On this day May 18, 1894, the Milwaukee built canal schooner LEM ELLSWORTH foundered on Lake Michigan taking her crew of seven with her. She was loaded with a cargo of stone blocks bound from Jacobsville, Michigan, to Chicago. She passed the Straits on May 15th and is believed to have gone down in the gale of May 18th.
Photo at top of page: LEM ELLSWORTH with tug ARCTIC
The ELLSWORTH had been witnessed in distress about 15 miles from Chicago by two residents who telephoned Evanston to alert the life-savers. They reported she was so low in the water that only the spars and deck line could be seen above the waves. In the rigging, two black specks could be seen. The boat suddenly careened and pitched bow first beneath the waves. About a week later, some of her wreckage was found near Kenosha but her crew was never found.
The gale of May 18th was thought to have claimed three other ships as they were still missing a week after the storm, but they finally were able to limp into a port – the EMMA L. NEILSON from Milwaukee which was built in 1883 and sank in 1911, the G. ELLEN which was built in 1854 and broke up in a storm in 1901 and the JASON PARKER from Racine which was built 1859 and stranded on South Manitou in 1900.
The ELLSWORTH was a three masted, 138 foot canaller built by Wolf and Davidson in 1874. She carried various cargoes including stone blocks, paving stone, coal, wheat, and corn.
A canaller was a specific schooner built for trading through the Welland Canal, They measured 135-138 feet in keel length and had a straight stern. These schooners took full advantage of the canal locks before they were lengthened in 1882.
Many canallers were built on the lakes but only six were built in Milwaukee. Wolf and Davidson Shipyards built the PENOKEE in 1872, ITASCA, G. G. HOUGHTON, and TYPO all in 1873, and LEM ELLSWORTH in 1874. The Milwaukee Ship Yard Co. built the MYOSOTIS in 1874.
Suzette Lopez
Photo Credit: Great lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
