George Hanson
Schooner · Lost 1857 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan
The little Chicago schooner George Hanson capsized off Kenosha in a spring gale in 1857, drowning three brothers and their brother-in-law.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Built at St. Joseph, Michigan, in 1847, the 53-foot coasting schooner George Hanson belonged to the Nichols family of Chicago. In a spring gale in 1857 she capsized and foundered off Kenosha, and all four aboard — three brothers and a brother-in-law — were drowned. Her mastheads were seen protruding from the water about a mile north of Kenosha harbor; only a new mast was ever recovered, and her remains have not been located.
Vessel
- 1847
- Not established
- St. Joseph, Michigan
- Wood
- 53 ft
- 14.8 ft
- Not established
- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- March 30, 1857
- Storm
- About one mile north of Kenosha harbor, Wisconsin
- Lake Michigan
- Chicago, Illinois
- Probably wood; possibly only stone ballast
- Not established
- 4
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Kenosha, Wisconsin
No pin: Wisconsin Shipwrecks inventory positions are not used as wreck pins.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)
Original newspaper accounts are quoted by the source and were not independently inspected.
Wisconsin Shipwrecks (Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant) — George Hanson
Specification table, service history and final-voyage text read; quoted newspapers not independently inspected.
