Are you an anonymous reader?
[Updated December 12, 2008]

Would you please let me know if you enjoy reading this blog?

I would truly love a quick email simply letting me know that you're reading my stories. If I hear from you I will add you to my update email -- about once a month I send an email with a summary of updates to the irishtree blog.

My email is jeffducklow comcast.net. Please insert the "@" between my name and comcast.net

Thanks, Jeff

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Charles Ducklow as an Inventor
[Updated November 30, 2008]

At the very start of the 1900s only half of the households in the United States had an icebox to keep food cool, while the other half of the nation had no cooled storage at all. The issue of icebox ownership was not necessarily the cost of an icebox itself, but rather the recurring cost of ice. Ice was expensive because it had to either be cut from ponds, lakes or rivers or manufactured by an industrial process. Once made or harvested, it was stored until needed, and then delivered regularly by an ice service for a fee.


Right: Three icebox models
Photo Source: Wikipedia Source




Those that owned iceboxes needed to pay close attention to the size of the ever-shrinking ice block that kept their food cool. The need to monitor the rate at which ice was melting was important chore to prevent food spoilage. Not having enough ice would result in too warm of temperatures and cause high bacteria counts and lead to illness and rotten food. Ordering ice too early was a waste of both ice and money; and too much ice in the cooler had the unintended consequence of making parts of the icebox into a freezer.

Apparently accurate ice monitoring was problematic. Once you purchased a block of ice it was difficult to gauge how fast the block was shrinking. A simple visual inspection of the block was often a poor method because one could not recall the size of the block from prior inspections.

Charles Ducklow [see footnote] pondered this issue in depth. He and two of his associates saw the need for a mechanical solution to measure how much ice had melted over time. So in about 1906 or so, Charles, Martin Kiev, and Herman Jaeger invented a mechanism to measure ice shrinkage by means of weighing. Knowing the rate of shrinkage would in-turn allow one to more accurately gauge a schedule for replenishing the ice block.

The three men thought their idea was cleaver and unique enough to be patented. They described their concept, completed the application papers and submitted all to the U.S. Patent office. Collectively, they no doubt saw the possibility of that their patent might be picked-up by an icebox manufacturer. If this came to be, the sale of either the patent outright or negotiated royalties from the patent use could have produced a nice income for the three men.

The news that a U.S. Patent was issued to the men was reported in the Waukesha Freeman newspaper on February 28, 1907 [see footnote]. However, this is where the story seems to end. There is no located evidence that anything came from their patented idea. This is often the case with patents. Patented ideas are often unique solutions to problems, but other solutions also exist which can be used at either lower manufacturing or business cost. Getting a patent issued is not an approval by the government that your idea is best and should be used in a product, but rather just a recognition by the government that you were the first to describe the idea and have therefore have rights regarding the use of the idea.

The need for measuring ice shrinkage in an icebox had a market window of about thirty years. By the late 1920s the General Electric Company had designed an electric refrigerator for the masses. The "Monitor-Top" refrigerator introduced in 1927 became widely accepted as they were priced at about $300. Many middle-class American’s could afford them. Some utility companies who were eager for increased electric use offered them to households on $10 a month installment plan built into their monthly bill. Over one million units of GE's Monitor-Top were produced, with the last models sold in the late 1930s. Apparently Monitor-Tops were built so well that hundreds, or perhaps even thousands of the units are still functional today.

Left: GE 1920s Era "Monitor-Top" Refrigerator
The mechanism was on top to allow the considerable heat
to radiate up away from the box
Photo Source: Wikipedia Source

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Source: http://www.antiqueappliances.com/monitor_top_refrigerators.htm link
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator link
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebox link

Footnote: Waukesha Freeman, Feb 28, 1907, page 3: “Charles Ducklow, Martin Kiev and Herman Jaeger last week received letters patent for a new and useful improvement for refrigerators by the initial weight of ice and amount consumed may be registered the object of invention being to provide a registering means whereby the initial weight of ice deposited therein is indicated the register mechanism being so arranged as to show thereafter the exact amount of shrinkage of the ice caused through atmospheric conditions.”

Footnote: The specific Charles Ducklow referenced in the Waukesha Freeman article is not entirely clear. It could easily be one of two Charles Ducklows of the period with connections to the Waukesha area:
(1) It could refer to Charles Ducklow, Thomas and Elizabeth's seventh son, born in 1853. In 1907 Charles was 49 years old, and a well established businessman in Wilton Wisconsin. Charles was also active in the Masons in Wilton, Sparta and LaCrosse, offering him many business connections. He also no doubt maintained relationships with Dodge and Waukesha County residents from his childhood.
(2) The article could also refer to Charles Henry Dukelow, who also used the spelling Charles Ducklow. He was born in 1866, son of Richard Dukelow, Thomas' half-brother; Charles Henry was Thomas and Elizabeth's half-nephew. Charles Henry was about 40 years old in 1907 and known as a carpenter of the Waukesha area. Because of his residence it would seem that is why the Freeman published the the article in reference to him. Another piece of open research.

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Twain Quote

No sinner is ever saved after the first twenty minutes of a sermon.—Mark Twain [1835-1910]

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December Birthday's of the
Descendants & Near Relatives
of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow

(Only those born in the year 1930 or earlier are noted, unless permission given to publish)

Name ................................................. Birth Date .. From Wisconsin County

Fred J HANSON .......................................... 2 Dec 1883 ... Barron
Victor "Vic" Neal DUCKLOW ...................... 4 Dec 1922 ... Pierce
Gunder OSTENSON .................................... 5 Dec 1858 ... Dodge
Lucinda I DUCKLOW OSTENSON ............. 6 Dec 1865 ... Dodge
Leona Pearl BLAIR ...................................... 8 Dec 1925 ... Barron
John "Big John" HANSON .......................... 9 Dec 1854 ... Barron
Deloris Verle HANSON .............................. 15 Dec 1917 ... Barron
Mary A SUCKY DUCKLOW ........................ 15 Dec 1904 ...Brown
Anita E TOGSTAD GOOD ........................... 18 Dec 1912 .. Hart, Georgia
Fern "Fran" CHRISTIANSEN GOOD ......... 19 Dec 1902 .. Ashland
Lyman "Bee" Ware POOL ........................... 21 Dec 1924 .. Ashland
Mary Ann DUCKLOW GALLAGHER ......... 25 Dec 1842 .. Dane
Betty Jane VAN NORTWICK DUCKLOW .. 27 Dec 1922 .. Pierce
Peter DUKELOW .............................................. Dec 1831 .. Dodge

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St. Paul’s Episcopal Church &
Early Dukelow / Ducklow Family Connections
[Updated Nov. 26, 2008]

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ashippun Township of Dodge County has an integral history with the Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow / Dukelow family. The existing church building, built between 1899-1900, lies about two miles south of the original Ducklow homestead. The roots of the church’s history go back some 50 years prior.

The very beginning of St. Paul’s history apparently starts in February of 1847. This is when Reverend Gustaf Unonius (a Norwegian itinerant pastor) began to minister to a few pioneer families that he called the “Irish settlement at Ashippun River.” The list of families that he noted in church records were:

Henry Johnson family
Samuel Johnson family
Richard Copithorn family
and the
Thomas Sanford family

Above: St. Paul's Episcopal Church - A very handsome building
Church cemetery in background

Photo from Jeff Ducklow Collection; September 2007

Ashippun Township, Dodge County, Wisconsin

What is significant to the Ducklow genealogy regarding Reverend Unonius’ list is that both Henry and Samuel Johnson were Thomas’ step-uncles [see footnote]. To be more precise, they were brothers to Thomas’ stepmother—Nancy Ann Johnson Dukelow. Thomas’ mother Elizabeth died when Thomas was less than ten years old. So Nancy Ann was very likely became a nurturing mother to him during his remaining childhood and early adult years in Ireland.

So Thomas’ step-uncles are considered the first ministered members of what grew into St. Paul’s congregation.

Had the traveling Reverend Unonius made his list just few months later, it very likely would have also included the Thomas and Elizabeth Dukelow family. The land grant date for Thomas’ homestead is August 25, 1847 just a few months after the Reverend's list was written. Considering the date of Rev. Unonius' list and the date of land grant suggests that Thomas and Elizabeth had come to Wisconsin shortly after Thomas’ step-uncles had first found land to claim as homesteads in Ashippun Township.

Also noteworthy regarding the Reverend’s list is Samuel Johnson’s wife, Bettie Copithorn. It seems very likely that Bettie was either a sister or daughter to the Richard Copithorn on the list. The Johnson and Copithorn families were certainly more than casual acquaintances as one might first think.

The links back to the deep roots of St. Paul’s occurs again when Thomas and Elizabeth’s son William Ducklow married Mary Jane Miles in 1883. Some twenty five to thirty years earlier, Mary Jane’s father George Miles was the original benefactor of land for St. Paul’s church and cemetery.

St. Paul’s building seen in the photo above was originally consecrated on June 5, 1900. The officiating minister was the Reverend Isaac Lea Nicholson. It may be just simple coincidence, but Elizabeth Dukelow / Ducklow's maiden name was Nicholson. Was the Reverend Nicholson a relative of Elizabeth's?... Another mystery worth pursuing in the future.

From the pioneer days of the mid 1840s through the early 1910s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church served as the spiritual, worship, and fellowship focus for Thomas and Elizabeth and their family. All ten of Thomas and Elizabeth’s children born in Wisconsin were baptized there [the first four were baptized in New York state]. Son Peter wed Helena Timmel there. And upon their deaths, Thomas and Elizabeth, daughters Francis and Lucinda, and sons Thomas and William were laid to final rest in St. Paul's cemetery [see footnote].

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Source: Ashippun Township History, Clayton Swanton, pages 93-94.
Source: Interview with Clayton Swanton, October 2007 and November 2008

Footnote: The Johnson / Dukelow genealogy source information in this post comes from research records shared by Grant Dukelow Brown. Mr. Brown’s research has been scrupulously accurate when compared to other sources. However this specific relationship that defines Henry and Samuel as Thomas’ step-uncles has yet to be independently verified.

Footnote: St. Paul’s and another area church, St. Olaf’s, have a complex and inter-twined early history. St. Paul's and St. Olaf's lie just a couple of miles apart and both congregations formed in the mid 1800s. Without going into too much detail, it appears that both churches served the Norwegian’s and Irish of the area and either church could have become an Episcopal or Lutheran congregations, but St. Olaf’s eventually called a Lutheran pastor and St. Paul’s became associated with the Episcopal church.

Because the early church congregations were inter-twined and St. Olaf’s had started a cemetery, it is likely that Thomas and Elizabeth’s three infant children are buried in unmarked graves in the St. Olaf’s cemetery before St. Paul’s cemetery existed. St. Olaf’s seems the most likely location for daughters “infant” Elizabeth and “infant” Marie Jane. Infant son George died when the St. Olaf’s cemetery was just started. He may be in an unmarked grave there, or somewhat more likely due to the date of his death, he is buried in an unmarked grave in another burial area a couple miles away. This area was called the “Gasman Cemetery" or "Gasman Burial Grounds.” It never became a frequently used burial place after the St. Olaf’s cemetery was started. And some of the burials in Gasman were moved to St. Olaf's cemetery, but not all, and no records are known of to clarify. Today the Gasman burial grounds are used as a cornfield. The farmer is apparently unaware or blind to the sacred nature of the field. It appears impossible to determine with certainly for lack of records or grave markers where Thomas and Elizabeth's infant children are actually buried.

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FDR Quote

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort. — Franklin D. Roosevelt [1882 - 1945]

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Early Death of Parents
[Updated January 21, 2009]

Sadly, one theme that reoccurs in the greater Ducklow family is the premature death of a parent. There are a numerous stories in the family history where one parent has died before the youngest child has reached the age of fifteen; here are six that occurred near the turn of the twentieth century:

(1) Gunder Ostenson, husband of Lucinda Ducklow Ostenson completed raising their daughter Anna Elizabeth Ostenson when wife Lucinda died from Tuberculosis at age 52 in 1918. Their daughter Anna was 14 years old when her mother died. Anna went on to marry at the young age of 16 to Willard Holman.

(2) Lucinda Ducklow Ostenson was the second wife that Gunder had out-lived. His first wife, Anna Stenson Ostenson, died at age 40 in 1902. Anna left Gunder with three children to raise: Ruth age nine, Hattie age seven, and Edwin age four. As a farmer this was a large burden to bear. His solution was pragmatic: re-marry quickly. Lucinda Ducklow, at age 37, wed Gunder just a few months after his first wife’s death and she immediately took over the role of mother to Gunder’s young children.

(3) John T Ducklow and Kathryn Nicholson may have married for the purpose of raising a semi-orphaned nephew. Kathryn’s sister-in-law, Mary Grooms Nicholson, died when she was in her 30s. She left behind two sons: George, age ten, and Van, age 14. Their father, James Nicholson, was unable to care for his young sons alone after their mother passed. Mary Groom’s parents took in Van. John and Kathryn Ducklow adopted George very shortly after they were married in 1904. This was John’s second marriage as his first wife Blanche Townsend died in 1903. John and Kathryn raised George Nicholson as their own son—they legally adopted him and George's name became George Nicholson Ducklow.


Lynn Shaw Ducklow
Circa 1908, age 2.5 years
Young boys were frequently dressed in a gown to make diaper changing easier. Curls in young boys hair was also popular at this time - there is no explaining hair styles!
Cropped Photo from Deb Ehlers Good Collection




(4) In 1911 Eva Shaw Ducklow had to finish raising her youngest son Lynn [see photo above] alone when Charles died at the age of 58. Lynn was only nine years old when his father died unexpectedly from complications of gallstone surgery. Lynn’s older brothers had reached adulthood: William was 26, Elmer was 22 and Charles Jr. was 20 at the time of their father’s death.

(5) Willis Francis Ducklow, son of Frank Erwin Ducklow and Francis Mary Prine, was born on April 9, 1910. Tragically, seventeen days later his mother died. She was 28 years old. The offical recorded cause of death was measles, but apparently the delivery of Willis was difficult. The combination of a weaken immune system and loss of blood caused her death. Baby Willis was raised by his Grandparents, George and Emma Ducklow, as Frank was not able. They were aged 58 and 57 at the time. Family lore has it that on the hour Willis was being baptized in one church, his mother was being eulogized during her funeral in another church.





Nellie Ducklow LaGrander, circa 1909, about age 28
Son Clair George LaGrander, about age 12
Daughter Isla LaGrander, about age 6
Son George Merle LaGrander, about age 4
Photo from the Esther Northfield Ducklow Collection





(6) George A LaGrander, working as an engineer on a logging train, was fatally injured in a train coupling accident, being crushed between the bumpers of two cars on April 7, 1905. He was taken home and did not realized how badly he was hurt. He "laughed and played with the children until the end came in a few hours" [see footnote]. George was only 30 years old upon his death. He left behind wife Nellie LaGrander nee Ducklow age 28, son Clair George, age 8, and daughter Isla, age 23 months. Nellie was also pregnant with George Merle LaGrander who was delivered seven months after George's death [see family photo above]. About six years later, Nellie wed Albert Davis, in October of 1911. Albert helped Nellie finish raising her children to adulthood.

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Who are these people in relation to the heads of the greater Ducklow family, Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow? Lucinda was Thomas and Elizabeth's 14th and last child. Gunder Ostenson was Lucinda's husband. John T Ducklow was Thomas and Elizabeth's third child and their first son. Kathryn Nicholson was John T's second wife. Charles Ducklow was Thomas and Elizabeth's seventh child. He married Eva Shaw. George Ducklow was the sixth child of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow; George married Emma Hamilton and Frank Erwin was their son, Willis their Grandson. Nellie LaGrander was the first child of George and Emma Ducklow. She married George LaGrander.

Footnote: Quote on George LaGranders last hours came from his obituary published in the Spring Valley Sun April 1905.

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Wright Quote

Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time. — Steven Wright [1955 - Living]

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George Ducklow & Family Winter in Port Angeles, Washington

A Transcontinental Trip
[First Published November 7 2008]
[Most Recent Update November 28, 2010]

George and Emma Ducklow gave their many friends reason to fret over the news in the local paper that they considered moving a great distance away. The September 10, 1902 edition of the Spring Valley Sun reported that the family was going to spend the winter in the city of Port Angeles, Washington [see footnote]. The article said, “… [the Ducklow's] would stay there if suited with the country.” The entire family traveled: George and Emma [ages 51 and 50]; sons Vernon [age 22], Frank [age 17], and Clayton [age 9]; daughter Joise [age 19]. The trip also included daughter Nellie [age 25], her husband George LaGrander [age 27], and their son Clair [age 5]. Nellie also happened to be one month pregnant with daughter Isla too. All departed Pierce County Wisconsin and made the long journey to the far northwestern corner of our country. They left on September 9th, 1902.


Port Angeles, Washington
Foothills of the Olympic Mountains in background
Photo from Wikipedia - Source

Map of the Olympic Peninsula
Graphic from Wikipedia - Source

Port Angeles is a beautiful and quaint seaside city situated on the Olympic Peninsula. It lies roughly 85 miles northwest of Seattle, across the Puget Sound, and along the inter-coastal seaway. As a waterfront city on the Strait of Juan de Fuca it historically has served as both a fishing port and transportation hub for the large lumber industry of the area.

Port Angeles is not a quick or easy place to get to, even with today’s transportation methods. In 1902 it likely took George and family more than a week to travel there by a combination of train and ferry. They of course did not drive the cross-country distance as we might consider doing today. The first widely available automobile, the Ford Model T, was not produced until 1908. Nor did they have an option to fly there, as the Wright Brothers were just experimenting with powered flight on the beaches of North Carolina at that time. Instead, the family traveled most of the 1800 miles by train. The Northern Pacific line had started offering passenger service between the Twin Cities and Seattle just two years earlier in 1900.



Location of Port Angeles in Washington State
Graphic from Wikipedia - Source


So what was the attraction to winter in Port Angeles? In a word, family. Emma’s younger sister, Ellen, had moved there a few years earlier with her spouse and family. Prior to living in Port Angeles, her husband Winchester Mathewson had run the harness shop adjacent to the Ducklow Store in Olivet for a number of years. And like George and Emma, both Winchester and Ellen had been born and raised in Dodge County, Wisconsin. Ellen and Winchester’s two children, Willis and Ada were also close in age to George and Emma’s first two children, Nellie and Vernon. No doubt the sisters, brothers-in-law, and cousins that once saw each other daily were a tightly connected family. They missed seeing each other. And sadly, there was a more pressing reason for the visit.

Ellen "Ella" Hamilton Mathewson
Source: Weldon Chronology

Winchester Mathewson
Source: Weldon Chronology

One can infer that when the Ducklow family traveled to Washington Emma’s sister Ellen was fighting a protracted and chronic illness. It was becoming clear to her family that Ellen’s time on Earth was going to be short. Her illness may also have been the original reason that the Mathewson family moved to the Washington Peninsula to begin with.

It happens that there are a series of hot springs with claimed medicinal value in the mountain foothills 35 miles to the south of Port Angeles. The Sol Duc springs are a natural spa where water is heated and mineralized by a fissure that is part of the geology of the Olympic Mountains. In the late 1800s and well into the 1900s the Sol Duc springs were widely promoted for their curative properties. Despite the difficulty of a two-day trip traveling to them on horseback or by wagon from Port Angeles, they became a sort of Mecca for those suffering a wide range of illnesses. At the time Ellen was sick, a primitive retreat had been built that attracted many that were desperate for improved health. Guests stayed several days at a time, drank the mineral water soaked in the springs in hopes being relieved of the illness they suffered [see footnote].

Perhaps another indication of Ellen's desperate search for improved health was becoming a member of the Christian Science Church in 1903. Up until then she had been a member of traditional protestant faith groups. Christian Scientists prefer not to use doctors or medicine, but rather rely upon Christian Science Practitioners. Practitioners help members through prayer and faith advice to guide them past the "false reality" of their illness. At the time Ellen joined the Christian Science Church, it was just some 24 years in existence. [see footnote]

Ellen’s health no doubt continued to decline after the Mathewson’s left Olivet. It seems likely that letters between the families lead to an invitation to visit and stay for a winter. So in the waning summer days of 1902 plans were made for the Ducklow family to come to Port Angeles and care for Ellen and give the families an opportunity to spend time together once again. While they may not have known it for certain when the trip occurred, the visit also became a chance to say a final goodbye in person. Emma’s sister’s death came three years after the Ducklow family visit. Records show that Ellen passed away on December 11, 1905 at the young age of 49. Her body was put to final rest in the Ocean View Cemetery in Port Angeles.

It is not clear if the Ducklow family stayed the entire winter of 1902-1903, or returned after just a few weeks visit. However, the entire Ducklow entourage did return to Spring Valley and picked-up as things were when they left. No mention of moving to Port Angeles is ever noted again in either the Sun or any located family records. It would be a wonderful to discover a first-hand account of this trip in some diary, letters, or even a newspaper account. Such a transcontinental rail trip during this time was a big event; an adventure filled with the landscape of the American West, dining and sleeping in rail cars in grand-style, time spent in the Olympic Mountain region of lumbering, and of course the sad poignancy of leaving beloved family members with the knowledge that it was likely to be the last time the Ducklow family would see Ellen alive.

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Source: September 10, 1902 Spring Valley Sun
Source: Weldon Chronology
Source: Roger Hamilton Web site on Hamilton Family link
Source: Washington State History link

Footnote: The entire article on the Ducklow family trip: “Mr. and Mrs. George Ducklow and children and Mr. and Mrs. George LaGrander and son left yesterday for Port Angeles, Wash., where they will spend the winter. They will stay there if suited with the country.” Spring Valley Sun, September 10, 1902.

Footnote: The Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort became a very elegant and lavish spa in the years following Ellen’s death. A lumber baron named Michael Earles who personally benefited from the springs purchased the primative retreat in 1912, built a road from Port Angeles and created a four star hotel and luxury spa; all at considerable expense. It became the leading vacation resort on the Pacific Coast and attracted thousands of people who were told of and believed in the springs healing properties. A fire and series of ownership changes occurred over the years. Eventually the property became included as a part of Olympic National Park, and continues to operate as a retreat where guests can soak in a variety of man-made pools that use the spring’s heated mineral water. The marketing hype of curing powers of the waters has been removed from the resort’s promotional material and perhaps now more accurately reflects the simple pleasure of relaxing while soaking in the spring’s mineral waters.

Footnote: Ellen also had an older brother, James Hamilton, that lived in Washington State. However he lived in Asotin County which is the far southeastern county of Washington State. It seems unlikely that Ellen and Winchester moved to Port Angeles to be closer to her brother James. He was still several hundred miles away from Port Angeles.

Footnote: The Mathewson family moved to Port Angeles between 1894 and 1901. This range of dates is bounded by Jeremiah Mathewson's death in January of 1894 while living with his son and family in Olivet. We know that George, Emma and family visited Ellen and Winchester in 1902.

Footnote: The Christian Science Church was founded by Mary Eddy Baker and her third husband, Asa Albert Eddy in 1879. Mary established "The Mother Church," The First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1890. Christian Science interprets the Bible through the lens of Mrs. Eddy's writings. Her interpretation of the Bible has metaphysical presuppositions. A Christian Scientist believes that sin and illness are false concepts. Salvation and healing comes through understanding and overcoming these false beliefs and recognizing that humans are divine spirit and mind.


Footnote: Ironically Winchester Mathewson, besides doing harness work also sold life insurance.  He advertised his business in the Spring Valley Sun around 1892.  Source: Doug Blegen's "Early Years of Spring Valley" book, p. 15, Col. 1.

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Twain Quote

Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man. The biography of the man himself cannot be written. —Mark Twain [1835-1910]

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Famous Marine Biologist
[Updated December 15, 2008]

Perhaps the most world-renowned member of the greater Ducklow family is Dr. Hugh William Ducklow. He is a professor in the field of marine science whose focus is understanding ocean-influenced ecosystems. Those studying ocean life food cycles and related ocean-centric biology often reference his work as a foundation for their research. For many years Hugh has performed his research as a faculty member of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science which is part of the College of William and Mary. Most recently he has also been associated with the Ecosystems Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He is age 59.



Hugh William Ducklow
Cropped Photo Courtesy of Hugh Ducklow Photo Collection


One reason Hugh may be well respected is he personally has led many teams of graduate students on high sea adventures. Several expeditions have been to the Antarctic Ocean to collect information and observe types and levels of plankton in the ice and water. During a 1996 expedition he and his students spent three days in a storm with 70-foot waves pounding their research vessel. Passengers strapped themselves into their beds at night to keep from flying out! On a more recent trip Hugh and several students were trapped in icy Antarctic seas for a month

A measure of Hugh’s highly recognized expertise is the shear number of results received when you "goggle" his name. Well over 7,500 hits occur using “Hugh Ducklow,” and over 14,000 results occur using “H. W. Ducklow.” The references to Hugh and his work are so ubiquitous that in order to effectively research the Ducklow family using a search engine, one must select search parameters to exclude his name.

You may wonder in which branch of the Ducklow family Hugh fits into? He is the great, great grandson of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow, descending from Charles and Eva Ducklow of Wilton, Wisconsin [see footnote]. Hugh grew-up in Appleton, Wisconsin and attended college at Harvard were he was awarded several degrees including his PhD.

His marine science research work continues to be highly recognized and his expertise eagerly leaned upon. Hugh’s success in his field reflects well on all of us in the greater Ducklow family; a collective tip of our hat to him.

If you wish to learn more about Hugh Ducklow's research and how it relates to understanding global-warming, there is very well-done half-hour video interview of Hugh on-line. Link to it here.

You may find a more complete biography here.

Footnote: Ducklow Pedigree: Hugh > William Jr. > William Sr. > Charles > Thomas & Elizabeth Ducklow

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