Peter Glud
Jens Peter Johannes Glud was a Danish born American seaman, logger, road builder, and second-class passenger on the Valencia who did not survive. Known as Peter Glud, newspapers after the disaster usually spelled his name incorrectly as Peter Glube or Glude and in one instance in the Seattle Star as Peter Cludy.
Peter Glud was born on January 18, 1856, in Copenhagen, Denmark. By his late teens left Denmark for the United States. He arrived in the United States as a seaman in 1875, docking at Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where his vessel loaded lumber at the Port Blakely Mill. U.S. Census records list his formal immigration year as 1880.
On January 6, 1887, in Orillia, King County, he married Ane Louise Nielsen. Their first home stood on the west side of Bainbridge Island at Nibbyville—later known as Pleasant Beach—a place of simple beauty and hard-won peace. In 1889, the couple claimed homestead rights and moved to Brownsville in Kitsap County. Peter left the sea behind, turning his strength to logging and road building. With his partner John Paulson, he helped carve the Silverdale to Chico road in 1901, taming the wilderness one felled tree and graded path at a time. Together, Peter and Ane built a family of five children: Paul (born 1887), Lars (1890), William (1894), Margaret (1897), and Anna (1899).
The Valencia Disaster
In early 1906, he traveled to San Francisco to visit his brother Paul, who served as a port captain there. The reunion was brief but warm. Eager to return home, Peter booked passage as a second-class passenger on the SS Valencia, a sturdy coastal steamer bound for Seattle via Victoria.
The ship departed San Francisco on January 20, 1906. Foul weather dogged the voyage—gales, poor visibility, and treacherous currents off Vancouver Island's wild west coast, part of the infamous "Graveyard of the Pacific." Just before midnight on January 22, the Valencia struck a reef near Pachena Point. The captain ran her aground in a desperate bid to save lives, but the iron-hulled vessel pounded against the rocks in relentless surf. Chaos followed: lifeboats smashed, passengers swept into the freezing sea, and hope fading as the hours stretched into days. All women and children perished; only 38 men would survive the Valencia disaster.
Peter's fate on the ship remains unknown. Perhaps he fought the waves with the strength of a lifelong mariner, or perhaps the cold and exhaustion claimed him quickly. What is certain is that his body washed ashore near the Darling River, found by Frank Bunker—a Valencia survivor who had trekked through dense forest to reach a telephone line and alert the world to the disaster.
His body was taken to Victoria and The San Francisco Call newspaper on January 31st, 1906 reported:
PROPERTY OF DROWNED.
Collector of Customs Guards Effects of the Valencia’s Dead.
Collector of Customs John Newbury received from F.F. Bunker, who arrived by the Salvor today, the effects of some of the bodies washed ashore. One lot is the effects of Peter Glube, or Glude, in which are two watches, one gold, the other silver, a purse with a small sum of money and a letter signed by his wife, with enclosures of a little letter with crosses indicating kisses from children, a knife and a match box. The letter referred to was posted at Brownsville, near Seattle, on January 9 and has a Seattle postmark of January 10 and an Oakland postmark of January 12. The body on which these things were found was picked up by Bunker and Captain Ferris near Darling River.
Peter Glud’s body was reportedly taken to Seattle on February 5th as the Seattle Star reported:
The bodies of O.W. Englelhorn and Peter Cludy, victims of the wrecked Valencia, were brought to the city from Victoria last night by Harry Watson, of Bonney-Watson company. Both men were second class passengers from San Francisco, where the bodies will be shipped tonight.
On February 8th, the Seattle Star again reported on Peter Glud, describing a misidentification of his body previously. This time this misspelled his name as “Glude”:
TWO MORE BODIES FROM WRECK
The Bonney-Watson company received the bodies of Peter Glude and Joseph Dorrity, Valencia victims on the Princess Beatrice this morning. Last week a body was brought here from Victoria by Harry Watson under the impression that it was that of Glude, but it was later discovered that this was a mistake and the body still lies at their parlors awaiting identification. Glude, whose body arrived last night, lives at Brownsville, Kitsap County, and the remains will be shipped there tonight.
Peter Glud was laid to rest in Lake View Cemetery, Seattle. His headstone bears the date of his birth—January 18, 1856—and his death—January 23, 1906. Above his name is the Latin inscription "DUM TACET CLAMAT," meaning "While silent, he cries out." Below: "Here rests a good man of the world."