Lady Elgin (steamship)

The "Lady Elgin" was a steamship wrecked in Lake Michigan off Chicago, Illinois in 1860. [1]

On the night of September 6 1860 the "Lady Elgin" left Milwaukee, Wisconsin from the Dooley, Martin, Dousman, and Company, Dock, for Chicago, carrying members of Milwaukee's Union Guard to hear a campaign speech by Stephen A. Douglas, part of being authorized as a federal militia company.Fact|date=September 2008 The next night, on the return trip, the brightly lit "Lady Elgin" was steaming through Lake Michigan against gale force winds when she was rammed by the schooner "Augusta of Oswego", running dark, when the "Augusta" did not attempt to turn to her larboard side, a customary rule of the sea and lakes. [2]

Concerned that she was damaged and believing the "Lady Elgin" had gotten safely away, the "Augusta" made for Chicago. Aboard the "Lady Elgin", Captain Wilson futilely ordered that cattle and cargo be thrown overboard to lighten the load and raise the gaping hole in the "Lady Elgin's" port side above water level. Within twenty minutes, the "Lady Elgin" broke apart, and all but the bow section rapidly sank.

When day broke, between 350 and 500 passengers and crew were drifting in stormy waters, holding on to anything they could, many only to be pulled under by breakers near shore. Over 400 people are believed to have died in the sinking. Most of those lost were from Milwaukee's German Jaeger Clubs and Third Ward Irish communities and is the second greatest loss of life seen on the Great Lakes. A Wisconsin Historical Marker in the Historic Third Ward, Milwaukee commemorates the tragedy, and there are many burials and tombstones at Calvary Cemetery.

Following the wreck, the ship's owner, Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard received a $12,000 payment from his insurance company, but neither Hubbard nor the insurance company accepted abandonment of the ship.The Captain of the "Augusta", Darius Malott, was arrested and tried in Chicago, but found not guilty of navigational negligence. [2] A Coroner's Jury declared the second-mate Mr Budge of the "Augusta" to be incompetent, and the crew of the "Augusta" to be of principal blame. [3]

The wreck of the "Lady Elgin" was discovered in 1989 off Highland Park, Illinois by Harry Zych, who was awarded ownership in 1999 after a protracted legal battle. [4]

References

* [1] [http://ul.bgsu.edu/cgi-bin/xvsl2.cgi Historical Collection of the Great Lakes: "Lady Elgin"]
* [2] Darkest Hours by Jay Robert Nash (Nelson-Hall 1976, Wallaby: Simon & Schuster 1977).
* [3] New York Times September 25, 1860.

External links

* [4] [http://www.ship-wreck.com/shipwreck/projects/elgin/ The Wreck of the Steamer Lady Elgin, by Brendon Baillod]
* [5] [http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/l.htm The Great Lakes Shipwreck File]
* [6] [http://www.dalnet.lib.mi.us/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?e=d-000-00---0shipping--00-0-0-0prompt-10---4---Document-dky--0-1l--1-en-50---20-about-morrell--001-011-1-0utfZz-8-0&a=d&c=shipping&cl=CL1.12.10&d=HASH331fb5bc211bb1065299a3 University of Detroit Mercy]