History
The schooner FAYETTE BROWN was a three-masted wooden schooner that was built in 1868 by Stevens & Presley in Cleveland, Ohio. It had a length of 178.5 feet, a beam of 31.3 feet, and a depth of 12.8 feet. The gross tonnage of the vessel was 553 tons, and the net tonnage was 525 tons.
On June 4, 1891, the Fayette Brown collided with the steamer Northern Queen in foggy conditions in Lake Erie, near Pelee Passage, 8 miles below “The Dummy” lighthouse. The collision occurred almost stem-on, and the schooner quickly sank in about 60 feet of water. There were no fatalities in the incident.
The Fayette Brown was carrying a cargo of 176 brownstone blocks at the time of the collision. One crewman managed to leap aboard the steamer, while others climbed up the masts and were later rescued by the steamer Robert Mills.
After the sinking, the wreck of the Fayette Brown was removed as a hazard to navigation by the Amherstburg wrecker F. B. Hackett, following a period of litigation over its ownership.
It is worth noting that the Fayette Brown had previously foundered in the same area in September 1872. The vessel was owned by M. A. Bradley of Cleveland, and its master at the time of the collision was Capt. Halstrum.
