Waterlines 21 August v2

Waterlines, August 2021
E. Murray, who brought with them a
disLnguished visitor from Chicago.
Montague and Murray were the most acLve
figures of the Lme on Grand Traverse Bay,
leaders among the seven founders of the
waterfront We-Que-Tong Club in 1894 and
energeLc boosters of all things Traverse City.
Joseph Aiken Montague was the second of
three brothers who grew up on Old Mission
Peninsula on land seGled from their father's
original homestead claim. His older brother
Herbert Montague was the most renowned
of the siblings as the General Manager of
Hannah-Lay's "big store" on Front Street
while his younger brother Victor Montague
started as a farmer but taught himself
10 the skills of boatbuilding and naval
architecture. J. A. Montague built his
own business as a hardware merchant,
specializing in what would now be known as
household appliances, located on Front
Street. Through the 1890s and the first
decade of the 20th century, J. Aiken
Montague commissioned a series of sailing
yachts designed and built by his brother for
racing and cruising both locally and around
Lake Michigan and into Lakes Superior and
Huron.
Charles E. Murray was a transplant to the
Grand Traverse region, having spent his youth
in Maine and then heading to the Midwest to
find his fortune. In 1892, Murray arrived as
the chief agent for the Grand Rapids &
Indiana Railroad in Traverse City. In this era,
the business of a local railroad execuLve was
not just keeping the "trains running on Lme",
but was negoLaLng local freight contracts,
speculaLng on real estate throughout the
region on behalf of the railroad, and
encouraging the growth of travel into the
region. Charles Murray was a sportsman as
well, a sailor and hunter from his youth,
interested as well in the rapidly evolving
technology of small powered yachts in the
1890s. One of Murray's greatest strengths
was that of an organizer -- earning his
nickname “Commodore" Murray for his
efforts in planning the original We-Que-Tong
Annual RegaGa in 1894. Together, Murray
and Montague were the most influenLal men
on the waters of Grand Traverse Bay of their
Lme.
The visitor from Chicago that came to Dick
BasseG's Island with Montague and Murray
was Charles H. Thorne, the secretary of the
Chicago Yacht Club. The 30-year-old Thorne
was the second son of the co-partner &
founder of Montgomery Ward & Company
and the nephew of Montgomery Ward
Charles H. Thorne in retirement some 30
years after purchasing Bassett Island for the
Chicago Yacht Club