Gratiot County During Depression and War: “The Last Month of Peace, November 1941”

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The Last Month of Peace took place in November 1941. From the top: A group of Ithaca merchants and businessmen pitch in to help bring in the beets. A shortage of workers and poor weather delayed the fall 1941 harvest; The Breckenridge High School football team celebrated winning the 1941 Valley C Football title; A horned doe? That was what Harry Gulick of Lafayette Township shot near Higgins Lake on the second day of the season; Rural school of the month went to the Cozy Corner School in Wheeler Township; Somehow they escaped death. Beets flew everywhere two miles north of Ithaca when drivers from Edmore and Laingsburg collided. A total of three people walked away – injured, but alive.

Fifteen young men went to Fort Custer as part of the Selective Service call for November.

Alma wanted more financial help implementing New Deal projects like roads, and the county welcomed activities for young people.

Law enforcement was busy with driving, alcohol, civil offenses, and arrests.

The invasion of hunters to the county for small game subsided, but many Gratiot men took off for deer camp.

The public was warned of the continued battle and threat of diseases like tuberculosis and diphtheria.

It was November 1941 in Gratiot County – the last “peacetime” month and holiday that the county would experience in the next four years.

War News, November 1941

The county continued moving toward war as fifteen Selective Service men were ordered to appear at Alma City Hall at 7:00 am on November 18. This group headed directly to Fort Custer for induction and included Harry Czape of Alma, Percy Delong of St. Louis, and Travers Allen of Middleton. Eleven in the group came from Gratiot County, with the rest being transferred as registrants of other draft boards. State selective service officials had already told the public to expect large draft calls for January and February. By late November, 53 men would be called for December as the nation drifted toward war. This group was expected to report on December 8. Still, an estimated 700,000 men in the Army were being told that they would be eligible for a Christmas furlough, which meant very busy train traffic home.

Army and Navy recruiters visited Gratiot County, hoping to enlist young men in their respective branches. The Army Air Corps planned to appear December 1 and 2 with a temporary recruiting station inside the Alma post office. Large advertisements appeared in local newspapers asking young men to join the naval reserve. Other notices answered potential questions for those considering enlisting in the Navy, including pay, educational requirements, and the meaning of some Navy slang.

By late November, the United States bluntly warned Japan to leave China and stop supporting the Japanese-backed ruler in Nanking. Amid the confrontation with the United States, Japan continued to demand territorial concessions in the Far East. These discussions took place against the backdrop of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Other hints of war appeared in the news. The Gratiot County Defense Council selected more men to leadership positions, with Sheriff W. H. Nestle chairing law enforcement for national defense plans. Another meeting in St. Louis hosted a spokesman from the Public Works Reserves who talked to the council about postwar plans to help the city adjust to peacetime. If only those involved that night could picture what the next four years would be like. A group of county ministers traveled to Fort Custer to see what Army life and the installation were all about. The thirteen ministers ate lunch at the service club, held a brief business meeting, then saw the eight chapels inside Custer.

Now, the Gratiot County Council of Defense asked farmers and residents to contribute any old iron. When delivered to junk dealers, iron brought 40 cents, and grey iron 70 to 75 cents (presumably per ton). The request came after scrap deliveries to local dealers had dropped sharply. December 6 was designated Waste Paper Drive Day in St. Louis, as Scout Troops 109 and 112 led the drive to collect waste paper. However, this time, the money earned went directly to the units for scouting activities.

Even though parts of the world were already at war, Gratiot County celebrated Armistice Day with parades, speakers, and World War I veterans. A total of 25 floats and 7 bands gathered in Alma for a county-sponsored celebration, which also included children on decorated bikes, Camp Fire Girls, and Legionnaires, who led the group that dotted the long parade route in Alma. The Elks Lodge, four American Legion posts, the VFW, and the Disabled American Veterans jointly sponsored the festivities. Commander Earl Rhynard of the George W. Meyers American Legion Post asked Alma merchants to display flags.

During the Armistice celebration, two war buddies, George Fuller of Alma and Fred Shattuck of Mt. Pleasant, met each other for the first time in 22 years. Both served together on the Mexican border and in France. Strangely, the two lived within nine miles of each other after their service, but had never met. Spanish War veterans also met at the Alma Masonic Home before Armistice Day, with 119 veterans from across mid-Michigan joining for dinner. Some sad news occurred when Corporal Jay Morris, 22, formerly of St. Louis, was killed in a traffic accident in Washington State. Originally from Breckenridge, Morris was stationed at Fort Lewis and had spent time in CCC camps. He had served for two years in the Army and was laid to rest in Alma’s Riverside Cemetery.

New Deal Projects

By Halloween 1940, Alma’s 14-block paving project was almost complete. The city hoped to secure federal funding for sidewalk repair in 1942, but this work could only proceed if the city could afford to cover expenses above what the WPA aid provided. Since 1939, Alma had hard-surfaced or widened approximately 50 blocks within the city.

The former Washington School building was converted into a recreation room with table tennis and space for evening dances. Guests attending these dances were asked to contribute a small fee to help pay for the orchestra. As of November 5, 14 boys and 41 girls were engaged in NYA projects throughout the county. In a positive development related to WPA work, county director Miss Mary Frost announced that Lester Hoard was now in charge of the Salvation Army craft shop.

The Long Arm of the Law – November 1941

Activity related to law enforcement appeared relatively quiet until the holiday season approached, when a wave of lawbreaking swept through Gratiot County. Illegal hunting and alcohol-related offenses were at the heart of many cases. In October, the county prosecutor reported 67 convictions in county courts, most of which involved traffic violations (47). The imposed fines generated $346.85 in revenue for the court, while costs totaled $300.76.

Several hunting violations made headlines. Ralph Davidson of Alma shot a hen pheasant but denied responsibility, claiming he did not shoot the bird. A conservation officer witnessed Davidson pick up the hen and give it to a small boy who was following him. Things did not go well for Davidson. Jerry Sabota from North Star was cited for hunting without permission on the Thibaudeau farm; he paid a $10 fine and $5.35 in costs, although the judge suspended $5 of the fine. Another blockade north of Alma resulted in state conservation officers and deputy sheriffs stopping cars to check for illegal game, leading to 18 people being ticketed for having venison without properly identifying the sex.

A number of other notable offenses came to light. Orville Wakely of Seville Township was arrested for failing to ensure his children attended school. Wakely, who had five children, was fined $8.35 and threatened with ten days in jail if the fine wasn’t paid. A stranger wandered into the Gratiot County jail one night, claiming amnesia and ignorance of his identity; Richard J. Bunous, address unknown, was suspected to be linked to a murder in Saginaw County. Walter Burns, a field worker from Detroit, became involved in a fight in a beet workers’ cabin with two Mexican workers and another man. Deputies found Burns in a violent state, threatening the others with a beet knife, which resulted in his arrest. Meanwhile, Mexican worker Hilario Vilalareal of Alma faced charges related to the illegitimacy of a girl from Middleton. Charles Santos was also arrested in Breckenridge and transferred to Muskegon police, although the reason was not reported.

Other stories were both humorous and sad. A well-dressed “young buckaroo” drew a .32 caliber gun inside the Simi Restaurant in Alma and fired four shots into the ceiling, shattering the bulbs of two fluorescent lights before making a getaway in a speeding car. It appeared the “buckaroo” had been denied further beer servings and warned others not to follow him. Unfortunately for him, a woman outside the bar noted the license plate and reported it to the police. In St. Louis, Douglas Coffman was arrested and given a 75-day jail term or faced $78 in fines and costs for stealing from the boys’ locker room at St. Louis High School during a football game. In another incident, chicken thieves in northeast Gratiot stole fifty chickens from Ernest McKenzie outside of Breckenridge. Fred Thrush also reported losing one hundred chickens in a separate theft. The authorities had not yet apprehended the culprits.

In the Dewey Glinke embezzlement case in Ithaca, a New Jersey surety company sought to hold William Federspiel personally responsible for Dewey’s theft of $3,169.65 from the county. Federspiel’s attorney argued against a final and personal judgment. Both sides had 15 days to prepare their arguments. Glinke still was on the run and had been since December 1940. Finally, there was some good news concerning the character of one young man in St. Louis. Bud Cummings of Alma found a purse belonging to Mavis Harrison of St. Louis and returned it, along with the $25 inside, to its owner. The young Cummings was offered a reward but refused it. The young boy’s story made the front page of the St. Louis Leader.

Farming and Hunting in November

Farm life was tied to the start of deer firearm season, and county farmers worried about how hunters would treat their land. Many farmers (and non-farmers) also prepared for the opening of deer firearm season.

With poor fall weather in the county, farmers were urged to wait until the ground froze to harvest beans. Threshed wet beans invited spoilage and brought heavy losses. Bad rains in November nearly forced the Alma sugar plant to close. Pauses in the rains meant more trucks brought in more beets and slicing continued. Still, the U.S. Department of Agriculture encouraged soybeans in the county by announcing more AAA loans to help farmers market their soybean crop.

The biggest farm news in November probably centered on how local business people helped farmers by going out to the fields to help harvest crops. On November 14 and 17, a group of Ithaca businessmen left their jobs and businesses to work in the fields. Some of these men could only work a half day; others worked a full day or even two. Part of the issue involved volunteers who were in shape and could do the farm labor. If a farmer needed volunteer help, then they needed to call Ithaca No. 76 or No. 189 and tell C.P. Milham, county agricultural agent. Photographs of the Ithaca volunteers made the front page of the Gratiot County Herald.

In other news, the Farm Bureau adopted the theme “The American Farmer in This Changing World” as its study theme. The fifth annual Farmers’ Institute took place at the Strand Theater on November 27. The Alma Chamber of Commerce sponsored the program that ran from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Hundreds of farmers were also expected to attend the Alma Production Credit Association’s third annual meeting – also at the Strand Theater on December 5. The organization planned to entertain somewhere between 500 and 700 farmers and their wives. Participants would receive a free fish dinner at one of two churches in the city.

The Emerson Township Farm Bureau met every second d Tuesday at the Beebe Township hall. Sherman Edgar served as president and Walter Martin as vice-president. Adrian Elliott of Alma shot a banded Canadian goose on November 2. The goose’s band read that it came from the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, Kingsville, Ontario, Canada, and weighed 8 ½ pounds. Harry Gulick of Lafayette Township returned from Higgins Lake where he shot a 193-pound deer – which turned out to be an antlered doe! After checking in at the Roscommon conservation headquarters on the way home, officers looked at the deer and agreed it was a doe. The deer had six-point set antlers. Anthony Grosskopf, 24, of Alma, narrowly escaped serious injury when grazed by a bullet near his lower back. Grosskopf prepared to shoot a deer when he himself was shot, leaving a small furrow near his spine. Upon crying out for help, another hunter took Grosskopf to a doctor where he received several stitches. The other shooter was never identified.

Lewis Forquer of Riverdale fell out of an apple tree while picking apples. Forquer injured his back and was taken to the Carson City hospital by ambulance, where he was recovering from numbness in his arms. William Granda of Elwell was sent to Smith Memorial Hospital after he fell from a tractor he operated on the Nelson farm. Doctors continued to check his condition. Gratiot County agricultural agent announced that Gratiot dairy herds would soon be tested for tuberculosis by both state and federal supervisors. At the same time, TB testing had been contentious for many county farmers in the past; most now welcomed testing their herds.

Swift and Company of Alma warned dairy farmers to remember that just because the weather got cold did not mean that farmers could let up on the production and handling of cream. Cleanliness, sanitation, and an awareness that cream could break down in cold weather still mattered. Ithaca farm markets for November 12 quoted dark red kidney beans selling at $10 a bushel. Ithaca High School’s gymnasium planned to host Achievement Day for 4-H summer projects on December 2.

Health Issues in November 1941

Doctor F.J. Graham, who had served as M.D. in Sumner beginning in 1891 and who retired in 1940, received honors from the Michigan State Medical Society. Graham had operated an office in Alma beginning in 1917 before his retirement. Another wounded hunter entered Smith Memorial Hospital on November 10, when Buhl Billsby of Shepherd was shot in the right foot and ankle by another hunter. After an X-ray and treatment, Billsby was released. Christmas Seals for 1941 featured a lighthouse against a blue winter sky. Fight against tuberculosis by purchasing Christmas Seals.

The state health department warned the public about the spread of diphtheria among older boys and girls who had been injected years earlier. The health department warned parents to have their children receive a second dose to promote immunity. A second-shot diphtheria clinic was planned for Alma on December 1-2 at Lincoln, Hillcrest, Republic, and Wright Avenue schools. In a sad note, George Baxter, 49, and employed by the Gratiot County Herald of Ithaca for 28 years, took his own life from a dose of chloroform. Doctor Aldrich tried to pump Baxter’s stomach and appeared to be winning at first, but Baxter’s condition grew worse. He had appeared very despondent lately. Services were held at the Barden Funeral Home in Ithaca.

And So We Do Not Forget

To receive state funding, all schools now had to be open for nine months of the year, according to the state superintendent and a new Michigan law…For Thanksgiving Day 1941, the weather was expected to drop from the mid-70s to below freezing, with some snow…Judge Kelley Searl ruled that Pompeii School Number 2 had to remain part of the Fulton School District, turn over all books, records, and assets belonging to the school, and refrain from attempting to join the Pompeii School District. This seemed to end Pompeii 2’s attempt to annex itself to Pompeii…Glendon Swarthout and his wife continued to write reports about their life in South America. They published them in the Gratiot County Herald. One report came from the S.S. Cuba while they were on their way to the Dominican Republic from Cuba…The Ashley High School boys’ basketball team played and defeated a group of alumni on Thanksgiving night, 20-17…The Alma Methodist Church planned to host a book fair on December 3, sponsored by the University of Women’s Alma Branch…The Gratiot County Road Commission purchased two eight-ton truck chassis with scrapers and snowplows. It used truck bodies, pronouncing the road commission ready for the oncoming winter… The Gratiot County Santa Claus Club, chaired by Georgiana Peet of Ithaca, announced that the club prepared for needy children at Christmas by calling for gently used clothing and toys. Peet asked for the names of children who deserved help at Christmas…Orson Welles appeared in “Citizen Kane” at the Strand Theatre for three nights beginning November 25. How many viewers realized that “Kane” would be one of America’s greatest movies? Admission was only 11 cents (including tax).

Are you ready for cold weather? The Ithaca Elevator Company sold fine-quality stoker coal. Ithaca Elevator – the home of Betty Jane Four and Wayne Feeds…A Middleton clerk announced that he had sold 99 deer licenses as of November 20. Nearly all of the sales went to hunters from Middleton and the nearby vicinity…Breckenridge High School football team celebrated its Valley C Football title at a special football banquet to end the year. Members of the 1936-38 team roasted the team, and the mothers of the team members provided a great chicken dinner….Norman Roth of Breckenridge appeared in a feature, “Gratiot Men at Work,” on the front page of the Gratiot County Herald. Roth first became an automobile apprentice in 1911 and worked his way up to becoming a car dealer in Breckenridge… An estimated 600 people attended the annual Fulton Book Fair in the Perrinton schoolhouse.

J.L. Barden and Sons opened a new funeral home in Ithaca. Dedication services took place on the afternoon of November 16…Skunks continued to cause problems in Alma. Ray Eurich of 512 Park Avenue called the police to remove the skunks under his home, but none were found, and police advised him to set a trap to catch the culprits…Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour appeared in “Caught in the Draft” at the Ithaca Ideal Theatre for three nights beginning November 16. Tickets were 11 and 21 cents, depending on whether you saw a matinee or evening show…License plates for 1942 went on sale in Alma and Ithaca. The first number sold was MG-1001… The Alma Hatchery, located on the site of the old Alma Hotel on State Street, has undergone more remodeling since opening a year earlier…Stanley Rodenbo, a stout six-foot-tall, 200-pound, 27-year-old man, was hired by the Alma Police Force. Rodenbo was hired temporarily to fill in for Mike Slowinski, who had been seriously ill…Gittleman’s of Alma celebrated its second anniversary of being in business. To celebrate, the store gave away five tons of Michigan Pure Sugar Company sugar. In a short time, people in Alma and Gratiot County would value the availability of sugar due to the war.

Santa Claus planned to be in Alma starting the evening of December 5…Six Alma hunters brought home deer shot outside of Gratiot County. S.J. Upham of 1022 Eastward Street led the group who got their deer at Melstrand in the Upper Peninsula…The Alma High School basketball team prepared for its season opener on December 5 at Owosso. Coach Floyd Lear had 13 games with 30 trying out for the team…The Breckenridge Methodist Church dedicated memorial chimes with two numbers performed by violinist Nicholas Blinoff, a Russian violinist from Lansing…A relatively new feature in the Alma Record-Alma Leader featured a column dedicated solely to local obituaries. Five obituaries appeared in the November 27 issue…Charles Bickford, 55, of Ithaca, who operated a shoe repair, died suddenly from a heart attack accompanied by a battle with rheumatic fever. Bickford had just returned from a hunting trip… The Alma Library celebrated National Book Week by holding its weekly Story Hour, led by librarian Miss Elsa Struble. National Book Week was November 3-8…A group of 35 Midland and Gratiot families finally received money released from the Porter Oil Pool case, which had been going on for years. A Supreme Court decision released $787,993 to the families. Anyone challenging the decision faced a $10,000 penalty…McCormacks of Ithaca sold hunters’ supplies. Get felt gaiters for $2.75 and wool socks for only 59 cents. Red hunting shirts cost $1.50….President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed Thursday, November 20, as  Thanksgiving Day. This was the last Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated this early in the month, as next year it would fall on the last Thursday of the month. The early date went back three years – in part to encourage more shopping between the holidays.

Speaking of an early Thanksgiving, the Ithaca Presbyterian Church planned a union service in the community for the night of November 16. Reverend W.W. Slee of the Methodist Church would speak…  The Elwell 4-H Club held its carnival on Wednesday, October 29, and drew a large crowd. One of the largest attractions was the “fishing pond,” which drew many youngsters…Want a new oil-burning heater? Buy a new 1942 Norge with powerful, circulating heat at Sawkins Music House in Alma. Prices started at $39.95…Sumner District No. 6 (the Welford School) planned to have a box social on October 31, with a prize going to the best-decorated box…Ray King of St. Louis announced that he was now the sole owner of the former Harrison and King service station at the corner of North Pine and Washington Avenue. The business would now be known as King’s Service Center…Music meetings for Gratiot rural school teachers would be held on three dates in November at Ashley, St. Louis, and Ithaca schools. Get  students ready for Christmas season by learning new songs…A final notice went out to all St. Louis residents that the new St. Louis telephone directory closed for changes on November 15. If you want a new telephone and to be listed in the new directory, then contact the telephone company at once. Call Number 171 to reach the Union Telephone Company.

And that was Depression and War in November 1941.

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed

We Remember “Great Depression Halloween, 1936-1941”

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Halloween cartoon from the October 30, 1941 issue of the St. Louis Leader-Breckenridge American.

As far back as the Great Depression, Gratiot County’s town fathers deemed it important to keep kids occupied on Halloween. While a village like Breckenridge probably offered Halloween festivities before 1936, St. Louis did not hold its first community Halloween party until that year.

That Halloween in Breckenridge, the American Legion and the Professional and Business Men’s Club handed out doughnuts, cider, hot dogs, apples, and ice cream. At six in the evening, part of M-46 was closed off for a parade and races to keep young people entertained. The village hoped that giving kids things to do would prevent window soaping and property damage. It worked; they planned to do it again the next year, with Dr. Boris Zola from Saginaw performing magic. Still, in 1937, the St. Louis Leader/Breckenridge American reported that some local youths caused serious damage to the property of Mrs. Miller, an 80-year-old disabled woman. The newspaper called for those responsible to be held accountable, but it’s not clear what happened after that.

On Halloween in 1936, St. Louis held its first community party at the high school gym because of rain, drawing 350 children. The St. Louis Civic League sponsored the event, and local businessmen gave $70 for refreshments and fried cakes. They served 73 dozen fried cakes, 40 gallons of cider, 4 bushels of applesauce, and handed out 300 noisemakers. Once everyone was inside, Miss Helen Achenbach led a spontaneous amateur show. Everyone who took part got a free ticket to a movie at the St. Louis GEM Theater. The next year, in 1937, St. Louis held another Halloween party and introduced its first mask parade, starting a tradition that lasted almost 30 years.

Halloween festivities continued to grow in St. Louis over the next few years. In 1941, organizers gave out 170 dozen doughnuts, along with 2,000 cups and 2,000 noisemakers. Collections of spooks, skeletons, hobos, and Sonja Henie (a Norwegian figure skater)performed before costume judges who sat on a platform in a roped-off area of Mill Street. That year’s winners included Little Bo Peep, Goose Girl, Donald Duck, a shepherdess, and a Bowery Girl.

By 1941, Ithaca also had an annual Halloween party. One part of the tradition involved the sounding of the fire whistle to call youngsters to a bandstand near city hall. A parade then took place through the business district and ended up at the Ithaca gymnasium. Unfortunately for those in Alma, Halloween 1941 never took place, as city officials thought it cost too much money to sponsor. No one reported how many pranks were pulled in Alma that year.

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed

We Remember “Mardi Gras in Alma,” September 1941

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Alma Mardi Gras in September 1941, from the top: The Mardi Gras queen and court. Each of the members of the court had important ties to Alma’s past; a soapbox derby contest held on the first day of Mardi Gras resulted in winners (from left) Douglas Mallory, Joe Lockwood, and John Sullivan; One of the Mardi Gras entertainers included Harry “Happy” Holmes, an Alma young man who had been in the show business since 1927. One of his acts took place above the Pine River.

It used to be called a harvest jubilee, but in the early fall of 1941, Alma hosted “Mardi Gras” and called the Alma community to remember its history. Some seasonal celebrations in Alma dated back to the early Depression years; however, this year the city’s chamber of commerce wanted something that would call “attention to the venerable age and community tradition” and recognize people “from among pioneers” of the Alma community. In other words, for three days Alma still wanted to celebrate and draw thousands of Gratiot County residents into town for a harvest celebration while still recalling its past. In September 1941, this came in the form of Mardi Gras.

Beginning the evening of Wednesday, September 11, 1941, and running for two more days, Alma blocked off part of its downtown, set up a stage at the corner of the decorated Woodworth and Superior streets, and made space for carnival rides. The city also tried to attract visitors by offering free parking on Alma’s southeast side near the river, in what was fast becoming a remodeled parking lot, part of which had been the site of the city’s old dump. In the run-up to the festivities, workers toiled furiously to level the area to create the free parking area.

On Wednesday evening, a parade kicked off Mardi Gras with over thirty floats interspersed with five local high school bands, and ended with a bowery dance. On Thursday, attendees watched people take part in a series of  “attention-grabbing contests” that brought many laughs. Charles Reed, Jr. won the fat man’s race, while Gracia Cooley took the women’s wood-cutting contest. Frances Heil placed first in the women’s nail-driving contest, and three boys (Joseph Lockwood, John Sullivan, and Douglas Mallory) each won first-place awards in different parts of the Soap Box Derby contest. Vaudeville acts and a kiddies parade also entertained the crowds.

In other entertainment, “Happy Holmes,” a clown juggler-magician, performed various acts and wowed the Alma crowds with his “Tower of Pisa” performance on a wire over the Pine River. During the routine, Holmes stacked a set of swaying tables while maneuvering along the wire. In another part of downtown Alma, Barkroot Amusements provided rides for the young. Things got a little exciting when June McWilliams, age 11, was injured when she fell off the Tilt-a-Whirl ride and sustained a scalp wound. After the accident, the amusement operators took McWilliams to the nearest doctor, oversaw her care, and paid the bill. The company also bought the young girl a brand-new dress.

But one key highlight of the Alma Mardi Gras was the election of the queen and court. Before the festivities began, the chamber of commerce announced that this year’s queen and court would represent the “pioneer court of royalty” with ties to Alma’s past. This departed from previous Alma Jubilees because the court usually consisted of younger ladies.

At the opening parade, the crowds first met the court as the float moved down Superior Street, carrying the royalty except for the Mardi Gras queen. The court included Mrs. John Sullivan, Mrs. Ely Brewbaker, Mrs. Eula Hannah, Mrs. Charles O. Ward, Mrs. Abbie Wolfe, and Mrs. Nettie Lindsay. The crowds soon understood that, through the Mardi Gras court, the Alma Chamber of Commerce was giving a history lesson about the town’s early settlement and its surviving pioneer families.

On Friday night, master of ceremonies Dr. Thomas Carney explained how each court member was tied to Alma’s past. Mrs. Nettie Lindsay was born in a house in 1865 where the Gleaner home (formerly Saravilla) sat. She and her husband had just celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary.

Mrs. John Sullivan, whose in-laws were among the first Gratiot County settlers in 1854, had a log cabin near an Indian settlement. A later Sullivan home hosted the county’s first Episcopal service. Mrs. Ed Wolfe came from a family that settled near Wolfe Bridge in 1952. The Wolfe family boasted five generations of family still living in the county as of 1941. Eula Hannah was a descendant of the Kress family and had ties to the founding of early Alma and Gratiot County. Hannah’s mother was also the first teacher in the Alma school, and Eula also had ties to James Gargett, an early Alma builder and politician.

As the crowd listened to the recognition of the queen’s court, the Alma history lesson continued. Two ladies in the group, Mrs. Ely Brewbaker and Mrs. Charles O. Ward, were related by marriage to General Ralph Ely, Alma’s earliest founder, who built the first mill and dam and owned the land on which Alma was built. Mrs. Ward also wore a tope-colored silk shawl that her grandmother, Mrs. Ralph Ely, owned. Of course, Dr. Carney also mentioned two other important Alma families: Ammi Wright and the Pollasky-Messinger family. However, no direct descendants of the families still resided in the county and could not be represented.

After the Mardi Gras court was completely announced, people began to ask, “Where was the queen of Mardi Gras?” Announcer Carney then produced the “queen,” who turned out to be Charles O. Ward, vice president of the local bank. After lauding the candidate, Carney turned to the person in the center of the queen’s court and pronounced, “I now take great pleasure in crowning our distinguished citizen and fellow townsman, CHARLES O. WARD, as queen of this Mardi Gras.” As Ward received his crown, the crowd roared, and the official festivities ended.

A few days later, the Alma Chamber of Commerce began reviewing how Mardi Gras went. Just how successful had the festivities been, and how many people attended? Mardi Gras was not quite as successful as the previous Jubilee celebration. Ticket sales for amusement rides totaled 9,078 tickets, 2,300 fewer than the year before. The Alma Chamber also came up $175 short of breaking even. Several merchants complained about the blocking off of Superior Street, and others protested that there should be no downtown carnival. Other comments included a request for a “showboat” venue on the Pine River in 1942, much like the one in Chesaning.

However, no one in Alma – or Gratiot County – could foresee that Gratiot County and the world would look drastically different by the fall of 1942 and community celebrations took a back seat. Less than three months after Alma’s Mardi Gras ended, Gratiot County became involved in World War II.

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed

Gratiot County During Depression and War: “October 1941, Blessed Peace, but Preparations for War”

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October 1941, from the top: Newly commissioned officers of Company 407 of Alma. The “Home Guards” were back; Over two years of Nazi tyranny in Europe made people hope for uprisings and revolts; Navy Day debuted in Gratiot County on October 27, 1941; Lieutenant Kenneth P. Kingdon of St. Louis graduated from Kelly Field and was assigned to be a flight instructor at Randolph Field, Texas. Kingdon’s story was just one of several that appeared in October newspapers. The names and numbers of men coming and going from Gratiot County increased as 1941 entered its last quarter; pheasant season descended upon Gratiot County, drawing hordes of hunters from outside the country to hunt the Ring-neck pheasant.

President Roosevelt’s speeches and radio addresses to the nation sounded as if United States involvement in the war was drawing closer.

Some of Gratiot County’s young men briefly came home from recently entering Selective Service. A short visit home could be worth the long trip from Louisiana, the Carolinas, or even Texas.

The county’s earliest calls for aluminum and waste paper collection drives were only a foretaste of what would happen the next year. But no one knew this.

Out in the Gratiot County countryside, pheasant and rabbit season was about to open. Farmers prepared for the arrival of many out-of-county hunters – and they worried about how their crops, animals, and farmland would be treated.

The last peacetime holiday season was fast approaching. But again, no one realized just how quiet life really was.

It was October 1941 in Gratiot County.

War Talk and War Preparation Movement in October 1941

“The shooting has started,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in an address to the nation in late October. War seemed imminent for the United States, but how and where would it begin? Nazi U-boat attacks upon shipping in the Atlantic caused Roosevelt to warn the world that “We Americans have cleared our decks and taken our battle stations. The forward march of Hitlerism can be stopped – and it will be stopped.”

Throughout October, many news items strengthened feelings that war with Germany was just around the corner. Early in October, the Gratiot County draft board announced that fourteen men had to appear at the county draft board offices on November 3 to report to Detroit for their final examinations. This came after the county did not have to provide men for selective service in October or November because it had filled all previous quotas on schedule. The Greyhound bus carrying the group was scheduled to leave Alma at 6:00 pm (following a dinner at the American Legion Hall), and they would stay at the Fort Shelby Hotel. After their examinations, the men would return home and have ten days to take care of all personal matters before entering the service.

While it had been nearly six months since the Alma anti-tank battery left the county for federal service, the 407th Company of Michigan State Troops was organized and was activated. Captain Leon Thomas Harris commanded the unit and had 57 officers and men. A formal induction service was held at the Alma Masonic Temple after the men marched down there from the armory. The group awaited a shipment of rifles, and 44 of the men received measurements for new uniforms. While more men entered the service, 33 others became eligible for early release because they were 28 years of age or older. The first three offered discharge started with Private Albert Tussell of Wheeler. Upon discharge, Russell immediately joined the enlisted corps and was one of four Russell brothers serving from Gratiot County. Ward Young of Ithaca and Harold Cook of Riverdale were the other men to receive early discharge.

Other men also came home in October, but only on furlough. A group of 42 men from Louisiana and the Carolinas returned for a 12-day leave. About 30 of them belonged to the anti-tank battery, which left the county earlier in 1941. Several stated that they liked the idea of being home for the start of pheasant season in Gratiot County. As these men returned home, readers learned where they had been. Private Willard Haag and Private Allen Fairbanks came home to a chicken dinner in their honor. Haag had been at Fort Custer; Fairbanks at Fort Clairbourne, Louisiana. Private Harry Oberlin was invited to a party in his honor at the Ray Peck home. Cider and doughnuts welcomed Oberlin and sixteen friends. Private Duane Gamble of Newark came home to Perrinton to visit for a few days after becoming a licensed radio operator at Scott Field, Illinois. Private Franklin Klein came home from Fort Sheridan, Illinois, after spending eight weeks training in automotive mechanics. He was one of 41 graduates in his group, and he expected to be sent back to Fort Custer with the 56th Quartermaster Regiment. Private Gerald Gilbert of Alma headed the other way as others came home. Gilbert was one of 113 selectees from Fort Custer to be sent to Camp Wallace, Texas, to prepare at the Coast Artillery Replacement Training Center. News arrived that Lieutenant Kenneth Kingdon of St. Louis was assigned to Randolph Field, Texas, as a flight instructor. Kingdon had just graduated from Kelly Field as one of 31 officers who completed basic training at the “West Point of the Air” that summer. When Kingdon got home to St. Louis, he stayed with his parents for five days.

In October 1941, one branch of the military openly recruited more Gratiot men for service. Alma Record editor R.A. Babcock and Leslie C. Struble of St. Louis became official “Navy editors” who helped with a Navy campaign to get Gratiot young men to join the new “Two-Ocean” Navy. To carry out the recruitment drive, the Navy opened a recruiting station in St. Louis. Those young men who wanted more information could get it at the Alma Record office or the St. Louis Leader office. At the end of the month, Gratiot County officially joined and promoted Navy Day on October 27, hoping to draw more men to the service. One St. Louis youth, Reinhold Faust, decided to join the Marine Corps and was headed to Parris Island for his first assignment.

Civilians exhibited their patriotic spirit and supported those in the military..  The Gratiot Red Cross prepared for its annual roll call drive to raise $ 3,450, double what it raised a year ago. A group of twelve Gratiot County men completed a ten-hour ARC course in advanced first aid and lined up to receive the Red Cross First Aid pin. Breckenridge participants included Thomas J. Roth, Dr. D.J. Shepard, Louis Federspiel, and Richard Paulus. The Jean Torrence Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution donated 55 cans of jellies and jam, along with a large collection of current magazines, for men at Fort Custer. Gratiot County Boy Scouts organized a countywide waste paper salvage drive. This came in response to a call from Washington for a nationwide paper-collection effort. A greater nationwide effort was needed to collect aluminum pots and pans, which had been donated earlier in the summer but had not been picked up and shipped for melting. Soon, Gratiot County would get involved in other forms of metal drives. The Gratiot County Defense Council formed in Ithaca to address the county’s defense needs and goals; in this case, the main focus was firefighting. Alma Postmaster J. L. Winslow reported that more people bought national defense bonds and stamps during September. These sales included bonds amounting to $3,356.

Some glad and sad news rounded out the month. The Alma Elks and the four-county American Legion Posts planned a large Armistice Day parade in Alma, with over 20 floats from industrial and business firms and seven bands. Red flares and aerial bombs went off during the parade to honor Gratiot County’s World War I veterans. In sad news, Claud Jessup, originally from North Star Township, died while stationed at Guantanamo Naval Base, where he served for most of the previous fifteen years. Mrs. Emma Jessup of Ithaca, Claud’s mother, after much deliberation about long-distance travel and concern because of advancing age, decided to travel to Cuba to visit her son. After she left Ithaca on October 14, her son suffered a cerebral hemorrhage the next day and passed at Guantanamo Bay. Emma Jessup had no way of knowing what happened and could not be reached until she reached Cuba. Mother and son were reunited, but in an unexpected tragedy.

New Deal Programs at Work in Fall 1941; Depression Needs

WPA (Works Progress Administration) workers received good news that the WPA planned to increase pay. Howard O. Hunter, WPA commissioner, said he believed pay increases would average about ten percent. Gratiot County workers earned $44.40 a month at the time. Only one person over the age of eighteen from a single family could work in the program, and the WPA workforce averaged 234 people during 1941. By September, a total of 157 WPA workers existed in the entire county. For some of their jobs, Alma WPA workers prepared to finish pouring concrete slabs on three blocks of River Street. St. Louis also hoped that WPA workers over there would complete a major sewer project. WPA workers completed about fifty blocks of street improvements over the past three years. Places like State, Iowa, and Superior streets were all WPA projects.

On Depression-related issues, the county still debated the status of a new welfare agent. The board of supervisors agreed to defer action on accepting the new agent who was appointed by the state of Michigan. Mrs. Mary McIlwain of St. Louis would be paid $5 per day or $2.50 per half day for each day she worked, plus another four cents per mile until the matter reached a resolution. Meanwhile, the issue continued until next month. The Gratiot County welfare association agreed to adopt the federal food stamp system. Each set of stamps had different colors and was supplied by mail-order service from state headquarters in Lansing. One of the biggest issues county commissioners faced was the cost of hospitalization, medical care, the infirmary, and the county poor farm. The previous year’s costs reached $84,959.86, and the commissioners aimed to reduce costs by deciding where to treat patients. The County Road Commission worked with the Department of Social Welfare to employ the unemployed by cutting brush along the county’s highways during the winter months. Most of the workers gladly received groceries and coal in exchange for their work.

Health Matters in Gratiot County

Newspapers reported on health issues, including the ongoing war against tuberculosis. Approximately 15,000 people in Michigan received “Health” magazine, which featured the success of over 3,700 rural Michigan schools that sold Christmas seals. During the previous year, 101 rural Gratiot schools sold Christmas seals to raise money to fight tuberculosis. The Yound School in Newark Township, taught by teacher Martha Wangerin, led the sales, received mention, and was followed by teacher Miss Nellie Peck’s Frost School in Wheeler. The issue featured letters written by many Michigan students. Newspapers also reminded readers that sixty-six people died from tuberculosis, a rate of 22 per 10,000 people in the county.

To combat disease in Gratiot County, places like Alma Public Schools held a diphtheria immunization clinic, led by Dr. Charles Dubois, city health officer and physician. Immunization cost twenty-five cents; however, any payment was welcome. Parents of children in kindergarten through second grade who could not afford the shots received them for free. The county board of supervisors reported that a free summer dental clinic took place in Ithaca, Alma, and St. Louis for underprivileged children. A total of 869 children and young people received free care courtesy of the Children’s Fund of Michigan.

Individual accounts of those who had health needs dotted the October 1941 news. Mrs. Lydia Gulick of Ithaca was hit by an automobile while walking near her home in Ithaca and was taken to Smith Memorial Hospital. Eight-year-old Mary Jo Young of Elwell suffered a slight head injury when she was hit by a car in downtown Elwell. One tragic story of the month centered around the fate of fifteen-year-old Betty Steggal of Middleton when a car she was in crashed and hit a telephone pole in Owosso early one Sunday morning. Steggal was killed instantly, but the driver suffered only cuts and bruises. In still another tragic accident in the county, Robert L. Hulwick, 19, of St. Louis, was killed in a traffic accident when he tried to pull out around a truck on Michigan Avenue and struck Carleton Van Horn, 20, a private in the U.S. Coastal Artillery. Hulwick tried to avoid the car and truck but struck an elm tree.

Ansel Jones of St. Louis headed to Smith Hospital with a smashed index finger he received at work. Mrs. Florence Aldrich, wife of an Ithaca doctor, was admitted at Smith due to first- and second-degree burns on her face and hands received when hot paraffin exploded while in their home. The Baby Dattos girl was placed in an incubator at Smith Memorial in order to help her with concerns about her health. Arland Carter of Elwell injured a finger on his left hand while he was cleaning a gun during hunting on his father’s farm. In another hunting accident, Bert Dicken of Arcada Township had to be taken to Smith Memorial after Dicken’s relative accidentally shot him. In this case, the other hunter stubbed his toe, fell, and discharged the shotgun about 120 feet away from Dicken, who received shots in his shoulder, neck, and both legs. Only one pellet was removed from Dicken’s body, and he was told to return for observation. Lavern Mitchell of St. Louis went to Smith Memorial after falling from a pear tree at his home. He dislocated a shoulder and fractured his left heel bone.

The Long Arm of the Gratiot County Law

In September, the county made 86 arrests. Offenders paid $424.35 in fines; costs reached $573.09. Some of those who appeared in court were charged with crimes like cohabitation (lewd and lascivious conduct), habitual drunkenness, disorderly conduct, indecency and obscene conduct in the presence of minor girls, indecent language, and several related to hunting violations.

While in court, Norman Prange of St. Louis received an injunction to stop orders and taking goods in Ithaca on behalf of the Cook Coffee Company of Bay City. The injunction told the city of Ithaca that it could not restrain coffee sales, as they were legally protected from interference with interstate commercial business. Frank and Emma Burch appeared in court because they were illegally married, as Frank Burch had not received a legal separation and divorce from his first wife. He thought a legal paper served on him by his first wife was a prelude to his divorce when the first wife showed up after this second marriage. Burch agreed to child support and immediately filed for divorce. The court deemed the situation an innocent mistake by Mr. Burch. A hearing was held for Roy Lewis, formerly of Alma, who asked for his release from Southern Michigan Prison in Jackson. Lewis was committed there as a criminal sexual psychopath and claimed he was cured. Judge Kelly Searl continued the Lewis case for another six months.

Other cases that month involved embezzlement charges against a truck driver who failed to turn over money for transporting lime for Lake Shore Sugar Company in St. Louis. Two St. Louis boys also stole an automobile in Mt. Pleasant and ended up in the state vocational school for boys in Lansing. Another Alma man sold a chattel-mortgaged radio and got a fine of $35.85 or he had to spend 60 days in jail. A rash of hunting violations occurred when hunters shot hen pheasants, had too many birds in possession, and started hunting too early on opening day – as well as transporting loaded firearms. Carl Lumbert of Midland County heard a “not guilty” verdict in a case involving entering a slaughterhouse near Perrinton. Then Lumbert was immediately arrested for breaking and entering in Montcalm County. Louis Hernandez, a Mexican beet-field worker who lived near the Gratiot-Isabella county line, was arrested for driving under the influence. Friends of Hernandez paid a $54.85 fine to avoid jail time and to get Hernandez back to work in the beet fields.

In other news, Alma Chief of Police Earl Willert attended a defense training meeting at the Fort Shelby Hotel in Detroit. The meeting attracted law enforcement officers from across the state to discuss home defense issues. Finally, about 250 Gratiot descriptions of property went up for sale in Ithaca at the courthouse, drawing 74 bids and $1,377.50 in sales. Most of the properties consisted of vacant lots in Alma and St. Louis. Although more than one hundred people turned up for the sale, competitive bidding remained slow.

Farmers, Farming, and Hunting

A downpour hit the county in one week in early October, bringing almost five inches of rain. These heavy rains then slowed sugar beet and bean harvest and worried bean farmers, who had experienced harsh midsummer heat followed by an abnormally dry summer. As a result, loads of sugar beets arriving at county stations remained slow.

If it is October, then the deluge of hunters upon Gratiot County was about to begin. Pheasant and rabbit hunters from around the state were about to descend upon the county, making Gratiot farmers nervous. Many farmers hoped for a “peaceful invasion” through the Horton Trespass Law, which required hunters to have written permission to hunt on private property. County farmers frequently complained about open gates, cutting or crushing wire fences, shooting at stock, or letting stock out of their enclosures. Many in the farm community saw hunters as either “good” or “bad.” State reports of the current pheasant population suggested that this season could produce a bumper crop of pheasants. Still, fewer hunting area clubs said they would be open so that hunters could turn to the 5,000 to 6,000 acres open to hunters in southeast Gratiot and western Saginaw counties.

This October hunting season saw some unusual pheasant stories. Alma students Jack Detloff and Duane Morton were at the Alma Newsstand when a pheasant flew into the large window of the Compton Shop and broke its neck. Unsure of what to do, the two boys took the pheasant to the police station, where they were told that they could keep the bird. In another case, farmer Paul Raycraft of Arcada Township shot not one, but two albino pheasants. It was the first recorded instance of killing two albinos in one day in Gratiot County (and in the state of Michigan). Raycraft told the Gratiot County Herald that he had seen the birds with albinism in the summer and fall, but was surprised to bag two in one day. At the end of the month, the Michigan Chemical Corporation held a stag pheasant banquet for employees at the St.Louis Park Hotel. Employees who took opening day off worked together to gather enough pheasants for the dinner.

Regarding other farm news in October, thirty-one schools requested an organization of forty-two 4-H Clubs in the county. County Agent C.P. Milham believed more schools would request even more clubs by month’s end. Farmers, do you have nothing to do in the winter? Evening schools on farming would again be held in Breckenridge, St. Louis, Ithaca, Alma, Ashley, Perrinton, and Middleton. The winter classes would focus on soils.

Halloween and Thanksgiving Approach Gratiot County

Three Gratiot communities continued their Halloween traditions and programs for youngsters while one dropped out. The St. Louis Lions Club arranged games, contests, and a costume parade. Halloween night saw a parade of costumed children start at the foot of Mill Street near the creamery, then parade down to Mill and Saginaw, turn east, and proceed to the city park. After contestants arrived, they marched over a lighted stage for judges to view the costume contest. The Fritz Family then entertained the crowds in the high school gymnasium beginning at 7:00 pm. The Breckenridge Rotary Club sponsored a Halloween party and parade. The parade, led by the high school band, started at the Roth garage. The Ithaca Chamber of Commerce sponsored a program in the Ithaca High School gymnasium. The city of Alma was the only town not to hold the annual Halloween festivities, as “the times call for close economy in municipal administration.” In other words, the city did not want to spend the money this Halloween. Remember, “All America Loves ‘Em. Serve Donuts at Your Halloween Party” read an advertisement for National Doughnut Week, October 27 to November 1.

As Thanksgiving season neared, Gratiot County began a tradition that continued throughout the 1940s with the creation of the first Turkey Festival. On the night of October 21, the first Turkey Festival opened at the Alma Odd Fellows Hall, sponsored by the Turkey Growers Association, Alma Chamber of Commerce, and the county extension office. After a talk by a poultry specialist from Michigan State College, the program featured movies and entertainment, culminating in the crowning of the first turkey queens, Colleen Townsend of North Star and Wanda Gabrion of Ithaca. A fifteen-pound, four-ounce tom watched over the festivities and became one of the night’s prizes. Two hundred people attended the program, which cost seventy-five cents per ticket. Turkey growers from six other mid-Michigan counties could not match Gratiot County, which led the group with 30,000 turkeys on 129 different farms. Swift and Company of Alma had 15,000 turkeys; Hoyt’s Turkey Hatchery hatched 30,000 poults; Marshall Michaels of Alma raised 1,700 turkeys; and Francis Brauher of Middleton had 1,000 turkeys on his farm.

And So We Do Not Forget

The Middleton Methodist Church held its annual Rally Day on Sunday, October 5. After the service, the church served a potluck dinner in the dining room…Carl Lanshaw of Wheeler was recognized for 27years in business as Lanshaw’s Hardware Store. Recognized for his sound business judgment, Lanshaw served as president of Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Merrill. Lanshaw was an outstanding catcher during his playing days in mid-Michigan…A rare Kirtland Warbler visited the bushes on the lawn of Mrs. J.L. Winslow of Alma. It stayed a few minutes before taking off. The visit seemed unique, as Kirtland’s Warblers are found farther north and must have been heading south for the winter…Fred McMurray and Madeleine Carroll starred in “One Night in Lisbon” at the Ideal Theatre in Ithaca. All seats were ten cents with a penny tax…William Havelka, 21, married Nola Zoss, 19, both of Emerson Township. Kiel Eckelbarger, 21, of North Star Township, and Vera McVeigh, 20, of New Haven Township, also became victims of Cupid’s Arrows and obtained their marriage licenses…Mayor T. Jefferson Hoxie reported to the Alma buildings committee that 690 people visited the city restroom during the week of October 12. Most of the traffic came on a Saturday, with the largest number being 282.

Sixty people enrolled in adult education in St. Louis. Six classes were offered, and Wilton Slocum, chairman of the council adult education classes, stated that “The attendance and interest are very gratifying”…The Gratiot County district of the Michigan Educational Association held its first meeting with over 150 teachers in attendance at Alma High School on a Tuesday night…The New Haven Church planned its annual homecoming service on October 26. Otho Winger was scheduled for two services that day, with a basket dinner in between at noon…The North Star Bearcats finished the 1941 season with a record of 18-4, the third year in a row that the team won the county baseball league…A total of 35 owners in the Porter Oil Pool received a judgment of $787,993 to be split among them. The money had been impounded for years as it worked its way through the courts. Cash recipients ranged from $665 to $162,922. Anyone hindering the results of the suit would be penalized $10,000 if they brought suit against this judgment….Those who showed up to work on reforestation in Conservation League Park on October 5 received a free chicken-and-dumplings dinner. Work starts at 9:00 am, a break for lunch, then a return to the mission…Riverdale got a good scare at the end of September when the Hyde Building caught on fire and cotton for the use of mattresses was threatened. The cotton was necessary to make mattresses under the AAA program, but most of it was spared, and the fire was put out…Riverdale teachers also received honors from the Riverdale Methodist Church. The church sponsored a party one Thursday evening, followed by games and refreshments.

Alma College dedicated the new Dunning Chapel. About 700 people attended the program, filling the seating…Leo Simon of Alma received a building permit to construct an addition to the Alma Iron and Metal Headquarters on State Street, just north of the bridge. The addition would cost an estimated $1,600 to complete…The Mullet School enrolled 16 students for the 1941-1942 school year. Gertrude L. Howe served as the teacher…See the 1942 Ford V-8 and Six, as well as the Mercury Eight, on display at Rademacher Motor Sales in Alma…The Three Mesquiteers starred in “The Trail Blazers” at the Alma Theatre. Tickets for children cost ten cents and a penny tax. Adults cost eighteen cents and two cents tax…The Alma Chamber of Commerce recommended creating a community chest to receive contributions and donations for future charitable and social purposes. The idea came about because of the success of the Alma Mardi Gras held in September. All chamber members who were queried soundly renounced any future ideas of a downtown carnival for future summer festivals…Saul Sharp of St. Louis brought in his second crop of raspberries for the season. Although his berries usually ripened in June, this batch came about due to the recent unseasonably warm weather in the county.

Workers installed a new flagpole on top of St. Louis City Hall after clearing the top of the railing near the fire siren. Previously, the pole sat as part of the old tower, which was slated for remodeling. The city also insulated the police booth for the winter by treating the windows, door, and walls of the structure near the corner of Mill and Washington…Aubrey Faurot of St. Louis lived out his dream as an entrepreneur by continuing to operate a wallpaper, paint, and men’s store starting in April 1940. A St. Louis High graduate, he previously worked for Raycraft Drug Store and took a course at Warner’s Practical Institute of Pharmacy in Sandusky, Ohio. His wife, Ednamae, and daughter, Susan, age 6, help out in the store…The American Legion and Elks Lodge of Alma sponsored a national defense poster contest in local schools in October. The contest had two divisions: grades K-8 and 9-12, and was open to all students in the county. The poster had to measure 16×24 inches, and first prize was five dollars. St. Louis citizens sounded concerned about the dead end of Mill Street near the Pere Marquette Railroad on the south side of the city. Children kept going under or crawling through the barrier and train cars that blocked their route to school and downtown. Over 100 people signed a petition asking that part of Mill Street be opened to traffic and pedestrians.

Mr. and Mrs. R.C. Kerr of Ashley celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Reverend Charles and Delia Richards of Bridgeville celebrated their 45th anniversary…Get your vitamins! Read about the need for vitamins by getting a booklet at Burhards’ Drug Store in Ithaca…Fulton School planned to have a band in 1941. Over 35 students showed outstanding ability to be in a band by passing a recent test. Bring on the band…The Sickles Sewing Club met at the Dayringer residence in Sickles. A Sickles birthday club was also in operation…Gratiot County observed Fire Prevention Week from October 5-11. This followed a proclamation from President Roosevelt announcing that fire was an enemy to the nation that had to be faced…Alma College students (all males) held their annual Pajama Parade down Superior Street as a rite of gentle hazing. After a day of fun, students headed to the Strand Theatre for a free onstage show.

And that was Depression and War in October 1941.

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed

We Remember “St. Louis, A City of Fear in October 1966: The Emily Housel Murder Case ”

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A Grisly Murder in St. Louis in October 1966. From the top: Front page of the St. Louis Leader dated October 13, 1966; A dedicated buisnesswoman – this overexposed photograph of Emily Housel is the only image published at the time of her death in county newspapers; A very young Emily Housel taken decades earlier; Emily Housel’s marker in Oak Grove Cemetery; Housesl family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Louis; Richard Carl’s photograph published in the St. Louis after he was identified as a suspect in the murder of Emily Housel; The barn in Midland County where Carl ultimately was captured in late October 1966; Carl in cuffs and on his way for arrainment in Ithaca; Carl’s first name appears on back of mother’s marker in Breckenridge’s Ridgelawn Cemetery; Housel home site as it appeared in September 2026.

It was one of the scariest Octobers in St. Louis history. Residents locked their doors, checked their windows, thought about where their children were, and secured their cars. Halloween was on the horizon, yet the city thought about more than just the impending “trick or treat” time. A well-known and respected St. Louis businesswoman was brutally murdered one early morning in what a newspaper termed “the city’s worst crime in years.”

The Victim, Emily Housel, and the Intruder, Richard Carl

Emily Housel was a widow who lived at 217 E. Saginaw Street, just east of St. Louis High School. At 74, she lived alone and enjoyed a quiet retirement after her husband Louis, a World War I veteran, passed away in 1957. During the Depression, Emily earned respect at the Breckenridge Stockyards, starting as a bookkeeper and secretary when it opened in 1935. She became manager in 1945, the first and only woman to hold that position. After retiring in 1957, she served on the St. Louis Library Board and attended First Methodist Church. Emily and Louis had one daughter, Janet, who became a registered nurse. In October 1966, Janet went on vacation to Nova Scotia.

On Monday, October 10, 1966, Emily Housel went to bed after telephoning two other friends that she would attend their weekly bridge game the next day. Housel made what would be her last phone call at 6:20 PM. Later that night, a neighbor’s dog near the Housel home barked loudly, but the owners did not go to check what was happening. At 3:30 AM, an intruder broke into Housel’s home.

Richard Leroy Carl was 22, stocky, and known for being combative. As a teenager, he fought in the Golden Gloves Tournament and boxed for the St. Louis Boys Club. He had been married twice and had a child from his first marriage, but failed to pay child support. Carl had a bad temper and, according to his peers, was willing to do anything when he was drinking. At this time, he was wanted for a probation violation, driving under the influence, and failing to support his first child. Carl frequently moved between St. Louis and Alma and was unemployed. In short, Richard Carl seemed likely to cause trouble, and in the early morning of Tuesday, October 11, 1966, he committed murder in St. Louis.

The Murder

Early that morning, Richard Carl broke into Emily Housel’s home, but later he would say that he was completely drunk and did not remember his actions. However, after breaking a window, Carl entered the kitchen and then met Emily Housel, who must have heard the break-in and went to find out who was in her house. Carl encountered Housel in the kitchen, where he grabbed a knife (later described as an older-style butcher knife), attacked Housel, stabbing her and leaving her body in the bedroom. A pathologist later concluded that she was stabbed at least seven times, was beaten around the face, and was also sexually assaulted. She died from stab wounds, internal hemorrhaging, and shock.

Not looking for any money or valuables, Richard Carl left through the garage and took Housel’s brown 1962 Studebaker Lark. He failed to close the garage door and then began a journey that took him out of Gratiot County for more than two weeks. The next day, two of Emily’s friends, Mrs. Vere Nunn and Mrs. Harrison, called to check on Emily when she missed their bridge game. After repeated telephone calls with no answer, they went to her house at 6:00 pm, found the garage door open, and walked inside. They then saw blood on the kitchen floor, found a wall lamp and Emily’s glasses on the living room floor, which suggested a struggle. In the bedroom, they discovered Housel’s body on her bed, with the knife still in her chest. Emily Housel had died a violent and terrible death. The two women immediately called the police, and soon officers and specialists from the St. Louis Police Department, the Gratiot County Sheriff’s Department, and the Michigan State Police arrived at the house on the corner of East Saginaw and North Clinton streets. It took two days for Canadian police to find Janet Housel, who was in Canada, and ask her to return home due to her mother’s death. The investigation and search for the killer had just begun.

An Unsolved Mystery?

The Housel murder shocked St. Louis for several reasons. It was the first crime of its kind since a young girl was murdered in 1958, which also happened on the same street, though further north on North Clinton Street, which was separated by the football field. As Halloween approached and fall was in full swing, people were especially uneasy. The murder happened right next to St. Louis High School, where school buses picked up and dropped off students each day. Newspapers did not mention the home’s location in relation to the school or the bus routes that went near the murder scene. Still, concerns about safety and the unsolved murder must have weighed on many St. Louis parents’ minds. Emily Housel’s funeral was held the next Saturday, but the killer and the motive remained unknown.

It would not be until Thursday, October 20, that the county prosecutor announced a warrant for the arrest of Richard Carl – a total of eight days since the murder, which initially had left police and investigators baffled. While local law enforcement investigated a list of possible suspects, no one could find Emily Housel’s car. After examining fingerprints from the crime scene and comparing them to state records, investigators identified Richard Carl as the suspect. Still, some of Carl’s friends believed he was innocent, including his current wife, who said she and her husband planned to move to California soon. Could Richard Carl have fled west? Where was Richard Carl?

Even though Carl had disappeared, in the days after the murder, St. Louis residents kept their doors locked and police got many calls about prowlers. Rumors about Carl sightings spread repeatedly through the city. On Giddings Place Street, St. Louis police found an abandoned car with what looked like burglars’ tools, but it turned out to belong to three service members who were AWOL. Another car in Westgate was reported because of an unusual Indiana license plate, but neither car had connections to Richard Carl.

Local St. Louis businesses reported that people soon began buying door locks, and stores had to keep extra in stock. During the week of October 17, St. Louis Mayor Dale Reichard ordered a proclamation that changed the city’s Halloween trick-or-treating hours for the first time to late afternoon and early evening. Officials hoped this would make it safer for children and drivers and reduce the chance of children meeting anyone with bad intentions. The new hours also meant no annual children’s Halloween parade in St. Louis.

The Break: Richard Carl Drifts Home

Richard Carl had been on the run, but no one knew where he was. On Thursday, October 27, he surprisingly got off a bus at the corner of Lincoln and State Roads, south of St. Louis and east of Alma. He walked past the Cloverleaf Restaurant and a nearby gas station, where an attendant, William Guthrie, recognized him and called the State Police. As Carl neared the US-27 overpass, Bruce Perry was heading south to the Cloverleaf for coffee. Carl asked for a ride into St. Louis, but Perry was going the other way. After finishing his coffee, Perry got in his car and picked up Carl, dropping him at Hazel Street at Main. Both men went on their way, but Perry claimed he didn’t know the extent of Carl’s status until he got home and pulled his newspaper out of the mailbox. Carl now made it into St. Louis and stopped at Douglas Robert’s house. Roberts, who was not home and who was a friend, had a babysitter watching his children. The babysitter welcomed Carl inside, where Carl spied his name on the front page of the Daily Record Leader in a wanted notice. As a result, Carl left again and quickly disappeared. Soon afterward, mail carrier Phil Good claimed to see Carl running toward him on Lincoln Street, then dashing onto Tyrell and then onto Euclid. When police arrived at the Roberts’ residence on Lincoln Street, they realized they had just missed Carl, and reports of sightings immediately became public knowledge. Across town, St. Louis residents quickly proclaimed, “He’s back!” and soon, Carl was missing again, this time into the east side of the city.

In reality, Carl escaped the police again by stealing another car. Carl broke into Russell Knapp’s home on Union Road and took a car Knapp had left behind while he was in Arizona for the winter. Knapp had drained the radiator for storage, so Carl didn’t realize it wouldn’t get him far. On Friday, October 28, the day after he was seen again in St. Louis, a driver saw Carl and recognized him as he walked along Meridian Road in Midland County’s Mount Haley Township. The stolen car overheated and stalled, with steam rising from the hood. Carl got out of the car and walked up the road, met the car that identified him, then walked into a cornfield. After a local farmer notified police about seeing Carl, sheriff’s departments in Saginaw, Gratiot, and Midland counties were notified, and about 35 to 40 Michigan State Police officers from Mt. Pleasant, Bridgeport, and Bay City posts searched the area. Two officers entered a barn known as the Ryan farm and saw footprints and a cigarette butt leading into a stall. Carl knew he had been discovered and tried to run, but when police told him to stop, he raised his hands and surrendered without a fight. Eighteen days after Emily Housel’s murder, on Friday, October 28, at 7:00 PM, the police finally caught Richard Carl. The following week, the St. Louis Leader wrote about that night, stating, “Guilty or not, most people in St. Louis were glad to hear Friday night (that Carl) was in the county jail.” The hunt had finally ended.

Carl in Court: Answers, Examination, Sentencing

Upon returning to Gratiot County, Richard Carl demanded an examination in court, where he was charged with murder and breaking into a home. Justice Laura Walker heard the arraignment, but asked Justice John McLoughlin to hear the case, as Walker was a friend of the Housels. Carl was kept in the Isabella County jail during this time, and the court appointed Edward Goggin as Carl’s attorney. Goggin had recently represented two Montcalm County boys in a potential murder case where he successfully defended them. In this case, the main evidence against Carl was the examination and identification of his fingerprints in the Housel home, her car, and those inside Knapp’s car.

Surprisingly, on Tuesday, December 13, Richard Carl waived examination, and he made a startling statement and decided to plead guilty to second-degree murder. In court, Carl proceeded to tell Judge McLoughlin that on the early morning of October 11, he entered Emily Housel’s home at 3:30 AM “pretty well intoxicated,” and that he had no reason to enter the home. He had grabbed a large knife, “killed the woman,” and cut her throat. Carl claimed he had no idea why he went into the Housel home, and that he did not plan to kill Emily Housel. He then told the court how he took Housel’s car to Havana, Florida (near Tallahassee), where he left it beside the road. He never explained how he lived during those days on the run, what he did for money, or why he returned home. Sentencing was set for January.

On Tuesday, January 10, 1967, in Judge McLaughlin’s court in Ithaca, over fifty people watched Richard Carl’s sentencing. Carl received the maximum penalty, which amounted to life in prison without parole. As the sentence was pronounced, Carl closed his eyes, sighed, and gave a slight nod to the judge’s words. He then stepped forward to receive the judgment papers. The sentencing took only eight minutes. The St. Louis Leader reported that Carl’s sentencing “brought to an abrupt and quiet end the most vicious murder recorded in the history of Stain Louis, in which a respected retired businesswoman was stabbed several times, beat, sexually assaulted, and left to die.”

However, Carl’s story was not entirely over. In April 1967, Carl asked to appeal, arguing that he did not remember the crime, should have had a sanity hearing, and that there should have been witness testimony. His former attorney, Edward Goggin, wanted nothing to do with the appeal and wanted off the case. Nearly a year later, a court of appeals denied Richard Carl a new trial.

Picking Up the Pieces – What was Left?

October and Halloween 1966 passed quietly in St. Louis as people returned to work and children went to school. A few years later, St. Louis Public Schools bought the Housel property and tore down the Housel home and one other neighboring house on the corner of Saginaw and Clinton streets. Students kept using the school’s parking lot for a few more years until bus drop-offs moved to T.S. Nurnberger Middle School.

Today, the Housel home sits at the southeast corner of the high school’s parking lot. Emily Housel, a respected lady and innocent victim of a terrible murder, was laid to rest in Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Louis, next to her husband. Her daughter went on to continue a long career as a nurse. When she passed away, Janet was laid to rest next to her parents.

And then there was the murderer, Richard Leroy Carl, who continued to live out his life behind bars at Jackson State Prison in Jackson, Michigan. Carl died there on October 30, 2005 – strangely, just one day before Halloween. His name appears on the back of his mother’s headstone in Breckenridge’s Ridgelawn Cemetery and reads: “Son Richard, 1944-2005.”

And so a city that faced fear during that Halloween season of 1966 took a deep breath and moved on.

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed

Wayback Wednesdays: We Remember the Ithaca A&W Drive-In Restaurant

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Above: Two images of the Ithaca A&W Drive-In from the 1960s. First, a very early photo from the early 1960s; below, a June 9, 1966 newspaper advertisement.

For three decades, a familiar landmark sat east of the US-27 overpass on Washington Road near Ithaca. Today, you can see only bushes in front of a small ditch next to the highway. However, this spot once contained a popular place to eat known as the Ithaca A&W drive-in.

The A&W story began in 1957 when the State of Michigan appeared on the front steps of the Hayes Farm east of Ithaca. On that day, the agent told Ken Hayes that the state needed to purchase fifteen acres of land for the new highway, which would cut across the northwest part of the farm. After hearing the agent’s offer, Mr. Hayes, who previously worked for the state highway system, knew that he could not fight eminent domain and immediately agreed to the deal. After encountering many landowners along the new US-27 route who resisted the state’s land purchases in the 1950s, the shocked agent could not believe that Hayes accepted the offer so readily. That transaction helped open a new highway interchange on July 1, 1960, but it radically affected traffic around Ithaca.

Soon, something else happened when John (Jack) Nault from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, came to Ithaca and wanted to buy a small parcel of ground near the interchange. After purchasing the property from Ken Hayes, Nault built and opened the Ithaca A&W sometime in 1960. Nault began with a small building surrounded by an asphalt parking lot. By the start of the first full year of operation in 1961, a metal canopy appeared overhead, along with a raised roof that sported the A&W logo.

At this new Ithaca A&W, the enticing aroma of cooked hamburgers traveled across the parking lot. Business was so good after opening that the supply of hamburgers and buns frequently ran out. The owner then called Winget’s grocery store in Ithaca for an emergency delivery, even on a Sunday. The A&W Root Beer, made from two vats, was a unique mixture of water, carbonation, and concentrated mix. Customers immediately loved it for its refreshing taste. Customers also loved the unique way the frosty mugs, which came in three sizes, looked when filled with root beer. The restaurant used a tank filled with frigid water to hold the mugs so they looked frosted when they hit the air.

Waitresses were also part of the Ithaca A&W story. The waitresses had to manage the weight of the five-pound change machine around their waists while balancing trays loaded with food and drinks. They also had to pay for all broken and stolen mugs and trays, which customers sometimes took as souvenirs. Once, Renee (Barton) Smith remembered a time in the early 1970s when she had to pay for thirteen missing or broken mugs and two trays. The waitresses then made only $1.25 per hour, plus the frequently poor tips. However, there were other lighter moments at the A&W. Once, while working out in the parking lot, Smith heard a loud noise coming up toward the US-27 off-ramp. Suddenly, a Corvette raced down and across Washington Road, circled the nearby gas station, then drove back up the exit ramp and headed north again on US-27 – all without stopping! Another time, Smith recalled taking a phone order for three papa burgers, two mama burgers, five fries, and a gallon of root beer. After being asked how many cups the man needed, he replied, “I don’t need any. I’m going to drink it all here.” A regular customer, he consumed the entire order by himself.

Following Jack Nault’s ownership, others like Don Anderson, followed by Dick and Nancy Kimmel, owned and operated the Ithaca A&W. After the drive-in closed in the early 1990s, a Mexican restaurant operated there, followed by a hairstyling shop. When the new Beacon and Bridge gas station opened, it tore out the last remains of the old A&W parking lot. Yet memories remained of frosty mugs, tasty root beer, delicious hamburgers, and what was once an early drive-in restaurant for people around Ithaca.

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed

Gratiot County During Depression and War – September 1941: “Life as Gratiot Drifts Toward War”

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Above: “This Means-!” that President Roosevelt warns Nazis to stay out of American waters; American Legion posts from Alma, St. Louis, Ithaca, and Breckenridge worked to raise funds for a county resuscitator for emergencies in the county; Mary Ruth McIlwain became the new county welfare agent, much to the consternation of local officials; The Goostreys, Dick and Don, purchased a plane and hoped to become flight instructiors in Ithaca.

President Roosevelt warned Nazi Germany regarding the presence of its U-boats in and near American waters. For the first time in nearly a year, no young men were drafted from the county.

Unemployment remained a problem – especially for those who claimed financial aid. Many in Gratiot County believed everyone could work who wanted to work – even for those who could work for a government New Deal program.

Crimes were both common and uncommon. Farmers faced the tragedy of fires and received help from fellow farmers.

It seemed like the county had a rash of accidents and incidents involving children and youth.

It was September 1941 in Gratiot County, and people could sense that war was not that far off.

United States Warns a World at War

By the early fall of 1941, the Nazis claimed and occupied the Ukrainian “bread basket,” an area west of the Dnieper River. Some wondered when the Nazis would completely defeat the Soviet Union as the Germans continued their invasion of Eastern Europe. As England continued to fight the air war against Germany and planned for a Nazi invasion of the British Isles, thousands of British children were sent to live in the countryside as part of the evacuation effort from Britain’s biggest cities. The British retaliated against Germany by bombing Berlin and parts of industrial Germany, some with American-built flying fortresses.

 With events going on in the North Atlantic that threatened the United States, The Saginaw News asked the question (and it appeared in county newspapers): is the country committed to a shooting war with Nazi Germany? Maybe, as President Roosevelt gave a radio address on November 11, where he warned Hitler that any attacks upon American vessels by warships or U-boats that entered “waters, the protection of which is necessary for American defense” would be shot on sight.

Back in Gratiot County, the county draft board told the public that it did not believe that there would be a selective service call for September. However, a letter from the state cited that Gratiot County should expect heavy quotas for both October and November call-ups.  The county had about 20 classified as A-1 candidates ready to go, and it was expected that a number of 21-year-olds who registered July 1 would be in the next group to go. The Army declared a new process starting in November in which regular Army doctors would give final physical examinations to draftees two weeks to 45 days before they left for camp. This new approach meant every man would know whether he was physically qualified for induction. It also alleviated the issue of local physicians who declared men fit, but whom the Army rejected upon arrival at camp.

In the meantime, the board would evaluate the status of up to sixty Gratiot men under 28 who had married since the draft began nearly a year earlier. The board would investigate whether any of the men married to avoid being drafted. Another concern before the Gratiot board involved a series of unsigned letters sent to the board regarding deferments based on dependents. Apparently, several citizens believed that some young men unfairly received deferments. In response, the draft board asked informants to come forward and share information at Alma City Hall, but they would be allowed to do so in complete secrecy. Unsigned letters meant the board would give no formal attention to the matters. Another issue that had been before the board earlier in 1941 dealt with conscientious objectors – in this case, those who claimed objector status because they were Mennonites. A Gratiot County Herald article explained that some of these men had earlier gone to Camp Denison in Crawford County and were supported by the Mennonite churches.

The continued growth of the Alma unit of the Michigan state troops meant that enough men were available to fill the 57 officers and men. In just two months, men joined up to replace the anti-tank unit, which left earlier in 1941. The state planned to issue rifles and uniforms for these men. A couple of Gratiot men returned home on furlough that September. Sergeant Roland Reeves got a six-day leave from Fort Benning, Georgia. Also, Corporal Donald McMullen made it home from Camp Davis, North Carolina, for a ten-day visit. Both men appeared fit and glad to see home again.

A couple of other events and people that September had ties to military news. Gratiot County formed its first Defense Board and made its first issue of business a discussion of how to re-employ men once they were discharged from the military. No one could envision that this would be a moot point for the next four years. Commander Earl Rhynard, head of the George W. Myers American Legion Post in Alma, urged all former veterans to help the Legion urge people to support national defense measures. Legion posts from Alma, St. Louis, Breckenridge, and Ithaca came together to formally present a new resuscitator, which the posts themselves raised for the new machine. The resuscitator would be used for any emergency in the county. Milton Townsend, Lyle Whittier, Charles Hicks and Aubrey Mellinger made the formal donation to the county. Finally, Gratiot mourned the loss of another of its remaining ties to the Civil War. Myrus Scofield, 93, formerly from the Riverdale area, died at his daughter’s home in Eaton Rapids. Scofield entered the army in Columbus, Ohio, in 1863 and served in Volunteer Cavalry, Company D, 12th Regiment. He came to Gratiot County in 1872.

The Depression and New Deal Programs in Gratiot County

While the Depression brought challenges, Gratiot still did not face the problems shown in a photograph taken in England that appeared in the St. Louis Leader. Here, a swap market meant that Londoners could trade surplus farm products for other needed things without using their ration coupons. Ration coupons? What were those? Gratiot County would never use ration coupons, would it?

To offer work for those qualified in the county, a WPA project was expected in St. Louis, which would allow a blacktop of surfaces in the city to replace a concrete paving project. But this was all talk now. Miss Peggy Shaw of Alma took over duties as the girls’ NYA workshop took place in the Washington School building.  A total of 93 young people in 10 programs in the county benefited from National Youth Administration programs, which disbursed $2,528.43 to those involved. The Townsend Clubs remained active by observing September 14 as Founders Day for the Townsend National Recovery Plan. All Townsend Clubs in the mid-Michigan area were urged to plan some activity on that day.

What really stirred up Gratiot residents? The appointment of a new welfare agent upset people for two reasons. First, Governor Murray Van Wagoner appointed Mrs. Mary Ruth McIlwain of St. Louis as the new county welfare agent, but without the recommendation of Probate Judge Mildred Taft. It was unclear why the governor did so, but Gratiot people did not like it. Second, the new agent would be paid $145 per month, up from the $100 the state previously paid. While McIlwain was a Central Michigan College graduate and taught for two years in St. Louis, there was a fuss, and the board of supervisors had yet to determine her final pay and duties. Most likely, the debate about a new welfare agent’s pay and duties was overshadowed by a record disbursement of funds for old age assistance and aid to dependent children – neither of which had any relation to Social Security. A total of 1,168 persons received old age assistance in Gratiot County during September.

The Arm of the Law in September 1941

The arm of the law was still a long one as fall began in Gratiot County. In August, Gratiot County had 60 convictions, bringing in $323.32 in fines and costs. Some of the more serious crimes involved contributing to the delinquency of a minor, embezzlement, disturbing the peace, and simple larceny. Habitual drunkenness and drunk driving appeared in several stories.

On the more lurid side, an Alma garbage collector was convicted of using a black snake whip upon his wife. The husband attacked his wife while she was milking the cows, then followed her into the house and received a beating. Ford Dunevant got 60 days in jail and a $75 fine in court costs. Two Wheeler youths were convicted of rustling two calves from a roadside where they were tied at the Robert Most farm. Keith Thompson and Douglas Eastman had to pay $35 each, $17.50 in court costs, and a $25 fine. A St. Louis couple, Fern Wells and Harry Casner, were convicted of lewd and lascivious cohabitation. Casner got 30 days in jail, and the couple received two years’ probation. Clyde Gantz of Clare pled guilty to using indecent language in the presence of women while in the Tangalakis restaurant in St. Louis. He was fined $19.05 and threatened with 25 days in jail if he did not pay. Joe Pechacek of St. Louis pleaded guilty to letting his dog run at large. The dog allegedly participated in a pair of attacks on rabbits belonging to Earl Nestle of St. Louis. While the other dog was destroyed, there was no solid proof that Pechacek’s dog participated in the attack that cost Nestle 32 rabbits. He was told to tether his dog and keep it at home, and Nestle applied to the county for repayment of lost stock due to the attacks of predatory dogs.

In more positive news, a large group of 31 people applied to become United States citizens after appearing before Judge Kelly Searl in Ithaca, making it one of the largest groups to apply in county history. Two people failed to be admitted but were expected to do so the next time they had proper papers completed. In this group, seven ladies who lost their citizenship due to marriage took the oath of allegiance and were readmitted.  Effie Udel, Leontine Netzorg, and Rosie LaCross, all of Alma, were among them. After the group’s formal registration, members of the Jean Bessac Chapter, DAR of Alma, and the Jean Torrence Chapter of Ithaca held a customary ceremony with help from the Boy Scouts. Each admitted member received a small American flag and heard a talk on “Americanism” by Miss Lou Nickerson.

Farm News, Events and Farmers in the News

Heading into the harvest season, farm news featured several different stories. Farmers dealt with overcoming disasters, such as Ward Boyle hosting a barn raising to replace the one that recently burned. Forty or more men showed up to help him raise the barn, which sat on a 36×50 foundation. Ladies from the Congregational Church provided lunch for the workers, and Ervin Brown, who showed up with his airplane, gave several people their first views of the area from the sky. Mrs. E.N. Day, who lived northeast of Ithaca, lost her barn to a lightning strike during an electrical storm early in September. Luckily, the Ithaca Fire Department arrived in time to save the house and other buildings. A small amount of hay and alfalfa was lost. Mark Morse of Sethton lost a large modern dairy farm early one Saturday morning. Fortunately, wind from one direction kept the flames from the house and Morse’s two horses were in the pasture. Neighbors telephoned the family to warn them of the fire, which took 25 tons of hay and over a thousand bushels of oats. It was unclear how the fire started.

In other news, Michigan State College invited students to the Gratiot County courthouse to learn about short courses available in the winter. The courses covered agriculture, farming, and other topics. A group of 22 Alma FFA boys took a trip through Canada under the leadership of Graydon Blank. The group stopped at Niagara Falls, the Buffalo stockyards, and the ore docks in Cleveland. At the end of the trip, the group saw the Tigers play the Yankees in Detroit. To get their 1941 sugar beet payments, all farmers had to have their fields measured in Gratiot County. Hunters in Gratiot County had to wear special colored tags, which would be shipped in September. Tenant farmers who wanted a loan through the Bankhead-Jones Act faced a closing date for their applications, which were due October 1. The Gratiot County Dairy Herd Improvement Association had their first annual potluck dinner and picnic at Conservation Park. A.J. Neitzke of Breckenridge served as the association’s chairman. Farmers who worked to address the corn borer in the county reaped big dividends in September.  One only had to look at the quality of the current corn to understand which farmers followed advice from the county agricultural agent in 1941.

Health Matters

Health issues and incidents in the county ranged from the sad to the serious. Children and cars were a constant danger, as several incidents occurred, including that of Robert Tomlin, age six, of North Republic Avenue in Alma.  The young boy suffered a broken left leg, collarbone, and significant cuts and bruises when he crossed Michigan Avenue at Republic on his scooter and was hit and run over by a car. Tomlin just managed to run out in front of a Midland driver when hit. Thankfully, the driver was driving at a low rate of speed and was soon exonerated of any fault. Another case happened when Geraldine Woodcock, 11, of Carleton, got an X-ray and treatment at Smith Memorial Hospital after being run over by a car. For some reason, Woodcock was lying in front of a car at the French School in Seville Township. The young girl suffered only minor injuries. Feva Winnie, age 9, of East Mill Street also visited Smith Memorial with a fracture of her right leg above the ankle. She was struck by a car near the Ren Smith gas station. Details about this incident were unclear, but young Winnie spent some time at Smith and left with a cast on her leg. Over at St. Louis, 11-year-old June McWilliams fell off the Tilt-a-Whirl ride that was part of a carnival in the city. McWilliams damaged her scalp when the ride broke, throwing her into an upright. The Barkroot Company, owners of the carnival, took the girl to Dr. Rottschafer’s office, where the injury was dressed. The company paid the medical bill.

Miss Cecil Wolf, the city of Alma public health nurse, warned people that an outbreak of impetigo was at work. Some Alma children had just encountered scabies when Wolf addressed this concern. Impetigo resembled cold sores and fever blisters; however, it usually appeared around the mouth with watery blisters, as well as on the hands and other parts of the body. Because the blisters and sores secreted fluid, bacteria easily spread to other parts of the body. To stop the spread of the bacteria, parents were urged to obtain a special ointment from their doctors and wash the sores with soap and warm water before each application. A different kind of problem occurred in Perrinton when youngsters Barbara Gallagher and Deanne Bennett, both between two and three years of age, swallowed some stock spray while playing. The pair drew attention due to their coughing and strangling, and parents summoned Doctor Sarvin, who worked over the pair for a considerable time to get them out of danger. Both survived.

The Michigan State Sanitarium in Howell celebrated its 34th anniversary and said the tuberculosis death rate in 1907 (the year it opened) was 101 per 100,000 people; by 1941, the number of those contracting TB had dropped to 33 per 100,000. One person in Gratiot County was a victim of suicide. Clarence Glenn Currey, 53, a farmhand in Sickles, took his own life with a rifle. A divorcee who dealt with alcohol addiction, he took his life at the back of a farm where he worked. The terrible smell of the mill pond in St. Louis drove the city council to meet to discuss ways to clean it up. City Engineer Sullivan said this complex issue of dealing with bacteria could be partly solved by chlorination. While it would attack the terrible odor, it should leave the fish alone. A group of 127 St. Louis citizens wanted a sluice gate in the dam to allow the disgusting water to flow downstream. However, engineers asked to examine the water problem and believed that insufficient current through the gate would not move enough water down the Pine River.

Finally, the Gratiot County Crippled Children’s Fund sought to help 75 disabled children in the county. Rotary Clubs in the county took a special interest in raising funds for this cause. Superintendent Grace Meyrelles, Smith Memorial Hospital administrator, announced new afternoon visiting hours from two to four o’clock each day. Evening hours remained the same. What was the stink in Alma? A number of “striped cats” invaded Alma, digging up lawns and leaving a stink behind. Residents were warned that it was unlawful to poison skunks in the city. Another pain point was the constant chattering and noise-making by large numbers of starlings as they formed flocks for their fall migration.

And So We Do Not Forget

The first Ola School Reunion took place at Ithaca’s Woodland Park on August 29. Two former teachers attended, and Frank Brown, the oldest former student present, gave a talk about the original organization of the Ola School…Fulton Township Schools announced that when school started September 2, the district now had seven buses operating to pick up students…The Lumberjacks held their annual reunion at Lumberjack Park on Labor Day. Festivities included music, clog dancing, singing, storytelling, and old Lumberjack songs. An estimated 2,500 people showed up for the doings…Several former Ithaca people now taught at area schools. Some of these included Martha Hale (Alma), Celia Bebout (Ashley), and Bernard Wood (Breckenridge)…Alma’s city clerk and city attorney received feedback from letters they sent out to those in arrears on their cemetery burial lots at Riverside Cemetery. However, because few people responded with payment, they took more drastic measures. If back payments were not received by October 1, legal action could be expected.

Enrollment at Ithaca Schools remained static as the number of village students dropped, and those coming from rural areas increased. School opened on September 2…Lionel Barrymore, Lew Ayres, and Larraine Day starred in “Dr. Kildare’s Wedding Day” at the Alma Strand Theatre. Tickets were ten and twenty cents…The St. Louis Rotary Club heard a presentation from a speaker who discussed and denounced the planned St. Lawrence Seaway Project. Roob Allie, publicity director of the Michigan Railway Association, argued that any proposed seaway completion was unnecessary and would hurt railroad business in Michigan…Helen Doris Drumm married T. Jefferson Hoxie, St. Louis mayor, in an August 30 ceremony at the home of Dr. W.E. Barstow in St. Louis. Miss Drumm was from Nashville, Michigan…A three-night city softball championship took place in St. Louis as the Christian Church team played Michigan Chemical. Both teams won their respective halves of the season and played under the lights at the St. Louis softball park on the north side of town. In the end, Michigan Salt took the first two games and the 1941 city championship.

The St. Louis Baptist Church announced that Dr. H.H. Savage, noted radio Bible preacher, would be at the church on one night on Friday, September 12. Savage could be heard weekly on Station CKLW in Pontiac…Only four veterans returned to the Ithaca High School football team. Coach Steve Keglovitz counted on Bob Turner, Dean Plankenhorn, Robert Williams, and Mike Budge to lead the team…A total of 196 students enrolled at Fulton High School in Perrinton. The district now had seven buses, including two new ones…Dick and Don Goostrey of Ithaca purchased an Arrow Sport airplane which had two seats. It was the fourth plane owned in the county…A fifth school vote at Banister failed as the community still debated how to build a new school after the old one was lost in a spring fire. As the debate went on, school took place in the old skating rink…The Beebe church in Emerson Township planned a homecoming event for Friday evening, September 12. The program included former ministers of the church and old friends…Public schools in the county received $9 for each student enrolled based on state apportionment. Schools also received an additional forty cents for each student in library money. That money came from state fine money.

County commissioners continued to debate the location of a new county airport. Newspapers suggested that an area on a farm abutting US-27 and US-27A and two miles south of St. Louis, two miles east of Alma, and six miles north of Alma could be the spot…Where is Glinke? Charles Hooper, Newark Township supervisor, claimed he saw fugitive Dewey R. Glinkie at the state fair in Detroit. Hooper spied Glinkie operating as a penny picture salesman. By the time Hooper confronted Glinkie and then sought out a policeman, Glinkie had disappeared into the wind. Glinkie was on the run for making off with $3100 in Gratiot County tax receipts…

A group of nine prior Alma Rotary Club presidents met for a testimonial at the weekly Alma meeting. Only Henry A. Nordheim of Owosso and the late Freman C. Mapes were not in the group…The Alma Trailer plant had 300 men employed, but had recently reached as many as 400 workers. The trailer plant now occupied the entire former Republic Truck Company plant… Alma Public Schools had an enrollment of 1,721 students, a net gain of 33 students from the previous year… Gary Cooper starred in “The Westerner” at Ithaca’s Ideal Theatre. Tickets were fifteen and ten cents each. Shows ran continuously on Sundays starting at 3:00…St. Louis Schools dropped 41 students from the previous school year, but still maintained a Class C Division rating. The school enrolled 840 students for the upcoming year, and 69 seniors planned to graduate at the end of the upcoming year.

Reverend Ernest Goetz of Breckenridge held an Advanced First Aid Class under the direction of the American Red Cross. The class met Tuesday evenings at St. Louis High School…Iveh H. Warren of North Star, former missionary in India and founder of the Nazarene Church, was laid to rest after services at the North Star Nazarene Church…The Gratiot Road Commission stated that the county now had 1,212 miles of roads, with 188 miles being blacktopped. The commission used seventy pieces of equipment to keep the county’s roads functioning properly and employed 65 men…Miss Maurine Stovall of Alma and a local photographer received a certificate of merit from the Photographers’ Association of America for her work. Two of her photographs were displayed at the organization’s convention in Chicago…With 102 one-room schools in the county, Newark No. 4, Smith-Allen School, was the largest with 43 students. Miss Ethel Wasson taught it. In contrast, Emerson No. 8 (or the Hetzman School) had only five pupils and was led by Miss Doris Cronkite…Barkroot Brothers Shows staged a fall carnival in St. Louis from September 20-24 with shows, rides, concessions, and free acts.

Mrs. A.L. Aldrich defeated Mrs. Clare Paterson for the 1941 Gratiot County Club women’s division in Ithaca. Aldrich was runner-up in 1940…The Rural Mail Carriers Association of Gratiot County met in Middleton with 34 in attendance. Miss Georgiana Peet gave a presentation concerning her role as a delegate to the National Convention in Columbus, Ohio…The Ithaca A&P Store offered Sunnfield Corn Flakes, two 8-ounce packages for eleven cents (or three for 23 cents). A three-pound bag of 8 O’Clock Coffee sold for 55 cents…The Ithaca-St. Louis football game at Ithaca saw the new community bleachers to be full to overflowing, and Captain Bob Turner led the Ithaca team. Ithaca beat St. Louis by the score of 19-0…Alma College planned to dedicate its new $75,000 chapel on October 9…September 22 was the second day of fall, but local temperatures hit 91 degrees by late afternoon, the hottest date on record in the county…The St. Louis Christian Church held its twelfth homecoming service with a large number in attendance. The church announced that its debt was down to under $700 after the homecoming offering.

And that was September 1941 in Gratiot County during the Depression and War.

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed

“The Greatest Manhunt in History”: Gratiot County Men, Pancho Villa and the Border War, 1914-1917

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Above, from the top: Mexican leader Pancho Villa led border raids into the United States, making him one of the military and government’s most wanted men in the 1910s; armored vehicles like this one entered the Border War. Republic Truck in Alma designed an armored vehicle similar to this type; Leland Agnew of Perrinton was one of several Gratiot County men who served in the Border War, then in World War I in Europe. His post-World War I record tells a story of his service for the county.

During the 1910s, the United States was drawn into conflict along the border with Mexico due to the Mexican Revolution. Consequently, American troops were stationed along the border from the Gulf of Mexico to the western edge of New Mexico. Between 1914 and 1916, various skirmishes occurred, involving some men from Gratiot County in what became known as the Border War.

In April 1914, Walter L. Hawk, whose parents lived in Riverdale, was wounded while serving as a boatswain aboard the Battleship Minnesota during the American Marines’ landing at Veracruz to seize the waterfront. An unnamed nephew of Benedict and Mesdames Cushing of Alma was also wounded alongside Hawk.

In May 1914, Gratiot County contributed to the war effort with the Armored Republic Motor Truck, which was referred to as “a land battleship.” A group of 100 fully armored trucks, equipped with machine guns, was soon sent to the army. These “battleships” could travel at twenty miles per hour on roads and cover five hundred miles from base. Additionally, the trucks had flanges that allowed them to run on railroad tracks at speeds of up to forty miles per hour. This innovation marked a new era in warfare, replacing traditional army mules.

Skirmishes along the Mexican border increased in 1916 when factions, led by Pancho Villa, attacked Columbus, New Mexico. In response, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the army, led by General John Pershing, to go after the “Villastas.” In March, John Fetro of Ashley received a letter from his brother describing the raid. In Columbus, eight soldiers had been killed, and the hotel, along with other buildings, had been burned. Sergeant Ira Fetro and four companies of men patrolled an area twenty-two miles outside of Columbus. While searching for Villa, Fetro wrote, “Now we sleep with our guns in bed with us.”

John Watson of Breckenridge and Lieutenant Ely of Alma witnessed the hangings of two captured raiders in the Columbus jail yard. In the meantime, the Alma Record informed readers about the details of how the men went to the gallows. The inability to capture Pancho Villa and others infuriated citizens in the United States. Eventually, both the military and the United States government realized that only a complete occupation of Mexico could resolve the Border War. As a result, the National Guard received orders to place 117,000 men along the border. Nearly 3,000 came from Michigan.

  The 33rd Regiment from Grayling, Michigan, along with other units that were sent to the border, quickly became dissatisfied with their assignments upon arrival at Camp Cotton, Texas. Sergeant Floyd T. Smith of Alma wrote home that his men were upset that they had been mustered into the regular army and were limited to staying in camp. Worst of all, their pay had been reduced from two dollars per day in the National Guard to the army salary of fifty cents a day.

By early 1917, most of the rebel groups had fallen apart. Although the army never captured Pancho Villa, they did catch his top two lieutenants. Later, many men who served during the Border War were eventually sent to France when war was declared in Europe. Military records from several of these Gratiot County men, like Leland Agnew of Perrinton, later stated that they had been in the “Mexican Border Service.”

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed

Wayback Wednesday: Gratiot County Remembers Gold Star Mother Ella Smith, 1930

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Above: Ella Smith of Perrinton was Gratiot County’s only Gold Star Mother who traveled to her son’s grave in France in 1930 as part of a government program; Private Lyle Smith was one of thirty Gratiot County men who died during World War I: Meuse Argonne Cemetery as it looks today; Private Lyle Smith’s grave on the day Ella visited the gravesite; Marker for Lyle Smith as it appears now in Fulton Center Cemetery in southern Gratiot County’s Fulton Township.

“Every marker is of the whitest marble, and they take such wonderful care of everything. I do not think I ever felt worse in my life than when I knelt by Lyle’s grave and placed a beautiful wreath of roses on it. Had a good cry, then felt better. Felt as if I had been to a funeral.”

              So wrote Mrs. Ella Smith of Perrinton, who in 1930 was Gratiot County’s only Gold Star Mother to visit the grave of her son, one of many who died on the battlefields in France during World War I. The Gold Stars were mothers and widows of those men who died serving our country.

              By the end of President Calvin Coolidge’s administration in 1929, legislation encouraged mothers to travel to France to visit the graves of their sons or husbands who had not been sent home after the war. Over 17,000 women were eligible for this fully paid trip provided by the government. By the fall of 1933, an estimated 6,693 women made the journey.

               Smith left Gratiot County in early June, 1930 and was transported to France aboard the S.S. President Harding along with 2,026 other war widows. She met women from fifteen different states; forty were from Michigan.    

              In Paris, Ella Smith and other Gold Star Mothers were placed in hotels based on which cemetery they visited. In this case, she was one of 112 women headed for the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery. Part of the trip included seeing the best and worst of post-war France. Visiting memorials, churches, and cultural sites was easier than viewing some scenes in the countryside. There, French women pushed two-wheel carts, led their horses, while seeing constant images of destroyed woods along the shell-torn countryside. 

              On June 17, 1930, Smith arrived at the cemetery. After participating in a tea service, the women were given the section number where their son or husband was buried. Upon arriving at that row, an officer gave a wreath to place on the grave. The government also had a photographer present to photograph each woman standing next to the grave. The Gold Stars then had six hours to spend in the cemetery.  

              Upon leaving, Smith’s group headed to the nearby area of the Argonne Forrest where Private Lyle D. Smith died. She wrote, “I presume I am now on land where Lyle was around the cemetery, for here is where the 26th Division was stationed.” As part of the Sixth Division, he had been there on September 26, 1918, when he sent his last letter home. He was killed October 4, just over one month before the Armistice was signed.

              Today, the base of Lyle D. Smith’s marker in the Fulton Center Cemetery reads, “Buried in France.”

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed

Wayback Wednesdays: “We Remember the Spirit of ’76 as Gratiot County Celebrates the Bicentennial”

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Celebrating the Bicentennial from the top: St. Louis prepares to kick off its summer festival by displaying a giant flag constructed by the St. Louis High School Future Homemakers of America; Ione Houlden of Ithaca chaired the Bicentennial program. Ithaca was the first to receive Bicentennial status in the county. Houlden holds the Bicentennial Award letter she shared with Ithaca Mayor Robert Atkinson. The letter came from President Gerald Ford; County historians David McMacken and Louise Davenport worked together to produce a history of Alma through its first 200 years; The St. Louis “Paint-a-Plug Squad” went to work dressing up the city’s fire plugs in Bicentennial colors and design. Here, Sheri Gall and her son work on a St. Louis plug.

Today, the Wayback Machine goes back to recent Gratiot County history and looks at the nation’s Bicentennial. What were we doing fifty years ago, and what was happening in the county and nation in 1976?

The United States in 1976

Apple Computer was founded. The Viking I & II spacecraft landed on Mars. The NBA/ABA merged leagues. “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart” was the #1 hit of the year in July by Elton John/Kiki Dee. One of the movie box office hits was “All the President’s Men” with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. Saturday Night Live had its first full season on NBC. And – there was a funky, exciting baseball player in Detroit called “The Bird” – Mark Fidrych.

Without seeking to stoke any current political feelings, it needs to be said that the nation’s Bicentennial was much bigger and more visible than the United States’ Bicentennial in 2026. There was just a bigger buildup and bigger expectations in 1976. Why was this so?

Several big political and social factors at work culminated in the mid-1970s:

-The end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War came to an end (1972-73).

-Watergate – There was resulting political shock, dismay, and fatigue over this lingering political scandal in Washington.

– A soft economy that started by the mid-1970s would extend into the next decade.

– The first Energy Crisis in 1973 – a result of the Arab Oil Embargo due to the Yom Kippur War in Israel/Egypt.

– In short, the Bicentennial gave Americans something to look forward to and enabled them to forget about some of these lingering national issues.

There had been some national anniversaries before the Bicentennial that centered on previous birthdays:

-The big one – Centennial in St. Louis and Ithaca (1876) – Read David McMacken’s Taming the Wilderness for coverage.

-1926 – 150th– The only big celebration recorded appears to be in St. Louis!

-1951 – 175th – The Korean War was going on, and there was not much movement for celebrations.

-1976 – The Gratiot County Herald recorded a lot of Bicentennial news, but not much appeared in the Alma newspaper.

One could ask, how soon did America start promoting the Bicentennial? This might be a matter of debate, but I can remember a speaker during the Pasadena Rose Parade around 1972 or 1973 who commented, “We (the nation) will be gearing up for the nation’s big birthday in 1976.” In Gratiot County, things really started to move in the fall of 1975.

The Bicentennial Takes Off in Gratiot County

In Gratiot County, news items began appearing in local newspapers starting that fall, such as Collotype, a type of Bicentennial printing at Alma College. The Gratiot County Herald asked readers to contribute to its Bicentennial Cookbook. Newspapers started running bits of American history from the past 200 years, such as “Great American Happenings.” But the real kickoff in Gratiot County concerning the nation’s Bicentennial took place in the little village of Perrinton, in southern Gratiot County. On Saturday, November 8, 1976, Perrinton held a Bicentennial program that honored veterans, provided lunch, featured old-fashioned games and costume contests, and dedicated the VFW flagpole in downtown Perrinton. What made the Perrinton celebration unique was that it had applied for and received official Bicentennial status (the second place in the county to do so, and the first to celebrate it).

As the new year began, Gratiot County celebrated its first “Bicentennial Baby,” Mr. and Mrs. Gary Curtis of 315 Linwood in Alma. He weighed 4 lbs, 10 oz and was born at 12:36 p.m. on January 1! St. Louis celebrated its first Bicentennial baby when Mr. and Mrs. Alfonso Alegria of 510 South Mill had a girl weighing 7 lbs 10 oz. She was born January 7 at 5:39 p.m. The Ithaca Chamber of Commerce sponsored its annual community dinner, which included Carol Evans, a member of the United States Bicentennial Board. This kicked off Ithaca’s plans to celebrate the Bicentennial that summer. Ione Houlden was the Ithaca chairman for planning this event. One of the centers of the Ithaca celebrations was the courthouse, a national landmark. By early March, St. Louis also approved a Bicentennial celebration involving a Girl Scout parade scheduled for March 12. But something got in the way that month that interrupted the Bicentennial – it was the terrible ice storm of March 1976! Gratiot County and much of Michigan were temporarily paralyzed by the ice storm (unless you were in St. Louis and had access to city power). Gratiot County adopted a Bicentennial song in early March, composed by the grandson of County Clerk Eva Smith. The chorus went:

“Two hundred years in America, the land of freedom, foremost in all the world, in all the world. May she always be A land of liberty, and her flag forever wave.” The verses said: “Thirteen original colonies, that’s how it all began, Harbor of strength and unity, freedom for ev’ry man. “Trial and Tribulation Challenge her ev’ry day – Spirit of this great nation, stronger in ev’ry way.”

In the spring of 1976, Professor Gordon Beld started writing a regular series of historical sketches dealing with early America. These appeared in the Gratiot County Herald starting in April. St. Louis High School’s Future Homemakers of America class surprised everyone by creating a large 20×30-foot American flag (more about that later). Bicentennial colors” began showing up around the county. Over in Ithaca, a group of boys led by Ron Gruesbeck painted their basketball court and backboard in red, white, and blue. The court was a meeting place for boys on the block to play basketball,

The month of May meant Memorial Day and annual patriotic themes. The Alma Jaycees worked with the Alma Bicentennial Committee to sponsor “Profile 76” at the Alma High School gym. Tickets were free, but needed to be picked up to measure attendance. Perrinton was back in the news with its fifth annual “Loyalty Day” on May 1, which had a parade, Fulton High School marching band, speeches in front of the VFW Post, and the awarding of Voice of Democracy speech winners. The Seville Township Bicentennial committee was also in the news as the group designed a Bicentennial quilt and gifted it to President Gerald R. Ford. The quilt had a map on the reverse of Seville Township and Gratiot County, along with 100 names of those who wanted their name on it – for only$1 per name! Elaine Lockwood of rural Ithaca designed the quilt, and it was sent to the President in November. Gratiot Community Hospital also joined its annual National Hospital Week with the theme of “HEALTHY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA.” It ran from May 9 – May 15. Mayors from Alma, St. Louis, and Ithaca each signed a proclamation supporting and promoting the week. Hey, men, do you need a new “leisure suit”? You could get $17.76 off a new one at Miller’s Men Shop in Alma (the actual cost was $22.24 after the promotion).

But by the end of May, Gratiot County residents heard about the upcoming planned celebrations that would take place over the summer of 1976. Ithaca’s Frontier Festival and Heritage Days in Ithaca were among the events. The St. Louis Bicentennial Committee promoted a “Paint-a-Plug” squad that went around the city and painted fire hydrants decorated in red, white, and blue. Some of the members who did the painting included Betty Gall, Sheri Gall, Judy Sparling, and Jane Barker. Ashley kindergarten students in Marie Shelton’s class wanted to give America a birthday party. So, they created a 9×13-foot birthday cake in a colonial flag design. It took 143 cakes, involving 15 pounds of sugar and ten pounds of powdered sugar, all painted in a colonial flag design. After the program, the entire school and many parents devoured the cake. The Gratiot County Board of Commissioners also got involved in the Bicentennial by holding their June meeting at the Wheeler Township Hall – a move designed to be more accessible to other parts of Gratiot County. This was the first time that the Commissioners met outside of the County Seat. After the meeting, a square dance organized by Gladys Rausch and music by Dave Bailey’s group (and fiddling by Chairman MacDonald) entertained the group. Regular attendance for a meeting increased by over 50 people that night in Wheeler! Over at Lumberjack Park, Lumberjack Days had a Bicentennial flavor featuring flag raising and planting of the Bicentennial flag, along with a costume ball in best colonial attire. The celebration lasted three days at Lumberjack Park. Bannister had a Flag Day ceremony as they dedicated a new flag and a new flagpole.

But what about the bigger towns and the Bicentennial? For the three-day St. Louis Festival in June, St. Louis dedicated a special monument, “Valor for God and Country,” and the big American flag was hung from the top of the old bank building in downtown St. Louis after the city’s parade marched with over 60 entries. The St. Louis VFW also held a flag-burning ceremony to show the public how old and worn-out flags were to be properly disposed. During the week of July 4 (which fell on a Sunday), the St. Louis Pony League Tournament was held at the St. Louis softball park. Bill Shrum announced some of the games and once told the crowd, “What a way to celebrate the Bicentennial – by playing baseball!”

Ithaca and Breckenridge entered the Bicentennial Spirit starting in late June 1976. The Ithaca Bicentennial Committee planted two small sugar maple trees on the Ithaca City Hall lawn on June 18. These trees grew from a 100-year-old tree near Niles, Michigan, planted in 1876 to observe the Centennial. At the end of June, the Lafayette Presbyterian Church saw 50 people dress up in Bicentennial costumes. The services, musical presentation, and noon potluck dinner drew 150 people.

However, the big draw in Ithaca in late June involved the Ithaca Frontier Festival, which ran from Thursday through Sunday, June 24-27. In addition to the many Ithaca-related events like the calf scramble, Sheriff Posse Queen, garden tractor contests, rodeo, harness racing, and a parade. During the parade, Ithaca elementary school children carried the giant flag from St. Louis. The Fifth Artillery of Michigan Civil War reenactment group demonstrated cannon work on the courthouse lawn.

The penultimate celebration and events occurred in the county in July. The little crossroads of Sickles had a car show on one day in early July. However, the big celebration took place on Heritage Weekend  in Ithaca with Ione Houlden, Bicentennial chairman, overseeing the program, which involved the rededication of the Gratiot County Courthouse, a costume contest, and a concert on the courthouse lawn. The day ended with presentations of a Bicentennial opera entitled “Tall Trees,” based on Michigan’s lumbering era, at North Elementary School gymnasium. Earlier in 1976, the courthouse received national historic site status. The weather for Heritage Weekend in Ithaca was perfect.

As summer came to a close in Gratiot County, so did many of the Bicentennial observances. The Seville Church of God and the old French School celebrated on August 21-22, when people attended programs on horseback, in buggies, by wagon, and on foot.

Today, there are still at least three important legacies in Gratiot County that came out of the nation’s Bicentennial celebrations :

-Bicentennial coins – although a little uncommon, they can be found in change.

-Alma Bicentennial book “Down Twelve Decades, A Pictorial History of Alma” by David McMacken and Louise Davenport is a key read in starting to learn about Gratiot County’s past. You can still buy a copy at the Alma Public Library.

-St. Louis Bicentennial flag – a giant flag made by Betty Paton’s Future Homemakers of America at St.Louis High School! It is still in storage, has been hung on buildings, and was even displayed over the bridge when St. Louis Police Chief Teed died.

Keith Kellogg, a Newark Township farmer who served in the Michigan Legislature, was called upon to speak at the Gratiot County Courthouse ceremony in July. He made several observations about the Bicentennial celebration in Ithaca. Kellogg said this, and it is still true today: “In conclusion, at nearly 84 years of age, like many, many fellow Americans, being one of God’s chosen few, among the millions inhabiting the surface of this earth, I am grateful to the Creator of all things for privileging me to live out my life in such a land as this. Anyone even born here has little to complain about.”

In the midst of the 1970s, the national Bicentennial – and Gratiot County’s participation in it – enabled people to celebrate America’s 200th birthday.

Copyright 2026 James M. Goodspeed