A SHIP, A WIFE, TWO POSTCARDS AND EBAY

"The Serendipity Of Research"

The mountain was slowly being conquered. By now I knew the names in Edward's day book were ships that had sailed on the Great Lakes. They were schooners, steamships and propeller ships. Some were historically important because they were the first to be built entirely of steel. The Rosedale, the "English ship" was the first ship built of steel to sail from England, across the ocean and into the Great Lakes all the way to Chicago. Later, I would learn that Edward lived a charmed life sailing on the inland seas, narrowly escaping disaster and sinking ships on more than one occassion.

I also knew that Edward had been in Detroit, Michigan around 1906. There was a postcard from a young woman. She wrote how lonesome she was for Edward. She wondered when they would meet again. By this time Edward had joined the USS Revenue Cutter Service and was sailing on the Lot M. Morrill. Her query would never be answered. However, her postcard would eventually provide me with not only an answer, but connect me to a stranger through a series of unusual circumstances.

I still needed information on some of those early ships. They were not listed in the Bowling Green Great Lakes Maritime archives. I also wanted pictures of them. On a whim I went to eBay and did a search for Great Lakes ships. I was hoping to find postcards. What I found was a man selling actual photographs of old Great Lakes ships. He had dozens of them. Although they were not of the ships I was looking for, there was the possibility he might have more, just not listed. There was one tiny obstacle. The eBay auctions were finished. There were no other listings by the seller. I waited and waited but nothing showed up on eBay. Then the serendipity of research began.

I Googled Great Lakes ships one afternoon. A site belonging to a house painting business showed up and attached to it was the very same eBay auctions! It was definitely the same seller, but he was not the house painter. I contacted the painter explaining the nature of my business and hoped he would pass the email on to the man selling the photographs. I was not sure how the two were connected. (Eventually, I learned they were brothers, the one owning a house painting business).

I heard back from the seller who was surprised I had tracked him down. Yes, he could help me but no he did not have any more ship photographs. A series of emails flowed back and forth. His knowledge of Great Lakes ships was amazing. Finally, I asked how he came to know so much. He told me it was easy when you live close to the information. He also had been the ship keeper on the St. Claire. Curiosity moved me to do a search for this ship. I landed on a web site about the restoration of the ferry which took passengers back and forth to the Bob-Lo Island. In 1898 the Detroit, Windsor and Belle Isle Ferry Company opened up a recreation park on the Detroit River. There were two passenger vessels, the Columbia and the St. Claire. I had never been to Detroit, yet the St. Claire looked familiar. The name Bob-Lo also seemed familiar to me. How could I possibly have any knowledge of a Detroit passenger ferry when I had never been to the city or ridden the ferry? How could I find the name of an amusement park I had never been to familiar?

Months later I was again sifting through the contents of the box having moved on from ship identification. I needed to learn about the people in the correspondences and the photographs. As I began assembling the postcards by dates and people I found the answer to my question. The ferry looked familiar because I had seen it before! There in my hand was a postcard with a picture of the St. Claire! It was dated 1910 and was addressed to Edward, the Lighthouse Keeper at Marblehead Lighthouse. The addressee was Margaret King Herman, his wife. She had taken that ferry while visiting friends in Michigan! The very same ferry the seller from eBay had worked on as the ship keeper!

In 1906, the Revenue Cutter the USS Morrill had been docked in Detroit. The postcard sent by a young woman "lonesome" for Edward was of the Belle Isle Park located on Bob-Lo Island. Probably sent as a fond remembrance of a romantic time spent together, they would have also taken one of those ferries to the island! Yes, the "serendipity of research" was the first of many that I was to experience.