Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2012 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= USGenNet Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== TWELVE WORST MARITIME DISASTERS IN GREAT LAKE HISTORY (based on number of casualties) ------------------------------- #12 VESSEL NAME: Alpena OTHER NAME(s): - OFFICIAL NO: 404 DATE OF LOSS: 16 October 1880 CAUSE OF LOSS: Storm LOCATION: Lake Michigan, between Grand Haven & Chicago RIG TYPE: Steamer, side-wheel, passenger & freight HULL TYPE: Wood BUILDER: Thomas Arnold, Marine City, MI - 1866 OWNER(S): Goodrich Transportation MASTER: Capt. Nelson W. Napier, St. Joseph, MI TONNAGE: 653.01 gt DIMENSIONS: 175 x 35 x 12 CASUALTIES: 60+ (All - numbers vary from 60 - 101) THE LOST STEAMER ------ THE ALPHENA'S FATE NOW SETTLED ------ Wreckage of the Missing Vessel Found all Along the Shore of Lake Michi- gan - Some Doubts to the Actual Number of Persons Lost. ------ By Telegraph to the Freeman. CHICAGO, Oct. 20 - A special to the News from Grand Haven says: "A large amount of freight from the wrecked steamer Alpena is thrown along shore, six miles south of there and near Holland Harbor. For miles on the shore are to be seen many tell-tale tokens of the fate of the vessel. Hundreds of people from Grand Haven are looking for the bodies of friends and relatives, but so far none have been found. It is known that the Alpena had seventy-five passengers aboard when she left Grand Haven. The crew numbered upwards of thirty, so that over one hundred lives were lost with her, as it is now believed that not a soul was saved. The Alpena was last seen at 10 o'clock Saturday morning laboring in the trough off the sea off Racine by the captain and crew of the schooner Levi Grant. The passengers on the Alpena, as far as can now be learned, were as follows: W.S. Benham, editor of the Grand Haven Herald, and his wife; M. Crossman, Mrs. B.F. Curtis, Captain H.N. Squier, all of Grand Haven; Mr. Rider, agent of the Glass Works at Syracuse, N.Y.; John J. Bowen, ex-steward of the Alpena; John Osborn, wife and three children, of Chicago; Maggie Mack, ex-stewardess of the Alpena; Mrs. Bradley and two daughters, of Santa Fe, N.M.; Mrs. B. Cole, of Illinois, a sister of F.H. Holbrook, of Muskegon, agent of the Goodrich line; A.T. Lock, agent of Hill Brothers, New York; Rev. Farrell Hart and wife, of White Pigeon, Mich.; L.D. Peyton, New York; Harry L. Sinclair, W.C. Pettibone and Bob Linsay, a scrap-iron buyer, all of Chicago; N.A. McGilveroy, of St. Joseph, Mich.; a man with three children, name not known; C. Kusterer, Fred Sparetho and G. Hollinger, all of Grand Rapids, Mich., and L. Landreth, of Muskegon, Mich. HOLLAND, Mich., Oct. 20 - A number of camp-stools, a part of the forward deck of a steamer (the inside showing fine graining work), one piano with the upper lid gone (Fisher, New York, maker), also an oval stairway and a bucket were found on the beach one mile north of this harbor. The bucket was marked "Steamer Alpena," but nothing else is marked. Men are watching for other portions of the wreck. MONTAGUE, Mich., Oct. 20 - A messenger who was sent to Stony Creek yesterday re- turned at 2 o'clock this morning with the in- formation that the cabin which had been washed ashore at that place, and supposed to be that of the steamer Alpena, proves to be a small portion of the promenade deck of the barge Trader, which waterlogged last Monday night. The two sections found near the White Lake piers, and supposed to be a part of the Alpena's wheelhouse, probably belong to the Trader. CHICAGO, Oct. 20 - The excitement and suspense, which have been hourly increasing for three days respecting the fate of the Alpena is changed to profound sorrow. The offices of Goodrich were filled yesterday with mourn- ful faces. It is not deemed possible that any person is saved from the wreck. Some per- sons believe the vessel struck a rock some- where off the east shore and went to pieces a considerable distance from the beach. There is much complaint at the company having no list of the passengers. The crew was thirty strong. It is stated that when the vessel left Muskegon she had seventy passengers and took on five at Grand Haven, mostly women. Goodrich thinks, however, the passengers did not exceed twenty-five or perhaps twenty. The Kingston Daily Freeman City of Kingston, (Rondout P.O.) N.Y. Wednesday Evening, October 20, 1880 *TRANSCRIBER NOTE: "Alphena" is incorrectly spelled in the newspaper heading. ======================================================================== Sources: "Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes" , Dana Thomas Bowen, 1952 "History of the Great Lakes" Vol 1., 1899 Kingston Daily Freeman, Oct. 20, 1880 Merchant Vessel List, 1879 - 1880 Federal Census - St. Joseph, Berrien Co., MI Stamped Pg. 378A, Lines 5 - 8 Shows 63 year old N. W. Napier, Master Steamboat, wife, Henrietta, age 59 son, Nelson, age 16 son, Frank, age 14 -The 1870 Federal Census of Muskegon Co., MI includes John (age 30) and Mary (age 28) Landreth living in the 2nd Ward. John Landreth is shown as being a Hardware Merchant.