lawrence, Henry Rabitor, and Carl Kelky, all of Fish Creek, Wis.; Nels Nelson, Sturgeon Bay; Frances Vincent and her sister of Egg Harbor, Wis., and George Le Clair, Jr., and N. Fitzsimmons, both of Jackson Port, Wis. ….

“As the Hackley went to the bottom all except the Captain, who stuck to his vessel, seized on floating pieces of wreckage. The waves were rolling high, and several of those who at first saved themselves from immediate death lost strength and sank. It was not until 7 o’clock this morning that the steamer Sheboygan sighted the helpless survivors and effected their rescue.

“The officers of the Sheboygan feel sure that they took aboard every person afloat, but some of the persons who were rescued say that it is possible that one or more of the eleven persons missing may have escaped death. Not much credence is given this view by the sailors of the Sheboygan.

“The Sheboygan ran into Fish Creek when hope of rescuing other persons seemed improbable. The rescued persons were so exhausted from their struggle against drowning that they were unable for some time to tell anything about the wreck. The persons saved by the Sheboygan say that with the crashing away of the upper works all persons aboard the Hackley ran on deck. Hasty preparations for a plunge into the water were begun, but before any plans could be carried out the boat listed, turned over, and went down like a rock.

“Search is still making for any person who may have escaped death and for the bodies of those who were drowned.

“The Erie L. Hackley was a 54-ton screw steamer which was built at Muskegon, Mich., in 1882. The Hackley was owned in Fish Creek by Capt. Voreous and other residents of that village. The steamer made a trip every other day between Sturgeon Bay and Washington Island, going up one day and back the next.

“Sturgeon Bay, Wis., Oct; 4. – Purser Blakefield, one of the survivors of the Hackley, who was on the steamer Sheboygan when it reached here, gave a vivid description of the wreck. He said:

The squall struck us about 6 o’clock as we were just north of Green Island. It came suddenly, and with terrific fury. I was in the pilot house with the Captain, who had just said that the elements looked threatening, and that he would try to run to port. When the first fierce gust hit us the Captain tried to throw the boat up into the wind, but his efforts to do so were unavailing. Then I joined him at the wheel, but our combined efforts were not sufficient to make her mind the wheel.

Then of a sudden she lifted, and began to fill with water. Realizing that the passengers and crew were becoming panic-stricken I left the Captain in the pilothouse and ran aft to let down the lifeboat. By the time I got aft the Hackley was filling so rapidly that it was apparent it would be impossible to launch any boat. There came another fierce blast, and the upper works went by the board.

Then the steamer began to sink rapidly, and it was apparent her settling to the bottom would be a question of only a few moments. Eighteen of the nineteen people aboard were gathered on the deck, most of them in a state of panic.

The situation was made particularly heart-rending by the women, who shouted hysterically, imploring the men to save them, and accompanied their appeals for assistance with prayers.

As the boat sank it was clear that there was only one hope of any one being saved, and that was by clinging to the wreckage. I gave orders for the men to put the women on it first.

They did so, and behaved well, every man remaining on the sinking boat until the women had been placed on pieces of the cabin and other wreckage. It was then a wild scramble on the part of each man to get such pieces of planking as he could secure and cling to them.

Every man found something to float on except the Captain, who remained in the pilot house to the last, doing his best to right the boat. He finally went down with her.

We floated on different pieces and for a few minutes we were in sight of each other, but soon darkness came on and we separated.

The last persons that I saw, except for those with me, were the two Vincent girls from Egg Harbor, who were floating together. They seemed to have recovered entirely from their first fright, and were making a brave struggle for their lives, a struggle which now seems to have been in vain.

Those of us who were fortunate to escape clung to the wreckage all night, bitten by the cold wind and benumbed by the colder-water, and the surprise is that we did not all die of exposure. We drifted I know not where until picked up by the Sheboygan.

“Capt. J. B. Johnson of the Sheboygan, which picked up the survivors, said:

This morning, when near Strawberry Island, I saw wreckage which I knew was fresh, and began to search the surroundings in order to discover the survivors if there were any. Near Green Island I discovered five persons clinging to wreckage, and got them on board after considerable difficulty.

Soon I discovered two other men on different pieces of planking, and also succeeded in getting them on board. The men were in a state of great exhaustion, and the condition of some of them is still serious.

“The Hackley left Menominee, Mich., Saturday afternoon late, and was bound for Fish Creek and Green Bay.” (New York Times. “Wreck on Lake Michigan. Steamer Sinks…” 10-5-1903, p. 1.)

Oct 5: “Marinette, Wis., Oct. 5. — During a squall Saturday night on Lake Michigan the steamer Erie Hackley capsized and 12 persons were drowned. The Goodrich line steamer Sheboygan rescued the other nine persons on board the Hackley, after they had floated about all night on pieces of wreckage. The Hackley was struck by the squall when seven miles off Green island. The upper work was blown away before the men could reach a haven. The boat then turned over and went down in deep water. The drowned are:

Joseph Vorous, captain of the Hackley;
Trunchley, cook of the Hackley, and the following passengers:
Freeman Thorp, Fish Creek [WI];
Edna Barringer, Fish Creek;
Lawrence Barringer, brother of Edna Barringer, Fish Creek;
Frances [Ethel] Vincent, Egg Harbor [WI];
[Edna] Vincent, sister of Frances [Ethel], Egg Harbor;
George LeClair, Jr., Jacksonport, Wis.;
N. Fitzsimmons, Jacksonport; [We can find no obituary for N. Fitzsimmons.]
Henry Rabbitor [Robertoy], Fish Creek;
Carl Kelky [Pelkey], Fish Creek;
Nels Nelson, Sturgeon Bay.[?]
[Not listed: Hugh Miller, deck hand; body lost at sea, about 19 or 20.

“It was several hours after the Hackley sank before the Sheboygan have within hailing distance. The shouts of the floating men attracted the attention of the sailors on the Sheboygan, and every assistance was lent. The rescue was effected at 7 a.m. The officers of the Sheboygan feel sure that they took aboard every person afloat. Some of the persons who were rescued say that it is possible that one or more of the eleven persons missing may have escaped death. This view is not given much credence by the sailors of the Sheboygan. The Sheboygan made into Fish Creek when hope of rescuing other persons seemed improbable. The rescued persons were so exhausted from their struggle against drowning that they were unable for some time to tell anything about the wreck.” (Clinton Morning Age (IA). “Lake Steamer is Wrecked…Erie Hackley…,” Oct 6, 1903, p. 1.)

Oct 5: “Marinette, Wis., Oct. 5. – In the furious gale which swept over Green Bay last Saturday night the passenger steamer Erie L. Hackley foundered and eleven persons were drowned. Nine survivors of the shipwreck were rescued early Sunday morning by the steamer Sheboygan of the Goodrich line after they had floated for many hours on pieces of wreckage in a heavy sea that threatened to sweep them away from their frail rafts.

“The survivors were almost dead of exposure when they were picked up by the crew of the Sheboygan, and for a time they were unable to tell of the disaster. The pieces of wreckage on which they had floated nearly all night were small, and every sea washed completely over them. Several women who had managed to seize bits of wood when the Hackley went down were washed from their improvised life preservers and drowned….

“The storm which sent the Hackley to the bottom is the worst which has been recorded in this vicinity for years. The steamer was seven miles from Green Island when it broke, and warned by the threatening clouds, the captain was hastening to get his boat under the shelter of the island.

“A number of those lost were carried under by the suction of the sinking boat, and, it is believed, did not come to the surface again….The wind, which continued with almost the force of a hurricane, caused a heavy sea to spring up immediately. In the darkness and the pouring rain which accompanied the wind, it was almost impossible to see, and the strongest swimmers were unable to render aid to those who were struggling near them. The wind drove them farther apart, so that the cries of the drowning were lost….

“The steamer was owned by Ted Thorp, Henry Rabitoy and Capt. Vorus and father….It was purchased last year by Fish Creek people to take the place of the Cecilia Hill, which was transferred….” (Milwaukee Journal, WI. “Eleven Drown in Green Bay…Steamer Hackley.” 10-5-1903, p. 1.)

Sources

Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904. Chicago: Chicago Daily News Co., 1903. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=o20TAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Clinton Morning Age, IA. “Lake Steamer is Wrecked…Erie Hackley…,” Oct 6, 1903, 1. At: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=m-UyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8QAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4993,3698825&dq=steamer-erie&hl=en

Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT. “Twelve Persons Were Drowned. The Steamer J.H. Hackley Was Capsized During a Squall on Lake Michigan.” 10-5-1903, 7. Accessed 4-16-2011 at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=C50wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VEoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2972,3370158&hl=en

Find A Grave. “Capt. Joseph L. Vorous.” Record created 3-7-2013. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106340473/joseph-l_-vorous

Find a Grave. “Carl Pelkey.” Cites Door County Democrat, 10-10-1903, p. 9, col. 1. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106353258/carl-pelkey

Find A Grave. “Edna Barringer.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49996332/edna-barringer

Find A Grave. “Edna Vincent.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106353628/edna-vincent

Find A Grave. “Ethel Vincent.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106353532/ethel-vincent

Find A Grave. “F. Henry Robertoy.” Cites Door County Democrat, 10-10-1903, p. 9, col. 1, and 10-31-1903, p. 1, col. 2; and The Advocate, 10-31-1903, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106354027/f.-henry-robertoy

Find A Grave. “Freeman Edwin Thorp.” Record created 2-16-2010. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48203311/freeman-edwin-thorp

Find A Grave. “George LeClair.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49996716/george-leclair

Find A Grave. “Hugh Miller.” Cites Door County Democrat of 10-10-1903, p. 9, col. 1 and 11-14-1903, p. 12, c. 4. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106352961/hugh-miller

Find A Grave. “Lawrence Barringer.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49996333/lawrence-barringer

Find a Grave. “Nels Nelson.” Cites Door County Democrat, 10-10-1903, p. 9, col. 1; and The Advocate, 11-14-1903, p. 8, col. 3. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106354922/nels-nelson

Find A Grave. “Shipwreck – Erie L. Hackley.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/364695?page=1#sr-49996332

LaPeer, Jim and Alice. “Sinking of the Erie L. Hackley.” (Excerpts from Ships and Men of the Great Lakes, by Dwight Boyer, 1977.) Accessed 11-25-2020 at: http://www.jalhost.net/Family_History/Hackley_Story/Erie_L_Hackley-Boyer.html

Milwaukee Journal, WI. “Eleven Drown in Green Bay. The Steamer Hackley Goes Down During a Severe Storm.” 10-5-1903, p. 1. Accessed 4-16-2011 at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9jYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iyAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3628,3168280&hl=en

New York Times. “Wreck on Lake Michigan. Steamer Sinks [Erie L. Hackley]…” 10-5-1903, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52442754

Podgers, Patty. “Peninsula Connections, Opposite Sides of Green Bay Have Shared Prosperity and Tragedy.” Door County [WI] Magazine. Spring 2011. Accessed 1-17-2012 at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wipgs/PGS/PGSSteamerErieLHACKLEYsunk3Oct1903FreemanETHORP.htm

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

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 Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904. Washington: Gov. Printing Office, 1904. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hb1k9h&view=1up&seq=7&size=125&q1=hackley%201903