Francis S. Dane Jr. Sails With the Byrd Expedition

This is the first in a series of articles regarding my grandfather, Francis S. “Duke” Dane Jr. and his trip to Antartica on the second polar expedition of Admiral Richard Byrd.  I am leaving the text as I found it so you have to blame the original author for any misspellings or grammar errors. 

Lexington Minute-man, October 11, 1933

Francis S. Dane Jr. Sails With the Byrd Expedition

Well Known Local Young Man Departs on the Jacob Rupert as One of the Dog Drivers.  Dane Spent the Summer at the Chinook Kennels at Wonolancet, N. H.

Francis S. Dane Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis S. Dane of 1 Bennington road, sailed Wednesday, October 11, on the Jacob Rupert, which left Boston Navy Yard for the first lap of its journey to the South Pole with the supplies and dogs for the second Byrd Antarctic Expedition.  Whether “Duke” Dane as he is popularly known, will go all the way to the South Pole is as yet uncertain, but he will go with the expedition at least through the Panama Canal, and probably to the “jumping-off-place” which at present appears to be Valporaiso, South America.

  

Since the middle of July Mr. Dane has been at the Chenook Kennels, in Wonolancet, N.H. assisting in the care and training of the huskie dogs for the expedition.  During a considerable part of August and September he was unofficial charge-d’affairs where Byrd’s dogs were concerned, in the absence of Norman Vaughan and Allen Taylor who have successively been responsible for this division of the expeditionary forces.  

The work at Wonolancet included the exercise and care of 150 dogs each of whom has to be given a run at least once each day besides being fed and supplied with water, the latter becoming one of the great problems owing to the continued drought in that section of New England.  With but four regular men on duty the dog drivers were kept busy often 12 to 13 hours a day.  Beside the work at the kennels trips had to be made to Canada to secure more dogs from time to time, as only those really fit can be taken on the expedition.  This meant driving hugh trucks to Canada, loading them with crated dogs, and making the return trip, the latter usually without stopping for sleep as the howling of the dogs is not welcomed in most towns and villages.  Mr. Dane made several such trips during the summer.  

Last Friday night the dogs were brought to Boston on trucks a journey which took from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and on Saturday they were put onto the dock at the Navy Yard, where several local people visited them over the week-end.  The crates were places in double rows on top of each other and once each day every dog was removed from the crate and given a chance to move about the deck at the end of a chain while his box was being cleaned.  The dog-drivers of the expedition, including Mr. Dane were in charge of this work.

On Monday each dog had to be taken from the crate, run up the gang plank and held on deck while the crates were being loaded over the side of the Ruppert by the crew.  Until the ship leaves Norfolk sometime next week the dogs must remain in their cages which are just large enough for them to turn around in.  They are oblong boxes, made of stout wood reinforced by three bands of metal and having a front door of stout iron and wire mesh secured with a metal latch.  When the ship leaves Norfolk the dogs will be taken from the crates and chained to the deck where they will have somewhat more freedom.  

On the trip through the tropics the dogs lie on the ship and pant; they do not want food, or even much water.  Some will not survive the trip, especially if the hot weather lasts over an extended period.  This is one of the reasons for taking so large a number as 153 which are at present on board.

The duties of a dog-driver on such as expedition as this planned by Admiral Richard E. Byrd are anything but a pleasant game.  It is the hardest type of physical labor, under often unbelievably trying conditions, but if one is not afraid of the work, likes the sea, and has a real love for and understanding of dogs it is one of the greatest adventures and opportunities which can come to a young man.  “Duke” Dane has the qualities which will make for success and has more over no illusions about the hardships into which he is going.  Not only has he worked with this particular Expedition all summer, he has also been with one of the North Polar Expeditions of Captain Donald B. MacMillan as far as the ice, and knows what to expect on a sea voyage.  Although somewhat tired from the lack of sleep during the past weeks, he is in excellent physical shape and is in everyway prepared for the great adventure.  His many friends wish him Bon Voyage and a safe return. 

Family Tree Bloggers Google Plus Community

I have just set up a community on Google Plus that is designed to give family tree bloggers and genealogists a space to post and share their own images and links to blog posts.  It is a companion to my Pinterest Board of the same name.

I love connecting with other genealogists and bloggers and I've found that a great way to do that is to provide a forum for others (and myself, of course) to share their work.  My plan is to run the community similarly to a blogging group I have been part for the last couple of years ago that was not genealogy-related called Great Blogging Experience 2 (GBE2 for short).  On a weekly basis, the moderator of that group would post a prompt and ask everyone to post links to their blog posts on the prompt within a "thread" on the group based on the prompt.  Group members are also encouraged to post separately within the community on topics that do not fit the prompt.  Like that other group, comments are strongly encouraged.  I also hope that we'll find that some of us are researching the same family lines and are able to locate collaborators through forums like this one. 

My idea at this point is that these posts can be any genealogy-related link, whether it is a blog post or not.  But I also am going to moderate the group and the Pinterest board for the time being to ensure we don't end up with tons of stuff that other members won't want to read or see. 

My Family's Murder Mystery

September 9, 1982.  A young woman is reported missing when she doesn’t arrive for work at Eskaton Monterey Hospital (now Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula).  She is a twenty six year old nurse in the prime of life with a promising career, a supportive family and a brand new fiancée.  She is also a river rafting guide who friends describe as “enthusiastic about everything,” and as someone who lights up a room when she walks in.   Later that same day of September 9^th, the young woman’s station wagon is found in the center median of Highway One.  Beneath a pile of blankets, the young woman’s dead body is found, raped and strangled.  The young woman’s name was Sarah Lucy Dane and she was my Aunt.   

Suspicion immediately centered on Sarah’s brother-in-law, William Perkins.  The night before her murder, Sarah’s sister Meraud “Roadie” Perkins had told Mr. Perkins that she was filing for divorce.  Angered by her declaration, Mr. Perkins allegedly threatened to do something that would put him in jail for a long time.  He was known to have been away from his home during the time of the murder and didn’t arrive for his job at 5 A.M. that morning.  In fact, he didn’t arrive on the job site until noon.   However, when police investigated the crime in fall of 1982, they did not find enough evidence to prosecute Mr. Perkins for the murder.  Two long years would pass before the case would be re-examined by a new investigator. 

In September of 1984, the evidence in Sarah’s case was re-analyzed by state justice laboratories.  It’s not entirely clear why the case was re-opened, but certainly the tireless efforts of Sarah’s mother Sally Dane to ensure that the police continued to pursue the case played a part.  As a result of the re-analysis, William Perkins was again arrested.  While he was being held, Perkins had a fateful conversation with his cellmate, Joseph Neuhaus, where he confessed to the rape and murder.  On February 5, 1985, Perkins was tried and convicted of rape and murder.   Shortly after the trial, authorities learned that the man who testified as Joseph Neuhaus had lied about his identity and was actually a man named Marty Joe Nuttall.  This revelation threw the conviction and sentencing of Perkins into jeopardy, however the judge in the case decided that the conviction would stand and Perkins was sentenced to 25 years to life for First Degree Murder. 

All of this information was passed along to me recently by a member of the family who was close to Sarah Lucy.   Unfortunately for me, I never got to have a relationship with my Aunt.  That seems strange to say since she lived only about three hours’ drive from me for the first twelve years of my life.   But that has been part of the sad legacy of the broken family left behind by my grandparents’ divorce.  I met my grandfather only three or four times before he died in 1979, and no one on “our side of the family” was close with him or his daughter by his second wife.   This is yet another family member I get to meet only through the memories of others.  I feel a responsibility to remember these relatives and pass along what little I can of them so others can remember them a bit, too. 

Facts for this post were taken from articles from the Monterey Peninsula Herald regarding the murder case and trial from 9/24/1984, 10/25/1984, 1/29/1985, 1/30/1985, 2/5/1985, 2/27/1985, and 3/14/1985