Henry Gleason interview
Name/Title
Henry Gleason interviewEntry/Object ID
2024.41.229Scope and Content
Henry Gleason was born in Saugatuck in 1925, at the family home at 240 Lucy Street. He was 75 years old at the time of the interview. Henry was the son of Frank Gleason, who worked on the railroad sorting mail on the route between Chicago and Grand Rapids. When Henry was a boy, his father Frank changed careers to become a concrete contractor. Henry had two sisters and a brother who died as a child. His sister Elita C. (Gleason) Smutny house lived at 233 Lucy St. His other sister Irma Jean (Gleason) Nicks lived out at Clearbrook. Henry graduated in 1942 from the "old" Saugatuck High School that was at the top of the Allegan Street hill. There were 26 graduates in his class. Henry helped his father pour concrete. Together they created most of the curbs in Douglas. To commute to work, they rowed a boat from Moore's creek, near their Lucy St. home, to Douglas. Later Henry got a job as a bookkeeper at the Fruit Grower's State Bank. He worked with Mr. "Lem" Brady, Henry Till and Edna Boyce. He described some the details of his work and his coworkers. Henry married Claradine Starring and adopted Claradine's four sons: Andrew Starring - Flemings Collision Service at M89 x Blue Star Hwy. Bruce Starring - who runs the Star of Saugatuck Larry Starring - who works at Heinz Pickle Linus Starring - who operates the Saugatuck Dune Rides Henry's uncle Edward Gleason ran the Wolverine, a passenger boat that docked at Tourist Home [Ship-n-Shore Motel] and would bring people out to the mouth of the river. Edward would dock the Wolverine on the inside of the channel, which side depending on how the wind was blowing so the swimmers would have less choppy water. The Wolverine also ran to New Richmond. The water was shallow upriver so the boat sometimes got snagged but the engine was protected with a tunnel stern motor. The Wolverine had been one of George Wright's boats. In 1977 Bruce Starring built the Star of Saugatuck I, a stern wheeler 67 ft long, 14.5 foot beam, it had two separate paddle wheels making it easy to maneuver. The Star of Saugatuck II is even bigger and easier to run. Henry Gleason's grandfather was also named Henry. Henry's grandfather and father lived on Lake Street. They would walk to New Richmond to cut timber. In 1919, Henry's grandfather and father purchased a building on the river, (650 Water Street) that had belonged to the Interurban company. First it was used as a fishing shanty with an ice house next door. The Gleasons harvested ice from the river. Later the building was converted into Gleason's Party Store and Marina. Henry and Claradine ran the store for 33 years. They also operated the city boat ramp. The final scene of the interview is Henry standing outside his home which was at 1025 Park Street. The sturdy brick and stone building was demolished in 2021.Collection
Family History, Nautical, 1930+ Tourism, activites, tours and attractions, 1845 Fishing, commercialCataloged By
Winthers, SallyAcquisition
Accession
2024.41Acquisition Method
Found in CollectionCredit Line
To view this recording, scroll down to the bottom of this entry and click the blue web link. This video was created by Saugatuck-Douglas History Center volunteers or was donated to the Center in a good faith effort to preserve local history. If you feel this content should not be available to the public — or have additional information that will add context to this interview — please contact the SDHC Archives at archives@mysdhistory.org.Oral History Details
Interviewee
Gleason, Henry 1925-2019Interviewer
Van Mell, Helen S. -2002Interview Date
Sep 29, 2000Length of Interview
53Oral History Notes
Camera work by Bill ManifoldDimensions
Dimension Description
version of DVDWidth
5 inDepth
5 inLocation
Oral History DVD/CDs
AWS/VidArch SSD/DVD originals drawer