- Date
- 1883-11-23
- Kind
- Accident
- Where
- Hog Island Reef
- Participants
- Capt. Harrison “Tip” Miller (keeper)
- Eras
- Irish era
- Concepts
- maritimeshippingshipwrecksheritage
- Within
- Beaver Island archipelago
- Media
- Beaver Island History Map, 1978 revision
Summary
On November 23, 1883, the schooner J. I. Case was among the casualties attended by Capt. Harrison Miller, then the Beaver Island Life-Saving Station’s keeper.1 A later local retrospective says the three-masted schooner, carrying corn from Chicago to Buffalo, became stranded on Hog Island Reef and was saved by the station.2
Evidence and limits
The event is recorded as a stranding and rescue, not a shipwreck: the held 1961 account says the vessel was saved, while a 1908 reprint independently fixes the date and connects Miller to its response. The 1908 account does not state the place or outcome; the later account does not supply the master, crew, or a contemporary rescue report. The Hog Island Reef location therefore remains a source-qualified retrospective claim, not a surveyed wreck location.
Open questions
- What was the weather context and the vessel’s master and crew?
- Which volunteer fishermen, if any, carried out the rescue with Miller?
See also
Sources
Footnotes
Sources
- Charlevoix Sentinel, July 30, 1908, “Brave Old Capt. ‘Tip’ Miller,” reprinting the Frankfort Express.The reprint lists “schr. J. I. Case on Nov. 23, 1883” among wrecks attended by Capt. Harrison Miller, who it says was keeper of the Beaver Island Life-Saving Station from 1876 until his March 14, 1887 transfer. It does not state the casualty’s location, cargo, master, crew, or outcome. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
- Retrospective says the three-masted schooner J. I. Case, carrying corn from Chicago to Buffalo, became stranded on Hog Island Reef in 1883 and was saved by the station.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-12_Beaver-Beacon
- The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-12_Beaver-Beacon
Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Stranding of the J. I. Case, 1883”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/stranding-of-j-i-case-1883/, accessed [date], citing Charlevoix Sentinel, July 30, 1908, “Brave Old Capt. ‘Tip’ Miller,” reprinting the Frankfort Express. (and 2 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
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