LADY ELGIN

The Lady Elgin was a side-wheel steamship owned by Gurdon Hubbard. On the night of her last excursion, she was making a return trip to Milwaukee. Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum

An unlighted, overloaded two-master, the Augusta was under full sail and at top speed when it rammed the Lady Elgin beneath the water line. Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum

In 1989, in the waters of Lake Michigan near Highwood, Illinois, divers found what they had been seeking for decades: the wreckage of the Lady Elgin, a passenger steamship that had gone down 10 miles south of that spot nearly 130 years before.

On a stormy night in 1860, the Lady Elgin, which was owned by Gurdon Hubbard, sailed from Chicago for Milwaukee with nearly 700 passengers on board.

The Lady Elgin probably would have made it to Milwaukee but for the inexplicable behavior of another craft in the water that night – the schooner Augusta. Despite gale-force winds, the Augusta, an unlighted two-master overloaded with lumber, was under full sail. She rammed the Lady Elgin broadside beneath the water line at top speed. It might as well have been a torpedo hit.

Within 20 minutes, the Lady Elgin disintegrated, leaving hundreds of desperate passengers floating in heavy seas. Many clung to bits of wreckage through the night, only to have a powerful undertow claim their lives as they neared shore at dawn. Some were saved through the bravery of Edward Spencer, a Northwestern University student who kept going back to rescue people until he became delirious.

But in the end, only 160 lives were saved.

As for the Augusta, her captain was threatened with lynching when he returned to port, but he lived to sail another day – only to meet a watery grave in the lake himself a few years later.

Within 20 minutes, the Lady Elgin had disintegrated; with only three lifeboats (one of which had quickly been swamped), her passengers were left clinging to debris in stormy waters. Those who made it through the night found themselves facing breakers and a strong undertow as they neared shore. Photo Credit: Wisconsin Historical Society

Brave Northwestern University student Edward Spencer tied a rope around his waist and repeatedly went into the turbulent water to save people until he himself became delirious. Photo Credit: Northwestern University

The Lady Elgin’s wreckage was discovered off Highwood, Illinois in 1989. It had been underwater for nearly 130 years. Photo Credit: Rick Richter/Silent Helm Productions

A marker in Milwaukee commemorates the Lady Elgin and the lives lost. Many of the passengers were from one area of Milwaukee. Photo Credit: Wisconsin Historical Society