Above: August 14, 1913, headline from the Gratiot County Herald; in 1915, A.M. Derry & Son of Ashley sold lightning rods to interested farmers.
Some say lightning never strikes twice in the same place. Others do not worry about being hit at all. Unfortunately for many in Gratiot County’s past, death and destruction by lightning strikes were common and something to be feared.
In 1913, Gratiot historian Willard Tucker cited over a dozen instances of lightning disasters in a book of the county’s history up until World War I. However, his short collection of lightning stories is only a small sample of the many stories that can be found later in twentieth-century Gratiot County.
Tucker started his coverage with a terrible incident that took place in Elba Township in 1896, which claimed more than one victim. A young boy, Charles Hubbard, age 9, was working with his father in the family’s granary when a bolt of lightning hit Charles, killing him instantly. His father, Stephen Hubbard, was also hit by the same strike but eventually survived, in what was the first story of those who shared lightning strikes. It happened again five years later when Walter Price and John Cumberworth both died on the Roy Cumberworth farm near Ithaca on July 5, 1901. In that case, Roy Cumberworth, who was standing near the other two men, somehow avoided being hit by the same bolt of lightning.
Records show that houses in towns and villages were sometimes hit. Sol Eicher’s house on St. John Street in Ithaca was struck by a tremendous lightning bolt, which Eicher and his wife barely escaped in August 1912. That night, Eicher awoke thinking he had heard a loud noise outside his window, got up, looked outside, saw nothing, and then returned to bed. Another loud crash soon occurred, and this time he awoke to find his bed covered in plaster, a result of the entire ceiling and side walls of the bedroom falling on him and his wife. Upon going outside, Eicher saw that a lightning strike had stripped the siding twelve feet down the side of the house. Upon more inspection upstairs, Eicher found that two big holes could be seen above his bed as well as in the neighboring bedroom. As the family started cleaning up the mess, they ended up removing three bushels of plaster just from their daughter’s bedroom alone. Down below the upstairs windows, the Eichers saw that the porch floor had been split in two.
There are stories of other homes that were also hit by lightning. William Carroll in northeast Seville Township had the top of his chimney and shingles torn off his roof in March 1904. Carroll had just stepped onto his porch after returning from the barn with a lantern after returning from the barn when the force of a strike nearly threw him to the ground. Still, Carroll survived. In November 1924, the DeArmond home, located at 136 Allen Street in Alma, was struck by a bolt of lightning that entered through an open window and then started a fire. Luckily, the entire family was on the ground floor when the incident happened, and DeArmond activated the fire alarm. On the way to the house, the fire truck en route stopped at South Woodworth Avenue for a train when a Chevrolet Coupe driven by Earl Clapp hit the back end of the fire truck. No one was seriously injured, and firefighters safely arrived and extinguished the fire.
Across Gratiot County, there might be no limit to the number of barns struck during a lightning storm. A terrible storm lasting nearly twenty-four hours in August 1913 struck over a dozen barns across the county. During the ordeal, E.A. Stowe of Forrest Hill lost his barn and ninety tons of hay worth $1500. Almost all of the barns or homes hit in this storm were total losses, and the Gratiot County Herald estimated that lightning caused at least $50,000 worth of damage. A year later, in late August 1914, lightning storms covering two successive nights destroyed another six barns in the county.
In most cases, Gratiot farmers lacked sufficient insurance to cover the full damage to their property, while many farmers often had no insurance at all. In one instance, William Holliday and his wife from Alma wintered in Kalkaska in April 1905. They prepared to return to their summer home near Alma just before it was hit by lightning. A neighbor who witnessed the strike attempted to salvage some of the things inside. Still, the fire was too intense and resulted in a total loss as it had no insurance coverage. James Greenlee, near North Star in 1925, lost $4,700 in a fire caused by lightning from his 40×70 barn, which contained farm tools, wagons, straw, shovels, hoes, and cultivators. Luckily, Greenlee had let all of the livestock out of the barn earlier that night, or he might have lost them as well. His insurance covered $3,000 for losses, more than most farmers had at that time.
The result of a lightning strike often left tremendous physical damage, especially for livestock. A.K. Overmeyer of Emerson (Beebe) was able to get his two horses and buggy out of his barn after a strike in June 1913. Still, he lost all of his harnesses and 65 chickens. He received $362 in insurance claims, but it would not cover all of his losses. In July 1923, several county farmers experienced significant personal losses from lightning strikes. A 6:00 a.m. storm caused a fire on the Kinney farm near Ithaca, which quickly went up in flames. The family watched as their barn and a shed burned, which housed a cow and calf, as well as several farm implements, and four tons of hay. All of it quickly went up in flames. Sadly, insurance only covered half their damages. Clarence Shields of Emerson noticed that his horses and cows were acting strangely after the same storm. He then figured out that two of the horses were now deaf. It was not uncommon for other Gratiot lightning strikes to leave farm animals severely burned, blind, or deaf if they had been standing near a lightning strike.
Encounters with lightning sometimes created almost unbelievable stories in the newspapers. William Gephart of Breckenridge was struck and killed in July 1913 when he returned home from a day on the Pine River. While one and a half miles north of Wheeler, he headed to the Chase residence to take cover from the approaching storm. Gephart hitched the horse in the barn, stepped to the buggy to get a rubber blanket to cover the lunch basket, and then was hit by lightning. Strangely, Gephart had no visible marks on his body, just a torn hat and shirt. A Mexican migrant worker, Ysac Rojo, was killed by lightning, and another worker was seriously injured in Fulton Township in July 1926. Rojo and his brother made the mistake of taking shelter under a tree during a storm on the R. C. Blank farm when lightning struck the tree. The strike then burned a hole through Ysac Rojo’s cap, shattered his shoes, but left the rest of his body unmarked. Joe Rojo, who survived, was taken to St. John’s Hospital after suffering severe burns.
Some places in Gratiot County were hit twice by lightning. Ellsworth Wright’s barn near Breckendridge was destroyed in July 1924 for the second time in five years. In both cases, Wright’s barn burned to the ground, and the second time, he lost all of his barn’s contents. Another Breckenridge farmer, Frank Oberst, suffered $7,000 in damages from an August 1925 lightning strike. During the storm, a tenant on the Oberst farm was able to rescue Oberst’s Durham cattle and horses out of the barn. This second barn, measuring 40 feet by 84 feet, had a cement floor with a basement. Unfortunately for Oberst, insurance only covered part of the second loss. In a strange twist, Oberst lost his first barn on the same spot two years earlier.
A Gratiot farmer’s defense against lightning strikes was to buy lightning rods and insurance from county agents, such as W.H. Tenney of St. Louis. Just before World War I, Tenney sold lightning rods made of 98 percent pure copper, which came with patent curved brackets. H.J. Zubler of Breckenridge also sold U.S. Government Lightning Rods, claiming, “If these rods were good enough for government buildings, they ought to be able to fill the bill for you. (The) Same make of rods are used on Gratiot County Farm Buildings.” In March 1915, A.M. Derry and Son of Ashley sold lightning rods and advertised that “Now is a good time to come in and get an estimate, before spring work commences. We sell them—and guarantee the best price.” In the 1920s, businesses like Boothe and Binger of North Star also advertised the sale of lightning rods. They handled 18-gauge, 32-strand cable rods.
About twenty years ago, I visited my paternal grandmother’s last surviving sibling, who still lived on the old Bliss family farm west of Ithaca in Newark Township. As I spoke with my great-uncle about family history, he pointed out the lightning rods and insulators that sat overhead above his porch, then the trio of lightning rods that appeared on the top of the old barn. Aaron Bliss smiled about how some local antique collector with an eye for old lightning rods and insulators had stopped more than once to encourage him to sell off the rods. My uncle only smiled, suggesting that he was happy to keep and trust the devices that had probably spared the Bliss family’s home and barn from hard Gratiot County lightning storms for many decades.
From top to bottom: Doctor G.V. Barrow of Ann Arbor works on one of his patients during the Gratiot County free dental clinic in Ithaca. Barrow treated eighteen cases each day for several weeks. The clinic then moved to Alma and concluded in St. Louis; this FFA showmanship event at the Gratiot County Fair featured stock raised by young future farmers from Gratiot; meanwhile, the Battle of Britain was in full swing in Europe. Could England survive Hitler’s bombings?; would President Franklin D. Roosevelt be nominated for a third term as President? The Democratic Convention in Chicago soon revealed that the President would indeed accept a run again for a third term.
The late spring and summer of 1940 proved to be cooler and wetter than many residents in Gratiot County wished. Newspapers warned readers that the war in Europe could soon escalate into a global conflict. Across Gratiot County, Depression-era programs continued to operate, providing respite, entertainment, and activities for both children and adults.
People could enjoy the isolation of quiet country towns, villages, and hamlets.
It was July 1940 in Gratiot County.
The World at War
Gratiot residents began reading about a potentially growing global conflict. A group of 30,000 United States troops was now placed on high alert in the Panama Canal Zone. Bombing raids by Hitler’s Luftwaffe upon Britain became known as “The Blitz.” Maps illustrated the time and distance it took to fly German bombers from their bases to targets in England. Then, there were maps illustrating how Americans, Soviets, and the Japanese all had potential areas of conflict in the Pacific. Would there soon be a “Pacific War” involving the United States? In all of this, most Americans seemed to forget that the Japanese Empire had been at war in places like China since 1937.
Here in Gratiot County, the Red Cross said that it needed only $400 to reach its goal for the War Relief Fund. They hoped to raise the balance to $1,920 by July 10. Twenty-two Michigan communities in southern Michigan agreed that military education for high and junior high school students was beneficial and necessary. The government hoped that between 10,000 and 15,000 defense workers would receive training in this way. The only question was what kind of training to provide and how far it should extend. Some, like Professor Howard McLusky from Michigan, argued that a long ideological fight involving dictatorships and democracies would soon start, and courses in high schools should prepare students for it. State Superintendent Dr. Eugene B. Elliott argued that Michigan schools had to prepare students with both strong minds and strong bodies; however, he failed to mention that he believed the United States would be directly involved in a war.
The issue of a third term in the White House arose in newspapers regarding President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s status at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Keynote speaker Senator Alben Barkley spoke on behalf of Roosevelt and stated that the President had declared all delegates free to vote for the Democratic candidate of their choice. Still, the President did not say he would refuse a renomination. As a result, newspapers ran the headline “Way to Third Term Cleared by Roosevelt.” Within a week, FDR accepted the renomination and left the issue of a third term up to the voters.
Over at Ithaca, a hefty call for copies of birth certificates nearly swamped the county clerk’s office. Why? Numerous Gratiot residents needed them to demonstrate their citizenship status to work in plants supplying materials to Britain, as well as for anticipated home defense needs. Requests for birth certificates were received in Ithaca by phone, in person, registered mail, and air mail. Birth certificates were also necessary for those traveling to Canada for vacation or fishing. These certificates cost fifty cents each.
Depression Life, July 1940
The Gratiot County supervisors okayed the move of the county welfare office from Alma to the basement of the courthouse in Ithaca. Part of the reason for the move was a cost-saving measure that eliminated the need to rent space. The final move was contingent upon state approval.
The terms “recreation” and “recreation programs” gained a lot of attention in Alma for Turck’s Beach, and places across town where miniature golf, tennis, playgrounds, wading pools, as well as boys’ and girls’ softball and baseball all took place. There were also activities such as handicrafts, dancing, and an interest in archery. These activities took place across Alma in various locations, including Wright Park, Alma High School, some elementary schools, and the basement of the Salvation Army. The month of July, usually hot and steamy in Gratiot County, soon turned unseasonably cold and wet, thus dampening some of the swimming at Turck’s Beach. Despite the cooler weather, a large crowd gathered at the beach to enjoy a swimming show and water carnival, as well as demonstrations on how to operate a canoe and perform a rescue from drowning. Bill Moody, the head lifeguard, conducted some of the performances. At the same time, Dr. W.E. MacInnes gave a brief talk about Red Cross safety. A second water carnival was planned for early August at Turck’s Beach. Many of those who worked at these places that offered recreation had NYA workers or were tied to NYA projects.
Are you older and concerned about your finances in old age? Attend a Townsend Club meeting in the county. Townsend Club Number 2 held meetings every Monday at the Ithaca village hall. Doctor Townsend himself appeared on the front pages of local newspapers under “Doctor Townsend Says…”. Townsend billed his old age pension plan as “a movement to unite the peoples of the earth in one great brotherhood” – and ensure that every older American received an old age pension.
WPA work continued on the 1939 paving project, even though it was the summer of 1940. A crew of 65 men built new curves and gutters on streets where they paved last year. The project poured a slab on three blocks of River Avenue, then planned to move on to shorter works on Walnut, Euclid, Allen, and Orchard streets. Work was progressing more slowly in July, according to City Manager W.E. Reynolds, because in 1939, he had between 90 and 130 men working on projects. Now, regulations lowered the number to only 50 workers. Alma petitioned for an additional fifteen blocks for paving. Still, the city had not yet received approval from the federal government.
Migrant Workers, Weather, Fair in July
A reasonably large turnout was observed at Alma’s Washington School for the county’s migrant school open house held at the end of June. Almost one hundred visitors came to the open house on a Thursday night. Following this program, another 126 Mexican workers and their children attended the program’s first Family Night. Migrant center workers from Mt. Pleasant and Kenton, Ohio, joined with the Alma staff to discuss work in their respective centers. The Alma school officially enrolled up to 100 children in woodcraft, English, citizenship, table manners, and singing. This group also included sixteen toddlers and babies. By the end of July, the numbers dropped to 55 children as migrant families moved on to other work in the state. Gertrud Herman, Merle Farnie, and Grace Rowell lead the programs at the center. Rowell, accompanied by Reverends Drake and Moreno, took a group of the older migrant children to the Gratiot County Fair to see the rodeo. A field day was also held for the older children from Alma and the Mt. Pleasant centers before the centers’ closing. The center held its final Family Night on July 25, marking the end of the program. By the time the Alma Center closed, over 400 visitors from across the state of Michigan came to Alma to see how the Washington School’s migrant center worked with children, and many migrant mothers hoped that Alma would open another program like this in 1941. This migrant center was the first such project supported by the Gratiot County Council of Churches and the Council of Women for Home Missions.
Gratiot County’s weather continued to challenge area farmers that summer. A cold and wet late spring had crops lagging during planting season, while hay, oats, wheat, and barley were unusually heavy due to the rains. A warmer July was allowing crops to start catching up, but many appeared to be below average and needed a warm late summer and an extended growing season. More Gratiot farmers planted soybeans, but the increase was not as significant as in other parts of the state. And then came a classic Gratiot cloudburst on July 8, which flooded a large section of Emerson Township. The storm affected an area in Emerson Township that measured 2 ½ miles north and south and 5 miles east and west, and it was hit with heavy winds. The Riley Aldrich farm was completely submerged in water, as were the farms of other farmers in the area. Aldrich’s grandson appeared in a Gratiot County Herald photograph with water standing halfway up his boots.
Many farm families not affected by the storm later requested help from the Gratiot Road Commission to spread spot oil in front of their homes and down their roads to deal with the dust. Farmers paid one cent per square yard, and the final cost depended upon how many times the road was oiled.
Visiting the 75th annual Graiot County Fair in Ithaca was a highlight of summer and took place from July 23 to 27. Before opening the fair, officials installed a new automatic starting system for horse racing, which would take place over four days of the fair. The fair featured the most extensive 4-H exhibits, the C.R. Ranch rodeo, Roman chariot races, horse pulling, and a large midway. Children’s Day on July 23 offered free admission to children under the age of twelve, and rides cost only a nickel.
In other news, the Farm Security Administration announced the expansion of the Farm Tenant program in Gratiot County. This program allowed former farm tenants to buy their farms under government long-term contracts. Tenant farmers were encouraged to apply to the program. Need to dip sheep? A sheep dipping demonstration took place on the Paul Burnham farm in Bethany Township and Max Church’s farm in Arcada. County Agent C.P. Milham asked Gratiot farmers to declare war on sow thistles, urging them to seek out and destroy the plants. Sow thistles grew to three feet in height, and had yellow blossoms like dandelions, which could smother a crop due to their dense mat of leaves.
The Long Arm of the Law in July 1940
The Fourth of July weekend in the county was rough on several drivers. Overall, a total of six traffic accidents injured seven people and claimed one life. Franklin Kunkel, age 22, of Riverdale, was killed in an accident when his Ford roadster crashed into another car near the Honeyoye Bridge, miles west of Alma. Kunkel tried to pass another vehicle before entering the bridge, then went off the road after striking another car. Instances of drunkenness made their way to court as a group of people from Owosso were arrested east of Alma for drunk driving. A familiar sight in Alma, Frank (Frenchy) LaBart returned to Alma after eight years. LaBart managed to bang up several cars in front of the Kroger Store while trying to park his vehicle. He was charged with drunk driving and served 45 days in jail rather than pay $56 in fines. Lillian Berted, age 29 of Alma, was arrested in Breckenridge for public drunkenness. Although initially pleading not guilty, she later changed her plea and paid a fine of $13. R.L. Lalonde of Ithaca received a fine and costs of $28.85 for driving wildly past a WPA flagman and road workers south of Alma. Lalonde was cited for reckless driving.
Leo Gusman, a Mexican from Eaton Rapids, was arrested for driving without a license. Gusman’s penalty was paying $12.30, and he still had to spend five days in jail. Howard Sparks from Clinton County was arrested for illegally selling fireworks. He paid $16.45 rather than go to jail. Jenasio Mejia, “an Alma Mexican,” was arrested near the Michigan Sugar Company factory for carrying a concealed weapon. He was held in the county jail for having a loaded revolver and six extra shells. Someone, an itinerant peddler in Alma, was passing forged checks in Alma on behalf of Parke, Davis, and Company of Detroit. The forger had already passed one in Clare for $15.00. Be on the lookout for the crook. Two beet workers, Steve Grusky and Stanley Druska, got into a heated battle just south of Bannister. Both were arrested and hauled off to jail. In late July, Otto Morro, St. Louis street commissioner, announced that the first crop of wild marihuana in town had been located in an alley between North and Center streets. A citizen identified the plants and reported them to the authorities.
In some other instances that involved calling for the police, an 18-year-old girl in Alma jumped off the Superior Street Bridge just after midnight on July 17. Thankfully, the water was only four feet deep, but the fifteen-foot drop did more damage. She later admitted that she wanted to take her own life after parting with her male escort. Still, a sister arrived at the police station and escorted the jumper home the next day. In another tragedy, the first drowning of the summer took place at the Washington Township gravel pit, just east of the B-Z-B gas station. Herman Wallen of Perrinton, age 22, was probably killed after diving into the bottom, as a cut on the head suggested he had hit bottom; possibly he also suffered an epileptic seizure. Wallen was considered an excellent swimmer.
Another story in the Dewey Glinkie case appeared in local newspapers. Ginkie, who had stolen over $3,000 in county funds several months earlier, was in the news as Sheriff William Nestle traced a lead to Canandaigua, New York, where someone found Ginkie’s Social Security card and notebook in a mailbox. The card had been issued in Ohio, and the notebook contained Glinkie’s handwriting. Yet, the collection of notes failed to specifically tell who was helping Glinkie or who knew of his whereabouts. Before this, Glinkie had connections to Port Huron and Detroit. So, the hunt for Dewey Glinkie continued.
The county got excited when former county prosecutor Ora L. Smith announced that he was running for the Michigan Republican gubernatorial nomination for the 1940 election. Smith formally announced his candidacy on the radio station WJR in Ithaca. Several parades took place in the county to honor and support Smith. In other court news, Kelly S. Searl, a circuit court judge, began his 26th year as a judge in Ithaca. The Alma City Commission denied the use of its tourist park for house trailers. The city only charged $1.50 per week for short stays or 25 cents per day. The commission was concerned that long-term occupancy by house trailers would run up the cost of electricity and turn the area into a “trailer park.” Currently, there are 75 to 100 families or groups in Alma living in trailers.
Gratiot County Health Matters
A pair of Gratiot County residents, Vere Allen (Arcada Township) and Ruth Johnson (St. Louis), each suffered bites from their dogs. Both animals were euthanized, and their heads were sent to Lansing for rabies testing. Thirteen-year-old Anna Macey of Alma was also bitten on her thigh while riding her bike near the Wright Hotel. Police impounded the dog for observation for ten days due to concerns of rabies. The county sheriff was increasingly concerned that residents were becoming more careless about letting their animals roam rather than being quarantined. In St. Louis, many residents complained about the number of running dogs in town. Doctor D.K. Barstow warned residents that the only way to be safe from rabies was to get their dog(s) vaccinated. For those who resorted to only leashing or penning their dogs, Barstow reminded them that a leash could not keep another rabid animal from biting the family pet. Rabies vaccinations were good for a year. A statewide quarantine had been in place for 47 counties since April. During the first three months of the quarantine, County Dog Warden Howard Evitts of Pompeii announced that 160 dogs had been euthanized in Gratiot County so far.
Better health news came from the news of lower TB death rates in Gratiot County. A report showed that eight people died of TB in 1938 and seven in 1939. Vera Karajoff of Alma had to be admitted to Smith Memorial Hospital for a serious injury to her ankle. Initially, a fracture was a concern; however, Karajoff only had a severe sprain. How she did it was not reported. Charles Federspiel was released from Smith after an X-ray check-up on his fractured left arm. Federspiel broke his arm in a jumping incident. In sad news, in Ashley, grocery store owner Clarence Duprey, age 46, took his own life. He left a wife and three daughters. Newspapers listed no cause for the death.
The Gratiot County free dental clinic entered its third week in July. Dr. G. V. Barrow of Ann Arbor saw an average of eighteen cases each day in Ithaca. The clinic soon planned to move on to Alma and then to St. Louis. Approximately 400 young people received dental care in Ithaca alone from the clinic.
And So We Do Not Forget
The new C.S.A. Hall in St. Louis planned a two-day celebration for its dedication with a grand opening. A Grand March from the Park Hotel to the hall on Michigan Avenue kicked off the activities on Saturday, July 6…Notices for the upcoming performances on the Chesaning Showboat appeared in local newspapers. A cast of 125 performers, along with Jimmy Raschel’s Band, planned two-hour shows from July 11 to July 14 in Chesaning…Jean Arthur and Fred Mac Murray appeared in “Too Many Husbands” at the Ideal Theatre in Ithaca on July 4 for a one-night show. Roy Rogers appeared July 5-6 in “The Days of Jesse James.” Tickets were ten cents for matinees…The Saginaw Black Socks edged the Ithaca Independents by the score of 2-0 in a special Sunday game in Ithaca. North Star defeated the Balmoral Indians by a 7-0 score…Cupid’s victims included Marvin Neal, age 22, of Alma, and Narlene Tracy, age 19, also of Alma. Good luck to the newlywed.
Mrs. Clifford Brewer of St. Louis became the new Central Michigan women’s golf champion at Clare. Brewer defeated two previous champions on her way to the title…Vera Patterson of Ithaca set a new ladies’ golf record at the Gratiot Country Club by turning in a 37 on nine holes. Muriel Pettit held the previous record with a 39…A Reverend F.R. Davidson petitioned the Alma City Commission to set up a portable tabernacle of Masonite pressed wood for religious services in Alma. Davidson represented the General Council of the Assembly of God…The Gratiot County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution allowing the closing of county offices and the driver’s license examination bureau in the courthouse on Saturdays. While some offices in the courthouse had previously been closed during a slow summer season, the supervisors stated that some offices could remain open on Saturdays as needed in the future…George Stewart, J.C. Penney’s manager, took a two-week vacation to spend time with family on Crystal Lake…More new paint jobs in Alma included work on Wilkins’ Economy Market, Reed’s Popular Priced store, and Gay’s 5 & 10c store.
Sidney Toler and Marjorie Weaver starred in “Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise” on July 7-8 at the Alma Theatre. Tickets were ten and fifteen cents…The Alma Chamber of Commerce announced an outline for the program and activities for the 1940 Harvest Jubilee in late August…Former employees of the Alma Republic Truck Company planned to hold a reunion on July 27-28 in Conservation Park in Alma. A total of 1,313 letters were sent to former employees in 23 different states, inviting them to the reunion. This reunion would be the third such one held in Alma…Buy a new single-wall washing machine at Walker’s Electric Shop for only $39.50. A double-wall machine only costs ten dollars more.
Finally, over at St. Louis, a balloon ascension and jumper captivated the city on a Saturday night. The St. Louis Trade Association sponsored the event on July 6. Large crowds turned out to watch the balloon, put together by the Winkler Brothers of Lansing, fill with hot air next to the newly erected bandstand. After it filled with enough air to allow it to tower above all the buildings in St. Louis, it began to rise skyward and headed northeast. Many feared the jumper would end up in the Pine River. However, after reaching its maximum height, the jumper bailed out. It deployed two parachutes, the second of which was decorated in red and blue. How did it end? The jumper found himself in a cornfield just north of the city. The balloon ascension was just one of a series of regular Saturday night programs created by the St. Louis Trade Association that summer.
And that was Depression and War in Gratiot County in July 1940.
News and life in Gratiot County during June 1940 (from the top): The cartoon “Smoke” implies what many in Gratiot County began to realize – war was coming and the nation needed to prepare; James and Billie Vanderbeek of Pine River Township show off their proud “mama” and her quadruplets; unidentified Boy Scouts take in a “Camporee” at Ithaca’s Woodland Park; there was nothing like a Sunday county league baseball game in St. Louis – which one could see for only a quarter.
As Gratiot County slowly warmed up to another summer, events in Europe exploded as Nazi Germany invaded and conquered much of Western Europe.
Life in the United States began to slowly drift toward war as President Roosevelt developed plans that included large munitions plants as well as training young people for a potential national emergency.
Still, one could appreciate small-town life. How many believed that a world war in Europe could affect places like Ithaca, Alma, St. Louis, or Breckenridge?
It was June 1940 in Gratiot County.
The War in Europe in June 1940
Troubling news about the Nazi conquest of Western Europe appeared on the front pages of county newspapers. German troops crossed the Marne in France, and the nation’s collapse and surrender seemed imminent, with the outcome seemingly only a matter of days. In addition, Italy joined the war on the side of Nazi Germany and Mussolini announced Italy’s rights to Corsica, Malta, Tunisia and the Suez Canal.
In response to the events in Europe, President Roosevelt announced a draft plan to mobilize an estimated 7.5 million young men and women for noncombatant training. The President emphasized the need to train young people in “general disciplinary courses” in anticipation of a national emergency. Unlimited quotas for Army recruits were being accepted at Camp Ord, California, and Fort Lewis, Washington. Recruiters in Lansing were now available for any in Gratiot County who desired to volunteer. President Roosevelt also recommended a chain of government munitions plants across the country. The nation took another step toward preparing for war by examining thirty sites, which cost $376,000,000.
Locally, the war began to have a gradual impact on local people. Captain C.H. Reed, who operated a local fuel business in Alma, was called to active duty with the Army at Fort Brady, Sault Ste. Marie. Reed had previously supervised several CCC camps in the state. Approximately sixty members of the Troop B, 106th Cavalry of Alma, prepared to go to Wisconsin in August for 21 days of training. Before this date, the group had never trained for more than 15 days in the summer. Second Lieutenant Frank W. Iseman, an Ithaca High School graduate and a graduate of West Point, continued his training in the Air Corps Flying School. Iseman would ultimately serve as the director of operations of the 502nd Bombardment Group in the Pacific. A former Gratiot County youth, John C. Seipp of Fulton Township, passed the entrance exam to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. After his family moved to Lansing, he attended Lansing Eastern High School. The Gratiot County Red Cross announced that the county reached the unit’s goal of raising $1,920 to help refugees during the war.
The Gratiot County Herald ran a very long editorial entitled “What Hitlerism Means.” The editor attempted to educate Gratiot County residents about how this war would be different from previous wars in history. It warned that Hitler would not settle for a few territories but was bent on European and, ultimately, world domination by Nazi Germany. What happened with the collapse and fall of France stood as a warning to the world that this would not be a short European war unless more countries capitulated to Adolf Hitler.
Many Social Program Activities in June 1940
June brought opportunities for New Deal programs that affected many in Gratiot County. At least three New Deal social programs collaborated to provide opportunities for children, young people, and adults to stay engaged and occupied during the late stages of the Great Depression.
Several WPA workers volunteered to help pour a concrete floor in the shelter house at Conservation League Park. After completing the 30×50-foot floor, all of these workers received a free yearly membership in the Conservation League. The shelter house encouraged more people from Gratiot to use the park for walking, picnicking, and other recreational activities.
With the warm summer weather, many young people traveled to Turck’s Beach in Alma to go swimming. The number of swimmers necessitated a program and its oversight. Both the NRA and WPA provided a total of 35 workers to watch swimmers and oversee the beach house. Over 200 swimmers turned out for the first swimming lessons at the beach. Thirty youngsters also expressed interest in participating in the new canoeing program. The main reason for the need for so many workers centered around the fact that the program, like others in the New Deal, only paid them for part-time work. Bill Moody was in charge of supervising the beach area, assisted by Bud Stearns, Don Martin, Jim Sebring, and Robert Parks. Two large towers went up on the beach so that lifeguards could watch all of the swimmers. Three wading pools were also constructed for young children on Michigan Avenue, in Wright Park, and near Hillcrest School. This type of pool also allowed families with young children to find a spot to cool off without having to go to the beach.
In addition to Turck’s Beach, in Alma, 50 boys and 80 girls wanted to participate in a softball league. Another 40 boys, aged 15 to 17, wished to participate in a baseball league. That organization came under the direction of the NYA.
More boys and girls in St. Louis also wanted their own recreation programs. Elliot Oldt started a program at Wheeler Field where boys and girls played a variety of sports on the field, including horseshoe pitching, badminton, softball, boxing, and croquet, among others. Ruth Walker supervised the activities for those under the age of eleven. One of the nicest draws in St. Louis now centered around new tennis courts. Tennis courts became so popular that Alma had six new courts constructed through the Wright Park improvement plan, which the WPA funded. The plan also called for new shuffleboard courts.
For young women not interested in athletics, the NYA planned a homemakers’ training school, which would accommodate up to twenty girls. They would be hired to learn food preparation, home management, laundry work, budgeting, and sewing. The NYA would pay the wages for these women. At least four other programs like this existed in the state of Michigan. Due to the numerous programs in the Alma area, the WPA recreation director, Darrell Milstead, was granted his own office in Alma City Hall.
Out on the streets of Alma, the WPA continued work on the 1939 paving project. The city believed it would soon be completed, as 20 new WPA workers would be coming to Alma, which meant potentially having as many as 70 WPA men working on Alma’s streets.
In other Depression-related news, Ithaca Townsend Club Number 1 met at the Masonic Hall and planned to show a movie in Woodland Park. Progressive Townsend Club Number 2 held its monthly meeting at the village hall. Because the Texaco gas station and Hanssen Grocery on East Center both had Townsend trade cards, members were encouraged to visit those businesses. The Townsend program was an alternate pension plan for the elderly, which commanded a very popular message to many in Gratiot County. Two Alma men, David Gerhard, Consumers Power Company manager, and H. S. Babcock, Alma Record publisher, went to the dedication of the new seven-million-dollar plant on Saginaw Bay. The featured speaker for the program was Wendell Willkie, who would soon be the Republican nominee for President in 1940. Boys between the ages of 17 and 24 could apply for enrollment in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Visit the Gratiot County Department of Social Welfare office located at 614 East Superior Street in Alma.
The Long Arm of the Law in Gratiot County
Some law officers thought Gratiot experienced fewer court appearances during June, and the jail count supported this notion. At one point, only three people were in the county jail, which had a capacity of up to twenty-two. Still, traffic violations generated the most revenue in terms of fines, totaling $466.84.
James Vlasich was bound over to appear in the circuit court for intent to commit significant bodily harm to his mother. John Hagen of St. Louis was in trouble for driving his car on the sidewalk in St. Louis. Most of the others making appearances did so for drunk driving, like Stanley Furly, an oil pumper in the Porter oil field. He received sixty days of jail time and a $59.35 fine. And then there was the familiar face of Cornelius W. Eichorn of Emerson Township. Eichorn was picked up for reckless driving east of St. Louis this time and had no driver’s license. Eichorn was developing a habit of not driving safely. He was released on a $100 bond. In another strange case, Marvin Cooper of Arcada Township confessed to driving his tractor over three blocks of newly surfaced blacktop in Ithaca. The tractor’s lugs did much damage to the surface.
Claud Offill, formerly of Elm Hall, lost his appeal from a 1929 sentencing for assaulting Deputy Sheriff Ray Helman. Offill shot Helman twice and was on the run for twelve hours before being caught. He received a ten- to twenty-year sentence at Jackson State Prison and was now in the eleventh year of his sentence. Offill claimed his confession of assault and battery of his wife was coerced, but the high court rejected Offill’s argument. He stayed in prison.
In other news, Alma, James Campbell, Chief of Police, warned residents to stop disregarding parking tickets, which would now result in formal complaints in court. Those citizens who paid their dog taxes before the June 1 deadline brought in $2,045 in May. Howard Evitts of Pompeii, the county dog warden, would be out collecting delinquent dog taxes for those who had not paid. The Alma police department announced they were reducing their force to four officers upon the retirement of Patrolman Gus Herron. Herron, 72, served Alma for 21 years. Mildred Taft announced that she was running for probate judge. This position oversaw a team of 21 individuals who process naturalization applications in Gratiot County.
And among the last of the news was the name of a new drug that appeared in Gratiot County – “marihuana weed.” The Michigan State Police issued warnings about this new drug in mid-Michigan, and it was now a federal offense for growing, possessing, selling, purchasing, or transporting Marihuana. Police also said continuous smoking of it would lead to insanity. In the wild, the drug grew to a maximum height of 3 to 6 feet. The police also warned Sunday drivers, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, hikers, and farmers to be on the lookout for the illegal weed.
Health Issues and Events
To start a new dental parlor in Alma, R.B. Davies planned to open his office in his mother’s home on 226 North State Street. Davies, an Alma High School, Alma College, and the University of Michigan Department of Dentistry, returned home with good references and an eagerness to serve his patients. A twelve-week free dental clinic came to Gratiot County, sponsored by the James Couzin’s Fund of Michigan (also called The Children’s Fund of Michigan). Parents of children under sixteen who are in need received letters inviting them to receive free treatment. The clinic would be in Ithaca for five weeks, then move to Alma for four weeks, and end in St. Louis after a three-week stay. The first free dental clinic in the county was established in 1937.
William Kinney, age 57, of Arcada Township, took his own life with a shotgun. He had faced poor health and despondency due to his inability to work in his trade as a paper hanger and painter. Before he passed, he claimed to be shooting a crow, but coroner G.V. Wright disagreed. Kinney left behind his widow and two children.
Chase Farrar of Route 3, Alma, went to Smith Memorial Hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound in his left forearm. Farrar was wounded while driving a tractor and had been hit from a long distance. Robert Hinderline of Alma reported that his son had been admitted to Smith for treatment for severe burns. The young Hinderline was thought to have played with firecrackers, but the culprit was a dynamite cap from a friend’s car. The boy received heavy burns around his lips and left hand when the cap exploded. Karl Wigglesworth of Breckenridge survived electrocution from a 4800-volt line on a telephone pole near Sickles. He and another Consumers Power Employee, Leland Helfer of Ithaca, were working on the line when Wigglesworth accidentally touched a hot stick and took the jolt with his left hand and right hip, which rested on a service wire. Thankfully, the cool work of fellow worker Helfer helped free him. Wigglesworth was in Smith Memorial Hospital with a burned left hand and right hip, but survived the ordeal.
St. Louis city residents received another notice, reminding them that they had until July 1 to have their noxious weeds cut. Those who failed to cut their weeds would have the city highway crew do it, and the cost would be charged to their city taxes. Heavy June rains left many properties and vacant lots full of weeds.
Dr. Georgia V. Mills delivered a health lecture at St. Louis High School titled “Preventing Communicable Diseases.” Topics included the spread of contagious diseases, quarantines, vaccination, and the danger of tuberculosis. The St. Louis Child Study Club and the Michigan Department of Health sponsored Mills.
Farming & Outdoors in June 1940
Weeds, bugs, and fungi all grew well during June as the onslaught of cool, wet weather brought an abundance of all three to Gratiot County. Gratiot County agricultural agent C.P. Milham noted that some of the growth in the fields resulted from some farmers who used nitrogen fertilizer. Heavier soils in the county needed straight phosphate, while those planting grains needed a potash combination fertilizer.
Sheep dipping continued across parts of Gratiot County. A new portable dipping rig allowed participating farmers to treat 7,000 sheep and lambs thus far. One of the sites to be included in the upcoming weeks is Milton Snyder’s farm in Pompeii and C.K. Tuttle’s farm in Fulton Township. More farmers offered to host a sheep dipping session. Garl Vanderbeek of Pine River Township still had his quadruplet lambs, which were now almost two months old. While deliveries of quadruplet lambs were not extremely rare, having all four survive this far was. E.E. Stahl’s farm, six miles north of St. Louis, continued to welcome a strange visitor among his herd of cows. A small fawn regularly appeared among the cows, following the herd to pasture. The Stahl family could usually reach within a few feet of the small animal.
Bill Harper’s Hardware in Houserville had John Deere hay loaders for sale. The McCormick-Deering Store in Ithaca offered a smoker (demonstration) for its new harvester-thresher on June 18.
The Bailey family west of Pleasant Valley experienced a tragedy when young Dale Edward Bailey, age 15, died as a result of being pinned under a tractor. Young Bailey was plowing a field and did not return home for dinner that evening. His young sister went out to find Bailey and came upon the accident, which had the boy pinned face down between the fender and wheel of the overturned tractor. Death probably came from suffocation.
Four new 4-H clubs were organized in late June, bringing the county’s total to 20 and enrolling 212 members. The new clubs included the Good Luck Canners (in Ithaca), Pompeii Willing Workers, Happy Farmers Livestock and Crops Club (Ephert School), and Our Gang (Bannister).
In June, stricter enforcement of quarantine for dogs across the state led to a decrease in rabies cases. It also led to a reduction in dog attacks on livestock. In 1939, the state reported farmers suffered a loss of $125,000 in livestock. Most of the dogs in both questions were believed to be strays from towns and villages rather than those from farms.
Gratiot County prepared to open its first school for children of Mexican beet workers. Reverend Floyd Drake of Breckenridge, president of the Gratiot County Council of Churches and Schools, devised the idea and organized support for the school. The school planned to open in the abandoned Washington School in Alma. It would be under the direction of Gertrude Herman of Grand Rapids. She had three staff members who planned to host children aged four to fourteen, and a host of NYA (National Youth Administration) workers cleaned and prepared the building. The school planned to host up to one hundred students, and forty showed up on the first day. At the end of June, visitors from different out-of-state churches visited Alma to see the school; at least two were from New York. An open house invited Gratiot residents to view the program and facilities.
Finally, in an attempt to get outdoors and enjoy a day fishing for trout on the Pine River, Don Lemon of Alma had a startling experience. While casting for fish, Lemon stepped on a large rattlesnake while walking on the bank. Lemon claimed the rattlesnake was as large around as his wrist, and he quickly changed locations to continue fishing.
And So We Do Not Forget
In Michigan Mid-State League Baseball, St. Louis Pure Oil played Alma Merchants on Sunday, June 9, at the St. Louis softball field. The admission cost was twenty-five cents…The St. Louis Trade Association sponsored its first Saturday night entertainment event, featuring a band concert by the St. Louis High School band. Herbert Saylor conducted the concert on a vacant lot on Mill Street…The Ithaca High School class of 1915 reunited on the school grounds in Ithaca on Saturday, June 22. Silas Partee invited all past members to attend along with their families, as this was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the reunion…The Ola Camp Meeting opened with Dr. Nathan Cohen Beskin, an evangelist and a Jewish convert to Christianity. Beskin was known nationally as an outstanding evangelist…Miss Mae Nelson offered piano and clarinet lessons in Ithaca for 75 cents a lesson. Contact Mrs. Mike Haley for more information…The Bannister area was shocked and saddened by the sudden death of young Esther Lillian Thomas. Thomas was only 14 years old and died just before her eighth-grade graduation. Esther had strong ties to her community, school, and church.
According to the recent census results, Gratiot County gained 2,429 people since 1930. A total of 35,938 people were recorded in the census, with Alma and St. Louis accounting for the majority of the increase. Elba Township lost fifty-five people, but Emerson Township only three…The Ithaca Masonic Lode prepared for the arrival of Dick Lewis, a 1913 Ithaca High School graduate who experienced success in the manufacturing field. Lewis planned to bring thirty-five entertainers for an evening program in Ithaca…Michigan Chemical Corporation planned to build a new brine well in the northwest corner of the Jake Wolford Farm just north of Oak Grove Cemetery…Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr starred in “I Take This Woman” at the Ideal Theatre in Ithaca. All seats were only ten cents…The village of Ashley has lost a beloved citizen, Mrs. Emma Jane Duncan, who passed away at the age of 81. Her husband, a Civil War veteran, moved to Ashley in 1900. Many knew her for her willingness to help those who were sick and in distress. She also worked at the Ashley post office for six years…Alfred J. Fortino received his LLD degree from the University of Michigan. A 1933 Alma High School graduate, he attended and graduated from Alma College before pursuing his law degree…The Alma Chamber of Commerce has announced the committees for the upcoming Alma Harvest Jubilee, scheduled for August 22-23. Finance, entertainment, parade, and publicity committees all planned to go to work after the Fourth of July…A group of 150 Boy Scouts attended the annual Boy Scout Camporee at Ithaca’s Woodland Park. The camp operated for two days, and every four or more Scout patrols were required to provide their unit’s camping equipment. Some events included signaling, water boiling, and a flapjack contest.
Four St. Louis men purchased the Gratiot County bank building from owner H.J. Stroupe. St. Louis voters earlier turned down the idea of turning the building into the city hall. The new owners included W.V. Hess, Vere Nunn, Fred Tryon, and Ralph Goggin…Van’s Wallpaper, the Byerly store, and Almy’s Food Market in Alma all had new signs on their stores…Prepare for the opening of bass season by purchasing Shakespeare Famous Tackle at C.G. Larry Hardware in Ithaca – the Fisherman’s Headquarters…Tom Brown and Constance Moore starred in “Ma! He’s Making Eyes at Me” at the Alma Theatre. News, oddity, and comedy for only ten or fifteen cents on July 2-3…The Saginaw Black Socks came to Ithaca to play the Ithaca Independents at the Ithaca fairground on June 30 at 2:30 p.m…Skippy LaMore’s Comedians would be St. Louis for one week beginning July 1. The group planned to present seven plays in a beautiful tent theater for only ten cents…The Czechoslovak Society of America opened a new two-story building with a two-day dedication ceremony. Construction of the new hall began two years ago and measured sixty feet wide by eighty feet long…F.M. Vandercook celebrated his 90th birthday in St. Louis. Vandercook was a pioneer newspaperman who owned and operated different papers in St. Louis and Ithaca. He published the first daily paper in St. Louis in 1893…A Fourth of July celebration was scheduled for Lumberjack Park. This “old time celebration” featured patriotic addresses, the Breckenridge Community Band, hog calling, husband calling, and a free movie. One could even buy a chicken dinner from the camp cook, Mrs. C.A. Field.
Several Alma people traveled to Detroit to watch the Tigers defeat the Yankees. A group of eight led by James Kline, a meat cutter at Bert Hicks and Sons store, watched the close game. Others from Alma, like G.A. Giles, saw the Tigers take a doubleheader from the Athletics…Alma High School graduate Carl Shultz was assigned to play for the Union City, Tennessee, team in the Kitty League. The St. Louis Cardinals system signed Schultz…Earl Willert’s barbershop at 212 East Superior got an entirely new fluorescent lighting system courtesy of Everett Giles, electrician and Strand Theatre operator…Persistent rain forced the postponement of the Alma City Band’s opening concert. The group had twenty-five members…Miss Lois Brainard, age 15 and a student at Alma High School, was selected in “Alma’s Glamour Girl Contest.” Brainard reigned as queen over festivities for the Alma Lions Club production of the local movie, “We’re in the Movies Now.” Margaret Atkinson finished second…Thompson’s in St. Louis advised customers to join their Blanket Club. Plan for winter – lay away a 72 by 90-inch virgin wool, moth-proofed blanket. A deposit of fifty cents and payments of only twenty-five cents a week got you the extra-large winter blanket…Gratiot’s leading naturalist, Parks Allen, wrote an article that described the different types of water birds he saw during a trip to East Tawas. Allen remarked that only three types of gulls could be found: the herring, long-billed, and Bonaparte’s gull… The Balmoral Indians defeated Shell Oil by a score of 7-4 in the season’s opening game in Ithaca.
Turck Beach in Alma is prepared to open to the public. Dressing rooms had been refurbished, repainted, and cleaned up. William Moody, Jr., will act as supervisor…Reverend R.J. Tuttle accepted the call to become the new pastor of the Alma Church of God. Tuttle completed a two-week church revival, and the congregation invited him to remain as pastor…Ten-year-old Charles Federspiel, son of Gratiot County Treasurer William G. Federspiel, was taken to Smith Memorial Hospital after suffering a double fracture of his left arm below the elbow. Young Charles obtained the injury by trying to jump off a brush pile. Unfortunately, he caught his foot on one of the branches…Recreation bowling alleys at 215 West Superior in Alma closed for the summer. Manager V.G.Case believed they would reopen after August 30…Joseph L. Winslow’s name went to the Senate for confirmation for his second term as Alma Postmaster. Winslow recently completed his civil service exam in Saginaw. H.R. Leuth of Medler Electric Company received the electrical work contract for the new St. Louis Co-Operative Creamery, which was under construction. The contract was worth more than $3,000…The Gratiot County Conservation League hosted a successful pancake supper, attracting 250 people and raising nearly $100 to enhance the park. Some prizes awarded to attendees included over forty pints of maple syrup… Gittleman’s Style Shop installed a new air conditioning system on West Superior Street in Alma. Weighing ten tons, the new system would constantly maintain a temperature of fifty percent relative humidity.
And that was the Depression and War in Gratiot County in June 1940.
People and events in Gratiot County during May 1940 from the top: Franklin Wheeler, Bruce Benton, and Darwin Beard participated in the first annual marble tournament in the county. The Works Progress Administration sponsored the county wide event; Hamilton Township received a fire wagon like the one in this photograph to combat a raging fire along parts of the east county line; before high school graduations, county high schools, like the one at Fulton, recognized their top students; Gratiot County residents who were Detroit Tigers fans listened to their favorite team on the radio.
The Phony War was over in Europe. Americans learned a new Nazi term – “blitzkrieg,” or “lightning warfare as the Nazis marched into and occupied parts of Western Europe.
Residents saw spring go cold and wet as farmers tried to work in the fields. Schools let out for the approaching summer.
It was May 1940 in Gratiot County.
The World at War
Winter was over, spring was in the air, and the war in Europe exploded as Hitler invaded Western Europe. Here in Gratiot County, the news regarding the war was not good. County newspapers began publishing maps of the war and front-page news segments about what happened as a result of the Nazi and Soviet invasions. Finns slaughtered their cattle herds before the arrival of Soviet troops, abandoning homes and farms as the Russians moved further west. German fighting planes regularly challenged the British fleet near Norway and surprised the British from German and Norwegian bases. In northern France, the Germans pounded the French at the Meuse through Hitler’s use of “lightning warfare.” The war spread through Holland, Luxembourg, and Belgium as the Allied help failed to save these countries. France surrendered on May 10. By the end of the month, Hitler’s army had the British and Allied armies pinned to within fifteen miles of the English Channel and stood less than seventy miles from Paris. At the end of the month, Belgium also surrendered.
People in Gratiot County read about actions that President Roosevelt ordered concerning war preparedness. Part of this dealt with the continued sales of armaments to France and Britain. Roosevelt also announced plans to train 50,000 pilots in a three-month program starting in July for the Civil Aeronautics Authority. Many of these recruits were to come from colleges and schools that now cooperated with the CAA. Before a peace rally taking place on the campus of the University of Michigan, someone put a Nazi flag up one of the flag poles. A university employee got the flag by climbing up the pole, and it was immediately taken down.
Troop B, 106th Cavalry of Alma, took in five recruits in the county. Captain Howard Freeman announced that he had received a patent from the government for a target holder and projectile receiver invention. Probably the county’s best opportunity to help others came from a Red Cross appeal for funds to help refugees in Europe who lost their homes and had been overrun by the Nazis. Locally, the Gratiot County Red Cross sought to raise $960 for its War Relief Fund. People could find boxes at different locations in the county for their donations. One group, the Mennonite Church in Newark Township, led all the fundraising and donated $154.20 – the single most prominent example of giving in the county. The International Harvester Store in Ithaca and Mrs. Francis Kellogg of Newark Township each gave $25, bringing the total to $247 at the end of May. In other war news related to Gratiot County, Reverend Charles E. Scott, an Alma College graduate and missionary to China, spoke at the college and church groups about Japan’s occupation of China. Scott vividly described Japan’s plans to destroy China and replace it with Japanese culture, along with removing Christianity. He also told how Chinese bandits killed his daughter and her husband and how an elderly farmer miraculously spared their infant daughter.
May also ended with the need to remember Gratiot County’s veterans of the past. The St. Louis Leader republished a letter from World War I, which Corporal William Shippey mailed home on December 10, 1918. Shippey wrote from Luxembourg exactly five months after he entered the service and described how homes and the land looked better than in France. The weather had been cold, but Shippey had six blankets and many clothes. Even as he prepared to follow his unit into Germany as a part of the Army of Occupation, he asked people to keep plenty of eggs and ham for him to eat when he returned home, but unfortunately, this would not happen. Corporal Shippey died of complications of the influenza epidemic on February 6, 1919. He would later be buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Louis.
Another old veteran from Gratiot County’s past was also in the news. Jasper Norton of Elm Hall was believed to be the county’s last surviving Civil War veteran. At age 94, Norton still had good health, remained active in Elm Hall, and could be seen regularly on the streets. Norton enlisted in the Union Army at age 16 and later reenlisted with Company D, Twelfth Michigan Infantry. He fought at the Battle of White River in Camden, Arkansas, and other engagements and was once wounded in action. Norton represented the county’s last link to the Civil War.
Products of the New Deal
Two New Deal programs in Gratiot County offered work to the unemployed
. The NYA (National Youth Administration) announced employment to 141 part-time workers during May and June, an increase of over forty workers thus far. These young people worked on projects in Conservation Park or school work programs in ten different high schools in the county. The most a NYA worker could earn a month was six dollars for active work. The NYA also planned to hire up to ten additional young women for sewing projects at the Salvation Army building in Alma. Miss Grace Rowell oversaw the project work. If Congressional appropriations came through, Gratiot County might employ as many as forty to sixty more workers for these projects. While local vandals continued to destroy some NYA work in Conservation Park, workers continued to build a circular drive and parking spaces. Police and NYA leaders continued monitoring the park at night, hoping to end the destruction.
The WPA (Works Progress Administration) had a lot of activity and news. At the start of May, twenty-three WPA workers were on the rolls in Gratiot County despite layoffs and cuts to the program. Congress cut the WPA program in Michigan by 11,500 workers in May. While most of the work was laying concrete slabs for forty blocks in Alma in 1939, there were still nine blocks to go. Workers continued pavement work on Allen Avenue from Ely to Marshall Street. Also, workers continued to establish sewer and water connections on Allen Avenue.
One of the other goals of the WPA programs was to provide recreational activities for youth. At least four locations in Alma (Civic Recreational Center, Wright Park, Washington School Center, Salvation Army Center) offered afternoon and evening activities to the public. The WPA Recreation Department also provided a marble tournament to engage youth across Gratiot County. Three district tournaments in Alma, Ithaca, and St. Louis occurred for youths aged fourteen and younger. The Marble King Tournament, sponsored by the NYA and the Gratiot County Herald, drew fifty-nine boys in the semi-finals, which took place over ten days of action in the three districts. The finals took place at Washington School in Alma, and lunch was offered to all boys during a mid-day break, courtesy of the Alma Chamber of Commerce. Glen Strouse and Oran Sebring of St. Louis took first and second place, and St. Louis Junior High School received the king trophy.
To engage and educate more of Gratiot County about the WPA, a week-long open house entitled “This Work Pays Your Community Week” took place in Alma. Before the open house, a sponsors and workers dinner occurred at Stillwell Junior High in Alma, and sixty-one people attended. By the end of the week, an estimated 3,000 people walked through. They saw the WPA exhibits in the county that dealt with adult education, recreation, a library project, a school lunch program, and a writer’s project. The WPA also announced a free training course in forestry at the Salvation Army Building, which lasted until the fall. It met three mornings during the week with one Monday night study period. Any interested adult could take the class.
Farm Life & Farm News, May 1940
Spring brought people and animals to the farm news. Farmers planned for their annual sheep dipping locations and dates in the county. However, the county agent announced that Gratiot County would have to purchase a new dipping tank and trailer to help with the spring dipping. Once obtained, farmers around the county hosted and helped dip 716 sheep. On the first day, Delbert Pullman of Emerson Township was the first to use the new portable trailer and mounted tank. Gary Vanderbeek, who lived northwest of Alma, also made the news with his sheep when one ewe gave birth to quadruplets. The mother nursed all four lambs and gained much attention from visitors.
Gratiot County woke up early one Sunday morning to a raging fire that covered over 4,000 acres of woods in Hamilton Township. Conservation officer C.B. Smith delivered a fire trailer with spray pumps, water cans, axes, and shovels for twenty-five men to S.A. Boettcher of Hamilton Township to fight the fire. A crew of twenty men fought the fires until help from providential rains fell upon eastern Gratiot County. The fire started two miles from the Gratiot-Saginaw county line. The fire was probably set intentionally by someone, and it took a heavy toll on wildlife and forestry.
The Junior and Senior Farm Bureau held regular meetings at the Beebe town hall. Parks Allen, a local naturalist, spoke about “Forestry,” the loss of forests, and the idea of a reforestation project to encourage local people to plant trees on their farms in Gratiot County. Allen reported that only fifteen percent of the original forests in the county were still standing. The Alma-St. Louis airport, located on the northeast side of Alma, had been abandoned and was being plowed up for farming purposes. The area consisted of one hundred acres of land. May also saw the organization of four 4-H Clubs in Gratiot County. The Newark Green Gardens Club, The Careful Canners Club, The Five Star Workers of Bridgeville, and The Happy Nine all joined the ranks of existing clubs. Only four counties in Michigan exceeded Gratiot County’s total number of youth involved in 4-H, and the program reached over 25 percent of Gratiot’s rural youth.
In anticipation of the arrival of Mexican beet workers, a school for their children was planned to open at the Washington School Building in Alma on June 3. An enrollment of up to 150 children was expected. Miss Helen White of St. Louis, Missouri, who served in the Women’s Council for Home Missions, was in charge of the program. Children received one meal per day, a recreational program, a craft program, and religious training. NYA workers would assist Miss White, and the WPA program provided the cook. A preaching service and Sunday school would also be held at the school on Sundays.
Farmers eagerly awaited the start of construction of the new St. Louis Co-operative Creamery. Secretary Fred Penert said the building would be a story and a half high and measure 92 by 100 feet. The face of the creamery, projecting toward Mill Street, would be made of brick, while the rest of the structure would be made of cement blocks. Penert stated that the cost would be $20,000.
Farmers tired of the persistent, wet weather that afflicted the county in May had another option for their time. Head for stretches of the Pine River to catch perch! One popular location for area fishermen consisted of the inlets around Quanicassee, where regular and persistent perch runs resulted in good fishing.
Gratiot County’s Health Issues
One C.B. Dibble of Michigan State College reminded Gratiot County families how important it was to stop breeding flies instead of just swatting them. The average fly in the county could breed a hatch of new flies every three days if not managed. Due to the county’s wet weather, moisture, and manure, Dibble urged families to watch out for the fly. Of particular interest was the presence of moisture in feed lots that bred flies.
The sixth annual Easter Seal campaign concluded in Gratiot County, and sales totaled $3597.02, an increase of $436.99 from 1939. Four area Rotary Clubs provided the leadership and time to get area youth involved in selling seals. In Alma, 19,824 Easter Seals were sold, and Breckenridge kids sold 3,325 seals.
Gratiot residents heard the hard news that Gratiot County Probate Judge James G. Kress had to be taken to Smith Memorial Hospital due to nervous exhaustion. County coroner and justice of the peace Howard Potter also sought help at Carney-Wilcox Hospital in Alma for lung trouble. He went home after several weeks, showing improvement.
Other news at R.B. Smith Hospital centered around an automobile accident in late May, where Mary Cerny (Bannister), Ruth Hopkins (St. Louis), and Rose Ann Lennox (also St. Louis) all had to be admitted due to an automobile accident. Hopkins was in the worst shape, having suffered lacerations over her entire body and a slight concussion. Lennox sustained a broken ankle and abrasions. In some better news at Smith Memorial, Miss Georgianna Fruehauf from the nursing staff returned to work after a short vacation.
Doctor Georgiana V. Mills, Michigan Department of Health lecturer, offered a series of free health classes to women in Gratiot County. Mills planned to give a series of lectures each Tuesday afternoon and run weekly for five weeks. Her first lecture’s theme would be on first aid.
The Gratiot County X-ray clinic, which offered free X-rays in Ithaca in early May, announced it had found thirteen tuberculosis cases. Forty-six people had X-rays taken at the Ithaca Methodist Church with support from the Michigan Tuberculosis Association. One case of T.B. was said to be inactive, and two suspect adult cases and ten primary infections were found. The sale of Christmas Seals made the clinic possible.
Gratiot residents also received warnings about the dangers of contracting hydrophobia. The illness results from a virus transmitted usually by dog bites and can be received by either humans or other animals. Those who believed they had been bitten by a rabid animal needed to cauterize the wound and seek help. If untreated, paralysis of the muscles, especially in the mouth, led to the old image of “frothing at the mouth.” Residents were warned to look out for escaped dogs considered rabid.
The Long Arm of the Law in Gratiot County
Gratiot County prosecuting attorney Robert H. Baker announced that 54 people had been convicted in Gratiot’s courts of crimes and misdemeanors, which resulted in $292.85 in fines and costs. A total of 35 convictions related to traffic violations. Some of the other convictions came from breaking (20), assault and battery (20), simple and grand larceny (4), and second and third felonies (5).
In larger profile cases, Forrest Hunter of Alma was convicted of breaking at the Lobdell-Emery plant. He was found guilty. Another man, Leo Rex Rawlings of North Star, was also convicted of the same crime. These two and Clyde Mills, also of North Star, attempted to steal 1,000 pounds of aluminum. Emil De Sander was finally convicted of cattle rustling, but at the end of the month, he appealed to get a new trial. De Sander’s name had been in the county newspapers since the beginning of the year. Jim Vlasich of Lafayette found himself in the county jail on the charge of assault on his 72-year-old mother. The issue had been an argument over money matters, and Vlasich broke his mother’s arm in the argument.
In a somewhat odd case, the case of the Church of God in Hamilton Township versus Excelsior Steel Furnace Company reached closure. In contrast, James Wheeler of the Central Heating Company had partly installed the furnace, and Cressor Heating Company finished it. Because Wheeler defaulted on the project, to whom did the church pay – Wheeler or Cressor? The trustees wanted to pay the bill but were unsure where the payment went. The case was settled for $625, and the church was removed from the suit by Judge Searl, who ruled that the Cressor Company was to be paid first, then the remainder of the fee went to James Wheeler. The trustees just wanted to pay their bill!
The Dewey Glinke embezzlement investigation in the county treasurer’s office was concluded, and two state auditors stated that Glinke made off with a total of $3,160. The county would have to pay between $800 and $1000 for expenses owed to the two state auditors, bringing the total amount of money lost to nearly $4,000. The big question continued to be “Where is Dewey Glinke?” Sheriff William Nestle interviewed Glinke’s wife in Port Huron, but Mrs. Glinke said she had not heard from her soon-to-be ex-husband since February. Glinke claimed he was now in Coral Gables, Florida.
Treasurer William G. Federspiel’s office prepared to handle a rush of delinquent taxes before a tax sale occurred. Initially, Federspiel thought there would be over 800 descriptions offered up for sale. He believed the “rush” of payments lowered the number to about 600. All of those rushing to pay their taxes to avoid a sale now had to pay a six percent interest fee.
End of School Days, Softball Days, Decoration Day
The 1939-1940 school year ended, and schools announced who would and would not be returning to teach in the fall of 1940. F.H. McKibben would come back as Ithaca Public School’s superintendent. He was superintendent in the Ithaca system for twelve years and eight years. Five teachers would not be returning in the fall. The Gratiot County Herald quoted the issue: “It is understood that the rule of the local school board in not hiring married teachers is responsible for most of the vacancies.” By May 20, over one-half of the rural schools had already closed for the summer, and Eighth Grade Graduation in the county was set for June 5. Before adjourning for the summer, Donald Baker, Gratiot County school commissioner, reminded teachers that a school census must be taken between May 1 and 20. The census was necessary for school funding, and all students from five to nineteen would be included.
Notices of high school graduations and announcements of top scholars appeared in the county newspapers. Over at Ashley High School, Gizella Lator and Evangline Parks were Co-Valedictorian. Helen Lator was a Saluatorian. Bannister honored Ernest Boog (Saluatorian) and Lillian Ensign (Valedictorian). Ashley graduated thirty students, and Bannister had four. St. Louis High School held its first outdoor graduation on the newly constructed Wheeler Field. Joan Pomeroy and Henry Parfitt were honored at Fulton Schools as valedictorian and salutatorian. A total of seventy-three students would graduate in the Class of 1940. If the rain held off, up to 1200 people could sit in the new stands for the ceremony. If chased off by rain, graduation would occur in the high school auditorium here, where 850 could jam inside. Hope for no rain or cooler temperatures.
Also, the St. Louis Softball League started a new fast-pitch softball season in St. Louis. The league had nine teams, and the season was from May 23 to July 12. On opening night, a parade of players and the St. Louis High School band marched from downtown to the softball field. Fred J. Thompson, president of the league, threw out the first pitch. Perrinton defeated Michigan Salt by 16-9 in the season’s first game.
On a more somber note, poppies were sold in St. Louis on May 25 to honor those who died in World War I (World War I to us). A Decoration Day program planned a parade of Legionnaires, the St. Louis High School Band, and Boy and Girl Scouts marching from downtown to the cemetery. Alma College professor Roy M. Hamilton from the English Department gave the address.
And So We Do Not Forget
Medler Electric Company in Alma sold Thor Washers for $54.50. Buyers got a washer, wringer, and ironer all in one. Just stop by at Medler’s opposite the Fire Hall…WSAM Radio opened as Saginaw’s radio station. Tune in at 1200 to hear the Voice of Saginaw…Leslie D. Reeves of Ithaca married Nellie C. Grayson of Paxton, Illinois…Earle Trudgen again directed and led the Spring Concert in Ithaca. This would be the first of seven concerts by the Ithaca High School Band…Fulton High School Athletic Association held its annual sports banquet in the Perrinton gym. It drew 130 people who dined on roast pork. Captain Ronald Vining accepted the baseball awards…Bowling season concluded in early May in Ithaca. Ithaca’s top men’s team planned to bowl the top women’s team to see who was better. Two opponents included Elsie Ringle and Bill Ginther…The Pere Marquette railroad in St. Louis repainted all its buildings for $500. The depot received new paint inside and out, and the walls and furniture were either painted, sanded, or varnished. The freight house also got a new paint job. The “St. Louis” sign on the top of the depot was the first to be painted…The Fulton baseball team defeated Corunna by the score of 9-5. After combining tryouts from Middleton and Perrinton, Coach Lloyd Eberly had thirty boys to choose from…Fleming Clothing Company of Ithaca offered Hummingbird Hose to buyers who shopped for Mother’s Day. Hose costs 79 cents to $1.15, depending on the thread types…Clara Kellsey, longtime postmistress at Bannister, died at age 61. She had been a postmistress for many years.
A naturalization examiner planned to be in Ithaca on June 5 to accept petitions and conduct preliminary exams for those interested in becoming United States citizens…Buy a Pontiac for only $783 at Pung Motor Sales in Alma or Whitney Motor Sales in Ithaca. A Pontiac averaged 20 to 21 miles per gallon – on long trips…Doctor Frank Thornburgh of Alma received honors from the Homeopathic Medical Society of Michigan. Thornburgh was also reelected as the group’s historian…The Nafzigger farm, 2 ½ miles west of Alma, was hit by a lightning bolt on the corner of the barn, setting it on fire. However, because the fire did not spread across the barn roof very quickly, the Alma Fire Department was able to put it out. The initial damage was only five dollars…Edward R. Goggin of Alma received his Bachelor of Laws from Notre Dame University. Goggin attended the University of Michigan in his first year, then transferred to Notre Dame. He planned to join his father’s practice in Alma…The Caldwell Comedians announced they would perform in St. Louis under the big tent starting on Memorial Day. The company consisted of 25 people, an up-to-date orchestra, and a new program for each performance over the four nights it would be in town.
Continued rains in Gratiot County have delayed work on the construction of Gratiot County’s Highway Garage in Ithaca. There was still hope that the building would be completed by the end of summer. The Gratiot County Road Commission approved contracts for the purchase of cinder and cement blocks for construction…Leo Simon of Alma received permission to move his junk yard from Pine Avenue to a new location south of the Pere Marquette switch tracks, between the Sinclair oil tanks west of State Street and property owned by the Little Rock Lumber and Coal Company. By making the move, the city of Alma hoped there would be a relief of truck and vehicle traffic in that original area…Wright’s Funeral Home on Woodworth Avenue in Alma put up a new artistic sign at the entrance to the business…The fifteen-by-five-foot sign “St. Louis Welcomes You” was erected and was placed above the street between Meteor Café and Young’s Department Store at the intersection of Mill and Washington streets. The words “St. Louis” appeared in red with the caption “Welcomes You,” which could be seen in blue. The sign cost $499 and was paid for by the St. Louis Trade Association.
St. Louis High School commencement services would occur outside on Wheeler Field on June 7 for the first time in the school’s history. A crowd of 1200 people could sit and watch the ceremonies from the bleachers. The backup plan in case of rain meant that graduation would be held in the school auditorium, but only 850 people could attend…Bert Hicks and Son operated their Alma grocery business as the “Biggest Little Store in Town.” Rolled Rump Roast beef cost 25 cents a pound, Bliss coffee 17 cents a pound, and icing sugar only 23 cents for 3 pounds…Laurel and Hardy made a one-night appearance in “A Chump at Oxford” at the Strand Theatre in Alma. Tickets were ten and twenty cents…The city of Alma prepared to put its new 2200-gallon tank to use for flushing streets. The tank sat on a city truck connecting to the power plant and piping. The large tank could flush at least two city blocks before refilling…A large group of 125 seventh and eighth-grade students from Gratiot’s rural schools went on a day trip to Greenfield Village in Dearborn. This was the second group of Gratiot students to travel to Dearborn in May. Take your lunch with you, it will be a long day.
The St. Louis Trade Association agreed to pay $100 for lumber and costs to construct a portable bandstand. It measured twenty feet square and stood five feet above the ground. The bandstand was planned to sit on the vacant lot between Starry and Kelley’s barber shop and Howard’s body shop…Doctor John Wirt Dunning, Alma College President, announced a donation of $25,000 to construct a new chapel on campus…You could buy a new Speed Queen washer at Walker’s Electric Shop in Alma for $49.50. See it at Walker’s, across from the Strand Theatre…The Main Café in Alma installed a new Walrus modern fountain to stay up-to-date with new equipment…The city of Alma revealed its new bright yellow lines for parking and stop signs in yellow block print on the pavement…Gittleman’s in Alma contracted with Skelton Heating Service of Ithaca to install new air conditioning. The system had a ten-ton capacity and could handle 4,000 cubic feet of air per minute. A similar system was used in the Strand Theatre….The Alma High Bands gave two concert performances in the senior high auditorium on May 24. A group of 50 Alma Senior members showed off their natty new uniforms…
Have you been missed in the census? A coupon appeared in the Alma Record and could be filled out and returned to the district supervisor in Saginaw County to let them know. Several people in Gratiot County were against answering census questions…The Alma Lions Club planned to shoot the upcoming film in Alma. “We’re in the Movies” would reflect life in Alma by producing a two-hour movie with local people. Central Michigan Bus Lines of Alma applied to end bus service between Alma and Howard City. Building permits in Alma showed an increase in building activity in the city. A total of $ 15,580 came in requesting that new homes, garages, and remodeling of homes be allowed to start. The amount surpassed 1939. Was the Depression ending?… Alma Lodge Number 1275, Loyal Order of the Moose, was formed with a ceremony in the Rotary Room at the Wright Hotel…The St. Louis City Council accepted a bid of $600 for a contract with Michigan Chemical Corporation to purchase calcium chloride to lay dust on the city’s streets during the summer. The council also agreed to a license fee of $25 annually for any trailer lot amounting to one quarter of an acre or bigger.
George W. Stewart, J.C. Penney Company store manager, left for a two-day district convention to select winter blankets for the upcoming winter. Sales could begin in July…Victor Jaeckel, Alma Strand Theatre manager, announced that the Strand would show a new MGM patriotic movie entitled “The Flag Speaks.” Although he could not get the film for Flag Day, Jaeckel planned to show the movie as an added feature attraction on June 4-5…On a sad note, in Ithaca, the courthouse flag went to half-staff, and all county offices closed during the funeral of Ralph E. Petit, a 79-year-old courthouse custodian. Petit died of complications of heart trouble. According to the Alma Record, Petit, who lived his entire life in Gratiot County, was “Kindly, affable and accommodating and possessing sterling characteristics inculcated by a training that impressed upon him the true values of life.” The Petit home was overflowing with those who attended his funeral service.
And that was the Depression and War during May 1940 in Gratiot County.
From top to bottom, life in April 1940: A new neon sign appears in county newspapers. The sign at the corner of Washington and Mill Streets is considered one of the nicest in mid-Michigan; a WPA mural done by Joe Cox, entitled “Harvest,” is hung on the north wall of the Alma Post Office; a group of English women prepare for anticipated air raids in London.
The long winter leaves Gratiot County, and the spring thaw takes place.
In Europe, it meant the resumption of Hitler’s war. “The Phony War” was over as the Nazis invaded Scandanavia, Denmark and prepared to invade Western Europe.
Farmers got ready to work their fields, and people carried on their lives in an isolated area of mid-Michigan. How many quiet springs would be left?
It was April 1940 in Gratiot County.
Winter War Becomes the Spring War
As winter ended in Europe, the “phony war” ended. Nazi Germany now started to make its anticipated aggressive moves toward the West – on land and sea. Gratiot County saw and read about these events through articles and photographs published in county newspapers.
British citizens in London anticipated air raids, as did French ground crews who believed invasion was imminent. French soldiers passed their time in places like the Maginot Line, waiting for the Germans to attack. Australian troops (Anzacs) in Palestine believed that they too faced a Nazi invasion of the Middle East. The Italian navy moved toward the Dardenelles to help the Nazis.
Hitler ordered his troops to occupy Denmark, and the Danes barely resisted. The situation in Poland was far worse as Warsaw lay in ruins and Jews were forced to wear the yellow triangle and walk in the gutters instead of on the street. The Nazis had also attacked Norway and moved to occupy the city of Trondheim on the east coast. The naval war between Germany and England began when Hitler proclaimed he was there to protect them.
In Brooklyn, New York, a group of seventeen men known as the Brooklyn Boys went on trial for plotting to overthrow the government. The United States Army tested new tanks at Camp Ord, California. In St. Louis, Michigan, Vojta Benes, brother of the former President of Czechoslovakia, spoke to groups about how he escaped his country before the Nazis occupied it. Ottakar Podrabsky, a Czech college student who escaped and enrolled at Alma College, explained what life was like with blackouts and preparations for a Nazi occupation. Both speakers asked Gratiot County residents for moral support during the European crisis.
Depression Life May 1940
The issue of a lack of money and social issues in Gratiot County continued in the news.
One of the growing responses to the problems of the elderly remained the popularity of Townsend Clubs. The Townsend Plan was another proposed way of providing pensions for the elderly, and these programs attracted large numbers of interested people. Over in Elwell, a meeting at the Odd Fellows Hall drew sixty people who gathered to see a movie about the Townsend Plan. An even bigger group of 300 interested people appeared at the St. Louis Park Hotel to hear state spokesman Ira Brinker. Dr. Townsend also had regular newspaper columns, such as the Alma Record.
The cost and care of indigent residents in Gratiot County continued to concern those on the board of supervisors. Part of this concern centered upon a potentially growing financial deficit for the cost of care now that Gratiot County had taken over responsibilities from the state. The county received $223.79 a month for total care of all indigents and already had a deficiency of $788.96, and this was only a few months into the county’s role of managing these costs. Much discussion occurred about the need for sworn written statements from county doctors when a child or adult indigent needed to be sent to a place like the University of Michigan Hospital for treatment. An auditor told the commission that if the current rate of debt continued, the county faced a $78,400 bill in October 1941.
Over in St. Louis, the Community Council led the discussion of creating a community chest that could be used in part to help care for needy families. One way to do this was to create a card system for disadvantaged families and places where donations like clothes and shoes could be stored, such as the city hall and the Gratiot County bank building. The bank building was presented as a site where women repaired clothes. The greatest need in St. Louis was shoes for the needy.
All of the discussion about the needs of people across the county occurred during what the Gratiot County Herald labeled “New Deal Defeatism” – or disenchantment with the deficits created by the New Deal. In 1932, the Herald cited the nation’s unemployment at ten million people – the same number a WPA administrator claimed was the rate in 1940. With so many out of work, looking for jobs, and the nation’s deficit growing, how could the New Deal programs be worth supporting?
Places like St. Louis faced financial issues tied to a New Deal program. Residents of St. Louis voted down two bond issues, one of which involved paving sidewalks with additional money from the WPA. That bond would cost taxpayers $32,000, the city $12,000, and the WPA $76,000. There was still interest in the sidewalk proposal, but voters needed more details. The other bond issue, which involved buying the Gratiot County Bank building for a new city hall, went down overwhelmingly.
However, people could still see New Deal programs at work in Gratiot County. NYA workers trimmed trees in Wright Park and faced problems with removing stumps. In 1938, the city removed trees under a state forestry expert’s direction to increase sunlight in the park. Now, the city had to deal with how to get the stumps out of the ground, which required stump-pulling equipment. Without the equipment, it was impossible to remove all of the unsightly, decaying stumps. The NYA also planned to help Alma by working to enlarge the city’s summer programs for youth. Alma High School coach Floyd Lear was contacted to oversee the summer program. WPA workers in Alma continued to work on terracing and seeding streets south of Superior Street on Gratiot Avenue and toward Gratiot. The city also planned to work with the WPA to complete curbing on several streets.
The most beautiful work done by a New Deal program in 1940 was done by Joseph H. Cox of Indianapolis, Indiana. Cox, a University of Iowa instructor, completed a large mural mounted inside the north wall of the Alma post office lobby. Many people turned out to watch as the mural, entitled “Harvest,” depicting harvesters stopping from their work to drink water from a long-handled dipper, was placed on the wall. Another part of the mural showed a one-horse wagon loaded with grain, with farm buildings in the background. Cox came to Alma to supervise the hanging of his mural.
Farming, Outdoors
Unseasonably cold weather in April meant spring planting lagged as farmers waited for spring to arrive. Some called this time in Gratiot “backward spring,” as the only thing being planted so far had been oats. The Gratiot County farm agent commented that more farmers intended to grow more beans than sugar beets. However, many farmers believed that an overproduction of beans would occur and reconsidered their sugar beet acreage.
A group of 1,096 farmers in Gratiot County signed up for farm plans under the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration). The number of sign-ups represented 52 percent of all farms in the county. By signing up with AAA, these farm plans monitored soil depletion, acreage allotments, goals for soil building, and the maximum payment every farmer could receive in 1940.
Farmers who planned to use sugar beet labor were required to pay the same rates as they did in 1939. Those beet growers who wanted benefit payments from the Sugar Act of 1937 had to comply with these wages. In anticipation of the upcoming farm season, Mexican sugar beet workers in Texas faced physical examinations to receive health certificates before they came to Michigan to work in the fields. Michigan doctors who traveled to Texas to examine potential workers looked for tuberculosis and venereal diseases. In 1939, 126 laborers were denied work due to health issues. Of that group, 86 had tuberculosis. The total cost of the examinations was $2,500. Michigan beet growers were supposed to have sanitary living conditions, quarters, and return transportation to Texas.
Problems with rabies and dogs occurred on and off farms as spring began. Clifford McKellar and Dr. D.J. Shepherd of Breckenridge brought charges against Bethany Township tenant farmer Floyd Ludwig. Ludwig shot an English setter belonging to McKellar and Shepherd after he claimed the dog wandered onto his property and lunged at him. However, after getting his gun, Ludwig shot the dog on an adjacent property belonging to someone else. Ludwig was jailed for defaulting on a $500 bond and awaiting an examination. The dog was valued at $200. Miss Martha Carlson of St. Louis experienced sadness when her beloved collie dog, Laddie, was ordered to be put to sleep for his aggressive behavior. Laddie had been in court a year before due to his attacks on other neighbors. In one case, Laddie attacked a man who was plowing on nearby property by tearing off the man’s shoe. While the trial was held in Justice J.L. Smith’s court in St.Louis, the dog’s owner was in Detroit and could not attend the hearing, petitioning the court for leniency through her sister—a sad case for all those involved.
That spring, a bigger issue with animals and Michigan was rabies. 47 counties south of Town Line 21 now faced immediate compliance with quarantining all dogs starting April 1 due to a rabies outbreak. All dogs in Alma had to be confined; if on the street, they had to be on a leash. All stray dogs would be picked up and impounded. Newspapers like the Gratiot County Herald supported the quarantine and believed it was the only way to end the scourge of rabies. Howard Evitts, the county dog warden, also announced that he planned to place dog traps in areas where farmers notified him about the loss of sheep. Dogs caught in these traps would be disposed of upon notification.
The topic of banning Sunday hunting remained a hot issue. Two of three newly formed hunting clubs in the county supported banning Sunday hunting, partly to control the number of hunters invading the county on weekends. Clubs in New Haven and North Shade supported the ban; one in the Seville Township area did not.
There were other things related to farming and farming during April. A new freezer locker storage plant will open in Ithaca – the first in Gratiot County. This locker is expected to open in the old Nelson Produce Company, which Mrs. Gertrude Brown owned. A total of 300 lockers would be available. Interested people could view 700 exhibits by Gratiot County winter 4-H clubs at Alma High School’s gymnasium. Of the approximate 990 girls and boys who worked on projects, 875 finished them. This exhibit, the largest ever assembled in the county, featured girls’ clothing, handicrafts, electrical work, hot lunch, and food preparation.
The C. R. Ranch Rodeo Company agreed to perform at the 1940 Gratiot County Fair. Suckers were running up the Pine River, you could buy live ones at George Gates’ vegetable and fruit stand in Alma on State Street north of the post office. Michigan Mutual Windstorm Insurance Company offered insurance for high winds and tornadoes. Buy chick mash for baby chicks at the Middleton Farmers Elevator Company in Middleton. It only costs $2.35 for 100 pounds of mash.
Health in Gratiot County
Smith Memorial Hospital in Alma received good news when the State Supreme Court upheld its tax exemption. Before this, the city claimed the hospital owed almost $2,000 in realty taxes. Because it argued that the Smith was a charitable, non-profit institution, it was exempt from those taxes. The high court affirmed the decision made in Judge Kelly Searl’s court in 1938 that the hospital did not have to pay those taxes.
A variety of health issues continued to plague the county. The Michigan Tuberculosis Association offered a chest X-ray clinic starting in Ithaca at the Methodist Church to deal with tuberculosis. Those who had a positive tuberculin test after attending clinics in Ithaca and Crystal were encouraged to participate in the clinic. Metal signs went up in public places across the state as well as in the county, warning about the dangers of syphilis. Made by prison industries in southern Michigan and numbering 26,000, the signs appeared in public places such as washrooms and warned of the symptoms of venereal disease. A group of citizens met with the Children’s Fund of Michigan representatives to offer another summer dental clinic. The clinic mirrored the one provided in 1937, in which indigent children who could not afford it received free dental care. The Gratiot County Board of Supervisors appropriated $200 for the clinic.
In sad news, Samuel Mills of Emerson Township, age 58, took his own life after battling nervous depression and despondency for almost fifteen years. Mills had been under doctors’ care for some time. Mills, his brother, and their wives farmed 80 acres of their own and worked the Thomas farm of 240 acres adjacent to theirs. Samuel Mills was found early one morning by his sister-in-law in the cellar. A shotgun had been used as the instrument. Mills left behind a wife, two children, and his brother’s family.
The Long Arm of the Law, April 1940
Crimes and law-breaking of all kinds and levels appeared in the spring of 1940. During March, Prosecuting Attorney Robert H. Baker announced that 58 convictions were reached in court. 41 cases involved traffic violations, while 17 others involved other various offenses. Still, the court received $308.65 in fines and costs.
What were some of the offenses? Six of the cases dealt with breaking, and one with vagrancy. The notorious “Trailer Thief” Ross Smith, father of Michigan’s first trailer baby born in a stolen trailer from Redman Trailer in Alma, was released from jail three years ago. Smith failed to pay $200 in restitution, and then he disappeared. When he turned himself in to the authorities in Traverse City, Smith was sent back to Gratiot County, where Judge Searl gave him six months to five years in Jackson Prison. A jury convicted Leo Rawlings of North Star of stealing nearly 1,000 pounds of aluminum and scrap metal from Lobdell-Emery in Alma. It took the jury only 35 minutes to find Rawlings guilty.
Sixteen couples found themselves in court for chancery cases, in other news involving the law. The Dewey Glinke embezzlement case continued as the county sought to determine how much money Glinke stole from the county in late 1939. County supervisors have now announced that $3,078 in stolen funds is certain. The county would probably owe another $500 for paying two clerks who assisted the auditor general’s office with the case research. During the winter, a few taxpayers outside the county still needed to be contacted to determine if Glinke had stolen their payments. The Glinke case continued for several years in an attempt to find him and bring him to justice.
In other news, the Wheeler Township Board denied two beer license renewals by Orville Wilk and Steve Brenz, both outside Breckenridge. The FBI moved into Michigan—or so it was announced. FBI investigator Chief O. John Rogge said he planned to investigate corruption in high places. One Frank McKay profited from selling over $90,000 in bonds to finance the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron.
And what else stirred up the Gratiot people in April 1940? It had to be the national census. Many residents spoke out about consenting to being interviewed for the national census of 1940. A list of 25 census enumerators appeared in newspapers to inform readers who would be knocking on their doors. Some, like Ethel Dunn of Elwell, sought out people in Seville Township. Mabel Lippert toiled in Alma’s second ward. Urban enumerators received 40 cents per name, while those in the country got up to 30 cents for each farm they recorded. Individuals like W.G. Davis and H.O. Butler of Ithaca protested being asked to contribute information to the census and being paid to interview them. Butler went so far as to organize the Gratiot County Vigilance Committee and hold a meeting at the Ithaca Circuit Courtroom. A total of 200 people showed up to oppose participating in the census, who did not want President Roosevelt or Uncle Sam to know about their status in 1940.
And So We Do Not Forget
A welcome sign was placed at Conservation League Park outside of Alma. The sign encouraged public use of the park and explained future planned improvements…John G. Young, Riverdale postmaster, died after being ill for two weeks. Young had been postmaster since 1910…the J.J. Newberry Store in Alma planned to open after completing a false front, new trimming, and a new stairway. The fountain bar, a public favorite, remained untouched and ready to continue its service for eager customers. The store planned to rent the upstairs rooms…Area schools prepared for the county achievement tests for two days in early May. Seventh and eighth grade students would take their tests on May 2; the rest had the day off. On May 3, all fifth and sixth-grade students were tested while the rest had a free day. Make sure and bring two well-sharpened pencils and a lunch…Since May 1, 1939, the St. Louis Fire Department answered 61 calls for fires, including 4 in just one week in early April. The department responded to 40 fires in 1939, an increase of 21 fires…Buy your baseball equipment at the Varsity Shop in Alma. Baseball shoes cost only $2.15; gloves and mitts started at 69c, and bats ranged from 25c to $1.75…St Louis put up a large neon sign at the Washington and Mill Streets intersection. It measured 15 feet long and 5 feet high. Newspapers stated that St. Louis was the only city in mid-Michigan with such an attractive sign.
Eight students graduated from the St. Louis Business Institute in the previous three months. Four of the graduates already had jobs. Some graduates included Phyllis Alward, Bette Comstock, and Geraldine Humm from St. Louis…Resident V.K. Beshgetoor described a horrifying incident he witnessed on his way home to Alma. Beshgetoor motored through Shepherd when he saw a young boy inching near passing cars on a bike in northbound traffic. The boy took a tumble off his bike and missed being run over by a truck by only inches. Beshgetoor commented that after being scared for his life, he wondered how parents would allow their children to ride bicycles in such heavy traffic…The Porter-Yost field in Midland Township had 341 wells running and made a daily run of 4,754…The Ford Motor Company provided a Mercury 8 1940 test car for the Rademacher Motor Sales in Alma. Its average mileage is 22.3 miles per gallon.
Go to McIntyre’s Drug Company in St. Louis and order a treat. On April 28, customers could enjoy a free tree from the New Arctic Soda Bar…St Louis Schools expected its teaching staff to return for the 1940-41 school year. The only one not returning was kindergarten teacher Miss Ellen Strom…Mr and Mrs. M.D. Fisher opened their home to host the Gratiot County Rural Letter Carriers’ Association and Auxiliary. The group enjoyed a meal of chop-suey…Jackie Cooper and Betty Field starred in “Seventeen” at the Strand Theatre. Tickets cost 10c and 20c. A local newsreel ran every Wednesday and Thursday nights…The St. Louis Park Hotel offered regular duck dinners for 75c. Frankenmuth style cost $1.00. “Why eat at home when you can dine with us at these prices?”… Sixteen-year-old Richard Hetzman pf Alma was chosen to represent the George W. Myers American Legion as a delegate at Wolverine Boys’ State in East Lansing in late June…The Sawkins Music House sold the 1940 Norge Steri-Seal Washer and a vacuum cleaner for $69.95. Buyers could also pay $1 a week. Interested customers could see for themselves at the Builders Show in the Alma High School gymnasium April 25-27…The Alma Oddfellows Hall hosted thirteen boxing matches for the Alma Athletic Club before a large crowd. Four of the bouts ended in knockouts…Alma High School returned five lettermen for the upcoming track season. Four of the five were seniors…County school children again sold Easter Seals for the benefit of handicapped children. This year, the thirty schools sold a combined $498.45 in seals…Most St. Louis Trade Association members wanted to close their businesses on Wednesday nights and offer entertainment programs on Saturday evenings…
Resident Theodore Bloss made the news for his friendship with neighboring fox squirrels. Bloss had been friendly with several of them for the past four years and had them visiting Bloss on his back porch and eating out of his hand…Burlingame & Son of St. Louis offered the new 1940 Chevrolet Master 85 Business Coupe for $659. Phone 282 to contact the business..Alma Girl Scouts launched their annual cookie sale. Crisp, crunchy butter cookies with chocolate and vanilla flavor appeared like the Girl Scout trefoil. Only 25 cents a box…St Louis Michigan Chemical Corporation displayed its new custom-built salt machine, which could produce one per minute. The blocks were sold to feed cattle…The Alma Builders Shows started on Thursday, April 25, and ran the rest of the week at the Alma High School gymnasium. Sawkins Music House showed moving pictures in the smaller gymnasium each evening…Monroe’s Drug Store in St. Louis sold vitamins, antiseptine, nose drops, and Tread Easy Foot Powder, see the advertisement in the St. Louis Leader-Breckenridge American….An article in the Alma Record told how a migration of Amish settlers left Canada and the United States for Mexico in the 1920s. Now, some of the followers established communities in Maryland…Fleming Shoe Company in St. Louis sold nurses’ Oxfords for $1.98 a pair…Engineers in Montcalm County studied plans to increase the water level in Rock Lake. Plans called for transferring water from Marl Lake, a quarter of a mile away…Alma High School prepared to show 400 feet of film entitled “Land of the Free,” movies taken of students while they were in the building. The school recently purchased movie equipment to show a four-reel movie…
Bert Hicks & Son continued remodeling their grocery store on the corner of Woodworth and Superior Streets in Alma. C.A. Hicks (“Bert”) had been in the grocery business for 37 years, 10 of those for himself. For the upcoming grand opening, Hicks planned to have a SunshinebBiscuit and Maxwell House coffee demonstration for all of those in attendance…James Merodeas joined James Stamas and Steve John as Alma State Sweet Shop partners. Merodeas came to the business with an excellent record as a cook…The Triangle Coal & Oil Company in Alma displayed a new thermometer on their building. In this way, motorists who stopped for gas or oil could easily read the temperature and realize the need to buy more coal for heating during cold weather…Mrs. Inez Brainard of St. Louis established the “Willard J. Brainard Loan Fund” to assist any St. Louis High School students who sought to further their education. Mrs. Brainard established the fund as a way of honoring her son, who died from fatal burns in an incident in 1939…Buy linseed oil, turpentine, and Moore’s House Paint at the Davis-Wolansky Hardware Company in North Star…A total of $498.45 was raised during the Seventh Annual Crippled Children’s Seal drive. Over 30 schools in Gratiot County participated in the program…66 schools renewed their Junior Red Cross subscriptions, which resulted in $100.63 to the Gratiot County Red Cross…Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray starred in “Remember the Night” at the Ideal Theatre in Ithaca. Admission was 15 and 10 cents…
The thawing of heavy snow in Middleton left much of the village with high water in vacant lots, on streets, and on main roads. School buses could not travel some main routes to pick up students on a Friday. Still, robins and turtledoves could be heard and seen in Middleton…The Ithaca High School Junior Class presented “The Eyes of Tlaloc,” a mystery play, in the high school gymnasium…Mr. Harwood’s St. Louis High School English class polled students about their favorite radio program. Kate Smith’s program and “The Hit Parade” came in at the top of the most listened to on the radio…Bobby Erskin was lucky to have parents and grandparents who wintered in Dunedin, Florida. Bobby loved the Detroit Tigers, saw the Tigers in spring training, and served as one of two Tigers batboys. Ersikine brought home cracked bats used by Rudy York and Roy Cullinbine…Buy a new 6.2 cubic foot 1940 Westinghouse refrigerator for $112.75 at Walker’s Electric Shop in Alma.
And that was war and Depression life in Gratiot County during April 1940.
Life in Gratiot County during March 1940 turned inwardly and away from the problems in Europe. From the top: J.W. McVeigh of New Haven Township lost his farm home to fire. The Ithaca Fire Department did its best to save the structure but lacked sufficient water to extinguish the blaze. The McVeigh home was one of three in the county that burned to the ground in mid-March 1940; on a lighter note, a total of 29 Ithaca kindergarten students rode “the choo-choo” from Ithaca to Ashley. Teachers Miss Nannette Harrison and Miss Eleanor Corbin (pictured), along with Miss Eleanor Nevens, took the students on this ride of a lifetime. Easter was approaching in Gratiot County, and the annual Easter Seals program was selling Easter Seals to help support disabled children.
For many in Gratiot County during the late winter of 1940, it was a continued time of isolation from world affairs.
Very little news was reported about the ongoing Winter War in Finland and the “Phony War” that existed on the European continent. Who said an actual world war was brewing? At the end of winter, much of life in the county in early 1940 seemed no different for people in Gratiot County than it had been a year earlier.
Gratiot County’s residents could focus on their lives during the Depression as a new decade began and international events seemed relatively quiet.
It was March 1940, and life during the Depression continued. Will winter end?
Gratiot’s Life Late in the Great Depression
As the 1930s drew to a close, the ability of people to pay their taxes improved slightly. County treasurer William G. Federspiel announced that based on taxes paid in all townships except the city of Alma, the amount collected reached 88.04 percent in 1940, up from 86.5 percent in 1939. Still, 835 land descriptions would be advertised in the 1940 tax sale. For this sale, all property with unpaid taxes from 1937 and prior could be put up for auction. Alma led the way with 260 delinquent descriptions. Those contesting the sale of their property had until April 15 to attend a hearing in Judge Kelly Searl’s court. Newark Township was one of two townships that did not have a single description up for sale, which was a matter of pride in that area. North Shade also had only four potential tax sales.
Acronyms for New Deal programs could be seen in the news. The Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) notified the Gratiot County Department of Social Welfare that it had opened enrollment for boys between 17 and 24 who wished to apply. The office to obtain an application to join this program was located at 614 East Superior Street in Alma, and applicants had until April 13 to submit their applications. The National Youth Administration (NYA) continued to educate the public about the needs and concerns of the current “youth problem” – the inability to find work after high school and secure apprenticeships. Orin W. Kaye, state administrator for the NYA, visited Alma and addressed the Rotary Club about these issues in Michigan.
The city of Alma believed it had enough work to keep the current Works Progress Administration (WPA) crew busy until the fall of 1940. William E. Reynolds, Alma’s city manager, stated that the city had about twenty city blocks to pave and leftover work from 1939. Streets like North Court, Liberty, Richmond, and Moyer all had sections needing paving. The WPA also offered to help St. Louis pave streets and sidewalks. The city had to provide $20,000 for the jobs, the public paid $12,000, and the WPA paid the rest. ($41,000). St. Louis scheduled a bond vote on April 1 to approve the city’s portion of the twenty-block plan.
As the Depression lingered, St. Louis decided that city officers would not receive a salary increase for the upcoming year. The mayor continued to receive $25, and the city clerk received $130, both every month. Additionally, eight aldermen received $50 for the year. Regarding welfare relief, the St. Louis Community Council was organized to establish a permanent welfare group, with John Kelly serving as chairman. Kelly then appointed five citizens to oversee welfare work in 1940. The Non-Pariel group, which had previously overseen welfare distribution in St. Louis, continued to do so under the council’s direction.
The growth and interest in Townsend Clubs in the county continued, which promoted the idea of an old-age pension. The number of clubs and the increase in members attracted many to Gratiot County. The Townsend Progressive Club, Number 2 in Ithaca, met at the village hall with 35 new members in attendance. Townsend Number 3 met in St. Louis for a potluck supper at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. Hill. A group of 35 people attended this meeting, with representatives from Ithaca, Pompeii, and Alma in attendance. In addition, many Towsend enthusiasts from fifty different clubs across the Eighth Congressional District came to a convention in Ithaca on March 24. The group supported using films to educate the public about the Townsend movement. Dr. Francis Townsend, for whom the movement was named, recently visited the White House to meet with Eleanor Roosevelt, who commented that the Townsend Plan “makes a lot of sense.” Unfortunately, the Townsend Plan’s idea for pensions failed to appeal to legislators.
Farming in March 1940
The Alma Sugar Beet Growers Association held its tenth annual meeting at the Strand Theatre on March 14. A total of 1,100 people attended. The large group held an all-day meeting that began with a business session, followed by presentations from speakers promoting sugar beet associations, and concluded with lunch. A group of ladies from the Presbyterian, Christian, and Methodist churches provided meals, which had to be reserved by ticket. In the afternoon, the attendees listened to music provided by the Alma College band and then the Ford Mountaineers.
In late February, members of the St. Louis Co-cooperative Creamery sent seven people to the Midwest Producers Creamery in South Bend, Indiana. President Frank McJilton led the delegation. St. Louis and twenty-two other members entered a ten-pound tub of butter for a contest based on a scoring system. The Creamery tied with Producers Creamery of Marion, Indiana, for having the best quality butter in the contest, scoring 93 out of 100 points. Additionally, the AAA anniversary banquet took place in March at the Ithaca High School gymnasium, and a chicken dinner was planned for attendees. The group listened to a Lansing speaker, then encouraged those who attended to hear President Roosevelt and Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace address the nation. It was the first time that a President and one of his cabinet members spoke simultaneously on a national program.
Naturalist Parks Allen showed his wildlife pictures in early March at the Gratiot County Conservation League cabin. A large group of 85 people found themselves absorbed in Allen’s photographs and lecture. Most of the pictures came from the 65-acre Lester Allen farm, located north of Ithaca. Allen also chaired a program to do a game bird census north of Alma in March. The group called hunters for twelve of Gratiot County’s best bird dogs to help scare up the birds so they could be counted. Pointers and Setters were needed, and in the end, thirty hunters with a dozen dogs put up only two partridge but did flush twenty pheasants in one section, including four roosters.
Speaking of dogs, a dog quarantine was announced in 47 counties in late March and commenced on April 1. Many Michigan counties received “dog imprisonment” orders for at least six months, and Gratiot County became part of the quarantine. Saginaw County had already initiated its quarantine prior to this order. Officials worried that a single rabid dog traveled 15 to 30 miles in a day and left infected dogs and people in its wake.
Gratiot County Conservation League members also planned to gather sap for their proposed pancake supper at the log cabin. Photographs of “sugar bush” owners tapping trees appeared in newspapers. Bring on the maple syrup!
Concerning the county dairy association, the Neitzke Brown Swiss herd from Wheeler led in butterfat records with 39.5 pounds. C.H. Chase and the Kanitz Brothers Holstein of Alma came in second at 37.61 pounds. George Schleder and his sons from Ithaca completed a new safety bullpen from welded pipes. The county milk tester, Clayton Klein, resigned to take up life on a farm in Livingston County. The Emerson Farm Bureau met at the Beebe Hall on the evening of March 1 for a potluck supper, which drew 38 people.
In one farm tragedy, J. W. McVeigh lost his farm home in New Haven Township when the Ithaca Fire Department lacked sufficient water to extinguish the fire. In one week, the McVeigh farm was one of three homes destroyed by fire in Gratiot County.
A series of rural-urban Acquaintance Night meetings attempted to build bridges between city and country. In one such meeting, the Alma Rotary Club sponsored a dinner and welcome at the Elwell Methodist Church. A total of 44 farmers and 36 Rotarians attended the meeting. Dr. W.F. Kaufmann of Alma College talked to the group about mining minerals and chemicals from underground water and extracting nitrogen and gases from the air.
A large crowd of 250 Future Farmer chapter members and Boys clubs from around Gratiot County participated in a sheep shearing demonstration at St. Louis High School. When finished, the participants sheared, docked, and castrated 35 sheep. Winners of different contests received a free trip to the Michigan State Fair in Detroit in the fall. A ten-week farm management course, held at three different Gratiot schools, concluded with over 300 people in attendance. County extension agent C. P. Milham, along with other instructors, led the course. While most of the classes consisted of students from Ithaca, Breckenridge, and St. Louis high schools, another group of 125 farmers also partook in the studies.
Need baby chicks for your 1940 season? W.V. Hess of the St. Louis Hatchery wanted people to know that after 38 years in operation, his business hatched over 30,000 chicks each week. These baby chicks were sold at a low price due to the low cost of eggs.
At Easter 1940, the cold winter continued. When Gratiot residents got up and headed for the sunrise service, they found that the thermometer had never reached above 20 degrees. Late in the month, another blizzard snowstorm hit the county, and people wondered if spring would ever arrive. It had been a hard winter.
The Long Arm of the Law in March 1940
The long and active arm of the law in Gratiot County nabbed different violators. A March report showed that during the previous month, 41 people were convicted of breaking the law; 22 of these convictions involved traffic violations. The fines and costs for those sentenced totaled $341.65. Among those convicted were four people engaged in illegal cohabitation; two had unlawful possession and sale of obscene literature and pictures, and two others were arrested for vagrancy.
The Lobdell-Emery thieves, who initially made off with 1,000 pounds of scrap aluminum, were arrested and taken to Lansing for a lie detector test. While two failed the test and one immediately confessed to the crime, Clyde Mills, Forrest Hunter, and Leo Rex Rawlings all prepared to stand before the court for sentencing on the theft charges. However, when it came to finding the missing items, it still was unclear where the stolen aluminum had been sold. Police solved another aluminum theft case in Alma when a tip led them to Donald Liscomb, who previously broke into the Gratiot County Conservation League cabin. He made off with $75 worth of new aluminum cooking ware, but only one piece was found. It turned out that Liscomb was tied to Donald Lawrence, who had given some of the aluminum to pay off a personal debt. Liscomb, a former NYA (National Youth Administration) worker, received a sentence of two to fifteen years in Jackson. Up until the very end, Liscomb denied any guilt in the matter. It also turned out that he was connected to another thief, Ray Loudenslager, who broke into the Frisbee filling station near Riverdale. Loudenslager received a sentence of one to fifteen years in the Jackson prison. In another case, William Burdt of Alma confessed to stealing nickel anodes from Lobdell-Emery. Burdt, a company foreman, systematically stole $3,000 of the metal over several years by creating a unique device on his belt to transport the material off the premises at the end of work. In solving the crime, Lobdel-Emery learned that a company in Philadelphia purchased metal directly from Burdt. When police searched Burdt’s home on Bridge Street, they found 240 pounds of the stolen metal in the basement, who soon confessed to his crime and was given one to five years.
Raymond McMillan of Saginaw made a mistake when he recklessly drove through Michigan Avenue in St. Louis just as children left school. Police Chief Edward Barnes attempted to stop McMillian as he recklessly drove through the area where the children walked. Fortunately, a state police car observed the McMillan as it left Alma, followed it into St. Louis, and pulled McMillan over before he left the city limits. After being brought back to town and facing Justice of the Peace J.L. Smith, the offender pleaded guilty and paid $28.35 in fines and costs.
The Raymond DeSander cattle rustling case moved on through Gratiot Circuit Court as DeSander remained in the county jail. His lawyer claimed he would provide witnesses to exonerate DeSander for allegedly stealing eleven cattle from a farm owned by Eugene C. Ensign, a Bannister farmer. The accused’s brother was already held on similar charges in Saginaw County. In another instance, Jack Calkins of Ithaca appeared before the court for allegedly selling oil royalties under pretenses to a man from Marion, Michigan.
To separate instances of drunk and disorderly brought two St. Louis men, Albert Siefka and Elton Andrews, before the judge. They had to pay $25 for the costs after sentencing. Another St. Louis man, Paul Takach, had a reputation for being a drinker in the community. When police sought to arrest him for drunk and disorderly conduct, they learned that Takach, a WPA worker, was guilty of non-support of his family and sought to arrest him after learning he had been paid that day. However, the officers were too late, as by the time they found the inebriated man, he had just spent all but $6 of his WPA check on alcohol.
One of the county’s most bizarre crimes involved the theft of chickens. Joe Neimic of Middleton defaulted on a $100 bond after being convicted of stealing nine chickens from Matt Maczek, also of Middleton. Maczek, who was in jail for stealing coal in February, claimed that Neimic stole his chickens while he was incarcerated.
As a special committee of the county board of supervisors concluded its work on the Glinke embezzlement case, the unofficial amount of money embezzled reached $ 3,600. A final report of the findings was soon to be released. Dewey Glinke stole the money through false reports and collections in the county treasurer’s office. He had been on the run since December 1939.
Finally, B.K. Beshgetoor, noted in Gratiot County as an ardent Prohibitionist, wrote a letter to the Alma Record. In it, Beshgetoor chastised newspaper readers who believed bootlegging days had ended. Noting that the sales of bootleg whiskey reached 478 gallons a year in the United States, he commented, “The bootleggers have always been with us and probably always will, like any other class of criminals, who choose not to obey the laws against any crime.
And So We Do Not Forget
Bert Hicks and his son continued to plan and execute the remodeling of the Winslow building in Alma for their grocery store. Work was nearing completion both inside and outside the store, featuring a new Sherer double-duty meat case…Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams had been the number one rookie in 1939, and newspapers believed Williams would beat the sophomore jinx because of his disposition. In one spring training game, Williams shocked the umpires and players when he caught a foul fly ball and then threw it to the fans in the stands. The St. Louis High School Junior class prepared to present the play “Skidding,” a three-act comedy. The play served as the basis for one of the “Andy Hardy” movies…James Redman, Jr., and his aunt quickly traveled from Michigan to Alma in 27 ½ hours. They left on a Monday at 6:00 p.m. and arrived in Alma the next night at 9:30 p.m…a group of 55 people in Gratiot and Montcalm counties received instruction at the St. Louis Park Hotel on becoming census enumerators. After two sessions, the group took a test to see who would be hired based on the highest scores. The manager of the Wright Hotel in Alma, E.A. Roberts, took a spill on some ice while exercising his horse. Roberts severely bruised his foot when the horse fell on it, which caused him to be confined to bed for nearly a week. However, Roberts got back to work on crutches…
The Alma Softball Association met in the Veteran’s Room in the basement of Alma City Hall to plan for the upcoming season. In addition to providing a meeting for anyone in Alma who wanted to play softball, a discussion took place about how to raise $300 to build permanent bleachers. Last summer, observers sat in their cars, stood, or sat on flimsy seats… a manager of the Consumers Power Company in Alma warned young people about flying kites near electric lines. Kite flyers were also warned about using tinsel cords for tails or metal in their kites and not to recover a kite caught in any electric wire…a dozen members of the Gratiot County Conservation League tapped sixty trees at Conservation League Park in Alma. Part of the syrup gathered from their work went toward a proposed pancake supper in April…Martha Vanderbeek of Pine River Township died in a traffic accident when two cars crashed at the intersection of US-27 and Monroe Road. Fourteen-year-old daughter Jeanne suffered serious injuries…teachers and students from across Gratiot County started preparing for the fourth annual music festival to be held on the Ithaca fairgrounds in May. In 1939, nearly 1,200 children performed in over 100 pieces…Governor Luren D. Dickinson appeared at Alma High School to speak about the 25th anniversary of the Salvation Army’s activities in Gratiot and Isabella counties.
Cupid’s arrows flew during March as Laurel Crumbaugh, age 26, of Bethany Township, married Irene Ross, age 27, of Midland County…a new loudspeaker at the Strand Theatre allowed the organist, Billy Farrell, to pipe his music into the Strand’s lobby area. Farrell touched a switch, and presto, music in the lobby, in front of the theatre, or both…Carl Schultz of Alma signed a major league baseball contract with the St. Louis Cardinals and was assigned to a Class C league team in Portsmouth, Ohio. Before signing with the Cardinals, Schultz briefly played winter ball with the New York Giants as a shortstop and second baseman…it is maple syrup season in Gratiot County, and the sap started running early in March…D & C Stores of St. Louis had an opening sale by selling fresh salted peanuts for ten cents a pound. Rayon hosiery sold for nineteen cents a pair…Ashley High School’s senior class presented “Me, Him, and I,” a three-act comedy on March 14-15…Williams Bakery had a Saturday special by selling two dozen cookies for only twenty-five cents. That was a seven-cent savings on March 9…the Fulton boys basketball team finished runner-up at the regional meet. Lloyd R. Eberly coached the team…
Keith Priest, age ten, survived an icy plunge while on the ice at the Sumner mill pond. William Husted and Raymond Perry, who just happened to be passing by, heard Priest yelling for help and rescued him as Priest clung to the edge of the ice. The boy suffered no lasting harm. The village of Ithaca voted to stop all beer sales on Sundays by a referendum vote of 299 in favor and 176 against. The ban would start May 1….Ithaca High School presented “The Gypsy Rover” in three acts at the Ithaca High School gymnasium on March 20…Herbert Abbey, whose home address is Alma, wrote “Tiger Sidelights From Lakeland” as he made observations about the team while in spring training. Abbey saw the team’s menus at their hotel and noted that players ate chicken, red snapper, and fresh fish instead of juicy red steaks. Hank Greenburg and Rudy York went fishing on Lake Ariana. Four Tigers were picked to play in an American and National League all-star game at Plant City on March 17. Abbey closed by saying it was only 80-85 degrees in the shade at Lakeland…Mr. and Mrs. Charles Warner celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary in Middleton with a dinner and celebration at the Methodist Church…a group of 29 kindergarten students from Ithaca rode the “Choo-Choo” from Ithaca to North Star. Teachers Nannette Harrison, Eleanor Corbin, and Eleanor Nevens chaperoned the event…”Gone With The Wind” appeared at the Strand Theatre. Tickets were 75 cents for matinees and $1.10 for evening showings. Remember, viewers, this is nearly a four-hour movie…
A group of 33 St. Louis Trade Association members met for their annual dinner meeting in the Park Hotel. After the election of officers, the group voted and agreed to continue the Trade Association, remain open on Wednesday evenings, and hold summer drawings. Miss Verna Bernecker was named “Miss Alma Record” and photographed by Maurine Stovall. Bernecker appeared wearing different styles at the Lion’s Auxiliary Show in Alma. ..the Northeastern Gratiot Rural Teachers Club sponsored a banquet at the Ithaca Methodist Church on March 29. All rural teachers were requested to attend and pay sixty cents each for their dinner…the Ithaca Chamber of Commerce chose to continue a summer program that included popular Wednesday night entertainment, which took place in the village. In addition to the Wednesday night events, the chamber budgeted for Halloween, Christmas, an athletic banquet, and even considered the building and lighting of a softball diamond…child star Carol Lee Monette, a six-year-old granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Davison of St. Louis, appeared in a New York City program of Amateur Photoplayers of America. Carol Lee had previously screen-tested for the role of “Bonnie” in “Gone With the Wind”… The Ithaca post office was preparing to move to a new location at the old Ithaca National Bank building. Work needed to be done to enlarge the storage room and expand the parking area in the rear, but Postmaster James O. Peet believed the move would be completed by June 1. The Ithaca Post Office had been in operation for over 40 years in the Barstow Estate building…
The Strand Theatre installed a new, improved screen that eliminated all reflection from the current projectors. Only the best for those who wanted to see a movie at the Strand… St. Louis sought to ask voters to approve the purchase of the Gratiot County Bank Building for the city hall. The city believed it could have saved over $4,000 in the last three years had the city-owned and operated the building…also, when voting in St. Louis on the bank building issue, don’t forget to vote straight Republican because they spend money wisely, work for the quick elimination of bonded indebtedness, and wanted modern programs. Carl S. Harrington topped the list as the candidate for mayor…and Al Lentz became the manager of the new Self-Serve Market in St. Louis. The A&P store opened in the Robinson building, featuring a remodeled double-front design and ample aisle space for pushcarts.
That was life in Gratiot County during the Depression and War in March 1940.
The Lottery comes to Gratiot County. From the top: the Michigan Super Lottery Show comes to the Alma National Guard Armory for the first time in 1973. It took some work to set it up; the “Lotto line” snakes through Wilhelm’s Grocery Store on Michigan Avenue in January 1985. Many in the area believed this was the place to purchase a “lucky ticket”; George W. Killinger, Jr. figured out he was guaranteed at least a second-place win in the Lotto Super Drawing in February 1974. He ended up winning $50,000. It was also held at the Alma National Guard Armory; Max Berry of Elm Hall showed off the first Super Drawing winner in early January 1973. Berry was the first to win $10,000 in Gratiot County.
“Get your lottery ticket! Buy your way to instant wealth! Support the state’s new ticket!”
With eager interest, many Gratiot County residents stampeded to buy the new lottery ticket. Michigan’s first legal lottery was introduced in November 1972, making Michigan one of seven states that instituted a lottery. People quickly took the chance to obtain instant wealth by purchasing a fifty-cent ticket. Lottery fever was on, and it hit Gratiot County hard.
At least 34 places in Gratiot County were initially authorized to sell tickets. Ithaca led the way with 11 locations. Places in Ithaca, like Mack’s Pharmacy, Dionise Market, Clagg’s Super Service Station, and the A&P Store, sold tickets. When measuring buyers’ zeal, one small store in St. Louis sold 372 tickets during that first day. At least one St. Louis store sold out its tickets and turned away potential buyers. An Ithaca gas station owner thought lottery ticket sales were great because almost every gas customer that day took their small change and bought a ticket. In another case, one Ithaca business saw a man walk in and buy fifty dollars worth of lottery tickets. Licensed sellers of lottery tickets in the county also liked it because they earned 2 ½ cents for every ticket sold.
While it would be ten days before lottery ticket buyers knew if they won the big prize of $200,000, many purchasers who matched three of the six numbers published in the newspapers won $25. They had to claim their money by visiting a claim center like Larry’s Hardware in Ithaca, which averaged about 30 claims a week. The State then mailed winnings to the claimants. Those who matched weekly numbers were eligible for the Super Drawing. Yes, Lottery fever was on, and it hit Gratiot County hard.
It was not long before Gratiot County had its first lottery winners. Max Merry, an equipment operator from Elm Hall, won the first $10,000 prize. He was then entered into the Super Drawing at Flint’s Genesee Mall for the $200,000 grand prize. Although he did not win, Merry returned to Elm Hall very happy with his initial winning. Looking back then, a $10,000 winner was the equivalent of over $70,000 today, a big win for a fifty-cent lottery ticket. Other winners appeared in the news, such as Alverta Haag, a teacher from Breckenridge, and Clifton McAllister and Max Haase of Alma became $10,000 winners. After McAllister won with his ticket, word soon spread about the place to buy a winner – Wilhelm’s Grocery Store in Alma. As the 1970s went on, long lines of ticket buyers stretched from the counter to the door.
The State Lottery became connected to Gratiot County when the State announced that the Lottery Roadshow was coming to Alma. Aligned with Michigan Week and the upcoming Highland Festival, Alma was a desirable place to hold the Roadshow, which presented a big prize to those who qualified. Lottery officials held the Super Drawing at the Alma National Guard Armory next to the fairgrounds to hold the anticipated crowd. To promote Michigan Week, the Lottery Bureau, this time, gave away four automobiles (worth $5000) from each of the State’s big automakers. The Bureau also planned to give away special $500 consolation prizes. The big winner wanted the $200,000 ultimate prize.
Setting up the big “Money Machine,” which distributed 1,000 magic balls that gave the winning numbers, was a bit of a challenge. It measured 32 feet long and 10 feet wide and took six men to set up. Two young ladies, lottery secretaries, wore bright green outfits and helped John Quinn announce the winners once the program started. In the end, the appearance of the Road Show at Alma proved to be a flop. While it hoped to draw early attendees to the Highland Festival, locals just did not come. Why? None of the possible winners for the entire drawing were from Gratiot County. Della Fogarsi of Unionville won the $200,000 check.
However, Gratiot County eventually had connections to sizeable winners of the lottery. James Fisher, who grew up near Ithaca and lived in St. Johns, won a million from a ticket he purchased at Beck’s Farm Market. Fisher received $50,000 a year for 19 years—but quickly commented that it would cost him $19,000 a year in taxes. Fisher, approaching retirement, and his family were happy to win the lottery. The first colossal lottery winner was George W. Killinger, Jr., of Alma, a custodian at Pine Avenue School. Killiinger won his large prize when the Lottery Roadshow again returned to the Alma Armory on February 7, 1974. Killinger won the runner-up prize of $50,000, which left him speechless as Killinger was the first current Gratiot County resident to bring home such a large prize. It took a while for St. Louis to get a big winner, but Herb Nelson, a Michigan Chemical Corporation truck driver, purchased his $25 winning ticket at Ken’s Party Store. While he was not a lottery finalist, he still pocketed $1,000.
As time went on, others won sizeable Lottery winnings, such as William R. Hollabaugh of Sumner, the Instant Paupers Lottery Club of Lobdell-Emery, Fred Hunter, Jim Shimunek, and the Eager Bevers Lottery Club of Alma, and Walt Nichols of St. Louis. But who was a huge Gratiot Lottery winner? The biggest winner in the 1980s to hit it big took place when the Detroit Tigers won the 1984 World Series. Steve Glesner, a Midland resident who worked as a cameraman at Central Michigan Newspapers in Alma, was shocked when he won over $5 million from a lottery ticket he bought in Midland. Glesner also won more because he had a subscription ticket. The two tickets brought him over $5.1 million, which was $208,000 a year after taxes for the next 19 years.
Glesner confessed that he was the big winner just as he watched the Tigers become World Champs on television. Glesner’s total winnings from those tickets may have matched the total salary Tigers’ highest-paid star, Darrell Evans, earned during his entire playing career. During an initial interview, Glesner said he planned to buy Tigers season tickets with some of his money.
From the top, Early Snowmobiles in Gratiot County: Den Cooper of Ithaca advertised one of the first snowmobiles for sale in Gratiot County at Cooper Chevrolet’s New Showroom in December 1966; one of the first advertisements for snowmobiles for sale in Gratiot at Bob’s Outboard Service near Alma dated October 1967; one of the first county snowmobile rallies took place in early February 1968 at the Gratiot Center Historical Village. N.E. Trexler (left) and Arthur E. Williams showed two trophies to be given away; four determined Breckenridge men rode the 285-mile route of the Old Saginaw- Sault mail trail in less than 36 hours. That was after they drove from home to the Mackinaw Bridge; from left: Dick Alward, Dean Giles, Loren Humm, and Ted Humm.
They zoomed down roads across farmlands, bucking drifts, leaving gusts of snow and tracks on roads and trails. The sound of snowmobile engines used to be associated with long, even brutal Michigan winters. How and when did snow machines first arrive in Gratiot County?
Den Cooper of Ithaca displayed one of the county’s first snowmobiles at Cooper’s New Showroom in Ithaca in early December 1966, costing $699. In late October 1967, Bob’s Outboard Service at 239 West Lincoln Road in Alma sold a Fox Trac snowmobile three years after Fox Body Corporation in Wisconsin introduced the model. The company tested the Fox Trac to run for 72 hours in 54 degrees below zero weather in Alaska and even colder weather in Antarctica. The model came in “15 wides” with 10- and 20-horsepower engines. A year later, W.R. Miller Harley Davidson Sales west of St. Louis advertised the Ski-Doo, a faster, sleeker-looking machine. There must have been other early owners of snow machines and different models for sale in the mid-1960s, but the Fox Trac and Ski-doo appeared first in county newspapers.
By February 1968, an exploding snowmobile industry in Michigan boasted over 70,000 snowmobile owners. It provided a new facet of Michigan’s economy, “winter vacation.” As more people traveled north, there sometimes were more snowmobiles on lakes than those who owned boats. Snowmobiles in the late 1960s averaged between $650 to $1,300, depending on the model. In just a short time, snowmobiles’ popularity boomed. Gratiot County residents learned the names they saw and heard in the 1960s and 1970s, such as Evinrude, Arctic Cat, Suzuki, Polaris, and Rupp, to name only a few.
Invention and technology bring challenges, and it was not long before people in Gratiot County started to read about the tragedies and problems that came with snowmobiling. The first person killed in a snowmobile accident was Roger Alan Miller of Alma, who was only ten years old when his machine went through thin ice on Houghton Lake in late December 1967. Miller’s father also went through the ice but survived the ordeal. About one month later, a young Ithaca woman, Carolyn Shaull, lost her life due to a spinal injury she suffered in an accident. Other problems soon arose as farmers complained of broken fences, landowners complained of machines damaging seedling pines, and drivers called the police about those who drove machines on public highways. These problems emerged as snowmobilers sought places to run their machines in new areas to create or follow trails.
Gratiot County created opportunities in response to the many new snowmobiles in the area. One of these was the first annual snowmobile rally at the Gratiot Center Historical Village outside of Ithaca on February 4, 1968. The event offered 105 acres and an oval track for those who participated. N.A. Trexler and Arthur Williams co-chaired the rally, which consisted of seven events with four categories for contestants. All participants had to wear helmets. Two weeks later, the West Gratiot Jaycee’s Snowmobile Race occurred on Lumberjack Road north of Riverdale. Jaycee members Rex Sadler, Tom Dittenber, and Doug Bostrom presented trophies for those who competed in events. Although minimal snowmobile area existed near Alma, the Alma Outdoor Center opened southwest of the city, but only on weekends.
Snowmobile clubs also soon appeared in Gratiot County. Valdo Shankel organized the Central Michigan Snowmobile Club in Breckenridge, which boasted 25 members who went out on three-hour “safaris,” which included stopping for a wiener roast. The club met on Thursday nights at Anschutz’s Café. It taught new snowmobile owners and drivers how to operate their machines safely. A quartet of Breckenridge men made the news when they traveled from Breckenridge to the Soo in 36 hours in early February 1970. Four farmers, Dean Giles, Richard Alward, Ted Humm, and Loren Humm, left Breckenridge on a Wednesday morning, driving close to I-75 or M-27 to Gaylord, tried to follow a pipeline for a while, then returned to driving near the highway. The four men averaged 60 miles for every 4 1/2 gallons of gas in their tanks. Despite fighting rain and heavy snow in some areas, they eventually reached the Mackinac Bridge. After some local Mackinac snowmobile riders helped haul the Breckenridge men’s machines over the Bridge, they continued from St. Ignace using Old US-2, following an old mail route used a century earlier. One year later, Giles, Alward, Loren Humm, and Rodney Marr drove their Arctic Cats on a 1,200-mile trip to Thief River, Minnesota, via Sault St. Marie. Upon reaching Marquette, they had to buck seven and eight-foot drifts.
Breckenridge also appeared in the news in the late summer of 1970 when R&R Sales of Breckenridge sponsored the first Summer Drag Races for snowmobiles. The races took place on Mason Road and south of M-46, and a large turnout appeared to watch people run snowmobiles during a Gratiot summertime. Getting a snowmobile in Gratiot County in the 1970s was quite the thing. In July 1971, the St. Louis Summer Festival gave away a new Sno-Jet as the highlight of its festival activities. As the 1970s continued, Gratiot County increasingly became a “snowmobile county.”
From the top: The Joe Porubsky auction took place eleven miles southeast of Ithaca and drew a record crowd, lining both sides of the road and filling up a twenty-acre field; baseball was on the minds of Gratiot readers, with messages about a war going on in Europe; Electrified Farm Week, along with new tractor models, came to the county in mid-February 1940.
The long winter of 1940 continued. Get out the ice skates. Read about the war in northern Europe. Farmer, think about the upcoming 1940 season.
It was February 1940 in Gratiot County.
The World at War – “The Winter War” Continues
Most war news in Gratiot County dealt with the Winter War and Russia’s invasion of Finland. Photographs of dead, frozen Russian soldiers appeared in the newspapers, the results of the clashes between the Finns and Russians near the area of Petsamo, Finland. A hint of Nazi Germany’s intention to start an offensive in the West began as the French slowly retreated from a quiet German advance. The world knew that spring fighting was not that far off.
The St. Louis Service Club met at the Park Hotel and watched talking pictures of the United States Navy and March of Time films. People continued to monitor world events. In all this talk and awareness of a potentially expanding world war, one group expected to benefit from the war centered around news for farmers. Economists foresaw a billion-dollar boom for farmers as competition for food supplies, changes in shipping routes, and sea conflicts meant Britain would have to deal with more goods from the United States. Although the United States was not in its position in 1914 when the world had an endless need for food and goods, many believed a growing need for goods would happen again starting in 1940 with the war’s expansion.
Gratiot County Life Late in the New Deal Great Depression
During the winter months, if one wanted to see New Deal social programs in the county, one looked at ice skating. The WPA (Works Progress Administration) continued to maintain and invite the public to use skating rinks. Over in St. Louis, Lester Fillhard supervised the Community Council skating rink east of Wheeler Field, which sponsored a St. Louis Community Ice Meet. The meet had six types of skating events, from boys and girls under twelve to men and women of any age. The community council stated that there was a “crying need” for someone to donate a public address system and phonograph to play music. Some St. Louis residents used the rink for birthdays, such as when one student invited forty fellow eighth graders to skate and have lunch together. Hockey teams from both St. Louis and Alma battled each other in city competitions. St. Louis held its first Skate Carnival, and Robert Wilson served as contest judge. Sled events opened to both boys and girls. However, soft ice postponed the events for a week. Soon afterward, the ice improved, and the St. Lois recreational hockey team met and defeated the Alma East End bunch by 10-5.
Alma had a skating rink on South State Street, and city commissioners agreed to provide music for its skaters. Above the dam, many ventured out to enjoy the new ice that was created in only a few nights of cold weather. The city lowered the water to construct an overflow drain and raised it to its natural level. Two WPA recreation leaders, Frances Lott, and Chester Johnson, oversaw the Alma rinks. They promoted a city-wide meet and planned to lay out an oval shape on the rink for the races. One of the problems with operating the rinks centered around people who got on the ice when it was not in skating condition. Some of the older boys tended to get on the ice before it was ready, which resulted in numerous ruts and holes and made skating impossible.
There were other New Deal programs at work in the county. The Alma Salvation Army allowed the NYA (New Youth Administration) a place for thirty boys and young men to work on woodworking projects. The NYA also offered a sewing project for girls and young women ages 18 to 25 and provided sewing machines to recondition used clothing. One special need concerned the making of layettes for newborn children. In February, the government programs employed fifty NYA workers on different projects in Gratiot County. The WPA offered the city of St. Louis financial help to construct pavements and sidewalks. However, the project was estimated at over $108,000, with over $76,000 provided by the WPA. Still, this meant St. Louis would have to issue bonds to borrow money, and the common (city) council hesitated as the public would have to vote on the matter. Another issue involved buying the Gratiot County Bank building and turning it into a city hall.
Even in February, WPA workers continued on labor projects, such as retaining walls and the river bank near Walnut Street and North Court Avenue. The city also wanted the dangerous curve at that location worked on in the upcoming year, and many Alma property owners petitioned for extensions to sidewalk work that started in 1939. The city also hoped to widen Downie Street and Pine Avenue entirely through WPA labor and funds.
Several leaders like A.D. Smedberg of Alma met at Alma High School for a radio broadcast over WBCM of Bay City to continue promoting the benefits of New Deal programs such as the WPA. The men explained how WPA programs helped the city and why Alma remained a good place to live and have a business.
For a community celebration, the St. Louis Park Hotel hosted the annual President’s Birthday Ball. The ball benefited those affected by infantile paralysis and the Gratiot County chapter of the March of Dimes. Half of the money raised from the ball went directly to those in Gratiot County who had infantile paralysis. Those who attended the ball were awed by the beautiful red, white, and blue decorations provided by the Consumers Power Company of Alma and the music and dancing led by the Don Hoffman Orchestra of Lansing. In the center of the ballroom hung a large picture of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The issue of public health was very real in 1940, as the Michigan Tuberculosis Association continued to offer T.B. clinics in response to eight people who died from the disease in Gratiot County in 1937. Tuberculin tests and at least one X-ray clinic occurred in the county in March 1940.
Some news in the county relating to the effects of the Depression was not so happy. Ralph Olmstead of Elwell led a case against the First State Bank of Alma, arguing that the Alma bank was the parent bank responsible for the loss of assets in his former bank in Elwell. Olmstead and other former depositors sought compensation for the closing of the Elwell Bank in 1933. Judge Kelly Searl granted an injunction to consider whether all suits could be combined.
The county also had a “scavenger sale” on delinquent properties. County treasurer William Federspiel offered over 500 property descriptions with a total value of $153,077 to the public in anticipation of the sale. However, the county only succeeded in selling 203 descriptions for a total of just under $25,000. While Alma and St. Louis led the sales, Hamilton Township sold nearly $4,000 of land to fervent bidders and speculators. Seldom did any original owners bid on any of their property.
Finally, opponents across the county for those concerned about President Roosevelt’s Social Security plan continued attending Townsend Club meetings. Alma, Ithaca, St. Louis, and Wheeler clubs participated in these potluck meetings to discuss their support for the Townsend Plan.
On the Farm, In the Gratiot Countryside
Although it was winter, Gratiot County farmers, dealers, and businesses planned for the upcoming farm season. The Michigan Sugar Company of Alma and Lake Shore Sugar Company of St. Louis issued contracts for the 1940 season. However, the companies issued contracts with a slight change. Farmers would be paid for their first beet payment by December 1, 1940, but would not receive the balance until October 1941. This proposed second payment would be one month later than the year before. The St. Louis Co-Operative Creamery announced plans to build a bigger creamery during its 25th annual meeting at the St. Louis High School auditorium on February 2. A significant reason for creating a new creamery came from the June 1, 1939 fire, which caused $9000 in damage. The dairy also promoted Milkmaker, a mix with alfalfa or clover hay, and sold a superior dairy ration.
Alma Production Credit Association held its annual meeting and elected officers. Howard McMacken of Shepherd was re-elected president, and Harry Glenzen of Alma as secretary and treasurer. Over 700 members in Gratiot County belonged to APCA, had been operating since February 1934, and issued more than 1.3 million dollars in loans. Amazingly, the association had lost only $137 since that time.
Did you need a new tractor? Johnson’s Farm Equipment in Ithaca offered the 1940 Model 60 Family Harvest for $545. Bill Harper’s Hardware, northwest of Ithaca, sold the John Deere Model “DA” disk, billed as operating “Faster, Easier, Better.” About 150 farmers visited Rademacher Motor Sales in Alma on February 21 to see a demonstration of the New Ford tractor, which had a Furgeson system. Albin Rademacher showed a film entitled “Building for Future Farmers,” with entertainment provided by the Mercury Rangers. A highlight of the day was the presence of William Ford, brother of Henry Ford, a general distributor for Ford tractors. Eleven miles southeast of Ithaca, a record crowd attended the Joe Porubusky auction. Cars lined the roads for over a half mile up and down the road, filling a twenty-acre field for the auction.
Other events surrounding county farmers proved sobering. Leon Cratsenberg of Hamilton Township lost his home to a fire early in February. The Cratsenbergs, who had attended the county teacher’s institute in St. Louis, were on their way home through Ithaca and heard of the fire from a passing motorist. When they arrived home, the family found that only part of the contents could be saved due to the fire’s severity. Cattle thieves stole eleven cattle from the Eugene Ensign farm east of Ashley. Police arrested two brothers who rustled in Saginaw and Genesee counties and returned five of them after being discovered on a Huron County farm. Law officers arrested the Desanders brothers on robbery and possible murder charges. Because the brothers sold some of the Ensign cattle and other stolen livestock to farmers, getting the cattle back to the rightful owners proved challenging as other farmers had innocently purchased stolen stock. George Stoneman, Jr., of Ithaca, had a team of valuable draft horses hit by a Cheboygan man’s car. The horses, which won several horse-pulling awards, suffered severe cuts. Still, a veterinarian called to the scene believed the team would survive the wounds. Stoneman pulled onto US-27 when the Cheboygan car hit the team, destroying the vehicle’s front end.
Gratiot County received $3,526.17 for claims made from dogs that killed livestock in 1939 and ranked ninth in the state for losses. Authorities stressed that mongrels and strays running in packs, as opposed to bird and hunting dogs, were most responsible for losing sheep and other livestock in the county. The state urged the continued enforcement of quarantine and local dog laws as measures to reduce losses. Another dog story appeared in the news when Fred Cornell of St. Louis helped boys playing near the Pine River after the boys ran to the Michigan Chemical Corporation yelling for help. It turned out that the boys could not help an Irish Setter who had fallen through the ice and gone under several times. After more calls for help, Leverne Hill and Burdett Yats also arrived at the scene. Hall strapped a rope around his waist and gently crawled out on the ice to the struggling dog. Cornell and Yats then carefully pulled Hall and the exhausted dog back to safety. After returning to the river bank, the men and boys witnessed that the dog could no longer stand due to exhaustion. They then returned with the canine to the Michigan Chemical plant to dry off and warm up. In a short time, the once-drowning Irish Setter recovered and was up and around. A St. Louis dog owner undoubtedly owed thanks to this group of boys and a trio of men who saved this pet.
Central Michigan Turkey growers met at the Court House in Ithaca to listen to speakers from Michigan State College explain new methods and answer questions about turkey management. Parks Allen, a Gratiot County naturalist, sought to save the life of an injured doe found east of Elwell. The deer appeared to have a broken leg, and a Pere Marquette Train brakeman reported that he thought a train hit it. Allen soon arrived and deduced that the doe had a dislocated shoulder but no broken bones. Allen took the deer home and provided a quiet location in a box stall, and the deer slowly improved. Allen also believed the injury occurred when the deer tried to jump a high fence near the railroad tracks in Elwell.
What else could farmers do in the winter? Ice fishing on Houghton Lake called many people north, where fishermen had daily limits of 15 perch or 25 combined pan fish. Fishing licenses cost one dollar and included one’s spouse! Although the trapping season ended, Gratiot trappers had until the end of February to report how many animals they trapped during the 1939-1940 trapping season. Barely half of those licensed to trap had reported their winter kills.
Finally, strange things happened in southern Wheeler and northern Lafayette Townships in early February. The commotion became so intense involving “Finnish soldiers” that the county sheriff and his deputies were called for help. Township residents hid in their cellars, locked their doors, and turned off the lights. One caller telephoned the sheriff, urging, “Come to the Powell farm two miles south of Wheeler in a hurry!” Area farmers were so excited that several turned out with shotguns because “peculiar objects” had been seen a mile down the road. Deputy Nestle led a posse into the area and saw four strange things that appeared against the white snow. Nestle called out, “What are you doing?” The response came back, “Just hunting crows.” It turned out that Carl Lanshaw and Dr. C.O. Shaffer of Wheeler, along with Glenn and Grant Marr of Lafayette, all wore white aprons to blend in with the snow, covering all except their head and shoulders. The four men went out on a crow hunt wearing white camouflage but riled up the entire neighborhood. After determining that the complaints and phone call did not involve “Finnish soldiers,” Nestle reminded the men as he departed, “You better go to Finland if you want to use those methods (to kill crows). Carl Lanshaw later told the local newspaper that his group killed over 150 crows, thought it was a good sport, and even took their wives along while hunting the black pests.
The Long Arm of the Law in February 1940
If someone wants to learn about some of Gratiot County’s problems, they must look no further than the local courts and the county jail. That month, Fifty-eight people were convicted of crimes and contributed $387.78 to the county coffers. At the end of February, the county jail had 19 prisoners. Forty of the convictions dealt with traffic violations, and the rest of the crimes covered a variety of offenses. William Partello, age 27, and Grace Schaffer, 23, both of Lafayette, were hauled into court on the crime of lascivious cohabitation (living together without a marriage license). This crime had a long history in Gratiot County, and the consequences varied. In Partello’s case, he was sentenced to sixty days in jail, while Schaffer was sentenced to a strict one-year probation. In another case, Armond Bongard, 36, and Goldie Lewis, 17, ended up in jail on the same charge of “L and L” crimes. They waved examination and said they would appear before Judge Searl for sentencing. The bigger question remained: how did the sheriff and judge discover the “L and L” crimes? Someone reported the couples, but the question remained: who?
Two other crimes involved embezzlement, one for vagrancy, and two for illegally trapping muskrats (one offender received ten days in county jail; the other got a $10 fine and $8.85 in costs). Other court cases involved selling chattel mortgage property and issuing checks without funds. Howard Phillips of Crystal pleaded guilty to embezzling $19 worth of property from Peterson Hardware Company, paid $33.85 in fines and costs, and pledged to repay the stolen money. The sheriff’s deputy went all the way to Flint to arrest Philips. Harry Conklin of St. Louis said he was not guilty of misappropriating the sum of $41.35 and twenty bushels of oats. His trial was yet to come. Roscoe Daymon, who lived west of Ithaca, was brought before the court for deserting his wife and three children. Daymon furnished a $500 bond and was released until his hearing.
Ralph Fisher of Elwell experienced the law’s long arm when Conservation Officer C.B. Smith pinched Fisher for spearing fish in protected waters. Fisher paid $8.85 in costs rather than spend ten days in jail. Over in Breckenridge, the conduct of a Porter Oil Field worker made the news when Lester McAlister caused an automobile accident in town due to drunk driving. McAlister was arraigned for drunk and disorderly conduct but spent sixty days in jail as he could not pay his fine and costs of $31.11.Oil wells continued to be installed in parts of one of the Porter oil fields, even though newspapers reported that drillers did not expect to find more oil. The Pure Oil Company, however, did put in its 28th well in Porter Township at the Mina Narmore lease.
Another pair of crimes in Alma upset residents. On a dare from his peer, one young man damaged newly constructed items at Gratiot County Conservation Park. In another case, thieves broke into the new log cabin at the park. They then stole $125 worth of aluminum cooking ware that the Lobdell-Emery manufacturing plant had just donated. The thieves used a wrecking bar to pry off the locks and entered the cabin to do their dirty work. The next night, another group of thieves broke into the Lobdell plant and stole 1,000 pounds of scrap valued at $125.
The Jesse Perez murder case reappeared in the courts after three years. Perez shot and killed a fellow Mexican beet laborer on a farm in Seville Township on July 7, 1936. Perez argued that Judge Searl failed to accurately hear and pass on the confession that Perez made about the murder and, therefore, Perez somehow witnessed against himself. Perez’s attorney also argued that his client did not understand the charges brought against him and that witnesses to the murder no longer resided in the United States. Perez’s appeal was denied, and he continued serving his 15-30-year sentence in Marquette.
Finally, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union requested printing an article in the Gratiot County Herald about a “Warning About Marihuana.” In 1938, there had been over 1,000 violations of the Marihuana Tax Act. Because over 8,770 pounds of bulk marihuana had been seized that year, parents and educators needed to be more aware of the possibility of the drug entering local schools. According to the WCTU, education continued to be the best defense against the drug.
Life in the Underside of Gratiot County: Race
What did being Mexican or Black in Gratiot County in 1940?
As more Mexican beet workers came to the county to work in the fields each summer and fall, the Gratiot County Council of Churches and Sunday Schools sponsored a religious project for children and adults. The program ran from June 15 to September 1 in Alma and St. Louis with two Spanish-speaking teachers and a Mexican minister. Helen White served as superintendent of migrant work for the Council of Church Women of the Board of Home Missions.
A historically uncomfortable but then acceptable event in Gratiot County dealt with the performance of a minstrel show by the Alma Rotary Club. On February 20, the Rotary Club used forty men in a two-hour show and charged forty cents for admission. The sold-out performance hosted 500-600 people. Before the program started, Father John Mulvey gave a short talk about why minstrel shows appeared in history and the beliefs and history of the Alma Rotary Club. Aside from Father Mulvey, only one performer did not appear in “Blackface” during the performance. The Alma Record wrote about the show’s conclusion, “The grand finale was all that the term implies, with nothing lacking to revive the glory of the old-time minstrelsy and the spirit of Auld lang Syne.” Minstrel shows as community or organizational fundraisers and entertainment could be found in Gratiot County well into the 1960s.
County Clerk Charles L. Hicks announced that an examiner from the Detroit Federal Naturalization Office planned to be in the county on February 21 to conduct a naturalization hearing. Approximately a dozen people who petitioned for their citizenship planned on attending. The examiner also said he would be present in the afternoon to help petitioners with questions and problems about becoming a United States citizen.
Finally, Reverend V.K. Beshgetoor, born in Armenia and well-known and respected in the Alma area for decades, officiated at his daughter’s wedding in Highland Park, Michigan. Throughout his life, Reverend Beshgetoor had been a proponent of remembering and telling the story of Armenia’s sufferings and hardships.
And So We Do Not Forget
Miss Maurine Stovall announced that she installed a new lighting system at her studio in Alma. The new system gave the subject a daylight effect without heat and glare. She also had new photo enlargers and remodeled her darkroom…A.D. Smedberg of the Triangle Coal and Oil Company at 904 E. Superior in Alma advertised a new, higher quality coal stoker with a lower price…a St. Louis product, Crystal Fo Iodized Salt, appeared at the M.S.C. dinner in Lansing. The event hosted 150 Michigan publishers and their wives. Each received a complimentary box of salt…Corky’s Standard Service at the stop light in St. Louis gave away free autographed photos of actress Dorothy Lamour from her new movie, “Typhoon.” Drivers could also purchase Winter Iso-Vis Motor Oil…Gratiot County prepared to honor the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Both former presidents appeared on the front page of the Alma and St. Louis Leader newspapers…Alma Public Schools notified parents of students who wished to enroll outside the Alma district. The cost for enrollment would be $11.20 per child…Alma JC Penney Store announced it had increased the size of its “Baby Shop.” The area next to the ladies’ ready-to-wear section featured the newest items for the baby or nursery…The Gratiot County Crippled Children’s Society met and decided to hold its annual Easter Seal campaign during the Week of March 11, 1940. Four area Rotary Clubs planned to promote the campaign. In 1939, the county raised $436.99 in penny Seals…Simi’s Restaurant and Billiard Hall planned to open in the Gaffney Building beginning March 1. Hubert Croton, Ray Helman, and Silvio Simi invited the public to come and see the new location.
The Danceland Ballroom, located above JC Penney Company in Alma, planned to host the annual Fireman’s Ball. Reed’s Sing Band provided the music….want the “Soundest Investment I Ever Made”? Buy a Pontiac at Pung Motor Sales at 315-317 East Superior Street in Alma or Whitney Auto Sales in Ithaca…the quickest knockout ever seen in amateur boxing took place at the Alma Athletic Club when featherweight Don Anderson of Ithaca knocked out Al Brown of Stanton – in all of seven seconds. Anderson took out Brown with a sharp right jab that took Brown out for the count…the Detroit Tigers announced that they planned to move Hank Greenberg from first base to the outfield. The move enabled Rudy York to play at first base…a high school Mardi Gras took place at Alma High School. Eighteen students appeared in a photo in the Alma Record and Alma Journal…the Jean Bessac Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held a colonial tea and exhibit at the Gleaner Home in Alma. The Jean Torrence Chapter of the Ithaca D.A.R. provided historical exhibits, and members of the Alma chapter appeared in colonial dress. This meeting was the first significant function of the Alma D.A.R. since its formation a few months earlier. A crowd estimated at 125-150 people attended…a group of an executive committee met in Alma to continue exploring establishing a community center in Alma. A.D. Smedberg chaired the committee. A group of twenty-five delegates from various Alma organizations encouraged the creation of the executive committee …the I.O.O.F. Hall in Elwell hosted a dance every Saturday night. Both round and square dances took place, and it only cost thirty-five cents per couple…Edward G. Robinson starred in “Blackmail” at the Ideal Theatre in Ithaca. Admission was fifteen cents…the Ithaca Post Office received approval to move to the old Ithaca National Bank Building. The area would be enlarged to 1800 feet of floor space. The old post office had been in operation for over forty years and was owned by the Barstow estate.
Drivers in Ithaca could now turn on red at Center and Pine Streets. A flashing red arrow now came on with a red stop light for traffic coming from the east…famous artist J. Franklin Caveny entertained a large crowd at St. Louis High School using works done in crayon and clay. As he talked to crowds, Caveny quickly transformed drawings like the Atlantic Ocean, then used a few strokes to make it into the Hudson River. What appeared to be a lump of clay promptly became a bust of William Shakespeare or Abraham Lincoln. The crowd responded with prolonged applause for several of his works…over at St. Louis, excavators working on Maple Street at the Ray Boivin home found flakes of gold at a depth of seen teen feet. Samples of the gold quickly went to laboratories for testing….Laurel and Hardy starred in “Flying Deuces” for two nights at the Alma Theatre…Mrs. R.B. Smith of Alma returned home with her daughter, Miriam, from visiting her son, Lieutenant Reynolds C. Smith, in New Haven, Connecticut. No one knew it in 1940. Still, Reynolds C. Smith would be the first Gratiot County serviceman to die in World War II…Professor Roy Hamilton of Alma College addressed the Alma Rotary Club. He issued a “terse and forceful plea” to the audience about the lack of moral and spiritual poise during this time of world and individual affairs….American League umpire George Moriarty spoke to a very excited crowd of listeners at Ithaca High School. Moriarty told stories about professional baseball and how, by living by “clean rules,” America could fight “the anti-Christ influence” coming from Europe’s dictators. Moriarity signed a baseball for Marie Plank, and the photo appeared in the Gratiot County Herald…Leslie Reeves of Ithaca stated that he would display the new Case Flambeau Red Tractor during Electrified Farm Week…” Elmer and His Singing Farmers” traveled to South Bend, Indiana, for a one-night performance at the Mid-West Creamery Banquet. The group included Kenneth McComber, Linden Wright, Wendel Wright, and George “Elmer” Schleder.
And that was February 1940 in “Gratiot County During Depression and War.”
Above: This ceramic mug found its way back to Gratiot County with the help of my grandparents, who stopped in Plains, Georgia, on their way home in the late 1970s.
Today, on January 9, 2025, the United States paid final respects by laying to rest the 39th President of the United States, James Earl (“Jimmy”) Carter.
Carter occupied the White House from 1977-1981 in what was a time when Gratiot County, like the rest of the United States, sought to recover from a national scandal that shook our confidence in American politicians. Michigan’s closest tie to the presidency was President Gerald R. Ford, Carter’s predecessor, and the only non-elected vice president and president in our nation’s history. Had Ford not pardoned President Richard M. Nixon for potential crimes during Watergate, Ford would easily have been re-elected as President. Before this happened, Ford, a United States Representative from Grand Rapids, Michigan, had visited Gratiot County more than once as a congressman.
However, Gratiot County never carried Carter in the Election of 1976. In its entire history, Gratiot County went Democratic only four times and had not done so since 1964. Only in a time of severe economic or national crisis had Gratiot County helped elect a Democratic President. It either took the Great Depression or the death of President Kennedy to get Gratiot County to go Democratic. My paternal grandmother complained the day after the 1976 election, saying, “THAT Carter won.” He wasn’t Jimmy Carter, he was “THAT Carter” from Georgia.
The late 1970s continued to be a time of severe economic problems, which soon led to the worst economic recession the nation had seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s. We heard the words “energy crisis,” Carter urged the public to conserve energy by curtailing gasoline usage and turning down thermostats to 68 degrees. Inflation skyrocketed as the decade went on. In Gratiot County, by the late 1970s, property owners often opposed votes on school millages, which my father continually bemoaned as a small farmer. All of these things surrounded the arrival of President Jimmy Carter after he became President.
I was never a supporter of President Carter during his time in office. I remember clearly the day after the 1976 election when my math teacher said in class that he voted for Carter because “He (Carter) represented the little guy.” Another social studies teacher, on the day of the election, did the electoral college math on the blackboard in geography class. Mr. Milne told me Ford would win the election if two or three states went for Ford (I remember that one was Hawaii). It turned out that my teacher was wrong, and Carter won. For a time, it seemed that the country wanted to get away from the word “Watergate” by electing Jimmy Carter. Like many other people on that 1977 Inauguration Day, I was surprised by how President-Elect Carter got out of his limousine and walked part of the parade route along with family members. The Secret Service must have had fits with that decision, but that was Jimmy Carter.
According to my research, President Carter’s closest connection to Gratiot County occurred after he left office and went hunting in northern Michigan. According to a story, Carter and his Secret Service agents stopped to eat at a McDonalds (possibly in Clare). While those at the register who took the group’s order did not recognize the Secret Service, Carter later walked up to the corner by himself to ask for a refill of his beverage. The girl at the counter gazed at Carter and said he looked familiar. Jimmy Carter just smiled.
Still, by my first year of college in 1979, President Carter seemed out of favor with most people I listened to or talked to in mid-Michigan. Something we knew as “The Iran Hostage Crisis” was developing in 1978-1979 as the Shah of Iran was forced out of power and fled to the United States. A group of 52 American hostages would be held for 444 days in Iran, and Carter could do little to end the crisis. One of those held in Tehran, Robert Ode, had a sister in St. Louis, which brought the issues of the hostage crisis home. After a rescue mission to get the hostages failed, to some, it looked more and more like war was imminent. I had recently filled out my Selective Service card and sent it to the government. Remember, this was all only five to six years after the end of the Vietnam War, and many young people my age feared another draft. As a result of all of this, Carter was even more unpopular.
For those of us old enough in Gratiot County, we remember how the Carter story ended. In 1980, Ronald Reagan defeated Carter resoundingly, and Carter became a one-term president. As for me, I helped send Jimmy Carter on his way as I voted for Reagan and joined a movement that believed the country needed change.
Jump this story ahead over twenty years. Jimmy Carter has long been out of office, but his personal story intrigues me. This was not so much for his faith and character, for which I came to admire him. It was now how Carter became one of the most successful Presidents AFTER he left office. These works included his commitments to Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center, working with countries on free and fair elections, and seeking to eliminate Guinea Worm in impoverished areas of Africa. President Carter also had earned a new title, which I heard several times and read about in an issue of Parade Magazine in the late 1990s as “America’s Most Accessible President.”
I found the title correct, as I would go on to meet President Carter three times. The first was when he did a surprise walk-through at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum and then reappeared at a dinner held there for teachers. Once, while traveling through Plains, Georgia, I saw the President talking to an area farmer as they examined watermelons that the farmer had in the back of his truck. Only one agent was standing next to the President. Anyone could have approached Carter had he wanted to converse.
Having re-thought Jimmy Carter as the man, the person, the character – and not so much the President – my opinion of him changed. Part of this was a more mature understanding of the significant national and international problems Carter faced when he entered office in the late 1970s. As a result, I decided to write a letter to the President after learning that he often read his mail. In a letter that I wrote to the President in late 2002, I told him that while I did not vote for him in 1980, I had tremendous admiration for him and the problems he faced as President, and how he was seeking to stay active in local, state, national, and even international issues. I also confessed that I had not voted for him in 1980, but my views of him as a person had changed drastically.
It must have been early December 2002 when the secretary called me to the Fulton High School office where I taught. When I arrived, I was told that I had received an important letter and would want to see it. The return address shocked me as it indicated that President Carter chose to reply to my letter. I received a copy of the initial letter, and at the top were the words, “ Jim, come down to Plains (Georgia) and see me.” Even more strangely, the letter I received was shortly after it was announced that Carter would receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
One of Carter’s works was teaching Sunday School at the Maranatha Baptist Church outside of Plains. Before the time of the President’s return letter, Sundays at the church drew people from across the nation and the world. I chose to find out what was happening and visited Plains with another family relative in the summer of 2003. It was hot, it was peanut country, and it was Georgia.
I think we had to arrive at the church about one hour before the church offered Sunday School, and I had to pass a couple of Secret Service agents who “wanded” me down to check for weapons. That morning, we had a pretty good seat only 4-5 rows from the President. Before he began, Carter asked the audience where people were from. While I said “Michigan,” I heard people say they were from across and outside the United States – some even from Europe and Africa. One of the humorous parts of his lesson was when he read a passage from the Old Testament lesson that mentioned a place in Jerusalem, then known as the Water Gate. It got a few laughs and snickers as Carter paused after he read the verse. I also recall looking over my shoulder toward the President, seated in the opposite aisle and behind me during the worship service. I was greeted with a very icy stare from a Secret Service Agent who stared back at me.
At the end of the Sunday church service, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter offered an opportunity that no other United States President has done. All of those present were allowed to have their picture taken with the Carters outside of the church, under the condition that your camera was ready, you stepped up and stood next to the Carters, and you did not engage the Carters in any discussion. Even though almost everyone thanked the Carters after the photo op, the couple remained stoic, looking almost straight ahead. The Carters probably spent 20+ minutes on the photos, as everyone had been told to be ready as the line moved along for their photo opportunity.
Before the end of the service, President Carter also invited all visitors to Mama’s Kitchen in Plains for lunch. At the restaurant, the Carters sat off from the dining area in a separate room with his Secret Service agents. As Carter promised in his remarks before we left the church, the “Mama’s” menu was excellent. Over the years, I traveled through Plains several times, my last stop being in 2017.
Today, one of the remaining things my paternal grandmother left was a ceramic mug she obtained when my grandparents stopped in Plains, Georgia, during a return trip from Florida in the late 1970s. The souvenir featured the beaming smiling face of then-President Carter.
Today, Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter’s lives after they left the White House still speak to us about pertinent issues that each of us who enter retirement must still answer. The questions are somber but true. What do I do with my remaining days on the earth? What is the meaning of life? How do I respond later in life to the needs of others, injustice, reform, and change in America and the world? How do I live a meaningful life? What is to be my legacy after I leave the earth?
While I never initially supported him as a young adult in the 1970s, I later found Jimmy Carter’s character (Carter the man) to be a good example of how to live and end life.
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