Lem Ellsworth
Schooner · Lost 1894 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan
The overloaded stone schooner Lem Ellsworth vanished with all seven crew in Lake Michigan in May 1894, likely off Kenosha.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
Wolf & Davidson built the three-masted canal schooner Lem Ellsworth at Milwaukee in 1874 for the Welland Canal trade. In May 1894 she was bound for Chicago with sandstone blocks, so deeply loaded that a passing captain feared for her. Last seen clearing the Straits of Mackinac on May 16, she foundered, probably on May 18, with all seven crew. A witness saw a three-master go down off Racine, and her yawl washed up near Waukegan. Her wreck has not been found.
Vessel
- 1874
- Official no. 140062
- Wolf & Davidson
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Wood
- 138.6 ft
- 26.2 ft
- Not established
- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- May 18, 1894
- Storm
- Lake Michigan, most likely off Racine or Kenosha, Wisconsin
- Lake Michigan
- Chicago, Illinois
- Sandstone blocks for the Malone Stone Company
- Not established
- 7
- 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: Partially documented (65/100)
Original newspaper accounts are quoted by the source and were not independently inspected.
Wisconsin Shipwrecks (Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant) — Lem Ellsworth
Specification table, service history and final-voyage text read; quoted newspapers not independently inspected.
