The schooner VALENTINE met its unfortunate fate on Lake Erie. On the night of October 10, 1877, the VALENTINE foundered off Cleveland. The crew of the vessel managed to take to a small boat and, after sixteen hours of hard labor, they landed six miles below Fairport. The crew was exhausted from the ordeal and could save only what they were wearing at the time.
Following the incident, sightings and reports of a sunken three-masted tow barge began to surface in the area. The propeller CHINA of the Anchor Line spotted the wreck about forty miles due east of Point au Pelee. The location of the wreck was considered dangerous and a potential threat to navigation. The topmasts of the sunken vessel were seen by other vessels as well, leading to speculations about its identity.
Eventually, it was confirmed that the sunken vessel was indeed the schooner VALENTINE. The VALENTINE was a flat-bottomed schooner with three masts, built in Conneaut, Ohio, by shipbuilder White, and launched in 1867. It had a tonnage of 273 tons and was owned by Mr. Capon of Conneaut. The loss of the schooner VALENTINE in Lake Erie served as another reminder of the perils faced by sailors and vessels navigating the Great Lakes during stormy and treacherous conditions.
