In late August of 1892, SS Western Reserve set sail from Cleveland, Ohio, under the command of Captain Albert Myer. She was in ballast and headed for Two Harbors, Minnesota, to pick up a cargo of iron ore. Along with her officers and crew were embarked her owner, Peter G. Minch, and Minch’s wife, children, sister-in-law, and his sister-in-law’s daughter. The weather was fair, and everything looked fine for a late-summer cruise across Lake Superior.
By the time Western Reserve reached Whitefish Bay, however, the weather had started to turn rough. Captain Myer gave the order to drop anchor and wait out the weather. Eventually the winds died down, the ship weighed anchor, and they set off again toward Two Harbors. The lull in the weather was a fakeout, however, and the ship was hit by a massive squall at around 2100 hours that evening. She foundered in the heavy seas, and as Captain Myer gave the order to abandon ship, Western Reserve broke in two and sank.
Two lifeboats were launched, and all officers, crew, and passengers escaped the doomed ship. Sadly, one of the lifeboats capsized almost immediately. The other lifeboat, containing Minch, his family, and a handful of crewmen, rescued the two survivors from the capsized lifeboat and made its way into the eye of the storm. They were almost rescued in the night by a passing steamer, but without any flares aboard, the passing ship’s lookout missed the tossing lifeboat.
The next morning around 0730, the lifeboat approached shore near the Deer Park Lifesaving Station, but rough surf capsized the boat less than a mile from shore. Only one person survived, Wheelsman Harry W. Stewart of Algonac, MI. The rest, including Minch and his family, drowned within sight of salvation.
