Bygones of Monroe:
PROPELLER IRONSIDES
A PROPELLER WRECKED ON LAKE MICHIGAN
GREAT LOSS OF LIFE
The propeller IRONSIDES, running from Grand Haven to Milwaukee, connecting with the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, one of the largest propellers on the lakes, foundered and sunk seven miles off Grand Haven during a heavy gale on the 15th.
The passengers and crew numbering 51 in all, left in small boats before the steamer sunk. One boat containing five men and four women capsized, and only one man reached the shore. Thirty-two persons were saved, and fifteen bodies have been recovered, among them that of the Captain.
The gale was so fearful that no boats could go to the relief of the vessel. Her cargo consisted of 13,000 bushels of wheat and 625 barrels of flour and pork. The propeller was valued at $80,000.
We learn that a sister of Mr. Levi Buck, of Monroe Township, and her husband both lost their lives by the above disaster.
(Monroe Commercial, September 18, 1873, p.2, c.1)
