PS Keystone State

Keystone State in Buffalo, New York, before her engines were installed

Keystone State (also spelled Key Stone State) was built in 1848 by Bidwell & Banta of Buffalo, New York. By the time she was completed, Keystone State was the second largest ship on the Great Lakes, after the paddle steamer Empire State.[1][2][3] She was named in honor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[4] Keystone State was a so-called palace steamer, a class of Great Lakes paddle steamers known for their lavish interiors. Maritime historian Robert McGreevy wrote that the interiors of palace steamers "were made to look like the finest hotels", and had "leaded glass windows and carved arches and mahogany trim".[5] Keystone State had two funnels, a 16 foot (4.9 m) by 230 foot (70.1 m) dining room, 70 large state rooms, and could accommodate 800 passengers and 6,000 barrels of freight.[1][6][7] The joiner work for Keystone State was done by John M. Smith. Newspapers reported that her main cabin was designed by Captain E. Powers, however, Smith later stated that he designed it.[7]

Keystone State's wooden hull was 288 feet (87.8 m) (some sources state 279 feet (85.0 m) or 278.10 feet (84.8 m)) long.[1][6][8] Her beam was 35 feet (10.7 m) (one source states 34.95 feet (10.7 m)) wide.[1][6][7] At her main deck, Keystone State had overhanging hull guards, which brought her over all beam to 63 feet (19.2 m).[7] Her hull was 14 feet (4.3 m) (one source states 14.4 feet (4.4 m)) deep.[1][6][7] She had a gross tonnage of 1354 (also given as 13549⁄95) tons.[1][6][7][8][9]

She was powered by a 500 hp (370 kW) single cylinder walking beam engine, the cylinder of which was 65 inches (165.1 cm) in diameter, and had a stroke of 10 feet (3.0 m).[1][7] The engine was manufactured in New York City. Steam for the engine was provided by two firebox boilers.[1][7] Keystone State was propelled by two paddle wheels that were nearly 40 feet (12.2 m) in diameter.[5][10] She was launched on November 11, 1848.[1][6]

Keystone State off Pointe Aux Barques in 1857

In 1849, Keystone State was enrolled in Presque Isle, Pennsylvania, which was also her home port.[1][7][6] Built for Charles M. Reed of Erie, Pennsylvania, Keystone State became part of his "Chicago Line".[1][7][6] Beginning in May 1849, Keystone State began travelling between Buffalo and Chicago, Illinois, while also making stops at other ports such as Sandusky, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She frequently carried European immigrants who desired to settle in the Midwestern United States.[1][5][7] Throughout her career, she was involved in multiple accidents.[1]

In October 1849, Keystone State was damaged and disabled in a gale on Lake Michigan.[1][11][12] She sustained $4600 (equivalent to $115,000 in 2019[13]) worth of damage, including a broken "hogging arch". She was docked in Buffalo for repairs.[1][11][12] On April 13, 1850, Keystone State rescued the passengers of the paddle steamer Atlantic, after the latter ran aground on Point Pelee.[14] On June 8 that same year, Keystone State collided with the schooner Comfort Ann off Rocky River, Ohio.[1][15] Keystone State rescued the crew of the schooner S.F. Gale, which sank in a collision in the Detroit River on November 11, 1850.[16]

Keystone State made an excursion to Put-in-Bay, Ohio, on August 6, 1851.[1][17] On December 17 that same year, while running between Buffalo, Dunkirk, New York, and Detroit, Michigan, with 3,500 barrels of flour and 1,000 dressed pigs, Keystone State became trapped in ice at Malden, Ontario.[1][18] She began making regular trips between Dunkirk and Detroit in 1852.[19][20] On November 12, 1852, the crew of Keystone State sighted the steamboat Oneida 9 miles (14.5 km) off Dunkirk, before she was lost with all hands.[21] The following day, Keystone State and another paddle steamer, Lady Elgin were damaged while attempting to enter Dunkirk harbour.[22] On November 18, the Daily News of Kingston, Ontario, reported that Keystone State and another paddle steamer, Empire State, collided near Erie. However, they were unable to confirm it.[23]

On October 10, 1853, one of Keystone State's boilers exploded in the lower Detroit River. She did not sustain major damage, and was towed to Detroit for repairs by the paddle steamer Mayflower.[1][24] In December 1854, Keystone State arrived in buffalo with a bad leak. She sustained $3,000 (equivalent to $69,000 in 2019[13]) worth of damage.[25] In 1855, Keystone State ran between Collingwood, Ontario, and Chicago, while also making stops in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.[1] On July 3, 1855, she towed the leaking schooner May Queen into Milwaukee.[26] Keystone State lost her anchor and chain off Erie in November, that same year. She sustained $300 (equivalent to $7,000 in 2019[13]) worth of damage.[27] On December 6, she was towing the schooner Columbia out of Buffalo. Soon after leaving the port, Columbia broke loose and drifted ashore near the south pier of Buffalo harbour.[28]

While running between Collingwood and Chicago, Keystone State sprang a leak in a gale on Lake Michigan on September 18, 1856; her starboard cabin was also smashed in. She was repaired in Detroit.[29] Due to the Panic of 1857, Keystone State and several other paddle steamers were laid up. When the American Civil War began in 1861, she was refurbished, and put back into service.[5][6] She was sold to G. Ritter of Buffalo on October 30, 1861.[1] Keystone State arrived in Detroit on November 7.[8][30]

On November 8, 1861, Keystone State left Detroit for Milwaukee under the command of Captain Wilkes Travers.[31][32] Although her cargo manifest listed her cargo as farm machinery, it was believed that it had been intentionally mislabeled, and she was carrying military supplies intended to be used in the Civil War.[3][5][33] It was also rumored that there was gold on board.[8][33] She was last seen by the schooner Bronson off Port Austin, Michigan, rolling in a storm, and appeared to be disabled.[3][31][33][34] She sank on either November 9 or 10, with the loss of all 33 of her crew.[3][33] No bodies from Keystone State were ever recovered.[35]

Keystone State's fate was unknown for over a week, until pieces of her wreck were spotted on November 21.[3][8][33] On November 23, the Detroit Free Press reported that while off Pointe Aux Barques, the steamer City of Cleveland had passed through "large quantities of what they took to be the upper works of some wrecked steamer", later determined to be from Keystone State.[31][34] A day later, they reported that "part of a guard rail, part of a wheel and a portion of a paddle box of a large steamer" had washed ashore at White Rock, Michigan.[31][34] The schooner Lookout encountered wreckage such as cabins and a pilot house off Pointe Aux Barques on November 23.[36] The pilot house washed ashore near Lexington, Michigan.[5][8]