William Bakewell

William Bakewell was born in Joliet, Illinois, in 1888. As a teenager he worked in Upper Peninsula logging camps before making his way to South America. In 1914 he became the only American crewmember of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, which departed Buenos Aires on an expedition to cross Antarctica. The ship became trapped in ice on the Weddell Sea, drifted for nearly a year, and sank when crushed by the pack ice. After the crew reached Elephant Island, Shackleton and a small party set out in a lifeboat to get help. Four months later, in August 1916, they returned to rescue Bakewell and the rest. Bakewell settled on a farm in Dukes, Michigan, in 1945. He died there is 1969 and is buried in this cemetery. Bakewell Island, on the Antarctic coast is named for him.