ISLAND WATERFRONT - Then and Now - Arni and Carl Richter Years - Part XVII

Carl Richter, on board the ferry C. G. Richter

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

When Carl and Arni made their decision to purchase Jepson's ferries, after nearly nine years freighting and carrying mail, with the occasional passenger, aboard the little tug Welcome, Carl was 69 years of age.   Hardly a time to jump into a new venture with both feet.

But, his son Arni, who would have just turned 29 in 1940, was in the prime of his life, married to the former Mary Cornell, and he had experience gained in both the navigation and the administrative side of a freight transportation business. In addition to his duties with the Welcome he was a fish wholesaler, buying and then shipping Island fish to markets in Chicago and New York.  To Arni, an expanded ferry business made economic sense, although there were challenges with a war effort coming on, and two older, wooden ferries to maintain.

 He helped deliver ice with horse and buggy for the Gislason store, in Jensenville.  As a youngster he had always loved horses, and Arni's first desire was to become a farmer.

Arni Richter, as a toddler.

The opportunity to operate a ferry business meant the chance to live on the Island and to continue working with his father.  It could be said by those who came to know him that he seemed to have a head for business and the decision-making that went along with serving customers and keeping boats running.   One of their great challenges, and one that seemed out of reach for several years just as it had for William Jepson, was to solve the winter transportation issue.

Crossing on ice was a risky business, but often it was the only way to get the mail and goods back and forth.  The wooden ferries they inherited were getting softer around the shaft logs. (Arni had privately wondered if the Steamboat Inspector Erikson hadn't been considerate by overlooking some aspects of the ferries' ages, knowing that it would be a few years before a new ferry could be built?)

Due to the absolute necessity of Island ferry transportation, Arni did not join the military service when the war was on.  Those years were a struggle for the business, however.

When the war ended, he redoubled efforts to design and build a new ferry with a steel hull and sufficient power for ice work.   He enlisted the services of Naval Architect Walter Haertel, Sturgeon Bay, with rough proposals from several builders.  Obtaining financing proved most difficult, without a local bank, or any bank along the Lake Michigan shoreline for that matter, willing to take on the risk of financing a new ferry.   Arni believed that their small revenue stream and the fact they hadn't been in business for long made the venture seem risky.  Only as a last-ditch idea, on his return from points as far south as Kenosha and Waukegan (where he had worked in his twenties in fish stores) did he try Henry Schuette of the Manitowoc Bank.

A long-ago connection the Manitowoc Bank had with a schooner named White Swan was a long shot, but in this case, it worked.  Mr. Schuette's father had been with the bank years before, and the bank had part ownership in the vessel that called at Jackson Harbor occasionally for a load of grain.   Arni, as a youngster in his early teens, once had the opportunity to sail on the White Swan for a trip down the lake, from the Island to Manitowoc, where its load would be deposited at the mill that produced flour of the same name as the ship.

Later, Mr. Schuette's pleasure in seeing the difference his loan made in Island ferry transportation was repeated on many Sunday afternoons, when he and a granddaughter would drive to Gills Rock and ride round-trip on the Griffin.

The only Richter ferry not built by a Sturgeon Bay shipyard, as it turned out, was the Griffin, which was constructed by Krause Kraft of Kewaunee, Wisconsin.  It was 65-ft. x 20-ft. beam, 7-ft. draft, with capacity for approximately 9 autos and 100 passengers.  She was powered by a 180 HP Kahlenberg engine.  The access to the passenger deck above the vehicles was located at centerline, a trunk that made loading somewhat awkward (as compared with the C. G. Richter of 1950 that had its engine room access and cabin stairway access along the port rail.)  Nevertheless, the improvements in operations with this new ferry in the 1946 season were immediate.  It's steel hull brought even greater benefit for the winter ferry service, when one trip each winter day was scheduled (but none on Sunday).  The Griffin became a most useful and relied upon Island ferry.

The wooden ferry Welcome was the first of the old ferries to be traded, and then in 1950 the North Shore was sold to make room for the twin-engine C. G. Richter was constructed at Sturgeon Bay's Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, and it was also a Haertel design.  There was a section on the car deck, all the way aft, where the tail-ends of vehicles overhung a steel beam.  This, in theory, shortened the useful overall vessel length, which kept her in the classification known as "Small Passenger Vessel," according to the federal Subchapter T Regulations, an advantage in both outfitting and manning.

From a 1990 interview with Arni Richter, from Over and Back (WIFL - 1990):

It was evident from the last dry-docking of the Welcome in the late forties that she was getting old and was going to need a major overhaul soon.

We found a buyer for her down in the Lake Erie islands.  Having a buyer was a deciding factor in going ahead with a new ferry for the 1950 season.  Walter Haertel designed the C. G. also.  She was twin screw and built for winter service.  Twin screws did not prove to be a good arrangement for ice work. We bent both stats the first winter we tried using her in ice and went back to using the Griffin for winter crossings.

After the Eyrarbakki was added to the fleet in 1970, we sold the Griffin to the Anderson brothers [Cecil and Jackie] soon afterward.  Then we converted the Richter to a single screw, single engine boat, and it has been the winter ferry ever since.

Preparing for launch, Griffin in 1946 in Kewaunee.  A stoutly-built ferry,
Arni noted she had very little dishing to show for over 20 years of ice work.

The C. G. Richter had softer chines and easier lines all around than did the Griffin, and she carried nine autos and 100 passengers quite easily.  Power was furnished, not by Kahlenbergs this time, but by twin Murphy 150-HP diesels, for good speed and for maneuverability at the pier.  But, as noted by Arni, it wasn't good for ice work in winter.  Carl's name went on this ferry, and family members were present to see it launched in Sturgeon Bay in the early summer of 1950.   Those two ferries, Griffin and C. G. Richter, kept people, vehicles and freight moving back and forth to the Island throughout the next several decades, to be joined in 1960 by the first open-deck ferry, Voyageur.

Launch day at the Shipbuilding and Dry Dock yard.  Maggie and Carl Richter stand with
granddaughters Carol (Richter) and Jeannie (Leasum).  Arni and Mary Richter,
Margaret Leasum, Emma and Paul Richter stand at bottom of steps.

When the Voyageur was designed (again, by Walter Haertel) it's purpose was to move more and larger vehicles.   Almost immediately it's attributes were put to work in Sturgeon Bay, following her first season of Door crossings, when the highway bridge was struck by the Swedish freighter Carlsholm, Oct. 21, 1960.  The northern portion of the county's peninsula was instantly separated by water, and it would be weeks before the single Michigan Street Highway Bridge would be repaired.  For the first several weeks, until a barge-bridge was put in place across the narrows of the ship canal within a mile or so of Lake Michigan, ferries from Washington Island provided 'round the clock service for people and vehicles.   This was at a time when the apple harvest was still in full swing, with the Fruit Growers Co-operative located on the north side of the bay, adjacent to what is now the Great Lakes Marina. (Then the Palmer Johnson Boatyard.)  Arni sent the C. G. Richter almost immediately to Sturgeon Bay, and by 7 p.m. that same day, the Voyageur had joined her, with their crews shuttling equipment, freight and people across the bay, leaving the Griffin to handle the off-season Island traffic.  Tourism, not yet what it would become a decade or so later, slowed greatly after Labor Day weekend, and with the bridge out, traffic headed into northern Door County slowed to a trickle.  If anything, the novelty of having a damaged bridge and two of the Island ferries in town increased the traffic of bystanders and vehicles locally, at least for the first several days.

Jerry Potter enjoyed this photo of his Cadillac coming
off the C. G. Richter so much he asked for a special print.
Side loading became a slow-down factor as newer ferries
loaded more quickly, easily and safely.

Griffin, loaded with sacks of potatoes from
the Anderson farm for Sturgeon Bay. (1950s)

Arni Richter, when asked in 1990 about the impact new ferries had on the ferry business and the Island as a whole, said:

Of all the ferries, I think the Griffin and the Voyageur made the greatest economic impact on the Island.

Fish and freight were a big part of the operation in the 50s.  one year, we hauled over 1 1/2 million pounds of fish!  In the In the fall, after labor Day, one boat hauled just herring to Menominee.   Later in the fall, we hauled potatoes for Ed Anderson to Sturgeon bay.  Tourism was picking up then, too.  

In Florida I saw an open deck ferry which ran to Sanibel Island, and it gave me the idea of building a boat to handle large trucks.  Walter Haertel and I worked out a design which became the Voyageur, built by Bay Shipbuilding & Dry Dock for the 1960 season.  That was a real change after the Voyageur came out.  We hauled lots of heavy loads in the 60s with her…semis, log trucks, highway equipment, road oil in semis for Island blacktopping…I think it encouraged Island development.

Island traffic, thanks to increased tourism in the late years of the 1960s, seemed to have outgrown ferry capacities in the peak days of summer.   More motorists towed trailers and boats and hauled goods for their cabins.   More freight arrived in bulk, delivered by truck.  Island roads were slowly becoming paved, and in order to mix asphalt, tankers of heavy road oil and specialized equipment like stone crushers came back and forth.  At 65-feet in length, the Voyageur had become a workhorse, but her deck barely held the ever-longer semi-trucks.  The Voyageur investment showed that an open-deck ferry with unlimited overhead dimensions was the wave of the future.   The Eyrarbakki was built in 1970, and the C. G. Richter would then undergo a conversion to single-screw, replacing the Griffin in 1971 as the Island winter ferry.

Arni often enjoyed a cigar, as did his
father, Carl.  Shown here in his 60s, he
also enjoyed taking the helm of one of his
ferries - in this case the Voyageur. 

By 1969, Arni had begun to consider another, longer ferry, one with greater capacity for autos and large trucks, and for passengers.  The year 1970 would be a special year, and as one who served as a director, and then president, on the Door County Chamber Board, and who was in tune with Door County's emerging tourism economy, it seemed natural to Arni (and to Mary Richter) that a celebration of Icelandic immigration be combined with a christening ceremony.

In 1970, the Eyrarbakki would become the newest ferry, one of the earliest of hulls constructed by Bay Shipbuilding, the Manitowoc shipbuilder that had recently moved its operation to Sturgeon Bay, taking over the Christy and Shipbuilding and Dry Dock and Roen Salvage yard properties.

Nathan Gunnlaugsson, long-time ferry captain, on one of the early trips
aboard the Eyrarbakki in 1970.

 -  Dick Purinton

ISLAND WATERFRONT - Then and Now - Richter Years Begin - Part XVI

Loading fish boxes aboard the little Welcome, in 1930s.  Believed
to be in the East Channel, with Detroit Island in background,
where the Welcome, along with other boats,
often anchored to the ice in winter.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Saturday, April 11th, marked the 75th year of Richter ferry service, a business owned and operated by Carl and Arni Richter, father and son, since 1940.   Not to be forgotten in this endeavor were Maggie (Gudmundsen) Richter, and Mary (Cornell), who were also willing to support this new family venture in its early days, before it could support them.

Why did Capt. William Jepson choose to sell to the Richters when he did?  We know he had considered a new and longer ferry route, the 20-mile run between Sturgeon Bay and Marinette-Menominee.  And, according to Arni, he and Carl had a preliminary design for a new ferry and planned to compete with Jepson.  Arni believed that word of their plan was a factor in Jepson's decision to sell.  We don't know how or if the build-up of U. S. industry to help European allies in their war effort came into play, but if timing was ever right to sell his Island ferry business and move on, for Jepson this may have seemed his best opportunity.

For the Richters, starting up a competing ferry operation from scratch would be difficult:  raising the capital for a new ferry; modifying Island and mainland piers for landing purposes;  and providing a schedule of service with a single vessel that would gain public support.  All this when it was questionable there be enough business volume to support two competing ferry operations.

Buying Jepson's ferry operation made more sense to the Richters.  For one thing, they would take over an established and progressive business.  Besides having the right boats, equipment and docks, there was also the recently dredged West Channel into Detroit Harbor (thanks, in large part, to Bill Jepson's urging) that made navigation to and from the Island safer than ever before.

Photo taken in Kenosha or Waukegan, when Arni was a young man
of perhaps 19 or 20.  He called this photo, "The three Arnis."  Shown are
Arni Paulson, with the Icelandic consulate
in Chicago;  his grandfather, Arni Gudmundsen, and Arni Richter.
The April 30, 1930 Advocate reported:  "Arni Richter arrived home
Monday and wil fish with his father, C. G. Richter, this summer."

The Richters weren't without experience when they decided to go fully into the ferry business, although Carl was really the one with past water experience.

In Arni's words, from Over and Back (WIFL - 1990):

Dad had sailed as a young boy on several schooners, the Walhalla, Iris, Madonna and the Flotilla among them. He was sixteen when he got his first job as a cook's helper aboard one of the sailboats which called frequently in Detroit Harbor. His mother instructed him how to make bread in the one hour he had before the boat departed, while he packed his "turkey," as he called his sea bag.  He also spent several seasons sailing the lakes on ore boats of the day, and later fished commercially, mostly from the St. Ignace area.  …The Shine On was getting sort of old, and Dad was looking for a different boat around 1930.  I was buying fish at the time but also doing some fishing.  We bought the little Welcome from the Hansen brothers, Art and Hans.  She was 40 feet long, and ironed off.

This series of photos from the Richter album shows the little Welcome, sawed free
from the ice,  then towed by truck on bobsled runners to the East Channel, the beginning
of freighting operations for Carl and Arni Richter in 1931.

During the season, the fishermen could ship their fish with Mr. Jepson's ferries, the Welcome, built in 1929, or the North Shore, built in 1931.  But in the winter, they had to take a day from fishing to transport their fish to the mainland as there was no winter ferry.

They asked me if we would haul the fish with the little Welcome.  At the time, it was frozen in the west channel in Detroit Harbor, not far from what is now the Island Outpost dock, the Cornell dock back then.  I talked to George Hanson, and asked what he thought about skidding it over the ice to the east channel, where there was open water.  Thinking it would not be too difficult, we sawed her out, pulled her up onto the ice with trucks, and got sections of a bobsled under her.  We towed her across the ice to the east channel (off what is now the Shipyard Marina), and waited until the fish boats came in for the day.  They broke the ice around her and she floated right up.  From there, we made the winter trips, hauling fish and whatever else needed to be hauled, mostly fresh produce, as the stores stocked up in the late fall with canned goods.  There wasn't a lot of fresh produce in those days, either.  Besides fish, there was a lot of cheese being shipped from the Island cheese factory, sometimes as much as a ton a and a half, in ten or fifteen pound horns,.  It was a very good cheddar cheese, and many places in Green Bay and the area used to give them as holiday gifts.

In 1931, we got our first mail contract. In those days it was a four-year contract.  That was a year around contract.  At times, when we couldn't take the Welcome because of ice, we could go over the ice, which was actually a faster trip most days.

In the thirties, we didn't have a good dock on the other side for winter.  Gills Rock was our landing spot in summer, but we'd go into Europe Bay and anchor the Welcome in winter, and take our rowboat ashore, tying up to the ice banks.  I remember as many as 112 boxes of fish on the Welcome (about 115 pounds apiece with ice, plus fish, over six tons!).  On some occasions, boxes were put on the upper deck. But quite commonly, there would be 50 or 75 boxes.  I was handling thirty-five accounts in those days, there were so many making a living fishing.  It was a real trick sometimes to row ashore, twelve fish boxes or so in the rowboat, and throw the boxes up on to the ice banks where a truck was waiting to pick them up.

Ted Jessen once described Carl Richter (1871-1962) as
"snappy," in terms of his wit and personality.
In this photo taken in Oct. 1941, he's snappy
in appearance, too, posing in the wheelhouse
of the ferry Welcome.

Carl Richter, with Ford pulling bobsled, alongside
rough ice.  When they bought the Ferry Line
from Wm. Jepson in 1940, Carl was 68 and Arni was 29.   

If Arni seemed short on actual water experience when he started freighting with his dad on the little Welcome (he would have been 20 in 1931), he soon learned how to handle a boat and adjust to different situations.  He seemed to possess, however, a good business sense, along with an optimism for the future.

Carl and Arni continued using the little Welcome when the conditions allowed to carry freight and mail.  If an occasional passenger wanted to ride along, they were invited to sit on a fish box.  By 1939, they looked at making a substantial change.  

Early Ferry Line experiences were remembered in this interview with Arni Richter, published in Over and Back:


CROSSING THE DOOR ON ICE WITH SNOWMOBILE…early forties…as related by Arni Richter…

We bought the Ferry Line from Mr. William Jepson in 1940.  We had operated the little Welcome continuously since 1931, carrying mail, freight and passengers until April 11, 1940, at which time we bought the Line.  I sold Mary's (wife Mary Richter) new Ford V-8 automobile which she had just bought with her earnings as a teacher, to come up with some of the cash needed in the purchase.

Arni recalled when he and his dad first applied for a Coast Guard license
in 1940 in Milwaukee, soon after they purchased Jepson's passenger ferries.
 Carl was nervous and not used to taking exams, but he and
Steamboat Inspector Henry Erickson got along quite well after they
discovered they both had a background in sailing vessels.
Carl happily came away with his license to operate.
Shown here is the Feb. 1956 issue.

The deal included the ferries WELCOME, NORTH SHORE, and two snowmobiles, a model A and a Model T with tracks, the present Island dock property, and one half-ownership of the Northport property.  Roy Voight owned the other half.

When I think of some of the things we used to do as a matter of necessity…and no one ever thought anything of it, because that was the only way.

One time, in winter, we couldn't land at Northport.  Europe Bay was out (impossible to land), and Gills Rock was full of ice, near Ellstrom's bluff.  Dad stayed aboard, and I went ashore with the sleigh and the mail. On the way back, we had some passengers for Plum Island.  Among them were a young Coast guardsman and his wife with their newborn little baby.  In those days families lived on Plum Island, and the station was open year around.  On the way back to the WELCOME, I had the young mother by the arm.  Her husband was following with the baby in his arms.  As we were nearing the boat, I heard a crash and turned around to see him go down through the ice with the baby.  I got the mother aboard the WELCOME, then ran back and grabbed the baby from the father.  It was just luck he came back up in the same spot he went down.  I ran the baby to the mother, while someone else helped the young man out of the water.  When the baby's wet blankets were unwrapped, luckily the water hadn't penetrated through.        

[At the Ferry Line's 50th celebration, Rudy Bahlert came forward and told Arni that he was that baby rescued years ago.  His father served in the Plum Island Coast Guard at the time, and his family later lived in a home just south of Gills Rock.]

Walking over the ice wasn't too uncommon, and many times it had to be done to get ashore.  I recall a mainland basketball team leaving the Island.  We tied a rope from one boy to another, in case one boy went through.   Sure enough, one boy did break through the ice, but I wonder if he hadn't been fooling around and not paying attention.

Carl Richter and Lucien Boshka (who had also worked for Bill
Jepson's Ferry Line) exchange freight, including fish boxes.
Location appears to be near a low bluff on the Peninsula.

If we couldn't go by ferry, we'd take to the ice, using the snowmobile and a big bobsled we had built to haul freight.  One trip Dad and Lucien (Boshka) drove in the snowmobile, and I took my car, a 1941 two-door Chev, because of the passengers we had along.  We went into the mainland at Door Bluff, where we were usually met by a truck with mail and freight, saving us time.  On this occasion, with a strong southwest wind blowing, the trip to the mainland went fine.  But on the way back, with about a ton of feed on the bobsled, we noticed the whole field of ice was breaking loose from Door Bluff all the way to Lehman's on the west side of the Island.   A large crack had opened up with the strong southwest wind.  I scouted ahead with the car and found a spot where the two fields of ice were together, and I backed up, with my door open, just in case, to jump the crack.  I made it across that crack, all right, but I came down so hard on the other side that the ice broke under the weight of the car.  I made it up onto solid ice, but the back rims of the car were flattened, and the door was bent on its hinges.  I kept going toward the Island, near Denny's Bluff, and could see big ice shoves with cakes piled up in the air, but the field was starting to slow down, pressed against Washington Island.  I went back to where Dad and Lucien were.  We found a crack which wasn't too wide and built a bridge of logs and planks.  We had to disassemble the bobsled, and carry it and the feed, and whatever other freight we had that day, across the crack, then reassemble and reload the sleigh.  The snowmobile was the last thing to go across.  We wound up near Denny's Bluff as it was getting dark, and I don't think anyone had an idea where we were.



Those early Ferry Line times were often days with long hours, filled with uncertainties over whether the business would provide enough revenue to eventually plan for a new ferry.  The war years also delayed this venture by restricting travel for motorists, through gasoline and tire rationing, and by making ship materials scarce.   Building a new ferry of steel was still a goal, however, to replace the aging ferry Welcome and improve the safety of the winter operation.

This goal would not be met until 1946 with the building of the Griffin, but even then, obtaining the financial support for such a project proved difficult.

-  Dick Purinton

ISLAND WATERFRONT - Wisconsin, Welcome, North Shore - Jepson's Ferries - Part XIII

North Shore loaded with autos and passengers 
on a summertime run.  (year unknown)

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Island businessman William Jepson was both innovator and builder.   He didn't hesitate in making capitol investments that would improve his ferry service, for which the Island benefitted greatly.

Jepson's ferry operation began with one wooden freighter, the Wisconsin, adapted to carrying autos when the demand arose.  By 1929 he built the ferry Welcome.  He also showed a willingness over the years to improve and expand his docks and vessels.

Examples of his enterprise are found in Door County Advocate (DCA) news items that were reprinted by Hannes Andersen in his book, Washington Island:  A Maritime History Through The Years, Vol. II (published in 2009 by Hannes M. Andersen).  Following are sample entries:
 
*   August 7, 1931 -  A fire was reported at Gislason's dock, a pier made of wooden piles, and despite using the ferry's pumps, the shed and most of its contents were destroyed.  The paper reported:  "The dock is owned by Capt. W. P. Jepson, of the ferry Welcome, and the burning warehouse contained merchandise of much value.  Fortunately the NE wind blew flames out over Detroit Harbor, rather than toward the moored ferry."
Whether Jepson had already begun improvements at Lobdell's Point by this date isn't known, but this fire may have hastened moving his operations to that new landing location.
*   Oct. 19, 1931 - It was reported that, "There has been a movement launched recently to build another   dock at Lobdell's Point, the west channel to  Detroit Harbor.  This is the question which has been under discussion for many years.  The idea is to have a dock outside of the shallowest part of the channel in plenty of water so larger boats can land.   One special feature also will be a permanent landing for the ferry, as the water where she now lands is very shallow.  The dock is also expected to have a tendency to attract people to purchase lots near there for building summer homes."
*  Aug. 16, 1935 -    "Land's End to Get Dock for Island Ferry - A new dock is to be built at Northport, the extreme end of the peninsula, by Capt. Wm. Jepsen (sic), owner and operator of the ferry boat Welcome, which runs between Washington Island and Gills Rock.  The dock at Northport will be used during early spring and fall and when weather conditions prevent a landing at Gills Rock.
"The dock will extend out from the shore 100 feet into eight or ten feet of water and will be built of cribs filled with stone, to withstand weather and ice conditions.  LeRoy Voight of Gills Rock will have charge of construction.
"The road that now leads to Northport, or what is commonly known as 'Land's End', as it is on the tip of the peninsula where the cable crosses Death's Door to Plum Island, will be improved under a project for which state and federal funds will be secured.  Improvement of the road is as important as the building of the dock, as it is used extensively by tourists who go to 'Land's End' to enjoy the beautiful view of the islands."

Jepson's decision to build a pier at Northport could not have been an easy one because it was an exposed location, lacking in nearby homes or amenities, and it would serve only those relatively few weeks or months each year when landing could not be made in Gills Rock, resulting in relatively small revenues.

One of the cribs assembled for first
construction of Northport Pier,
mid-1930s.  

Oct. 25, 1935 -  In this DCA entry, Jepson's foresight in asking the Army Corps to dredge the channel to 14-ft. depth by 150-ft. width proved to be a wise suggestion. Until recent dredging operations were completed in 2014, those
numbers were the dimensions for the Detroit Harbor West Channel:

"HARBORS HEARING AT WASHINGTON ISLAND - Residents Give Views to Col. H. M. Tripp of Milwaukee - 

Statistics presented at the harbor hearing here Wednesday last week before Col. H. M. Tripp, U. S. Division Engineer from Milwaukee, showed the need of improvement in Jackson and Detroit Harbors…Assemblyman Frank Graass presented the argument for the town board of Washington and other interested parties.  Among the statistics cited were the following on incoming freight:   Coal, 800 tons;  lumber and building materials, 125 tons;  provisions, one store alone, 350 tons, valued at $37,600;  beer, 100 tons, $6,000.   In the outgoing freight form the island, fish was the largest item, as fishing is the principal industry.  Figures presented showed 1,005 tons shipped annually, amounting to $201, 000;  potatoes, 150 tons, together with cattle, $10,000….records of Capt. Wm. Jepson's ferry Welcome show that 1.765 people crossed the Door on this boat and 250 on the mail boat.  The ferry transported 1,624 automobiles between the Island and mainland…peak business of the ferry in one day this season was 52 automobiles and 700 people."

Several persons then testified, offering their suggestions for needed channel dimensions, including yachtsman U. J. Sport Herrmann (who believed 14-ft. should be the minimum), veteran fisherman John Cornell (who believed that a 12-ft. deep by 100-ft. wide channel would answer for Island commerce needs), and veteran ferryman Wm. Jepson (who believed there should be a 150-ft. wide channel with at least a minimum of 14-ft. depth).

In the end, Jepson's recommendations appeared to have carried the day.

*  Jan. 17, 1936  -  The DCA reported:   "Captain Jepson bought the North Shore No. 2 for good summer transportation.   Homecoming will no doubt bring tourists for the celebration."
The vessel North Shore had visited Island docks several times in previous years dropping off cargo, according to entries in Hannes Andersen's book.
*  Mar. 26, 1937 -   This DCA entry indicates that Jepson may have been setting his sights further afield than Washington Island in a search for new business opportunities.   Jepson's intention to service this proposed route would be cited a few years later as the reason why he sold his Island ferry business to Carl and Arni Richter:

At a meeting at the City Hall Tuesday evening, called by the Industrial Committee and presided over by E. M. LaPlant, the subject of establishing a boat service across Green Bay between Sturgeon Bay and the twin cities of Memominee and Marinette was reviewed and discussed.

Capt. W. P. Jepsen (sic) who owns and operates two boats on the run between Washington Island and Gills Rock during the summer was present and expressed himself as willing to place one of his boats on the run if business warranted such action.  Interested parties in Marinette had communicated with Capt. Jepsen offering their support of such a project.

While it is admitted that there would be little freight business at the start, there is reason to believe that the passenger and automobile business would be sufficient to give the schedule a trial, it was stated.  Capt. Jepsen's boat carries from eight to ten automobiles as well as 60 or more passengers.

(This vessel capacity appears to have been exaggerated, or it was a suggested capacity needed for a vessel on that run.)

***    ***  

Three vessels owned by Jepson for ferry service

Once Jepson's ferry service was established in the mid-1920s, he made a major investment in the construction of the ferry Welcome.  The Welcome was built in 1929 by Rieboldt & Wolter in Sturgeon Bay, and it measured 65 ft. x 24 ft. x 7 ft. draft when loaded.  It could carry 100 passengers and seven cars, as compared with 40 passengers and 4 autos parked crosswise (or thwartships) on the Wisconsin.   A fairly dramatic comparison of beam and bulk shows the two ferries moored in the ice in Detroit Harbor, with the Welcome overshadowing the Wisconsin.  (photo from Over and Back, loaned from Bell Collection)

Jepson's first ferry Wisconsin was built in 1916 in Green Bay, and we can presume that, when sold, the Wisconsin's hull was still sound, because under Chris Andersen's ownership she saw many more years service as a freight vessel, ranging up and down the Green Bay and Lake Michigan shoreline.

The same photo of the two vessels rail-to-rail was used in the
print ad for Kahlenberg engines (year unknown)

Here is what Roy Andersen said in a 1990 interview regarding the Wisconsin:

My Dad (Chris Andersen) and my brother Ray and I ran the Wisconsin for 21 years, hauling freight and oil.  We got her from Bill Jepson late in 1928, when he built the Welcome.  That was my first experience on the water.  I was 19 at the time.  The Wisconsin was built in Green Bay.  She had a 50/60 Kahlenberg engine.  We all took turns running her.  Whoever was at the wheel when we entered the harbor made the landing.  - 

(From Over and Back, published by WIFL in 1990.  Photo of the Andersens appeared in Over and Back and was loaned by Kristi Parsons, daughter of Ray Andersen.)

Father Chris, left, with sons Ray and Roy aboard Wisconsin.
(Kristi Parsons photo)

Jepson's Welcome became the first Island ferry built specifically for hauling autos as well as passengers and freight.  It was powered by a 150 HP Kahlenberg engine and served ably as an Island ferry for several decades, finally being eased out of service by the Richter's new all-steel Griffin in 1946.

The ferry Welcome should not be confused with the fish tug/mailboat Welcome, a boat Rasmus Hansen built in Jackson Harbor in 1926, used for fishing and later for hauling freight - of which boxes of fish made up the bulk of the cargo - by Carl and Arni Richter.  That same Welcome, with an altered superstructure, can still be seen today moored alongside the Town dock in Jackson Harbor.  The Koyens, Ken and Tom, fished this tug, although it has been a museum piece for the past 15 or so years.   The fish tug Welcome was slightly under 40 feet in length, with just under a 10 ft. beam, and it was originally powered by a 40 HP Straubel engine.    (More on the fish boat/mailboat Welcome in an upcoming blog.)

Pete Anderson's Navarre.  This blurred name was mistakenly
read as "Winneconne" on at least one occasion, but that
vessel name never existed, at least locally.  Photo from
Island Archives, taken early 1920s.

If we were to compare the smaller ferries Navarre (operated by Pete Anderson in the early 20s) and Jepson's Wisconsin with the ferry Welcome, we can see how those freighters were stop-gap, proving inadequate in the long run for hauling autos.  When Pete Anderson died in 1923, Bill Jepson helped Carl Christianson complete Anderson's mail contract.   Then, in 1924 Jepson applied for and received the mail contract, using his vessel Wisconsin on the open lake waters, and transiting with the mail over the ice when it was frozen.   Jepson would lose, then win back, the U. S. Mail contract several times in his career.

Mail exchange near Door Bluff.  In foreground with snow-track Ford is
believed to be Jepson, with Harry Newman holding a horse team.
(year unknown - published in Over and Back, from Bell Collection)

Business must have grown steadily for Jepson to consider the acquisition of the North Shore in 1936, seven years after building the Welcome.  Perhaps Jepson saw need for a second boat, not only to handle peaks in summer traffic, but also add the option to substitute one vessel for another if a malfunction of some sort temporarily tied up one of his ferries.  And we can read in Hannes Andersen's book where, in the off-season, the hauling of potatoes, fish and other freight had potential to bring in additional freight income, runs to ports that were not part of Jepson's regular ferry route. In that way his extra vessel would earn income in several ways.

        *            *             *

North Shore 

 Jepson took ownership of the North Shore in 1936, buying it from a Milwaukee man, William J. Lawrie, who used it for passenger excursions in summer and hauled freight with it in the fall of the year.  In the DCA entry cited earlier, it was called North Shore No. 2, reflecting the sinking of Lawrie's first North Shore in a storm on Lake Michigan, with loss of six lives, crewmen plus and several passengers.

Lawrie often sent his vessels north to Washington Island and the Garden Peninsula for potatoes, and to Escanaba for Christmas trees.  His boats also crossed the lake to lower Michigan for loads of peaches or apples.  Without dedicated cargo holds, the baskets of fruit or sacks of potatoes would be piled high on every available surface, a practice that may have led to a tender condition of low stability.    That his company lost several vessels, and lives, may have occurred for a variety of reasons that we can only speculate about today, but it seems more than simply "poor luck."   Circumstances may have included lack of attention to weather changes, poor decision making in both the office and on board, perhaps the hiring of inexperienced captains, and improper loading.

A reminscence in the 1980s with daughter Lois Lawrie Rehberg, Milwaukee (recorded in the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society newsletter "Soundings" and titled, "MY SAILOR DAD") contains the interesting history that led to the construction of the wooden North Shore, the "No. 2" purchased by William Jepson for service at Washington Island in 1936:

In 1930, the building and launching of a new 65' boat, North Shore, was a big thrill for our family. Walter Haertel, of Sturgeon Bay, was asked to design and supervise its construction.  Marine construction people from the whole Great Lakes area eagerly awaited its completion as it would be the first all-steel, all electrically welded passenger boat on the Great Lakes and the second in the United States.  The steel hull, built by  Mertes-Miller, 577 Barclay Street, was hauled a mile from the plant to the Kinnickinnic River for its launching on Thursday, June 19, 1930.  It was christened the North Shore by my mother, Meta, as a crowd of more than four hundred attended the ceremony.  It went into service immediately as a summer excursion boat like its predecessors, the Lois Pearl and the South Shore.  

A Mertes-Miller ad,  courtesy
of Eric Bonow.

Then, quite unexpectedly, the new, steel-hull North Shore was lost on a trip across the lake in the fall of its first year of service.

When four life preservers marked North Shore were found off Holland, Michigan, all hope of finding anyone faded.  However, even after pieces of the cabin and baskets of grapes were found, the search continued.  Two weeks after the boat was reported missing, the body of Arthur Peters, floating in a life preserver marked North Shore, was found thirty miles off Muskegon, Michigan.  Two other ships had gone down in the same storm.  I was devastated to learn that Captain Anderson was gone as I had a big crush on the handsome Norwegian.  

After the North Shore was lost in the fall of 1930, a new North Shore was built in 1931 to replace the first one.  It was 65' long with a 20' beam and was of wood construction.  The new boat was a double deck design, diesel-powered and capable of carrying 250 passengers.  The boat was launched at the Burger Boat yards on Saturday, June 26, 1931.  This time, I christened the boat --- the North Shore II. 
I was severn years old at the time and was not strong enough to break the bottle on the bow of the boat.  My dad helped me with the second swing of the bottle and the boat was launched.  It was an exciting day for me!

On July 4th, the North Shore II began its passenger run between South Shore and Juneau Park.  At this time, the Lois Pearl and South Shore were still in service.  The North Shore II continued its passenger and freight service and also operated in Chicago during the Century of Progress exhibition in the summer of 1933… In 1936, my dad sold the North Shore II to the Washington Island Ferry Line, and it was used  as a ferry boat to and from Washington Island and Northport, at the tip of Door County.  Then it was sold in 1946 to be used on the run to Charlevoix, Michigan, from St. James Harbor on Beaver Island.

Several things stand out in the above narrative, in addition to the most unfortunate sinking of the first North Shore and the lives that were lost that day.   That the hull was of welded steel, something new -  claimed by Ms. Rehberg to have been a first - and that it had been designed by Naval Architect Walter Haertel, invites comment.   Haertel was well known during his long career designing small commercial vessels.   Then, as now, there would have been blueprint review and construction oversight by the U.S. Coast Guard.  Many Great Lakes island ferry services, and excursion companies, sailed one or more vessels of Haertel's design.  Locally, the Griffin (1946), C. G. Richter (1950) and Voyageur (1960) came from Walter Haertel's drawing board and were well-designed and well-built.

There is no record of the first North Shore's wreck being located, and minus any survivors whose accounts would provide clues to the sinking, there can be very little speculation on what caused the vessel loss.  Today, with the help of modern technology, there would certainly be a thorough Coast Guard investigation, following possibly an underwater search, but at the time such an investigation was impossible.

How this innovative, welded hull might have influenced plans - or Coast Guard plan approval - for later passenger vessels is unknown.  Lawrie, bitten once with a welded steel design, decided to go with the more familiar wood construction for its replacement.  

    *         *         *         *

On Feb. 9, 1940 DCA reported this:

STEEL WELDED BOAT IS ORDERED HERE - Will be Operated by Capt. Jepson of Island

Door County's long sought auto ferry service between Sturgeon Bay and Marinette will become a reality next summer as a result of an announcement made this week by Capt. W. P. Jepson of Washington Island that he will put a new 100 ft. steel welded boat on the run beginning around June 1 and making one to two trips a day, depending on the demand.

Simultaneously, Capt. Jepson made known that he had sold to Arni Richter the ferry properties he operated for many years between the Island and Gills Rock, including the boats Welcome and North Shore and dock properties at both ends of the run.  Mr. Richter will combine the passenger service with carrying mail.  A contract to build the new ferry will be let to the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Capt. Jepson said Wednesday.  The design will be about the same as the Welcome, a wooden boat also built here and will provide for carrying 200 passengers and 16 cars.  The engine will be diesel, 300 to 400 horse power.

Besides making scheduled trips, the boat will also be available for excursions on Green Bay.

Jepson's Sturgeon Bay - Marinette run never materialized, maybe reconsidered with an impending war effort underway to aid U. S. allies, but the ownership of the Washington Island Ferry Line officially shifted on April 11, 1940 to Carl and Arni Richter.

A favorite question of Arni's was to ask gathered family members on that anniversary date, "Do you know what day it is?"  Only after repeated times did we start to get the answer right, but we always wanted to hear the stories that led up to that decision to purchase the Jepson ferry line.

More on that in an upcoming blog…    

- Dick Purinton              

ISLAND WATERFRONT - Captain William Jepson - Part XII

Capt. William Jepson, from wheel house window.
Photo taken June, 1932 by A. H. Fensholt of Chicago and
made available for publication in book Over and Back
by Millie Jacobsen.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

When perusing the Island waterfront, then and now, it is impossible not to bestow a great deal of credit upon William Jepson, who not only was an early ferry operator, but also dock builder, and to an extent, a visionary of for transportation services and how they could be ably fulfilled.

I've seen only a couple of photos of Jepson, somewhat strange, since so many of the older, glass plate photos were credited to him.  The photo above appeared in my book, Over and Back (1990) and it was passed to me by the late Millie Jacobsen.  Captain Jepson looks back toward the photographer from the window of the wheel house.

The other photo of Jepson I happened on is in the Wisconsin State Historical Society archives, (and which I published with permission for a fee) in the book, Thordarson and Rock Island.   In that photo, Jepson stands in front of his Ford snow machine, which is hooked to a bobsled used for hauling freight and mail.  He stands in front of the Island post office (across the street from what is now the Red Cup), smoking a cigarette while in apparent conversation with C. H. Thordarson.  I supposed that Jepson could have been discussing ice conditions that morning, or perhaps he was being propositioned for a ride to the mainland by Thordarson.

The point I made in that winter photo was to show that in the ice months, Jepson and helper made regular trips to the mainland to exchange mail and freight.  His Ford conversion snow rig and bobsled appear to be the same used by his successors, Carl and Arni Richter, who likely purchased those assets in 1940 when they bought the Welcome and North Shore, when they took over ferry operations from Jepson.

Anyone who ventures out regularly across the Door on ice will, sooner or later, encounter conditions he may wish he didn't have to face.  Underscored in my March 10 blog entry was the danger encountered when crossing ice that shifted quickly or deteriorated from currents and wave action.  If anything, it's a wonder more fatalities didn't occur during those years.

This news clipping from March 24, 1936 (newspaper source unknown) recounts one example of a close shave by Jepson in his efforts to deliver the mail:

THREE ESCAPE AS TRUCK BREAKS ICE - Death's Door Gives Warning to Capt. Jepson -

Captain William A. Jepson and two other persons narrowly escaped death yesterday when the Washington Island mail truck, with the island's mail on board went through the ice on the trip froth mainland to the island over honeycombed ice.

The mishap occurred over the passageway known as Death's Door where several persons died last winter and where many lives have been lost.

The truck was about a quarter mile from shore at Loebel point (sp) when the back end of the vehicle sank.  Besides the captain those on board were his son, Gordon, and Charles Hagen.  By putting on all the motor's power and turning the wheel the captain managed to reach firmer ice.

Three passenger cars following saw their peril and avoided the danger.  All reached the mainland safely, but there will be no more passages over the ice this spring.

For about two months the mail route to the island led over the ice.  Tonight Captain Jepson had launched his ferry and was attempting to clear the Detroit Island passageway so mail might be delivered by ferry boat. 

It was Jepson who worked out a mainland docking spot with Gills Rock property owners, Voight and Johnson family members, a landing that while far from being a perfect location was still a decided improvement over the more distant Ellison Bay.   It was Jepson who, after operating from the Gislason dock at the far eastern shore of Detroit Harbor for a number of years, shortened up the ferry's run considerably by improving the shore land he purchased from Ole Christiansen on Lobdell Point.  The development of this location for future auto and passenger services was a natural, given the shorter distance to the mainland and the elimination of crossing a somewhat shallow harbor.  But this shift entailed a considerable amount of fill to be placed in a lowland, plus construction of a pier and landing suitable his two ferries.

In this postcard photo Jepson's Welcome moors at an
Ellison Bay pier, likely near where Cedar Grove is
located today.

Prior to the 1930s, according to bits of information passed down from J. W. Cornell to Arni and Mary Richter, there had been at first only a walking path out to the Point from the Main Road area, then a two-track buggy route through the swamp.  By 1930, we assume, a stone and gravel road led through woods and wetlands connecting Jepson's ferry dock with the rest of the Island.

One aspect of operating passenger vessels that Jepson faced that might easily be taken for granted were the requirements to meet government certification for operation under the regulations of the day.

A letter from the Wm. Jepson file in the Island Archives, dated December 7, 1938, from U. S. Local Inspector Henry Ericksen of the Milwaukee office, Department of Commerce, Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation, addressed a fire safety issue:

Dear Sir:    The matter of protecting your two vessels, the NORTH SHORE and the WELCOME with sprinkler systems was referred to the Supervising Inspector of the Sixth District and it is his opinion that both vessels should be equipped with an approved type of manually operated sprinkler system as follows:

NORTH SHORE -  The sprinkler system should be installed overhead on the main deck, extending from the forward side of the upper deck to the stern on port and starboard sides.

WELCOME - Should be equipped with an overhead sprinkler system on the main deck the entire length.

It will be necessary for you to furnish this office with blue prints in triplicate fully descriptive of the type of sprinkler system that you intend to install, showing plan and profile, also power pump location, size of pump.  We believe that the open head system would be advisable for those two vessels.  It will be necessary to have this installed, approved, and tested by this Board before the issuing of a Certificate next spring.

We are herewith enclosing Supplement 51, and calling attention to the requirements on Page 79, as marked, relating to the requirements to manually operated sprinkler systems to be installed on ferry boats;  also Page 82-83, which will give your the information regarding such types of systems as have been approved.       Respectfully,   Henry Ericksen

Satisfaction of this requirement would have necessitated, we imagine, a trip off the island to visit a naval architect or a shipbuilder in Sturgeon Bay, and the production of a satisfactory plan outlined on blueprint - in triplicate for approvals - and then the purchase and installation of pump and piping.  These were likely unforeseen cost in material and labor that fell into the cost of vessel operations.

Pennants signal a special occasion -
North Shore at the Burger Boat yard prior to launch in 1931.
Vessel was built for a Milwaukee owner, used in service there
for two years before Jepson purchased and placed it into
Island service.  This vessel remained in service until the Griffin
was built in 1946.

It could be that the mounting expenses faced in operating, the winter challenges, and wooden vessels that grew more problematic with age, caused Jepson to look toward a new design.   He had a basic plan in place by 1939, and whether or not he came close to acting on that blueprint is unknown.  By early February of 1940 he had reached an agreement with Carl and Arni Richter to sell his operation, and when the season more or less began, April 11th 1940, that transaction officially took place.

North Shore on the ways, after conversion
to auto/passenger service.

Even as late as 1951, Jepson was very much involved with commercial vessels.  According to the Dec. 27, 1951 Door County Advocate, Jepson initiated a double trade of vessels, the Velox for the Lester H. Smith with Murray Cornell, and then the Velox was traded to Glenn and Alvin Sorenson for the fish tug Sorenson Bros., an all-steel boat.   According to the story, Jepson used the fish boat Lester H. Smith the previous four years to "carry mail."     [A sign of brisk commercial fishing enjoyed during that era, in a related note below the Jepson reference it was reported that for the winter, "There are now 17 tugs moored at the ferry, Standard Oil and Cornell's docks at Lobel's (sp) Point.]

Jepson was a true entrepreneur, starting up a number of businesses, and planning others that may never have gotten off the dock, such as vessel service from Sturgeon Bay to Marinette.  He operated at least one supper club, the Mill, an establishment still operating today near the "Y" north of Sturgeon Bay.

He was married three times (Karen Sorensen, Esther Orman and Dorothy Young) to wives who preceded him in death.  His daughters were Jane Jirtle (who was married to attorney Don Jirtle of Kewaunee) and Hazel Flaherty.   His sons were Gordon and Earl.

Jepson was born March 25, 1881 and he died May 23, 1978.   Pall bearers at his service were:  Cecil Anderson, Jim Anderson, John Hanlin, Ed Marsik, Lloyd Orman and Arni Richter.  His funeral service program read:

Captain Bill was a man who was at home upon the water. He was a member and served in the U. S. Life Saving Service.  He sailed on the Great Lakes, owned and pilot dthe Lucile, Minnie S., Wisconsin, Welcome and the North Shore.  Captgain Bill owned and operated the Washington Island Ferry Line, the Ship Yard, two night clubs and the Hotel Washington.       He will be remembered for his stories of the sea, his longevity, his generosity and his love of our island.

-  Dick Purinton

ISLAND WATERFRONT - Jensenville - Part X

Another photo from the Herschberger album, courtesy of Ann Young,
showing several homes in Jensenville.  This one was taken
in 1937.  The Spendrift is the boat in the foreground.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

I received more photos from Ann Young the other day, in part to answer my question, "Does anyone know what sailboat that might be?" shown sailing past the old Elbow Light in an earlier blog.

The boat is unmistakably Jack Herschberger's Spendrift, and the many photos Ann provided me, along with vessel registration, are not only fun to look at because they're about boats, they also show nicely the summer homes along the Jensenville shoreline.  You may be able to recognize some of them today, although most have modified windows, gables, porches and such compared with the 1920s-30s look.  I took the photo below from the ice just to see if I could match roof lines and windows, and other than knowing where Tim and Lois Jessen live today, as a relative 'newcomer' I can't feel qualified to draw conclusions as to which home is which.

Photo taken the afternoon of 3.6.15 (not a good day for boating).
Cedars and pines obstruct the buildings, adding to the difficulty in
matching similarities of the oldest homes.

Jack Herschberger's Spendrift in late 1920s, with ferry
in at Gislason pier, background.

 
The above photo shows the ferry landing in the background, an indication this photo was taken sometime in the 20s, before Jepson moved his operations to Lobdell Point.    

What about the name Jensenville?  In her book Let's Talk About "Washington Island" (1950, copyright 1973), Anne T. Whitney wrote this:

Captain Christian Jensen owned an attractive strip of property stretching along the shores and running back to Detroit Harbor Road from the Trueblood land east as far as where the Herschberger home now stands.  He built several good cottages and his own unique home.

There was a glamour around Jensenville beach, and Detroit Road became a boulevard requiring very slow driving while criticizing the shocking bathing suits the city people wore, (Oh my, just look at that one!) and those whose eyesight had not failed them too sadly could see that some wore no stockings.  Mothers drove young daughters hastily away.  Lots sold like "hot cakes" in Jensenville.

Here is another photo from back in the day, showing the Spendrift with several other boats, one a being a former double ender lifeboat.

The Jensenville summer resident family names Whitney mentioned are names still associated with many of the properties there today, or they are related to Island residents now living in other parts of the Island, names such as:   Trueblood, Herschberger, Evens, Mueller, Koken, Kiss, Williams.                                                         

What about the Herschberger name?  Who was C. B. Herschberger, whose children were Jack, Ruth, Harriet and C. B. Jr.?  Although the following is a digression from the main topic at hand, it is an interesting diversion to read about C. B. Herschberger, (from information supplied by Ann Young, C. B.'s granddaughter) from a piece titled, "CHICAGO ROLL OF HONOR":

Clarence Herschberger, Chicago's first representative on Walter Camp's "All America" team, and the first player west of the Atlantic seaboard to win such recognition, was mighty in achievement but small in size.  "Herschie" in his greatest days weighed only 158 pounds, his power as a runner coming from his cleverness.  He and Walter Steffen are said to have been the only two Chicago players who could pivot off either foot with the same skill.  When tackled, he had the resiliency of a cat, squirming loose and bouncing to his feet before he could be pinned down.

But marvelous a runner as he was, "Herschie's" fame rests really on his skill as a kicker. There probably has been no better drop kicker in football history, and certainly there has never been his equal as a place kicker.  With Gordon Clarke holding the ball, Herschberger place kicked field goals almost from any angle or distance.  One of his spectacular feats was to kick a goal from the 37-yard line, while the ball was rolling on the ground.  He did that in an indoor name played against Michigan in the old Coliseum on Thanksgiving Day, 1898.

Herschberger played four seasons on the [University of] Chicago football team.  He began in 1894, his freshman year, was out the next season because his parents objected to his playing, returned in 1896, was captain in 1897, and played his last year in 1898.  He also won four letters in baseball and track.  As good a student as a football player, he graduated with a Phi Beta Kappa key.  Now a real estate dealer, his greatest avocation is working in the fine machine shop, much of which he built himself, at his summer home on Washington Island, Wisconsin.

Ruth Gislason, along with her husband, Lawrence, worked as cook and porter on Great Lakes freighters for many years after their Island store closed.  At one time, Ruth prepared meals for the Herschberger family in summer.  In particular, her skills as a baker were remembered.  Ruth Herschberger proclaimed, "When I die, don't put flowers on my grave, just Ruth's rolls all around it."  Ruth and Lawrence would sometimes go to Chicago in late fall or winter, there to be entertained by the Herschbergers.  (Information taken from a hand written remembrance by Varian Hanson, who worked as a young girl under Ruth in the Herschberger home - Washington Island Archives document.)

But, back to the vessel Spendrift, owned by Jack Herschberger and acquired in 1928.  It was a well-used craft for many years, it appears, and although it was a motor boat, occasionally it was rigged with mast and sail (as seen in photo of the March 3 blog about the Elbow Light).  Side panels lifted off to permit greater air flow to the cabin, and that feature is shown in a photo of an overnight cruise to South River Bay, an inlet several miles north of Fayette on the Garden Peninsula.

The Spendrift (25'6" x 5'10" beam x 2'6" draft) was built by Dan Kidney of DePere in 1911 and was powered by a 7 HP Straubel engine.   Anyone who may be interested in engines of the past will enjoy this link describing the history behind the Straubel engines, a northeastern Wisconsin manufacturer and machining company:    

http://www.gasenginemagazine.com/farm-life/the-straubel-story.aspx

Spendrift at South River Bay.  "Looking from side with
cabin sides up because of hot weather" - 1931

Pile driver

Finally, before leaving the Spendrift and Jensenville area I should provide the answer to my own questions, "What is that thing behind the crowd gathered on Gislason Pier?  Was it a navigational buoy of some sort?" 

In yet another photo furnished by Ann Young, a group of folks (Herschberger family members or friends, most likely) gathered at the Lobdell Point ferry dock with that same device behind them.  The iron guide to hold piles while they were being driven, and the iron block that was raised and then dropped onto the top of a piling, can be more easily seen.  Other photos of the time period also show this same piece of equipment mounted on a float, and so we assume Capt. Jepson may have been the owner and operator of this pile driver.     -  Dick Purinton

Group seated on pile driver, which in this photo appears to be
resting on top of the pier next to the ferry Welcome.  (Probably
taken in early 1930s)