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Marshall F. Butters

Ontario waters · lost 1916

This site's location is withheld. Lost near the U.S.–Canada boundary, and published descriptions do not settle which side. Position withheld; general area only. This page shows the general area only.

The wooden lumber carrier Marshall F. Butters went down in the Black Friday storm of October 20, 1916, one of four large ships Lake Erie claimed that day. She was the lucky one: two passing steamers took off all thirteen of her crew before she sank.

The story

The Marshall F. Butters was a wooden propeller built in 1882 by the Milwaukee Shipyard Company at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. About 164 feet long, she was first enrolled at Grand Haven, Michigan, that June.[1] By 1916, 34 years after she was built, she was working as a lumber carrier.[2,1]

On Friday, October 20, 1916, she was crossing Lake Erie with a cargo of lumber from Midland, Ontario, when a violent storm swept the western end of the lake.[2] The HCGL vessel record says she foundered about ten miles southeast of the Southeast Shoal and that her entire crew was rescued by the steamers Frank Billings and Fred G. Hartwell.[1] Wikipedia's storm article agrees that all thirteen men were saved by two nearby ships, places the sinking near the Detroit River, and notes that one survivor left a detailed first-hand account of the sinking and rescue.[2]

The same storm sank the whaleback James B. Colgate, whose captain was the only survivor; the schooner D.L. Filer, which lost all but one man; and the steel freighter Merida, which went down with all hands. Wikipedia puts the day's toll at forty-nine, although the tolls recorded for the individual ships add up to more.[2] Of the four, only the Butters brought her whole crew home.[2,1]

Sources disagree on details. Wikipedia's list of Great Lakes shipwrecks dates her loss to October 10 rather than October 20, and the two accounts of where she sank are some distance apart.[3,1] The wreck has been located, according to Wikipedia; because it lies near the international boundary, this page gives the general area only.[2]

Sources differ: Wikipedia's list of Lake Erie shipwrecks gives 10 October 1916; the HCGL record and Wikipedia's storm article put the loss on October 20.

Lives lost: All thirteen crew were rescued by two steamers.

Questions people ask

Did anyone die when the Marshall F. Butters sank?

No. All thirteen crew were rescued by two steamers, which the HCGL record names as the Frank Billings and the Fred G. Hartwell.

Which ships sank in Lake Erie's Black Friday storm?

Four large vessels on October 20, 1916: the Marshall F. Butters, the James B. Colgate, the D.L. Filer and the Merida. Forty-nine people died.

Learn more

Museums and groups are linked for further reading; they are not connected with this site.

Look, don't take

Look, don't take. Shipwrecks and everything on them are protected by law; removing or disturbing anything can be a crime.

  • Ontario: under the Ontario Heritage Act no one may alter a marine archaeological site or remove an artifact from it without a provincial licence; fines for breaking this rule can reach $1,000,000.[4][5][6]

How Lake Erie wrecks are protected

Diving Lake Erie wrecks is dangerous: cold water, poor visibility, depth, entanglement and boat traffic. Nothing here is dive guidance or a dive position. Dive only with proper training, a qualified operator and current information from the groups that maintain moorings.

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Sources

  1. HCGL vessel record: BUTTERS, MARSHALL F., Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  2. 1916 Black Friday storm, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  3. List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie section), Wikipedia. Accessed .
  4. law-on-oha-part6, Government of Ontario (e-Laws). Accessed .
  5. law-on-oreg-11-06, Government of Ontario (e-Laws). Accessed .
  6. Atlantic (1848 ship), Wikipedia. Accessed .

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