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SHIPS .LADY ELGIN, wood- THAT en sidewheeler, NEVER built at Buffalo DIE by Jacob W.Banta (#28) for J.D.Patchin and G.Appleby. Officially documented on Nov.11, 1851. Originally sailed on Lake Erie in connection with Grand Trunk Ry. The palatial ship was named for the wife of Lord Elgin, who was Governor General of Canada, from 1847 to 1854. Dimensions, 252 x 33.7 x 14.3, with ton- nage listed at 1037. Typical beam engine pro- pulsion. Many of the shipwrights who built her came to Banta's yard from New York. It fis said that when she was first painted the name which appeared on her paddle boxes was LADY OF ELGIN. With the completion of the G.T.Ry. in 1856 the vessel was sold to A.T.Spence & CO. of Chicago, for service between Chicago and Lake Superior. Early in 1850 Gordon Hubbard of Chicago became her owner. While returning a charter party to Milwaukee from a political rally in Chicago, on the night of Sept.9, 1860, the vessel was rammed by the lumber laden schooner AUGUSTA, 12 miles NE of Point Winnetka, I1l. and sank shortly afterward. Many drowned at the scene, but many others found refuge on float- ing wreckage, and drifted toward shore, only to die in the stormy surf at Winnetka. Capt Jack Wylson died with his passengers. 287 lives were lost, and only 98 saved. Capt.Frank E.Hamilton * Oe OR RR OK KK KK OK KR OK OK OK OK It is doubtful if any other Great Lakes vessel has had as much of a legend built up around her as the LADY ELGIN. The poem "Lost on the Lady Elgin", written and put to music by Henry Work, was a frequently heard lyric in many an Illinois and W,sconsin Home. The hero of the wreck was a young Divinity Student from the Methodist Garret Biblical Institute (now Northwestern University) in Evanston. Strong and fearles he swam into the waves to rescue seventeen people. In the new gymnasium of his-Alma Mater, among the trophies won by the great athletes who have worn the purple, there is a memorial tablet commemorating the bravery of young Edward Spencer. An interesting relic of this wreck is an old clock on the mantle in the home of Mrs.Elizabeth Morrison in Corunna, Ont. The glass doors of the clock are engraved with old fashioned scenes, while within is the fol- lowing inscription: "While enroute to Chicago, this clock was one of six found floating on Lake Michigan by Capt.Alex Farquharson (father of Mrs. Morrison). The case containing rhe clocks floated from the wreck of the Lady Elgin which foundered after being in collision with the schooner AUGUSTA, Sept.8, 1960." Mrs.Morrison, mother of our fellow member Dr.Neil F.Morrison, states that the clock still keeps good time. EB i) ao a OF SR aie) ae Sak O eco een eee a oR fe ak eR OR aR ae a ROK CORRECTION In the schedule of meetings published in the last number, we stated erroneously that Mr.Neil Morgan of Wyandotte Trans- portation Co. would be the February speaker. We should have stated that Feb.20th is the open date, tentatively, and that Mr.Morgan will be our speaker at the March 26th meeting. Ed.