Purchase FairydewArt

The Christmas Tree Ship and Captain Santa

Gordon Kent Bellrichard, scuba diver, searched for the Vernon, a 177-foot, 700-ton steamer that sunk with one survivor in a storm in October 1887 at the bottom of Lake Michigan’s west coastal waters off of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Local fishermen told Bellrichard of a site where their nets snagged on previous occasions. Bellrichard descended into the site to what appeared to be a well-preserved shipwreck resting in an upright position on the lake bed in 172 feet of water. Bellrichard discovered he had not found the Vernon, but the Rouse Simmons elusive wreck, which was a 205-ton, three-masted schooner that had disappeared beneath the waves in a winter storm in November 1912. His discovery ended a mystery that surrounded the fate of one of the most legendary ships as well as its much-loved captain that ever sailed Lake Michigan’s waters. It was one of the most famous “Christmas tree ships” and its skipper, “Captain Santa,” Herman E. Schuenemann.

Microfilmed records are held at the Great Lakes Region documenting the legendary schooner’s birth, life, and death as well as its enigmatic and kind-hearted captain. The 1870 census reveals:

·         Herman E. Schuenemann was born about 1865 into the middle of a growing family of six children in a predominantly German community of Ahnapee, now known as Algoma, on the shores of Lake Michigan

·         Schuenemann’s oldest brother, named August, was born in 1853 and was the first of the children to make a living on the lake. Herman soon followed in his footsteps.

In 1868 the most dominant sail-powered vessel on Lake Michigan was the schooner that was built to haul heavy loads out of, and into, shallow harbors. Most schooners hauled lumber to feed the high demand for building materials in growing urban areas like Chicago and Milwaukee. The year of 1868 also marked the year the Rouse Simmons was launched from Milwaukee’s shipyards. The sail-powered ship on Lake Michigan was built by the firm of Allan, McClelland, and Company, which at the time, was Milwaukee’s preeminent shipbuilding firms.

The 123-foot Rouse Simmons ship was sleek and sturdy. It was licensed and enrolled on August 27, 1868 at the Port of Milwaukee. The Rouse Simmons joined a sizeable shipping fleet of wealthy lumber magnate and philanthropist Charles H. Hackley of Muskegon, Michigan. The Rouse Simmons was a workhorse of a ship that hauled loads of lumber for Hakcley’s fleet from company mills to various markets around the lake for about 20 years. After the Rouse Simmons’s service with Hackley’s fleet, the schooner belonged to numerous owners and captains before Herman Schuenemann found interest in the vessel at the beginning of the 20^th century.

Herman Schuenemann lived in Chicago in the early 1890s working as a local merchant and Lake Captain. He married German-born Barbara Schindel. They had three daughters during the 1890s: Elsie, and a set of twins, Hazel and Pearl. Barbara realized early that being a lake captain’s wife meant her husband earned his living on the Great Lakes; it was not a matter of if a disaster would happen, it was when.

The popular German tradition of decorating an evergreen tree in the home was very common and practiced by many by the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The demand for Christmas trees was great. Most vessels, including the Rouse Simmons ship sold trees directly from their berths along the Chicago River’s Clark Street docks. Customers were invited to board the ship and choose their trees. Many of them also sold wreaths, garlands and other holiday decorations. Barbara Schuenemann and her three daughters made and sold these items as part of a family’s holiday trade. At some point in time Herman Schuenemann was given the title of “Captain Santa.” The Schuenemann’s Christmas tree and decorations business never made the family wealthy, but did provide enough income to last them for the entire next year. He also enjoyed a reputation for being generous as he delighted in giving trees to the city’s needy residents. Schuenemann was proud of his role as Captain Santa and kept newspaper clippings about his role in his wallet.

Schuenemann was a merchant-sailor, like many others, who could not afford to purchase a schooner outright. It was more common practice for two or more businessmen or lake captains to form a business partnership and purchase shares in a vessel. Schuenemann purchased a partial interest in the Rouse Simmons in 1910. Schuenemann was a schooner master who had hauled Christmas tree to Chicago for almost three decades. He was a lake captain in his prime; however, the same could not be said for the Rouse Simmons, which is now 44 years old, not that once-sleek sailing vessel and past its peak in sailing days. The ship was not very good physical condition.

The Rouse Simmons was heavily loaded with 3,000-5,000 Christmas trees on Friday, November 22, 1912 leaving the dock at Thompson, Michigan. This departure coincided with the beginning of a tremendous winter storm on the lake that sunk several other ships to the bottom. Noone knows exactly what happened after the Rouse Simmons departed the tiny harbor at Thompson with its heavy load of trees, however, Life Saving Station logs document that at 2:50 p.m. on Saturday, November 23, 1912, a surfman at the station in Kewaunee, Wisconsin alerted the station keeper that a schooner (the Rouse Simmon’s identity was unknown) was sighted headed south flying its flat at half-mast, which was a universal sign of a ship in dire trouble. The Life Saving Station took steps to rescue, but was unable to be successful and after a few minutes, the life-saving crew at Kewaunee lost sight of the ship.

At 3:10 p.m. and at the next station further south, the scooner was seen again flying its flag at half-mast. A rescue attempt was launched using the life saving station’s powerboat. When the boat reached the schooner’s approximate position, soon thereafter, darkness, heavy snow and mist hid any trace of the Rouse Simmons and its crew. The schooner had vanished once again.

When the Rouse Simmons failed to arrive in Chicago Harbor on schedule, Barbara Schuenemann and her daughters were concerned. The family knew it was not uncommon for a schooner to pull into a safe harbor to ride out a storm and arrive days later at its destination and this of course was their hope for the delay. Days later, still no word of the vessel had been received. The next weeks and months revealed remnants of Christmas trees washed ashore along Wisconsin’s coastline. The lake continued to give up clues after the vessel’s loss. Fisherman in Wisconsin discovered a wallet wrapped in waterproof oilskin and inside were the contents that identified its owner as Herman Schuenemann, the captain of the Rouse Simmons. 

There are several theories as to what caused the disaster of the Rouse Simmons.  The most likely explanation is a combination of circumstances, among those is:

·         The possibility the vessel lost its ship’s wheel in the storm

·         Heavy icing and snow on the vessel’s exterior and load plus 3,000-5,000 evergreen trees

·         The ship’s poor physical condition

Barbara and her daughters continued the family’s Christmas tree business after the tragedy. They used schooners for several more years to bring trees to Chicago, however, later the women brought 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 all had families of their own and sold trees from the family’s lot for only a few years more.

Over the years, legends of the schooner’s disappearance included:

·         Lake Michigan mariners claimed to have spotted the Rouse Simmons appearing out of nowhere

·         Visitors to the gravesite of Barbara Schuenemann in Chicago’s Acacia Park Cemetery claim there is a scent of evergreens present in the air.

The legend of Captain Schuenemann and the Christmas Tree Ship still appeals to a large and varied audience today. Children seem most attracted to the story. It is a heart-warming story mixed with shipwrecks that perhaps fuels the allure as well as Christmas, ghosts, and Lake Michigan’s many mysteries that prove irresistible to children of all ages. There have been at least four histories, two documentaries and several plays, musicals, and folk songs written or produced about the legendary Christmas Tree Ship, its crew and “Captain Santa,” Herman E. Schuenemann. In addition, each year in early December, the final voyage of Captain Schuenemann and the Rouse Simmons ship is commemorated by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw that makes the journey from northern Michigan to deliver a symbolic load of Christmas trees to Chicago’s disadvantaged.

Source:  The Christmas Tree Ship: Captain Herman E. Schuenemann and the Schooner Rouse Simmons written by Glenn V. Longacre

Summarized by:  Connie Limon