Lake Ontario Maritime History

Inland Seas , Quarterly of the Great Lakes Historical Society  Pages 3-12, Volume 7, No. 1,1951.] Wooden Ship Building By H. C. Inches     In the days of wooden ships and iron men the wooden ship building industry attained gigantic proportions nearly all the way around the Great Lakes. It was the forerunner of our modern metal shipyards.    From the period just after the War of 1812, when the first start was made, until the late ‘80’s, the construction of wooden ships furnished a great amount of labor much needed when the country around the lakes was being settled, the demand for hard-wood aiding the farmer to pay for his land and the clearing of it as well as for stock and tools. It also gave work for him and his horses during the slack winter months in getting out the timber and hauling it to the building yards.    As a boy, I ran and played around and over these wooden ships while they were under construction. Many were built close to my home and I passed a shipyard e

Shipwreck Collison Goes to Court By Richard Palmer Federal court records provide information for maritime historians unavailable in detail elsewhere. Take the case of the collision of the propeller Genesee Chief and schooner Cuba on May 6, 1847 on Lake Ontario as an example. At the time of the collision the schooner was transporting 5,955 bushels  of wheat, bound from Sandusky, Ohio to Oswego. . The schooner was owned by Oswego merchants Henry Fitzhugh, Dewitt C. Littlejohn and James Peck. There was litigation for several years and finally ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court. The plaintiffs claimed the steamer was not at fault, and had a competent and proper look out. The captain, the man at the wheel, and one on the deck were sufficient. The captain of the Genesee Chief claimed the Cuba had no light in her rigging, and if there was,  it could not be seen because there was mist on the water. The master of the Cuba said he saw the Genesee Chief coming directly towards him. The

The public are deeply interested in the circumstances connected with the burning of the Propeller Wisconsin, and the fate of her passengers and her crew. - Oswego Advertiser and Times,  May 24, 1867              Sketch of the steamer Wisconsin based on an old faded print. The Burning of the Steam Propeller Wisconsin By Richard Palmer Carved on one of the most impressive monuments in the abandoned Market Street Cemetery in the village Cape Vincent, New York are the names of a mother and four children who drowned in one of the worst steamboat disasters to ever occur on eastern Lake Ontario — the loss of the Northern Transportation propeller Wisconsin on the night of May 21, 1867. The monument reflects  the names of four members of the Chisholm family of Chateauguay, Quebec, Canada. The only member of the family to survive the catastrophe was the father, Robert; he died June 12, 1883, at age 70 and is buried in Cape Vincent. Also buried there are Catharine, his w

They Came into Port Together It was late in the afternoon on a summer day on Aug. 26, 1925. Not a cloud was in the sky. Suddenly on the horizon there appeared three lake schooners, under full sail, headed for Oswego harbor. At first some observers thought they were seeing an apparition or a mirage. But when it was discovered it was real, people thronged to the lower bridge to view a sight that hadn't been seen in decades. They came in on the wings of a northeast breeze from across Lake Ontario. Full of years, the schooner "Lyman M. Davis" proudly sailed into Oswego harbor right well into the 20th century. View is looking east with Fort Ontario on the bluff overlooking the harbor.                 Sailing Aboard the Lyman M. Davis                      By Susan Peterson Gately     Great Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario has seen its share of maritime activity. Like Oswego, it was a coal port during the last days of working sail. Unlike Oswego it continued to export