NEW ULM – Members of the Lind House Association Board of Directors gathered at the historic home on Thursday afternoon to accept delivery of a painting that depicts the steamship SS Gov. John Lind.

The SS Gov. John Lind was a steamship built for the Lind Navigation Corporation in 1918. The shipping company was owned by Norman Lind, the son of Minnesota’s 14th governor and former New Ulm resident, John Lind. After the ship’s construction, a painting of it was made by renowned maritime artist William Alexander Coulter.

Coulter was a prolific painter who chronicled the shipping industry in San Francisco Bay during the late 1800s and early 1900s. His most famous work was San Francisco Fire, 1906.

Coulter’s painting of the SS Gov. John Lind has been passed down through several generations of the Lind family.

In 2011, the painting’s owner Richard Bjorkman-Gov. Lind’s great-grandson – died and Hamline University became the beneficiary of his estate, which included the painting. Hamline eventually made contact with Kramer Gallery of St. Paul with the intention of selling the painting.

Kramer Gallery previously assisted members of the New Ulm community in acquiring items related to Wanda and Anton Gag. Gallery representatives contacted the Lind House Association to arrange a sale.

The purchase of the Coulter painting was made possible through a gift from Alice Lind Griffith, a granddaughter of Gov. John Lind and the daughter of John Lind, Jr.

The acquisition of the painting is a great addition to the John Lind House. At this time, the board of directors is debating where to hang the painting.

Trudy Beranek, executive director of the Lind House Association, promises the SS Gov. John Lind with be on display at the 11th annual “Cocktails at the Governor’s” on Friday, May 8.