By James Heinz
The eight volume Little House on the Prairie series of children’s books have become beloved literary classics. The books inspired a television program of the same name that ran for eleven years. Their author was Laura Ignalls Wilder, who was connected to many famous people. One of her ancestors came over on the Mayflower, and she was related to Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ulysses Grant. She is also connected to something WMHS readers will appreciate.
A Lake Michigan shipwreck.
Photo at top of page: Laura Ingalls Wilder about 1883 courtesy of Wikipedia
Laura Ignalls Wilder’s mother, Caroline Quiner, was born in 1839 at what is now the intersection of Brookfield Road and W. Davidson Road in the Town of Brookfield, Wis. Caroline was the daughter of Charlotte Tucker and Henry Quiner.
Historical Marker for Caroline Ingalls in Brookfield, Wis. courtesy of Wikipedia
WMHS files show that the schooner OCEAN was launched in 1836 at Swan Creek, Michigan. She was described as “schooner, one deck, two masts, no gallery, scroll head.” She displaced 42 tons, was 55 feet long, and 17 feet wide. She was unusual in that she was rather small, had only two masts, and had a figurehead in the shape of a scroll.
OCEAN arrived in Milwaukee in 1836 and became part of what was known as “the Milwaukee fleet” of schooners and sloops mostly involved in the lumber trade. She passed through several owners, but in 1843 she was purchased by former fur trader Michael Dousman.
WMHS files show that she was driven ashore at Chicago in December 1841. On March 29, 1844, she was intentionally run ashore two miles north of St. Joseph, Mich. After leaving St. Joseph she encountered a snow squall that lasted two days. Her captain reported that he had to run before the squall and, when her bows became so weighted down by ice that she was no longer manageable and was unsafe on the open lake, he drove her ashore, where she became “partly buried in the ice.” A newspaper reported that she “was not worth saving.”
Unfortunately for Henry Quiner, she was worth saving. Her saving would prove to be his doom.
As of July 7, 1845, the ship had been sold to Michael Dousman’s brother George Dousman. WMHS files show that at some point after the 1844 intentional stranding Alexander MacGregor became captain of the OCEAN. In 1845 MacGregor hired as second mate his brother-in-law, Henry Quiner. Up to this point Henry had only been a farmer. He had no sailing experience.
On November 7, 1845, the steamer CHAMPION found the OCEAN floating six miles north of St. Joseph two miles from shore. The OCEAN was described as “She is a complete wreck having lost her boat and davits, carried away her mainmast, her sails torn into rags, hatches off, and lumber in the hold. There were no persons on board, and it is supposed that the crew were all lost. She had the appearance of having been capsized and righted again.”
Newspapers speculated that she had been lost during a gale on November 6, 1845. Her cargo was said to be worth $1,000.
It was Henry Quiner’s first, and last, voyage on the OCEAN.
Four bodies drifted ashore near St. Joseph and were assumed to be the missing crew. Six men were lost: McGregor, first mate Russell, Quiner, and an Irish cabin boy who was said to be supporting his mother. All of them were from Milwaukee. Two anonymous sailors were lost as well. There is no further information on what happened to the OCEAN. It is listed by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association https://www.michiganshipwrecks.org/ on its list of unfound shipwrecks off the west shore of the lower peninsula of Michigan.
Perhaps the most ironic part of the loss of the OCEAN is what the Milwaukee Gazette newspaper reported on November 22, 1845:
“Just before the OCEAN sailed from this port, Capt. McGregor came to our office… and with buoyancy of health and spirits good humoredly contrasted the varied and exciting life of a sailor with the monotony of a printer’s existence, and his hearty laugh and jovial voice still ring in our ears.”
Caroline was apparently haunted by her father’s death, and according to the book Prairie Fire: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, she once wrote an essay entitled “The Ocean” which read:
“Imagine a ship on the water in a storm…All is hurry and confusion on board, for every hand must be at work, to save the ship if possible. And how the ship, and its whole crew, find a grave in the bed of the ocean, and become the food of the animals of the deep. Who can picture the suffering of the survivors…”
Caroline and Charles Ingalls courtesy of Wikipedia
After the death of her husband, Charlotte Quiner decided to raise her children in Concord, Wis., and remarried in 1849. Caroline Quiner married Charles Ingalls in Concord on February 1, 1860. In 1867 their daughter Laura was born seven miles north of Lake Pepin, Wis. Laura Ignalls Wilder went on to write newspaper columns, the Little House series and a number of other books. She died in 1957.
Carrie, Mary and Laura Ingalls about 1879-1881 courtesy of Wikipedia
I would like to thank Wilder enthusiast Renee Tantala for her help in writing this article. Renee has degrees in East African history but has recently switched to American history. She is also a member of the Concord Historical Society and Museum, located just off I-94 in Jefferson County.
The Concord Historical Society’s new exhibit, “New Homes in Concord: The Quiners, the Ingalls, and Their Neighbors” will open in July, 2025, at the Concord Historical Museum. For more information, available soon, go to the CHS website (http://concordwi.org) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com) or call Renee Tantala (414-807-8119).
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James Heinz is the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society’s acquisitions director. He became interested in maritime history as a kid watching Jacques Cousteau’s adventures on TV. He was a Great Lakes wreck diver until three episodes of the bends forced him to retire from diving. He was a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee police officer for thirty years. He regularly flies either a Cessna 152 or 172.
