SS Jarvis Lord
SS Jarvis Lord was a wooden-hulled American Great Lakes freighter in service between 1872 and 1885. She sank without loss of life in the Manitou Passage on Lake Michigan on August 17 or 18, 1885, while loaded with iron ore.
Jarvis Lord was one of the first bulk freighters ever built for the Great Lakes. She was built in 1872 by the Morley & Hill shipyard in Marine City, Michigan for William B. Morley, one of the yard's owners. One of the first purpose built lake freighters, Jarvis Lord was designed to operate in the iron-ore and coal trade. She would end up changing hands twice during the 1870s, before being purchased by John W. Moore & H.H. Brown of Cleveland, Ohio in 1883.
On August 17 or 18, 1885, while bound from St. Ignace, Michigan for Chicago, Illinois, Jarvis Lord was travelling in the Manitou Passage when she sprang a leak and began sinking rapidly. Captain Richard Neville ordered that the pumps be turned on, and that Jarvis Lord be steered towards Pyramid Point in order to beach her. The situation became so dire Captain Neville ordered that the crew abandon ship. She sank stern first. All of her crew survived, making it to Glen Haven, Michigan about an hour later.
The wreck of Jarvis Lord was discovered in 2020 by Ross Richardson, resting in of water and partially broken up. Richardson speculated that Jarvis Lord sank due to a possible grounding in the North Manitou Shoal.
History
Design and construction
Jarvis Lord was built in 1872 in Marine City, Michigan, by the Morley & Hill shipyard. Her master carpenter was William B. Morley, one of the yard's owners. She was launched on November 23, 1872. At the time of her construction, Jarvis Lord was the largest double-decked steamship ever built in Marine City, and one of the first purpose-built bulk freighters ever built for the Great Lakes. Jarvis Lord wooden hull was in length, wide and deep. Jarvis Lord had a gross register tonnage of 770.97 tons and a net register tonnage of 641.06 tons.Jarvis Lord was powered by a single-cylinder low pressure steam engine; the cylinder of the engine had a bore of and a stroke of. Steam for the engine was produced by a coal-burning tubular boiler. The engine was manufactured by Desotelle & Hutton of Detroit, Michigan. She was propelled by a single fixed-pitch propeller.
Service history
Jarvis Lord was named after a politician and banker from New York, who was then a member of the New York State Senate. She was originally built for her master carpenter, William B. Morley, and was designed to operate in the iron ore and coal trade. She received her enrollment in Port Huron, Michigan on May 19, 1873. Her home port was Chicago, Illinois.Throughout her career, Jarvis Lord was involved in many notable incidents and accidents.
On June 1, while loaded with 27,800 bushels of wheat, Jarvis Lord became the first ship to arrive in Buffalo, New York from Duluth, Minnesota in 1873. In 1874, Jarvis Lord operated as part of Eber Brock Ward's Lake Superior Line, making eleven round trips to Lake Superior. While in the Chicago harbour on April 1, 1874, Jarvis Lord received $100 worth of damage to her hull. Jarvis Lord was in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in June 1874, when her engine broke down. She sustained $3,000 worth of damage. Jarvis Lord was sold to John H. Bartow of Buffalo on April 29, 1875. She was fitted with a new stem in September 1875, by the Union Dry Dock Company in Buffalo. On April 29, 1879, Jarvis Lord was purchased by Marcus M. Drake of Buffalo, who chartered her to the Wabash Line in 1880.
Jarvis Lord suffered the most serious accident of her career on November 19, 1880, while bound from Toledo, Ohio for Buffalo with 24,000 bushels of wheat and 10,000 bushels of corn, when she struck an obstruction about east of Turtle Island on Lake Erie. She began leaking so badly that Captain A.W. Drake was forced to run her aground on Turtle Island. On November 25, she was towed to Amherstburg, Ontario by the steamer Garland, going into winter layup immediately. On September 27, 1881, Jarvis Lord was blown ashore at Ile Parisienne on Lake Superior while loaded with 32,000 bushels of wheat. By 1882, Jarvis Lord was engaged in the Marquette, Michigan – Cleveland, Ohio iron ore trade. She was sold to John W. Moore and H.H. Brown of Cleveland in March 1883, for $28,000. In 1883, she towed the barge T.P. Sheldon. Jarvis Lord received a major overhaul in March 1885; she had new decks, beams, hatches and stringers installed. In May of that same year, Jarvis Lord towed the schooners Champion, G.P. King and Reindeer in the Milwaukee and Chicago grain trade. Jarvis Lord was damaged in a collision with the schooner E.P. Royce on July 23, 1885, off the Skilligalee Light.