AH-WR-1781

Edna

Schooner · United States · Lost 1887 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

A small two-masted schooner sank with sand and gravel off Kenosha in 1887; all four crewmen were rescued.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Edna was a wooden two-masted schooner built by W.L. Anderson at Chicago in 1877. She carried sand and gravel when she filled with water and sank off Kenosha on October 26, 1887. The tug Kitty Smoke and Kenosha lifesavers assisted all four crewmen to safety. Her enrollment was surrendered the following June as a vessel lost. The institutional page records a reported 1995 location but also quotes a later account that no remains had been positively identified.

Vessel

Built: 1877
Registry: US registry no. 135309
Builder: W.L. Anderson
Yard: Chicago, Illinois
Material: Wood
Length: 62.1 ft
Beam: 17.2 ft
Tonnage: 38.32 gross tons
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: N.L. Anderson of Chicago

Loss

Date: October 26, 1887
Cause: Not established
Location: About one mile off Kenosha harbor, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Sand and gravel
Aboard: 4
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Historically and reportedly 50 feet; site identification and current depth unverified
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Reported located in 1995; identification not confirmed in the institutional account
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 42.57° N 87.76° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Kenosha, Wisconsin
Region: Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Institutional Details page publishes N 42°34.40′, W 087°45.75′ and reports a 1995 location on Jerry Guyer’s charts; the same page quotes a 1998 account saying remains had never been positively identified. Position and 50-foot depth are reported, not verified.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (86/100)

The voyage direction is inconsistent within the source, and the reported wreck position, identification, depth and present condition have not been independently verified.

Wisconsin Shipwrecks — Wisconsin Sea Grant and Wisconsin Historical Society
Full vessel Details page: construction, service history, final voyage, published location, and rescue or salvage narrative; website counter zeros were not treated as evidence.