The Christmas Tree Girls

The Christmas Tree Girls was inspired by a true story from 1912 Chicago. Captain Schuenemann and the Christmas Tree Ship is legend in Chicago. His wife Barbara, and their three daughters, Elsie and the twins Hazel and Pearl became known as The Christmas Tree Girls. First introduced in this author's last book, 'Flowers For the Season'; now go on a new adventure with Elsie, Hazel and Pearl. Will there be a Christmas miracle? Perfect for the holidays or any time of the year.

The Christmas Tree Girls is a fictional novel inspired by true events that happened in 1912 Chicago. Will there be a Christmas miracle? Fourteen orphans, the city’s first city Christmas Tree and Santa Claus are all counting on it.

The Real Story of The Christmas Ship and the Christmas Tree Girls:

In the late 1800s two brothers, Herman and August Schuenemann moved to Chicago, Illinois with a business idea in mind to cash in on the new Christmas Tree trend. For years the brothers grew a profitable business and became well known in the city of Chicago as the Christmas Tree Ship Captains! Every year people would go to the docks, Pier 59 on Clark Street to purchase their tree from the Schuenemann’s. Then, in November of 1898 August Schuenemann went down with a load of Christmas trees bound for Chicago when it encountered a vicious storm near Glencoe, Illinois. There were no survivors.

Herman, Augusts’ younger brother, continued on with the family business. He became known as Captain Santa. Herman’s wife assisted her husband with the business as she could. They had three daughters at home. Elsie was the eldest and then a set of twins, Hazel and Pearl.

Herman and Barbara Schuenemann were doing well when in November of 1912 tragedy struck again. Herman’s schooner, the Rouse Simmons, aka The Christmas Tree Ship, went down during a storm off the coast of Two Rivers, Wisconsin on their way back to Chicago with a full load of Christmas Trees.

Now, it was up to Barbara and the girls, who Chicagoans affectionately named the Christmas Tree Girls. The girls began using trains to transport the trees as reported in one of the newspaper articles below.

Herman and his brother August had begun a tradition of giving away all the excess trees to the needy families. The girls continued that tradition until the 1930s.

At the time of Herman’s ship wreck little was found. Trees and some wreckage was the only thing that washed ashore or was ever found in the waters.

Finally, in 1971 scuba divers finally located the Rouse Simmons that had sank all the years ago.

Herman Schuenemann: 1865-1912

Wife: Barbara Schindel Schuenemann 1865-1933

Daughter Elsie 1892-1950

Daughter Hazel 1898-1969

Daughter Pearl 1898-1991

Below are some of the newspapers articles from the incredible true story of the Christmas Tree Girls.

The schooner had not been seen in four days and then it was thought to have been spotted!

Reported by the Inter Ocean Newspaper, Chicago, November 30, 1912.

This apparently was the last sighting. The following article comes to us via The Chicago Tribune just days later on December 5th, 1912

All that washed ashore was the Christmas Trees and a bit of wreckage from the ship. Chicago Tribune, Dec. 11, 1912

In November of 1913, the following year, the newspapers reported to the citizens of Chicago that the Christmas Ship would be back!

Then, as in our story, the Christmas Tree girls decide to use the freight trains to continue to supply Christmas trees to the city of Chicago!

An excerpt from "The Christmas Tree Girls"

"As Elsie watched the last of the trees being loaded onto the train she remember the first time her father and Uncle August took her down to the docks at the Clark Street Pier in Chicago when she was just a little girl. That was when they were sailors. Oh, not of great treasure or fighting pirates, but they were captains of the Christmas Tree Ship that brought Christmas trees to the great people of Chicago. People would gather every December at the pier to buy their Christmas tree right there on the docks. It was an annual tradition for many, many years. Now, she and her sisters, the twins, Hazel and Pearl, along with their mother Barbara, were running the business and have found it much safer using the trains."

[...] " The Great Lakes Transport train carrying 79 passengers and more than 3000 Christmas trees bound for Chicago had just entered the tunnel heading into Gilbert’s Pass. The locomotives engineer, Seth Beardsley and the Conductor, Mac McClure had just plowed through what look like fifteen foot snow drifts and feared what awaited them the other side of the dark tunnel."

Will there be a Christmas miracle for the orphans, the Christmas Tree, Santa Claus and the rest of the 79 passengers caught in the avalanche?

Find out! Paperback or kindle and join our Christmas adventure. https://amzn.to/3Teydvt