by Claire Lindell

In the early half of the twentieth century Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio was a thriving port on Lake Erie. The Great Lakes were humming with cargo ships, barges and freighters moving slowly up and down the waterway delivering supplies.

One evening a young man of twenty or so stood on the shore and pondered his future. He was certain about one thing. He did not want to remain in the Harbor and become a dock worker like several of his uncles. He yearned to see what lay beyond. Where were all these ships going? What would it be like to live and work aboard ship? Where would it take him? His whole life lay ahead of him.

Alpo Hjalmar Lindell was the seventh child of eight children, born on November 9, 1917 to Johan Hjalmar Lindell, the Harbor blacksmith and Court interpreter. His mother, Ida Susanna Karhu, was a local activist in the Temperance Movement.

Alpo decided to become a merchant marine and fulfill his dreams The job description  stated clearly that it was an arduous, tedious and strenuous occupation. Seaman worked long lonely hours swabbing decks, lifting heavy cargo, polishing brass. They were the custodians of the ship. Their responsibility was to see that everything aboard remained in “ship shape”.

Click to open a new window to view a current job description:

Job Description

which is not that much different than it would have been back in the 40s, 50s and 60s.

The first indication that Alpo became a merchant marine was  on September 12, 1944 . His name appears on a departure Passenger List in the Panama Canal, Cristobal Canal Zone. He was twenty-six years old.

Later at the age of thirty-one he is on an Immigration and Emigration List leaving Copenhagen, Denmark on June 18, 1948, destination, New York City.

A third document  showed that in 1950 he was working much closer to home on board the “Cletus Schneider”, a long sleek freighter on the Great Lakes as third Assistant Engineer.

Cletus Scneider on the Great Lakes

Information about Alpo  between 1950 and the middle 60s is mostly hearsay. We do know he continued to work as a merchant marine.

Over the years he fulfilled his dreams. After more than twenty years as a seaman he could no longer  do the demanding work. He settled in New York City, a city he knew well.

In New York City he would occasionally have a short visit  with  one  of his older brothers who visited the city regularly on company business.  They would meet and chat briefly at Grand Central Station. Alpo would leave with a few extra dollars in his pocket and make his way back to the Bowery.

It was shortly after such an occasion on April 6^th, 1968 that perhaps he flashed money, settled debts,  or paid a round for his ‘friends’ that he was rolled and later found dead. He was only fifty years old! A broken man.

At the time of Alpo’s death the authorities could not locate any family members. He was buried on Hart Island in a pauper’s grave.

Shortly thereafter, his brother was made aware of Alpo’s tragic death. The brother had the body exhumed and brought back to Ashtabula where he was given a proper burial. He lies in Edgewood Cemetery close to his parents.

That brother was my father.

We are all our brothers’ keepers.

Sources: found on Ancestry

1920 United States Federal Census CENSUS & VOTER LISTS

1930 United States Federal Census CENSUS & VOTER LISTS

1940 United States Federal Census CENSUS & VOTER LISTS    Click to view

New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1945 IMMIGRATION & TRAVEL

New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 IMMIGRATION & TRAVEL

U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 SCHOOLS, DIRECTORIES & CHURCH HISTORIES

Note: Alpo’s older brother, Karl,   left home to study when Alpo was only six years old. They hardly knew each other and their paths did not cross for many years. Karl moved to Canada and became a successful Mining Engineer.

Author: Jim Caputo

Photos: Courtesy of Jim Caputo

 Located in the very heart of the city of Gaspé lies an ancient burial ground — the O`Hara Cemetery. No one knows for certain how many souls were interred in this place. What is certain is that for many years the site was neglected, left to grow up in brush and weeds. Through the efforts of Heritage Gaspé/Héritage Gaspésie the area was cleaned of debris and brought to its present condition. Take the opportunity to visit the spot and view the graves of some of our early settlers and think back in time to Gaspé of yesteryear.

The O’Haras of Gaspe

The O’Hara’s, one of the earliest settlers of the Gaspé Basin area, arrived in Gaspé in 1765. Felix, his wife Martha and family settled on land long known as O’Hara’s Point. Their other holdings included lands that make up much of the centre of present day Gaspé Village. Felix, as well as being a prosperous land owner, played a prominent role in laying the foundations of the Gaspé communities, being made a Justice of the Peace, becoming the second Collector of Customs for the port of Gaspé, and being appointed Judge of the District of Gaspé in 1777. He also helped protect the coast from attacks during the American Revolution, and at the end of hostilities helped to survey and distribute lands to the United Empire Loyalists who came to Douglastown and New Carlisle.

As well as the efforts of Felix, other members of this family also played an important role in the development of early Gaspé. Of his sons Oliver, became Collector of Customs at Carleton; Edward represented Gaspé in the first legislature of Lower Canada (Quebec), served in the British army, and was appointed the Governor of the Island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean; Henry the youngest son, was Collector of Customs for many years and was also a Justice of the Peace and surveyor; Hugh, Collector of Customs in Gaspé, through his compassionate efforts in helping immigrants sick with fever, caught the fever himself and died as a result. The O’Hara’s also supported the development of education, the establishment of Churches, and served in local militias.

Of the original grave markers only those of Felix O’Hara (the patriarch of the O’Hara family), who died in 1805, Mary Stuart, wife of Henry O’Hara, who died in 1838, and Jane Chevalier, who died in 1848, exist today. It is believed that other members of the O’Hara family may have been buried at this site. It is also believed that others outside of the family were buried here as well.

                                                                           After the clean up.