By Suzette Lopez

On October 29, 1887, the wooden propeller VERNON was lost off Two Rivers Point in a violent northeast gale taking her 16 passengers and 25 crew members with her. One crew member Axel Stone was rescued on a raft several days later.

As you can image, the newspapers were full of stories and theories until the sole survivor was found. Below are a few of them.

Milwaukee Sentinel, Oct. 31, 1887, p. 2 – “Chicago, Oct. 30. – The VERNON was owned by A. Booth & Sons, of Chicago. She was built her a year ago last summer by J. P. Smith at a cost of $78,000 and measured 560 tons. She was a passenger boat and was designed to run between Chicago and Manistique. A mistake was made in her model, and when she was launched it was discovered that the draft of water without cargo was so great that she was unfitted for the route. When ready for sea her owner sent her to Lake Superior and she was employed last fall between Port Arthur and Duluth. This year she was chartered for the season to tow two ore schooners between Lake Superior ports and Cleveland, but in June she ran her consort on the rocks in the Sault and the contract was cancelled. The owner of the barge libeled the VERNON for damages and she was sold at auction at Detroit by order of the court, her owners becoming the purchasers. About this time the propeller Champlain, of the Northern Michigan line, was burned to the waters’ edge, and the VERNON has since been running in the passenger and general merchandise trade, between Chicago, Milwaukee and Cheboygan, stopping at intermediate points, and at the time of the disaster she was bound here with a cargo of miscellaneous freight.

“There are many who will attribute her loss to overloading. Without cargo she was a deeper draft vessel than any on the lakes, and it was impossible to load her with profit to her owners without making her unseaworthy. In order to obtain great speed her builder sacrificed buoyancy and stability, and every experienced vesselman who saw the VERNON after she was launched predicted that she would sooner or later meet with disaster. ….” (the VERNON measured 158.7 in length, 25.5 in beam and 18.8 in depth)

“A pilot house, with the name on it of the passenger propeller VERNON, which was lost in the furious gale off Two Rivers Point early Saturday morning, was picked up by a tug off Manitowoc yesterday afternoon, thus fully establishing the identity of the ill-fated vessel. Not a single soul, it is feared, of the thirty or more persons who were aboard has been left to tell the story of the shipwreck. All of them have too probably found watery graves at the bottom of Lake Michigan, as none of those sighted on their frail floats, appealing for help from passing vessels, could have long survived the terrible exposure of the furious waves and intense cold. Many fervent prayers no doubt went up yesterday from mothers, wives and children, that some means of escape might have been found for loved ones aboard the unfortunate vessel, but, alas, the hope that they could be realized was a forlorn one. …”

“Mr. Vernon Booth, for whom the vessel was named, said her insurance amounted to $37,000, as follows; St. Paul Fire and Marine, $20,000; Louisville Underwriters, $2000; London Assurance company, $10,000. The Northern Michigan line paid $1,000 per month for her use. … “

Port Huron Daily Times, Nov. 2, 1887 – “One survivor of the lost VERNON was found by the schooner POMEROY yesterday. He had survived on a raft with one dead man for company.”

Marine Record, Nov. 3, 1887, p.4 – “Green Bay. — Alfred Stone, the sole survivor of the VERNON said that when the VERNON left Frankfort at 7 o’clock last Friday evening her cargo consisted of apples, fish, potatoes, pig iron, and staves, and the boat was unusually heavy, the boat being loaded about one foot deeper than usual, and the deck being only about six inches above the water. After leaving Frankfort the weather was fine and continued so until between 9 and 10 o’clock, when a gale from the northwest set in. Stone says he was on watch till midnight. The sea rose rapidly and the boat labored heavily, although she seemed, while he was on deck, to steer pretty well. Her excessive load between decks prevented the closing of the gangways. At the gangways the deck was only one and a half inches above water on the starboard side and six inches on the port side. She rolled a good deal until about 4 o’clock a.m. and then water was washing through the gangways. Before that hour there was at one time considerable water in the hold, which they pumped out with a syphon, and supposed everything was all right.”

Port Huron Daily Times, Oct. 4, 1888 – “The wreck of the lost steamer VERNON has been located 7 miles north of Two Rivers and 6 miles out in 30 fathoms of water. “

The wreck of the VERNON was again located eighty years later by G. Kent Bellrichard of Milwaukee on July 12, 1969. Kent made the first dive on the VERNON on July 19, 1969, the same day as man walked on the moon. Her name board is displayed in the Humanities Department of the Milwaukee’s Central Library.

Photo at the top of page: A good view of the VERNON’s pilot house

Photo Credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.

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Suzette Lopez is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.