GALLINIPPER Shipwreck (Schooner)

About this property

Gallinipper was a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan off the coast of Centerville, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. In 2010, the shipwreck site was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Originally named Nancy Dousman, the ship was built in 1833 by Augustus Jones and G. W. Cochran on the Black River in Ohio, for Michael Dousman, the western agent for John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company. Named for Dousman's daughter Nancy, Nancy Dousman carried goods from the eastern United States to the Wisconsin Territory frontier and returned with furs from the frontier for markets in the eastern United States. Nancy Dousman also carried employees of the American Fur Company and other passengers, including immigrants who settled the Wisconsin Territory's frontier. In addition to his work for the fur company, Dousman established a warehouse, gristmill, and sawmill at Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory, in 1835, and he used Nancy Dousman to bring supplies to Milwaukee and transport grain to markets in the eastern United States. Nancy Dousman was sold to new owners a number of times. She ran aground at least twice, but was refloated each time. In 1846, shipwright Henry Gibson rebuilt the ship at Milwaukee, increasing her cargo capacity. Renamed Gallinipper, she returned to service, based at Milwaukee and engaged in transporting cargoes of lumber. She again was sold and resold, and experienced a number of mishaps, sinking at Beaver Island in Lake Michigan on July 7, 1848, running aground at Milwaukee in 1850; and sinking at the mouth of the Milwaukee River in May 1851. She was refloated and returned to service each time. During a voyage from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Bay de Noque, Michigan, to pick up a cargo of lumber and carrying a crew of seven and two passengers, Gallinipper capsized in Lake Michigan 8 to 10 nautical miles (15 to 19 km; 9.2 to 11.5 mi) off the coast of Wisconsin between Manitowoc and Sheboygan during a rain squall on July 7, 1851. She righted herself, but then capsized again, and her crew and passengers abandoned ship and were rescued by the schooner Cleopatra. Waterlogged, Gallinipper became mostly submerged, but did not sink. The schooner Crook sighted her on 9 July 1851 and reported her to be nearly underwater. The schooner Convoy later made an unsuccessful attempt to take her under tow 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) from Manitowoc, but gave up and abandoned her 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) southeast by east of Manitowoc after salvaging her mainsail, main boom, and main gaff. Despite a search for her by her captain, she was not found again and was presumed to have sunk. Valued at USD$3,000 and insured for USD$2,000, she was declared a total loss.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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