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.
Notes about Reverend Rollo Boas and Kathleen (Kay) Boas, undated (1940s?); scanned photographs: Boas family, 1946 and Squirrel Cove Church burning, 1948; excerpt from The Columbia is Coming mentioning rev Boas, 1982; Posts in WNE by Rollo Boas, 1990; CIMAS News Release "A Woman's Perspective of Life on the Missionary Ships," 2000; posts in Cortes Marketer about Kathleen Boas, 2006, 2007 (obituary); notes on Boas family by Lynne Jordan, 2012
Notes about Reverend Rollo Boas and Kathleen (Kay) Boas, undated (1940s?); scanned photographs: Boas family, 1946 and Squirrel Cove Church burning, 1948; excerpt from The Columbia is Coming mentioning rev Boas, 1982; Posts in WNE by Rollo Boas, 1990; CIMAS News Release "A Woman's Perspective of Life on the Missionary Ships," 2000; posts in Cortes Marketer about Kathleen Boas, 2006, 2007 (obituary); notes on Boas family by Lynne Jordan, 2012
Notes on Byers Logging, 1863-1935; facsimile of a letter written by Mike Manson to his brother John in 1923, typed up by Etta Byers in 1978; Read Island History: Byers Family, by Mrs. Etta Byers, nee McKay, 1975; clipping of coastal logging/family camps, Etta Byers, 1977; Etta Byers, interviewed by Marcia Wolter, April 20, 1993; clipping of Clarence and Etta Byers 60th wedding anniversary, 2008; clipping of Clarence Byers obituary, 2009; letter from Etta Byers regarding visit to the museum and her local history, undated. Blue folder labelled Etta Byers: Read Island History, 1975; Hand written notes from Etta Byers, undated; printed photograph of Mary Jane (chapman) Aldrich and Herbert Cyrus Aldrich
Notes on Byers Logging, 1863-1935; facsimile of a letter written by Mike Manson to his brother John in 1923, typed up by Etta Byers in 1978; Read Island History: Byers Family, by Mrs. Etta Byers, nee McKay, 1975; clipping of coastal logging/family camps, Etta Byers, 1977; Etta Byers, interviewed by Marcia Wolter, April 20, 1993; clipping of Clarence and Etta Byers 60th wedding anniversary, 2008; clipping of Clarence Byers obituary, 2009; letter from Etta Byers regarding visit to the museum and her local history, undated. Blue folder labelled Etta Byers: Read Island History, 1975; Hand written notes from Etta Byers, undated; printed photograph of Mary Jane (chapman) Aldrich and Herbert Cyrus Aldrich
Midge Calwell talks about Von Donop Creek, as told to Dianne Hentschel and Doreen Thompson, 2001, with photographs scanned from the Von Donop album, 1946-1949; Emails with Bernice regarding Calwell family, 2016
Midge Calwell talks about Von Donop Creek, as told to Dianne Hentschel and Doreen Thompson, 2001, with photographs scanned from the Von Donop album, 1946-1949; Emails with Bernice regarding Calwell family, 2016
Co-operative Fire and Casualty Company info regarding request to insure a property, Mr and Mrs Ellingsen, 1963. Licensing and insurance papers for E. Ellingsen, 1968-1970. Info on residential, recreational, commercial, industrial and investment real estate, "Growing with Vancouver," featuring Bruce Ellingsen, 1974. Excerpts from The Columbia is Coming!, Doris Andersen, 1982. Receipts from Mansons Landing Store for May and Elmer Ellingsen, 1982-1987. Old notebook cover, Elmer Ellingsen, undated. Info on memorials: Elmer Ellingsen, 2002; May Ellingsen, 2012; and Virginia Hazel Ellingsen, 2019. Letter from Etta to CIMAS, 2012. Invoice for art purchased by CIMAS from David Ellingsen, 2017. Info on The Last Stand, D. Ellingsen, 2019. Info on Cortes Connection, 2019. Photo of Dianne Hentschel, Nellie Jeffrey, May Ellingsen, undated.
Co-operative Fire and Casualty Company info regarding request to insure a property, Mr and Mrs Ellingsen, 1963. Licensing and insurance papers for E. Ellingsen, 1968-1970. Info on residential, recreational, commercial, industrial and investment real estate, "Growing with Vancouver," featuring Bruce Ellingsen, 1974. Excerpts from The Columbia is Coming!, Doris Andersen, 1982. Receipts from Mansons Landing Store for May and Elmer Ellingsen, 1982-1987. Old notebook cover, Elmer Ellingsen, undated. Info on memorials: Elmer Ellingsen, 2002; May Ellingsen, 2012; and Virginia Hazel Ellingsen, 2019. Letter from Etta to CIMAS, 2012. Invoice for art purchased by CIMAS from David Ellingsen, 2017. Info on The Last Stand, D. Ellingsen, 2019. Info on Cortes Connection, 2019. Photo of Dianne Hentschel, Nellie Jeffrey, May Ellingsen, undated.
Logging Donkey Engineer Certificate addressed to Wilfred George M. Freeman, 1941; Union Steamships Limited order form, 1941 or 1951; photographs of Eva Freeman and Lotti McDevitt, undated. Memorial info for Wilfred Freeman, 2012
Logging Donkey Engineer Certificate addressed to Wilfred George M. Freeman, 1941; Union Steamships Limited order form, 1941 or 1951; photographs of Eva Freeman and Lotti McDevitt, undated. Memorial info for Wilfred Freeman, 2012
Memorial note about George Griffin in WNE, undated; clippings of 50th wedding anniversary for Mr. and Mrs Griffin, 1973 and memorial service for Griffin son, undated
Memorial note about George Griffin in WNE, undated; clippings of 50th wedding anniversary for Mr. and Mrs Griffin, 1973 and memorial service for Griffin son, undated
Info on Ken Hansen and the Squirrel Cove School, 1939-1979. Tax receipt for Harold Hansen and others, 1956. Scanned photograph from Lakeview Ranch summer camp, undated (pre-Linnaea). Clippings about Ken Hansen killing wolves, farming sheep, advocating for raw milk sales, and general info about Hansen family life on Cortes, including some from WNE, 1964-2008. Info on the Hansens in dialogue with the ministry and press about wolves on Cortes, 1970s. Info about memorials for Harold Hansen, 2003, Ken Hansen, 2004, and Dolly Hansen, 2012. Transcript of conversation with Dolly Hansen, Doreen (Huck) Thompson, Sue (Bone) Ellingsen, and Dianne (Theal) Hentschel, 2005. Info on Dolly Hansen and family, 2009. Info on Hazel Hansen. Keywords: Squirrel Cove School, Linnea Farm, wolves
Info on Ken Hansen and the Squirrel Cove School, 1939-1979. Tax receipt for Harold Hansen and others, 1956. Scanned photograph from Lakeview Ranch summer camp, undated (pre-Linnaea). Clippings about Ken Hansen killing wolves, farming sheep, advocating for raw milk sales, and general info about Hansen family life on Cortes, including some from WNE, 1964-2008. Info on the Hansens in dialogue with the ministry and press about wolves on Cortes, 1970s. Info about memorials for Harold Hansen, 2003, Ken Hansen, 2004, and Dolly Hansen, 2012. Transcript of conversation with Dolly Hansen, Doreen (Huck) Thompson, Sue (Bone) Ellingsen, and Dianne (Theal) Hentschel, 2005. Info on Dolly Hansen and family, 2009. Info on Hazel Hansen. Keywords: Squirrel Cove School, Linnea Farm, wolves
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