on december the 6th 1912 a chicago newspaper headline read christmas ship lost on the lake
with 17 on board this headline describes what turned out to be one of the most
bizarre or perhaps the only christmas tree shipwreck of all time so today for our special
christmas episode we will discover the story of chicago's mysterious christmas tree shipwreck
i'm your host ryan socash and you're watching it's history
let's start on lake michigan at its peak in 1868 when more than 1 800 sailing vessels
traversed the lake with shipments of commodities and freight the dominant sailing powered ships
on lake michigan was the sturdy schooner built to haul heavy loads in and out of
shallow harbors with its principal cargo lumber feeding the high demand for building materials
in growing urban areas such as chicago and milwaukee however by 1912 these ships had
an onshore future you see lake carriers had long since faced fierce competition from the railroads
railroads delivered their cargo during the winter months when the lake was impassable due to ice and
storms lumber shipments via schooners also reduced in numbers with the depletion of lake michigan's
shoreline forests whereas the railroads had already reached inland to haul new sources
of timber nonetheless an ample supply of pine trees were still available for the fall harvest
and lake shipment for christmas tree season was often optimal in 1868 the rouse simmons was
launched from milwaukee's shipyard the ship was built by the firm alan mccollon and company one
of milwaukee's prominent shipbuilding firms sleek and sturdy the 123-foot rao simmons was licensed
and enrolled on august the 27th 1868 at the port of milwaukee the vessel's managing owner was royal
b townsley of kenosha wisconsin and its first master was alfred akerman the royal simmons was
named after a well-known kenosha merchant of the same name as brother zalman simmons who swiftly
gained fame for his family's mattress company in the early 1870s the rao simmons joined the
sizeable shipping fleet of the wealthy lumber magnet charles h hackley of michigan hackley's
lumber operations stretched to all corners of lake michigan's coastline and the rao simmons was its
workhorse hauling loads of lumber for hackley's fleet from company mills to the various markets
around the great lakes for roughly 20 years a survey of entrances and clearances from the
records of the u.s customs service for the port of grand haven michigan for august of 1883 shows that
the ship was making almost weekly runs from grand haven most likely with loads of lumber to the port
of chicago and naturally for the magical christmas season it would haul christmas trees as well but
more on that later by the late 19th and early 20th century the popular german tradition of decorating
an evergreen tree in the home was widely practiced and demand for christmas trees was great it was
not uncommon for a handful of lake schooners to make late season runs from northern michigan
and wisconsin before the worst storms and ice made the lake travel too hazardous despite the risk the
payoff was major when they'd get back to chicago markets fully loaded with thousands of christmas
trees estimates of the number of christmas schooners varied but perhaps up to two dozen
vessels in a given season delivered evergreens to markets in the great lakes most vessels
including the rouse simmons sold trees directly from their births along the chicago river's clark
street docks in chicago electric lights were strung from the schooner's bow to the stern
and customers were invited to board the ship and choose their tree in addition to selling christmas
trees many boat operators made and sold wreaths garlands and holiday decorations and although the
christmas spirit was generally well and alive in chicago the captain of the rao simmons really took
the jolliness to the next level which is perhaps where the story starts to head off its rails a bit
the captains of the rao simmons were herman schuman and oscar nelson in 1910 herman schuman
purchased a partial interest in the rao simmons by 1912 his financial interest in the ship
amounted to one-eighth while captain charles nelson of chicago owned another one-eighth share
and businessman mans j boner of saint james michigan held a commanding three-fourths interest
in the vessel the 1870 census revealed that wisconsin native schumann was born in 1865 into
the middle of a growing family of six children in the predominantly german community of present-day
algoma on the shores of lake michigan his eldest brother august born 1853 was the first to make his
living on the lake herman however soon followed in his brother's footsteps by the early 1890s
shuman lived in chicago and his career as a local merchant and lake captain was well established on
april the 9th 1891 he married german-born barbara schindle the 1900 federal census indicates that
barbara and herman schumann had three daughters during the 1890s elsie born in january of 1892
and in october 1898 twins hazel and pearl barbara schumann and her three daughters helped make and
sell wreaths and garlands as a part of the family holiday trade in 1912 schumann was a veteran
schooner master who had hauled christmas trees to chicago for almost three decades at some stage of
hermann schuman's long career as a late season tree captain he was given the title of captain
santa the affectionate nickname was bestowed by the chicago local newspapers and by the city's
grateful residents schuman's profits from selling christmas trees had never made the family wealthy
but his reputation for generosity was well established and he delighted in presenting
trees to many of the city's needy residents schuman enjoyed the notoriety and proudly
kept newspaper clippings about his role as captain santa in an oil skin wallet remember
this point it's going to be important later much less is known about oscar nelson however
newspaper reports characterized him as fearless so navigating lake michigan falls storms in the
most rudimentary of vessels stowing thousands of christmas trees would have certainly suited him
well schumann was in his prime as a late captain the same could not be said for the rao simmons
the once sleek sailing vessel was now 44 years old and long past its prime time the elements
and hundreds of heavy loads of lumber had taken their toll on the vessel's physical condition and
let's just say that it wasn't exactly bound for a christmas miracle on friday november the 22nd 1912
the rao simmons heavily laden with between 3 000 and 5 000 christmas trees filling its cargo hold
and covering its deck left from thompson's pier at manisteek michigan for a scheduled 42-hour
journey back to chicago some eyewitnesses to the raul simmons departure claimed the ship looked
like a floating forest the 17 aboard included captains and business partners herman schuman and
oscar nelson nelson's wife was the lone woman on board a first mate and 13 sailors were the
other crew members although the weather was fine when the rouse simmons departed its departure
coincided with the beginning of a tremendous winter storm on the lake a report soon reached
chicago of a sighting of a three-mass schooner off the coast between kiwani and two rivers wisconsin
flying signals of distress on november the 28th thanksgiving day 1912 the concerned relatives of
those on board began to search for any trace of their loved ones the newspapers reported that a
life-saving crew was sent from kiwani attempting to reach the vessel during the daylight but failed
night fell while the struggle was ongoing at dawn lifesavers wallowing through the heavy
swells that the storm had left in its wake reached the place where this stricken christmas tree ship
had last been seen no signs of sale were in sight life-saving station logs testified that at 2 50
p.m on saturday november the 23rd 1912 a wisconsin surfman alerted the station keeper captain nelson
crate that a ship was sighted headed south flying its flag at half-mast a universal sign of distress
he further remarked i immediately took the glasses and made out that there was a distress signal
the ship was between five and six miles ese and blowing a gale from the northwest crate attempted
to locate a gas tugboat to assist the schooner but the vessel had left earlier in the day after
a few minutes the life-saving crew lost sight of the ship at 3 10 pm krait telephoned station
keeper captain george e sogg at two rivers that a schooner was headed south flying its flag at
half-mast sog immediately ordered the two rivers surfman to launch the station's powerboat the boat
reached the schooner's approximate position shortly thereafter but darkness heavy snow
and mist obscured any trace of the ship and its crew the ship had simply vanished however
gossip circulated about a sole survivor regional newspapers began to report stories from the only
crew member who escaped hogan hogensen hogan's in charge that the schooner was overloaded and
carried no lifeboats the man parted ways with captain nelson after being ordered to pile up
a load of sapling trees on deck after the cargo hold had been filled to capacity
with the larger trees nelson told hogensen that he would not be paid unless he returned with the ship
hogensen had enough money for a train fare back to chicago and thus escaped whatever fate had become
of his fellow crew members after two weeks news came that hatches of the ship and large quantities
of christmas trees had been washed ashore near two rivers wisconsin nonetheless seamen still had hope
that with so few craft on the lake this late in the season the christmas tree ship might simply
be adrift for weeks this prompted a telegraph from the treasurer of the chicago siemens union
to captain barry of the united states revenue cutter tascarrara to steam out into the lake
immediately to reach the rao simmons the tuscarara sailed upon receiving the message to retrace the
supposed course of the rao simmons the first wireless message received from the tuscararo read
lake is foggy no sign of rao simmons captain barry by december the 7th the tone of the newspaper
articles had decidedly shifted to abandoned hope as numerous christmas trees and bits of unmarked
wreckage drift onto the shores of michigan the chicago tribune reports that the fate of chicago's
christmas tree ship has been settled definitively in the eyes of all lake sailors hundreds of
tangled christmas trees and evergreen wreaths were found scattered along the beaches for miles
and most of the wreckage was piled onto the shore within 20 miles of the point where the rao simmons
was last sighted captains schuman and nelson were seasoned veterans of lake michigan having made
many similar voyages over the years on the vessel they knew well the rao simmons had proven itself
capable of withstanding the worst of false storms but some believe that captain nelson's fearless
decision to overload the ship would have given the ship little chance of staying afloat in bad
weather lake shooters of course were not equipped with any kind of wireless transmitter to send dots
and dashes for help and reports differ as to whether or not the rau simmons had a lifeboat
some reports say that the schooner had one lifeboat which would have been woefully inadequate
for more than a few of the crewmen but the general consensus is that there wasn't a lifeboat at all
the reason this christmas ship story remains relevant throughout history is what happened
after the disaster in the few weeks leading up to christmas of 1912 chicago's inter-ocean newspaper
and other businesses and organizations reached out to the family although hermann's wife barbara was
ill with grief the eldest daughter elsie showed incredible strength and selflessness to keep the
events from overtaking her family as well as the other suffering families the inter-ocean newspaper
solicited donations for the families and reported as follows on tuesday december the 10th in a
dingy little room at south water and clark street where a window overlooks the chicago river
there sat a beautiful golden-haired sat-eyed girl she was weaving christmas garlands now and then
her fingers would halt their work and glands of her sad blue eyes would look towards lake michigan
where her father perished and tears would fall upon the garland in her lap the girl is elsie
schuman the daughter of hermann schumann skipper of the rao simmons the lost christmas ship which
went down with all hands the garlands she weaves are from the wreckage of the cargo of the rao
simmons picked up along the shore of wisconsin and shipped to chicago they will be sold by the
girl who finds herself at the head of the family now destitute her mother prostrated by grief is
ill there are two younger sisters in response to an appeal from the sailors shippers and merchants
from who captain schuman worked and friends the inter-ocean starts a relief fund for the family
every dollar the family possessed was represented in the shooner rao simmons and its stock of
christmas trees and greens w.c holmes of wc homes shipping company for whom captain schumer
commanded his ship for years has put the shooner anita at the disposal of mrs schuman and her
friends it will be moored today at the south side of the clark street bridge where the rau simmons
has stood every christmas season for years laden with christmas trees and decorations for sale on
the onita will be placed the trees picked up from the ralph simmons wreckage to this will be added
a carload of greens which the captain shipped for michigan woods by rail when the news of this plan
spread amongst sailors on the waterfront scores of seamen friends of captain schumann called miss
elsie and offered their services on the craft her courage was praised by everyone it was even
suggested that the siemens union charter a boat every year and sent north for trees to be disposed
of and the proceeds given to the stricken family strangely these charity preparations were done
in privacy as mrs schuman was in such a condition that physicians issued an order of ignorance the
grief made her hysterical and on account of that it was decided she best not know the actual fate
her husband had faced on lake michigan so in her flat at 1628 north clark street she gathered her
two younger children around and told them not to cry she told them that her father is safe to which
elsie recalled keeping everything from her mother makes it harder to bear but our friends have been
good to us i don't know what i would have done without them everything we had was tied up in the
schooner and with father gone not only our store but the source of providing more was taken away
one never knows what they can do until they have to i'm going to make an attempt to carry
our father's christmas tree business and so it was following the tragedy barbara and her
daughters continued the family's christmas tree business newspaper accounts suggest that they used
schooners for several more years to bring trees to chicago later the women brought the evergreen
trees to chicago by train and then sold them from the deck of a docked schooner after barbara's
death in 1933 the daughters sold trees from the family lot for a few more years many believe that
the loss of the rao simmons however signaled the beginning of the end for schooners hauling loads
of evergreens to chicago by 1920 the practice of bringing trees to chicago via schooners had ceased
just a few years later the majority of the once proud schooners laid leaking and decaying moored
in their births around the lake astonishingly the lake continued to give up clues long after
the vessel's lost in 1924 some fishermen in wisconsin hauled in their nets and discovered
a wallet wrapped in a waterproof oil skin inside were the pristine contents that identified its
owner as herman schumann the captain of the rouse simmons the wallet was returned to the family
then on a drizzly overcast date in late october 1971 milwaukee's scuba diver gordon kent bell
richard was surveying with sonar at the bottom of lake michigan's west coastal waters just off
of two rivers wisconsin bell richard was searching for the vernon a 177 foot 700 ton steamer that had
sunk with only one survivor in a storm in october 1887. local fishermen described an area to bel
richard where their nets had snagged on previous occasions as a potential site for his search his
sonar made a promising contact and he descended to what appeared to be a well-preserved shipwreck
resting in an upright position in 172 feet of water upon reaching the wreck his light
malfunctioned leaving him in blanketed murky darkness without light he surveyed the wreckage
by feeling along its hull bell richard quickly realized that he had not discovered the large
propeller driven vernon but the wreckage of the elusive rouse simmons indeed this is not a
happy christmas story but it's insane to consider that the delivery of christmas trees to chicago
once required a journey of epic proportions it's also a beautiful example of camaraderie
to support a widow and her daughters and beyond that it's just downright bizarre could you imagine
that for the christmas of 1912 there were people who bought christmas trees that drifted back to
shore from a sunken ship and this history is not as far removed as you might expect the grandfather
of the man who wrote this episode worked in a warehouse less than a mile from the clark street
dock during this period and who knows we might even speculate that the writer's ancestor may have
seen this ship with his own eyes at some point so chicagoans keep your story alive by sharing this
video with everyone for the holiday and subscribe to its history this is ryan socash signing off