Sailing Adventures of Captain Stephen “Bony” Brownell
Above left: 515 E. Otjen St. (1898-1901), the house where Stephen Brownell was living at the time of this adventure. This was his second Bay View home (he lived in 10 different Bay View homes during his sailing career). Photo: The Small Studio Brand Shop, LLC., Bay View; https://www.hellosmallstudio.com/
Above center: not yet a lake captain but while serving as second mate on the ferry Pere Marquette No. 16, future Bay View Lake Captain Stephen Brownell was rescued by a shore-based contraption called a “Breeches Buoy” where crew and passengers are winched ashore via rope tied between the two. The ship had run aground in Michigan during a huge storm and was breaking up from the force of the waves. His captain during this rescue was fellow Bay View Lake Captain George L. Thompson. Photo credit: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Thunder Bay Research Collection.
Above right: an actual photo of the crew of the Pere Marquette No. 16 being rescued from the sinking ship via Breeches Buoy at Ludington, Michigan, on 22 December 1901. All of the crew (except one who had already died aboard) was rescued this way.
Photo credit: Institute for Great Lakes Research, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Thunder Bay Research Collection.
Above left: 2203 S. Winchester St. (since torn down) (1907).
Above center: 2904 S. Mabbett Ave. (1907).
Both photos: The Small Studio Brand Shop, LLC., Bay View; https://www.hellosmallstudio.com/
Above right: the steamship Hennepin, 1907-08. Sailing adventures as captain: (It’s unknown what exact dates in 1907 he lived in each of these two homes above, so the sailing adventure is listed here for both homes.) On 18 June 1907, the Hennepin ran aground on a sunken lumber wharf while unloading gravel at North Muskegon, Michigan, two tugboats struggled to pull it off. Photo courtesy the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Thunder Bay Research Collection.
His Ships and Sailing Adventures After Leaving Bay View
Above left: The steamship Topeka, 1909-16; Sailing adventures as captain: On the evening of 08 April 1915, a seacock was mistakenly placed in the open position at night while tied up to the pier on the Kinnickinnic River by the Becher Street Bridge in Milwaukee and the ship sank to the bottom. It was successfully raised and later steamed away successfully. The Topeka was reported as the biggest ship on the Great Lakes capable of unloading its cargo unassisted. Stephen’s younger brother Joseph (also a Bay View lake captain) captained just such a vessel that was reported several years earlier to be the first with this new capability, though Joseph’s was a different ship. On Thursday 10 August 1916, ran aground on Drummond Island, about 60 miles east of Mackinaw Island in northern Lake Huron. This is the same place that fellow Bay View lake captain Hawley Boyce had run onto an uncharted reef two decades earlier. Could the reef have remained uncharted and Captain Brownell ran into it just as Captain Boyce had? On the night of 16 August 1916 at about 2:30 a.m. in extremely thick fog, the older and wooden-hulled Topeka captained by Stephen Brownell collided in the Detroit River with the newer steel-hulled steamer Christopher (above right) captained by another Bay View Lake Captain William E. Wright. The Topeka, with Stephen’s brother David serving as his first mate, sank in mere minutes. Immediately after the crash, the Topeka’s first mate Charles Washlefski (of West Allis, Wisconsin) ran down into the crew quarters and hollered for everyone up. Accompanying him was the ship’s dog mascot, whose name is unknown to history, that barked and barked as loud as it could to get everyone up and out of their bunks. The little dog’s frantic alarm worked, with the last of the crew just making it out on deck and to the rescue ladder of the steamer Christopher that had pulled alongside to effect a rescue before the Topeka went down. Three ended up in the water as the Topeka sank but were quickly rescued by the Christopher’s lifeboat. When the Topeka’s crew mustered aboard the Christopher for a head count, all were there. But then suddenly everyone’s attention turned to their dog mascot that had barked so loudly to tell them to get out. Their little friend wasn’t there. Several crew of the Topeka jumped into the Christopher’s lifeboat to go out and search for the dog, but they weren’t successful. The little dog, their ship’s mascot and their friend, that had barked so loudly and frantically to wake them up and get them to safety, had drowned, the only casualty of the sinking. Later, Captain Wright (who told reporters he had trained both Stephen and David Brownell how to sail steamships) stated when he threw over a ladder to the sinking Topeka that Stephen and David Brownell were the first to clamor up it in front of their crew and passengers. Stephen denied this. The next year, the inquiry into the accident found Wright negligent, and two weeks later he resigned and left Bay View to go raise cattle on his ranch in Las Vegas. The accident also likely had an adverse effect on Captain Stephen Brownell, who isn’t documented to have received another ship to captain and died just 2.5 years later. Photo of Topeka courtesy H. C. Inches and the Christopher courtesy Kenneth Thro, both of the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Thunder Bay Research Collection.
Help Us Provide Permanent Recognition of Bay View’s Lake Captains …and Bay View’s Hero Dog!
Our goal is to raise funds to support future Bay View maritime-related projects. First among these is to erect a plaque with all of the Bay View lake captains’ names on it; create a sculpture of the aforementioned dog mascot that heroically saved lived when two different Bay View lake captains’ ships collided on the Detroit River at night in fog (this will be the first sculpture of any kind in Bay View); and, to erect a historic marker designating a new historic district in Bay View named, “The Historic Bay View Lake Captains’ District” which will be the first of its kind in the USA. These three things are to be placed together in a small plot of grass on East Lincoln Avenue (home to the most Bay View lake captains) near the intersection of KK, E. Lincoln, and S. Howell Aves. which is at the center of where the majority and highest concentration of Bay View’s lake captains lived. East Lincoln Avenue contained the most lake captains of any street in Bay View – the “Ship Captains’ Row” of late 19th and early 20th century Bay View.
In addition, this location is directly across the street where the captain of the ship that sank where the aforementioned hero dog mascot drowned once lived and also next to the house of another captain that sailed his ship over from Michigan through ice and storms in order to deliver 21 rail cars full of brand new furniture for the grand opening of the Hotel Pfister in 1893. Three more lake captains lived right across the street, including the captain of the ship that sank with the dog mascot hero mentioned above aboard. So taken together historically, this location is the most significant spot for lake captains of any other possible choice in all of Bay View.
Note that if we should for whatever reason fail in this endeavor, then all monies contributed will go to support the museum ship, the S.S. City of Milwaukee in Manistee, Michigan, that is perfectly preserved in original condition and is the only ship remaining today that was once captains by Bay View lake captains, in this case two and likely three of them spanning over 22 years of service. Note that the Historic Bay View Lake Captains Society, LLC, is not a 501c(3) charity and therefore any and all contributions are not tax deductible.