John Fisher came to Leelanau County from Wisconsin in 1854. He and his wife Harriet were prominent in the Glen Arbor/ Empire area and notably offered shelter to the crew of the Westmoreland that went down in the Manitou Passage.
The following is an excerpt from an article provided by the Empire Area Heritage Group published after the shipwreck. The name of the publication is unknown.
On Dec. 5, 1854, the steamer Westmoreland left her docks in Chicago with $10,000 in gold and many barrels of wine. Outside the harbor of Chicago the ship encountered three inches of new ice. She broke through without apparent damage. But in breaking through she did serious injury to her seams. The hurt was not apparent until a storm broke on the Michigan side and near the site of the present Frankfort. It was discovered that the ship was sinking.
