PS Lady Elgin - Final Voyage

Final Voyage

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, Abraham Lincoln's opponent, although there is no clear historical evidence that Douglas actually appeared. Three hundred men and women spent the day of September 7 listening to political speeches followed by an evening of entertainment by a German brass band on board the Lady Elgin. On the return trip that night, the brightly lit Lady Elgin was steaming through Lake Michigan against gale force winds when she was rammed by the schooner Augusta of Oswego. The Augusta was sailing using only a single white light, mounted on a five foot Samson on the bow, and did not attempt, or was unable, to turn to avoid the collision in the gale. On the morning of the collision (September 8) at 2:30 am, the Augusta rammed the port side of the Lady Elgin, damaging her own bowsprit and headgear, while holing the latter ship below the waterline.

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 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 while the steward was down in the coal bunker trying to stop the leak with mattresses. Captain Wilson ordered a lifeboat lowered on the starboard side to check the extent of the damage but it never regained the steamer. Within twenty minutes, the Lady Elgin broke apart, and all but the bow section rapidly sank. The night was lighted up at intervals by flashes of lightning showing the scattered wreckage.

The life preservers, 2 in (5.1 cm) hardwood planks, 5 ft (1.5 m) long and 18 in (46 cm) wide, were never used. Two boats with a total of 18 persons reached shore. In addition, fourteen people were saved on a large raft and many others on parts of the wreckage. Over 300 lives were lost and 98 saved. The drummer of the German band, Charles Beverung, saved himself by using his large bass drum as a life preserver. Survivors reported the heroic efforts of Captain Wilson to save about 300 persons collected on a raft. When day broke, between 350 and 400 passengers and crew were drifting in stormy waters, holding on to anything they could, many only to be pulled under by breakers near shore.

Students from Northwestern University and Garrett Biblical Institute were watching the shore on the morning of September 8, looking for survivors. One of the students, Edward Spencer, is credited with rescuing 17 passengers over the course of six hours. He sustained injuries during his rescue efforts that left him an invalid for the rest of his life. A plaque in his honor was first placed in the Northwestern University Gymnasium, and is now housed in the Northwestern University Library.

About 300 people died in the sinking, including Captain Wilson, who was lost trying to save two women when he was caught by the surf and forced into the rocks. Most were from Milwaukee with the majority of those from the Irish communities, including nearly all of Milwaukee's Irish Union Guard. So many Irish-American political operatives died that day that the disaster has been credited with transferring the balance of political power in Milwaukee "from the Irish to the Germans". It is said that more than 1000 children were orphaned by the tragedy, however research shows that there were fewer than 40 children orphaned. The Lady Elgin disaster remains the greatest loss of life on open water in the history of the Great Lakes.