The O.M. Bond was a schooner built in 1873 by A. Miller & Co in Oswego, New York. It had an official number of 19383 and was made of wood. The schooner measured approximately 137 feet in length, 25 feet in width, and had a depth of 11 feet. Its gross tonnage was 315.37 tons, and its net tonnage was 299.61 tons.
On October 14, 1886, the O.M. Bond encountered a storm on Lake Erie while en route from Detroit to Buffalo. The vessel was carrying a cargo of 22,000 bushels of wheat. Due to a rapid shift in wind, the schooner lost steerageway and capsized, being driven ashore about 4 miles west of Rondeau, Ontario. Out of the seven crew members on board, two lost their lives in the incident. The deceased were identified as Patrick Ryan, the mate, and Joseph Hughes, a sailor.
The remaining crew members managed to cling to the rigging until they were rescued by a local man in a skiff. At the time of the accident, the O.M. Bond was on one of its first trips after undergoing a rebuild. The vessel was owned by its skipper, Captain Peter Lefevre, and its home port was Oswego, New York.
It’s worth noting that the O.M. Bond had previously sunk and was recovered near Sand Beach, Michigan, in 1879. In May of 1886, it had sunk near Port Dalhousie, Ontario, but was raised and rebuilt in Buffalo. There were discussions about the ship’s condition and potential insurance claims following the incident.
