THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 36, Number 38 Thursday, September 24, 2020 Lost and Found by William Halliar A rendering by Robert Doornbos of the Thomas Hume in its watery grave. his has been an unusually cool, rainy, blus- I often wonder, as I examine bits of wood, relics tery September, perhaps a fi tting fall trib- of the creations of man from the past, did they come ute to a year rife with turmoil. from a ship that went down in these waters? Did A transitional month between sum- this bit of fl otsam witness men and women strug- mer and fall, my wife and I often walk gling against the elements, perhaps losing their Tthe beaches of Lake Michigan, enjoying the brisk fi ght to live as their ship was violently tossed, fi - September wind blowing through our hair. And like nally sinking beneath foaming, roaring waves? many, we are armature beachcombers, picking up It’s been estimated that over time, more than interesting rocks, bits of smoothed glass, scraps of 6,000 ships have been lost in the waters of the Great wood. Lakes, perhaps 1,500 in Lake Michigan alone. Sometimes, the lake is calm, washing quietly Valerie van Heest, author, explorer and a Michi- along the singing sand of our beaches, sighing qui- gan Shipwreck Research Association founder, re- etly with an almost soothing voice. Other times, the cently gave a Zoom presentation through New waves are rough, pounding the rocky beaches vio- Buffalo Township Library’s Community Forum on lently and sending spray high into the air, crashing the discovery, and exploration of, the wreck of the with a roar that is fearful and thunderous. Thomas Hume. Continued on Page 2 THE Page 2 September 24, 2020 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 Beacher Company Directory e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] Don and Tom Montgomery Owners email: Classifieds - [email protected] Andrew Tallackson Editor http://www.thebeacher.com/ Drew White Print Salesman PRINTE ITH Published and Printed by Janet Baines Inside Sales/Customer Service T Becky Wirebaugh Typesetter/Designer T A S A THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Randy Kayser Pressman Dora Kayser Bindery Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is Hope Costello, Jacquie Quinlan Production also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. John Baines, Karen Gehr, Dennis Mayberry Delivery hours. We have friends in McCook Neb and Elkhart, Lost and Found Continued from Page 1 Ind. Please notify them of our fate.” The three-masted schooner was a frequent visitor The note was believed a hoax by many at the time to the port of Michigan City in the late 1800s, where since the Hume should not have had any passen- lumber from all over the state was loaded into its gers, and the ship should not have been on the St. hold, bound for Chicago and from there to the prai- Joseph course as claimed by the writers. rie states of the west. The ship carried a lifeboat on deck, but no sign The story of the Thomas Hume is interesting in of one or survivors was ever found. In van Heest’s several respects. It sailed empty out of harbor in book, Lost & Found, she quotes The Muskegon Chicago on a stormy, windy May 21, 1891, bound Chronical dated May 28, 1891, as reporting, “efforts for Muskegon, Mich., in company with Rouse Sim- to fi nd any traces of the boat were unavailing, so this mons, Chicago’s famous “Christmas Tree Ship.” morning her owners abandoned all hope.” Rouse Simmons turned around in the stormy seas, Thomas Hume, the lost vessel’s namesake, wrote but the Hume continued on course. It never arrived to his wife of the loss, “We don’t mind the loss of the in port. Seven men were aboard as crew, and per- boat very much, but don’t like losing the seven men on haps several paying passengers, which was unusual board her” (he did not know of Maynard and Grover). for a cargo schooner of the time. What happened to the Thomas Hume? Much speculation arose out of the disappearance. The disappearance would remain a mystery until The Thomas Hume was a sturdy, sound ship that a chance discovery on July 25, 1995. Al Olson and made many crossings of the lake in years past. The Taras Lysenko of A&T Recovery were piloting their captain and crew were experienced. What could boat, Brigantine, back and forth across the waters have happened? of Lake Michigan in search of an aircraft lost dur- The ship even is mentioned in Linda Godfrey’s ing a 1940 training mission. As part of their search Weird Michigan: Your Travel Guide to Michigan’s equipment, they were using a device known as side- Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (2006). The scan sonar, which records the shape of the lake bot- book speculates the Hume might have disappeared tom and reveals any anomalous masses that might in the “Michigan Triangle.” This mysterious area crop up. These shapes are recorded by a stylus on a spans Manitowoc, Wis., Ludington, Mich., and Ben- moving strip of paper. ton Harbor. The triangular area harbors the myste- On this day, the stylus recorded a shape they did rious legends of several ships, beginning with the not expect: the remains of a large ship with three Thomas Hume in 1891, as well as stories of strange masts. Since this was not the wreck they were seek- occurrences some claim to be a “time portal.” ing, the search team turned location information Adding to the mystery of the Hume was a message over to a group of sport divers out of Chicago headed in a bottle that washed ashore near Benton Harbor by Tom Palmisano, Bob Schmitt and Bud Brian. soon after the ship’s disappearance. The note inside After many dive seasons and much research, the was signed by Frank Maynard and Wilbur Grover. divers announced to the media they had been diving It read, “We the undersigned are passengers of the on what they believed was the wreck of the Thom- Thomas Hume. The schooner’s hold is rapidly fi lling as Hume. Videos taken during the dives revealed with water and we have no hope of escape. We are a three-masted ship standing upright on its keel, on the St. Joseph course and have been drifting for incredibly in almost intact condition. A photo mosaic of the sunken Thomas Hume by Valerie van Heest. THE September 24, 2020 Page 3 The trouble was, there was no way of identifying the wreck for sure without further research. Van DINING GUIDE Heest, as an MRSA representative, read the press release and realized how extraordinary the fi nd DDINEINE IINN oorr CCARRYOUTARRYOUT was. She contacted the Chicago divers to propose a $ joint survey. pVwŴÂÉÃúpVwwŴÂÉÃú 77.99.99 Joining the group was Lakeshore Museum Cen- ter in Muskegon, funded in part by a Michigan Hu- ##VZZŴ"Ŵ eV#VVZZZŴ"Ŵ eV#V manities Council matching grant. Thus began an exploration of the wreck, and research that led to a AŴ"V+ZAŴ"V+Z greater understanding of shipping, the lumber in- dustry on the Great lakes in the late 1800s and life aboard wooden sailing ships on Lake Michigan. R E S T A U R A N T 422 Franklin St, Michigan City, IN | 219.210-3253 www.FiddleheadMC.com DINE IN FREE• CARRY BANQUET OUT ROOM FOR PARTIES DELIVERYDINE IN • INCARRYCLU OUTDIN •G THE BEACH COMMUNITY $2 OFF X LARGE/LARGE • $1.50 OFF MEDIUM $1 OFF SMALL Mon-Thurs & Sun 11 am-10 pm • Fri-Sat 11am-11 pm 5184 S. Franklin St., Michigan City 872-3838 We Deliver to Michigan City, Westville and Beach Communities! This undated photo provided by Lakeshore Museum Center shows a ship believed to be the Thomas Hume, docked in port. Such projects always begin with extensive re- search. Van Heest, a diver and researcher, recalls that as a young student, she did not care much for history. Now, as a serious and curious student, she “just can’t get enough of it.” In Lost & Found, she recounts on Page 281, “Researchers fi nd it exciting to study history through written records. Divers fi nd it extraordinary to actually see the object of their studying person, walking the decks, so to speak, just as a crewman did more than a century prior.” Through records, van Heest discovered the his- tory of the Thomas Hume. Launched in Manitowoc on April 16, 1870, it originally was named H.C Al- brecht in honor of its master and part owner. As originally constructed, the ship had two masts. It was intended to haul grain and could carry 16,000 bushels within its broad hull. The original intent was to haul grain from Chicago to Buffalo or Cleve- land, then return to Chicago with a load of coal. The Chicago fi re of 1871 changed that plan, and lumber to rebuild that city and later to ship west for building cities of the Great Plains became the main WWATCHATCH fforor cargo. The ship changed hands three times, each WWINTERINTER SSPECIALSPECIALS time being refi tted and upgraded. The last refi t was Wed.-Thurs. open 4pm, Fri. - Sun. 11am. Follow us on Facebook for specials & live music events. in November 1883 when the ship received a third FULL MENU AVAILABLE FOR TAKE OUT mast and was rechristened the Thomas Hume, who was part owner of the shipping company at the time.