Stenmark family

I just received this photo from a genealogist. It is a picture of Scott's great grandfather Johan Olaf Stenmark and family. I believe the younger girl is Ruby, Scott's grandmother. Ruby is Wes' Mother. Here is a little history of Johan (John) Olaf Stenmark:
Born in Sweden, John Stenmark emigrated to the United States at the age of twenty, and joined the Lighthouse Service three years later accepting an assignment aboard the lighthouse tender Madroño. During a visit to Point Conception, Stenmark and other crewmembers of the Madroño were rowing supplies to shore aboard a smaller boat when a large wave capsized the vessel. The men, including Inspector Thomas Perry, were tossed into the frigid water. Perry was carried away by the heavy seas and was in danger of drowning, when Stenmark, though injured from the mishap, swam to his rescue. Stenmark managed to keep the inspector from drowning until they could be picked up by the Madroño
For his bravery, Stenmark was rewarded with the position of assistant keeper at the Año Nuevo Station in August of 1890. Two years later, he was promoted to head keeper. On August 31, 1894 Stenmark was appointed keeper of the East Brother Lighthouse, so he and his wife Breta moved their few belongings and their three-month-old daughter Annie to their second island home. Although East Brother was much closer to civilization, the keepers were still quite isolated. To pick up mail and any needed supplies, the keepers had to row two and a half miles to Point San Quentin, a journey that Stenmark would have to make at least twice to fetch a doctor to deliver his children.
The government provided a live-in teacher to tutor the four Stenmark children, until a road was built to Point San Pablo. When you are raised on an island, dating can be a bit difficult. Fortunately for Stenmark’s oldest daughter Annie, the Standard Oil Refinery was built in Richmond in 1901, and docks for the tankers were built on Point San Pablo just across from the station. Annie caught the eye of Charles Morisette, the foreman at the Standard Oil wharf. Charles soon became quite adept at rowing across the waters to the island to court Annie, and a June wedding was held for the couple in 1914.
Civilization moved closer to the lighthouse when in 1906 the California Wine Association purchased 47 acres at Point Molate, just south of the lighthouse, for its headquarters. The association constructed the red-brick, fort-like Winehaven winery, which still stands today. The winery produced twelve million gallons of wine annually, employing over 400 workers during peak production times. However, with the ushering in of the Prohibition era with the passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, winemaking came to an abrupt halt, except for the production of an occasional “Sacramental wine”.
The great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 did not go unnoticed at the lighthouse. On April 18, Stenmark recorded the following in the station logbook: “A heavy earthquake this morning at 5:15 A.M.. Lenses of the light broken and glassware broke and everything of glass broke. Doors open of themselves and the whole island rocking. All the lenses broke.” The following day, Stenmark added “S.F. burning fearfully at 9 P.M.”
Stenmark retired from East Brother in 1914. The following year, he was traveling north along the coast from San Francisco aboard the steamer City of Topeka when he had “an attack of heart trouble” and died.
2 Comments:
Hey cool, now I can say I'm Swedish too.
I made that lifeguard connection too.
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