“Oak Leaf anchor has history” from the September 8, 1966 Door County Advocate
By Frances Badtke
THE ANCHOR from the three masted schooner the Oak Leaf has been raised from the depths of Green Bay by Sturgeon Bay divers led by Francis Felhofer and presented to the Door County Historical Society for display at Eagle Lighthouse. Shown above is the large memento of sailing in the first half of the century. —Hagedorn
Oak Leaf anchor has history
By FRANCES BADTKE
Attracting much attention this summer in front of the Eagle Lighthouse in Peninsula State Park has been the large anchor which came from the schooner Oak Leaf.
This boat once plied the waters of Green Bay and the anchor that once was wet with spray from its many journeys past the lighthouse now must be content with the cool dew of early morning In Door county.
The anchor has proven to be a very interesting addition to the Eagle Bluff grounds and attracts the attention of all visitors to the Lighthouse restoration project. A bronze tablet is now being prepared to give the history of the anchor and will be attached to the base of the concrete foundation on which the anchor now rests.
Several years ago a group of skin divers from Door county recovered the anchor and it was given to the Door County Historical Society which maintains the building and furnishing of the old lighthouse.
The divers were under the direction of Francis Felhofer, Sturgeon Bay, and the Society is grateful to them for donating this historical item. It is especially fitting to have the anchor at Eagle Bluff since a marine museum has been planned for the basement of the lighthouse.
In spring of 1966 the Historical Society obtained the services of James Byrnes, a marine architect, who drew plans for the concrete base on which the anchor now rests. The base is an exact scale model of the prow of the Oak Leaf.
The work of building the base and footings was done by Gus Ferm of Sister Bay, an experienced concrete contractor. Elmer Daubner is curator at Eagle Lighthouse and as a retired sailor is well versed in marine history.
Those who view the anchor will be interested in learning a little more about the schooner from which it was retrieved and the following condensed history of the sturdy schooner was taken from Volume Two of Ships and Shipwrecks in Door County, written by the late Arthur C. and his wife, Lucy F. Frederickson. Copies of this book are available at the Advocate office.
The Oak Leaf was a three-masted schooner built at the shipyards of E. M. Peck in Cleveland, Ohio. She was launched April 14, 1866 and was 160 ft. long with a 31 ft. beam. The Oak Leaf was capable of carrying 375 tons of cargo.
Capt. Henry Kelly of Lorain, Ohio, added the schooner to his famous fleet of ships and she put in many years of service on the Great Lakes.
Under the command of Capt. Hugh Morrison, a one-armed skipper from Cleveland, the Oak Leaf did her early trading on ports of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. A crew of from six to eight men was her usual staff.
In later years the Oak Leaf often met another schooner with the same name. This second ship was smaller, only having two masts and being 86 feet long. The second Oak Leaf was built in 1895 at Gibraltar, Mich., and was lost at sea in 1910.
In addition to their name the two schooners also had in common the type of cargo they carried. Both hauled lumber and general cargo.
The Oak Leaf was well built and throughout her 62 year career her troubles and problems were minor. The Oak Leaf had many owners and changed hands a number of times. Her home ports included Milwaukee and Chicago during this transitional period.
In 1918 she was converted to a tow barge and used for hauling stone for the Sturgeon Bay Stone Co. fleet. Two or three crewmen were able to handle the barge and it was usually towed by the steamer L. N. Foster, also owned by the Sturgeon Bay Stone Co.
However, her useful years ended in 1928, and with her tow-mates, the Ida Corning and the Empire State, the Oak Leaf was laid to rest at the old quarry dock on the Sawyer side of Sturgeon Bay. Part of the hull is still visible at low water.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
[Bullhead Point is the new site for displaying the anchor: https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/local/door-co/2024/07/11/anchor-from-historic-door-county-shipwreck-moves-back-to-sturgeon-bay/74346871007/
The Wisconsin Shipwrecks entry on the Oak Leaf (1866): https://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/vessel/Details/471 ]
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