WHEN SHIPS COLLIDE: THE STORY OF THE LADY ELGIN
Part 3
by Wayne "Skip" Kadar

Join in the conclusion as Kadar paints a vivid picture of the horror the passengers faced as they bobbed in the water while the Lady Elgin sank to her watery grave.

Above the moaning and screams of the passengers, Captain Wilson ordered everyone to quickly go to the hurricane deck. There the crew was throwing overboard planks, doors, deck chairs and anything else, which might float. Passengers reluctantly began to jump from the deck after the floats.

Charles yelled to John, "Follow me!" as he threw his door over and jumped in after it. Buoyed by the support of Charles, John held tight to the door as he jumped, fearing he would lose it if he threw it in. The door landed flat on the surface, John's face smashing into it on impact, breaking his nose and opening a gash in his forehead.

The damaged ship creaking and twisting in the seas was starting to break up. A metal strap supporting one of the smoke stacks broke in a metallic crack. The smoke stack crashed to the deck crushing several people huddled below. Panicked all the more, mothers threw their children into the lake as people jumped from every deck of the ship. Moments later, the ship broke apart. The hull, filling with water, couldn't support the additional weight; and the Lady Elgin slipped below the waves at the stern, as her bow remained at the surface.

Hundreds of people still onboard were cast into the lake, some with life preservers, some with something to float on, many others with nothing. The screams of the victims, the howling wind and the thunder filled the night.

As the ship sank, some wood cabin structure of the ship broke off and floated to the surface. A large section of the hurricane deck surfaced. Scared men, women and children climbed on and lay across it, praying the raft would not break up in the heavy seas. Reaching out from the raft, others were pulled onto it. Women called out their husbands' and children's names, while searching the lake and praying they were safe.

The hurricane deck raft floated by Captain Wilson who was hanging onto a timber with one arm and holding an infant in the other. He handed the child aboard and climbed on. By this time, the large piece of decking held over 40 people. He settled and reached for the child.

Waves washed the raft, knocking people off. They frantically swam back to the raft and climbed on. Some weakened by the regular assaults of the sea couldn't regain the raft and slipped below the sea.

Captain Wilson handed the infant to a woman and stood to look for signs of the shore. He talked to those on the raft trying to reassure them that they would safely reach the beach. A large wave broke down on the raft knocking the captain flat. The woman holding the baby was washed off; she and the infant were lost in the churning sea.

John Crilley laid on his door, paddling as blood ran down his face. He yelled for Charles, who had given him the strength to jump into the raging sea, but Charles was nowhere to be found. The door Charles had thrown over was there, but Charles was gone.

John paddled towards the sounds of people. He saw a large amount of people on a makeshift raft. He climbed on and hugged friends he found for support and warmth.

One of the yawls lowered by the Lady Elgin drifted towards shore, picking up men and women as they floated by them. With 18 aboard, the crew heard the surf breaking on shore. They knew the worst wasn't over. The small boat would be tossed and thrown in the heavy surf breaking on the rocks along the shore. Within sight of land, the boat was thrown end over end in the wild waves. The human cargo was cast into the sea; some washed up on shore; others were killed as their bodies were pounded on the rocks.

The few that made it to shore found a cottage and woke the sleeping family. The few who had survived the wild yawl ride were made warm by the fire and fed breakfast.

Captain Wilson heard the breaking surf and knew their raft would be broken apart as it entered the shallow water. He prepared his fellow passengers of the peril, which lay ahead of them. By this time the number on the raft had been decreased by the constant assault of the waves washing the tired and cold away.

The raft and its occupants rose up on the crest of a wave, then slipped back only for the following wave to crash down on it washing all souls into the angry water. The waves smashed the raft into splinters. The human cargo, cast into the water, were thrown about by the seas breaking on the rocky coast. Some people, trying to keep their heads above the surface, were speared by the splinters of the raft. Some were picked up by the waves and thrown above the rocks only to land on the beach. Others were smashed into the near shore rocks, their bodies broken and bloodied; while still others were pulled below, never to return alive.

Captain Wilson, who so bravely buoyed the spirits of those on the raft, never made it to shore. His battered body was recovered days later.

That night the Lady Elgin carried 385 passengers and crew. Only 98 lived through the night of horror, making it the worst disaster to occur to that date on the Great Lakes.

* * * * *

The Lady Elgin
Music and words by Henry C. Work 1861

Up from the poor man's cottage, up from the mansion's door.
Sweeping across the waters, echoing along the shore.
Caught by the morning breezes, borne on the evening gale
Cometh the voice of mourning, a sad and solemn wail.

Chorus:
Lost on the Lady Elgin, sleeping to wake no more
Numbered with three hundred who failed to reach the shore.

Staunch was the noble steamer, precious the freight she bore
Gaily she loosed her cables a few short hours before
Grandly she swept the harbor, joyfully rang her bell
Little thought we are ere morning 'twould toll so sad a knell

Chorus:
Lost on the Lady Elgin, sleeping to wake no more
Numbered with three hundred who failed to reach the shore.

Oh hear the cry of children weeping for parents gone
Children slept that morning, but orphans woke at dawn
Sisters for brothers weeping, husbands for missing wives
Such were the ties dissevered by those three hundred lives.

Chorus:
Lost on the Lady Elgin, sleeping to wake no more
Numbered with three hundred who failed to reach the shore.

Wayne "Skip" Kadar's latest book titled, Great Lakes Passenger Ship Disasters can be purchased at the Corner Store in Harbor Beach or by calling the publisher, Avery Color Studios, Inc. at 1-800-722-9925. Avery Color Studios is the publisher of an extensive list of Great Lakes books.