In 1894 Clayton NY was shocked by a horrific scene when a ship couldn’t outlast a storm on the mighty Lake Ontario and all hands on deck lost their lives. I’m Matt and I’m Megh this is the yore town podcast
October 11th, 1894 is a day that will live on for many in the small village of Clayton. Clayton is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 5,153 at the 2010 census. The town is named after John M. Clayton, a federal political leader from Delaware. The town contains a village also named Clayton. Both are northwest of Watertown.
On this particular day, Lake Ontario was getting a brutal storm and was described as angry, hostile, and forbidding with gale-force winds blowing from the northwest and just kept getting more and more powerful. Somewhere out there was a three-masted vessel traveling from Detroit to Cape Vincent carrying 22,00 bushels of grain. That boat was named The Hartford. The Hartford was built at the Linn & Craig Shipyard in Gibraltar, Michigan, and launched in September 1873.
The Hartford was spotted off Nine Mile Point pretty good ways out there at ten or 11 AM. The water smashed over the deck and the being throw all over the lake. Witnesses on the shore could see the blue flag with three stars on the mast which meant the ship was in distress. The wind then shifted pushing the ship towards the shore and the breakers. The captain and his crew decided that their lives would be put in jeopardy striking the shore. They decided that they would anchor far enough out and just ride out the storm on the angry lake. The lake though had other plans and the wind shifted again and the ship was carried away toward the northernmost tip of Mexico Bay. This area was dreaded by sailors. The Hartford was two miles from shore, six miles from the town of Ellisburg, and ten minutes from Mannsville NY when the crew was finally able to get the anchor overboard and into the water. It was then said they struggled for another two hours while anchored to stay afloat. At two o clock in the afternoon, the Hartford sank.
Several local papers like the Clayton Independent, Ogdensburg Advance, and St Lawrence Weekly Democrat broke the story that not only did the Hartford sink but all seven people on the boat had lost their lives. The victims included Captain William “Billy” as he was known as O’Toole he was 45. He was part owner of the ship and lived in Clayton. The captain's wife mary Manson who was 35 and their baby girl Mary who was just six months old. The O’Tooles left five kids orphaned ages 11 to 3. Mary had operated a tailor shop in Clayton and the Watertown Daily Times wrote in a conversation with the grandmother Mary was on the ship with her husband because they needed a cook. She also asked her nine-year-old to come with them to help with taking care of the baby. The nine-year-old was having a really tough time on the ship and was actually let off the boat at a stop in Cape Vincent. It was also reported that it was very important to Mrs. O Toole that when the boat went down the three of them went down together. The tiny body of the infant was the only body to ever be recovered as it washed up on shore.
Others on the boat were first mate Damas Turgeon 45 years old, William Donaldson 18 years old, Dennis McCarthy of Oswego, Richard Seymour, and Michael Purcell were initially believed to have been on the ship but were on leave a the time.
The Ogdensburg Daily Journal wrote on October 12th, 1894 that a life-saving crew at Sandy Creek started but had to return for a lifeboat and lines before they could reach them the boat went down. The local people were very upset about the lifesaving crew and how they waited too long or didn’t want to put their lives at risk and attempt to save the crew. Many articles and reports can be read in the archives of papers like the Oswego daily Palladium and Watertown Re-Union.
The day after the incident many people came from far to view the wreckage but it could not be seen as it was too deep in the water. Divers attempted to find the remains of the victims and reported that the hull had remained intact as it sank to the bottom. They were hoping to be able to tow it out but it settled upright in 40 feet of water covered by sand.
There have been more than 100 shipwrecks and groundings in Mexico Bay over the last couple of centuries. Occasionally after a long rough winter remains of the shipwreck will wash on shore almost as a reminder to everyone in the small community that something so tragic happened many many years before.
“Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” Voltaire
Sources Historic North Country Disasters book by Cheri L Farnsworth