1861 — Nov 9-10~, steamer Keystone State sinks, Lake Huron storm, off Port Austin, MI–33

— 33 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 251.
— 33 Buffalo Daily Courier, NY. “The Keystone State.” Nov 26, 1861.
— 33 Chicago Daily Tribune. [Keystone State.] 11-30-1861, p. 1, col. 3
— 33 Gardner. “Civil War-era shipwreck discovered in Lake Huron.” Oakland Press, 12-27-2013.**
— 33 Mansfield. Great Lakes Maritime History, Vol. 1, Chapter 38, 1861-1870. 1899.
— 33 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 684.
— 33 NPR/Hobson. “Lost Civil War-Era Steamer Found in Lake Huron.” 12-13-2013.
— 33 Swayze. “Great Lakes Shipwrecks K,”
— 33 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 128.
–20-25 Daily State Journal, Madison, WI. “The Loss of the Keystone State,” Nov 27, 1861, 2.
— 23 Lewis. Maritime History…Great Lakes. “Keystone State (Steamboat), sunk 11-24-1861”

*Blanchard on date of loss: Given the broad range of dates of loss which have been reported, we highlight these in yellow below. From our reading of sources we are inclined to follow Gardner and Swayze. Gardner, citing David Trotter, who discovered the wreck in July 2013, believes the loss was during the time-frame of Nov 9-10, after leaving port on Nov 8. Swayze places the loss on Nov 10.

**Gardner: “….records indicate she went down either Nov. 9 or 10, and all 33 crew members perished.”

Narrative Information

Berman: “Keystone State…1,354 [tons]. 1849 [built]. Oct 30, 1861 [date of disaster]. Stranded. Saginaw Bay, Mich. 33 lives lost.” (Berman. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p.251.)

Mansfield: “The steamer Keystone State foundered on Lake Huron about November 20, with all on board, some 33 persons. She had left Detroit for Milwaukee, and when last seen was off Port Austin, Lake Huron, encountering a severe storm and apparently unmanageable. Floating pieces of wreckage, seen off Point aux Barques, were supposed to be vestiges of the ill-fated vessel. She was a large old steamer, and had plied for years between Buffalo and Chicago. She was not provided with boats, and was in command of Capt. Wilkes Travers, of Buffalo.” (Mansfield 1899.)

Swayze, Great Lakes Shipwrecks K: The 279 foot side-wheel passenger & package freight steamer Keystone State was bound from “Detroit for Milwaukee when she foundered in a storm. She was last seen off Port Austin making bad weather of it in heavy seas. Wreckage was seen off Pointe Aux Barques on the 21st, which was the first time she was missed, and her wheelhouse washed ashore near Lexington a few days later. She had just come out the 7th after five years of lay-up and was on her first trip.” (Swayze. Great Lakes Shipwrecks K.)

Swayze, Shipwrecks!: “Keystone State. Sidewheel passenger and package freight steamer of 1,354 t. and 279 ft., launched in 1849 at Buffalo.

“Lake Huron: A large vessel for her time, the Keystone State was also a well-known carrier that plied the lakeshore ports of Erie, Huron, and Michigan. On November 10, 1861, she was carrying passengers and a load of hardware (according on one source she had gold in her safe as well) on a scheduled trip from Detroit to Milwaukee when she met disaster. She was struck by a heavy November storm and foundered offshore from Port Austin, Michigan. All 33 of those aboard perished. The ship’s wreckage washed ashore at Pointe Aux Barques.” (Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992, p. 128.)

Newspapers

Nov 22: “(From the Detroit Tribune, Nov. 22.) We learn, after minute inquiry, that the report of the steamer Keystone State having passed down night before last, is incorrect. The Keystone State left this port two weeks ago to-day [Nov 8] for Milwaukee, and when last seen was off Port Austin, Lake Huron, encountering a severe storm, and apparently unmanageable, since which time nothing is known as to her whereabouts. Strong fears are at present entertained that the floating pieces of wreck seen off Port au Barque on Tuesday morning last [19th], by the steamer City of Cleveland, were some of the last vestiges of the above steamer. We await in the meantime, with fearful anxiety, the result of further tidings. If she is lost, all on board have no doubt found a watery grave, inasmuch if any were saved they would probably ere this have been heard from.” (Cincinnati Daily Commerce, OH. “The Steamer Keystone State Believed to Have Sunk in Lake Huron, with all on Board.” 11-26-1861, p. 3, col. 7.)

Nov 23: “Steamer Keystone State. – Fears are entertained for the safety of this steamer, which left Detroit for Milwaukee some ten days ago [13th-14th?]. The last seen of her was by Capt. Bateman, of the schooner Tracy J. Bronson, in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, during a gale, where she was apparently unmanageable, and was fast losing her deck load. We hope, however, to hear that she is safe. – Buffalo Express.” (Chicago Daily Tribune. “Marine Intelligence.” 11-23-1861, p. 3, col. 6.)

Nov 23: “Detroit, Nov. 23 – The steamer Keystone State, hence from Milwaukee on the 8th inst., is believed to have gone down with all on board. She was last seen in a gale, apparently disabled, and pieces of the wreck supposed to belong to her, have since been picked up at Lake Huron.” (Daily Louisville Democrat, KY. “Telegraphic…Steamer Keystone State Supposed Lost on Lake Huron!” 11-24-1861, p. 5.)

Nov 24: “The Keystone State. – The following is an extract from a letter received by Capt. Dorr from Detroit:

“I fear the Keystone State is gone with all on board. A man was here this morning, (Nov. 23.) who lives at White Rock, ten miles above Forestville, who said a part of a guard rail, part of a wheel and a portion of a paddle box of a large steamer floated ashore at that place a few days since [~20th?]. The propeller Cleveland reported having passed through large quantities of what they took to be the upper works of some wrecked steamer near the above named locality.”

“The following is a list of persons on board so far as they are known here. –

Captain — William Traverse, of Buffalo.
First Steersman — Hugh Rankin, Buffalo.
Second Steersman — Jay Williams, Buffalo.
Clerk — Louis Handel, Buffalo.
Asst. Clerk — George Kleitz, Buffalo
First Engineer — Alex Kout, Galt, C. W.
Fireman — Patrick Kane, Buffalo.
Fireman — James O’Neill, Buffalo.
Cook — James Smith, Buffalo.
Waiter — George Parker, Buffalo.

“Three Engineers, two stokers, four wheel-men, one watchman, and twelve deck hands and a boy, all of whose names are unknown, make up the crew of thirty-three persons. Mr. Frank Handel, one of the owners of the ill-starred steamer, left last evening for Detroit in order to make all possible inquiry as to its fate.” (Buffalo Daily Courier, Tuesday, Nov 26, 1861; in Lewis. Maritime History …Great Lakes. “Keystone State (Steamboat), sunk, 24 Nov 1861.”)

Nov 27: “There remains no doubt of the fate of the steamer Keystone State. Her guards and part of her cabin have come ashore at Point aux Barques [Canada]. The Keystone State had been out of commission for several years, and was old and unseaworthy. She had no cargo, and only an ordinary crew, say twenty or twenty-five persons. Not a soul, probably, was saved to tell the sad story of her fate.” (Daily State Journal, Madison, WI. “The Loss of the Keystone State,” 11-27-1861, p. 2.)

Sources

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

Buffalo Daily Courier, NY. “The Keystone State.” Nov 26, 1861. Accessed 12-3-2020 at: http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/42563/data

Chicago Daily Tribune. [Keystone State.] 11-30-1861, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 12-4-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-nov-30-1861-p-1/

Chicago Daily Tribune. “Marine Intelligence.” 11-23-1861, p. 3, col. 6. Accessed 12-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-nov-23-1861-p-3/

Cincinnati Daily Commerce, OH. “The Steamer Keystone State Believed to Have Sunk in Lake Huron, with all on Board.” 11-26-1861, p. 3, col. 7. Accessed 12-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-daily-commercial-nov-26-1861-p-3/

Daily Louisville Democrat, KY. “Telegraphic…Steamer Keystone State Supposed Lost on Lake Huron!” 11-24-1861, p. 5. Accessed 12-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/louisville-daily-louisville-democrat-nov-24-1861-p-5/

Daily State Journal, Madison, WI. “The Loss of the Keystone State,” 11-27-1861, 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53792387

Gardner, Don. “Civil War-era shipwreck discovered in Lake Huron.” Oakland Press, 12-27-2013. Accessed 12-4-2020 at: https://www.theoaklandpress.com/lifestyles/civil-war-era-shipwreck-discovered-in-lake-huron/article_0999eaae-10b7-5331-a36f-fa7a7bdd66ef.html

Lewis, Walter. “Keystone State (Steamboat), sunk, 24 Nov 1861. Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 7-8-2011 at: http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/42563/data

Mansfield, John Brandts (Ed. and Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899. http://www.linkstothepast.com/marine/chapt36.html — Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=iHXhAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

NPR/Jeremy Hobson. “Lost Civil War-Era Steamer Found in Lake Huron.” 12-13-2013. Accessed 12-3-2020 at: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/250804105?storyId=250804105?storyId=250804105

Swayze, David D. “Great Lakes Shipwrecks K.” Accessed 12-3-2020 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/k.htm

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.