OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 39 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 April 28, 2005 ************************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley Tid Bits - part 39. Notes by S.Kelly ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ part 39. Major Wilkins Disaster, 1763 Letter of J.P. Kirtland East Rockport January 11, 1836 Colonel Charles Whittlesey; Dear Sir; -- On arriving at home a few days since, after a three month's absence, I received yours of the 10th of December. I am greatly obliged for the information it contained in regard to the disaster which befell Major Wilkins' Expedition in 1763. I had come to the conclusion that its locality was at the mouth of Rocky River; several circumstances seemed to confirm it especially the discovery there, adjacent to an old camp fire, of a surgeon's amputating knife and other impletments ( Wilkins' surgeon was drowned ) and a " Point of Pines " still exists a little east of Rocky River ( Wilkins was wrecked at a bluff just beyond a " point of pines." ) But you once informed me that you supposed he was lost on the north shore of the lake and in your letter you state he was wrecked by a violent Southeast wind. With such a wind I see not how he could have suffered much off the mouth of Rocky River. To-day in searching a recent map in Bell's History of Canada ( 2 vol. Montreal, 1866 ), I find " Point aux Pins " laid down on the Lake shore in the town of Shewsberry, Kent District, Canada, opposite Cleveland, a little further east. These facts lead me to entertain doubts which of these two localities was the one where Wilkins suffered. I wish you would turn your attention to this point. The Major Moncriffe of whom you wrote was second in command under Wilkins. He addressed a letter to the commander at Detroit, written half in Erse, half in English, informing him of the details of the disaster and the conclusion to return the expedition to Niagara. He took an active part with the Tories at New York at the breaking out of the revolution, and subsequently at Savannah and Charleston as lieutenant colonel of engineers--- died at New York 1791, and was buried in Trinity Church. On examining the monuments there three weeks since, I did not discover his. He was an uncle to General Montgomery and brother-in-law of John Jay and Gov. Livingston, of New Jersey. His daughter was the beautiful girl said by Davis and denied by Porter, to be seduced by Aaron Burr. The wreckage of Bradstreet on McMahon's beachin 1764 is certain. It is a query whether the sword, bayonets and gun-flints discovered at the beach at Rocky River, and the camp-fire knife, bayonet, & etc., on the plateau near Tisdale's point were the vestage of his or Wilkins' catastrophe. During my recent tour I secured several additional facts relating to Bradstreet's expedition at Hartford, at Boston and New Haven. Very truly yours, J. P. Kirtland. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Some Maritime Disasters Maritime disasters were recorded in Lake Erie waters off Cleveland when the first explorers entered the area. The high rocky shore from just east of Cleveland west to Cedar Pt. combines with shallow water and sudden squalls to create one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the Great Lakes. However, not all wrecks have been due to natural causes; poor seamanship and mechanical failure have also claimed their toll. Over 60 major wrecks littered the approaches to Cleveland before improvements in navigational aids and safety equipment were effected in the 20th century. The North American Indians were fully aware of the dangerous southern shore of Lake Erie, and generally they would transverse the lake along the Canadian coast. In 1764 a British fleet commanded by Col. John Bradstreet met a sudden squall somewhere near Rocky River on its return from the siege of Ft. Detroit by Pontiac and his Indian allies. Damage to the boats forced part of the expedition to return to Fort Niagara on foot. It should be noted that during the previous year, a fleet under Maj. John Wilkins' command was also thought to have floundered off Rocky River, however, it is now believed that it met disaster along the lake's Canadian coastline. In 1771 the British also lost the schooner Beaver between Bay Village and Lorain. The early years of American settlement along the lake generated comparatively little lake traffic. There were 2 notable sinkings. In 1806, Lorenzo Carter rescued a fugitive slave named Ben from a schooner off Cleveland. In 1808, Cleveland's first fishing boat, captained by Joseph Plumb of Newburgh crewed by Amos Spafford's son, Adolphus, floundered in a storm off Bay Village. New settlement and technological innovations, including canal and the steamboat created a transportation industry that centered on Cleveland as a hub. However, these changes represented new dangers to the ships on the lake. Collision, fire, and explosion were added to weather as major hazards and quickly took their toll. The year 1850 proved to be particularly horrendous. On March 23, off Cleveland, and April 18, off Vermillion, the boilers of the Troy and the Anthony Wayne burst, killing 22 and 40. Then on June 26, paint stored near the firebox of the G.P. Griffith burst into a terrifying fire. Seven miles out from Willowby, the captain ordered a desperate race for shore. Half a mile out, the Griffin struck a shoal. Ran aground, the wooden ship burned to the water and over 250 died. On that Sunday, the large steamboat took her departure from Buffalo. There were 256 in the steerage, forty five in the cabins, and a crew of twenty five. Many of the passengers were hopeful immigrants from England, Ireland, and Germany. The below ballad by Kate Weaver seems to befit the tale; ' Twas on Lake Erie's broad expanse One bright midsummer day, The gallent steamer Griffith Swept proudly on her way. Ah! who beneath that cloudess sky, That smiling bends serene, Could dream that danger, awful, vast, Impended o'er the scene? Could dream that ere an hour had sped, That frame of sturdy oak Would sink beneath the lake's blue waves, Blackened with fire and smoke? ' [ Actually the Griffith had come across the Lake in fine style that Sunday and was steaming along three miles offshore and about twenty miles from Cleveland at four o'clock Monday morning when the fire was discovered. ] 'A seaman sought the Captain's side, A moment whispered low, The Captain's swarthy face grew pale, He hurried down below. Alas! too late! Though quick and sharp And clear his orders came, No human efforts could avail To quench the insidious flame. ' [ Aboard the Griffith the mate had reported smoke coming from the hold. When the alarm was given, the passengers, half-clothed, tumbled up on deck. The circumstances were frightening, but they behaved remarkably calm. Not one scream was heard. Nobody made a motion to leap overboard. They seemed to have faith in the captain. ] ' The bad news quickly reached the deck, It sped from lip to lip; And ghastly faces everywhere Looked from the doomed ship. " Is there no hope, no chance of Life? " A hundred lips implore; " But one," the captain made reply, " To run the ship ashore." [ The nearest shore lay to the southeast of the Griffin. ] "A sailor whose heroic soul That hour should yet reveal --- by name John Maynard, Eastern born -- Stood calmly at the wheel. " Head her southeast!" the captain shouts Above the smothered roar; " Head her southeast without delay ! Make for the nearest shore !" "No terror pales the helmsman's cheek Or clouds his dauntlass eye, As in the sailor's measured tone His voice respond's " Aye, Aye ! " Three hundred souls-- the steamer's freight-- Crowd forward, wild with fear, While at the stern the dreadful flames Above the deck appear." [ At this moment the shore was less than two miles away from the Griffith. The Captain ordered full steam ahead, which increased the draft and fanned the flames, but it seemed a chance worth taking, with the beach and safety only five minutes distant. ] " John Maynard watched the nearing flames, But still with steady hand He grasp the wheel, and steadfastly He steered the ship to land, " John Maynard." with an anxious voice, " Stand by the wheel five minutes yet, And we will reach the shore !" Half a mile from safe haven, the wheelsman of the Griffith struck a sand bar out in the Lake. The Captain himself led the panic. He threw his wife, his two children, and his mother overboard, and followed them into the water, never to be seen again. With that example as a guide, the passengers went frantic. They ran around in circles on the blazing deck and burned to death. They jumped into the water without throwing a stick of furniture or loose board to help buoy themselves up. They beat at the waves with there fists and drowned. Only the strongest swimmers survived and one of them, the barber's wife, was the solitary woman saved of all the wives and mothers and daughters who had gone aboard at Buffalo, bound around the Lakes to raise families in the prosperous land. The mate swam ashore and brought help in small boats. In all, thirty men and the lone woman survived from the original passenger and crew list of 326. Estimates vary, but at least 250 and perhaps 296 perished in that red hour on Lake Erie. It proved impossible to legislate good seamanship, however by the introduction of modern navigational aids and radio gave the sailors better advantage. Gales remained the most common cause of sinkings. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits continued in part 40.