Maurice B. Grover

From: Jim
Location:
email:
Remote Name: 4.142.255.118
Date: 10.30.07
Time: 09:19:48 PM

Comments

I am having a little difficulty nailing down the exact disposition of an old wooden steamboat abandoned in the Pine River at St. Clair, possibly called the "Maurice B. Grover." Greenwood's Namesakes says it was built in 1877 and abandoned for deteriorated hull and boiler conditions in 1906 in the Pine River at St. Clair. I don't have Greenwood's book before me, but I think he said the "Grover" had been reduced to a barge during its last years. A Lake Erie shipwreck page says that the Grover, as a barge, burned to the waterline in October, 1906, while anchored inside the Cleveland breakwalls. Another source says the steamer, built in 1887, was cut down to a barge and sat for many years in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, possibly sinking outside the port in 1910 or 1911. The Bowling Green site says the "Maurice Grover" was reduced to a barge in 1906 at Chicago and abandoned in 1916. I have a St. Clair, Michigan, newspaper clipping from 1962 announcing the Corps of Engineers was planning to remove two old hulls from the Pine River, the "Fitzgerald" and the "Maurice Grover." Could this all just be a confusion among steamers and schooners with the last name of "Grover" with similar rebuilds and fates? Incorrect reminiscences and such? Does anyone know for certain about a boat named "Grover" laying abandoned in the Pine River, maybe a half-mile from its mouth? Thanks for any help!