Third Generation

9. Waldemar Lincoln (Skipper) OTTOSEN⁶ was born on 18 Jul 1876 in Washington Island, Door, Wisconsin. He lived in Hopkins, Minnesota when he joined the Old Guard. He joined the US Army-3d Infantry-Old Guard and fought in the Spanish American War in 1898. He was wounded in the war about 1900. He was discharged at Fort McDowell, California on 3 May 1901. Between 16 Aug 1904 and 31 Mar 1905 he was a 2nd Assistant Keeper of the Manitowoc & Pierhead Lights - Promoted to 1st Assistant & transferred. Between 8 Sep 1905 and 16 Jul 1907 he was a 1st Assistant at Pottawatomie Light (Rock Island Light) Lightkeeper and then was transferred. Between 17 Jul 1907 and 1 Oct 1918 he was a 1st Assistant Keeper of the Menominee Pierhead Light - Promoted and transferred. Between 1 Oct 1918 and 1 Dec 1920 he was a Keeper of the Pilot Island Light - Transferred. Between 1 Dec 1920 and 1 Dec 1941 he was a Keeper of the Manistique East Breakwater Light with Raymond Butters as assistant - retired in 1941. He was granted custody of his four minor children on 20 Apr 1928. He died on 27 Mar 1960 in St Petersburg, Pinelles, Florida.

Walter Lincoln Ottosen Biography:


Waldemar Lincoln Ottosen, known to all as Walter or 'Skipper', was born on Washington Island, July 18, 1876 to Lars Peter Ottosen and Marie Kristine Nielsen. He was raised on Washington Island and attended school there but moved to Minnesota some time prior to joining the military.

While in Minnesota, Walter enlisted in the 3d U.S. Infantry with his future brother-in-law Elmer Current. The 3d U.S. Infantry was traditionally known as The Old Guard, which had been established since 1784 and highly respected.

Since 1888 the Regiment had a long association with Fort Snelling located near the mouth of the Minnesota River (then referred to as the St. Peters River) near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. The 3d Infantry was only occasionally required to send a company to quell a civil disturbance in the area. The Regiment began to be considered a part of the community and eventually to be known as "Minnesota's Own."

1898 was the year the war began with Spain. Walter, along with the other soldiers in the 3d Infantry were trained and transported to Cuba. Their mission was the American envelopment and siege of Santiago, Cuba. He and the Regiment endured tropical heat in woolen uniforms while storming a fortified blockhouse at El Caney. This was followed by approximately three days of continuous shelling in trenches before the cease-fire was signed. The soldiers were then held quarantine in New York harbor for several days before being allowed to return to Minnesota.

Just two weeks after returning to Fort Snelling the Old Guard was involved in what would be the last combat between the Army and Native Americans.

A group of Chippewa at the reservation in Leech Lake, Minnesota, was being cheated by local white residents of the revenue derived from the sale of timber on the reservation. Walter’s company of the Old Guard commanded by Brevet Major James Wilkinson and Lt. Tenney Ross was sent to settle the disturbance. During the battle, several of Walter’s comrades were killed and ten were wounded.

After the Indian skirmish was over, the 3d Infantry was boarded onto a ship of the U.S. Army Transport Service and headed for the Philippines utilizing the new Suez Canal. Walter took part in the battles of Malolos, San Isidro, and Luzon. During this campaign, he received a wound in the right arm.

Wounded and ill with tropical fever, Walter was returned to San Francisco six months before his three-year enlistment was completed. When he was discharged from the hospital at the Presidio, he was assigned to guard duty at Alcatraz Island, then a military prison, where he served until his enlistment period had expired.

Walter had fallen in love with Althea after returning to Minnesota. It's assumed he met her through her brother Elmer who was also in the military with Walter.

Walter and Althea were married on 10 Nov 1902 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Their first born son Lloyd Morris arrived August 17, 1903 in St. Anthony Park, Minnesota.

Walter then entered the lighthouse service in that same year at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, later going to Kenosha as assistant keeper. It was during their stay at Manitowoc, Wisconsin that Ernest was born in January 1905 but passed away two months later from pneumonia.

In April 1906, Chester Marion was born, LaVergne W. was born in March 1908 and Hazel Mae was born in June 1910. The name Marion was also Althea’s father’s name and the middle name of one of her brothers. Hazel was also the name of Althea’s sister and Mae was the name of Walter’s half-sister.

Walter served as assistant keeper on Rock Island where his friend William Betts had been a light keeper. Later Walter’s children would call him “Grandpa Betts.” He was a tall, thin man with a big white beard, a twinkle in his eye and always had kind words for the children.

After serving at Rock Island and Menomonee lighthouses, Walter was promoted in 1912 to the position of keeper on isolated Pilot Island, a rocky three-acre reef located at the entrance of 'Death’s Door' in Lake Michigan.

Both Rock Island and Pilot Island are very close to where Walter’s family lived on Washington Island. Matter of fact, you can easily see one island while on the other.

Twins Ellen Clara and Evelyn Helen were born in February 1914. Ellen was Althea’s mother’s middle name and Clara was the name of one of her best girlfriends Clara Kochenbacher (who married Charlie Hansen). Evelyn was given Althea’s middle name.

Elston Lynn arrived in September 1915 during the time that their father was stationed on Pilot Island. He was named after one of Althea’s brothers.

Althea and the older children spent most of their time on Washington Island in their home near Detroit Harbor. This was so the children could attend school. As soon as the babies were old enough to be away from their mother, Walter took them to the island to look after them. There was commuting back and forth between the islands and Walter was given monthly time to come home for a short time. When the school term was over, Althea and the older children would join Walter and the younger children for the summer months.

On Pilot Island the light tower and the house were combined in one building. Evelyn, her twin sister Ellen and Bob (Elston) slept on a sofa bed in the parlor. The sofa was placed crosswise in a corner and in the corner space behind the sofa a heavy weight slowly lowered itself. The weight had an octagonal shape and somehow turned the light in the lighthouse tower. The little girls and their brother Bob used to worry about it falling loose and hitting them during the night. It actually had come crashing down behind the sofa one night and the trio had never forgotten that.

They were oblivious as to what was going on in the world as the United States entered World War I and the Spanish flu would cause yet another crises. Althea was very worried about the Spanish flu attacking her children but the Ottosen family escaped the virus probably because they had little to no contact with people outside of the two islands.

Consequently, the memories of the Ottosen children of Pilot Island were filled with happiness and special moments with their father. Walter was a quiet man but he was patient and tolerant of his lively brood as he protected them from the travesties of the outside world.

Walter was assigned to the Manistique light in 1919 where he remained until he retired. The move must have been exciting for the family. Once the family was settled in, the last Ottosen baby named Geraldine Emily arrived in March 1920.

They moved into the Lighthouse Keeper‘s official residence at the end of Range Street in Manistique. It was a beautiful home in the 1920s and as this is being written in 2000, it is still a beautiful, well-kept building. The house is a large, two-story building with upstairs living quarters intended for the Assistant Lighthouse Keeper Raymond Butters and his family.

All the children would finally be brought up together. There would be no more separations because Walter was stationed on an island. They would all live together and attend school in Manistique.

The Ottosen children used to walk out on the long pier to the lighthouse. They were allowed to go inside, climb the stairs and go out to walk around that sort of balcony structure that surrounds the enclosure housing the actual light.

Elston remembered the yacht – yes, yacht – and the mysterious couple from the Chicago area that visited several times. He did not recall who they were but felt they were relatives of his father's mother, Marie, who had died during childbirth.

One day the couple traveled via this yacht from the Chicago area to Manistique and left it with Walter. The couple returned a couple of times after that but that was all. Walter moored the yacht and took his children for rides for many years. Later he donated the yacht to the Boy Scouts.

Althea loved to travel and when she got enough money saved from her sewing jobs, she would go on one of these trips via the railroad where her father was an engineer.

It’s been learned that Althea came from a very large family and had eleven brothers and sisters. Some of her siblings, cousins, and aunts and uncles had moved west and she wanted to move there, too. Walter had considered such a move but the transfer was either denied or he decided against it. Unbeknownst to Walter, Althea was determined to be near her family with or without him.

By this time Lloyd Ottosen was employed by the local paper mill in Manistique and doing well. He proudly owned a Star automobile made by the Star Company.

Lloyd and brother Chester shared a bed while living in the Manistique lighthouse residence. Around 1921 when they were in their teens (Lloyd was around 19 yrs) they had a small kitten that also shared the bed. As Lloyd slept on his side with his back to the middle of the bed, Chet noticed the kitten was preparing to urinate on the bed. He grabbed up the kitten and held it over Lloyd's head, while the kitten peed in his ear.

There was a ruckus that could be heard throughout the house. Lloyd was screaming mad - just absolutely furious! This was the incident that split the brothers up forever. Neither spoke to each other from that day forward. Matter of fact, the animosity was so great that the brothers both left home within six months of each other and their paths never crossed again.

Lloyd moved to the Detroit area where he eventually became involved with others in rum running from Canada to lower Michigan during the prohibition years. To accomplish this they used a very high speed Chris Craft racing boat with two Liberty engines that used aviation fuel. This boat was fast - very fast. The legal authorities had been trying to catch him with no success because of the speed of that boat.

On the last time that Lloyd was involved in this activity, the authorities gave chase and had the boat boxed in at a beach in Grosse Pointe. Lloyd gunned the motor and raced the boat right up the beach in full throttle. The boat ran all the way up the beach and into the woods. Lloyd got away scott free.

He decided that incident was too close for comfort and left the area to return to Manistique in a Diana Roadster (a very expensive automobile) sometime later.

This is when Lloyd decided to "play by the rules" and became a machinist.

Walter and Althea’s marriage eventually unraveled. Beginning on or about March 1925, they had several separations until Aug 1927 when Althea left home permanently, leaving for Pontiac, Michigan where she became a housekeeper at a boarding home. The boarding home was owned by William Lock.

The divorce was finalized April 20, 1928 and Walter received custody of the minor children twins Ellen and Evelyn age 14, Elston age 13, and Geraldine age 8.

Chester moved to the Pontiac area where Althea lived and then LaVergne was killed in a motorcycle accident July 29, 1928 that devastated everyone.

Walter became both mother and father to his youngest children still at home until he found his second wife, Rose. [PLO]

Waldemar Lincoln (Skipper) OTTOSEN and Rosalind WEBB were married after 1928. Rosalind WEBB was born after 1870. She died in 1949 in Bradenton, Florida.

Roselind Webb Taylor Ottosen:

Around 1932 Walter remarried. The new bride Rose was well liked by all who knew her. Evelyn believed Rose was Canadian and that Rose and Walter had met through a “lonely hearts publication” or possibly Rose was a “mail order bride.”

On the other hand, her brother Bob Ottosen not only recalled riding in the car as Walter drove up to Canada to fetch Roselind Webb and her daughter Kathleen but also remembered Rose’s Irish brogue.

Rose and Kathleen had brought joy and happiness to the Ottosen household. Kathleen was a classical pianist so Walter bought her a piano. Every day the children would hear beautiful music drifting through their home as Rose cooked and baked for the family. The children loved Rose dearly and no one begrudged her taking a nip now and then. Bob described Rose as someone who enjoyed her whiskey and actually was quite comical but was never in a drunken stupor. She was a fun and an endearing person who brought laughter and joy to their home.

Rose liked to entertain the “upper crust” from her church (including the Arch Deacon) so quite often they were invited over for dinner. After this one particular dinner, the men sat back smoking their cigars and flicking ashes in saucers. Rose, (who was not a smoker) in an animated fashion, sat down dramatically as the men stared at her. With a flourish, she picked up her purse, took out a corn cob pipe, filled it with tobacco, and lit it as the room erupted in laughter.

On another occasion before anyone realized what was going on, it was learned that the Arch Deacon ran off with all the of church’s money which gave Walter great delight and embarrassed Rose tremendously. Walter loved to tease Rose about the incident that was reported in the newspaper and given great notoriety in the small town.

On September 30, 1941 Walter retired from the Coast Guard after thirty seven years. He had been awarded the efficiency star for excellence in operation of the lighthouse for five straight years.

Walter and Rose left Manistique to begin their retirement. Their first stop was Fowlerville, Michigan where they live for a time to be near daughter Hazel Ottosen Lock. During their stay in Fowlerville, Walter broke his hip and was hospitalized.

Sometime after he mended, Walter and Rose set out for Florida in their “state-of-the-art” travel trailer. They had no particular destination and enjoyed camping in various areas of the state.

Walter wrote his children and sister Olga and even sent photos but after a few years Rose became ill. What type of illness it was, no one knew but Walter hired a woman named Lena to care for Rose. Before anyone realized how serious the illness was, Rose had died.

But “nurse-maid” Lena, who was much younger than Walter, divorced her husband and quickly married Walter.

Once this happened, the family began having difficulties corresponding with him. It turned out that she began intercepting the mail. [-PLO]

Waldemar Lincoln (Skipper) OTTOSEN and Lena (OTTOSEN) were married after 1949.

Waldemar Lincoln (Skipper) OTTOSEN and Althea Evelyn (Al) CURRENT * were married on 10 Nov 1902 in St Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota. They were divorced on 20 Apr 1928. Althea Evelyn (Al) CURRENT *^7,8 (daughter of Marion Everett CURRENT * and Martha Ellen MIDDLETON *) was born on 21 Mar 1884 in New Ulm, Brown, Minnesota. She was also known as Althea Emily Current.⁶ She died on 24 Aug 1962 in Salem, Marion, Oregon.

The 1930 US Census listed Althea Ellen Current in the household of William Lock, in Battle Creek City, Calhoun County, Michigan.

Althea Ellen Current was enumerated as Althea E. Lock. Married white female, age 46. Wife of head of household. She was 18 years of age at first marriage. She was born in Minnesota. Her mother and father were born in Indiana. She could speak English. She had no occupation.

Althea, William Lock (her 2nd husband), Ellen Ottosen and Kenneth Lock (now married), along with Chester and "Babe" moved west. They eventually ended up in the Salem, Oregon area with Chester and "Babe" living next door to Althea and William Lock. At one point, Ellen lived upstairs in the William Lock household.

Waldemar Lincoln (Skipper) OTTOSEN and Althea Evelyn (Al) CURRENT * had the following children:

+27	i.	Lloyd Morris OTTOSEN.
28	ii.	Ernest OTTOSEN9 was born in Jan 1905 in Washington Island, Door, Wisconsin. He died of pneumonia on 21 Mar 1905 in Wisconsin.10
+29	iii.	Chester Marion (Chet) OTTOSEN.
30	iv.	Lavergne W. OTTOSEN was born on 25 Mar 1908 in Washington Island, Door, Wisconsin. He died on 29 Jul 1928 in Manistique, Schoolcraft, Michigan. He died in motorcycle accident. He was buried at Lakeview Cemetery, Manistique, Schoolcraft, Michigan. PIONEER-TRIBUNE Thursday, August 2, 1928 Manistique, Michigan VERN OTTOSEN IS ACCIDENT VICTIM Motorcycle Spills on East Road and Death Results in Short Time LaVergne Ottosen, 20, son of Mr. W. W. Ottosen, government lighthouse keeper, was killed Sunday Morning when a motorcycle on which he was riding overturned in the road and fell on him, causing his skull to be fractured. The accident occurred between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. on Highway U.S.2 about 12 feet from the railroad crossing near the Lee Wood farm on the East side of the track. Various reports have been circulated regarding the accident but as there were no witnesses, so far as can be learned. Ottosen had gone to the airplane field a short time before with friends and after refusing a ride offered him in the plane, borrowed a motorcycle owned by Alvin Johnson and proceeded to drive to town. It was his intention to return to the field when the plane, in which Louis Hartman and Alvin Johnson were riding, returned. Whether the youth was hit by a passing motorist who failed to stop or lost control of his machine it was not definitely learned, but the latter version is believed correct. Those that knew the boy say he was a good driver and that the grade crossing was not rough enough to cause the machine to upset. It is thought, however, that the motorcycle might have overturned on loose gravel in which the front wheels had become mired. When found the machine was in an upright position and rested on Ottosen. He was found by Tony Sawheitle and Lloyd Klagstad, who happened to drive by the scene. As they were investigating Vern Coffee appeared and a short time later William Caffey of the Caffey Garage came along on his way to a farm on the River Road. The boy was removed and placed on a mattress in the Caffey truck that Caffey was taking to the farm. A small crowd was gathering when Coffee and Caffey left to rush the boy to a local hospital. He died shortly after reaching Manistique. The motorcycle was but slightly damaged and was in a running condition a short time after the upset. A young girl in a passing tourist car fainted as she saw the boy being removed from under the machine. Chief of Police John Peterson traced the car to St. Ignace for a possible clue as to the cause of the accident but none could be learned. The motorcycle was facing in the direction of town but it is thought that it made a complete turn in the road before upsetting. There were few marks in the road to help ascertain the real cause. Vern Ottosen was the third oldest of a family of eight children. He has four sisters, Hazel, Evelyn, Ellen and Geraldine, three brothers Lloyd, Chester and Elston. Word was sent to all members of the family that were out of the city. The mother drove from Detroit with an elder son. Burial was in Lakeview Cemetery Tuesday Afternoon. Services were held at the family home. [Provided by Colleen, daughter of Evelyn] Note: I contacted the daughter of one of the men who was at the scene of the accident. This daughter talked about how her father tried to help Vern and how upset he was about the incident. [PLO]
+31	v.	Hazel Mae (Big Sis) OTTOSEN.
+32	vi.	Evelyn Helen OTTOSEN.
+33	vii.	Ellen Clara OTTOSEN.
+34	viii.	Elston Lynn (Bob) OTTOSEN.
+35	ix.	Geraldine Emily OTTOSEN.