- Date
- 1937-01-01
- Kind
- Disaster
- Where
- Simmons Reef
- Participants
- Everett Cole (victim) · Raymond Cole (victim) · L. L. Hill (victim) · Leon H. Hill (victim) · Roland Hugh “Bruce” McDonough (victim)
- Wreck of
- Marold II
- Lives lost
- 5
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- shipwrecksshippingmaritimeheritage
- Within
- Beaver Island archipelago
Summary
The Marold II, a Beaver Island mail and passenger/freight vessel being used in a gasoline salvage operation, exploded at Simmons Reef on New Year’s Day 1937 while lashed to the stranded tanker J. Oswald Boyd. Five men died: Everett and Raymond Cole, Captain L. L. Hill, his son Leon, and Bruce McDonough. The Cole brothers’ bodies were recovered aboard the tanker; the other three were not found in the primary report.
Evidence and limits
The January 8 Charlevoix County Herald is internally inconsistent about the weekday and time, saying both “last Friday” and that the explosion occurred about 4:30 Saturday. The New Year’s Day 1937 date is reconstructed from the issue date and weekday wording and is directly repeated by the 2003 local retrospective. A 1997 retrospective instead prints 1935/1936 references in its chronology, while its 60th-anniversary framing and other held sources support 1937. The 2003 account calls the vessel 40 feet long; a 1997 caption calls it 140 feet. No length is therefore promoted into the vessel record.
The primary report calls the mate “Roland McDonald” in one passage and later identifies him as Bruce McDonough and, in the funeral notice, Ronald Bruce McDonough. Those forms are preserved on the qualified person record. The article does not infer a registry number, exact coordinates, a complete ownership chain, or the final disposition of the Boyd.
Open questions
- The count of unrecovered men needs revising. A Charlevoix Courier report of 19 May 1937, headlined “Recover Fourth Body of Marold Explosion,” records Capt. L. L. Hill’s body found in French Bay by Lawrence and Robert McDonough and sent to Detroit for cremation. If its ordinal is accurate, four of the five were recovered by May 1937, not two. Which man remained unaccounted for, and when the third recovery occurred, are not established by any source held here.
- Can Coast Guard, coroner, cemetery, or probate records establish the remaining man’s final status and the five men’s complete identities?
- What official vessel records identify the Marold II, J. Oswald Boyd, and Ramblar?
- Can a chart or casualty record fix Simmons Reef’s coordinates and reconcile the contemporary date/time wording?
- What corporate records document the Beaver Island Transit Company and the ownership transition from the Hills to Everett Cole?
See also
Sources
- Charlevoix County Herald, January 8, 1937, “Coast Guards Abandon Search for Three Men Missing in Marold II Explosion.”The primary report says the Marold II exploded while taking gasoline from the stranded J. Oswald Boyd on Simmons Reef, names five Beaver Island men, records the recovery of Everett and Raymond Cole, and says the other three bodies were believed lost. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
- Described in this archive: Beaver Island History Map, 1978 revision.Places the Marold II and J. Oswald Boyd together at Simmons Reef but prints November 11, 1936. The primary January 1937 report says the Boyd grounded early in November and its crew was removed November 9; the Marold II exploded January 1, 1937. The map date is therefore retained as a documented error, not an alternate event date.
- The raw issue preserves the same casualty report independently of the normalized Markdown, including the Marold II, J. Oswald Boyd, Simmons Reef, and named crew.
- Charlevoix Courier, 2003, “Many ferries have served the island,” scrapbook section.The later local history calls the Marold a 40-foot yacht converted to passenger and freight service, identifies Capt. L. L. Hill and his son Leon as owners, and dates the explosion to New Year’s Day 1937 with five lives lost. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
- Charlevoix Courier, January 1997, “Ship explosion recalled on 60th anniversary,” scrapbook section.The retrospective describes the salvage operation, the Marold II and J. Oswald Boyd, the explosion, two recovered Cole bodies, and the five dead; its printed chronology says 1935/1936 in places despite the 60th-anniversary context and the primary/2003 1937 date. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
- The held catalog title preserves the local memory of the Marold wreck in a Beaver Island recording; the catalog does not independently identify the casualty details.audio · lomax_michigan_1938_beaver_island · afc1939007_afs02294a · item
- Charlevoix Courier, May 19, 1937, "Recover Fourth Body of Marold Explosion."Reports Capt. L. L. Hill's body found in French Bay by Lawrence and Robert McDonough, brothers of fellow victim Bruce McDonough; taken to Detroit for cremation, ashes bound for burial at Kenosha, Wisconsin. Its headline calls this the FOURTH body recovered, which bears on this article's count of unrecovered men. Found 2026-08-05 while researching place/french-bay. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · charlevoix · charlevoixcourie1104unse
Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Explosion and Loss of the Marold II”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/explosion-of-marold-ii-1937/, accessed [date], citing Charlevoix County Herald, January 8, 1937, “Coast Guards Abandon Search for Three Men Missing in Marold II Explosion.” (and 6 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
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