Name/Title
Letter to the editor of Inland Seas.Entry/Object ID
2000.FIC.02.335Scope and Content
Copy of a letter to the editor of Inland Seas Magazine the Journal of the Great Lakes Historical Society referring to the previous letter and relating the story of the sinking of and subsequent discovery of, the Thomas Cahoon barge. It mentions the amount of lumber lost and the recovery of artifacts such as the bilge pump.
Top addtional typed notation:
Continued from the bottom: The capstan and an anchor were removed from the wreck during the second World War when all available wrecks were being utilized for available scrap iron.
These two items now rest in the museum at Gore Bay and much of the lumber the Cahoon was carrying still litters the bottom... Mindemoya, Ontario Terry Matz
To the Editor...by J. Donald Garel, Cleveland, Ohio
[references 2000.FIC.02.334]
I read with great interest Mrs. Edward M. Hoagland's letter in the summer 1977 issue of Inland Seas. I have been researching the Thomas H. Cahoon for about two years now. I discovered the shipwreck in the North Channel of Lake Huron almost two years ago. The Cahoon was wrecked on Kenney Shoal, situated at the southwest corner of Innes Island, which is approximately twelve miles north of Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island.
I am a scubadiver and have many books on shipwrecks. In Karl E. Heden's directory of shipwrecks of the Great Lakes, in the chapter on Lake Huron, it lists the Thomas H. Cahoon stranded in the channel of Lake Huron, October 11, 1913. To confirm the existance of the wreck I checked the issues of the Manitoulin Expositor in Little Current. The October 28 issue carried a small article on the wreck. It stated that the barge Cahoon was being towed by the freighter Chamberlain when the towline broke in rough seas. The Cahoon washed up on Kenney Shoal on the southwest corner of Innes Island where she was flattened by waves: 800,000 board feet of hard wood lumber were also lost, spelling financial ruin for the Burke Brothers.
Next I consulted aerial photographs and it was on one of these that I located the Cahoon. I also wrote to our Great Lakes Historical Society and received a reply dated May 20' 1976" giving the same dimension Mrs. Hoagland included in her letter, also that she was official no.59404 and had a five man crew. Her home port was Port Huron, Michigan.
Diving on the ship has yielded various artifacts. Ore locks, halliard blocks, block and tackle and the holder of the bell. This spring the bilge pump was recovered. It was made by Rumsey and Co., Seneca Falls, New York. It is a no. 32,4-inch pump, a large eagle with wings spread is above the company name and much effort has restored the pump to working order.Collection
Early Family Papers: CahoonRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Cahoon, Thomas H.Person or Organization
Garel, J. DonaldPerson or Organization
Haden, Carl E.Person or Organization
Hoagland, Mrs.Person or Organization
Matz, TerryRelated Entries
Notes
1996.A.028, 2000.FIC.02.323, 2000.FIC.02.334, 2000.FIC.02.336, 2000.FIC.02.337, 2000.FIC.02.338, 2000.FIC.02.339, 2000.FIC.02.340