The coastal steamer, Premier collided in a heavy fog with the collier, Willamette below Port Townsend, off Washington state in the Pacific Northwest on the afternoon of October 8th, 1892. Four people were killed, including Frank C. Wynkoop, the 13 year old son of D. J. Wynkoop of Nooksack, Washington.

    I've been wondering since 2002, when I first encountered this story about the Premier/Willamette catastrophe, just who D. J. Wynkoop was and how he fit into the family. I have to say that he's led me quite a chase over the years and it wasn't until recently, after a false start or two, that I finally found out, with my good friend Tom Wilbur's help, just who this man was.

    D. J., or to give him his proper name, Daniel J. Wynkoop, was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Washington State sometime between 1880 and October 1892, just in time to board the coastal steamer, Premier, intent on making her mark on history.

    Tom Wilbur, wilbur9@comcast.net, is the one who dug up the 1880 Federal Census record that revealed D. J.'s identity. He and his family were living, at the time, in Edenburg, Clarion County, Pennsylvania.

    Daniel was the son of Jehiel Franklin Wynkoop, in turn a son of John Wynkoop and Elizabeth Corbett, about whom I've written before, in the webpage entitled: John Wynkoop and Family, of the Clarion River. There you will find a family tree for John, including his son Jehiel, that reflects the current state of my knowledge. (These things, however, are always changing as more information becomes available and/or assumptions are proved or disproved.)

    With Tom's assistance, here is what Daniel's family looks like at the moment:

1. DANIEL J.⁹ WYNKOOP (JEHIEL FRANKLIN⁸, JOHN⁷, GERRIT⁶, GERARDUS⁵, GERRIT⁴, GARRET³, CORNELIUS EVERTSZ², EVERT¹) was born Abt. 1851 in Pennsylvania. He married ELLA E. She was born Abt. 1858 in Pennsylvania.

Children of DANIEL WYNKOOP and ELLA E. are:
    i. EDITH¹⁰ WYNKOOP, b. Abt. 1878, Pennsylvania.
    ii. FRANK C. WYNKOOP, b. Abt. 1879, Pennsylvania; d. October 08, 1892, off Whitby Island, about ten miles south of Port Townsend, Washington.

    Tom's main interest is the family of William M. Wynecoop and Francis Bomar of Kentucky, and their descendants. If you can add anything to his quest please drop him a line at wilbur9@comcast.net. He'd really appreciate hearing from you.

    Tom, as always, thanks so very much.

    Chris.

The Premier Catastrophe.
     The collision of the coastal steamer Willamette and the Premier, October 8, 1892.

A Steamer Sunk, Four Persons Perish and Many are Injured.
     From the Los Angeles Times, Saturday, 9 October, 1892.

Run Down by a Collier.
     From the New York Times, Monday, 10 October, 1892.

Fatal Collision of Ships.
     From the Washington Post, Monday, 10 October, 1892.

A Collision At Sea.
     From the Hartford Courant, Hartford, Connecticut, Monday, 10 October, 1892.

Six Fatalities.
     From the Greeley Tribune, Greeley, Weld County, Colorado, Thursday, 13 October, 1892.