Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

The Diver and the Janitor: Heroes, Loss, and the Price of Tragedy

• Natalie Zett • Season 3 • Episode 95

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*Content warning: This episode contains a brief mention of suicide*

In this episode of Season 3, I explore two powerful stories from the 1915 Eastland disaster in Chicago that showcase both heroism and devastating loss.

Meet Captain Dan Donovan: Chicago's Hero Diver

I take you into the world of early 20th century Chicago with Captain Dan Donovan, the city's chief diver whose extraordinary career spanned decades. From battling ice-choked waters to maintain Chicago's crucial water infrastructure to his heroic work during the Eastland disaster, Donovan's story is one of incredible bravery and dedication.

 Some highlights from Captain Donovan's remarkable life:

- Recovered 148 bodies from the Eastland disaster

- Served as Chicago's chief diver from 1898

- Known for taking on the most dangerous underwater missions

- Performed an eight-hour continuous dive at 40 feet deep in 1898

- Remained active until his death at age 68 aboard a tugboat

A Love Story Cut Short: John and Fanny Salak

I also share the heartbreaking tale of John and Fanny Salak, a young couple whose story exemplifies a profound truth about the disaster: some people "didn't die on the Eastland, but they died of the Eastland." Married in 1913, their lives were forever changed when the Eastland capsized. Fanny perished in the disaster, and John, unable to bear the loss, followed just days later.

 My Research Approach

- Newspaper archives

- Genealogical records

- Family histories

- Municipal records

- Personal stories

 The episode emphasizes the importance of thorough documentation and proper citations in historical research, drawing inspiration from Elizabeth Schoen Mills' approach: "An ancestor is not a name and a set of dates on a chart. An ancestor was a living, breathing human being with a heart and soul."

Links:


Natalie Zett:

Hello, I'm Natalie Zett and welcome to Flower in the River. This podcast, inspired by my book of the same name, explores the 1915 Eastland disaster in Chicago and its enduring impact, particularly on my family's history. We'll explore the intertwining narratives of others impacted by this tragedy as well, and we'll dive into writing and genealogy and uncover the surprising supernatural elements that surface in family history research. Come along with me on this journey of discovery. Hello, this is Natalie, and I want to mention before we begin this episode. Later on there will be a brief mention of suicide, but I will warn you when that's about to happen, but I want you to be aware of that. Thank you, welcome to season three of Flower in the River podcast. I'm Natalie and if you've been with me for a while, I appreciate you so much and I want to welcome you back. If you're new, well, you're going to wonder very soon what this strange little podcast is all about. Very soon, what this strange little podcast is all about.

Natalie Zett:

It's about one moment in time. Imagine a warm July morning in 1915. Downtown Chicago is alive with chatter and footsteps. At the docks, men, women, children board a ship, laughter mingling with the sounds of the Chicago River. It's a day of excitement. They are going to cross Lake Michigan to attend the Western Electric Company's annual picnic. Then, in an instant, joy turns to chaos. The Eastland. The ship tilts, then it capsizes About seven minutes later. Lives are destroyed, lives are shattered and so many stories left unfinished. Out of that event, the Eastland disaster of 1915, a phoenix arose not from the ashes but from the river. It created a new kind of family, one connected not just by blood but by shared threads of loss and survival. Of that much I'm sure of. So.

Natalie Zett:

After publishing my book about my family's connection to this disaster, I realized my work was far from over. I was troubled by a persistent thought that it was not just enough to keep telling my family's story over and over again, like the rhyme of the ancient mariner. Instead, my family's story opened a door, and on the other side were countless other people with stories waiting to be told, many stories waiting to be told because so many of them had become lost or ignored. Who were these people? Who were these families? Where did they come from? Where did they live, what religious and social circles shaped their lives, who were their friends and associates and, most importantly, what brought them to the Chicago River on that fateful day, july 24, 1915?.

Natalie Zett:

This season Season 3, by the way will continue exploring their lives, since there are so many stories. We'll visit the neighborhoods they called home, sometimes hear the languages they spoke and understand the organizations and the faiths that shaped them. We'll uncover the friendships and the heartbreaks that bound them together and the shared tragedy that forever changed them. Last week was a bit of a sad one. I just concluded two very unforgettable years of monthly webinars with Elizabeth Schoen-Mills through Legacy Family Tree Webinars. Thank goodness we have the recordings to refer to.

Natalie Zett:

I've studied with so many historians and genealogists since returning to genealogy just over 10 years ago, but these classes with Elizabeth Schoen-Mills. Every time I finished one of her webinars I realized how much I didn't know and I think, ah, why didn't I do this sooner? Back when I first discovered Elizabeth's book Evidence Explained a hefty hardcover, about three inches thick I was overwhelmed. About three inches thick I was overwhelmed. I just saw her as this source citation guru and her standards seemed so high that I was sure I'd never reach them. And, true confession, I'm the type who challenges rules just because they exist. You know, it's like those folks who look at Mount Everest, for example, and feel compelled to climb it just because it's there. That's me. Not Mount Everest, though. Rules All those detailed source citations. They felt like homework. I didn't want to do Boring right.

Natalie Zett:

I skipped the source citations when I first created my family tree 10 years ago. That has come back to bite me many times. Just the other night I was cleaning up research on my third great-grandfather's profile and I wondered where exactly did I get his birth record from? No citation meant I couldn't prove a thing. Thankfully I tracked down the original record from a lovely archive in Poland, translated it and gave it a proper citation. You have to think of it as leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for anyone exploring these stories later.

Natalie Zett:

It's true for individual family trees and it's really true for an event like the Eastland disaster, where so much of the history has been let's just say there's been a scattergun approach to documenting it. Way too many citations missing makes it really difficult for a genealogist or a historian because you can't prove a lot of what has been said. But back to Elizabeth Schoenmills, or ESM as she's known. You might think she's just about collecting facts and citing sources. No way, as she puts it this is a quote from her. An ancestor is not a name and a set of dates on a chart soul. They had hopes, dreams, successes, failures, frustrations and joys. If our pursuit of genealogy is going to have any meaning whatsoever, we must get to know each ancestor as a living, breathing human being, their hearts and their souls. Elizabeth's wisdom, along with her source citation standards, they've all become my North Star and my goal for this podcast and for my research.

Natalie Zett:

This season I'll continue sharing more stories from the Eastland disaster, because the other part of my North Star is my own tagline. These people have waited long enough. Let the storytelling continue. So from where I am at this moment, january in Minnesota, we are talking about cold, and so talking about ice seems fitting. Yes, indeed, I'd like you to meet Captain Dan Donovan and introduce you to the world of professional divers in early 20th century Chicago. This snippet of an article is from the Chicago Daily Tribune, january 9th 1912.

Natalie Zett:

Typical Chicago ice scenes, that's I-C-E scenes resulting from zero blast, battling drifts sometimes two and sometimes five feet thick, and then plowing through wide stretches of frozen fields. The tugboat Indiana yesterday fought its way to three of the five cribs in Lake Michigan that supply the city with water. Captain Dan Donovan, chief diver for Chicago, was in charge of the expedition. The tug started out to visit all the cribs but because of the drifted ice and frozen surface of the lake, the progress was so slow that he headed for the shore after landing at the Lakeview, two Mile and Carter Harrison Cribs. Today he will visit the Four Mile and the 68th Street Cribs. At the 4 Mile and the 68th Street Cribs, during the below zero weather with, an extra force of men has been kept at each crib to keep the anchor ice away from the intakes. While there has been no serious trouble thus far, 40 pounds of dynamite have been stored at each crib to be used in blowing out the ice in the event that it clogs the water passages. A compressed air apparatus, which was installed at the two-mile crib last year as an experiment, has proved successful in keeping the intake free. That's the end of the article and you're probably wondering what does that mean? And what's with the dynamite In the context of this article?

Natalie Zett:

Cribs like baby cribs. That actually refers to water intake cribs, which are offshore structures in Lake Michigan or similar bodies of water that house and protect the intake pipes that supplied the fresh water to the city. These cribs were and I think they still are part of Chicago's water supply system and are connected by tunnels to pump stations on shore. The key points are there was a lot of drift and frozen ice. If you've ever been anywhere around the Great Lakes in the United States in the winter well, when we used to have really powerful winters, it can be quite formidable. If you've ever been anywhere around the Great Lakes in the United States in the winter well, when we used to have really powerful winters, it can be quite formidable. And the tugboat Indiana it had to battle heavy ice Drift refers to floating ice on the lake to reach these cribs.

Natalie Zett:

Now, thick ice could block the access to the cribs or clog the intake pipes, and then people in Chicago didn't have water. Each crib houses intake pipes that bring in water from the lake to be treated and distributed as drinking water all this to get a drink of water. And the cribs also required maintenance, of course, to ensure ice and debris didn't clog the intake passages. As Chicago's chief diver Donovan was likely in charge of inspecting the cribs and ensuring they remained functional during harsh winter conditions, his expertise in underwater work was crucial for such dangerous and technical tasks In terms of ice removal methods. In 1912, during extreme cold, that is, way below zero weather additional workers were stationed at each crib to prevent ice from blocking the water intakes. Tools like dynamite oh my goodness and a compressed air apparatus were kept ready to clear ice if it became a serious problem. This article listed several cribs by name, and I guess they were designated by their locations. So they mentioned Two Mile Crib, which was two miles offshore, and a major intake crib, carter Harrison Crib, named after a Chicago mayor, that was located offshore as well. Four-mile and 68-street cribs, located way further from shore, serving other parts of the city's water system. This article illustrates the critical and often hazardous work required to maintain Chicago's water infrastructure during this type of weather. The use of dynamite and compressed air shows how innovative yet frighteningly risky these operations were in the 20th century.

Natalie Zett:

So I've just introduced you to the daily job of Captain Dan Donovan before diving into his Eastland connection. For those new here, I need to say that I'm sharing my real-time research process. I report on what I find and I also report on what I don't find, which is why I call these weekly stories sketches. They are just the beginning and not a final product. As is often the case, I will find additional information after I publish the podcast. Then I add this additional information to my website because my website has really become a repository for so many of these stories and eventually that information will be put together in official research notes and will serve as part of the history for the Eastland disaster people.

Natalie Zett:

My research approach is actually very straightforward and I always start with a quick search of Eastland-related websites and I always start with a quick search of Eastland-related websites. Then I end up scouring newspapers and books and other publications for additional details. Usually, google Books or Hathatrust is where I go and I've had a lot of luck that way and in tandem I create a family tree for each individual whose life story I'm sharing here, because I want to get a better understanding of their lives and their connections and, amazingly enough, you can lay out a good framework to be built upon or corrected or added or deleted from later. In Captain Dan's case, when I was researching websites, I found one partial article online, but without footnotes or source citations. It wasn't usable, so I had to move on. Thankfully, through newspapers, books and genealogical research, I uncovered a wealth of information about Dan by the end of this episode, hopefully you'll have a clearer picture of who Dan Donovan was. But it's far from an open and shut case. Let me start with the end.

Natalie Zett:

This is Dan's obituary. This is from the Chicago Daily News, wednesday, august 29th 1923. Headline Hero of Eastland Dies. Captain Donovan, who recovered 148 bodies, falls dead.

Natalie Zett:

Chief of City's Diver often had defied quote-unquote Davy Jones. When Captain Daniel Donovan, hero diver who recovered 148 bodies after the Eastland disaster, went down for a second time in the waters of Indian Lake two years ago, he said I have had a real look at Davy Jones' locker. I am thankful, in spite of all the chances I have given him, I never had to go there. Captain Donovan will never again have to worry about Davy Jones. His grave will be on dry land, as he often hoped. He was struck down by heart disease this morning aboard the municipal tugboat Carter H Harrison, docked at the Kinsey Street Bridge while he was conversing with three other captains in the employ of the Department of Public Works, often defied Davy Jones. The aged captain just turned 68, risked Davy Jones' locker times without number for the city of Chicago, in whose diving service he had been since 1898.

Natalie Zett:

Perhaps none of his exploits, even the brilliant, self-regardless work he did below the capsized Eastland was more daring than a half-forgotten exploit. That took place in 1901, when the cofferdam of the new Division Street Bridge was being repaired in a six-foot tunnel so filled with pipes and conduits that it was impossible to stand upright. Donovan even then hardly a young man. Donovan, even then, hardly a young man accomplished a feat then described as the most daring in the history of city construction work. In the foul, ill-smelling water of the Ogden Canal, he built a bulkhead which kept the water from reaching the part of the tunnel under the cofferdam, saving the city many thousands of dollars. He was supplied with air from a rubber pipe, the slightest puncture in which meant death Many times. He was so placed that he could not be pulled directly to the surface in case of accident. Donovan did this work voluntarily because quote he loved danger. When he came through unscathed, city engineer Erickson asserted he should have never taken responsibility of permitting him to make the attempt Promoted after Eastland work.

Natalie Zett:

From then until after the Eastland disaster, donovan was the star of the city's diving forces. After he again proved himself a hero on that historic day, he was put in charge of the cribs and the divers of the Department of Public Works and ever afterwards known as Captain, a title of which he was tremendously proud. When Sam R Pace Jr, son of a wealthy South Bend insurance man, was drowned in Indian Lake after his canoe capsized in April 1921, donovan, although 66 years old, insisted on diving for the body. Then it was when he decided he preferred to meet his fate on land. This morning, active as ever, captain Donovan was demonstrating a nautical principle to his colleagues Captains Thomas Ward, edwin S Warner and Joseph Warner. Suddenly he put his hand to his head and sank to the deck. By the time a physician could be summoned, he was dead.

Natalie Zett:

For those who aren't familiar, davy Jones' Locker is a maritime metaphor for the bottom of the sea. Often used to describe a sailor's death or a shipwreck, it evokes the idea of being lost to the ocean's depths, a feared fate among seafarers and divers. In this context, the phrase underscores Captain Donovan's daring nature and his frequent brushes with death while diving, particularly in dangerous and life-threatening situations. And this passage paints Donovan as a fearless and selfless figure who repeatedly risked his life, defying the metaphorical pull of Davy Jones' locker to serve the city of Chicago. His work like building the bulkhead in the hazardous Ogden Canal and diving into the capsized Eastland highlights his extraordinary bravery and skill. The phrase amplifies the peril he faced and his almost mythic defiance of a death that seemed to lurk in every dive. So hopefully you're getting an idea of who Dan Donovan was, but we've got more evidence and more tributes to him.

Natalie Zett:

This article is from a publication called the Municipal Employees of Chicago Quarterly Bulletin. Date is 1923. Mr Donovan was the first diver to reach the Eastland when it turned over in the river at Clark Street Bridge. His work at that time will long be remembered. At the time he was called upon to open up the various staterooms to remove those drowned and from which escape was impossible until the doors were battered by axe or saw. Many men less in years were unable to stand the gruesome sights met with on that occasion and time after time when they would give up the task, dan Donovan would don the diving suit and descend into the hull of death to continue the search until all parts of the ship were explored and the last body removed. Modesty had always prevented him from speaking of his daring and up until almost the day of his death he would undertake any work requiring his services underwater. His sterling honesty and the fact that he could be absolutely depended upon to ascertain the true facts of conditions underwater, and his skill as a mechanic and ability to cope with all conditions which confronted him made his work for the city all the more valuable. He is survived by his sons, john Edward, william and George, and his daughters Minnie and Gussie, and this article was written by FJ McDonough.

Natalie Zett:

Here's an article from the Chicago Tribune, monday July 26, 1915. So this is just a couple of days after the Eastland disaster. This is a snippet, I should say, of an article Headline Tangled in Wreckage. Captain Donovan, city diver who has spent a good share of his time underwater for the last 20 years, also told of being tangled in the wreckage. Wire and rope caught his feet. He managed to keep his air tube free for the five minutes it took him to extricate himself. Hugh Brown, another diver, told of having been up to his neck in a mud pocket on the bottom. Weighed down by his leaded-soled shoes, his helmet and with slugs of lead over his shoulder, he sank as in quicksand. It took five men to drag him out of the pocket. It just tells you the danger that these people were in as they tried to perform rescue or recovery. The day of the Eastland. One more article from the Municipal Employees of Chicago Quarterly Bulletin, 1923. York on December 3rd 1855, and died at his home, 246 North Washtenaw Avenue, august 29th 1923.

Natalie Zett:

In his early teens he was employed by Lackawanna Railroad in his hometown, going through the various positions until he became a locomotive engineer in their service. In 1889, he moved with his family to Chicago and was employed by the Dunham Towing and Wrecking Company as an engineer. After service in their repair shops he was assigned as engineer of the well-known tug Morford. At that time the marine shipping to Chicago consisted largely of sailing vessels carrying cargo and lumber to the Chicago market, and the river tug was an important element in handling these vessels to the various wharves and to the lake after their cargo was discharged. While waiting for a tow, the various tugs would often tie up to the old two-mile crib, and it was at this point that Mr Donovan became acquainted with the Chicago water supply system. After being an engineer on the tug Morford for about six years, he returned to the shops of the Dunham Towing and Wrecking Company where he engaged in performing diving work for their various wrecking or ship salvaging expeditions. The first work he performed in this line for the city was during his employment with the wrecking company, at which time the company was under contract with the city to dome over a shaft in Lake Michigan at the extension of the Lakeview Tunnel to the new Lakeview Crib. This work required considerable nerve and skill on account of the depth of the shaft and the hazards connected with the work, and following its completion about May 1st 1898, mr Donovan was employed by the city to look after all the diving work and was assigned to the lake cribs and tunnels. His first work after being employed by the city consisted of removing bulkheads and making tunnel connections on the 68th Street tunnel system in 1898, at which time he made a record of eight hours of continuous work underwater in a shaft 40 feet deep.

Natalie Zett:

We know a lot about Captain Dan Donovan's personality and what drove him. His origins actually remain a mystery inviting further investigation. This is what comes from, by the way, doing a family tree for someone, and I found a lot of interesting things that didn't quite line up. First of all, there's a question of his age. The 1880 and 1900 census lists his birth year as 1851, but the 1910 census pushes it to 1855. Meanwhile on find a grave, they have his birth date as 1868. So, right there, there's a lot of discrepancy. Why did that happen? We don't know. Then there's his birthplace. So, as we just heard in this obituary, he was allegedly born in Oswego, new York. However, when I looked at his family tree, the places of his birth are inconsistent, listing Ireland, england and Wales along with New York. But the census records throughout the years noted that he was a naturalized citizen, which means he was not born in the United States. I'm not sure why the New York birthplace was added to his obit, but that's another mystery of this. Well, we do know he was married to Catherine and he had at least eight children.

Natalie Zett:

And his career trajectory is also fascinating. In 1880, he worked as a railroad fireman, by 1900, he was a submarine diver, and in 1910, he's listed as a marine engineer. He's listed as a marine engineer. These roles, all of these roles, speak to a life deeply connected to machinery, water and danger. So this is just a beginning for Captain Dan Donovan. Even though we have these articles and all of this information, what we need to do now is an exhaustive amount of research about his life. But, discrepancies aside in terms of his birth date and where he was from. Captain Dan Donovan really was a hero, and that contrasts very sharply with Arthur Loeb, somebody I profiled many episodes ago, who declared himself as a hero of the Eastland, but he was anything but that.

Natalie Zett:

Now I'd like to shift gears and share another story, one that again has only partially or I should say barely told, but it deserves to be heard in its entirety. It's a vital thread in the larger Eastland story. About 25 years ago, I met a woman who, like me, lost family in the Eastland disaster. She spoke about other relatives who survived it, but their lives unraveled shortly afterward. What she said has stayed with me ever since, and I even added that quote to my book. She said they didn't die on the Eastland, but they died of the Eastland.

Natalie Zett:

Today, I want to introduce you to a couple whose story embodies that sentiment One who died on the Eastland and the other who died of it. This story includes a mention of suicide, so I want to give you a heads up and, as always, please feel free to skip this part. Just take care of yourself. I uncovered this story by sifting through old newspapers. Story by sifting through old newspapers. And while this couple is listed on Find a Grave. The details are sparse and, to top it off, the exact location of their burial remains something of a mystery, something else to explore. Here I'm going to read the obituary from the July 31st 1915 issue of the Chicago Tribune. Mrs Fanny Salick, 2644 South Kildare Avenue, was buried in Resurrection Cemetery Tuesday. Her husband, john, a janitor in the Western Electric Company, was buried soon after a broken-hearted suicide. He and his wife had been on the Eastland together. Mrs Salick's grave was widened to receive her husband's body.

Natalie Zett:

And please remember John and Fanny Salick. They weren't just casualties At one point. They were living people with hopes and dreams and a fairly new marriage. John Salek was born in 1878 in Luchi Zielinski, slovakia, and he was the son of Susan and John. I'm not sure when he immigrated to the United States, but he was working for Western Electric, and on November 15th 1913, he married Fanny Blazik in Chicago. He tragically passed away on July 28th 1915 in Chicago at the age of 37.

Natalie Zett:

Fanny Blazik was born in 1884, likely in either Czech Republic or Slovakia. She was the daughter of Joseph and before her marriage she worked as a domestic in Chicago. And of course, fanny's life was cut short on the Eastland on July 24th 1915, at just 31 years old. So let's go back a little bit. I don't have too much on John, but he hailed from Lucci, which is spelled like Lucky, a village in eastern Slovakia, and it was first mentioned in the archives in 1366. With a population of about 1,700, lucci historically has been home to both Roman Catholics and Lutherans. Just to let you know, in these old records from Slovakia the religions of the people were very important and they often listed those as part of their demographics. And also, here's a little tidbit Lucci is just 73 miles west from my grandfather's village of Lusavica, slovakia.

Natalie Zett:

Now I want to continue reading a couple more articles. This one is from the Chicago Tribune, july 29th 1915. The grave in which they buried Mrs Fanny Salek, eastland victim, will be opened or widened today or tomorrow to receive the body of her husband, john Salek. The husband too is an Eastland victim, but one of another sort. His heart broken by the loss of his wife, he committed suicide.

Natalie Zett:

Salek was a janitor in the Western Electric plant at Hawthorne. As a matter of course, he and his wife started on the Hawthorne Club's excursion. They were sitting side by side when the Eastland overturned them into the river. Four hours after he had been rescued, salik sought his wife. What he finally found was her body. Tuesday he buried her in Resurrection Cemetery. Salik's brother, joseph, who lives at 2648 Luther Avenue, accompanied him to his deserted home at 2644 South Kildare Avenue. Let me alone, pleaded Salik. When the brother returned last night. He could not get into the flat With the landlord and a policeman. The door was forced and in the bathroom was found the Eastland widower, one end of a gas tube in his mouth. So what I loved about that article is that this writer also basically expressed the sentiment that this woman that I met so many years ago shared.

Natalie Zett:

John Salek died of the Eastland, not on the Eastland. Is John Salek included in the number of people who were victims of the Eastland disaster? I don't know, but I don't think so. But John and Fanny need to be remembered and although this story ends in heartbreak, it is a testament to the far-reaching devastation of the Eastland disaster and to understand this again. This is why we never lead with numbers, we lead with stories. But we have another conflict here, don't we? We have records that say they were buried. The Saliks were buried in Resurrection Cemetery. Other records say they were buried in Bohemian National.

Natalie Zett:

Again, this one needs further research, as we saw last week in terms of the confusion of who was buried where. I think there were probably a lot of things like that that happened, but they just haven't been explored. And, of course, john could not bear the weight of his grief A lot of people can't after something like this. He might have died seemingly by his own hand, but like my grandmother, I think he was the tragic victim of a broken heart after the Eastland disaster. A broken heart after the Eastland disaster. Their story is also a stark reminder that the ripples of that tragedy extend far beyond the immediate loss, far beyond the time, actually.

Natalie Zett:

I want to close again with the quote that I shared in the intro as a reminder as to why these stories matter. Elizabeth Schoen Mills said an ancestor is not a name and a set of dates on a chart. An ancestor was a living, breathing human being with a heart and a soul. They had hopes, dreams, successes, failures, frustrations and joys, and I want to paraphrase Elizabeth's quote here If our pursuit of the Eastland disaster, history is going to have any meaning whatsoever, we must get to know each of these people as living, breathing human beings, their hearts and their souls.

Natalie Zett:

That's it for now. I'll be back next week with more stories. Take it easy, goodbye, hey. That's it for this episode and thanks for coming along for the ride. Please subscribe or follow so you can keep up with all the episodes, and for more information, please go to my website, that's wwwflowerintherivercom. I hope you'll consider buying my book, available as audiobook, ebook, paperback and hardcover, because I still owe people money and that's my running joke. But the one thing I'm serious about is that this podcast and my book are dedicated to the memory of all who experienced the Eastland disaster of 1915. Goodbye for now.

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