One hundred and seven years ago today, the three-masted schooner Rouse Simmons, under the command of Captain Herman Schuenemann, sank with the loss of all hands in a winter storm in Lake Michigan. The schooner, known as the “Christmas Tree Ship,” carried a cargo close to 5,000 Christmas trees to be sold in Chicago.
Selling Christmas trees had been part of the Schuenemann businesses for several decades. Captain Schuenemann sold his trees directly from the dock by Chicago’s Clark Street Bridge using the slogan, “Christmas Tree Ship: My Prices are the Lowest.” Schuenemann strung electric Christmas lights from the ship’s masts and had a tree atop the mainmast. Herman, his wife Barbara and their three daughters also made and sold wreaths, garlands, and other holiday decorations from the ship. The trees were sold for between 50 cents and $1, but Captain Schuenemann, who came to be known as “Captain Santa”, also gave away some of the trees to needy families.
On November 22, 1912, Captain Schuenemann sailed the Rouse Simmons from Thompson, Michigan into one of the worst winter storms of the decade. In addition to the Rouse Simmons, the storm also sent several other ships to the bottom, including the South Shore, Three Sisters, and Two Brothers.
For many years, Great Lakes sailors have reported seeing the ghostly image of the Rouse Simmons. Often spotted on moonlit nights, her sails are ripped to tatters and wildly flapping about as if blown by gale winds. Sailors claim that one moment she is there, and the next she has vanished.
In 1924, a wallet, wrapped in oilskin, belonging to Captain Schuenemann was found in a fishing trawler’s net. The wreck of the Rouse Simmons itself was discovered in 1971 by scuba diver Gordon Kent Bellrichard in 172 feet of water in Lake Michigan off Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Many of the trees are still in the ship’s hold.
Today the Christmas Ship is Chicago’s largest all-volunteer charitable support program for inner-city youth and their families at Christmas time. The charity continues the tradition begun by Captain Schuenemann of donating trees to needy families. In the last decade, they have distributed over 12,000 trees to the less fortunate. This year, in support of the charity, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw (WLBB-30) will deliver 1,200 Christmas trees to brighten the holiday season for families in the nation’s third-largest city.
USCGC Mackinaw and her predecessor (also named Mackinaw) have delivered more than 25,000 Christmas trees in the last 20 years in support of this tradition. All of the money raised goes to charity. Besides delivering the trees, Mackinaw also annually lays a wreath at the site of the Rouse Simmons shipwreck.