"Logging, 1903-1949":
The album contains reminiscences of Frank Gallinger's logging camp; a photograph of old-growth trees; logging camps (various locations) and group photos; photographs of hand logging with the use of springboards and logging with steam donkeys, tractors, power saws and horses (on the John Manson property); photographs of log booms (various locations), logging on Quadra and "haywire" logging on Hernando Island; and a newspaper clipping about horse logging (1984).
"Logging, 1903-1949":
The album contains reminiscences of Frank Gallinger's logging camp; a photograph of old-growth trees; logging camps (various locations) and group photos; photographs of hand logging with the use of springboards and logging with steam donkeys, tractors, power saws and horses (on the John Manson property); photographs of log booms (various locations), logging on Quadra and "haywire" logging on Hernando Island; and a newspaper clipping about horse logging (1984).
Series consists of nine albums (binders) holding 554 photographs of Cortes Island and nearby islands, including Twin Islands and Hernando Island, with accompanying descriptions and with 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. The majority of the photographs are copies, as indicated by the numbers assigned to them by the Campbell River Museum & Archives. There are 72 original photographs in the albums.
Nine photograph albums (binders) holding 554 photographs with accompanying descriptions.
Custodial History
May Ellingsen put this collection together in the mid 1980s. She collected hundreds of old photographs from 30 donor families which were then copied and catalogued by the Campbell River Museum in 1985, with funding from the Canada Council and Canada Works. (see "Musings", a publication of the CR Museum & Archives Society, Vol. IV #1, March 1985) The Campbell River Museum made negatives and two copies of the photographs; the originals were then returned to the donor families. One copy of each photo was given to May, who arranged them in albums and added her commentary. She continued to add to the albums through the 1990s, adding 72 original photographs and more descriptions. She kept the albums in the library in the Manson's Hall and then in the Cortes Museum when it opened in 1999. The albums were officially donated to CIMAS in 2004.
Scope and Content
Series consists of nine albums (binders) holding 554 photographs of Cortes Island and nearby islands, including Twin Islands and Hernando Island, with accompanying descriptions and with 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. The majority of the photographs are copies, as indicated by the numbers assigned to them by the Campbell River Museum & Archives. There are 72 original photographs in the albums.
Item level finding aid is available for the 72 original photographs.
Copyright
The Campbell River Archives has negatives for the copied photographs in the Collection and makes prints on request for a charge according to their policy and according to the wishes of the donors. Donor/source cards were filled out by each family donating photographs and include restrictions on use in some cases. They are on file at the Campbell River Archives.
CIMAS holds the copyright on the 72 original photographs in these albums.
These photographs depict people ((Needs ID) and houses in Whaletown Bay, to the west of the present-day ferry landing. They are labelled "Whaletown B.C., my Dad's place".
2 loose pages from a photograph album containing 15 black and white photographs
History / Biographical
(Obituary from the Powell River Peak: http://www.prpeak.com/articles/2012/12/04/community/obituaries/doc50b6568a6c710870190038.txt)
Annabelle Jane Smith (née Graham), April 10, 1940 – November 19, 2012
Annabelle passed away in Quesnel, BC. She is survived by her daughters Darlene (Dan) Johnson and Paulene Smith, and two granddaughters Brittney and Brooke. She also leaves behind her sisters Penny (Harold) Tuck, Bonnie Skoropad, and Marilyn (Jim) Schmor, brother Robert and many nieces and nephews.
Custodial History
These photographs were mailed to CIMAS in 2008. There is no signed donation form.
Scope and Content
These photographs depict people ((Needs ID) and houses in Whaletown Bay, to the west of the present-day ferry landing. They are labelled "Whaletown B.C., my Dad's place".
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.
Photograph of the Union steamship "Chelohsin" alongside Manson's wharf. The photograph is taken from down on the floats; there is a local fish boat tied in front of the Chelohsin, and the ramp and freight shed are visible to the left.
Photograph of the Union steamship "Chelohsin" alongside Manson's wharf. The photograph is taken from down on the floats; there is a local fish boat tied in front of the Chelohsin, and the ramp and freight shed are visible to the left.
Fonds consists of photographs of the Gorge Harbour Lodge and Lodge activities, the Corneille and Ballantyne families, and Gladys Ballantyne's house, Gypsy Hill.
Bobby (Elizabeth) Corneille Ballantyne (1914-2009) was born in Vancouver and moved to Cortes Island as a young child. She was 4 years old when her father died suddenly on Marina Island in 1919; she remembers that they had to wait 3 days for a Union Steamship to get the body. Her mother Tena (Sarah Christena) Corneille (1877-1949) bought a tourist lodge at the east end of Gorge Harbour in 1929, and ran it until 1936 with the help of her two teen-age daughters. Gorge Harbour Lodge offered accommodations in the main building or in tents, tennis and badminton courts, and excellent boating, bathing and fishing. Vacationers came up from Vancouver on the Union Steamships for a round-trip ticket price of $6.65. The annual Regatta was the main social event of the season, with people arriving by boat from Cortes and the surrounding islands. It featured boat and swimming races, and a dance in the evening.
Gladys Georgeson Ballantyne (1882-1964), first came to Cortes in about 1910. In about 1920 she bought a property in Whaletown (now 640 Whaletown Rd.) that she called "Gypsy Hill". She was one of the original members of the Whaletown Friendly Circle, later the Whaletown Women's Institute. Gladys, her son Bill, daughter Valerie and her fiance were all on Cortes building a summer cottage when the Depression suddenly hit. Their off-island jobs fell through, and they remained at "Gypsy Hill" for the duration.
Bill Ballantyne (1908-1993) was in the Merchant Marine from 1924-1929. When he was unable to find work on ships during the Depression, he took whatever jobs he could find hand-logging and fishing. Bill and Bobby Corneille were married in 1937. They and other young Whaletown residents formed the Gorge Harbour Dramatic Society to help raise funds to build a community hall, and Bill was the work boss of the building crew for the Gorge Hall. In 1941 they moved to Victoria, and after the war settled in Courtenay with their two sons Peter and Ross. In the late 1950s they returned to Whaletown on Cortes Island where they fished for many years on the gulf troller “Viking”. During that time many young “deckhands” spent time aboard during summer vacations. On retirement, Campbell River became their home.
Custodial History
Electronic records were downloaded in 2012 from an internet address provided by Peter Ballantyne. One photograph was scanned from a photograph temporarily loaned by John and De Clarke.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs of the Gorge Harbour Lodge and Lodge activities, the Corneille and Ballantyne families, and Gladys Ballantyne's house, Gypsy Hill.
Fonds consists of sixty prints and slides dating from 1951 to 1971. It includes scenes of of Cortes Island school students, logging, and the Union Steamship. Most photographs are from the Whaletown area. There are 16 slides of a logging camp at the Quatam River in Ramsey Arm, BC.
The Maclean family (parents Don and Doris, and children Janice, Heather and Ian) lived in Whaletown from 1961 to 1973.
Don Maclean's parents, John and Edna Maclean, lived for many years in Edmonton, Alberta. When their son came home from the war they bought property near Coulter Bay and moved to Cortes Island. Don Maclean became a fisherman, eventually living on his fishing boat.
Doris Lancaster Maclean was born and raised in Victoria, B.C. In the late 1940s she answered a call from the Anglican Church to come and do Vacation Bible School with the Columbia Coast Mission on Cortes and nearby islands.
Doris and Don married in 1954. They moved to Cortes Island in 1961 when Don was hired to operate the Columbia Coast Mission boat, the "Alan Greene". They lived in the Mission house in Whaletown, next to the church. Don Maclean acted as a Lay Reader for the Columbia Coast Mission in the 1960s when no clergymen were available, holding services in the three Anglican churches on the island.
In 1967 the Diocese sold the "Alan Greene" and the Macleans were required to move out of the mission house. Maclean built a house on the beach of what used to be called Jardine’s property, although by this time it was owned by a cousin of Doris Maclean. He was hired as the Industrial First Aid man on site for the building of the Whaletown Ferry dock and after that worked as a clam digger.
The Maclean family left Cortes in 1973 and moved to Regina, SK. The house that Don built was rented for a couple of years and then sold and moved to a new location; it burned down a few years later.
Custodial History
Twenty-seven photographs and 15 slides were mailed to CIMAS by Janice Maclean Kerr in 2019; two more photos were mailed in Apr. 2021; 16 slides were mailed in Sept. 2021
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of sixty prints and slides dating from 1951 to 1971. It includes scenes of of Cortes Island school students, logging, and the Union Steamship. Most photographs are from the Whaletown area. There are 16 slides of a logging camp at the Quatam River in Ramsey Arm, BC.
Fonds consists of ten photographs (nine black and white; 1 coloured) depicting members of the extended Byers/ Manson families, logging at Seaford and Von Donop Inlet, and the Union Steamship Chelohsin.
Henry and Ruth Byers, Ervin and Florence (Manson) McKay, Clarence and Etta (McKay) Byers, Ken and Hazel (McKay) Hansen, Scotty and Amy (Byers) McKenzie moved to Von Donop Inlet in 1939, where they ran a logging operation.
Custodial History
Found in Information Files folder (Byers family), August 1, 2020 and transferred to Archives.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of ten photographs (nine black and white; 1 coloured) depicting members of the extended Byers/ Manson families, logging at Seaford and Von Donop Inlet, and the Union Steamship Chelohsin.
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).
Recording is an oral history interview of May Ellingsen by Oonagh O'Connor. May traces her family history and then talks about her childhood on Cortes and Hernando Islands; meeting and marrying Elmer; living in a float house at logging camps in Loughborough Inlet, Phillips Arm and Von Donop Inlet; and moving the house to Hague Lake in 1952. There is a short summary of the interview, written by May Ellingsen, in the cassette case.
Recording is an oral history interview of May Ellingsen by Oonagh O'Connor. May traces her family history and then talks about her childhood on Cortes and Hernando Islands; meeting and marrying Elmer; living in a float house at logging camps in Loughborough Inlet, Phillips Arm and Von Donop Inlet; and moving the house to Hague Lake in 1952. There is a short summary of the interview, written by May Ellingsen, in the cassette case.
Recording is an oral history interview of May and Elmer Ellingsen by Oonagh O'Connor. Topics covered include how Elmer came to the island and met May; logging experiences; Cortes roads and telephone system; and living at Von Donop Inlet. Several humorous stories are related. There is a short summary of the interview, written by May Ellingsen, in the cassette case.
Recording is an oral history interview of May and Elmer Ellingsen by Oonagh O'Connor. Topics covered include how Elmer came to the island and met May; logging experiences; Cortes roads and telephone system; and living at Von Donop Inlet. Several humorous stories are related. There is a short summary of the interview, written by May Ellingsen, in the cassette case.
Fonds comprises material created or collected by Wilfred (Wilf) Freeman in the course of his work as a logger and during his community activities. It includes correspondence, logging records, maps, minutes of committee meetings, financial records, ephemera and clippings. It is arranged in four series: Logging; Centennial Committee; Ephemera; and Cortez Grapevine Telephone Association.
Wilfred (Wilf) Michael Freeman was born October 21, 1917 in Vancouver B.C. and died December 23, 2012. He was the son of William George Freeman and Robina Steel (Manson) Freeman and brother to Elizabeth Jane May (Freeman) Ellingsen (born March 13, 1914). His grandparents were Michael and Jane Manson. Wilf grew up on Hernando Island until 1926 when the family moved to Vancouver. One of his first jobs in the early 1930s was in Powell River where, among other things, he was hand digging basements under some of the original Powell River townsite homes.
He gravitated to the logging industry, working for Sigurd Ellingsen and Eric Flescher in Phillips Arm through the late ’30’s and into the 1950’s. He was an excellent worker; strong, resourceful, thoughtful, humorous and thorough, and, as well, he enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Wilf and his wife, May (Spence; died 1970) moved down to Smelt Bay on Cortes in the early 1950s from Phillips Arm. He logged with Bill Mathews between 1954 and 1965 in the Von Donop Creek areas. As well, they both crewed on the seine boat “Courtenay Maid” with Pat Andrews for a few summers.
When the ferry came to Cortes Island, both Wilf and Bill worked as deckhands, always cheerful and busy throughout the trips, often chipping and repainting rust spots on the ship.
Wilf was active in many community affairs over all the years living on Cortes: among them the Ratepayers Association, the 1958 Centennial Committee, the Cortes Grapevine Telephone Assoc. (a local telephone system, 1959 - 1966), Cortes Days summer celebrations, Cortes Island Firefighters Assoc., Cortes Rod and Gun Club.
Wilf and his second wife, Nora, lived on in Smelt Bay until they moved to Willow Point, South of Campbell River, in 2002. There they lived until, on December 23, 2102, he passed away while shovelling snow in their back yard.
Custodial History
Accession 2001.001 was donated to CIMAS by Wilfred Freeman on June 16, 2001. Accession 2002.002 was gathered at Wilf Freeman's garage sale by Bonnie MacDonald and donated to the museum in June of 2002. Accession 2017.006 was donated to CIMAS by Bruce Ellingsen, Freeman's nephew, in July of 2017.
Scope and Content
Fonds comprises material created or collected by Wilfred (Wilf) Freeman in the course of his work as a logger and during his community activities. It includes correspondence, logging records, maps, minutes of committee meetings, financial records, ephemera and clippings. It is arranged in four series: Logging; Centennial Committee; Ephemera; and Cortez Grapevine Telephone Association.
