The schooner LIZZIE A. LAW was a vessel with a gross tonnage of 747.48 tons and a net tonnage of 710.13 tons. She was built in Huron, Michigan, in 1875 and had her home port in Chicago, Illinois.
On the night of July 19, 1893, while the LIZZIE A. LAW was laden with 50,000 bushels of wheat and bound down in tow of the steamer EGYPTIAN, she collided with the schooner DAVID VANCE. The DAVID VANCE was loaded with coal from Erie and bound up, and both vessels ended up sinking as a result of the collision. The incident occurred about 2 miles west of Point au Pelee in Lake Erie.
Fortunately, there were no lives lost in the collision, and the crews of both vessels were saved. However, the DAVID VANCE went down in 42 feet of water, while the LIZZIE A. LAW sank not far from her in presumably a similar depth. The LIZZIE A. LAW was run ashore on Pigeon Bay and was full of water.
Efforts were made to raise the sunken schooner, and a contract was given to Augustus Hemmerger of Algonac to raise the wreck. However, despite the efforts, the LIZZIE A. LAW was deemed a total loss, and the Orient Insurance Co. paid the owner, J.J. Ward, the policy amount of $5,000 on the lost boat.
The wreckage of the LIZZIE A. LAW was later removed to shoal water, and the remaining corn cargo was removed. The incident was a significant lake disaster, and the sunken DAVID VANCE posed an obstruction to navigation in Pelee Passage.
The schooner DAVID VANCE, which was involved in the collision with the LIZZIE A. LAW, was a vessel of 736 tons net register, built in 1874 at Manitowoc. It was owned by Capt. McKenzie and others of the city and was valued at about $24,000.
Despite the tragedy, the LIZZIE A. LAW left a lasting mark in maritime history and remains as a part of the record of lake disasters in the late 19th century.
