Two Sisters Search for Answers After a Ship Sinks

Their Great Uncle went down with the US Henry Steinbrenner. For decades, they pieced together the facts, and found their family's story

DULUTH, Minn -When Madge and her sister Beth were kids growing up in Duluth, they loved looking out at the ships on Lake Superior. The sisters graduated from Duluth East High School and lived across the street from UMD.

“It was not a neighborhood as such on St. Marie Street on the West side of UMD. So I walked to school when I was at UMD there,” said Madge Alberts.

Madge was just five, and Beth had not yet been born when their Grandmother’s brother, Earl Hemmingson, perished on the SS Henry Steinbrenner during a severe spring storm. On May 11, 1953, the ore carrier went down near Isle Royale. She was named after the Great Grandfather of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Out of 30 crewmembers, 17 died that day. Four of the 17 were from Duluth. The Steinbrenner traveled the route on Lake Superior delivering ore for steel companies.

Beth Miller said,  “I didn’t know the name of the shipwreck probably until the Fitzgerald. And when the Fitzgerald sank that came back up in the conversation in the family again. ”

The Steinbrenner was 425 feet long, less than half the length of the The Edmund Fitzgerald. Madge remembers the day she learned about the tragedy.
Madge Alberts 1:15 I remember my mom and dad sitting at the dining table talking about it, and my mom was crying and I came out to the kitchen and my dad told me your grandma’s brother was killed in shipwreck yesterday.  At only five years old, it was a lot for her to absorb.

” And I understood the word die, but I was little enough that I didn’t grasp the whole concept, but I definitely remember that, ” said Madge.

Madge’s Girl Scout troop won a trip to Isle Royale when she was in high school. Her father reminded her that she had a great uncle who died there. And thus began the sister’s quest to learn more about the fate of Earl, and the ship that went down. The task was not an easy one.

“I just became fascinated with it and went looking for information. Of course, this was before the internet, and I couldn’t find anything.” The frustration in Beth’s voice was obvious. “There was so little out there, and I couldn’t figure out…this was the last big wreck before the Fitz went down. Why is there not more information about this?”

The sisters researched the Steinbrenner for decades without success. Then, quite unexpectedly one morning, Madge’s husband woke her up and said she had to look at something. He showed her the article about how they had found the Steinbrenner. At that moment, Madge said she got teary eyed and had goosebumps.

The shipwreck was found in 750 feet of water by Ken Merryman and Jerry Eliason on September 9 of this year. After being in the dark for so long, it was a huge emotional release to finally get some answers.  Because of this discovery, Beth, who was always the keeper of the family’s genealogy, learned more about Earl. She says that it’s been hard to get information within the family. After the initial period of grief, no one talked about it. Back then, everyone was encouraged to just get on with life.  What the sisters did learn about Earl was that his age was wrong in the local paper at the time. He was not 49.

“I started digging into it and learned that was a mistake. He was born in 1900 so he would have been 52 or 53 when the ship went down,” said Beth.

They also learned he may have been married to a woman named Edna, and that he worked as a Wheelman on the Steinbrenner. The discoveries continue to unfold. Just this past weekend Madge was talking to an elderly relative and for the first time, saw a picture of Earl’s headstone. The family feels fortunate that his body was recovered shortly after the accident, since some were never found. He was buried in Wisconsin at a family cemetery.

The sisters want to honor Earl’s memory by sharing his story within the family and the larger community. She says there are strong generational maritime connections.
“It seems our family has an affinity for Lake Superior. My great uncle Earl sailed on the Great Lakes, my brother Clarence lived in Lutsen and ran a resort. It’s just such an interesting story,” Beth concluded.

Madge says it is important for the public to know about the Steinbrenner. Not just because of her great uncle, but because of the importance of the Lake and the people who risk their lives on it to making a living. She said, “These were people whose lives were lost. But the shipping industry is so important to Minnesota…northern Minnesota especially. It’s important to the whole Great Lakes Area. How fickle the weather is, the risks people take to go out on those boats. ”

Beth doesn’t understand why more people aren’t familiar with the Steinbrenner. She said she’d like to see more about the wreck, how it happened, and why there’s not more interest. “I looked up the top 10 shipwrecks in Lake Superior and it didn’t make the top 10. I’m curious to know why that is.”

One thing is certain… for the sisters, and perhaps all of us… the journey of discovery about the SS Henry Steinbrenner is just beginning.