View source for PS Lady Elgin

{{Short description|American sidewheel steamship}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{coord|42|11|00|N|87|39|00|W|display=title}}
{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 |image=PS Lady Elgin.jpg
 |image_caption=''Lady Elgin'' at dock, September 7, 1860
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 |hide_header=
 |country=United States
 |flag=[[Image:Flag of the United States (1859-1861).svg|60px]]
 |name=''Lady Elgin''
 |operator=[[Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard]]
 |ordered= 
 |builder=*Bidwell and Banta
 *[[Buffalo, New York]]
 |yard_number=
 |laid_down=
 |launched=
 |completed=1851
 |acquired=
 |in_service=
 |out_of_service= 
 |fate=Sunk in collision with schooner ''Augusta of Oswego'' September 8, 1860
 |notes= First enrollment issued at Buffalo, New York November 5, 1851
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 |hide_header=
 |header_caption=
 |class= Sidewheel steamer - passengers and package freight
 |tonnage=1037.70 gross<ref name="bgsu" />
 |displacement=
 |length={{convert|252|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="bgsu">{{Cite news |year=2003 |title=Lady Elgin |url=http://ul.bgsu.edu/cgi-bin/xvsl2.cgi |access-date=February 2, 2009 |work=Historical Collection of the Great Lakes |publisher=Bowling Green State University |archive-date=March 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311232623/http://ul.bgsu.edu/cgi-bin/xvsl2.cgi |url-status=live }}</ref>
 |beam={{convert|32.66|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="bgsu" />
 |height={{convert|13|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="bgsu" />
 |draught= 
 |draft=
 |ice_class=
 |sail_plan=
 |propulsion=
 |speed=
 |capacity=
 |crew=
 |notes=Wood hull vessel
 }}
}}

'''PS ''Lady Elgin''''' was a wooden-hulled [[Paddle steamer#Sidewheeler|sidewheel]] [[steamship]] that sank in [[Lake Michigan]] off the fledgling town of Port Clinton, Illinois, whose geography is now divided between [[Highland Park, Illinois|Highland Park]] and [[Highwood, Illinois]], after she was rammed in a gale by the [[schooner]] ''Augusta'' in the early hours of September 8, 1860. The passenger manifest was lost with the collision, but the sinking of ''Lady Elgin'' resulted in the loss of about 300 lives<ref name="Supervising Inspectors page 43">Journal of Board of Supervising Inspectors, Vol 1, page 43, National Archives Record Group 41</ref> in what was called "one of the greatest marine horrors on record". Four years after the disaster, a new rule required sailing vessels to carry running lights. The ''Lady Elgin'' disaster remains the greatest loss of life on open water in the history of the Great Lakes.<ref name="The Story">{{Cite web |title=The Wreck of the ''Lady Elgin'': 150th Anniversary Commemorative Event |url=http://programs.discoveryworld.org/?tag=shipwreck |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414142018/http://programs.discoveryworld.org/?tag=shipwreck |archive-date=April 14, 2013 |access-date=October 24, 2010 |publisher=Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin }}</ref>

In 1994, a process began to list the shipwreck on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. After it was determined to be eligible for listing in 1999, the process ended after an objection by the owner, so the shipwreck is not listed on the Register.<ref>{{NRISref|version=2010a|dateform=mdy}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:1857 Bird's Eye View of Chicago.jpg|thumb|left|1857 bird's-eye view of Chicago, with ''Lady Elgin'' at bottom right]]

''Lady Elgin'' was built in 1851 in Buffalo, New York, at a cost of $95,000.{{efn|{{inflation|US|95,000|1851|fmt=eq}}{{inflation/fn|US}}}} She was named after the wife of [[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|Lord Elgin]], Canada's Governor General from 1847 to 1854.<ref name="Stern">{{Cite book |last=Charlebois |first=Peter |title=Sternwheelers and Sidewheelers |publisher=NC Press Limited |year=1978 |isbn=0-919600-72-7 |location=Toronto |page=10}}</ref> During her time, the wooden-hulled [[sidewheeler]] was one of the most elegantly appointed passenger ships plying the [[Great Lakes]]. Rated a first-class [[Steamboat|steamer]], she was a favorite with the traveling public. Early in her career she ran between [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] and Chicago, then later between Chicago and [[Collingwood, Ontario]]. For many of her later seasons, she plied the route between Chicago and other Lake Michigan ports and [[Lake Superior]].<ref name="History">{{Cite web |title=History of the Great Lakes |url=http://www.mfhn.com/glsdb/archivestemp/ldyelgn.html |access-date=February 22, 2009 |publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com/~migenweb/ Publisher, Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co, 1899. Reproduced by Michigan Genealogy on the Web |archive-date=September 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908091620/http://www.mfhn.com/glsdb/archivestemp/ldyelgn.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

During ''Lady Elgin''{{'}}s career she was involved in numerous accidents. She sank and was repaired in 1854 after striking a rock at [[Manitowoc, Wisconsin]]. In 1855, she was towed to Chicago after an accident to her machinery. In 1857, she was damaged by fire. In June 1858, she struck a reef at [[Copper Harbor, Michigan]]. In August 1858, she was stranded on [[Au Sable Light|Au Sable Point Reef]] in Lake Superior. In October 1859, she was towed to [[Marquette, Michigan]] after breaking her [[crossbeam]]. In November 1859, she was towed again when her [[crank pin]] broke near [[Point Iroquois]], Michigan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Lady Elgin'' |url=http://www.greatlakesships.org/vesselview.aspx?id=74930 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726131318/http://www.greatlakesships.org/vesselview.aspx?id=74930 |archive-date=July 26, 2011 |access-date=February 22, 2009 |publisher=Alpena County Public Library}}</ref> Her final blow came in 1860 when she was rammed by the wooden [[schooner]] ''Augusta'' ten miles from shore. In 1899, Great Lakes historian J.B. Mansfield called ''Lady Elgin''{{`}}s sinking "one of the greatest marine horrors on record".<ref name="History" />

==Final voyage==
[[File:LadyElginCollision1860.jpg|thumb|[[Wood-engraving]] of the collision from ''[[Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper]]'']]

On the morning of September 6, 1860 ''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. The passengers spent the day of September 7 listening to political speeches followed by an evening of entertainment by a German brass band on board ''Lady Elgin''.<ref name="Stern" /> On the return trip to Milwaukee that night, the brightly lit ''Lady of Elgin'' was steaming through [[Lake Michigan]] against [[gale force]] winds when she was rammed by the schooner ''Augusta of Oswego''. ''Augusta'' was sailing using only a single white light, mounted on a five-foot Samson{{what|date=September 2025}}<!--what's this?--> on the bow, and did not attempt, or was unable, to turn to avoid the collision in the gale.<ref name="Boyer">{{Cite book |last=Boyer |first=Dwight |title=True Tales of the Great Lakes |publisher=Freshwater Press Inc. |year=1971 |isbn=0-912514-48-5 |location=Cleveland, OH |pages=177–208}}</ref> On the morning of the collision (September 8) at 2:30 am, ''Augusta'' rammed the port side of ''Lady Elgin'', damaging her own bowsprit and headgear, while holing the latter ship below the waterline.<ref name="Boyer" /><!--need more details about the collision itself: which struck what where, what immediate and subsequent damage was sustained, etc.-->

[[File:The Sinking Of The Lady Elgin, On Lake Michigan, On The Morning Of September 8, 1860, Half An Hour After She Had Been Run Into By The Schooner Augusta, Of Waukeegan - NYIN 1860.jpg|thumb|The ''Lady Elgin'', sinking, half an hour after she had been run into, off [[Winnetka, Illinois]] - ''New York Illustrated News'']]

Concerned that she was damaged and believing ''Lady Elgin'' had gotten safely away, ''Augusta'' made for Chicago. Aboard ''Lady Elgin'', Captain Wilson ordered that cattle and cargo be thrown overboard to lighten the load and raise the gaping hole in ''Lady Elgin''{{'}}s [[port]] side above water level while the [[Chief Steward|steward]] was down in the coal bunker trying to stop the leak with mattresses.<ref name="History" /><ref name="Coroner's Inquest">{{Cite news |date=September 13, 1860 |title=The Lady Elgin Disaster; Coroner'S Inquest at Chicago Testimony of Persons On Board the Two Vessels |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1860/09/13/78644856.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1860/09/13/78644856.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |access-date=February 22, 2009 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Captain Wilson ordered a [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]] lowered on the [[starboard]] side to check the extent of the damage but it never regained the steamer. Within twenty minutes, ''Lady Elgin'' broke apart, and all but the [[Bow (watercraft)|bow]] section rapidly sank. The night was lit up at intervals by flashes of lightning showing the scattered wreckage.<ref name="History" />

The [[Personal flotation device|life preservers]], {{convert|2|in|cm|abbr=on}} hardwood planks, {{convert|5|ft|m|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|18|in|cm|abbr=on}} wide, were never used.<ref name="Stern" /> Two boats with a total of 18 people reached shore. In addition, fourteen people were saved on a large raft and many others on parts of the wreckage. Over 300 people died and 98 were saved.<ref name="History" /> The drummer of the German band, Charles Beverung, saved himself by using his large [[bass drum]] as a life preserver.<ref name="Stern" /> Survivors reported the heroic efforts of Captain Wilson to save about 300 people collected on a raft.<ref name="History" /> 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 student, 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.<ref name="ship-wrecks.net">{{Cite web |title=Lady Elgin |url=http://www.ship-wrecks.net/shipwreck/projects/elgin/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708015522/http://www.ship-wrecks.net/shipwreck/projects/elgin/ |archive-date=July 8, 2015 |access-date=March 7, 2015 |website=ship-wrecks.net}}</ref>

About 300 people died in the sinking,<ref name="Supervising Inspectors page 43" /> including Captain Wilson, who was lost trying to save two women when he was caught by the surf and forced into the rocks.<ref name="ship-wrecks.net" /> Most were from Milwaukee, with the majority of those being from the Irish communities, including nearly all of Milwaukee's Irish Union Guard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Irish Pub - Milwaukee |url=http://www.theirishpub.us/general/default.aspx?pageid=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728151710/http://www.theirishpub.us/general/default.aspx?pageid=5 |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |access-date=April 18, 2010}}</ref> 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".<ref>''Zych v. Wrecked Vessel believed to be Lady Elgin'', 960 F.2d 665, 667 (7th Cir. 1992).</ref> It is said that more than 1000 children were orphaned by the tragedy; however, research shows that fewer than 40 children were orphaned.<ref>"Lost on the Lady Elgin", Valerie van Heest, 2010.</ref>{{Page needed|date=July 2012}} The ''Lady Elgin'' disaster remains the greatest loss of life on open water in the history of the Great Lakes.<ref name="The Story" />

Among the 300 victims was [[Herbert Ingram]], the founder and owner of the ''Illustrated London News'' and a member of Parliament, who with his son, were the only foreigners on the ship. Ingram was the most wealthy and prominent individual to perish on a shipwreck in the Great Lakes.<ref name="auto">VanHeest, Valerie, Lost on the Lady Elgin: Honouring Herbert Ingram, 2025, In-Depth Editions.</ref>

==Memorials==
[[File:Sinking of The Lady Elgin sign 7930.jpg|thumb|right|State of Wisconsin Historical Marker for ''Lady Elgin'']]
A Wisconsin historical marker in the [[Historic Third Ward, Milwaukee|historic third ward]] in Milwaukee commemorates the tragedy. [[Calvary Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Calvary Cemetery]] in Milwaukee has a monument dedicated to the ''Lady Elgin'' disaster and the many lost in the tragedy who are buried there. 

A statue of Herbert Ingram, politician and owner of the ''Illustrated London News'', the Lady Elgin's most notable victim, stands in the city center in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, since erected in 1862. The monument honours Boston-born, three-term member of Parliament, who helped bring fresh water, education, and the railroad to the city.<ref name="auto"/>

Songwriter [[Henry Clay Work]] wrote the memorial song "Lost on the 'Lady Elgin'"<ref>[https://imslp.org/wiki/Lost_on_the_'Lady_Elgin'_(Work%2C_Henry_Clay) "Lost on the 'Lady Elgin'"]</ref> in 1861.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=March 1953 |title=The Mysterious Chord of Henry Clay Work |journal=Notes |publisher=Music Library Association |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=213 |doi=10.2307/892874 |jstor=892874 |author-first=Richard S. |author-last=Hill}}</ref> For many years in central Canada this song was sung at family gatherings and social occasions.<ref name="Stern" />

In 2009, the Milwaukee Irish Heritage and Cultural Center launched a $200,000{{efn|{{inflation|US|200000|2009|fmt=eq}}{{inflation/fn|US}}}} fundraising campaign for a mammoth, two-story bronze memorial statue for the ''Lady Elgin'' disaster.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Lady Elgin'' Memorial Statue |url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29581034.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091224024529/http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29581034.html |archive-date=December 24, 2009 |access-date=February 22, 2009 |publisher=Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel}}</ref>

==Maritime rulings==
Following the sinking, ''Lady Elgin''{{'}}s owner, [[Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard]], received a $12,000{{efn|{{inflation|US|12000|1860|fmt=eq}}{{inflation/fn|US}}}} payment from his [[insurance]] company, but neither he nor the insurance company accepted abandonment of the ship. The captain of ''Augusta'', Darius Malott, was arrested and tried in Chicago, but found not guilty of navigational negligence. A coroner's jury declared his second-mate, Mr. Budge, to be incompetent, and his crew to be of principal blame.<ref name="NYT-25th">{{Cite news |date=25 September 1860 |title=The Lady Elgin Disaster. Finding of the Coroner's Jury A Divided Verdict Both Vessels Censured |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1860/09/25/archives/the-lady-elgin-disaster-finding-of-the-coroners-jury-a-divided.html |access-date=17 March 2021 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714214038/https://www.nytimes.com/1860/09/25/archives/the-lady-elgin-disaster-finding-of-the-coroners-jury-a-divided.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Professor Mason and Lieutenant Bartlett asserted that a principal cause of the collision was the lack of a $15 lantern on the Augusta.<ref>Polytechnic Association of the American Institute, Scientific American, New Series, Vol 3, Issue 14, p. 214.(September 29, 1860)</ref> Steamboat historian Peter Charlebois noted that, after the investigation, Captain Malott and ''Lady Elgin''{{'}}s crew and owners were absolved of any blame. He reported:

<blockquote>The judgement was based on a law that not only gave sail the right of way over steam, but did not require sailing vessels to carry running lights. Apparently ''Augusta'' had sighted the passenger steamer twenty minutes before the collision but in the rain had misjudged the distance between them. Four years after the disaster, in 1864, a new ruling was made requiring sailing vessels to carry running lights. Since there were still nearly 1,900 ships under sail by 1870 the regulations were long overdue.<ref name="Stern" /> </blockquote>

==Wreck==
The wreck of ''Lady Elgin'' was discovered in 1989 off [[Highland Park, Illinois|Highland Park]], Illinois by Harry Zych. Zych claimed ownership of the wreck in a legal action begun in 1989 and provided a list to the court of the 130+/- artifacts that he had recovered. In addition, he testified that he had located the ship's safe lying on the bottom and inside found two gold pocket watches and 70 gold and silver coins that had been entrusted to the purser for safekeeping. He was awarded ownership in 1999 after a protracted legal battle.<ref>''Zych v. Wrecked Vessel believed to be Lady Elgin'', 960 F.2d 665 (7th Cir. 1992), ''cert. denied'', 1994; ''People ex rel. Illinois Historic Preservation Agency v. Zych'', 186 Ill. 2d 267, 710 N.E.2d 820 (1999).</ref> 

While the case was ongoing, the State of Illinois sought the pro-bono services of the Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago, which under the leadership of archaeological diver [[Valerie van Heest]] undertook a reconnaissance survey of the wreck site in 1992.<ref name="olson 1993">{{Cite book |last1=Olson |first1=Valerie |title=The Lady Elgin: A report on the 1992 reconnaissance survey |last2=Gadbois |first2=Robert |last3=Doherty |first3=Don |last4=Pearson |first4=Keith |date=1993 |publisher=[[Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago]] |edition=2nd |location=Chicago}}</ref><ref name="Jackson 2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Misty M. |last2=Vrana |first2=Kenneth J. |date=September 2020 |title="Sad and Dismal is the Story": Memory, Preservation, and the Folk Music Tradition of Great Lakes Shipwrecks |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343565373 |journal=Journal of Maritime Archaeology |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=261–281 |bibcode=2020JMarA..15..261J |doi=10.1007/s11457-020-09272-y |s2cid=225485137 |access-date=17 March 2021 |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518140927/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343565373_Sad_and_Dismal_is_the_Story_Memory_Preservation_and_the_Folk_Music_Tradition_of_Great_Lakes_Shipwrecks |url-status=live }}</ref> The wreck, consisting of four main debris fields (bow, boilers, paddlewheels, debris field) lying in {{convert|50|and|60|ft|m}} of water. During their survey, the dive team recorded evidence that other divers had been stripping the wreck of loose artifacts left behind by Zych. Zych never donated his artifacts to any museum/museums. However, in 2023, it became known that he had given another diver permission to recover artifacts; that person donated some 160 artifacts to the Chicago Maritime Museum for an exhibit, designed by Valerie van Heest, based on her book ''Lost on the Lady Elgin''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Lady-Elgin-Special-Photographs/dp/B0DPNBN19S/ref=pd_lpo_d_sccl_1/144-4062485-4938420?pd_rd_w=e826I&content-id=amzn1.sym.4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_p=4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_r=J6FP97WWAKSFFBM4WYR3&pd_rd_wg=EJduN&pd_rd_r=992e03bf-2aff-44ac-ba0d-8c104801347d&pd_rd_i=B0DPNBN19S&psc=1|title=Amazon.com |website=Amazon }}</ref> 

In 2025, it was learned that a trio of divers had recovered a gold pocket watch from the debris field in 1992. Engraving on the watchcase and a wax seal fob with the initials "H. I." provided evidence that the watch had belonged to [[Herbert Ingram]], the most prominent individual among the victims. Valerie van Heest acquired the watch, chain, and fob from the divers. After unsuccessful attempts to find Ingram's surviving descendants, she donated the watch to the [[Boston Guildhall]] Museum, the city-run museum in Ingram's birth city of Boston, England, which maintains a statue of Ingram.<ref>{{cite web | title=Pocket Watch Recovered from Lake Michigan's Deadliest Shipwreck Returns to Owner's Hometown After 165 Years | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pocket-watch-recovered-from-lake-michigans-deadliest-shipwreck-returns-to-owners-hometown-after-165-years-180986728/ }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of maritime disasters in the 19th century]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lady Elgin (ship, 1851)}}
*[http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/l.htm The Great Lakes Shipwreck File]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1860/09/10/news/fearful-disaster-lake-michigan-steamer-lady-elgin-sunk-collision-with-schooner.html?pagewanted=all ''New York Times'' account of the sinking]
*[http://thescubadivingblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/lady-elgin.html?m=0 Descendant of Lady Elgin victims dives to wreck site in Illinois]

{{1860 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Elgin}}
[[Category:Great Lakes ships]]
[[Category:History of Chicago]]
[[Category:History of Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1860]]
[[Category:Transportation in Milwaukee]]
[[Category:Ships sunk in collisions]]
[[Category:1851 ships]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Paddle steamers of the United States]]
[[Category:Highwood, Illinois]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan]]
[[Category:Ships built in Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Wreck diving sites]]