Wreck of the Grace Channon
Milwaukee Sentinel - August 3, 1877
Milwaukee Sentinel - August 3, 1877
A serious accident occurred last night between Racine and Milwaukee, when the schooner Grace Channon was run down by the steam barge Favorite, about 10 miles off shore.
The Channon filled so fast that Capt. Murray was unable to save Alexander Graham, son of the owner, a lad about ten years of age, who could not be got out of his bunk. The crew, including a woman who served as cook, and a boy about eight years of age, were hurried into the lifeboat. They had no sooner got a safe distance away when the vessel went down, with the older boy still on board. The captain of the steam barge, anticipating the sinking of the schooner after the crash, stopped his boat to rescue the ill-fated crew. The unfortunate mariners were picked up and brought to the port of Milwaukee at midnight, and in a few hours after their arrival, took the train for Chicago. The party stopped at the tug office on their way to the depot, and presented a pitiable appearance, many of them having escaped with barely enough to cover them, the little boy wearing a coat that swept the walks as he went along. Capt. Murray was so shocked by the disaster that he could scarcely give details of the accident. He could not account for the collision. He said it was bright moonlight at the time, and he was in his proper course. The steamer struck his vessel before he was aware that she was so close upon him. The steam barge Favorite had two barges in tow, and was on her way to Green Bay. |