Other Names
- Three Brothers
The Brothers, also known as Three Brothers, was a wooden paddle wheel steamer that served as a ferry and cargo vessel. It was built in 1839 in Chatham, Ontario, and had a tonnage of 150 tons.
On either May or June of 1856, the Brothers met its unfortunate fate in a storm on the St. Clair River near the lighthouse. The vessel sank and became a total loss. It was carrying a cargo of bricks and was bound for Windsor at the time of the incident. Despite significant efforts to recover the wreck and cargo, the Brothers remained wrecked and was deemed irreparable. Fortunately, no lives were lost in the incident.
The vessel was owned by Charles Davis of Chatham, who had originally used it as the first ferry in the area. The insurance loss for the Brothers was reported to be $5,500.
In an earlier reference to the vessel, it was mentioned as the Three Brothers. The steamer was owned by the Eberts family of Chatham, and it was described as a splendid new steamer launched in spring 1839. The Three Brothers was praised for its architectural design and internal arrangements, with attention given to the comfort and accommodation of passengers. It operated as a regular service between Chatham, Amherstburg, Windsor, and Detroit.
It seems that at some point, the name of the vessel was changed from Three Brothers to Brothers.
These details provide an overview of the history and loss of the Brothers, a paddle wheel steamer that operated as a ferry and cargo vessel in the Chatham area during the mid-19th century.
