The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1921-11-24
OBITUARY

| his home at Seventh street and Cleve-
land avenue last Friday. He was
born at Valders, Norway, Septem-
Der 20, 1882, and came to America,
and directly to Manitowoc in 1851,
arriving July 9th. He was married in
1857 to Ragnild Qvale, who died in
1879. Of family of six of this mar
riage, two daughters survive, Mrs.
Thomas K. Torrison of this city and
Mrs. Nils Omsted of Stoughton. He
was married again in 1880 to Mary
Aubol, who with a daughter, Mrs.
William w. Glascoch of Minneapolis,
survives. Three grandchildren also
survive, Anker o. Torrison, lawyer
at Cut Bank, Montana, and Karl and
Rolf Omsted of Stoughton.
For a time after coming to this
county, Captain Tostenson was en-
Iployed in tannery at Two Rivers
but early took to the Great Lakes like
so many of his compatriots. He was
successfully part owner and master
of the schooners Experiment, FL Tenn
po, A. P. Nichols and the steamer
Henry C. Richards. He severed his
connections with marine affairs in
1890 and resided on a farm between
here and Two Rivers until few years
ago when he moved into this city.
The funeral was held Sunday af-
ternoon from the home with Rev. E..
A. Boyd of the First Lutheran
church officiating. Interment was
in Evergreen cemetery.
Captain Tostenson was typical of
the men who became leaders in pion-
eer society. He just naturally as
sumed leadership and wrung a fine
competence from the stubborn wa
ters of the great fresh water seas,
where many weakling failed, and he
left it largely in local real estate hold
ings. He was square and no man
ever said he wronged him or took an
unjust penny. The habits of thrift,
Inecessitated by the early struggles,
he never lost but what he had was
his own, earned by his own intelli-
gence, initiative, industry, skill and
daring. The habit of relying on and
acting on his own judgment he car
ried to the end. This was Man.
There are but few, if any, of his kind
| lingering from long past genera
ton, and the country is not the bet
ter for that.
Captain Timothy Kelley was rem
iniscing yesterday on Captain Tosten-
son. He said that there are but few
left hereabouts who can even appre-
ciate what it means to say that the
late vesselman was a first class ship
master and he tried to make his audi
tors understand by this narrative:
Like every good shipmaster Captain
Tostenson could rise to any emergen-
cy, and in a crisis perform feats of
courage and seamanship upon the sue
cess of which THE lives of himself and
his crew, and sometimes his own life's
savings, depended. | will relate one
such occasion. In 1854 / was
member of the crew of the schooner,
Experiment, of which Cautain Tos-
tenson was master and largely own
Ter. We came down the lake from
Chicago "a sailor always calls north
down" on Lake Michigan) and when
we arrived off Manitowoc, try to pic
ture the situation. A sol theast gale
was blowing, a terrific sea was roll
ing. 1t was midnight. The river
mouth was still in its natural condi-
tion The only guide beacon was the
government tower light on the high
ground at York and Fifth streets.
The channel at the river mouth was
narrow and shallow. The captain had
the alternatives of running down the
lake before the gale, which might be
safer temporarily but in the end in
crease the danger, or trying to hit
that hole in the sand in the dark.
There was no gasoline auxiliary, no
tug, no pier head light, in fact no
harbor piers. He had to bring the
schooner around, put her accurately
into that entrance. A miscalculation
of few yards meant disaster to his
property and perhaps to all of us.
Well, he brought his ship, his cargo
and us into the Manitowoc river that
wild, black midnight, keeping fair
ly big spread of canvas on her to
Jump her over the bar, and we tied
up in the quiet harbor and went
home. 1t was all in the days work.
and the captain would have scorned
any attempt to make a heroic Incl
dent of it. 1t was one of many a per-
formance requiring the courage, de-
cision, iron nerve, sixth sense of ac-
curate location and superb seaman
ship which he and the best of his kind
exhibited when the occasion for them
arose."
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