(MOSTLY) FRIENDLY GHOSTS ROAM THE THUMB'S EAST COAST By Ralph Iden We all love a good ghost story. And, it seems the east coast of Michigan's Thumb has its share of ghosts or ghostly happenings, which collectively help make up the lore of the Lakes.  Some of these tales have been recorded in the books "Ghost Stories of Michigan" by Dan Asfar,  and "Haunted Lakes" by Frederick Stonehouse, both of which make fascinating reading…especially on a dark and stormy night. The following information is based on stories in those two publications. Just before dawn, April 23, 1880 the watchman at Point aux Barques Lifesaving Station spotted a distress signal from the J.H. Magruder. The supervisor and a six-man crew immediately launched the rescue boat. But, they were hardly in the water when the lake grew hostile. Before long, all seven men were in the frigid turbulent waters clinging desperately to their overturned boat. By the time the boat washed ashore, only the delirious supervisor was still clinging to it. Meanwhile, the Magruder had dumped its cargo and limped to shore with no casualties. Fast forward to April 1965.  A man was taking his wife and son on a sailing trip north along the Thumb's eastern coast. Late in the day their sailboat became surrounded by a thick fog. Even so, depth equipment showed the water was several hundred feet deep so they felt comfortable in continuing because they were no where near land. Suddenly, a large, old style  white rowboat containing several men appeared dead ahead, less than 150 feet away.  One man stood at the stern manning a long steering oar, waving his free arm slowly. The others were rowing. The two boats were on a collision course! The man steered his sailboat hard right, shouted a warning to his son and braced himself for the collision. There was none. They were alone…surrounded only by silence and fog.  The mystery boat has disappeared! The silence was pierced by the son shouting that he could see bottom. It was verified that the top of a massive underwater reef was a mere five feet under their boat's keel! In minutes, the depth gage showed another drop off. When the fog lifted, the man spotted Point Aux Barques light and determined that, but for the strange encounter, they would have struck Point Aux Barques reef.  The incident occurred near where the ill-fated lifesaving service boat capsized and the mystery boat matched its description and may have been similar the one on display at the original Pointe Aux Barques Lifesaving station which now resides at Huron City Museums. It was originally a short distance from Point Aux Barques light located in what is now Lighthouse Park. The light keepers house is now a museum, while old assistant keeper's home, about 100 yards from the lighthouse is now the park manager's residence. Stonehouse relates that several years before his book was published in 1997, the park manager's adult daughter visited her parents and stayed in an upstairs bedroom. She was awakened one night by an unidentifiable noise. After checking the hallway and finding it empty, she crept to the head of the stairs and looked down. In moonlight coming through a window, she saw an almost solid apparition of a thin woman with her hair in a bun, and wearing an old fashioned dress and apron, her hand resting on the banister.      The daughter told Stonehouse that rather than fear, she felt calm and relaxed and sure the apparition was the old lightkeeper's wife, perhaps checking on the occupants of this house to determine if they were a threat to the light. She said prior to the encounter, she had felt uneasy when visiting the light, but now felt relaxed and  welcome on her visits.      The Sanilac County Historical Museum in Port Sanilac is located in the former Loop-Harrison mansion. According to the museum's website, Ada Harrison was the daughter of Dr. Joseph Loop who built the house, moving in after its completion in 1875. Ultimately, she and her husband moved into the house, where she raised her children, taught music, did community projects. One night in 1925 a man driving his Model T without working headlights, struck and killed Ada as she was crossing the road in front of the mansion. She thus became Sanilac County's first automobile fatal traffic accident victim.      It is said that sometimes at night, motorists driving past the mansion have spotted Ada walking in her green flowing dress attempting unsuccessfully to cross the road. Service people working around the mansion have also reported seeing her image pacing back and forth at the window of her upstairs bedroom contemplating the scene of her demise.      Further north, in what was then the port of  Forester, according to www.prairieghosts.com, Minnie Quay was 15-years-old when she jumped off the town pier into Lake Huron in the spring of 1876 a few days after receiving word that a ship carrying a sailor she had fallen in love with, had gone down.  The town, in general and her parents in particular had disapproved of the affair and she had been forbidden to see the sailor. She was said to have been heartbroken after his death because she had not even been allowed to tell him goodbye on his last visit to the port.      According to legend, her ghost has been seen walking the Lakeshore near Forester crying mournfully for the spirit of her lost love and several young women have reported over the years that Minnie had beckoned to them to join her in the icy waters of the lake!      The remains of the schooner Hunter Savidge lie in 150 feet of water north-east of Point Aux Barques, put there by a "white squall" at about 4 o'clock August 20, 1899. The wife and daughter of the boat's owner and Rose Sharpsteen, affectionately called "Ma" by her husband, the vessel's captain, Fred Sharpsteen of Sebewaing, were in cabins below deck. Sharpsteen's son, John, 16, was a member of the crew. He and another crew member at first surfaced in the water but were pulled under by their heavy boots and perished. The aft section of the boat remained afloat, probably because of air trapped there and possibly in the cabins.  Captain Sharpsteen felt the women could still be alive in the cabin. There had been precedent for such survival. He and the surviving crew were picked up by an upbound steamer, whose captain refused to devote any time or effort to trying to rescue the women. In fact, he transferred the survivors to another downbound steamer to be dropped off at Sand Beach. A subsequent search by life saving station crews failed to find any sign of the vessel being still afloat, despite reports from other ships claiming to have seen the schooner still floating up to four days later.    For months, Captain Sharpsteen was said to have walked the shoreline in vain search of his wife, muttering only "Ma's out there somewhere," to anyone who encountered him. The bodies were never recovered.  But, for years afterward, some sailors insisted they had seen the ghostly stern of the vessel, still suspended by the air trapped in the cabins and hull, in fog, floating aimlessly randomly according to the winds and currents. And, Ma, is still out there…somewhere.     Footnote Hear the factual story of the Point Aux Barques life-saving crew disaster during Huron City Musems  Pioneer Day June 16th,2007. Debra Jett of Chicago, a member of the Life Saving Heritage Association has done extensive research of official records of the incident and will present her findings in a 1:00 pm presentation.