Bay View’s Christmas tree ships

In the early 1900s ships sailed Lake Michigan hauling Christmas trees from Michigan ports to coastal cities in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Christmas tree lots were set up at the docks and the trees were sold to area residents, excitedly performing their annual ritual of picking out the perfect Christmas tree.

The most infamous of the Lake Michigan Christmas tree ships was the Rouse Simmons, which sold its trees at a dock in Chicago. On Nov. 22, 1912, under threatening gray skies, Captain Herman Schuenemann left the Thompson harbor near Manistique, Mich., loaded with 3,000 to 5,000 Christmas trees. During a violent storm the ship was lost northeast of Two Rivers, Wis. and the entire crew of 16 perished.

Bay View had its own Christmas tree ships in the 1920s and 1930s-owned by a native son who resided at 2602 S. Shore Dr., Captain William J. Lawrie. Lawrie came from a family of “lakefarers.” His father was a boating enthusiast, and his grandfather, William Barr, was a shipbuilder.

Lawrie purchased his first commercial vessel, the Lois Pearl, in 1924. It was named for Lawrie’s daughter Lois and his partner’s daughter, Pearl Jones. The 65-foot vessel, docked at the foot of E. Nock Street, was used for excursions in summer. The Lois Pearl ran between the South Shore dock and Juneau Park in downtown Milwaukee, carrying as many as 125 passengers. In fall, it hauled apples and potatoes, and in November up to 6,500 Christmas trees from Michigan.

According to Lawrie’s daughter, Lois Lawrie Rehberg, the Christmas trees were sold below the Kinnickinnic Avenue Bridge (just north of Becher Street). The tree lot was set up on the dock along the river. Rehberg was too young to work at the tree lot and had to stay home with her mother. She recalled being greatly upset because her older brother was allowed to work at the lot. Rehberg did visit the tree lot, however, and recalled large numbers of people busily picking through the balsam and spruce trees on the cold winter days.

Christmas of 1929 almost didn’t see trees sold at the foot of the Kinnickinnic Bridge. That winter, according to Rehberg’s article “My Sailor Dad,” the Lois Pearl, loaded with spruce trees from Fayette, Mich. (the Upper Peninsula), became frozen in the ice in upper Green Bay. Fortunately, the ice cutter Faithful of Two Rivers came to the rescue, freeing the vessel from the ice and permitting it to proceed southward.

“Another time,” wrote Rehberg in the same article, “on the upward trip to Escanaba, a field of ice in Sturgeon Bay crushed some of the planking of the boat. It went down in 12 feet of water, but was quickly raised for repairs…Two holes were repaired and the boat returned to Milwaukee with its full cargo of Christmas trees.”

Another of Lawrie’s Christmas tree ships was the South Shore, a small wooden freighter. Originally known as the Ora Endress, it too served as an excursion vessel in the summer, hauled freight in the fall, and Christmas trees in winter. Unfortunately, while hauling a load of potatoes in November 1932, the South Shore went down in a devastating storm. The vessel and bags of potatoes were found washed ashore near Frankfort, Mich. The entire crew of four perished.

In 1930, Lawrie acquired the 65-foot North Shore. In September of that year, the North Shore, headed for Milwaukee and loaded with 3,000 baskets of grapes, went down during a storm. All six people on board, including the captain and his new bride, perished.

To replace the North Shore, the North Shore II was built in 1931. It was a double-deck design and carried 250 passengers. Rehberg, then 7 years old, helped christen the ship. Not strong enough to break the bottle on the bow, her dad helped her with the second swing of the bottle and the boat was launched.

Lawrie’s association with hauling passengers and freight came to an end in the mid-1930s. In 1935, the Lois Pearl sank at the Kilbourn Street Bridge in Milwaukee and that became the ship’s final resting place. The North Shore II was sold in 1936 to the Washington Island Ferry Line in Door County and is still in use today. The sale of the North Shore II closed the chapter on William Lawrie’s Christmas tree ships. Sadly, Lawrie’s customers had to find another Christmas tree lot to provide them with the perfect Christmas tree.

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