The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
A rich heritage
Shipbuilding was major aspect of the city’s past
In reading the tales of the high seas, one often imagines of far off locations and dramatic voyages. ¶ However, the maritime heritage of the Great Lakes has roots in Lorain County with Vermilion acting as a key location for shipbuilding dating back to the early 19th century. ¶ The remnants of Vermilion’s maritime history are sprinkled around the city. From the numerous fishing charters and marinas, to the local underwater delicacies, and all the way to a replica of Vermilion’s 1877 lighthouse, erected in 1991, which stands outside the city’s Maritime History Museum. ¶ Lakeside culture is everywhere. Vermilion found itself as part of a thriving 19th century shipbuilding industry along Lake Erie’s coastal communities stretching all the way to Sandusky, encompassing Lorain, Milan, Huron and Port Clinton.
With the industrial revolution in full force during the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era, the woodenframed vessels navigated the region’s lakes and rivers, playing a critical role in transporting goods to cities and towns.
More than 100 vessels were built on Vermilion’s shores between 1814 and 1954, according to Matthew J. Weisman, the author of the 2016 book, “Boats built at Vermilion, Milan, Huron, Sandusky and Port Clinton, Ohio: a comprehensive listing of the vessels built from schooners to steamers.”
In addition, Bowling Green State University’s William T. Jerome Library contains a comprehensive collection of Great Lakes history, documenting the vessels, personnel and other documents shedding light on the shipping and shipbuilding industries of the Great Lakes.
Constructed in Vermilion in 1865 by Nicholas and Parsons, the schooner J.F. Card had a remarkable story sailing the waters of the Great Lakes between the United States and Canada.
The vessel ran aground on Nov. 15, 1900, in the small Ontario community of Invehuron, on the banks of Lake Huron.
A primary source retelling of the Card’s demise described a scene out of a novel documented in the “Last Trip of the J.F. Card” by McLeod Orford.
“It was a cold November day at Inverhuron, a small village on the Canadian shore of Lake Huron. Snow was falling and the frost in the air was increasing rapidly. For many hours the seas of a violent northwester had been lashing the beach. It was November, 15, 1900.”
The J.F. Card was ported in Port Huron, Michigan and led by Captain Brown of Detroit. In its final voyage it was transporting approximately 260,000 feet of lumber from Midland, Ontario to W.B. Merson & Co. in Saginaw, Michigan.
According to a Nov. 22, 1900, story in the Detroit Free Press cited by Weisman from a 1966 edition of the Great Lakes Historical Society, the 36-year-old ship valued at $3,500 was scattered across the shore near the small town of Kincardine, Ontario.
The crew of six men and one woman lived to tell the tale, with Captain Brown reportedly responding to the complaints of the sole female crewmember, “Listen, my good woman, he said. “You’re lucky you’re not going home in a box.”
The John L. Gross constructed in 1857 in Vermilion by builder P.M. Brush sailed the waters of the Great Lakes until 1873 when it was finally beached at Eagle Harbor, Michigan on Lake Superior.
According to an 1857 report in the Cleveland Morning Leader, Brush was found dead aboard the vessel in June, allegedly taking his own life in 1858 following a “fit of temporary insanity,” leaving behind a wife and five children.
In an 1859 collision reported by the Detroit Free Press, the Gross collided with the Kosciusko while crossing the Flats. It lost part or its sail but was able to continue on its voyage. Rebuilt and enlarged in 1872 in Vermilion, it was finally retired in 1873.