Another Grand Departure

I am casting off into the digital sea of the internet on this blog-ship to talk about music and history, how they have intersected with each other over time and how that can relate to current events. I hope to make a weekly entry into this ships-blog and look forward to corresponding with anyone interested in these and any related subjects. This week's entry involves one of my favorite stories I discovered many years ago in a book titled, Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals, by William Ratigan.

November 23rd of this year will mark the 100th anniversary of the loss of the Schooner Rouse Simmons, the most famous of the "Christmas Ships." Her master, Captain Herman Schueunemann, along with her crew, totaling as many as sixteen, were lost in Lake Michigan's storm-tossed waters off of Two Rivers in Wisconsin (just a ninety minute drive north of Milwaukee).

Over fifty schooners (two and three masted sailing ships and as long as 150 feet) were chartered to travel north in October to harvest and then deliver small evergreen trees to the growing immigrant populations in southern Great Lakes ports like Milwaukee and Chicago, often arriving around the end of November. This was very risky business, as late autumn storms could explode often and without warning to put these vessels in peril.

Captain Scheunemann is most often singled out as the most legendary of these late season sailors for a number of reasons. Herman made more of these voyages than anyone else, nineteen in all. He, also, transformed this trip from just another mundane schooner passage into an exciting event that the public would participate in by stepping aboard the "Christmas Schooner" in downtown Chicago and selecting their Christmas tree, wreaths and garlands.

Herman's wife, Barbara, along with daughters Pearl, Hazel and Elsie, helped sell the trees, make those wreaths and garlands and added to the festive atmosphere aboard ship. With the loss of the Rouse Simmons that dark November in 1912, a shadow was cast on this tradition that season. And the main reason this event is remembered, is the commitment to this holiday business that Barbara and the girls maintained for many years, well into the depression, in the wake of such a tragedy. Also, remember that women could not vote in this country at that time. She was quite a role-model for young women of her age.

This is an amazing, true story that has touched many folks of all ages over the years. from those youngsters long ago hoping for a Christmas tree, to those of us remembering our own disappointments and glowing memories of holidays past. It is a story that has inspired artists of many different types, from the concert stage, to theater, or on canvas. So join me this year in remembering the story of the "Christmas Ship" at various ports o' call across the Great Lakes region this fall!

One of those events is my annual Christmas Ship Concert, to be held at 7:30 pm on Saturday, November 24th at  the Maple Street Chapel in Lombard, Illinois. This will be our 21st year performing this show and at the same place we started back in 1992.  So check out my web page or this blog later in the coming weeks for more information and conversation on this majestic piece of maritime history.

http://folk.maplestreetchapel.org/

Lee Murdock
© August 31, 2012