Fonds consists of the personal, business and research records of May and Elmer Ellingsen. Textual records include personal and business correspondence; financial and legal records; information about local history; records and newsletters of various community organizations; records created by John Manson and by the St. James Ladies' Guild; maps; ephemera; and clippings about Cortes Island people and events. Fonds also includes photographs of the Manson family and other island people and places, and cassette tapes of oral history and music.
Fonds is arranged in 14 series: Correspondence; Financial records; Elmer Ellingsen records (business and personal); May Ellingsen personal records; Local history subject files; John Manson records; St. James Ladies' Guild records; Community organizations and services records; Cortes Island Museum & Archives Society records; Maps; Ephemera; Clippings; Photographs and Audio tapes.
Records from Accessions 2017.003 and 2019.002, which were processed after the other material had been arranged, have been interfiled.
3 meters of textual records
726 photographs
21 audio cassette tapes
Extent
252 cm
History / Biographical
Elmer Ellingsen (1913-2002) was born in North Vancouver to Sigurd and Gladys Ellingsen. After graduating from high school, he took a short course in business at Sprott Shaw College. In the early 1930s Elmer worked in logging and became a strong supporter of the trade union movement. He also had classical piano training in school, later turning to popular music; he played for many dances and parties until well into his eighties.
May Ellingsen (1914-2012) was born in Vancouver to George and Robina Freeman. Her maternal grandfather, Michael Manson, was the first person to pre-empt land on Cortes Island, in 1886. May grew up on Cortes and Hernando Islands until grade six, then moved to Vancouver with her family to finish her schooling.
May and Elmer met on Cortes in 1935 and were married on August 1, 1936. They built a float house and spent the next ten years in the Loughborough Inlet/Phillips Arm area where Elmer worked in his father's logging operations. While there, their children Shirley (1939), Bruce (1940) and Andy (1941) were born. In 1946 they moved to Von Donop Creek, where Elmer formed a logging partnership with Mike Herrewig and Scotty McKenzie. In 1950, he formed a new partnership with Erne Anderson for logging in the Whaletown area, and moved the floathouse to Manson's Landing lagoon. Two years later their floathouse was moved to its present location on Hague Lake.
After travelling from home to various logging operations, Elmer retired from logging. He bought a D8 Caterpillar tractor, backhoe and gravel truck and worked for the next forty years excavating, delivering gravel and moving things. He often worked with BC Hydro and BC Tel on pole installation, repair and maintenance.
Both Elmer and May were very active in community life. They sponsored weekly movie nights through the 1950s and square dancing in the sixties. May's many involvements included the Ladies' Guild, Women's Institute, Ratepayers Association, Post Office, Vancouver Regional Library development and Cortes Island Days. Elmer was a leading promoter of bringing ferry and hydro service to the island; he helped renovate Manson's Hall in the late 1970s, lobbied for road paving and helped initiate the Cortes Island Firefighters Assoc. in the 1980s. Both were founding members of the Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society.
Custodial History
Records were collected from the home of May and Elmer Ellingsen by Andy and Susan Ellingsen and by Bruce Ellingsen and donated to CIMAS. There are eight accessions in this fonds: 2007.001, 2007.002, 2007.003, 2007.005, 2008.002 and 2010.001, 2018.002 and 2019.002.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of the personal, business and research records of May and Elmer Ellingsen. Textual records include personal and business correspondence; financial and legal records; information about local history; records and newsletters of various community organizations; records created by John Manson and by the St. James Ladies' Guild; maps; ephemera; and clippings about Cortes Island people and events. Fonds also includes photographs of the Manson family and other island people and places, and cassette tapes of oral history and music.
Fonds is arranged in 14 series: Correspondence; Financial records; Elmer Ellingsen records (business and personal); May Ellingsen personal records; Local history subject files; John Manson records; St. James Ladies' Guild records; Community organizations and services records; Cortes Island Museum & Archives Society records; Maps; Ephemera; Clippings; Photographs and Audio tapes.
Records from Accessions 2017.003 and 2019.002, which were processed after the other material had been arranged, have been interfiled.
This photograph was taken at Stag Bay near the Dick Parker logging camp buildings. The Mansons had raised some Bronze turkeys but had found it commercially unprofitable. These were some of the breeding birds. The gobbler, on the right, weighed 42 pounds. Here, May Freeman, L, Aunt Agnes (Jean Manson's aunt), and Wilfred Manson Jr. are feeding them. There is one White Holland turkey amongst them.
This photograph was taken at Stag Bay near the Dick Parker logging camp buildings. The Mansons had raised some Bronze turkeys but had found it commercially unprofitable. These were some of the breeding birds. The gobbler, on the right, weighed 42 pounds. Here, May Freeman, L, Aunt Agnes (Jean Manson's aunt), and Wilfred Manson Jr. are feeding them. There is one White Holland turkey amongst them.
Fonds consists of 49 original photographs from the Michael Manson family, mostly from the early 20th century (1898-1928). The photographs depict the Manson family, logging and farming on Hernando and Cortes Islands, Michael and Jane Manson's Golden Wedding anniversary, and Florence McKay's 90th birthday celebration. The photographs were originally in an album with handwritten captions along with newspaper articles about Michael Manson, Jane Manson and Florence McKay.
Florence Manson McKay was born Jan. 21, 1900 to Michael and Jane Manson. Michael Manson was the first person to pre-empt land on Cortes Island, a quarter section on Gunflint Lake (present-day Linnaea Farm). Florence married Ervin McKay in 1918. They moved to Hernando Island in 1921 and Ervin worked with extended family members logging there and on Cortes Island. Florence and Ervin had two children: Etta (b. 1918) and Hazel (b. 1920). In 1929 the McKays took over Michael Manson's original pre-emption on Gunflint Lake, where they farmed until retiring in 1950. They moved to Courtenay, turning the farm over to daughter Hazel and her husband Ken Hansen. Florence was widowed in 1978 and returned to Cortes to live with Ken and Hazel, who had sold the farm but kept 16 acres to live on. Florence passed away in 1995.
Custodial History
Florence McKay gathered the photographs and her daughter, Hazel Hansen, compiled the album and wrote the captions. The album was donated to CIMAS by Hazel's son, Albert Hansen, in 2004.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of 49 original photographs from the Michael Manson family, mostly from the early 20th century (1898-1928). The photographs depict the Manson family, logging and farming on Hernando and Cortes Islands, Michael and Jane Manson's Golden Wedding anniversary, and Florence McKay's 90th birthday celebration. The photographs were originally in an album with handwritten captions along with newspaper articles about Michael Manson, Jane Manson and Florence McKay.
This collection consists of ten photograph albums (binders) compiled and annotated by May Ellingsen. The albums contain both original and reproduced photographs of Cortes Island and nearby islands, including Twin Islands and Hernando Island. They are accompanied by captions and additional textual information such as pre-emption records, reminiscences and newspaper clippings. Most of the photographs date from the early decades of the 20th century, depicting homes and buildings, pioneer families, community activities, schools, wharves, boats, logging and marine activity. Fonds consists of two series: Series 1 (The May Ellingsen Historic Photograph Collection, Vol. 1-9, Accession 2004.003) and Series 2 (The Manson Family Album, Accession 2004.002).
Ten photograph albums (binders) containing 152 original photographs and 482 reproductions.
History / Biographical
May Ellingsen was born on March 13, 1914 to George and Robina Freeman. Her maternal grandfather, Michael Manson, was the first person to pre-empt land on Cortes Island, claiming a quarter section on Gunflint Lake in 1886. May spent her childhood on Hernando Island, where her family homesteaded and logged, and on Cortes Island, where she attended the log school at Manson's Landing.
In 1936 May married Elmer Ellingsen. They spent the next ten years in the Loughborough Inlet/Phillips Arm area while Elmer worked for his father's logging operations. During those years their children, Shirley, Bruce and Andy, were born. In 1946 the family moved to Von Donop Creek, where Elmer was logging. In 1950 they moved their float house, built at the time of their marriage, to Manson's Landing Lagoon and two years later, to its present permanent location on Hague Lake.
May and Elmer devoted much time and energy to building their community. Amongst her many community activities, May ran the library at Manson's Hall. She had a strong interest in local history, researching the history of land pre-emptions on the island, collecting and annotating photographs from pioneer families and recording interviews with old timers. She was a founder of the Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society; the archives reading room is named in her honor. Historical materials and artifacts gathered by May formed the kernel of the museum's collections and archives.
Custodial History
May Ellingsen created the albums in the 1980s, and kept adding to them throughout the 1990s. She kept them at the Manson's Landing library and then at the museum from 1999. She officially donated them to CIMAS in 2004.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of ten photograph albums (binders) compiled and annotated by May Ellingsen. The albums contain both original and reproduced photographs of Cortes Island and nearby islands, including Twin Islands and Hernando Island. They are accompanied by captions and additional textual information such as pre-emption records, reminiscences and newspaper clippings. Most of the photographs date from the early decades of the 20th century, depicting homes and buildings, pioneer families, community activities, schools, wharves, boats, logging and marine activity. Fonds consists of two series: Series 1 (The May Ellingsen Historic Photograph Collection, Vol. 1-9, Accession 2004.003) and Series 2 (The Manson Family Album, Accession 2004.002).
May and Wilfred Freeman on the beach near the Hidalgo Point end of Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The building at the left end of the fence was known as the Rorison house. In 1915-16 a fisherman named Bisnet lived there and in 1917 the Mike Manson family moved in. The fence had been built earlier and protected some fruit trees.
May and Wilfred Freeman on the beach near the Hidalgo Point end of Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The building at the left end of the fence was known as the Rorison house. In 1915-16 a fisherman named Bisnet lived there and in 1917 the Mike Manson family moved in. The fence had been built earlier and protected some fruit trees.
Wilfred and Jean Manson's home at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The house is under construction with scaffolding still up, but is nearing completion. The old logging pier can be seen in the background to the left and closer, one of the sheds belonging to the logging camp.
Wilfred and Jean Manson's home at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The house is under construction with scaffolding still up, but is nearing completion. The old logging pier can be seen in the background to the left and closer, one of the sheds belonging to the logging camp.
Donkey logging at Haywire Point, Hernando Island.
Wilfred Manson, with cousins Nicol Manson and Jack Manson and brother-in-law Ervin McKay, standing in front of a steam donkey. Photograph has a diagonal crease. Other copies of this photograph are 2007.001.123; Campbell River Museum #13642, and and on p.32 of May Ellingsen Historic Photograph Collection, Album 5, p. 32 (fonds 2004.002).
Donkey logging at Haywire Point, Hernando Island.
Wilfred Manson, with cousins Nicol Manson and Jack Manson and brother-in-law Ervin McKay, standing in front of a steam donkey. Photograph has a diagonal crease. Other copies of this photograph are 2007.001.123; Campbell River Museum #13642, and and on p.32 of May Ellingsen Historic Photograph Collection, Album 5, p. 32 (fonds 2004.002).
Wilfred Manson holding his daughter Dorothy at Stag Bay on the beach at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The old building in the background is located directly downhill from the George Freeman home. While the Campbell River Lumber Company was logging, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Robertson lived there. They owned an English bulldog who sired 'Brindle', the dog in the picture.
Wilfred Manson holding his daughter Dorothy at Stag Bay on the beach at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The old building in the background is located directly downhill from the George Freeman home. While the Campbell River Lumber Company was logging, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Robertson lived there. They owned an English bulldog who sired 'Brindle', the dog in the picture.
Wilfred and Jean Manson's nearly completed home at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The former logging camp cookhouse can be seen to the left. At this time it was used as a storage building for hay.
Wilfred and Jean Manson's nearly completed home at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The former logging camp cookhouse can be seen to the left. At this time it was used as a storage building for hay.
Ruth Clark and Jean Robinson (nieces of Margaret Trenanan) and Wilfred Manson seated in an old car, with Jean Manson sitting on the running board. The former cookhouse of the Stag Bay, Hernando Island logging camp is in the right background. To the left are the storage shed, former camp manager's home and commissary building, part of which has been made into a garage for the car.
Jean Robinson was born in the Yukon in the house that Robert Service lived in when he wrote "The Trail of '98".
Ruth Clark and Jean Robinson (nieces of Margaret Trenanan) and Wilfred Manson seated in an old car, with Jean Manson sitting on the running board. The former cookhouse of the Stag Bay, Hernando Island logging camp is in the right background. To the left are the storage shed, former camp manager's home and commissary building, part of which has been made into a garage for the car.
Jean Robinson was born in the Yukon in the house that Robert Service lived in when he wrote "The Trail of '98".
Photograph of a white house with rock-walled terraces to its right. This was Amy and Scotty McKenzie's float house, moved from Von Donop Inlet in 1951. Amy was daughter of Ruth and Henry Byers, who lived in the “Grey House” west of the ferry landing. (The "Grey House" was later moved to Squirrel Cove next to the Store.) The McKenzie house was between the Grey House and the ferry landing; it was torn down ca. 1974. The terraces may still be seen in the small park next to the ferry landing.
Photograph of a white house with rock-walled terraces to its right. This was Amy and Scotty McKenzie's float house, moved from Von Donop Inlet in 1951. Amy was daughter of Ruth and Henry Byers, who lived in the “Grey House” west of the ferry landing. (The "Grey House" was later moved to Squirrel Cove next to the Store.) The McKenzie house was between the Grey House and the ferry landing; it was torn down ca. 1974. The terraces may still be seen in the small park next to the ferry landing.
Fonds contains nine photographs depicting members of the Gibson and Palmer families who lived in Squirrel Cove; one large map (6 x 3 feet) showing the preemptions and homesteads of early Cortes settlers; and an account written by Etta (McKay) Byers of her Christmas in 1927.
9 photographs : b&w
1 map : 188 x 92 cm
5 pages of textual records
History / Biographical
Donald Palmer went to school on Cortes Island in the 1960s. His father, James Palmer, was born in 1927 to Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Cliff Palmer, who lived on the homestead of Lizzie's parents, Agnes and James Gibson, in Squirrel Cove. Their large property was on the uphill side of the road across from Tork Road.
Custodial History
Donated to CIMAS in July, 2020, by Donald Palmer
Scope and Content
Fonds contains nine photographs depicting members of the Gibson and Palmer families who lived in Squirrel Cove; one large map (6 x 3 feet) showing the preemptions and homesteads of early Cortes settlers; and an account written by Etta (McKay) Byers of her Christmas in 1927.
Jean Manson with the reins and Wilfred Manson handling the plough preparing the Big Meadow field on Hernando Island either for planting potatoes or for seeding oat hay which would, when cut, be stored in the Big Meadow barn.
Jean Manson with the reins and Wilfred Manson handling the plough preparing the Big Meadow field on Hernando Island either for planting potatoes or for seeding oat hay which would, when cut, be stored in the Big Meadow barn.
Fonds consists of two photograph albums containing 479 black and white photographs with captions, dating from 1916 to 1927. Most of the photographs depict family, friends and scenes from Cortes Island, especially the area known as Green Valley; some photographs show school friends and family from Vancouver and Saskatchewan. Titles in quotation marks are Dorothy Huck's photograph captions. Other information used in photograph descriptions comes from the "Green Valley", "Carrington Bay/Coulter Bay" and "Whaletown to 1930" albums created for CIMAS in 1999 by Doreen Huck Thompson, a grand-niece of Dorothy Huck. Unless otherwise noted, the location of all photos is Cortes Island.
Dorothy Mary Huck Whalley (June 30, 1904 - Nov. 17, 1983) was the oldest of five children born to Mabel Wells Huck and William Edward Huck. Her siblings were Wilfred Harold (Harry), John Edward (Jack), Margaret Ethel and William Frances (Billie). Shortly after the Huck family arrived on Cortes in 1915, William E. Huck enlisted in the Army. He was killed in France in 1916, leaving Mabel with five children to bring up on her own. Her brother, Harold John (Jack) Wells was invalided home from World War I in 1917 and moved to Cortes, where he boarded with Mabel.
The Huck homestead, referred to as Hell's Half Acre or Billy Goat Hill, was in the NE 1/4 of Section 40, in Green Valley, the area around what is now known as Blue Jay Lake. Neighbours included the Barrett, Middleton, Tait and Tiber families. Dorothy was sent to Vancouver for schooling, and then returned to Cortes to attend the new Squirrel Cove school in 1916. In 1920 the Huck family moved to the Robertson property, Burnside, in Whaletown. Dorothy, having outgrown the local school system, went to Moose Jaw, Sk. where she finished high school and then attended a secretarial school run by her aunt and uncle. She married Joe Whalley and lived in Saskatchewan for many years before returning to live in Vancouver and White Rock. Dorothy died in White Rock on Nov. 17, 1983.
Custodial History
The albums were created by Dorothy Huck Whalley and given to her daughter Dorothy Whalley Livingstone. Dorothy Livingstone passed the albums on to her cousin, Karen Lee (daughter of Margaret Huck Mann), who donated them to the Cortes Island Museum & Archives Society.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of two photograph albums containing 479 black and white photographs with captions, dating from 1916 to 1927. Most of the photographs depict family, friends and scenes from Cortes Island, especially the area known as Green Valley; some photographs show school friends and family from Vancouver and Saskatchewan. Titles in quotation marks are Dorothy Huck's photograph captions. Other information used in photograph descriptions comes from the "Green Valley", "Carrington Bay/Coulter Bay" and "Whaletown to 1930" albums created for CIMAS in 1999 by Doreen Huck Thompson, a grand-niece of Dorothy Huck. Unless otherwise noted, the location of all photos is Cortes Island.
Geographic Access
Cortes Island
Squirrel Cove
Carrington Bay
Saskatchewan
Related Material
"Green Valley", "Carrington Bay/Coulter Bay" and "Whaletown to 1930" albums created by Doreen Huck Thompson.
Wilfred Manson mowing hay in a Stag Bay field with daughter Dorothy on his knee. The horse was called 'Major Whiskers' because he had a walrus mustache on his lip. Note the former cookhouse, now used as a barn. It has been moved across the field from an earlier location. The roof of a very old barn shows through the trees just above the horse's neck.
Wilfred Manson mowing hay in a Stag Bay field with daughter Dorothy on his knee. The horse was called 'Major Whiskers' because he had a walrus mustache on his lip. Note the former cookhouse, now used as a barn. It has been moved across the field from an earlier location. The roof of a very old barn shows through the trees just above the horse's neck.
This is the former Wilfred and Jean Manson home at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The photograph was taken by Buster and Mabel Christensen when Buster was working for the new owners after Hernando Island passed from the ownership of the Manson family.
This photograph was donated to May Ellingsen by Buster and Mabel Christensen.
Scope and Content
This is the former Wilfred and Jean Manson home at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. The photograph was taken by Buster and Mabel Christensen when Buster was working for the new owners after Hernando Island passed from the ownership of the Manson family.
Summer visitors to Stag Bay, Manson relatives, seated on the steps of Wilfred and Jean Manson's home.
On the left, top to bottom: Mr. Lammie, Isabella and Mary Jane Lammie, Mrs. Liz (Percy) Renwick and son
Behind the dog 'Ruff', Mrs. Lammie, Mrs. Neen, Tom Renwick, Mike Manson
On the right: John Renwick, Mrs. Jean (Wilfred) Manson
Summer visitors to Stag Bay, Manson relatives, seated on the steps of Wilfred and Jean Manson's home.
On the left, top to bottom: Mr. Lammie, Isabella and Mary Jane Lammie, Mrs. Liz (Percy) Renwick and son
Behind the dog 'Ruff', Mrs. Lammie, Mrs. Neen, Tom Renwick, Mike Manson
On the right: John Renwick, Mrs. Jean (Wilfred) Manson
