Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= NOTICE TO USERS - These files are protected by the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Information contained herein is provided for research purposes and may be freely linked to. Copying for redistribution or presentation by any person, persons or organization is not allowed without the written permission of the author/submitter. Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: Merchant OTHER NAME(S): - OFFICIAL NO: 16332 DATE OF LOSS: 6 Oct 1875 CAUSE OF LOSS: Struck on Racine Reef LOCATION: Lake Michigan RIG TYPE: Propeller HULL TYPE: Iron (first iron propeller on the Great Lakes) BUILDER: David Bell, Buffalo, N.Y., 1862 OWNER(S): Anchor line MASTER: TONNAGE: 720.66 gt - 861.18 nt DIMENSIONS: 194.5 x 29 x 13.66 CASUALTIES: 0 Built in 1862 at Buffalo, N.Y., by David Bell, the Merchant was the first iron propeller on the Great Lakes. Lengthened during the winter of 1872-'73. Made 2,041 1/2 trips during her career. Struck Racine reef while enroute from Chicago to Buffalo. Machinery salvaged. ======================================================================== Sources: "History of the Great Lakes, Vol. II", biography of David Bell "American Steam Vessels", 1895 p. 174-175 Merchant Vessel List - 1869, 1871