AH-WR-1958

Jo Vilas

Schooner · Lost 1876 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

The lumber schooner Jo Vilas broke up in a southwest gale in 1876; her captain and six crew survived six hours on a raft before rescue.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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 in 1857, the two-masted schooner Jo Vilas sailed from White Lake, Michigan, for Chicago in October 1876 with lumber in her hold and on deck. She leaked from the start and her pumps ran constantly. In a strong southwest gale the deckload washed overboard, and she foundered and capsized far off the shore between Racine and Kenosha. The crew pulled Captain Richard Johnson onto a makeshift raft just before she broke up, and after six hours all were rescued, nearly frozen, by the schooner Andrew Jackson.

Vessel

Built: 1857
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 9, 1876
Cause: Storm
Location: Lake Michigan midway between Racine and Kenosha, about 30 miles offshore
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: White Lake, Michigan → Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: Lumber
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Capt. Richard Johnson