Mystery Wreck Northerner
By James Donahue
In 1953 the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers removed the remains of an ancient side-wheeled steamer in the St. Clair River at Fort Gratiot, Michigan, near the southern tip of Lake Huron because it was an obstacle to passing ore carriers. The wreck caused quite a stir. When the word got out people in the area began searching local records to learn what vessel was that laid so many years right under their noses in only twenty-eight feet of water.
Five big boilers and part of the wheel shaft and hub of one paddle wheel came up first. Then a second wheel shaft, hand operated pump, a hatch cover, steam cylinder, pipes of all shapes and even some oak rips were among the relics raised that summer. Some of the pieces gave a clue as to the identity of the ship. Experts said the boilers were of a type that dated the vessel before 1860. But nobody found a name stamped in the metal castings, or carved in the wood. While it could not be proven, what they found may have been the remains of the steamer Northerner, which sank in that area on April 27, 1856, after a collision with the Forest Queen.
Twelve people died in that wreck. It could have been worse. The Northerner, under command of Capt. Darius Cole, was steaming north from Cleveland to Saginaw with one hundred thirty-four passengers and crew members, and about fifty tons of mixed freight. The Forest Queen, also a side-wheeled steamship, was bound down that night from Point aux Barques, Michigan. Her master was a man named Woodworth. The night was dark and foggy when the two boats, lighted only by the dim glow of kerosene lamps, crossed each other’s path at the wrong moment. The Forest Queen struck the starboard bow of the Northerner, cutting the ship almost in two about twenty feet back from the stem.
The collision happened at about 11:00 PM, and the ill-fated steamer sank in six minutes. The two vessels remained together for about two or three of those critical minutes, and Cole used the time to save as many people from his sinking ship as possible. He jumped up on the deck of the Forest Queen and called out, ordering everyone to climb up with him. Cole and several crew members helped passengers make the climb, which got higher and higher as the Northerner settled.
When the two steamers finally pulled apart, Cole jumped back aboard his own foundering command and directed the launching of lifeboats so many more people escaped. Officers ran through the halls, kicking open doors and making sure everyone was awake and getting off the boat. Many of the passengers escaped in their nightclothes. The only crew member known to have died was second engineer Peter Moore of Cleveland. The boat’s papers, including her passenger list, were lost and there was no exact record of the number of passengers on the vessel.
That the Northerner was left forgotten in such a shallow part of the lake for so long is as much a mystery as her identity was the day the Corps of Engineers brought her remains to the surface. Even more strange was that the Port Huron Commercial, a weekly newspaper published that year, did not mention the disaster. It was said the Northerner was carrying twenty-five thousand dollars in coins and sixty kegs of whiskey in her cargo. The vessel has appeared several times in books and publications on a list of “treasure” finds to search for on the Great Lakes. The Corps of Engineers did not mention treasures when it brought the wreck up in 1953. Many of the relics were turned over to the Dossin Great Lakes Museum at Belle Isle.
The Northerner was a wooden-hulled ship, built in Ohio City, the old name for Cleveland, in 1851, Captain Cole and the ship’s purser, A. L. Kelsey, had just bought the vessel and were taking it on a first trip up the lake when it wrecked. The Forest Queen went on to serve a colorful career as a slave runner on the underground railroad. She later foundered while under tow as a barge on Lake Erie in 1872, taking seven sailors to their deaths.
By James Donahue
In 1953 the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers removed the remains of an ancient side-wheeled steamer in the St. Clair River at Fort Gratiot, Michigan, near the southern tip of Lake Huron because it was an obstacle to passing ore carriers. The wreck caused quite a stir. When the word got out people in the area began searching local records to learn what vessel was that laid so many years right under their noses in only twenty-eight feet of water.
Five big boilers and part of the wheel shaft and hub of one paddle wheel came up first. Then a second wheel shaft, hand operated pump, a hatch cover, steam cylinder, pipes of all shapes and even some oak rips were among the relics raised that summer. Some of the pieces gave a clue as to the identity of the ship. Experts said the boilers were of a type that dated the vessel before 1860. But nobody found a name stamped in the metal castings, or carved in the wood. While it could not be proven, what they found may have been the remains of the steamer Northerner, which sank in that area on April 27, 1856, after a collision with the Forest Queen.
Twelve people died in that wreck. It could have been worse. The Northerner, under command of Capt. Darius Cole, was steaming north from Cleveland to Saginaw with one hundred thirty-four passengers and crew members, and about fifty tons of mixed freight. The Forest Queen, also a side-wheeled steamship, was bound down that night from Point aux Barques, Michigan. Her master was a man named Woodworth. The night was dark and foggy when the two boats, lighted only by the dim glow of kerosene lamps, crossed each other’s path at the wrong moment. The Forest Queen struck the starboard bow of the Northerner, cutting the ship almost in two about twenty feet back from the stem.
The collision happened at about 11:00 PM, and the ill-fated steamer sank in six minutes. The two vessels remained together for about two or three of those critical minutes, and Cole used the time to save as many people from his sinking ship as possible. He jumped up on the deck of the Forest Queen and called out, ordering everyone to climb up with him. Cole and several crew members helped passengers make the climb, which got higher and higher as the Northerner settled.
When the two steamers finally pulled apart, Cole jumped back aboard his own foundering command and directed the launching of lifeboats so many more people escaped. Officers ran through the halls, kicking open doors and making sure everyone was awake and getting off the boat. Many of the passengers escaped in their nightclothes. The only crew member known to have died was second engineer Peter Moore of Cleveland. The boat’s papers, including her passenger list, were lost and there was no exact record of the number of passengers on the vessel.
That the Northerner was left forgotten in such a shallow part of the lake for so long is as much a mystery as her identity was the day the Corps of Engineers brought her remains to the surface. Even more strange was that the Port Huron Commercial, a weekly newspaper published that year, did not mention the disaster. It was said the Northerner was carrying twenty-five thousand dollars in coins and sixty kegs of whiskey in her cargo. The vessel has appeared several times in books and publications on a list of “treasure” finds to search for on the Great Lakes. The Corps of Engineers did not mention treasures when it brought the wreck up in 1953. Many of the relics were turned over to the Dossin Great Lakes Museum at Belle Isle.
The Northerner was a wooden-hulled ship, built in Ohio City, the old name for Cleveland, in 1851, Captain Cole and the ship’s purser, A. L. Kelsey, had just bought the vessel and were taking it on a first trip up the lake when it wrecked. The Forest Queen went on to serve a colorful career as a slave runner on the underground railroad. She later foundered while under tow as a barge on Lake Erie in 1872, taking seven sailors to their deaths.