Photograph of a group of people at Raine's Spit on Hernando Island.
L to R standing: Amy and Scotty McKenzie, Calvin Campbell
Back, seated: Henry Byers, Lorne Campbell, Ruth Byers holding Elaine McKenzie, Hazel Hansen holding Lorraine Byers, Ervie McKay, Rod Griffin, Nerine Hayes
Middle seated: Flo McKay holding Judy Hansen, Gwen Cambell, Frank Hayes
Front: Mary Hayes with Bob Hayes, Sharon Herrewig
1 photograph print: b&w; 6.5 x 12 cm and 1 negative
Scope and Content
Photograph of a group of people at Raine's Spit on Hernando Island.
L to R standing: Amy and Scotty McKenzie, Calvin Campbell
Back, seated: Henry Byers, Lorne Campbell, Ruth Byers holding Elaine McKenzie, Hazel Hansen holding Lorraine Byers, Ervie McKay, Rod Griffin, Nerine Hayes
Middle seated: Flo McKay holding Judy Hansen, Gwen Cambell, Frank Hayes
Front: Mary Hayes with Bob Hayes, Sharon Herrewig
A group photograph taken in front of the white canvas house built by Walter Robertson on Hernando Island. The house was a bare framework covered by heavy Powell River canvas.
L to R, back row: Flossie (Manson) Kenny, Gwen (Manson) Campbell, Ralph Kenny
L to R, row 2: Mrs. Niven, Mrs. Jane Manson, Muriel Hurren
L to R, row 3: Audrey Kenny, Eileen Kenny, and Calvin, Minerva and Lorne Campbell
L to R, seated: Thelma Campbell, Dorothy Manson, Bill Niven and Ralph Kenny Jr.
A group photograph taken in front of the white canvas house built by Walter Robertson on Hernando Island. The house was a bare framework covered by heavy Powell River canvas.
L to R, back row: Flossie (Manson) Kenny, Gwen (Manson) Campbell, Ralph Kenny
L to R, row 2: Mrs. Niven, Mrs. Jane Manson, Muriel Hurren
L to R, row 3: Audrey Kenny, Eileen Kenny, and Calvin, Minerva and Lorne Campbell
L to R, seated: Thelma Campbell, Dorothy Manson, Bill Niven and Ralph Kenny Jr.
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
A group of people on the beach at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. Twin Islands can be seen in the background.
Back row, L to R: Mr. Niven, Jim Niven, Dick Parker, Jean Manson, Mrs. Niven
Front row, L to R: Muriel Hurreen, Thelma Campbell, Audrey and Eileen Kenny, Minerva and Lorne Campbell, Dorothy Manson
A group of people on the beach at Stag Bay, Hernando Island. Twin Islands can be seen in the background.
Back row, L to R: Mr. Niven, Jim Niven, Dick Parker, Jean Manson, Mrs. Niven
Front row, L to R: Muriel Hurreen, Thelma Campbell, Audrey and Eileen Kenny, Minerva and Lorne Campbell, Dorothy Manson
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.
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.
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