BENJAMIN H. HANSON (d. 1961)

Captain Hanson Retired Skipper Dies at Age 78
Capt. Benjamin H. Hanson, 78, who captained the Ann Arbor Railroad carferry
Wabash and who had been sailing the Great Lakes since 17, died Monday evening
at Manitowoc County Hospital. He had been ill two weeks.
Captain Hanson, rapidly becoming a legend in Great Lakes marine circles,
resided at 423 N. Fifth St.
He retired as captain of the ferry line’s flagship in June of 1949 and even
though he was on pension, Captain Hanson found opportunity to talk about the
“good old days.” He was named skipper of the ship late in September of 1940.
He previously had captained the AA No. 7 and this was the first time a
Manitowoc man had been elevated to the post of commodore since the Ann Arbor
ferry line started operations in the Great Lakes.
Born in Ohio
Captain Hanson was born at Barnsville, Ohio, May 4, 1883, son of the late
Benjamin and Lucinda Bundy Hanson. He came to Wisconsin when 7 with his mother.
They lived at Fond du Lac where he acquired his formal education.
When 17 he became a deck hand aboard AA No. 3, shipping out of Menominee, Mich.
For a number of years he worked the lower lakes during the summer months and
returned to ferry service in the winter, all the while working for his master’s
license.
He married Hattie Holtz at Milwaukee Dec. 14, 1912, and the couple established
residence at Manitowoc.
In 1913, he gained his rights as a master for the Ann Arbor Line and also
received his unlimited master’s license. He assumed command of the Ann Arbor
No. 3 three years later and for 24 years he served as its master as well as
the Nos. 4, 6, and 7 at various periods.
Free of Accidents
Captain Hanson estimated at the time of retirement he had traveled about 3,150,000
miles on water and in the 49 years he had never had a serious accident.
Surviving are his wife, a brother, Caleb Hanson, of Milwaukee and a sister, Mrs.
Mary Rouse, of Silver Springs, Md.
He was a member of Grand Haven, Mich., Lodge 139, F and AM, Manistee, Mich.,
Commandery 32, Knights Templar, and Saladin Temple, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Funeral services will be at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Urbanek and Schlei Funeral Home,
Manitowoc. The Rev. Paul Blaufuss will officiate and burial will be in Evergreen
Cemetery.
Friends may call at the funeral home after 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Manitowoc Herald Times, November 7, 1961 P. 11
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[d. 11-06-1961/age 78 yrs.]
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news article
CAUGHT UNDER TRAIN OF CARS; LIVES TO TELL IT
Ben Hansen(sic) Escapes with Little Injury in Accident
Run over by a train of cars and alive to tell the tale, that's Ben Hansen, a North
side Sixth Street man who is a patient at the hospital, doing nicely and who will
be able to be about in a week or two as good as new. And the marvel of it is that
Hansen escaped almost without injury. Hansen was employed on carferry No. 3 of the
Ann Arbor line and while about his work on the boat had his foot caught and a train
of cars which was being unloaded, passed over the foot which, strange to relate, was
not severed, though somewhat crushed. A new pair of shoes, on which heavy soles had
been placed, probably saved Hansen's foot if not his life. The shoes show where the
flange of car cut into the leather crushed the foot but it was found that no bones
had been broken.
Hansen was taken to the hospital where an x-ray examination showed the foot intact
with no fracture of bones and Hansen is improving rapidly. He is 32 and married.
Manitowoc Daily Herald, Sat., Sept. 27, 1913