The Loss of the Schooner "Six Brothers"

The Schooner and Some Background

Too keep you from being too confused with the information presented below, I need to first explain that our present family name (LeShane) has been spelled various ways over the years, from Shana, Shano, Shanoe, LeShana, Shawner etc.  Even today, a lot of the older LeShanes are referred to as Shannas or Shawners.  A distant relative of mine - John LeShane, who researched and compiled an extensive family tree, recorded over 20 variants of the name through the years.

My Great Grandfather Philip was a boatbuilder.  He was one of six brothers that lived in Burnt Woods, which is located on the northeast end of Lower Island Cove.  In the late 1800s, the brothers constructed a new schooner, which they named "Six Brothers", for obvious reasons.  The other brothers would have been Fredrick, Eli, Willis, Philomon and Noah, all Sons of James Shano who was born in 1821. James was the Son of Charles, and Grandson of Philip Shano.

Philip Shano (Le' Shane) was born in St. Malo, France.  He was the first LeShane to settle in Burnt Woods in 1796, and died in 1830.  He's buried very close to the Monument described later.

Philip Le'Shane's Headstone - First LeShane Settler of Burnt Woods

Through the years the story of the Six Brothers has been passed down, sometimes evolving into different forms.  Some people said that the boat was named "Seven Brothers", or simply "The Brothers".  It's always been sort of a mystery with no hard facts.

Very little is known about the actual schooner.  All local built schooners were wood framed with wooden masts and used canvas sails.  Sizes varied from small schooners, not much larger than a skiff right up to large vessels, able to carry large amounts of fish or perform tasks such as navigating through ice during seal hunts.  The LeShane family were known for their boatbuilding skill, even up until recent years.  Like their forefathers my Grandfather Eli, Uncle Alec, and Father Donald have all built fishing boats, some of which are still around to this day.  Other family members, such as Lloyd and Frank LeShane, have also built boats.

Burnt Woods was considered a separate town from Lower Island Cove back in the 1800s.  Government documents clearly separate the two in Census and other documents.  Redlands was also separated.  Lower Island Cove was a center, and booming.  But I will get into that more in a future write-up.

Purpose of the Voyage

The purpose of the voyage was said to collect a load of tree rinds and/or wood sticks.  The destination was always told to be "Trinity Bay".  The exact settlement they were headed for was never mentioned, although it was rumored to be in Random Sound, an inlet of water which surrounds Random Island on the west side of Trinity Bay.

Rinds

My Father (Donald) gave me some information on the use of rinds in the early days.

"In the early days of the fishery there were few types of covering materials that could be used  to protect salt codfish from the elements while it was being cured on the flakes.  As a result, fishermen were obliged to sometimes travel many miles to obtain "rinds".

A rind was actually the bark off a log; usually a fir tree log.  It was removed with a rinding spud in appropriate sections of approximately 10" x 40"  which were , when placed in shingle fashion, suitable for covering a 36" diameter pile of dry fish.  Rinds dried out and became rigid as they aged.
 
After rinds were removed,  the logs and other lengths were usually used in other vital aspects of the fishery: stages, fences, launchways, stores, timbers, and most of all, planks locally sawed for boat building.  Winter was the ideal time to obtain most of these materials , so "in the woods" to Pittman's Pond or Island Pond was an everyday occurrence.  However, when the winter ended, journeys became more venturous.  Small schooners allowed extended expeditions along the shores of nearby bays and inlets.  Random Island, Trinity Bay, was said to be a popular destination."   

Rinds would have been a very important part of the preparation of cod back in the 1800s and into the 1900s.  Salt cod was how the majority of fish was sold.  Very little of a tree was wasted once harvested.

What Happened?

One story that seems to remain constant is that the crew of the Six Brothers were possibly intoxicated the day they set sail.  The older generation would speak of brother Philip staying ashore, being sober and not wanting to sail.  This would probably leave a less experienced person to navigate the boat.

Intoxication probably didn't help matters when they ran into a great gale the next day on the open waters of Trinity Bay.  Keep in mind, fisherman did not have radios to give them the latest forecast, or luxuries such as GPS navigation or modern engines.  They would probably have to look for clues in the sky to forecast incoming weather systems.  A red evening sky, or a "sick" looking moon could mean wind or stormy conditions lay ahead.  

The crew must have expected fair sailing that trip.  However the weather turned ugly and the whole crew and schooner was lost.  It must have been a sad day for the families affected and residents of the community.

From my research, it appears that there was unusual amounts of ice that spring, which may have played a factor.  Ice was reported off Bonavista around the same time as the tragedy.

Apparently the only trace of the boat found was some debris that washed ashore near Salvage Rocks (just off New Melbourne), and Hants Harbour a short time after the loss. No bodies were ever recovered.

The Monument

The monument erected at the old cemetery near the community wharf in Lower Island Cove alludes to the terrible tragedy which took place in 1883. 

Location of Monument in Lower Island Cove (Source: Google Earth)

Many young men lost their lives:

East Side of the Monument

This

Monument is

erected by friends

To the memory of

the deceased

who were lost in

Trinity Bay

May 25, 1883

FRED'k LESHANA

AGED

36 YEARS

WILLIS LESHANA

AGED

39 YEARS

PHILEMON LESHANA

AGED

30 YEARS

NOAH LESHANA

AGED

26 YEARS

South Side of the Monument

ALSO

ELI REED

AGED

24 YEARS

JOHN G. LEWIS

AGED

37 YEARS

WILL'm WHEELER

AGED

36 YEARS

AZARIAH LEWIS

AGED

25 YEARS

THO's GARLAND

AGED

26 YEARS

North Side of the Monument

ALSO

JOHN CUMMINS

AGED

20 YEARS

PETER DIAMOND
AGED
20 YEARS

PETER SNELGROVE
AGED
20 YEARS

ELI LEWIS
AGED
21 YEARS

Research

I only had a few clues regarding the tragedy.  Mostly word of mouth passed down through the years. The older residents would speak of "James the Boatbuilder" when the story of the Six Brothers was discussed.  There was also the information contained on the monument. 

From this information and studying John LeShane's family tree work, I was able to understand how I was related to James and his six Sons.

I spent countless hours combing archives researching the schooners fate, with no luck.  Bad news travelled very fast back in these days.  Most nautical disasters were reported by local newspapers, such as The Evening Telegram, The Harbor Grace Standard, The Twillingate Sun and others.

I did find some old boat ownership logs from the 1800s, and there were multiple boats with the name "Six Brothers" as well as "Seven Brothers".  But there was no mention of Burnt Woods or Lower Island Cove.

Searching the archives for the May 25, 1883 date, I kept coming up empty.  Changing the day and month, still no luck.  Finally I decided to focus on a different year.  I did read on an online ancestry forum somewhere that the year was possibly wrong, but found no solid proof to back up the claim.  Until now.

The Evening Telegram Article (Published June 9, 1884)

Source: The Evening Telegram, June 9, 1884

It was pretty exciting to find the above article.  A true needle in a haystack.  A small piece from The Evening Telegram, June 9, 1884.  This is the first concrete evidence I discovered of the loss. 

As a result, I can conclude that the date on the monument is totally incorrect.  The loss happened more than a full year later!

Comparing Names

There seems to be some inconsistency between names engraved on the monument and the newspaper story.  Here's a comparison:

A few things to note here.

1)  William Wheeler, Eli Reed and Peter Diamond are named on the monument, but not in the newspaper.

2)  The name Cooper was not on the monument, but in the newspaper.

3)  The article mentions Jame's "Son-in-Law" but doesn't give a name.  Azariah (who drowned) was one of his Son-in-Laws.  Could this be who they were referring to?  He had three other Son-in-Laws, but none of their names appear on the monument.  A bit of a mystery here.

4)  There's 12 people mentioned in the newspaper, but it states that 13 were lost. 

A Couple More Mentions

In discovering the 1884 date, I was able to dig a bit further and find a couple more mentions of the loss. 

Source: The Statiscian and Economist 1889

Above, The Statiscian and Economist (1889) documented the tragedy as happening on June 10, 1884.  However, The Evening Telegram story was published June 9th, with indication that the event happened the previous week.  This publication mentions that 14 men were lost rather than 13 as reported elsewhere.

Source: Newfoundland Quarterly 1951

Above, The Newfoundland Quarterly (1951) mentions the tragedy and 13 men lost.

In Conclusion

I have a theory why the date was incorrect.  Perhaps the monument was ordered much later than the tragedy.  Maybe a couple years went by, or even more.   A temporary monument was probably installed before the permanent stone arrived.  A stone of this magnitude in the late 1800s was surely expensive to produce.  Once it arrived in Lower Island Cove, a mistake would be near impossible to correct on what appears to be a sandstone monument.  But due to the cost, buying another would probably be out of the question. 

The monument clearly states that it was "Erected by Friends".  The monument was more than likely placed there using money gathered by friends and family members.  A fundraiser of sorts.

Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to getting your feedback or comments.  If you have any information to share regarding the Six Brothers loss, please let me know.

I'm hoping to share several very important stories regarding Lower Island Cove and surrounding community history in the coming months that you may find very interesting! 

S.