From the top: End of summer celebrations took place in Gratiot County during the Depression. St. Louis had one of them in September 1939; The start of the Second World War meant weekly war news – and maps – for readers. The Alma Record started this feature which ran throughout the war; A girls softball game in Ithaca was just one of a couple of events held during an ox roast in the village to mark the end of summer, 1939; The dedication of Wheeler Field in St. Louis was a major event which came about as the result of one of the New Deal programs during the Great Depression.

Our County in Depression and War, September 1939: “The World Goes to War, Again”

For Gratiot County, it seemed that history would repeat itself. Over twenty years after the fighting stopped in Europe in what many called “The Great World War,” Europe erupted again. Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and the world headed into a war that would last six years.

A slow, transformative journey began as the county, just like the nation, continued through the Great Depression and on into World War II.

It was September 1939 in Gratiot County.

Life in Gratiot County During the Depression

For many in Gratiot County, New Deal programs that most affected everyday life could be identified by their acronyms: NYA, WPA, and CCC.

One of the most active groups, the National Youth Administration, acquired a new leader in Alma with the arrival of Dean Carter. Carter’s task involved getting youths assigned to NYA into part-time jobs that dealt with library work, classroom assistance, ground and building improvement, and outside construction work. The focus of NYA involved helping students adjust to work and life after high school, especially if they did not attend college. Students who qualified for NYA received between $3-$6 a month (and at most $6) for participating in the program. During that fall, Gratiot County received $2,214 for 41 students in 8 high schools in the county in September to become involved in an NYA-directed work. As a result, a new NYA office opened in Alma, behind the back of City Hall for director Dean Carter. In another instance in September, NYA announced plans to train 600 aviation mechanics in Michigan at ten training centers in the state. However, Gratiot County was not one of the sites.

In another New Deal program, Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers proved very active in Alma during the summer as they continued pouring concrete on North Elwell Street, then moving to pave East End and West End Streets. The city hoped that WPA work would be done on Walnut Street if time and weather permitted. During the late summer and fall, an estimated 100-105 men worked on the streets as WPA workers. Some crew members were also assigned to build an ice rink south of the new bridge on Ely Street near the river. The site offered a good location for a winter ice skating area for youth in the city.

For young men ages 17-24 who wished to apply to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), an application period opened from October 1-14. CCC members worked on projects such as conservation and building projects. Anyone who wanted to enter the CCC applied at the Gratiot County Welfare Relief Commission offices at 614 East Superior Street in Alma.

Some of the biggest news in September dealt with the growing popularity of Townsend Meetings in Gratiot County. The Townsend movement,  led by Dr. Frances Townsend, believed that the government should give a pension of $200 to every American over 60. In return, each recipient had to spend their entire retirement by the end of the month, thus stimulating the economy and helping end the Depression. However, Townsend and his followers should have realized that the program could only work if additional money on top of this amount was spent or pumped into the economy by all people beyond the allotted $200. Since most Americans either did not have the extra money or refused to spend it, the Townsend program would fail. Still, the Townsend Meetings became very popular in Gratiot County. On one Sunday in September, an estimated 500 people  (called “Townsend forces”) attended a program at the American Legion Hall where W.H. Morrison of Middleton chaired the service. When the hall could not hold everyone who wanted to go inside, an afternoon meeting occurred at Tourist Park. That crowd was also estimated to be another 500 people. By the late 1930s, smaller Townsend Clubs formed in different locations in the county. Over at Ithaca, the Ithaca Townsend Club No. 1 met at the IOOF Hall and also invited other Townsend Clubs in their district to attend programs.

A World at War – Again

As the Second World War began in Europe, news coverage about the war and the success of the Nazi invasion of Poland appeared in Gratiot County newspapers. Unsettling images of the war also appeared for the first time, stimulating the American desire to stay out of European affairs.

  A regular piece in the Alma Record began its run under “The European War This Week,” which gave readers a synopsis of the current situation of the war. Responding to events in Europe, Dr. B.N. Robinson of Alma published his memories of Poland just before and after World War I. Robinson recalled the Warsaw he knew from his time there and hoped it would survive the war. He had no idea that it would be six years before the conflict known as World War II would end, leaving Poland in ruins.

Photographs of the first Nazi concentration camp in Poland showed captured Polish prisoners of war. In another picture, Polish children tried to help resist the Nazi invasion by building air raid protection trenches. These photos were only the beginning of showing Gratiot County some of the effects of the war.

The first notice of Gratiot County’s young men in the military listed three Alma boys in the Navy and one in the Aviation Corp. All enlisted in the previous year. Three of them, Raymond Alspaugh (on the USS Cincinnati), Bernard Smith (on the USS Babbitt), and John Pechacek (on the Panama Canal), were all in the Navy. Andrew Gordon Hughes, who lived on Olive Road, headed for Hawaii to serve as an aviation mechanic. It turned out that Raymond Alspaugh sent the first letter to be published in Gratiot County during World War II. Alspaugh’s letter home described being at Key West, Florida, and patrolling for foreign submarines up to 250 miles offshore.

Still, America’s tone appeared neutral as it aimed to stay out of another world war. Colonel Charles Lindberg openly urged America to stay out of a war that America could not win against the Nazis. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for American neutrality – eventually urging neutrality in thought and deed. On the other side of the news,  the war was expected to help assist the unemployed in America. At least one million jobs would be needed to fill foreign orders coming to the United States.

Gratiot Farming – Harvest Soon Here

As summer ended and fall approached, Michigan State College showed off an early type of irrigation to mid-Michigan farmers. Called the “water gun,” crowds at St. Johns, East Lansing, Hartford, and Lake City witnessed how this new overhead rotary irrigator pumped water from existing water supplies onto fields. While the device helped farmers use irrigation to improve their crops, unfortunately, at different places when MSC set up and used the gun, that location in Michigan was deluged by September rains only a few hours later. Photographs promoting the new “water gun” appeared in Gratiot County newspapers.

Gratiot County agricultural agent C.P. Milham told the public that the 1939 growing season would succeed. The most significant crop in Gratiot County was corn, which appeared to be more abundant in the northern part of the county. Even though the corn borer threatened Gratiot corn, a new hybrid-resistant corn that farmers used in the county did well during the year. As soon as the war began in Europe on September 1, stocks of flour and sugar began to be depleted in stores across the nation as homemakers stocked up on these items. Memories of rationing twenty years earlier in another world war meant that many did not want to be caught without plenty of flour and sugar. Meat and coal also became items that people started to buy and keep in larger quantities. Farm grain prices immediately jumped at area elevators. The cost of beans doubled in one week (from $1.95 to $4.00). Other grain prices did, too, such as wheat (64 cents to 8 cents) and corn (59 cents compared to 45 cents).

With fall approaching, pheasant season would soon be here in Gratiot County. Fifty people met at the Bethany Community Farm Bureau at the Bethany Community Center on September 17 for their regular meeting. At the end of their business, the group decided to have a pheasant supper on October 17. Those responsible for organizing the supper included Mr. and Mrs. Albert Bailey, Mr. and Mrs. William Schultheiss, and Mr. and Mrs. Arbogast.

Good Old School Days

With the arrival of September, school news now appeared in county newspapers. One of the most significant announcements reported that Perrinton, Middleton, and two rural schools  (Fulton Center and Reynolds Schools) all consolidated to form the recently named Fulton Township Schools. Nearly 500 junior and senior high school students, with grades K-7, attended schools in Middleton and Perrinton. Grades 8-9 held classes in Middleton, and grades 10-12 met in Perrinton. Those students taking vocational courses rode the bus to Middleton for their classes. Superintendent and mathematics teacher Lloyd Eberly headed a group of fifteen staff members K-12. Because he was responsible for two buildings, Eberly kept an office in Perrinton (afternoons) and Middleton (mornings). Eberly also announced that 75 boys were trying out for the Fulton football team.

Other news in the county that dealt with the start of school included a notice in St. Louis that Superintendent T.S. Nurnberger and his wife planned to host an afternoon tea on Sunday, September 24, for staff and their husbands and school board members and their wives. Nurnberger stated that this allowed the seven new teachers in the district to meet the existing staff and school board. St. Louis Schools also announced that 22 former students enrolled for studies in the fall semester at Central State Teacher’s College in Mt. Pleasant. In this group, Warren Packer and Elizabeth Schaede went to Mt. Pleasant on a two-year rural scholarship. Some of the group’s other former St. Louis students included Marion Tangalakis, Dorothy Sigourney, Charles Hayward, and Frances Goodyear.

County School Commissioner Donald L. Baker stated that the smallest enrollment at any school in the county took place at the one-room school at Davidson, No. 1 Fractional, in Bethany Township. J. Earl Moore, the teacher, reported having seven pupils enrolled. Close behind the Davidson School, North Star No. 4 and Seville No.7 each had eight students. The largest school enrollment occurred at Bethany No. 6, where Mrs. Stella Johnson taught 45 students. Newark No. 4 followed behind with 41 students; Wheeler No. 1 had 38.

Sad news came out of Breckenridge when a popular high school student, Gerald Allen, died in Alma Hospital after an appendectomy. Allen practiced with the football team on a Friday, felt nauseous the next day, and saw a doctor. Upon being sent to the hospital, surgeons found he had a badly ruptured appendix, and he died four days later. Allen’s funeral at the Breckenridge Congregational Church was filled by fellow students, family, and community members. A member of the St. Louis Nazarene Church, Allen was laid to rest in Ridgelawn Cemetery. Gerald Allen was only seventeen years old when he died.

Sports in Gratiot County During the Depression

Two main sports occupied the attention of the county during September.

First, fast-pitch softball in St. Louis, a sport born in the county during the 1930s, wound up the second half of the season, where the Lake Shore Sugar Company won the league title with a perfect 8-0 record. No playoff game took place, as Lake Shore also won the first half of the season. Although they finished at 4-4, the talk of St. Louis was Hall’s Lumber Company, which had several young, promising players right out of high school. Many believed that these young players would challenge for the 1940 season.

  Over at  Alma, teams geared up for state tournaments as regular seasons concluded. Alma’s George Minnis, the star pitcher for Mid-West Refineries, headed an all-star squad of other locals like Paul Wood, George House, and Earl Hatinger. The team made their way through the tournament by defeating Grand Rapids, Saginaw, and Bay City teams. Along the way, Minnis pitched four games in three days as the Mid-West team won the Class B Championship for Alma. Shortly after the state tournament ended, C.S. Vliet of Alma organized a meeting for the 1940 season. The Alma Record and Alma Journal commented that fast-pitch softball became an entire evening of entertainment in the Gratiot community in just one season because places like Alma and St. Louis have the best-lit fields in Michigan.

Professional baseball ended in September, but a local player made the news. Vincent Battles from Riverdale came home from playing for a club in Opelousas, Louisiana, a Cleveland Indians farm team. Battles played third base and was rated the best rookie third baseman in the Evangeline League. After his return, Battles resumed playing with the Roosevelt Oilers in Mt. Pleasant, for which he had played for two years before entering minor league ball.

High school football became the second seasonal sport that Gratiot County residents eagerly watched. Most of the attention focused on St. Louis, where Coach Oldt prepared for the season’s opening game on September 22 against Ithaca. A total of 45 boys, one of the largest groups in recent memory, tried out for the varsity.

However, the biggest news and attention in St. Louis centered around the dedication of Wheeler Field, where the State Department and the Works Progress Administration created a new football facility. A unique dedication program occurred on Friday afternoon, September 29,  before the first home game against Clare High School.

Wheeler Field, a large part of the ten acres of land formerly known as a boggy river flat, came under construction by the Works Progress Administration as a two-year project that cost $50,000. The field was named after Dr. Aaron R. Wheeler, who lived in St. Louis from 1883 to 1926 and was a well-known doctor, citizen, community leader, president of the Board of Education, and mayor of St. Louis. The construction of Wheeler Field also included bleachers that hosted 1500 people, six gate openings, a seven-foot metal fence, and a footbridge. A gravel parking lot held 200 cars. People could also use new tennis courts and shuffleboards, with baseball and softball fields to the west of the field. A cinder track went around the football field.

A full-page advertisement urged people to attend the Wheeler Field ceremonies and the game. St. Louis students hoped the football team would defeat Clare and gain the right to host the mascot, Caspar the Goat, after the game. The goat and the students planned to meet after the game at the Dedication Dance for students in grades 8-12. The Rhythm Makers from Saginaw provided the music.

The Long Arm of the Law  in Gratiot County – in September 1939

A new Gratiot County jail opened to the public. For $40,000 ($22,000 paid by the county, $18,000 contributed through Federal funds), it measured 56 x 48 feet and looked more like a dormitory than a jail. Although no bars could be seen outside, the sheriff proclaimed the jail escape-proof. No prisoner could see the outside world due to the prism glass that let light in but did not let prisoners see through it. Three cell blocks held up to 8 men each on the main floor. The second-floor rooms looked more dormitory-like, with two separate rooms holding eight people. In a lighter moment, four well-known Ithaca men from the Ithaca Rotary Club also stepped inside one of the cells during a personal tour. Someone locked the door behind the men to give them the feel of a real jail experience.

For the second summer, Sheriff William Nestle and Alma officer Mike Slowinski found and destroyed large “marihuana” plants near Half Moon Lake in Seville Township. The plants were worth $1000 and grew over six feet tall (one measured eight and a half feet tall). This particular occurrence was the exact location where officials found “marihuana” in 1938, and the sheriff believed that these plants were self-seeded. The farmer who owned the property claimed that the plants had grown there for several years and did not know what type or their use. In a side story, the farmer claimed that women from that area came to harvest the seeds to use as a song restorer for their canaries. This event was the second drug bust in Gratiot that summer, as before this, four Mexicans in the Ashley/Bannister area were arrested and prosecuted for growing the weed.

On a more dangerous note, the Bannister Bandit appeared again in Gratiot County. Clad in a red handkerchief, this infamous masked Bandit entered John Pierce’s beer garden in Bannister through the back door at closing time, just as the Pierces counted their cash from the day. The Bandit had a nickel-plated revolver and demanded an amount of $30.00. However, he failed to take the remaining money in the cash register. Before this, the Bandit held up places in Elsie and Oakley. The Ithaca Dairy was also robbed by thieves who entered one night and made off with as much as $40.00. Those thieves cut a screen and unhooked a lock to enter the dairy.

In other legal events, the Gratiot County Herald asked the Department of Conservation in Lansing about closing counties to Sunday hunting while keeping other counties open. Many in Gratiot County lamented the number of Sunday hunters who suddenly swarmed their areas from counties that did not allow Sunday hunting. Couldn’t more counties close so that other counties would not have so many excessive hunters on Sundays? The Department replied to the Herald’s letter (in typical bureaucratic language) that if a county wanted to close on Sunday to hunting, then that county needed to petition the legislature for an enabling act, followed by a county referendum on the issue. In other words, Sunday hunting would continue in Gratiot County, and Sunday hunters from other counties would keep coming onto county farmlands without permission.

There was news of a gentler nature regarding those who wanted American citizenship. Six people showed up and got their naturalization papers in Ithaca from Judge Kelly S. Searl. Countries of birth represented at this ceremony included Yugoslavia, Poland, England, Switzerland, and England. Two others needed help to complete the process for their papers due to the absence of witnesses or the need to give proof of residence before 1906. One man born in England, Maurice Eastment of Alma, and one in Canada, Edwin Redman of Ithaca, always believed they were American citizens until Uncle Sam contacted them and told them otherwise. All new citizens in the group received a new citizens manual.

End of Summer Celebrations in the County

As the summer of 1939 ended, several ceremonies and celebrations occurred in Gratiot County. The ninth annual military horse show happened on the softball field at Alma’s Conservation Park. On that Tuesday night, the lights went on, and Troop B of the 106^th Cavalry of the Michigan National Guard displayed their horses. Captain Howard L. Freeman served as the show’s general manager.

Another special meeting in Alma occurred on Saturday, September 2, when officials dedicated the Frances E. Burns Memorial Hospital at the Masonic Home. A group of approximately 300 people came to Alma for the hospital’s dedication in memory of Frances Burns, who had been active in the Maccabees during her lifetime. Burns was also influential two decades earlier in Gratiot County in leading women’s right to vote. After touring the facilities, a luncheon occurred on the lawn southwest of the Masonic Home.

A one-day city barbecue and celebration occurred in Ithaca on Wednesday, July 30. The Ithaca Chamber of Commerce offered a free ox roast, attracting many people, and in just over two hours, the crowds ate 4,000 barbecue sandwiches. Several people participated in girls’ softball games, boys’ baseball, and a running race. A trained dog show, a four-piece professional band, and a clown entertained the crowds.

St. Louis also had a four-day Farm and Industrial Jubilee from September 13-16, bringing approximately 10,000 to the city. Most store windows in town displayed farm produce, while industries and businesses in the city displayed their booths to viewers. The O’Melia Horgan Company showed its line of flour; Lake Shore Sugar Company offered sugar products; the St. Louis Creamery displayed its types of butter and buttermilk. The Natural Ray Mineral Water Company also had bottled water and blocks of salt. The St. Louis Hatchery drew much attention for its display of baby ducks. Others, like the Community Hardware, had types of radios, and the Hall Lumber and Coal Company had a contest for anyone who guessed the closest weight on three large chunks of coal. Ernest Curtis won at 302 pounds (only off by two ounces). Some other entertainment during the Jubilee consisted of the “Natural Ray Lumberjack Band,” tug-of-war contests between neighboring townships, a balloon ascension, band concerts, an escape artist, and other amateur acts.

And So We Do Not Forget

The village of Ithaca installed new parallel parking that went into effect at the end of September…Gratiot County Chapter No. 32, Disabled American Veterans of the World War, held an open meeting for new members at the Alma American Legion Hall…David C. Gardner’s two beautiful oil paintings of the State Street dam and bridge were displayed at an Alma City Commission meeting. Both paintings measured 9×13 inches. Gardner lived at 117 South State Street…Rotary Clubs from Alma, St. Louis, Breckenridge, and Ithaca planned to present five outstanding programs for the Town Hall Series. Each month, the program appears in a different community. Boake Carter, writer and radio commentator, was to appear at the first meeting in St. Louis on October 17. Season tickets cost only $2.00, and only 750 were available to the public…Oil drillers near the Hardy Dam northeast of Newaygo, Michigan, claimed to have discovered a prehistoric forest beneath 175 feet of clay…Gratiot County Conservation League announced that the dedication of Conservation League Park in Alma would be delayed until spring. Officials had hoped to have an ox roast as part of the ceremonies. However, fall weather in Gratiot County decided otherwise…the New Wright Restaurant at the Wright Hotel in Alma opened. Hours of operation ran from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. daily. Remodeling included new fixtures, a new marquee, and a place for private parties (up to 125 people) were all new features. Earle Parchman, a radio entertainer from Lansing, headed the opening night program.

George W. Stewart of Alma lost his aged maple tree at the State and Elwell Streets corner. The tree, which measured more than two feet across at the base, had been there longer than anyone in Alma could remember. The tree had to go to give room for the extension of the new curve on the corner and to allow paving between the two streets…Mr. and Mrs. J. Henry  Fockler of the little hamlet of Brice (located in North Shade Township) celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Over 150 people visited them at their home…Alma City Commissioner A.D. Smedberg urged the commission to consider the creation of a large skating pond in Alma that could be used as a municipal ice rink during the winter…Governor Luren D. Dickinson urged police to end all bingo games operated by churches, fraternal lodges, and other organizations. Although hard to police and enforce, Dickinson urged communities to crack down on this form of “gambling”…a new bowling alley went into the remodeled Garberson and Findsen Building at 215 West Superior Street in Alma. Two signs appeared before the building: “Bowling” and “Alma Recreation”…Mr. John S. Beery of St. Louis sponsored a meeting for all seniors aged 80 or over at Union Mission Hall, two doors south of the Park Hotel. A song service with special music took place, and Rev. L. George Beacock planned an address for the group. Beery hoped that those who attended would share some exciting event from their lives…Elmer and his Down on the Farm Jamboree appeared for a thirty-minute broadcast at WKAR in East Lansing. George “Elmer” Schleder, Parks Allen, and Eugene Smaltz made up a part of the crew.

The Washington Township Board voted to sign a fire protection contract with the Ithaca village. Nine townships now signed up for help from the local rural fire truck…Lake Shore Sugar Company in St. Louis announced that the hot weather Gratiot County had experienced meant that pulling sugar beets needed to be delayed for at least one week…Cleon Downing of Alma drove his creamery truck into a concrete abutment on the bridge halfway between Alma and St. Louis. Thirty cans of cream, worth an estimated $500, soon flowed down the Pine River. Downing claimed something went wrong with the vehicle, and he injured his left hip in the accident…Alma J.C. Penney manager George W. Stewart opened his cottage at Crystal Lake to Penney employees and their families. The Stewarts prepared chop suey for the meal…Mrs. Abbie Cole became the ladies’ golf champion in Ithaca. Mrs. Vera Patterson was runner-up…Alma Recreation Bowling opened opposite Tomlin and Riggle’s Service Station in Alma. Owner V.G. Case said that 60 teams bowled there each week. A total of 36 seats existed for spectators, and the alley was open from 10:00 a.m. to midnight, except on Sundays. Several youths worked as pin boys set up the pins and had a particular room to use for their spare time.

And that was Depression and War in Gratiot County in September 1939.

Copyright 2024 James M. Goodspeed