The two masted scow schooner Charley J. Smith was built in 1879 and carried a crew of two. The vessel was engaged in coastwise trade in Lake Michigan often carrying wood.

10/18/1890. The Holland Sentinel reported "The scow Charley J. Smith, lumber laden, from Muskegon to South Haven, was beached Tuesday morning, on the north side of the north pier in an effort to make port at the latter place in a high sea. The crew was taken off by the lifesavers."

Last Document of Enrollment (#27); Surrendered October 10,1905: Milwaukee: "Abandoned".
The old scow schooner Charley J. Smith was abandoned after she sank at the A.B. Stevenson wharf at the head of Little Sturgeon Bay (Door County, Wisconsin) where it was going to pieces. By late fall of 1905, the last fragments of the vessel had settled to the bottom.

Late in October, 1905, after the Charley J. Smith was abandoned, a huge wave caused the scow schooner Foam to be swept over the location where the Smith was abandoned and become beached, later to be removed with a small amount of damage.