- Date
- 1850-09-17
- Kind
- Shipwreck
- Where
- Skilligallee Reef
- Wreck of
- A.D. Patchin
- Eras
- Early American era
- Concepts
- shipwrecksshippingmaritimeheritage
- Within
- Beaver Island archipelago
Summary
The steamer A.D. Patchin wrecked on Skilligallee Reef near Beaver Island on 17 September 1850, according to a 2023 Wisconsin Historical Society report that cites contemporary Buffalo newspapers.
Local aftermath
The 2 March 1854 Northern Islander says a yawl from the wreck had frozen on Hog Island shoals. In the newspaper’s account, James J. Strang and workmen were attempting to save that boat when Sheriff Granger’s party arrived. This source-bound aftermath is recorded separately from the loss itself: the article does not establish a complete salvage history or an exact yawl location.
Evidence and limits
No held source yet establishes why the vessel wrecked, who was aboard, whether anyone died, the cargo, exact wreck coordinates, or whether any later discovery is securely identified as the A.D. Patchin. The event is therefore a dated loss at the named reef, not a mapped wreck site or a claim about later lighthouse construction.
Open questions
- Which original 1850 casualty reports identify the voyage, crew, passengers, cargo, cause, and outcome?
- What evidence is needed to identify any underwater remains as the A.D. Patchin?
- Does a federal lighthouse appropriation or engineering record document any relationship between this loss and a later light at Iles aux Galets?
See also
Sources
- Described in this archive: From Behind Masks: underwater archaeological investigations, 2020–2022.States that the steamer A.D. Patchin wrecked 17 September 1850 on Skillagallee Reef near Beaver Island. The report’s reference is a historical aside in an Abiah site history, so it does not establish cause, people aboard, cargo, casualties, salvage chronology beyond the named 1852 machinery carriage, an exact position, or identity of surviving remains.maritime · wisconsin_shipwrecks · from-behind-masks-2020-2022-field-report
- Described in this archive: Northern Islander, 1850–1856.The contemporaneous-to-1854 local account says that a yawl lost from the wreck of the steamer Patchin was frozen on Hog Island shoals, where Strang and workmen later attempted to save it. It corroborates a locally consequential Patchin wreck but does not independently date or locate the loss on Skillagallee Reef.
Added 2 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Wreck of the A.D. Patchin, 1850”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/ad-patchin-wreck-1850/, accessed [date], citing Tamara L. Thomsen and Caitlin N. Zant, *From Behind Masks: Underwater Archaeological Investigations from the 2020–2022 Field Seasons*, Wisconsin Historical Society Technical Report Series 23-001 (2023), p. 11. (and 1 further source listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-02. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
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