painting
Catalog Number
1938.96.1Description
Painting of the boat Alpena, oil on canvas, 36"high x 60" wide, by artist William Torgerson. The scene of the painting is of the storm on Lake Michigan that sunk the Alpena.The schooner J.A. Holmes can be seen in the distance in this painting. The J.A. Holmes is the last ship to have visual contact with the Alpena before it went down in 1880.
History
This painting was restored in 1992 by Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration. It is thought this was one of a set of paintings done by William Torgerson. The other painting being that of the J.A. Holmes (1938.96.1).This painting is not dated.
The Alpena, part of the Goodrich ship line, was a sidewheel steamboat built in 1866. The boat measured 197 feet in length, 27 feet in breadth, with a depth of 12 feet. It was rated at 654 tons displacement and driven by a steam engine. Thomas Arnold of Gallagher & Company at Marine City, Michigan was the boat's builder.
The Alpena was traveling from Grand Haven, MI to Chicago, IL when it sank in Lake Michigan in October of 1880, with the loss of all on board. The boat, also carrying a large cargo of apples, capsized in the middle of the lake. The Alpena was last spotted at 8:00 am on October 16 in heavy seas.
Sometime later, probably due to a shift in the cargo on deck caused by the waves, it capsized and drifted northwest. On the 17th, debris including a piano came ashore in Holland, Michigan, while apples and wood debris were found at Saugatuck.
The location of the Alpena remains a mystery.
At least 80 people died when the ship went down. The following is an incomplete list of those that perished:
Crew members included Captain Nelson W. Napier, (St. Joseph, MI); 1st Officer J. H. Kelly (Green Bay, WI);
1st Engineer Robert W. Johnson (Grand Haven, MI); 2nd Engineer Robert Patton; Steward John Brown (Chicago, IL); Peter Eggert (Lincoln, Berrien Co., MI); Clerk Arthur E. Haynes (Chicago, IL); Porter Thomas Lynch; Fireman Harry Falls; Fred Perry (Chicago. IL); Frank F. Pope (St. Johns, MI).
Passengers included Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Benham (Grand Haven, MI, editor of the Grand Haven
Tribune); Mrs. Newton Bradley (Sante Fe, NM); Miss Lou Bradley (Sante fe, NM); Miss Kate Bradley (Sante Fe, NM); Mrs. S. B. Cole (Ottawa, IL); Montgomery Crossman (Grand Haven, MI); Mrs. B. F. Curtis (Grand Haven, MI); Mrs. Decoudres (Evanston, IL); Russell Holt (Chicago, IL); G. Hottinger (Grand Rapids, MI); C. Kusterer ( Grand Rapids, MI); H. Landreth (Muskegon, MI); Rev. and Mrs. Farrell Hart (White Pigeon, MI); Neal Angus McGillvray (St. Joseph, MI); John Osborn(e), wife and 3 children (Chicago, IL); L. D. (or T.D.) Peyton (Philadelphia, PA); F. Spaethe (Grand Rapids, MI); Heber Squier Jr. (Grand Haven, MI); Harry L. St. Clair;
E. A. Angel (Lamont MI); Mrs. Sarah M. Bragg (Chicago, IL); Andrew Murdock (Philadelphia, PA); Mrs. Vander Car (Chicago, IL); E. Forsman (Sweden); John Holmquist (Sweden); P. I. Quist (Sweden); and John E. Strohm (Sweden).
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