THE MYSTERIOUS FOUNDERING OF THE SCHOONER EDNA
by Brendon Baillod
At 3:00 PM on October 26, 1887, surfman John Mahoney of the Kenosha (Wisconsin) Lifesaving Station watched as a small schooner labored toward the Kenosha pierheads. Despite the calm weather, the vessel appeared to be in disarray. She was riding low in the water and her crew were scrambling about on her deck. Minutes later a distress signal was raised but it was too late. As surfman Mahoney dispatched a messenger to alert the lifesavers, the little schooner slipped beneath the waves about two miles off the Kenosha piers.
Kenosha Station Keeper Benjamin Cameron noted, "We launched the white Hall boat and the surf boat in two minutes and were on the way to the rescue. When we got to the spot where she went down the crew of four men were on a little scow a drifting out into the lake. We got them aboard the surf boat and pulled for the wreck and found she was the schooner Edna of Chicago, Illinois and loaded with gravel. She had sprung a leak and went down in five minutes. We stayed around the wreck for a while, and as we could not do anything and the crew was so cold we returned to the station where a good fire was burning. We gave the poor fellows some dry clothing and a good supper and they started for Chicago at 8:00 PM."
The Edna was built, owned and captained by N. L. Anderson of Chicago. She had been constructed and launched at Chicago in the summer of 1877 and was enrolled at the Port of Chicago on September 1, 1877. She was built as a two-masted merchant schooner of 62.1 ft. x 17.2 ft. x 5.2 ft. and 38.32 gross tons, 36 net tons. Her official number was 135309 and she carried an insurance rating of A1 from the Inland Lloyds register at the time of her launch.
On her final voyage, the Edna left Chicago early in the morning of October 26, 1887 with a cargo of gravel bound for Kenosha, but as she neared her destination, for reasons unknown she began to leak uncontrollably. Two miles off Kenosha Harbor, it became clear that the Edna would founder and the crew took to the life boat. Fortunately, there was only a moderate south wind and sea, and the Edna's crew were able to safely await the lifesavers. At 3:20 PM, with the help of the tug Kitty Smoke, the lifesavers arrived at the wreck scene and picked up Captain N. L. Anderson, Hans Offerson, Ole Holf and Peter Peterson, all of Chicago, and by 5:00 PM they were all back at the Lifesaving Station having dinner.
Neither the Edna nor her cargo were insured and the lost cargo represented a financial loss of $200 to Captain Anderson. There is no evidence that the Edna was ever recovered, and at only $1500 value she would not have been worth the effort to refloat. It is possible that Captain Anderson considered raising his vessel because he did not surrender her papers until June 4, 1888, over seven months after her loss. The reason for the Edna's foundering is somewhat of a mystery. The weather was mild by all accounts with a moderate south wind and 2-4 foot waves. Her seams should not have opened from stress, nor should she have foundered so quickly from persistent hull leakage. The further possibility that she was scuttled for insurance money was ruled out when she was found to be uninsured. Perhaps she struck some floating obstruction or was the victim of foul play.
Although the location of her foundering is fairly well known, the remains of the Edna have never been positively identified and her loss has not previously been documented outside of archival sources. Because she foundered in about 50 feet of water, her masts would have shown above the surface. As such, she was probably a hazard to navigation since she was almost directly east of the harbor entrance. It is likely that the Edna's hull remained relatively intact because her gravel cargo would ballast her against wind, waves and ice, but it is certain that her masts were either removed or worked themselves free.
This wreck has never really been searched for and could be located with some effort. Because she is a historic shipwreck she belongs to the State of Wisconsin and is protected by law from illegal salvage. None the less, she presents a fascinating opportunity to explore the remains of a 19th century Great Lakes schooner and hopefully she will be located and preserved.
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Marine Historical Society
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phone 414.286.3074
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