AH-WR-1805

Evra Fuller

Schooner · United States · Lost 1893 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Evra Fuller broke apart on Racine Reef in fog in October 1893; the crew escaped ashore in the yawl.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built at Fort Howard, Wisconsin, in 1873 as Lena Johnson, the three-masted wooden schooner was renamed Evra Fuller in 1882. She survived an 1890 grounding near Death’s Door and resumed service. On October 13, 1893, carrying lumber for Chicago, she stranded on Racine Reef in fog and quickly broke apart. The crew reached shore in the yawl, and the Racine Life-Saving Station salvaged equipment and personal effects. The institutional account describes scattered wreckage in 35 feet of water near Racine Harbor.

Vessel

Built: 1873
Registry: US registry no. 15956
Builder: Soren Anderson
Yard: Fort Howard, Wisconsin
Material: Wood
Length: 132.6 ft
Beam: 26.3 ft
Tonnage: 228.87 gross tons
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Originally Halvor Michelson and William Johnson

Loss

Date: October 13, 1893
Cause: Grounding
Location: Racine Reef, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: 260,000 feet of lumber
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Captain Joseph Smith

The Wreck Today

Depth: 35 ft
Condition: Scattered wreckage on a muddy bottom; institutional account places it approximately 450 feet east of Racine Harbor entrance.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 42.73° N 87.77° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Racine, Wisconsin
Region: Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Published institutional coordinates retained as reported/unconfirmed; survey-point provenance and horizontal error are not supplied.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Well documented (91/100)

Crew and casualty totals are not explicitly established; the source's reef and harbor descriptions leave the exact wreck extent uncertain, and its published map point has no stated horizontal-error estimate.

Wisconsin Shipwrecks — Wisconsin Sea Grant and Wisconsin Historical Society — Evra Fuller
Full construction table, service history, final voyage and present-wreck narrative; earlier recovered casualties and later administrative dates distinguished; coordinates qualified.