On this day July 9, 1886, the steambarge MILWAUKEE bound from Chicago to Muskegon light was sunk off Muskegon, Mich., by the steamer C. HICKOX. The MILWAUKEE’s watchman Denny Harrington was lost in the collision.
The MILWAUKEE was built as a freight and passenger steamer in 1868 at Ogdensburg by A. C. Keating for the Northern Transportation Co. for the Welland Canal trade between Chicago, Milwaukee and Ogdensburg. She measured 135.5 feet in length and 26.1 feet in beam.
The following is MILWAUKEE’s Captain William Armstrong’s account of what happened that night as printed in the Marine Record of July 15, 1886:
“The steambarge MILWAUKEE of Milwaukee, which left this port {Chicago} light for Muskegon on the 8th inst., collided with the steambarge HICKOX, Captain John O’Day laden with lumber and towing the schooner APPRENTICE BOY, bound from Muskegon to Chicago; following is the statement of Captain William Armstrong of the MILWAUKEE, relative to the sinking of his steambarge, July 8, 1886. We left Chicago at 3 p.m. bound for Muskegon, the wind was about N. N. E.; about 10 o’clock the wind began to haul around to the eastward and about eleven o’clock it began to get hazy on the water; about 20 or 25 minutes past eleven I saw a light ahead, then I sung out to the man at the wheel to port his helm, I looked ahead and saw a green light, then I sung out to put the wheel hard a starboard and blew two whistles and got no answer, as soon as that was done the steamboat approached and put us on the starboard side, about half past eleven. The watchman who was alongside of me took for the port side of the deck and since then I did not see or hear anything of him, after the boat struck I sung out for the watchman but did not get any answer, then I sung out for the mate to get a lantern and see if the steambarge was making water and soon as he found she was making water, he sung out to the engineer to blow the syphons a working, but the water gained so fast that it put the fire out, then there was nothing to do but take the boat. During this time I was blowing whistles for help and then the steamer I collided with approached alongside of us; about this time part of my crew got aboard of her in the life boat; then Captain O’Day got into the life boat and tried to stop the leak, during this time I went aloft and cut the foresail adrift and we run it under to try and stop the leak, while we were doing this the steambarge CITY OF NEW YORK, Captain C. B. Chatterson came along; the HICKOX blew the whistle for help and she came alongside then we made the MILWAUKEE fast to the HICKOX and the CITY OF NEW YORK to tow her but in vain she was making water so fast that we had to let her go and about one o’clock a.m. on the 9th of July she went down.
“The MILWAUKEE was built at Ogdensburg in 1868, registered 192 tons, was valued at $10,000, but was uninsured. Denny Harrington, the watchman, who perished with her, was a single man, and hailed from Milwaukee. The HICKOX received considerable damage to her stem, which caused her to leak. She received a new stem at the Chicago Drydock Company’s yard.”
A week later the local inspectors from Chicago, after having reviewed the affidavits of both Captain Armstrong and Captain O’Day, decided to revoke the licenses of both captains. This was unfortunate as both captains had been lake pilots for years.
The wreck of the MILWAUKEE was discovered by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association in June of 2023. She was located in 360 feet of water through the use of side-scan sonar and then was surveyed by using a remote operated vehicle.
Suzette Lopez
Photo credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
This story was originally posted on July 9, 2024.
