Albin Ohman
Curator and Marketing Coordinator Emily Irwin submitted this article on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Sunday, November 11, 2018, marked both Veterans Day and the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. In that spirit, I thought I would share with you the story of Albin Ohman, a longtime Ephraim resident who served in the Army during World War I.
Albin was born in 1894 to Thure and Elise Ohman. The Ohmans lived on a farm, later named “Grandview,” located between Fish Creek and Ephraim. Albin left home and worked as a laborer for a time before he returned to Door County around 1913 to work in the construction business.
Military Service
In April 1917 the United States entered World War I. Albin was drafted in August of that year. He was first sent to Camp Custer in Michigan and worked as a cook for a short time. Later, he was a member of the 59th Spruce Squadron, part of the Spruce Production Division (SPD). The SPD provided lumber for the production of military aircraft and was based out of the Pacific Northwest. The SPD also constructed and equipped railroad tracks for the lumber’s transportation.
A 1974 Door County Advocate article written by Keta Steebs commemorated Ohman’s 80th birthday by highlighting his military service: “…Albin spent the rest of his service career inserting piston rings in locomotives. Not an exceptionally glamorous undertaking, he admits, but better than being in France, where one irate lieutenant threatened to send him, saying “you’ll be pushing up daisies in three weeks.”
When the war ended in 1919, Albin returned to Door County and married Hazel Johnson. They had four daughters. He continued construction work in and around Ephraim and built Motel Enchanteau near Peninsula State Park. Reporter Steebs wrote that Albin’s daughters “have learned that a man who can cook, clean, can, garden, stonemason, carpenter, wire, plumb, paint, write, lay bricks, and do cabinet work doesn’t need much more than the time of day from anybody.”
Albin Ohman passed away on November 21, 1986, at the age of 92 and is buried in the Bethany Lutheran Cemetery in Ephraim. To see a collection of family photographs and genealogical information about the Ohman family contact the Ephraim Historical Foundation.
