The Sinking of the Steamer Mayflower
November 12, 1912
In 1903 Napoleon Tessier, ship builder of Hull, Quebec, began construction of the paddlewheel steamer “Mayflower” in Combermere, Ontario, for two brothers: John Charles Hudson and Henry Edwin Hudson. Built from local oak, hemlock, and pine, the boat was launched and commissioned in June 1904. The Mayflower steamer boat was used for freight, mail, and limited passenger service between Barry’s Bay and Combermere on Kamaniskeg Lake, Palmer Rapids on the Madawaska River, and Havergal on the York River. It also serviced the corundum mines at Craigmont on the Conroy Marsh waterway.
On Tuesday, November 12 1912, the Mayflower made what was to have been the final return trip for the season between Combermere and Barry’s Bay with a crew of three: owner/Captain John C. Hudson, pilot/wheelsman Aaron Parcher, and fireman/engineer Tom Delaney. Combermere Councillor William Boehme persuaded the Captain to make a second trip that same day to pick up the body of his cousin, John Brown, from the Grand Trunk Railway Station in Barry’s Bay, who was to be buried in Schutt. The steamer’s lifeboat, a 28 foot “pointer” of the same design used by Ottawa Valley lumbermen, had been damaged on the first trip of the day, and was left behind on the last scheduled voyage at the dock in Barry’s Bay.
There were twelve people, as well as the casket, on board the Mayflower when she left Barry’s Bay at about 7pm for the three hour trip to Combermere. It was a cold November night, and a fierce snowstorm arose around 9pm as the boat rounded the narrows of Kamaniskeg Lake. Halfway between what is now called Mayflower Island and the shore, the boat suddenly took on water and sank quickly in 23 feet of water.
It has been suggested that she went down for several reasons – poor maintenance, bad weather, off balance cargo loads – but one prevailing theory is the small hole in the stern of the boat. This hole was designed to drain water out from the paddlewheel, but with strong headwinds effectively stalling the boat the night it sank, water may have come through the hole and filled the boat with water.
Eight lives were lost in the sinking: the entire crew, as well as passengers William Boehme, George Bothwell, William Murphy, Robert Pachal, and Elizabeth McWhirter. Four other passengers – Joe Harper, Gordon Peverly, Paddy O’Brien, and John Imlach clung onto the floating casket and set out for the nearby island about 600 feet away. The trip took a few hours due to the raging winds and rough water, and Paddy O’Brien died of hypothermia shortly after they reached shore. At about 6pm the next day, the remaining three survivors (as well as the casket and body within) were rescued by the steamer Ruby.
Today, the sunken Mayflower is a popular diving site as portions of the boat remain at the bottom of the Kamaniskeg. For more information on the Mayflower, and other tales and images of Combermere’s rich history, visit the Combermere Heritage Society’s website.