ARCHIVES WELCOMES GISLASON DESCENDANTS

Members of our group posed beneath the flag of Iceland in the Thordarson
artifacts room of the Boat House on Rock Island.  From left:  Craig Welt,
Laurie Latimer, Amy Welt, Jeannie Hutchins and special guest,
Almar Grimsson of Iceland.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Nearly 150 years ago, in 1870, four men from Iceland came to Washington Island, encouraged by William Wickman who purchased Island property here and offered the men the opportunity to work for him in his woods.

One of the men was Jon Gislason, who began working in the Danish outpost in Eyrarbakki at age 14, and who had come to know fellow store employee Wickman.  At the time, Eyrarbakki was a small seaport, but a major shipment point for exporting wool and cod from Iceland's southern coast.  It was Wickman who, removed to Milwaukee a year or so later, encouraged his Icelandic friends to join him in America.   These young men might have gone on to live productive and relatively comfortable lives in Iceland, but it was the adventure as much as anything that encouraged them to leave their homeland and seek new opportunities.

This past Tuesday, the Washington Island Archives held an Open House in the Rutledge Room of the Community Center, welcoming members of the community to learn more about the Archives, but foremost, to greet three guests who are descendants of Jon Gislason.

Almar Grimsson, Iceland, recently traveled to Grand Fork, North Dakota, to attend a convention celebrating Icelandic roots in North America.  He's been to the U.S. and Canada numerous times, tracing his ancestry and meeting with others of Icelandic immigrant descent. A common goal is to maintain strong ties with Iceland, the mother country, its history and culture.  Grimsson then drove from North Dakota to Washington Island for his first ever visit here.  He met up with two Gislason cousins of his, Amy Welt, joined by her husband, Craig, of Iowa City, Iowa, and Laurie Latimer, Evanston, Illinois.

Archivist Steve Reiss prepared a Gislason genealogical tree, based on information available in the Island Archives, and with help from Jeannie Hutchins and others, connections to Jon Gislason were made.  In Almar Grimsson's case, his great grandfather was a brother to Jon, and as a Lutheran minister, slightly older than Jon, that brother chose to remain in Iceland.  Amy is a great-granddaughter of Arthur Gislason, and Laurie is a great-granddaughter of Esther (respectively, brother and sister to Lawrence Gislason.)  Island residents may remember best Lawrence and Ruth Gislason who continued to run the Gislason family store in Jensenville, situated along the shores of Detroit Harbor.  This building later became the Island's first Community Center.  It was later demolished, and there is a sandy playground today where it once stood.

After closing their store in the 1930s, Lawrence and Ruth then sailed on Great Lakes vessels as a couple, for a time.  Gislason Beach, across the road from the present day Red Barn facility and adjacent to the Shipyard Marina, was the site of Gislason pier, once used by freighting vessels for the shipment of potatoes and lumber, and for receiving incoming products and visitors around the turn of the century, in the early 1900s.

One daughter of Jon and Augusta Gislason, Evaline, married Ben Johnson ("Hotel Benny" as he became known) who built Hotel Washington next door to the Gislason residence and boarding house.  It was at this same boarding house that a young couple, Julianna and C. H. Thordarson, for several years stayed when visiting the Island. This was before Thordarson purchased his property on Rock Island.  At the time, Julianna's mother and father lived on Washington Island.

Jeannie Hutchins adds meaning to what seemed like a mile-long
list of family names provided by Archivist Steve Reiss.
All named are descendants of Jon Gislason, one of
four earliest Icelandic immigrants to settle here.

  

On hand during Grimsson's visit, and most helpful in sorting out the often confusing family lines of descent (not to mention the many other associations and connections made in a small community over the decades) was Jeannie Hutchins.

Jeannie is both an Archives volunteer and a volunteer docent at the Jacobsen Museum, and she can claim perhaps the closest association of any Island person to the Thordarson family.

It was Jeannie's Aunt Helga (Lindal) who married the Thordarson's oldest son, Dewey.  Dan Lindal, Jeannie's father, answered an ad placed in the early 1920s by Thordarson in an Icelandic newspaper published in Gimli, near Winnipeg, Canada, and Lindal (and later his sister, Helga) came to Washington Island, working first as a foreman on Rock Island for C. H. Thordarson, and then as an Island fisherman.

Jeannie (Lindal) Hutchins poses with the traditional
 Icelandic wedding dress of Julianna Thordarson,
on display at the Thordarson Boat House.

My first association with Almar was through filling his email order for a book about Thordarson and Rock Island.  Several exchanges and several years later, and serving as an Island Archives representative, I offered to prepare an agenda of activities during his two-day stay that might prove meaningful in connecting with his family Icelandic heritage, and also with the Rock Island and Thordarson history.

Looking back at the opportunity to visit with each of our guests, I believe we had a most rewarding time, during which new bits of information and history about the Gislason family or Rock Island came to light.

Casual conversation revealed that Almar and Mary Jo are also cousins, through a Dane named Knudson who came to live in Iceland.  Shown photos from our recent, 2015 family trip to Iceland, Almar recognized several faces, including   Mary Jo's Gudmundsen cousins, Dora and Bjorg Thorsteinsdottir, who were also his relations.  So, in this way our visiting was both enlightening and entertaining.

Grimsson, who is a retired pharmacist, is also a past president of the Icelandic National League of Iceland. He became actively interested in pursuing general Icelandic genealogy and emigration, and in particular his own family ties, approximately 20 years ago.  But until a colleague asked him a specific question about Washington Island, he was not aware of the Jon Gislason family connection, or of the importance of Washington Island's place in the minds of fellow Icelanders.

This Island is considered the first, true settlement location by most Icelanders (although there was also a large group who left from southern Iceland in the 1840s, following a Danish Mormon leader to Spanish Fork, Utah).  The arrival and subsequent settling here by those first four men then became a wave of emigration to North America - many settled on the plains of Canada - that spanned approximately 1870-1914.

Having gained deeper knowledge about his family and this island community - the one Icelandic settlement location he had yet to visit in the United States - Grimsson hopes to return again some day, along with his wife.

Welcoming Almar Grimsson (center) at the Archives Open House
Tuesday, May 9, were Karen Jess, Connie Sena and Judie Yamamoto.

Wednesday, May 10, we stopped at points of interest that aren't typically open to visitors until later in May. We were accompanied by videographers Brett Kosmider and Andrew Phillips, of Peninsula Filmworks, LLC.  Their company is associated with Peninsula Publishing and Distribution Company and was commissioned by the Door County Visitor's Bureau to produce short video segments on Door County culture and history.  These productions, approximately five or six minutes in length, play on the DCVB website. The topic chosen by Phillips and Kosmider to air in June will describe Washington Island's Icelandic connections.

I received Andrew's email contact out of the blue, at about the same time Almar's plane touched down at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.  Through this coincidental timing, we linked up and were able to provide timely opportunities for them to witness Icelandic connections as they unfolded.  We look forward with interest to viewing the results of their interviews and photography, based on our day together at various Island locations.

*        *         *

For the fine welcome given our Gislason relations guests, I'd like to thank Archives committee members and volunteers for helping to prepare the Open House event.

Also, I must give special thanks to Rock Island State Park Supervisor, Michelle Hefty, who allowed us the opportunity to visit the Thordarson Boat House prior to its official opening date.  And to Terri Moore, who prepared the pioneer buildings and opened up especially for us at the Island Farm Museum.  And Jeannie Hutchins, both for knowledge shared over the days during our guests' visit, and also for the private opening of the Jacobsen Museum at Little Lake to see artifacts there.

Each of these above-named facilities, as well as the Stavkirke, display facets of Island history and culture, and each helps to educate and interpret Washington Island's development as a community over several generations.  These institutions become important stops for Island visitors, but also for residents, especially during the "warm months" of the tourism year.  

-  Dick Purinton

SNEAKING BACK

Visitors yesterday (May 2) posed with us before touring the Island.
(from left):  Dick Purinton, Magnus Arthursson, Sigridur A. Jonasdottir, Mary Jo,
Evy (Purinton) Beneda, and Lynn (Sorensen) Rasmussen. 

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Feeling like a teenager sneaking in late at night, hoping his absence wasn't discovered by his parents, I resume this blog today.

It has been a bit of an absence - since late January.   I regret this might have caused consternation and even concern for my well-being, or that of my family.   The short answer is that during our vacation away from the Island in Feb/March, I enjoyed doing other things, and that feeling has lasted until now!

I've been busy on other projects, and other activities, too.

One suggestion, for anyone who might enjoy what I tend to most often communicate through this blog, is to subscribe to the Island Observer newspaper.   Since Janet Berggren's retirement as Archivist at the close of 2015, I've taken over writing and editing the Archives page, and I will continue to do so, at least for the near future.  With this new responsibility, though, the frequency of the Archives page changes to one such page per month, rather than in each issue.

The photo at the head of this blog is of two Icelandic guests, along with their host, Lynn Rasmussen, who helped to arrange their Island visit Monday, May 2.   The photo was taken by Sue Kissinger from Stevens Point University, who guides groups to Iceland each year.  Sue became good friends with (husband and wife) Magnus Arthursson and Sigridur Jonasdottir during those trips, and she has now reciprocated during their visit here.  Moreover, Magnus (or "Maggi," as he prefers to be called) drives motor coach for Gray Line Tours in Iceland, which is how they became acquainted in the first place.

Monday's visit was arranged by Lynn Rasmussen, a friend of Sue's, and who also is from Stevens Point.  Lynn remembered Washington Island as a young girl, although she grew up in Sturgeon Bay.  She is the youngest daughter of the late Elmer and Dorothy Sorensen, whose names readers may recognize. She is related to several well-known Island families, Hagens and Sorensens.

We had a most pleasant visit of several hours over late morning coffee.  Encouraged by Lynn to invite others, Mary Jo extended an invitation to several representatives of Icelandic heritage here, to join in an exchange of information.  Comparing notes on their family backgrounds and personal interest in Iceland relations were Steve Reiss, Lee Engstrom, Shirley Ellefson, Sherry Young, Jeanie Young, Jeannie Hutchins, and Evy Beneda.

One specific interest of Sigridur's, and a primary reason for their visit to Washington Island, was to find out more about her great uncle, Halldor Einarsson, an Icelandic immigrant to Chicago from the early 1900s who was an expert wood carver.  It was Einarsson who C. H. Thordarson commissioned to carve his office furniture with Norse mythology features for his Thordarson Electric Manufacturing facility in Chicago.  Photos of Thordarson dating to a 1925 magazine about him show him sitting behind his custom made, specially carved oak desk, so we know the furniture was in place at that time.

Those furniture pieces were later moved from his Chicago office to Rock Island, in 1941, along with his large book collection and their cases. Nearly all of the original set of carved furniture pieces are now on display in the Rock Island boathouse during the state park's months of operation, late May to mid-October.  

Chair carving detail, Rock Island
boathouse.

Sigridur was pleased to find that there are books and other written materials still available here describing Einarsson and his carvings.

Jeannie Hutchins, a Jacobsen Museum docent in summer, invited Sigridur's group to a special viewing of the carved whale's tooth.  (The museum's official season doesn't begin until Memorial Day weekend.)  Einarsson carved this as a gift to the people of Washington Island in 1970, commemorating the100th anniversary of Icelandic immigration here.

Detail from one of Thordarson's 'vest pocket' notebooks.
This shows a stone-and-turf chapel.  Drawn by "Dory,"
(by Halldor Einarsson), and dated Dec. 1937.  Was this
an idea for a future Thordarson structure on Rock Island?  

Carved sperm whale's tooth by Einarsson, displayed at the
Jacobsen Museum.  This side of the tooth shows the
likeness of early Icelandic immigrant to Washington Island,
Gudmunder Gudmundsson. 

Sigridur was most excited to see the carved whale's tooth and took lots of photos, according to Jeannie.

The hope of Siggi and Maggi is to return in several years' time, during the summer when the Rock Island boathouse and other Einarsson carvings would be accessible to them.

 -  Dick Purinton

MORE ON THORDARSON

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Recent postings have mentioned C. H. Thordarson and his renown for producing electrical equipment, and we fielded interest from people we met in Iceland who are familiar with his name and his reputation for invention and manufacturing.  We don't know just how much the Thordarson Electric Manufacturing Company contributed to the electrification of Iceland, or America for that matter, but reputation and his company's impact seems to have been far-reaching.

Friday, as we waited to board the ferry Washington in late afternoon for our return to the Island, we met  Paul Grieger, a man who occasionally come across items bearing the Thordarson Electric Company name as a collector.   He pulled from his car a piece of test equipment manufactured by the Thordarson Company that he was delivering to Rock Island for donation to the Thordarson display located in the northeast room of the boathouse.   He intended to camp on Rock Island for several days, his first visit there in 20 years.

Paul Nelsen Grieger holds a Thordarson Condenser Tester he
picked up at an auction, "The best one I've found so far."

Paul is a truck driver from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, and he has a side business called, "Paul's Cool Stuff."  He specializes in antiques, collectibles and vintage paper.   This Thordarson test unit is the best in terms of its condition of any he's come across, he said.  

I regret not asking him if it's still in working order, or if by "best" he referred to the condition of the face and case.   I also neglected to obtain the date of manufacture.  I'll have to visit the exhibit on Rock Island to learn more.  

Then, on Sunday morning, I drove out to meet the Karfi as it returned to Jackson Harbor.   I saw Tim Sweet getting off the ferry, ending his week as docent, along with his wife, at the lighthouse.   I asked Tim if he met the man with the Thordarson piece.   "Yes," he said, and it had been given to Park Manager Randy Holm for display in the boathouse.  Filing of paperwork is required before the state will provide official acceptance, but once this process moves along the public should be able to see this piece on display among other Thordarson artifacts in the near future.

 - Dick Purinton

ROCK ISLAND STATE PARK GETS NEW WELL

Rock Island and Thordarson boat house, after rain clouds cleared Wednesday.  
(Purinton)

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

I had the pleasure of operating the Karfi this past week on Tuesday and Wednesday.   Weather wasn't so great.  We had heavy fog early Tuesday, and then light rain, with rain again the following morning, finally giving way to a short stretch of afternoon sunshine and clear atmosphere.


Tuesday saw light passenger traffic and  a few campers heading back home.  Wednesday, after transporting a few passengers in the rain on the first run at 10 am, there were no takers for our noon trip to Rock Island. As it turned out, there were none waiting to return from Rock Island, either, so Christian Foss and I took advantage of the empty vessel to shut down, moor, and hike up the trail toward the lighthouse to examine the predicament faced by well drilling trucks the previous afternoon as they traversed the rugged, mostly uphill route.

Unloading the well drilling rig, one of the heaviest pieces of
equipment, with close wheel base, of the various vehicles carried
aboard the ferries.  (Purinton)

At midday Tuesday, in the height of the fog, Jeff Cornell and Hoyt had brought three trucks from Detroit Harbor belonging to Charlie's Pumps and Well Drilling, Brussels, Wisconsin.   As it turned out, transporting the equipment to the Rock Island dock and unloading it over the rather narrow pier was the easy part.

Karfi approaching Rock Island Tuesday morning.
(Kathleen Ernst photo)

The real challenge lay ahead for Randy Holm, Park Manager, his co-workers, and the operators of the trucks.   Anyone who has walked that trail knows that it is steep and rutted, sometimes sloping away from the hillside.   In addition, soils were soft and greasy from consistent rains over the previous several days.  Progress toward the light was halted, temporarily, approximately 3/4 of the way to the light.  That's where the trucks were parked for another attempt on Thursday, in hopes the rains would let up, giving the trail a chance to dry.

On Thursday, efforts to get the drilling rig and pipe truck to the light resumed.  Sixteen fiberglass mats were transported to Rock Island that morning, weighing approximately 100 pounds each, which were then laid end-to-end to ease the trucks over the, muddiest, steepest, and toughest patches.  Randy Holm described this operation as successful, but not without intensive labor on the part of the two drivers and the park employees who laid mats, then lifted them after the trucks had passed, scraped mud and rock from each, and then reset them on the trail that lay ahead.  With that effort, the drivers managed to get their trucks to the lighthouse grounds.

Then, as a first step, the well head was removed from the original, three-inch well, giving the drillers access by means of a pump dropped down the hole to a ready water supply, and with lubricating water, drilling commenced.  However, at approximately 25 feet, the drill head bit broke from the drill shaft.  As of this Saturday morning, their hopes are to retrieve it from the hole, possibly by adding cement and then pulling the entire plug, drill bit and all.   Not only is the drill bit worth several thousand dollars, it currently blocks drilling efforts made thus far.   If extraction is unsuccessful, a new hole using a new bit will have to be started.

This rather involved effort to provide a new well is designed to replace the original well, one that's been in use by lighthouse residents since approximately 1904-06 (the date is uncertain), when it was drilled by the Koyen brothers using a drop drill.  Randy Holm believes the old well was drilled to a depth of 155 feet (probably close to the vertical distance to the lake level from the top of the bluff).   For the past 100 and more years this well tested A-OK, but as older wells go it was uncased, and the State wishes to replace it with a new, cased well.   Undoubtedly, this new well will be of a deeper variety, probably producing typical iron content and water not nearly as tasty.  [Note:  In a conversation with retired Rock Island Park Manager Kirby Foss this afternoon, he said that August and Volney Koyen towed their drilling rig over the ice to Rock Island by horse team, and drilled the well in winter, to a depth of 195 feet.] 

This newly acquired liquid may be some of the most expensive water-per-gallon in the state!  We wonder how many cases of bottled drinking water could have been supplied for the same cost as drilling this well.  There would, of course, have to be the carrying of the occasional bucket up the steps from the lake for washing dishes and clothes, bathing, etc., the way it was done in the old days!  The thought of it all gives one a greater appreciation for life at the lighthouse prior to advent of the turn-of-the-century well, when fetching water from the lake must have been routine, in addition to capturing rain water.

Those new knees worked just fine

Christian and I paused near the Thordarson gate at the top of the first hill, above the tank house.  It's been fenced in for safety reasons recently, and in fact it was slated for removal this spring due to its deteriorating condition and the resultant liability it posed for park visitors.  However, keen public interest in trying to replace it with a similar structure brought a temporary stay to its demolition.  During what might be a rather limited window, Friends of Rock Island and park officials will seek funding and ideas to construct a similar replacement gate, one that might weather another 70 or 80 years.

Gate with hanging flower planter, made of native cedar, one of several
iconic structures on Rock Island built by Thordarson.  From this
location, visitors can enjoy a sweeping vista of the boathouse grounds
and Washington Island's northern shoreline.   (Purinton)

Christian and I then hiked past the gate another half-mile or so,  where we came upon the trucks parked in the center of a level section of trail.  This truck roadblock was the reason Holm had elected to temporarily close this trail to park visitors (other trails remain open), and for obvious safety reasons the grounds at the lighthouse will be likewise be closed during drilling operations - at least through June 6th.   Reopening of the lighthouse will depend on progress made in drilling during the coming week.

Every so often along the trail shoulders we saw deep ruts where the wide-tired front wheels of the well driller rig had gotten slightly off to one side.  On steeper portions of the slope where there were rugged vertical sections, there was evidence of struggles to move forward, and then get unstuck, using planks and gravel fill.  Given the challenges faced, it was surprising these two trucks got as far as they did that first day in the rain, with the steepest portions still awaiting passage.

To aid this project along, on Friday park workers carried a portable mixer and sacks of cement in the park's backhoe to the light, from the closed truck that was parked in the field near the boathouse.

When completed, this well drilling effort will mark a bizarre beginning to what we hope will be a good season for Rock Island park visitors.  Memorial Weekend traffic was steady, for both Washington and Rock Islands, and there are widespread hopes for good summer weather to provide many pleasant days outdoors for visitors.

Well drilling rig operated by Charlie's Pumps,
Brussels, Wisconsin, when progress was stalled
partway up the lighthouse trail.  (Purinton)

Meanwhile, our family has been preparing for months for a trip to Iceland, and in future blogs I'll feature what we'll see and do, as well as concerns we have regarding our travels.

-  Dick Purinton

HALDOR EINARSSON CARVING REDISCOVERED

Gudrun Ingvarsdottir, Icelandic immigrant, 
likeness carved
in one side of sperm whale tooth.

Washington Island -

Several weeks ago, at a meeting of the Washington Island Archives, Archivist Janet Berggren brought to our attention a carving inside a glass case. This item had been passed along from the Island Library, where it had been on display for a number of years.  

No one seemed to immediately know what it was, or its significance, although a hand-lettered label on card stock inside the box said, "To Icelanders of Washington Island from the Icelandic Association of Chicago."

The glass case, approximately 16 inches high by one foot square, held what appeared to be a carved sperm whale tooth, mounted on a wooden base with descriptions of the two carved figures, one on either side, inscribed in brass plates fastened to the wooden base. On one side: Gudmunder Gudmundsson 1840-1938. On the opposing side:  his wife (we assume) Gudrun Ingvarsdottir (1842-1940).

This carving was placed on a piece of what appeared to be a square of dark sheepskin, wool side up, of a very dark brown color, shades of which are found among some Icelandic sheep.

[As I write this, I've strained to see more closely their respective dates of birth and death, and I can hardly believe they both lived to 98 years of age!  That will require additional checking to see if my eyes are correct.] 

Gudmunder Gudmundsson, whose two sons,
Tom and Albert, chose
last names Goodman and Goodmander.

The glass case was secured with a light, brass hasp, but to ensure no one messed with the carving, a hardened padlock was snapped in place.  A key for the lock could not be located.

The following week I brought a hacksaw to the Archives in an attempt to cut through the lock.  No dice.  It took a bolt cutter to do the job.  Once the carving could be examined more closely, it did indeed appear to be a carved sperm whale tooth, with the moniker "Dory" on the underside of the base, along with the date, '70.   "Dory" was also carved into one side of the tooth.

The top of the wooden base on which the tooth was mounted (glued, it appears) showed the relief outline of Iceland, and basalt-like columns were carved vertically into the sides, representative of those volcanic formations found in the landscape of Iceland. 

The carving's date, then, was 1970, the same year the Washington Island Icelandic Immigration Centennial was celebrated, highlighting the arrival of the first Icelanders here.  (That same year, also in  June 1970, the new ferry Eyrarbakki was christened with well water from the Eyrarbakki school yard well.)

Janet searched the Archives Index for related articles, and she found that a Centennial celebration had been planned for June 1970.  A request was made in one news article for the availability of rooms to host guests, and 400+ pounds of whitefish were on order for a fish boil.  Several Icelandic dignitaries were expected to make an appearance, including a man who at the time was the Chicago manager for Icelandic Airlines.  But, no news photo or direct connection was uncovered regarding a carved gift from Iceland. 

Similar signature 

While we were convinced this was given to Washington Island in 1970, perhaps accepted by the then Town Chairman, the carver's identity remained to be determined.  The rather stern looking faces carved in the tooth I believed were similar to those faces, also of the Gudmundssons, that I had seen in a museum in Selfoss, Iceland, when we traveled there with a large group in 1987.  Ted Jessen had brought us to the Halldor Einarsson museum of carvings during that trip, that same man who carved Thordarson's furniture.  I recalled filming Jessen as he held up two carved wooden figures, and their likeness resembled closely those carved in the whale's tooth.  

Einarsson, who immigrated first to Manitoba in 1922, then came to Chicago, had left his Chicago area home for Iceland in 1965 after the death of his wife, in order to spend his last years in his homeland.  He took with him many carved pieces accumulated in his personal collection, and he then funded and established a museum in Selfoss to house them.  Einarsson died in 1977.  With continued good health, he could have in fact carved this commemorative piece, either commissioned, or as his personal gift. 

But, a few days passed before I made the association between Halldor Einarsson and "Dory."  On several of the sketch pages observed in one of Thordarson's notebooks, there appeared the same stylized name, "Dory," with its distinctive tail end of the "Y" extended beneath the other letters.  Dory was Einarsson's nickname, it appeared - or at least the way in which he signed his work.  

In my book, I attributed Thordarson's notebook sketches (dated 1931) to someone who had gained Thordarson's trust, and I suggested it was possibly the work of his oldest son, Dewey, who studied to be an artist.  Whoever it was, he received permission to expand upon Thordarson's creative ideas in those personal pages.  Wood carver Einarsson would have earned such trust, through his successful interpretation of Norse mythology in the furniture carvings he made for Thordarson's Chicago office.  Those pieces were later moved to the Rock Island boathouse.

What has not yet been decided is the ultimate disposition of the encased, carved gift to "Icelanders of Washington Island" that now resides in the Archives.  It is the general mission of the Archives - partly due to space available - to receive and maintain documents and photos, but not to collect and display artifacts.  It would seem that the Town of Washington, as the recipient and owner, ought to prominently display this piece where it can best be seen and appreciated by citizens and visitors (and not relegated to a storage room).  

The value of this piece lies more in its cultural connections, rather than its monetary value, although Icelanders who venerate Einarsson's work might look differently on this artifact. 

- Dick Purinton

MONDAY MORNING ASSESSMENT

-  Detroit Harbor, Washington Island

Ferry trips are running more or less on schedule this morning, which is better than expected given the gale warnings posted for the upper lake from Sunday evening through most of Monday.   A glance at our Northport webcam showed several trucks lined up to come over for the 9:30 a.m. ferry to the Island.

Two box trucks were also transported on the earlier run, one of them the Mann's Store grocery shipment that comes across each Monday to provision the shelves at our only island grocery.  When weather is questionable and we're in that time of year when there are few trips during the day, Orion Mann is considerate to put their 25-ft. box truck in line early on a Sunday (when the traffic is generally lighter).  Our crew ferries it to Northport where it sits over night.

Then, on Monday morning it's already in place - regardless of weather or other traffic that morning - for the grocery semi that arrives to transfer pallets of goods.  If Orion can't get across, his cousin, Chris Voight, positions the truck to the food semi at the highway's shoulder, and he later drives it loaded down the dock to the waiting ferry.  This routine is usually accomplished for the earliest ferry leaving Northport, so that Island grocery shelves and display cases will restocked and ready for Island shoppers.  Late Monday morning is an optimum time to shop at Mann's grocery, a few hours after their loaded truck comes off the ferry and backs up to the store's loading dock.

Roger Johnson passed away

We'd like to mention the recent death of friend and Gills Rock neighbor Roger Johnson, 77, November 12, 2013.  Roger's wife Gloria, who survives him, for many years worked behind the counter at the Ellison Bay Post Office, and we would see her when we picked up and dropped off Island mail there.  Roger's family is an old Gills Rock commercial fishing family, and he fished in his early years before taking up carpentry.  Oldest son, Rick, is one of the few remaining commercial fishermen left in the northern peninsula, fishing from the tug Freitag Bros.

Roger's father, also Richard, served for a time at the Plum Island Life Saving Station, and Roger helped identify many of the men shown in the photo (below) that appeared in Over and Back, published in 1990.

We'll remember Roger also for construction of the Northport Pier Restaurant in 1985/86, and days when we popped into his Gills Rock shop where he worked on projects, adjacent to the ferry landing.  That building was the Johnson family's net shed.

Our sympathies to Roger's family.

 ***

The northwest winds of today, and the SW winds Friday into Saturday, were forecast days in advance.  The strong southerly flow caused a suspension of dredging operations, once again, but crews and truckers were back at it once again this morning, because in Detroit Harbor's channel the northerly winds won't hamper tug and barge maneuvers.  Below are a few more recent photos taken during the past week.

Jim Rose photo taken this morning, Nov. 18.

After a day of wind-caused delay, at 7 a.m. the tug Stephen M. Asher
pushed the dredging rig into position as we passed by,
outbound, on the Eyrarbakki.

While there was a break in the weather, with excellent weather Friday to complete a big pour of
concrete, our ferry crews installed a large diameter steel pipe culvert.  Ken Berggren fabricated the drainage box with grate, and he took the plywood lid off long enough for me to photograph the layout.  The project went along smoothly until a deep concrete wall poured many decades ago was discovered beneath the blacktop, directly in the line the pipe would take.  This required the better part of a day's work to saw, jack-hammer and trench toward the steel bulkhead.

An attempt to eliminate a large puddle on the dock where traffic
lines up, this culvert was installed and concrete
was poured Thursday, Nov. 14.  Roen rig (background) laid up for wind and
installation of a new tug generator.

Friday proved to be our finest day outdoors this past week, and I traveled to Sturgeon Bay and discussed my book, Thordarson and Rock Island, on air with Eddie Allen of WDOR.

Time flies quickly during such interviews, and I wondered afterwards if I highlighted enough important things about Rock Island and Thordarson. Regardless, its over, and I appreciated the opportunity and the one phone call from listener Kay Polster who said she possessed a check made out for $24.00 and signed by Thordarson, to her dad, Hector Floyd Koyen.

Floyd and Gladys Koyen spent at least one - maybe several - winters firing the greenhouse boiler on Rock Island to preserve Thordarson's orchids and his other plants from season-to-season.  I remember Floyd commenting on that task, shaking his head about how futile it all seemed, burning cords of wood in order to keep a glass greenhouse warm throughout the winter.  But, it was gainful employment.  (Floyd was a well-driller and a plumber by trade.)  I believe that check, made out in Thordarson's hand, was from 1941, a time when the Thordarson social and family activities on Rock Island were about to winding down, in comparison with earlier years.

Kay visited with me the following day at the Greco Gallery where I was signed books that afternoon.  She brought Floyd's endorsed, cashed check along.  (Floyd must have asked Thordarson if he could keep it as a souvenir.)  It was good to see so many visitors in the Greco Gallery on Third Avenue, out on a rainy afternoon, a few of whom I hadn't seen in years.

Kay (Koyen) Polster holds check her father
received from C. H. Thordarson.

Added to the recent weeks' activities are two book reviews that I will unashamedly publish here in my next blog!  
    -  Dick Purinton

BACK AGAIN

Sunrise over Detroit Harbor following night of heavy rain.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

No excuses for no blogs.  Just been away awhile.

Lots of activities to wrap up our Washington Island summer after our two-week trip to England (which I may report on in an upcoming blog).  There was the Death's Door BBQ, several days of very heavy rain (several reports of 7 inches falling one day), the Labor Day holiday weekend, and for me, days working on the Karfi and driving the Cherry Train.  With temperatures in the lower 50s Labor Day Monday morning, it feels good to catch up on a backlog of items at home.

An important milestone was reached in the progress of my book, Thordarson and Rock Island.  I'm now expecting a delivery date of Friday, September 13.

Two days before boarding a plane to begin our trip to England, I passed the last of the edits to Amy Jorgenson.   Amy then made final changes and sent the files to Worzalla, the printer in Stevens Point.

We had been through many edits in the previous four months, with the help of five volunteer readers.  By the time I boarded the plane Sunday, August 4, I held that any remaining mistakes would have to be overlooked by myself and readers.  Then, from England  I continued to email both Amy and the printer, and the 4-color cover was approved.  However, final text and photo page approval awaited when I came home.   Those I elected to thumb through, more for formality and as a requirement by the printer  in order to keep the project moving, knowing that any changes at that point would only cost more and add to the delay in printing.

So, September 13 is now the date I'm counting on to receive my books, and with some confidence this is a done deal, I'm happily taking orders now on my new website:       www.RichardPurinton.com        You may wish to visit that site if for no other reason than to read more about the process of finishing and publishing this book.    

With editing finally in the past, sales and promotion have taken priority.

First time event:  Washington Island Literary Festival October 5 & 6

As it happens, my new book and a new Island event will coincide.  The Washington Island Literary Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, October 5 & 6.  This event will center at the Trueblood Performing Arts Center on Washington Island, with additional activities at the Historic Island Dairy Saturday evening, and a trip to the Thordarson Boat House on Rock Island Sunday morning, weather permitting.

An Island Literary Festival was the idea of Helene Meyer's, honoring her late husband, Gene Meyer.  Helene enlisted the help of Betsy Wallman, who in turn named a committee of six other persons. I believe that our first meeting was in mid-July.  Tremendous progress was made since then in planning the program and obtaining presenters, given the comparatively late start date.

This Literary Festival emphasizes Wisconsin writers and their literature, and it's designed to give readers - the audience - the opportunity to meet and hear a range of authors with strong Wisconsin roots, and who may also write about Wisconsin.   Below is a poster developed by committee member Mari Anderson for this occasion.  I'm proud to be among those writers asked to be a presenter.  Timing of the publication of my new book is such that I anticipate receiving it in the next two weeks, in time for an event in the Thordarson Boat House Sunday morning, October 6th.  There, in the great hall of the structure most often associated with Thordarson and Rock Island, I'll read and talk about Thordarson.

The Washington Island Literary Festival Registration is being taken now, and you can sign up via the Trueblood Performing Arts Center website.  Cost is $75 per person.  You'll meet writers who include well-known former Wisconsin Public Radio host Jean Feraca, who is also an author.  Jean will also chair a panel discussion.  Listeners of WPR's Chapter-a-day will also recognize the voice of Norman Gilliland who will speak Sunday afternoon.  Norman will have a new novel out this October.  Former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Bruce Dethlefsen will read Saturday evening after dinner,  and he'll also lead an open-mic, joined by other poets - including Ralph Murre and Sharon Auberle of Baileys Harbor who recently co-published a new book of poetry.  Ralph and Sharon will also read in the Thordarson Boat House Sunday morning.

Besides admission to the presentations by writers, your registration will include dinner at the Island Dairy Saturday evening, early morning coffee and pastry, break refreshments, and the Sunday morning ferry ride to Rock Island State Park aboard the Karfi.  For anyone who enjoys literature, especially authors and books with a Wisconsin flavor, you will want to send in your registration soon.  (The registration fee jumps to $90 after 9/15/13.)

This blog doesn't begin to catch up on old news, but it's a start.  I hope to see many of you at the Island Literary Festival.  It should be a fun and rewarding experience.

-   Dick Purinton

EARLY DETROIT HARBOR PASSENGER VESSEL SERVICE

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

A light rain is falling, and there is a temporary lull in tourism this afternoon, a good time to consider a new blog.  I've had some of these images on my computer screen for months, waiting for that opportunity to string them together with observations.

What got me started on this was the topic of dredging and dock work, and how one thing builds on another over the years and decades.  The present island ferry dock was formerly the property of Ole Christianson who had a boatyard and marine railway there.  If you're interested in more details on that yard, a letter from Ole to Thordarson is included in the about-to-be-published Thordarson and Rock Island.  Thordarson, it turns out, was interested enough in Ole's boatyard to exchange letters with him and get a price.  Ole, it is assumed, was what we call today a "motivated seller" because when Thordarson didn't bite, William Jepson who operated the ferries from the shipyard location at the far end of the harbor did.  Jepson moved his ferry landing and began to make dock improvements.  (This move would also have entailed the improvement of a road for motorized vehicles to and from the Lobdell Point area.  John W. Cornell recalled walking to work along a footpath when he first expanded his dock, where the current Island Outpost dock is now situated.)

North Shore moored inside the slip.
Barrels are lined up along the Standard Oil
dock to the north.  Chambers house is
in background (right).

In the first photo I think we can safely say the North Shore is backing from the location that is also the current ferry landing, backing "into the channel" so-to-speak.  Since the exact year isn't known, there might not yet have been a dredged channel, only a naturally deep waterway. (It was first dredged in 1937.)  Jepson wasn't the only operator to carry autos.  But he appears to be the first to do so, and the first to operate a regularly scheduled service using two ferries, the Welcome and the North Shore, built expressly for passenger and auto service from the Island to the Door Peninsula.

Earlier passenger service?

Eric Bonow provided the 1909 timetable below that outlines early passenger service options to upper Green Bay ports, including Detroit Harbor.   The larger Bon Ami or Sailor Boy made the main run between Sturgeon Bay and Marinette-Menominee, and then north to Escanaba.  A smaller vessel, Thistle, was used to call on smaller harbors along the Door Peninsula.  If someone from Washington Island wished to go to Escanaba, for instance, they could board the Thistle from Gislason's dock (near present day Shipyard Marina), and then transfer near the harbor's entrance to the northbound Bon Ami, which then continued on its way to Escanaba.  When southbound, the Bon Ami or Sailor Boy would stop in Washington Harbor, but apparently only when there was demand.

The fact that trains could be met at Sturgeon Bay or Marinette/Menominee (also at Escanaba, although it is not stated on the Time Card) made it a convenient means of scheduling travel.   It was with such possibilities that C. H. Thordarson often arrived in Escanaba, Michigan, from Chicago by train in later years.  A smaller boat trip completed his last leg to his Rock Island estate.

 Although it is hard to read the fine print, Eric highlighted the Thistle's name in yellow.  Passengers who wished to disembark in Detroit Harbor would also transfer from the larger Hart Line boat to the smaller Thistle near the harbor's entrance.  Then Thistle and her crew were optimized with an offer of "cheap excursion rates outside of Detroit Harbor every pleasant afternoon" to help fill time before she began her run south.

A promotion ran in the Time Card:  if passengers continued to Escanaba, they would arrive in the evening, "Giving all our passengers a chance to approach the city by night and view the immense ore docks lighted by electricity, which is a beautiful sight."

Other early Detroit Harbor vessel activity

Another Eric, Eric Greenfeldt, sent me a volume of great information in the form of early newspaper article reprints.  These clippings tell of the very first beginnings of  ferry transportation on Washington Island.  Here is a sampling:

The Door County News (DCN) of 22 May 1919 reported Capt. Carl Hanson of Washington Island, owner and master of the gasoline freighter Marion, stated his intention to make twice daily round trips from Detroit Harbor to Garret Bay (west of Gills Rock).

In the next few weeks, Hanson apparently sold (or leased) the Marion to William Jepson.  The June 26, 1919 issue reported the first trip carrying an automobile, the ferry Marion under Jepson's authority.  Success of the undertaking, it was noted, depended upon the "patronage of the public." But a "large increase in the number of autos during the past and first of the present season" was optimistically noted.  Also described was "a dock being built at Gills Rock for the ferry to discharge the autos conveniently and expeditiously, and the work will be completed by the end of the week."

Highways and automobiles led to a decline, then the end, of around-the-bay services such as the Hart Line offered.

The Marion's schedule and rates as advertised in the July 10 DCN:  Trips were twice daily.  Round trip rates were $5.00 for small cars, $7.00 for touring cars.  Passengers were 75 cents each, one way.  An accompanying column noted that "The line promises to become a popular mode of travel when brought to the attention of the outside world."

[We're still working on that...]

Competition was in the wings.  The following account appeared in the April 21, 1920 issue of the DCN:

Pete Anderson, the Mail Carrier, Will Carry Cars Across the Door In His New Boat

Washington Island is to have a ferry service again during the coming summer for the accommodation of the inhabitants of that part of the county as well as the tourists trade.

Pete Anderson, the hustling mail carrier, is the man behind the proposition and he will combine it with his regular business of handling Uncle Sam's mail and carrying passenger s back and forth.

During the past winter Pete purchased the big gasoline yacht Navarre which formerly belonged to Judge Turner, now deceased, and during the past couple of weeks, he with Thos. Johnson and George Jorgenson have been busily engaged at Two Rivers in converting the craft into a business boat.   She was thoroughly overhauled below the waterline and is now as good as new.

On Monday, Mr. Anderson, accompanied by Messr. Johnson and Jorgenson, arrived in the city with the boat on their way to Washington Island, stopping only long enough at the yards of the Fuller Goodman company on the west side to take on a load of material with which to finish the craft.  It is the intention to put in exceptionally heavy beams and decks for carrying automobiles.  The upperworks and decks will be put in at Detroit Harbor during the ensuing month, it being the intention to have her ready for commission along about the first of June.  The Navarre is 56 feet long and 15 feet wide and will be capable of carrying three cars handily.  She is an exceptionably fine boat.  The owners will also have accommodations for passengers as well.

Mr. Anderson has not as yet figured out just what schedule he will run on , but this will be announced at a later date.

There are a large number of autos owned on the Island, which together with those of people who wish to visit the place should provide a good business for the ferry.  
(Note:  In this early newspaper article the word "autos" appears with an "e," similar to "potatoes," a new word then for editors and readers alike.)

Well, enough for one rainy day.

Eric Greenfeldt sent me quite a few column inches reporting discussions leading to that first official auto being carried by Jepson on the ferry Marion in 1919.  When it rains again, and tourism doesn't require my services, we'll continue with this subject.

-  Dick Purinton

NEW WEBSITE - NEW BOOK IN WORKS!

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

Over the past number of years while working on projects, each with its own immediacy, I've sat on an idea for a book on Rock Island and its one-time owner C. H. Thordarson.

I had many materials on Thordarson and a notion of how best to use them, but I didn't have sufficient time or confidence to give it the concentration and the push needed to finish such a project.  That changed when I decided to step back from daily duties at the Ferry Line January 1st, and since then I've been concentrating on this history, now titled Thordarson and Rock Island.   Of course, I'm still actively working for the Ferry Line, and the warmer weather and tourism of summer mean I have added responsibilities of operating the Karfi a few days each week in Jackson Harbor and driving tours on the Cherry Train.  But I'm far enough along with the book that those days come as welcomed breaks, allowing me to step back from what becomes obsessiveness to finish what I've started.

Book will be soft cover and will include
over 100 historic images, maps and illustrations.

The time involved to complete this book became far greater than I dreamed.  First, it took me time just to get going, to convince myself I was on the right track, and to make sense of the whole.  New questions cropped up that needed answers, and they were often left hanging (some will never be answered).  As early as March, the endless but essential task of editing began.  I've been fortunate to have the help of a number of friends with a qualifying background (they like to read!), eager to offer comment on what started out as very rough copy.  Through their collective comments the manuscript has become much smoother and easier to read, I believe, vastly improved from both accuracy and grammatical standpoints.  However, that editing is still going on today, with two, final "readers" lending their sharp eyes and minds to necessary corrections.

Although publication was already set back several times, the project is now much closer to print-ready.  But I've said all of this before...and then reset my own deadline.  But deadlines are the only way to bring reality to such a lengthy and multi-headed project, and I need to give several weeks' lead time to the printer.   At the same time, I want a product that won't cause me to cringe later due to egotistical blunders and grammatical errors.

In addition to volunteer readers, Amy Jorgenson is doing my digital page graphics for a printer-ready file.  I coordinate my ideas and edits with Amy.  With so many steps involved, I'm not planning on a sequel.   I hope this one will be a book readers will find informative, enjoyable and error-free.

A sample page:

Added to my research and the writing portion of this book project is the fact that early on I decided the surest way to get this to print would be to self-publish.   While I've done this sort of thing before, this time the steps were multiplied and they were larger steps that ended up stretching my time and my resources.   Along with the decision to be my own publisher, I also take on responsibility for marketing the finished product.  In this, I've been fortunate to have many local readers and the bookshops to sell books to motivated readers, but for this topic on Thordarson I wanted greater reach.

To this end, I wanted my own website to promote book information, sales and marketing, and so I asked Courtney Cauldwell, an Island resident, to help me set this up.

Yesterday, Friday, this website was officially opened at:
   
                     www.RichardPurinton.com

I would encourage you to look at my new website.  Sales of two previous books are also offered, but please note that until later in August the Rock Island book will not be available.  At a future date, advance orders will be taken.  But not yet, please!   I'd like to assure everyone that a product is in hand before commitment is made to an order.

In the middle of the final editing and publishing process is a trip Mary Jo and I have planned to visit England, to view crop circles among other things.  This trip was decided on a winter's whim back in January when the snow was flying and I still had great optimism this book would have been to the printer and back again by now, with a pallet of boxes awaiting orders in my basement.  But not so, as it turned out.   The time to see crop circles is when grain fields are mature, in late July and early August in Wiltshire County.  Nearby are the Standing Stones and many other ancient stone circles, mounds and monuments of earlier civilization.

We're committed to this trip, just as I am committed to finishing this book!

 -  Dick Purinton

IN THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY

View from the ranks as Legion Color Guard led procession to
the Island Cemetery Monday morning. 

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Visitors and residents of Washington Island enjoyed a near-perfect Memorial Day Weekend, with fine weather Friday through Monday.  Nearly any outdoor activity could be enjoyed, except for swimming or laying on the beach, since just one month ago the ice was leaving our harbors and the lake water is too cold for swimming.

The traditional Memorial Day Program with ceremonies at the cemetery and School House Beach afterward, sponsored by the local Gislason-Richter American Legion Post 402, was held at Bethel Evangelical Free Church.  Student Americanism Essays were read, selected war poems were recited by men of the Post, and the community turnout and support was again gratifying.

Approach to Rock Island, Saturday, May 25.

With the holiday over, we returned immediately to cooler, wetter weather Tuesday morning.  This year, with the addition of the small passenger ferry Karfi to the Ferry Line Fleet, I am under instruction with Jeff Cornell, who practically trained as a toddler under his Grampa Jim Cornell years ago.  Although a small vessel, rather straightforward in many ways, nevertheless there are characteristics and idiosyncrasies in this ferry not found on the larger vessels in Detroit Harbor.

This change of scenery is a welcomed one for me, and propitious, too, as I am just completing a book under the title, Thordarson and Rock Island.  This is a coincidental convergence of my earlier goal of completing this local history book, with the recent and unplanned acquisition of the Karfi by the Ferry Line company.  I am now  allowed the pleasure of working a few days each week on the Rock Island run.

After reading intently and organizing letter and document materials that were Thordarson's, with a steady, concentrated writing effort since January 1st, it is now a pleasure to set course for the Thordarson's stone edifice, the Rock Island State Park Boathouse.  It is Thordarson's best known structure and a most convenient point on which to steer when departing Jackson Harbor.

Jeff is particular as to how his operation should be managed, following years of safe and reliable transportation. I'm slowly gaining the needed skills.  If Jeff is to get his day off each week, my improved abilities will give him that opportunity.

There are two contrasting photos shown here of the Karfi's recent operations.  One was taken Saturday on the noon trip to Rock Island.  The other was yesterday morning when we had cool temperatures and a light rain.   I'm amazed, given that weather, that we had any passengers for a day of hiking and exploring on Rock Island.  It shows the possibilities when sunnier, warmer days arrive.

-  Dick Purinton   (Note:  Thordarson and Rock Island is a reasonable 4-6 weeks away from printing.  Estimated pages:  435; 100+ images with maps; paperback.   Price:  $27 + tax + S + H)

ROCK ISLAND SIDE TRIP

Steamer Saugatuck at Rock Island
(from Washington Island Archives)

Washington and Rock Islands -

Part of the explanation for my blogs being intermittent this winter, even though I officially consider myself "half time"at the Ferry Line office and therefore partly retired, is that I've been working on a history I'm calling Thordarson and Rock Island.

This has been an enjoyable project in many ways, and I've learned a great deal about the former owner, his life, and how Rock Island was changed by him, and in turn how he and his family were influenced by Rock Island. (Most readers know that for almost 50 years Rock Island has been a Wisconsin State Park.)

For nearly seven years, off and on, I've collected Thordarson information.  I've transcribed letters into computer files and written original text about them.  During this process I've discovered many surprising connections, and each involves a side trip from the main subject.  This is one of the pleasures of the process, but side trips also become another reason for the time it takes to put it all together.

I've made announcements about finishing this projects to others before, partly to spur myself to meet a deadline.  I didn't realize I had so much ground yet to cover.  But now, I think I'm really getting close to a draft that's readable and "almost" error free.  Spring is upon us, according to the solar calendar, and summer's not far off.  I need to wrap this up before time runs short, with work and distractions aplenty.

Thordarson came in contact with many fascinating people, and a good number of those associations are supported with documents, primarily letters.  I won't post information here that will appear in the book, but there are plenty of other things to write about.

In this blog I thought I'd post a few old boat photos.  These were found in the Thordarson files at the Island Archives, and I'd guess that either Thordarson or a family member took them as these boats came into the Rock Island pier.  According to one letter, an early pier was under construction around 1914 so that he and his workers would have a safe place to land, unload materials, and moor a boat.

No names or dates were printed on the reverse side of these photos (typical and unfortunate, because this is the case for nearly every Thordarson photo).  I contacted friend Eric Bonow, who recently reported back aboard an ore boat at Bay Shipbuilding to start the 2013 sailing season.   Eric always enjoys unraveling a mystery.  He's collected maritime ship images and he also searches collections belonging to others in order to identify vessels.

Saugatuck

In the first photo shown is the steamer Saugatuck.  It's moored alongside Thordarson's pier, perhaps after discharging freight and maybe Thordarson himself, who found it convenient to take a train from Chicago to Escanaba, then a boat across upper Green Bay to his island estate.

Saugatuck, steaming from Rock Island.
Photos probably taken same day.
(from Washington Island Archives)

The Saugatuck ( 110 x 22.2 x 8.6) was built in 1909 and was originally the Alfred Clarke.  Among its owner history was the Canadian company Pelee & Lake Erie Navigation Co. of Ontario.  The boat made its rounds of several  owners and locations before it came under ownership of Captain Charles McCauley and John J. Cleary, of Escanaba,Michigan.  McCauley in late 1913 wrote Thordarson and asked if he'd like to be a subscriber in his new venture.  We don't think Thordarson took him up on his offer, but a few years later, with McCauley still operating his boat, Thordarson asked for the vessel trip schedule so that he could coordinate his arrival by train in Escanaba with a departure for Rock Island.  (Undoubtedly an extra stop for which Thordarson might have paid extra.)

The Saugatuck eventually wound up in Chicago where it was abandoned and sunk in the North Avenue Basin of the Chicago River.  Later, it was scuttled (intentionally sunk to get rid of the old hull) in Lake Michigan.

Hyacinth

Eric wrote that the Hyacinth (160.6 x 28 x 14) was a predecessor to the familiar Coast Guard buoy tenders (Sundew, Mesquite, Acacia, etc.) we used to see in Green Bay waters.  And although we can only guess at the dates on these two vessel stops at Rock Island, it seems to fit in, more or less, around 1920.

The Hyacinth was built in 1907 by Jenks Shipbuilding, Port Huron, as a lighthouse tender under the Dept. of Commerce, U. S. Light House Service.  The vessel likely was making a call at Rock Island for the Pottawatomie Light, located on the island's north end.

Light House Service vessel Hyacinth, perhaps around 1920,
at the Rock Island dock.
(from Washington Island Archives)

According to the vessel data sheet Eric supplied (which he obtained online from the Alpena County Public Library) the Hyacinth transferred to Coast Guard command in 1940.  Then in 1946 it served as a construction vessel for the Lyons Company of Whitehall, Michigan.

That company installed a new 900 hp GM diesel, and in so doing it may have attracted the attention of Cap Roen of Sturgeon Bay.  In 1956 he bought the Hyacinth and removed the engine, and put it into his tug John Purves (now a restored museum ship at the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay).  The following year the  ownership of the old hull was shown under Sturgeon Bay Iron & Metal Company (Roen's next door neighbor along the waterfront).  It was scrapped.

Eleven Foot Shoals - Lightship No. 80

In Hannes Andersen's book, he wrote that Thordarson was known to salute every ship or object he passed enroute to his Rock Island (salute by means of drink, Hannes meant).  Well, in this case Thordarson took a photo as the vessel he rode aboard rounded the Eleven Foot Shoal lightship, anchored approximately 3 1/2 miles south of the actual shoals which were near the Stonington Peninsula, and about 2 miles north of the Minneapolis Shoals. (There wasn't an operating Minneapolis Shoals light station until June of 1936, only a buoy.)

Painted on the topsides of this vessel is "11. FOOT." to designate
the vessel and the shoal.  Anchor chain can be seen from bow, indicating she
was on station, a turning mark for a vessel headed to Rock Island.
(from Washington Island Archives)

 
Such a lightship was not uncommon for marking major shoals or turning points for shipping in the nation's waterways.  This one was built in 1912 by Racine Truscott Shell Boat Company of Muskegon, Michigan.  (80 ft. x 21 ft. x 10 ft.)   It was built specifically for lightship service, with a 100 hp steam engine.

During its early service it was sunk, Nov. 10, 1913, on Waverly Shoal in Lake Erie, with a loss of six lives.   The vessel was salvaged, then beached in Buffalo, and later towed to Detroit where it was refitted.   In 1924 it was positioned in northern Green Bay at Eleven Foot Shoal.   We can assume it was some time after being assigned to upper Green Bay that this photo would have been taken by Thordarson.

-  Dick Purinton