Sailing Adventures of Captain John Leisk & Captain John Brotch
Sailing Adventures of Captain John Leisk
His First Home in Bay View (1888-1902)
2455 South Burrell Street
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living Here
1888-91: ship(s) unknown, though he was lake captain for all four of these years; Sailing adventures while captain: unknown
Above left: The three-masted schooner-barge Amboy, 1892-96 (Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Thunder Bay Research Collection); Sailing adventures while captain: On 25 August 1892, nearly sank in a storm in Lake Erie, saved only by two tugboats from Cleveland which sailed out to tow the Amboy to port. Enroute from Escanaba, Michigan, the Amboy was so nearly lost that when the tugs arrived, water was already over the Amboy’s decks amidships and the ship’s pumps weren’t keeping up. John Leisk and his crew fought the battle all night to keep the Amboy afloat until the tugs arrived the next morning. 28 On 15 October 1893, blown ashore at Buffalo in a huge storm reported as the worst “in the last ten years,” wrecking scores of vessels, including the Amboy. Winds were recorded at 60 mph. Captain John Leisk of the Amboy was being towed by his brother and former Bay View Lake Captain, Captain James Leisk, of the steamship Helena when the storm first hit. Reporting conflicts, but brother James either dropped his brother John off at the entrance to the breakwater in Buffalo (the Helena was a huge ship for its time and couldn’t enter through the breakwater in this storm on its own without tugboats assisting which were busy helping other ships), or the tow line between the Helena and Amboy snapped. Either way, in the 60 mph wind John couldn’t make headway to turn the corner to get inside to safety. The wind grabbed and blew the Amboy down the outside of the breakwater until it struck the rocks. John Leisk and his crew were taken off the Amboy by Buffalo’s US Lifesaving Station’s crew (probably using the breeches buoy rescue system, though this is not reported) as it lay on the rocks getting smashed by the surf. The Amboy was carrying 110,000 bushels of oats that were completely ruined, the financial loss estimated at $40,000 ($1.1 million in 2017). Tugboats were later finally able to get outside the breakwater and towed the still-floating-though smashed Amboy inside Buffalo harbor. After repairs in Buffalo, the Amboy got underway again two weeks later on 31 October 1893. 29 On 24 July 1894, while being towed by the steamship Veronica, ran aground at Grosse Pointe, Michigan, during the night. 30 On 10 September 1894, while in the tow of the steamer Veronica (captained in prior years by fellow Bay View Lake Captains William Wright and Hugh Clark) in fog at 1 am and headed north in the Detroit River towards Lake Huron, collided abreast Belle Isle with two barges Sweepstakes and Corisande headed down from Lake Huron towards Lake Erie under the tow of the tugboat Thompson. “The Amboy struck the Sweepstakes on the port bow, damaging her badly. The Corisande was unable to stop and was also run into by the Amboy. The Corisande lost her mizzenmast and sail and her side was stove in. The steering gear was also damaged. The Amboy is loaded with coal and will have to go into dry-cock before she can proceed.” 31 On 08 October 1895, ran aground at Grosse Pointe, Michigan, during the night but was released the next day. 32
Above right: The three-masted schooner Narragansett, 1897 (photo: Ralph K. Roberts, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Thunder Bay Research Collection); Sailing adventures while captain: unknown; he was also owner, purchasing it in 1896 but hiring someone else to captain it for him.
1898-1902: ship(s) unknown, though he was lake captain for all five of these years; Sailing adventures while captain: unknown
His Second Home in Bay View (1903-08)
305 East Smith Street
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living at 305 E. Smith St
1903-08: ship(s) unknown, though he was lake captain for all six of these years; Sailing adventures while captain: unknown
His Third Home in Bay View (1909-17)
336 East Wilson Street
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living at 336 E. Wilson St.
1909-10: retired, no longer captain
1911-15: no photo discovered, the British steamship Glenwood, 1911-15, sailing between ports in Cuba and the Caribbean; Sailing adventures while captain: unknown
1916-26: retired permanently
His Ships and Sailing Adventures Before Bay View
The Sailing Adventures of Captain John Brotch
His First Home in Bay View (1878-81)
Smith Street (no house number listed)
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living Here
From 1878-27 October 1880, probable crewman, ship unknown; Sailing adventures while crew: unknown since ship is unknown
No photo discovered: the schooner Elbe, 28 October 1880-1881, co-owner and crewman Sailing adventures while crew: On 15-20 October 1881, made it successfully across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee in a heavy sea leaking badly and had to be hauled out of the water and have its hull repaired. It had been leaking so badly before departing Grand Haven, Michigan, that extra men had to be brought aboard to help work the manual pumps. 40
His Second Home in Bay View (1882)
27 Lincoln Avenue (pre-1930 address, since torn down)
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living at 27 Lincoln Ave.
See photo above under “Smith Street:” The schooner Elbe, sole owner and captain, 1882; Sailing adventures while captain: none reported.
His Third Home in Bay View (1883-84)
26 Lincoln Avenue (pre-1930 address, since torn down)
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living Here
See photo above under “Smith Street:” The schooner Elbe, sole owner and captain, 1883; Sailing adventures while captain: On 10 June 1883, ran aground at Whitefish Bay, just north of Milwaukee, pulled off by a tugboat from Milwaukee, damage minor; 41 On 14 July 1883, collided with the steamer Lycoming while leaving port in Milwaukee, mainmast snapped off and a crewman on the Elbe suffered major injuries; 42 On 19 October 1883, collided with the schooner Capella while leaving the port of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, at night in a storm. The collision destroyed both mainsails, leaving the Elbe with just its two jib sails attached to the bowsprit and mainsail. With the wind at his back, Captain Brotch successfully steered the Elbe all night in the storm to deliver its cargo on schedule to Two Rivers, Wisconsin. 43 ; 1884: took year off to build a small house on Lot 26, 517 E. Lincoln Ave.
His Fourth Home in Bay View (1885-31 May 1888)
517 East Lincoln Avenue (since torn down)
Above left and center: red marker at right-front of lot that once was location for small house on Lot 26, numbered originally 117 Lincoln Ave., and changed post-1930 to 517 E. Lincoln Ave. The author believes captain Brotch built this house himself in 1884-85 after the loss of the schooner Elbe. Photo and graphic by author.
Above right: the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of 1894 showing both 515 (left, pre-1930 number 117 1/2) and 517 (right front closest to the street, pre-1930 number 117) E. Lincoln Ave. (at the red dot). US Library of Congress; Public Domain.
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living Here
The only known photo and all that remains of the schooner Sassacus;
Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Maritime Preservation and Archaeology Program
1885-20 March 1888: worked as “teamster” (probable dock worker) and “driver”
Above: all that remains (only photo) of the schooner Sassacus, 21 March – 31 May 1888, where it ran aground on the northeast coast of Michigan in 1893, four years after being sold by Bay View co-owner Charles Ellis on 29 January 1889; co-owned by wife Johanna 21 March 1888-29 January 1889, making her Bay View’s first, one, and only female ship owner; Sailing adventures while captain: none discovered
Moves to Wauwatosa (01 June 1888-14 April 1890)
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living in Wauwatosa
See above for only photo discovered the schooner Sassacus, 01 June 1888-29 January 1889.
His Fifth Home in Bay View (15 April 1890 - 29 September 1900)
515 East Lincoln Avenue
His Ships and Sailing Adventures While Living Here
Above left: The schooner Arctic, owned and operated by the Draves family, John Brotch captain, 14 April 1890-31 May 1894; Captain Brotch’s two brothers-in-law William A. Draves (financer) and Charles Draves (initial owner 1890-93) helped get the Arctic up and operating; wife Johanna became the Arctic’s sole owner in 1893, the second schooner she is documented to have owned while living in Bay View (the first being the Sassacus, 21 March – 31 May 1888). Both ships qualify her as Bay View’s first, one, and only female ship owner; Sailing adventures while captain: On 12 August 1892, collided with the Canadian passenger steamship Cuba while attempting to sail up the narrow channel near the Rush Street Bridge in Chicago. The suction created by the larger Cuba drew the Arctic uncontrollably into the collision. When the two ships were pulled apart, the Cuba’s main parlor chandelier was dangling from the mangled bowsprit (front) of the Arctic.44 On 19 May 1894, lost its rudder in a storm in Lake Huron while attempting to race to Detroit to get out of the gale. With the rudder gone, the Arctic was being blown ashore to be smashed in the crashing surf, placing the lives of all aboard in peril. Their only hope to save their lives was to drop the anchor and hope that it held, which it did. The crew then waited out the storm aboard while two miles north of the Ft. Gratiot lighthouse. But the damage to the rudder and the stern (back) that held it was so severe that the Arctic had to be sold by Johanna Brotch just two weeks later. 45 Photo courtesy Ralph K. Roberts, the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Thunder Bay Research Collection.
Not pictured: probable schooner (name unknown) where John Brotch likely went to as a crewman to finish out the 1894 sailing season after the Arctic was severely damaged in a storm and then sold on 31 May 1894; Sailing adventures while crewman: unknown since name of ship is unknown
Not pictured: probable schooner (name unknown), 1896, captain: Sailing adventures while captain: unknown since name of ship is unknown
1898-99: worked ashore as a “machinist”
Above right: the schooner Narragansett, the most likely candidate for the actual schooner whose name is unknown, April – 29 September 1900, captain: Sailing adventures while captain: unknown since name of ship is unknown; however, his death on 29 September 1900 while captain and his body unable to be located today may indicate his ship sank in a storm and he went down with it, his body never recovered. The near sinking of the Narragansett – a ship with a substantial Bay View connection - on 12 September 1900 matches almost exactly all of the circumstances surrounding John Brotch’s death (see detailed discussions about this in the companion volume to this book titled, “A Brother Helps His Sister: the True Story of William A. Draves, the Schooner Arctic, and the house at 515 East Lincoln Avenue”). This ship also makes a total of five different schooners that John Brotch captained while living in Bay View (Elbe, Sassacus, Arctic, #1 name unknown (1896-97), #2 name unknown (April – 29 September 1900), making him Bay View’s most prolific schooner captain. Photo: Ralph K. Roberts, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Thunder Bay Research Collection.
His Ships and Sailing Adventures Before Bay View
His early days are largely unknown. The first report of him is when he was married on 21 July 1877, age 22, and was working as a “sailor,” ship unknown; Sailing adventures while crew: unknown since ship is unknown; he likely continued as a sailor for the rest of 1877 into 1878 when he first appears in Bay View.