Schooner Cuba and Steamer Genesee Chief Collide

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 captain of the steamer said the schooner  was to the windward of the propeller and she went to the leeward crossing the bow of the propeller. 

The collision took place in the open lake. It was claimed the lake was actually clear; and although there was a  haze near the surface of the lake, it was not sufficient to conceal the Cuba from those on board the propeller. The schooner captain claimed she had a light on the bowsprit, which could clearly be seen from the propeller.

The helmsman of the Cuba said that unlike the steamer, he had to alter his course when the sails began to shake, to preserve headway.

After all the evidence was weighed,  the court concluded :

"In the present case of collision between a vessel navigated by steam and a sailing vessel, the evidence shows that the former was in fault. It is the duty of every steamboat to keep a trustworthy person employed as a lookout; and if there be none such, additional to the helmsman, or if he was not stationed in a proper place, or not vigilantly employed in his duty, it must be regarded as prima facie that the collision was the fault of the steamboat."

Thus, the case turned in favor of the owners of the schooner, who were awarded $15,000 for the loss of the vessel. This ended her career on Lake Ontario. 

   The Oswego Palladium of April 18, 1848 reported: 

    “H. Fitzhugh & Co., proprietors of the schooner Cuba, which was run down and sunk on Lake Ontario on the night of the 6tth of May, 1847, by the Propeller Gensee Chief, and with her cargo of wheat lost, have just recovered a judgment of $3,054.06 against the owners of the last vessel."

The propeller Genesee Chief was launched at Carthage (Rochester) N.Y.  on June 18, 1846 amidst a crowd of 4,000 spectators. She was built by Captain George Steers, was 144 feet in length, 26 feet, 4 inch beam and 9 feet,  1/2 inches depth. It registered at 429 tons.  It initially had 20 state rooms, and berths for 75 cabin and 100 steerage passengers.  Her machinery was built in Utica. In 1863 it was lengthened by nine feet; by one foot in width and to 11 feet  inches hold. It was converted to a barge on September 6, 1868 (U.S. #10243).

The two-masted schooner Cuba, originally rigged as a brig, was built at Point Peninsula, Lake Ontario, in 1844 by Asa Wilcox. She was 89 feet long and registered at 139 tons.

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                U.S. Supreme Court

The Propeller Genesee Chief, 53 U.S. 12 How. 443 (1851)

The Propeller Genesee Chief

53 U.S. (12 How.) 443

Syllabus

The Act of Congress passed 26 February, 1845, 5 Stat. 726, extending the jurisdiction of the district courts to certain cases upon the lakes and navigable waters connecting the same is consistent with the Constitution of the United States.

It does not rest upon the power granted to Congress to regulate commerce.

But it rests upon the ground that the lakes and navigable waters connecting them are within the scope of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, as known and understood in the United States, when the Constitution was adopted.

The admiralty and maritime jurisdiction granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States is not limited to tidewaters, but extends to all public navigable lakes and rivers, where commerce is carried on between different states, or with a foreign nation.

In the present case of collision between a vessel navigated by steam and a sailing vessel, the evidence shows that the former was in fault.

It is the duty of every steamboat to keep a trustworthy person employed as a lookout, and if there be none such additional to the helmsman, or if he was not stationed in a proper place, or not vigilantly employed in his duty, it must be regarded as prima facie evidence that the collision was the fault of the steamboat.

This was a libel filed by Fitzhugh, Littlejohn, and Peck.

The libellants filed their libel in the District Court for the Northern District of New York against the propeller Genesee Chief and Pierce as master, in which they allege that they were the owners of the schooner Cuba, a vessel of fifty tons burden and upwards, enrolled and licensed for the coasting trade and employed in the business of commerce and navigation between ports and places in different states and territories upon the lakes, and navigable waters connecting said lakes. That said schooner, at the time of the loss and collision thereinafter mentioned, was laden with five thousand nine hundred and fifty-five bushels of wheat, and on Lake Ontario, about forty miles below Niagara, bound from Sandusky, in the State of Ohio, to Oswego, in the State of New York. That the propeller Genesee Chief, of which the appellant Pierce was master and being a vessel of fifty tons burden and upwards, duly enrolled and 

licensed as aforesaid and then actually engaged in commerce and navigation as aforesaid, while at the place aforesaid, on the sixth day of May, 1847, by the carelessness and negligence of the master and crew ran foul of and sunk the said schooner with her cargo, and concluding with the usual prayer for the condemnation of the vessel and for the payment of the damage.

The claimants of Alexander Kelsey and others, and the master, put in their joint and several answer to the libel, admitting the collision and the loss of the Cuba but denying that the collision happened from any want of care, negligence, or mismanagement of the master or crew of the propeller, and alleging that the collision occurred in consequence of and was occasioned by the carelessness, ignorance, mismanagement and want of skill of the master and crew of the Cuba. The answer also contains the following objection to the jurisdiction of the court:

"And these respondents aver that the respondents Alexander Kelsey, William H. Cheney, Lansing B. Swan, George R. Clarke, Elisha B. Strong, and William L. Pierce are all citizens of the State of New York, and that the said Henry Fitzhugh and Dewitt C. Littlejohn are also citizens of the State of New York, and they also aver that the collision set forth in the said libel occurred within the territorial boundaries of the said state, and not on the high seas nor in any arm of the sea, river, creek, stream, or other body of water where the tide ebbs and flows, and therefore they say that this Court has no jurisdiction over the matters set forth in the said libel, and they pray that the same effect may be given to their defense in this respect as if the same were made by special plea or exception."

The cause was tried before his honor the district judge in April, 1848, and a decree passed in favor of the libellants. The respondents appealed to the circuit court, and the cause was tried in that court in June, 1849. The decree of the district court was affirmed.

The master of the propeller, Pierce, was allowed to file a separate answer in the circuit court, and he was sworn as a witness for the claimants. From this decree the owners of the propeller appealed to this Court.