Service History
The wooden three masted schooner
Newsboy was built as a Barkentine in 1862 by Stephen R. Kirby at Saginaw, Michigan.
November 1862: Collided with the schooner
White Cloud near Manitowoc.
May 1866: Collided with the steamer
Michigan near Buffalo.
November 1867: Aground at Port Austin, Michigan, Lake Huron.
August 1869: Repaired a sprung foremast and changed the rigging from a bark to a schooner.
April 1871: Collided with the schooner
City of Painsdale at Chicago.
November 1871: With a cargo of coal the
Newsboy collided with and sank (total loss) the schooner
E.B. Allen off Thunder Bay, Lake Huron.
1884: Rebuilt.
August 1884: Aground at McGulpin Point.
August 1886: Aground at Prestque Island, Lake Huron.
October 1887: Dismasted on Lake Erie.
Last Document of Enrollment Surrendered: Chicago: 12/03/1891: "Vessel Lost".
Final Voyage
"Captain John L. Gallien, running north along the west shore of lake Michigan, made a slight miscalculation and perched his ship, the
Newsboy, high atop Fisherman Shoal on a windy Tuesday morning in the fall of 1891. As the storm intensified, the crew was forced from the deck and cabin areas into the forecastle and finally into the chain locker. Finally two brave men from Washington Island boated out to assist the stranded seamen; unfortunately, their craft capsized and the would be rescuers had to be saved by the weary crew. Two days passed, the storm continued, and the sailors suffered with wet food and no heat. Friday night came and with it the Tug
Monarch which eventually managed to rescue the exhausted crew." Boyd, Hirthe MS
"In December, owners of the steamer
Unknown received a contract to strip the
Newsboy and recover its cargo of corn. However, the fierce fall weather prevented much salvage activity near the shoal. Only a few local residents chanced out to the dying ship to collect what corn they could. By January, the hull had split in two and the remaining corn had deteriorated. Nonetheless, reports in 1897 stated that part of the
Newsboy's stern could still be seen on the south end of the shoal close to where the schooner
Blazing Star had also been destroyed in previous years." Boyd, Hirthe MS
