AH-WR-1699

Twin Brothers

Schooner · Lost March 1860 · Door County & Lake Michigan

After a gale, Twin Brothers returned leaking to Milwaukee and sank beside the South Pier in March 1860.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Twin Brothers was a two-masted wooden schooner built by George Barber in Milwaukee in 1848. A March 1860 account describes her departure for Sheboygan and return in a leaking condition after a gale. Pounding against the South Pier opened her port side, and she capsized and sank inside the Straight Cut. The crew escaped by clinging to the pier.

Vessel

Built: 1848
Builder: George Barber
Yard: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Material: Wood
Length: 90.5 ft
Beam: 21.5 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: March 1860
Cause: Storm
Location: Inside Milwaukee’s Straight Cut, beside the South Pier
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

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

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (78/100)

The precise sinking day, final owner and present remains are not established.

Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
Vessel construction, rig and casualty narrative; inventory zero counters excluded; documentary dates distinguished from casualty dates.