On this day August 15, 1868, the three masted schooner ROUSE SIMMONS was launched at Milwaukee, Wis., by Allen, McClelland & Co. She was built for Kenosha lumberman Royal B. Towslee and named in honor of the man who helped arrange for her financing. Rouse’s older brother Zalmon G. Simmons founded the Simmons Bedding Company in 1870 which is still around today and many of you have slept on their Beautyrest mattress. The SIMMONS measured 123.5 feet in length and 27.6 feet in beam.
Photo at top of page is a Charles Vickery print of the ROUSE SIMMONS
In 1873 she became part of Charles H. Hackley’s fleet. Hackley was one of the wealthiest lumbermen in the Midwest at the time and his fleet mainly sailed Lake Michigan. The SIMMONS carried lumber from company mills to several ports making almost weekly runs between Grand Haven and Chicago. Hackley sold the SIMMONS in 1890 as the lumber heyday was nearing an end.
By 1893 the SIMMONS had become a hooker, also known as a no-frills transport schooner. By this time brothers August and Herman Schuenemann were seeking new ventures and entered the newly popular Christmas tree market. They bought into these older sturdy schooners as they were reasonably priced and still a good workhorse. Usually on their last trip of the season, they would load up at Thompson, Michigan, with evergreen trees too small for lumber. The last trip was always dangerous due to the uncertainty of November weather.
August Schuenemann was lost with his schooner S. THAL and crew on November 10, 1898, off Glencoe, laden with Christmas trees for Chicago.
Captain Herman Schuenemann of the ROUSE SIMMONS
Herman Schuenemann continued to bring Christmas trees into Chicago. He was well known and somehow seemed to start the season when his schooner sailed in. He had electric lights, Thomas Edison lights, strung in the masts so that everyone knew he had arrived and they could shop even though it was dark.
Herman’s luck held until November 23, 1912 when he sailed from Thompson, Michigan, with his crew and some lumbermen catching a ride to Chicago. They sailed off into a bad storm with freezing temperatures. The SIMMONS was spotted by the Kewaunee Life Saving Station at 2:50 pm sailing low in the water with tattered sails and flying its flag at half-mast. The Two Rivers station was notified and the TUSCARORA was sent out to assist but the SIMMONS never made it that far. The theory is the storm coated the deck load of trees with rain and snow and then froze. Unable to cut the deck load free, the weight just eventually carried her down.
The ROUSE SIMMONS underwater with a Christmas tree visible in lower center of the last photo. Photos by Cal Kothrade
The SIMMONS was discovered in 170 feet of water by Milwaukee diver G. Kent Bellrichard in 1973. Her Christmas trees had been tangled in fishermen nets for years. This finally led to her discovery.
Anchor from the ROUSE SIMMONS at Milwaukee Yacht Club, 2020. Photo by Jan Hetzel
Today, the SIMMONS anchor is prominently located at the entrance to the Milwaukee Yacht Club.
Suzette Lopez
PHOTO CREDITS:
Above water – Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society and Milwaukee Public Library.
Below water – Wisconsin Marine Historical Society’s Shipwreck Ambassador Cal Kothrade.
