Forbidden to Court: A Wolf River Romance

Though Wolf River had few more than a handful of people in 1854, it had its own Shakespearean love story. It began in Scotland when youngster David Youngs, his younger sister and their parents set sail for a new life in the new world.

The Youngs traveled to Chicago where Mrs. Youngs remained with the children while her husband went west to seek his fortune. He never returned. Word was that he was killed by Indians, but nobody really knew. Both Mrs. Youngs and her daughter got sick and died, leaving 9 year old Dave alone in Chicago, a city with a population of a little less than 5,000 in 1840. Somehow, Dave was taken in and raised by Alymira and A.D. (Abram) Eveland who eventually relocated to Racine. Abram was an entrepreneur and, when he grew to manhood, Dave took up sailing and became the captain of his own boat named the Amelia.

Amelia was named for the joy of Dave's life, Amelia Harkins whom he married in 1849. Amelia's brother Henry was Dave's best friend and another ship owner and captain. Amelia and Dave had three children. Then Amelia died, possibly in childbirth, leaving Dave with three young children. Frank died in 1863 and was buried in Wolf River. Jennie and G.W., who was known as Scotty, survived to adulthood. In a time when widowers remarried almost immediately because of the need for a woman to do for them, Dave did not. He had Alymira to see to the children. She was raising her own children including teen aged Lucy Ann.

Henry and Lucy Ann were attracted to each other and wanted to court. Abram and Alymira put their collective foot down. Women married earlier in the 1850s but the Evelands would not have their 14 year old daughter courted by a man in his 20s. Since the courtship was forbidden, the couple figured they could go right to the wedding. One's imagination can supply that scenario.

Dave had heard about the area called Wolf River in a new place called Kewaunee County where there was plenty of cheap land. One could get rich. Entrepreneur that Abram was, he recognized a good deal. Besides that, Wolf River was hours and hours from Racine and he'd get rid of that infernal Henry Harkins for good. End of story. But, it was not.

It wasn't long before Capt. Henry Harkins sailed his Lucy Ann into Wolf River. Spiriting the fair Lucy aboard, and with Dave as his first mate, they sailed away to Racine where they were married. Henry could have sailed his ship alone, but with Dave as mate and chaperon, nobody could accuse anybody of scandalous behavior.

What came later isn't what one would expect. If it was, it was not recorded. Abram and Alymira surely weren't happy, but the couple was legally married and life goes on. They gave their daughter and new son-in-law Block 5, the triangular lot that older Algoma residents best remember as Perlewitz' blacksmith shop and then the 1960 post office. Henry and Lucy built a home that was said to be one of the finest in Wolf River, though the stockade type fence around it reminded some of a fort.

Lucy and Henry raised a family. She taught Sunday School and he continued to sail, owning the schooner Pride during the 1860s. The very social Henry said whatever was on his mind, and the entire village had experience with his practical jokes. Serving in the Great War, Henry was among the survivors of the Cumberland, on which he manned the guns. He also served as an officer with Porter and Selfridge on the Mississippi River fleets. When the town's bridge was knocked out, it was Henry who ferried passengers back and forth across the river, and when a flat-bottomed boat with a big square sail was spotted coming down river, everybody knew Henry was on his way back from a trip to Forestville.

From all that is written about the young couple, they gave to God, their family and their community. Whatever Abram and Alymira Eveland initially felt about Henry and Lucy, it certainly changed.


The photo of Dave Youngs predates 1873. It was given to this author by Wayne and Nancy Anderson. The photo of Lucy Ann Harkins tombstone was taken at the Evergreen Cemetery in Algoma by Thomas R. Duescher.