Last Meal on the Mills
By James Donahue
Chief engineer Ephriam J. Moore and his wife, Melissa, of Port Huron, were enjoying a noon lunch together in their cabin aboard the steamer Nelson Mills. The boat was steaming up the St. Clair River, approaching Port Huron, where Melissa planned to get off before the vessel continued on out into Lake Huron. Those were to have been the last moments of a pleasure trip she shared with her husband to Cleveland and back. She didn’t know it, but she was never going to see Port Huron. She was one of two people to die the afternoon of September 6, 1006, in a collision three miles below St. Clair, Michigan.
The Mills, commanded by Capt. Daniel Warwick, was bound from Cleveland to Algoma Mills, Ontario, with the barge Alex Anderson in tow. Both boats were loaded with coal. As the vessels slowly worked their way against the river current, they met the down-bound propeller Milwaukee, carrying passengers and light freight for Buffalo. Witnesses said the Milwaukee’s whistle sounded and the Mills answered with a single blast as the two boats approached, each taking the starboard side of the river. Captain Osborn, master of the Milwaukee, decided all was well and left the pilothouse to get his dinner. But something unexpected went wrong with the steering chains on the Mills at the wrong moment. The wooden-hulled boat went out of control and veered hard to port, coming directly across the Milwaukee’s bow. They hit almost bow on, the heavier passenger liner driving her stem deep into the starboard side of the Mills. The time was 12:10 PM.
Moore and his wife were almost knocked to the deck from the jolt. Moore knew immediately what happened and he took steps to lead Melissa to safety. He got a life jacket on her, led her out on deck, and when he saw that the Mills was sinking fast by the bow, he told her to jump with the other crew members into the river. Possibly because of his duty as a ship’s officer, Moore then left Melissa on her own. Melissa was apparently more afraid of the water than she was of her chances on the sinking ship. She didn’t jump. She was last seen clinging to the steamer as it sank in about forty feet of water. Her body was later recovered in the wreckage of the cabin, which broke away from the hull and drifted down-steam. Also killed was wheelman James Barber of Port Sanilac, Michigan. Details of Barber’s death were not recorded. He apparently drowned after jumping in the water.
The Milwaukee dropped anchor and sent out a boat to help pull survivors out of the river. Those rescued included second engineer Gib Edmondson, fireman D. Moore and wheelman Joseph Baird, all of Marysville, Michigan, and cook Charles Nicholai of Port Huron. Later the Milwaukee continued on to Buffalo, even though it was badly crushed in the bow.
The Mills was built at Vicksburg, Michigan, as a barge. The deck and cabins were added and the boat was converted to be a propeller in 1871. It was a small boat, measuring only one hundred sixty-four feet in length.
By James Donahue
Chief engineer Ephriam J. Moore and his wife, Melissa, of Port Huron, were enjoying a noon lunch together in their cabin aboard the steamer Nelson Mills. The boat was steaming up the St. Clair River, approaching Port Huron, where Melissa planned to get off before the vessel continued on out into Lake Huron. Those were to have been the last moments of a pleasure trip she shared with her husband to Cleveland and back. She didn’t know it, but she was never going to see Port Huron. She was one of two people to die the afternoon of September 6, 1006, in a collision three miles below St. Clair, Michigan.
The Mills, commanded by Capt. Daniel Warwick, was bound from Cleveland to Algoma Mills, Ontario, with the barge Alex Anderson in tow. Both boats were loaded with coal. As the vessels slowly worked their way against the river current, they met the down-bound propeller Milwaukee, carrying passengers and light freight for Buffalo. Witnesses said the Milwaukee’s whistle sounded and the Mills answered with a single blast as the two boats approached, each taking the starboard side of the river. Captain Osborn, master of the Milwaukee, decided all was well and left the pilothouse to get his dinner. But something unexpected went wrong with the steering chains on the Mills at the wrong moment. The wooden-hulled boat went out of control and veered hard to port, coming directly across the Milwaukee’s bow. They hit almost bow on, the heavier passenger liner driving her stem deep into the starboard side of the Mills. The time was 12:10 PM.
Moore and his wife were almost knocked to the deck from the jolt. Moore knew immediately what happened and he took steps to lead Melissa to safety. He got a life jacket on her, led her out on deck, and when he saw that the Mills was sinking fast by the bow, he told her to jump with the other crew members into the river. Possibly because of his duty as a ship’s officer, Moore then left Melissa on her own. Melissa was apparently more afraid of the water than she was of her chances on the sinking ship. She didn’t jump. She was last seen clinging to the steamer as it sank in about forty feet of water. Her body was later recovered in the wreckage of the cabin, which broke away from the hull and drifted down-steam. Also killed was wheelman James Barber of Port Sanilac, Michigan. Details of Barber’s death were not recorded. He apparently drowned after jumping in the water.
The Milwaukee dropped anchor and sent out a boat to help pull survivors out of the river. Those rescued included second engineer Gib Edmondson, fireman D. Moore and wheelman Joseph Baird, all of Marysville, Michigan, and cook Charles Nicholai of Port Huron. Later the Milwaukee continued on to Buffalo, even though it was badly crushed in the bow.
The Mills was built at Vicksburg, Michigan, as a barge. The deck and cabins were added and the boat was converted to be a propeller in 1871. It was a small boat, measuring only one hundred sixty-four feet in length.