On October 3, 1885, the schooner-barge Hattie L. Johnson met its unfortunate fate off the harbor entrance at Oswego, New York, in Lake Ontario. The vessel, built in 1872 by S. Johnson in Clayton, NY, was a wooden schooner-barge with a tonnage of 227. It was primarily used for transporting coal. The Hattie L. Johnson broke adrift from the tug PROCTOR while attempting to seek shelter in Oswego during a storm. Eventually, it drifted ashore near the lifesaving station. Fortunately, none of the six crew members lost their lives, as they managed to reach the shore on their own.
Following the grounding, the Hattie L. Johnson was stripped of all valuable items and abandoned. It is worth noting that the vessel had previously encountered a similar fate in Lake Michigan in 1880. Despite undergoing major repairs in 1881, it faced another devastating incident in 1885 off the coast of Oswego.
The Hattie L. Johnson was associated with Ogdensburg, NY, and its history intertwines with another vessel named Tuscarora.
