AH-WR-1758

Sea Bird

Schooner · Lost Late October 1875; enrollment surrendered September 30, 1876, marked wrecked · Door County & Lake Michigan

Sea Bird was lost at Clay Banks in late October 1875 after leaking with a cargo of wheat.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Sea Bird was a wooden two-masted schooner built at Buffalo in 1857 by Bidwell and Banta Company. Carrying 18,000 bushels of wheat from Chicago to Buffalo in late October 1875, she sprang a leak; wet grain swelled and worsened the damage. Captain Bateman anchored to attempt repairs, but rough weather drove her ashore at Horn’s Pier in Clay Banks. The crew escaped, and ship and cargo were declared a total loss. Grain and hardware were salvaged; institutional accounts describe remains alternately covered and exposed by sand.

Vessel

Built: 1857
Registry: US registry no. 22276
Builder: Bidwell and Banta Company
Yard: Buffalo, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 136.5 ft
Beam: 26.5 ft
Tonnage: 284 gross tons
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: W.O. Brown

Loss

Date: Late October 1875; enrollment surrendered September 30, 1876, marked wrecked
Cause: Grounding
Location: Horn’s Pier, Clay Banks, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Chicago, Illinois → Buffalo, New York
Cargo: 18,000 bushels of wheat
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Bateman

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Institutional account reports wreckage in shallow water, alternately exposed and covered by shifting sand.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Clay Banks, Wisconsin
Region: Door County & Lake Michigan

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)

Exact loss day and present depth are not established; inventory position is not adopted because it conflicts with the narrated Clay Banks locality.

Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
Full construction, service, final voyage and present-condition narratives: build particulars, two masts, registry, dimensions, cargo, leak and late October 1875 total wreck, crew escape and grain/hardware salvage; 1876 enrollment surrender distinguished from loss; inconsistent inventory coordinates omitted.