Sunken History — A Diver’s Journal
By Capt. Ron Burkhard

One privilege I enjoy about writing these articles is the feedback I get from the readers of The Lakeshore Guardian. These people give me information about shipwrecks that were previously unknown or give me tips about newly rediscovered old shipwrecks in shallow water. I thank them for that. The Curly family from Caseville has been in contact with me over the past two years about an unnamed wreck in shallow water that we have yet to identify. I thank them for their patience because I have been unable to devote the time that I would like to explore this wreck. However, this month we will examine an old wreck that has some recently discovered new information about it.

John Hummon from Bald Eagle Point, which is near the Pointe aux Barques lighthouse, spoke with me several times about a wreck that his family discovered in 1967. He was certain the wreck was the L. Seaton and that it had sunk off Bald Eagle Point on November 12, 1872. The ship was supposedly carrying a cargo of railroad ties from the Huron City or New River dock. A source says the ship was 121 feet long and was 233 tons, being built during 1872 in Henderson, New York. They had found about 90 feet of ship’s keel in 8 feet of water. He said the wreck’s remains were about 1500 feet offshore on a 70 degree heading from his flagpole. If you go looking for this wreck, please do not trespass on his property. A small boat can launch at the Lighthouse County Park boat ramp and cruise over to the site - which is less than a mile north of the ramp.

I was immediately curious about this information and started to research the wreck. To me this research work is a lot like detective work on a crime scene. Although there has been no crime committed, and no eye witnesses to talk to, it is exciting to try to identify and piece together what happened at this site more than one hundred years ago. There are several ways to do this. One would be to examine the site and determine the type of wreck. Another avenue of research is a document search. These documents would include newspaper articles, historical records and accounts, and any electronic database files.

While living on the lake near the PAB lighthouse, I used to wait for perfectly calm days when the lake water was crystal clear. I would then launch my inflatable boat and motor around the bay in front of our house. This bay extends northward from Oscabe Point to Bald Eagle Point and outward into the lake for about a mile to where a reef surfaces. On the shoreline of this bay is where the lighthouse is located. On good days I could clearly see the rocky bottom 25 feet down. However, I confined my search to the southern part of the bay because that is where I had found a shipwreck’s keel and debris - both inside and outside the reef. I had planned to search the north end of the bay this past summer, but emergency back surgery prevented that. John Hummon’s wreck site is inside the reef on the north end of the bay. I have not examined the site yet and am relying on his description of the site. Next summer I will visit the wreck and hope to answer some questions I have about the identity of the wreck. If anyone would like to join me, please contact me at rburkhard@charter.net. I would also like to explore the Port Austin Reef for hieroglyphics. I have a sketch of the location from some divers that saw the site about 40 years ago. A research vessel’s crew has requested information on this and a possible underwater Indian camp site for future exploration.

I think that the heavy parts of several of these shipwrecks lie outside of the Pointe aux Barques reef in 15-20 feet of water. This should be the depth where they stranded. As they broke apart, the anchors, windlass, capstans, ship’s bell, ships bottom and keel, and any other heavy parts would remain near the initial grounding point. Other lighter parts could have been driven ashore by storms.

I also think there is one unique circumstance to the above assumptions: the “Great Storm of 1913”. Anyone familiar with this storm knows that it had hurricane force winds. Most people today are familiar with the devastation caused by hurricanes if they have been watching the news programs for the past year. This 1913 storm destroyed most of the shoreline docks and buildings along this part of Lake Huron. One effect I believe it had was to damage many of the shipwrecks in shallower water and even some of the deeper wrecks. If you visit some of these shallower wrecks near the Pointe aux Barques lighthouse or Burnt Cabin Point, you may notice large sections of ships laying in deeper pools of water with shallower water - such as a reef - between them and the deeper waters of the open lake. My belief is that the force of the 1913 storm was so strong that it took sections of shipwrecks lying 15-20 feet deep and drove them over the reefs where they slid along the bottom until dropping down into these deeper pools near shore. I may be wrong and would be willing to discuss this with anyone interested.

Ice is always mentioned when things are moved along the shoreline. I have seen a 12-foot diameter boulder in the lake off my former home that was moved by the ice. The evidence was plain because there was a clearly defined gouge in the lake bottom showing how far the boulder moved. The gouge was about a foot deep into the lake bottom and was free of any stone or rocks. I do not see this evidence around some of the shallow water wrecks I have examined.

Several years ago I took two aerial tours along the shoreline from Grindstone to Harbor Beach. I spotted seven shallow water wrecks. Unfortunately, the water in the bay off the lighthouse was silty while the rest of the lake was crystal clear. I missed seeing the wreck that John Hummon is talking about. Therefore John’s story intrigued me and I started to do some research. I did find a reference to the Seaton in a previously unknown source. The Pointe aux Barques lighthouse keeper (Andrew Shaw) mentions the Seaton in his lighthouse logbook. The exact quote for November 11, 1892, states “Schooner Seaton anchored off here afternoon, during the night in attempting to get away, broke cable and got aground, men got off themselves. Station men helped them strip her and gave them lodging and substance.” (Note: Commas have been added to help readability. I believe broke cable means they broke the anchor chain while attempting to raise the anchor and the wind blew the ship aground. The “Station men” probably refers to the crew at the Pointe aux Barques Life-Saving Station which was located just south of the lighthouse.)

On November 21, 1892, Shaw writes “NNW heavy gale pm and night. Old schooners masts fell in the afternoon, before morning she had all broken up and disappeared.”

This would appear to make a strong case for John’s assumption that the wreck off his house is the L. Seaton. However, a careful reading of this same logbook, which covers the period from July 12, 1872, through December, 1895, shows several other ships aground in this same area. Research shows that some of these ships were recovered and served many more years. Shaw does not always tell that the ships that ran aground were saved. Also, this logbook covers only a 23-year period. Other sources mention many more shipwrecks in this area covering a 60-year period.

Besides the L. Seaton, two other good prospects mentioned in the logbook are the Mona and the Potter.

Shaw writes on September 9, 1887: “Scow Mona waterlogged at 11 pm ashore 3 am on the 10 th.

September 10, 1887: “Scow Mona drifted ashore 3 am this morning.”

September 11, 1887: “E rather fresh clear day this morning. My horse and light wagon borrowed to take crew to Sand Beach by J. Ferris a large lot of Lumber Shingles and lath strewed along the beach. (Note: I assume Ferris was the PAB Life-Saving Captain and took the crew of the Mona to Sand Beach ( Harbor Beach). The lumber, shingles, and lath must have been the Mona’s cargo.)

September 15, 1887: “Fresh or gale clear all day N gale cloudy 12 pm old Mona swept of spars.” (Note: Other sources refer to the Mona as a schooner so examination of Hummon’s wreck may offer a clue.)

Shaw also writes on November 28, 1891: “fresh wind cold clear cloudy 12 pm Schooner Potter drifted ashore off light after sundown.”

November 29: “~ tugs worked all day and night without effect.”

November 30 “~ tugs went off about 9 this morning.”

December 12, 1891 “~ shut down light this morning having seen nothing on the lake only the Marigold who passed up on the 11 th and the Steamer Seagull whom was working several days at the wreck of the Potter got off most of the lumber.”

So, in just this one journal I have several possibilities for Hummon’s wreck. There also is a similar piece of wreckage on the south end of the same bay. We then can assume there are two different wrecks close to the lighthouse. I will continue to watch for further clues as to the identities of these wrecks. I will keep looking in local newspaper archives. The Huron Times ( Harbor Beach) newspapers original copies are being put on microfilm so I will have to wait until that is complete. Perhaps these wrecks will never be positively identified. If anyone has any information on these wrecks please contact me at rburkhard@charter.net.

Copyright © 2005 Ron Burkhard