Volume LI | Issue 2
14
NULSEN-BALKE-HARGRAVE By Lauren Macintyre
I
n the late 1890s entrepreneur Albert Nulsen of St. Louis was a daring man. Faced with the steamy temperatures of summers in St. Louis he headed north to Walloon with his family. That was not particularly unusual in that era, but Albert loved to sail. So he also brought his sailboat - trailered behind a team of horses - all the way from St. Louis, 650 miles away! Having heard that Walloon was impossible to sail, he was determined to meet the challenge, and may have been the first to do so, according to his granddaughter Mildred Nulsen Balke Wingenroth who left a fascinating account of her grandparents’ early days at Walloon. Thus begins the saga of one of Walloon's most interesting family stories, encompassing at least six generations. The extended family
Family
tree on Walloon includes the Nulsen, Balke, Hargrave, Frondorf, McCutcheon, Johnson, Wingenroth, Fenstermaker, Wohlgemuth, Bergin, Bunse, Cleveland, and Kidd names. Initially the Nulsen family was quite content to spend idyllic summer days at the Thomas House. Soon, however, Albert's wife Maude opted for the Lake Grove Hotel according to their great granddaughter Kris Wingenroth: "The family story is that they liked the Lake Grove Hotel because it was not as formal and the boys did not have to wear ties to dinner. At some point, the Nulsens bought the lot next door to the Hotel. They built their cottage and took their meals at the hotel.” Happily ensconced on the West Arm, the Nulsen family christened their cottage "Idle
Wild.” Meanwhile, Bertha Balke of Indianapolis began staying at the Lake Grove Hotel, and at some point met the Nulsens. Eventually Bertha Balke's son Frank married the Nulsen daughter Mildred. Frank Balke's sister Bettina married his good friend John Hargrave. These three marriages thus established the Nulsen-Balke-Hargrave tree on Walloon. Wallooner John Frondorf, Bertha's greatgrandson, explains further: "This is how it began. Great-grandmother Balke traded the summer heat of Indianapolis for the cool breezes coming off the lake at the Lake Grove Hotel, an annual event for her along with her children, Frank, Bettina, and Louise, likely starting in the early 1900s. Her son Frank attended MIT, where he met and roomed with John Hargrave, Class of 1912, a Cincinnati boy. In the course of their friendship, John met Frank's sister, Bettina, which
Photos (left to right): Extended family members on the steps of "Breezy Bank" on Lake Grove Trail, 2005. Balke and Hargrave girls, 1927. Jackson and Dick Nelson, early 1900s. McCutcheon, Johnson, and Frondorf cousins in front of McCutcheon Boat Works at the Foot, late 1950s. (Photos courtesy of the family)
