On Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 1895, at about 3 o’clock, the lookout at the life saving station sighted a small object tossing on the huge waves, created by a northwestern gale, far to the north of the local harbor. As it came nearer, it was discovered to be a small yawl containing people. The lifeboat was quickly launched and in a short time was being rapidly pulled against the heavy sea by Uncle Sam’s braves, bent on saving the lives of some unfortunates who had evidently been left in a perilous condition.
At last, the yawl was reached and found to contain eight sailors. They were then transferred to the lifeboat, wet and nearly exhausted from the exposure to the severe snowstorm, and taken safely to the station, where they were given dry clothes, food and stimulants. It was then learned they were the crew of the ill-fated schooner Henry C. Richards, which had sunk eight miles out from Little Point Sable that morning.
The Richards left Escanaba the previous Sunday morning, Oct. 27, 1895, laden with iron ore consigned to the Illinois Steel Company in Milwaukee. She encountered Sunday night’s storm when her steering gear became disabled, rendering the craft unmanageable. Next, her sails and rigging gave way and soon she was drifting aimlessly before the gale began to push her toward the east shore of Lake Michigan, where she foundered. Every effort was made by the vessel’s crew in order to keep her afloat as long as they did, by working the pumps and throwing off ore with which she was heavily loaded.
In an interview that night with the captain of the Richards, B. C. Gray, who was taken up to town in Capt. Charles Lysaght’s carriage, he informed the Whitehall Forum that he and his crew received the best possible treatment since they arrived at the hospitable dwelling of Capt. Lysaght, family and crew. Capt. Gray and the sailors remained here until orders were received from the Illinois Steel Company, who owned the lost vessel and cargo.
The Henry C. Richards was built in 1873 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin by H. B. Burger for Jonah Richards of that city. The wooden hull schooner was 188.8 feet in length with a 32.7-foot beam and 13-foot depth.
