was built
for the Great Lakes bulk cargo trade by the firm of Lafrinnier
and Stevenson at Cleveland, Ohio , in 1853.
The
two-masted wooden vessel was 120 feet long, with a beam of
25 feet and a depth of hold of 10 feet. Gross tonnage (old
measure) was 276 tons, but was later remeasured at 216 tons.
In 1870 she was owned by two brothers who established Chicago
as her home port. One of the brothers, Michael Connell, stood
as her captain.
The
Carrington is one of only 24 schooners among
Wisconsin 's shipwrecks that exhibit the interesting
construction technique of an inverted ceiling arch.
This hogging arch prevented the ends of the vessel
from drooping, in effect giving her additional longitudinal
strength. Similar arches have been documented on the
1848 schooner Meridian,
which sank in Green Bay in 1873, and the 1860 schooner Bermuda,
sunk in Lake Superior off Grand Island , Michigan
.
Little
more is known about the Carrington's career. As with
many pre-Civil War Great Lakes schooners, records are scarce.
Some information surfaces in the Milwaukee Sentinel,
which reported in November 1869 that the Carrington and
the schooners Fitshugh and O.R. Johnson
were damaged by collision at Chicago. It is not clear what
damage the vessels sustained. Further news of the Carrington
remains elusive - until her final voyage.
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