Census, Eyebrows, Yearbook

This photo was stored electronically at the Archives on the main computer. When I first clicked on it, not knowing what it was, the image filled the screen and freaked me right the heck out--stark, candid, strange.

But who was the woman on the left? Could she be found?

The photo file name is loomis,alta_friend.jpg. Was Alta Loomis the name of one of these women? A census search for the years 1880-1920 (I guessed by the clothing that this photo was from the early part of the 20th century)--and found 2 Alta Loomises, one in Muskegon and one in Ionia. Ionia's not that far...was Alta related to Ypsilantians? Otherwise why would the Archives have this photo?

Then I simplified the census search to "Loomis" in Ypsi and found several Loomises. No Alta. I took a look in the 1905 city directory. Wait--there was an Elta Loomis, "teacher." Grade school? High school? Perhaps the Normal School?

And the address, 706 Emmet, at which she was boarding was the same as "Loomis, Miles," a traveling salesman, and his wife Mary. Were Miles and Mary her parents?


I looked in a 1907 yearbook from the Normal School. Loomis...Loomis...aha, there was a L. Loomis next to...drat, a composite photo with many faces. The names weren't keyed to the various portraits. Two of the portraits had been annotated with "Alice Boardman" and "Clyde Foster" in a script I recognized as that of former city archivist Dorothy Disbrow, who retired in 1980.


Then I checked a 1913 yearbook. Aha--L. Elta Loomis, a physical education teacher. But the picture was so tiny (actual size below). I fixed on her eyebrows, the single most distinctive feature in the small picture. Heavy and kind of floating above her nose...


Back to the 1910 census to look for Miles and Mary. There they were in the 1910 census: Miles, Mary, and "Lulu E.," who was listed as a teacher at the Normal. There you are, Lulu.


Or was she? Which woman in the initial photo was Lulu Elta Loomis? The picture in the 1913 yearbook was only an inch wide. I took off my glasses and studied her features up close...but her picture was too tiny to be able to get a fix on her features. Magnifying glass.


I remembered I had another photo labeled "Loomis Group 2." Perhaps she might be pictured there--assuming that the five women in the photo were all Loomises.


Wait, what about this woman? What a beauty.


Was she the same one as in the 1913 yearbook?


It seemed so! Back to the composite photo.


Hmmm......?

The facial features seem to be the same...plus an indefinable look of mingled melancholy and mirth in her gaze across all of the photos. Is this the woman in the window?

Maybe.

A last bit of sleuthing reveals that Lulu was born in 1883. On September 4, 1913, at age 30, she married physician David Lewis Dunlap in Ypsilanti. By 1930, the couple lived in Wayne County's Highland Park. David was 52 and Lulu was 46. She had 4 children: 15-year-old Ward Comstock, 14-year-old David Bruce, 13-year-old Gregg Loomis, and 6-year-old Jean Dean. Lulu's widowed mother Mary lived with the family.

Lulu would outlive David, surviving until age 89. She died in 1972.

Many years earlier, she had been a beautiful young woman laughing with her friend. She never guessed that her expression of meditative suppressed humor would be, a century later, a thing of mystery and wonder.

A WELL_DRESSED YOUNG MAN named Geo. M. Smith was about the streets last Friday offering gold (?) spectacles for sale for 50 cents [$13 today], claiming he had found them. He was soon arrested on the charge of peddling without a license and in default of payment of $5.75 fine [$150], he was given 15 days at Ann Arbor. Marshal Ross discovered $6.50 on the fellow when he searched him. --Item from the April 18, 1895 Ypsilantian newspaper.

Spanish-American War Volunteers in Company G

Ypsilanti volunteers never saw action in the Spanish-American War, arriving in Cuba after hostilities had ceased. Only one member of Company G, the majority of whom consisted of Ypsilantians, was lost: corporal Guy Loyal Tuttle, who died on July 27, 1898 of illness in Camp Thomas at Chickamauga in Georgia, where sanitation was poor. Guy was the son of farmer and Civil War cavalry soldier Nelson Tuttle. Guy's middle name came from his grandfather, Constant Loyal Tuttle, the son of Revolutionary soldier Ebenezer Tuttle. Guy's body was returned to Ypsilanti and is buried in Union-Udell cemetery.

Wilbur J Tuttle was Guy's cousin, the son of John C Tuttle who was the son of Constant Loyal.Everett Wiard was the third son of George and Ann Wiard. George was the son of Lyman Wiard, who arrived in 1826 and bought 80 acres just east of town that formed the basis for a multigenerational apple orchard/cider/vinegar business.The commander of Company G was U-M law school graduate Fred Green. After the war, he remained active in the National Guard and served as city attorney. Around the turn of the century he went into business, becoming partner and then owner of the Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Company, which in 1903 moved to Ionia in order to use prison labor there. Fred later ran for and won first the mayorship of Ionia, an office he held for fourteen years, and then governorship of Michigan, serving from 1927 to 1931.The company portrait, in omitting Guy Tuttle, probably was taken after the men returned home (click for larger image).

Ypsilanti Knights of Pythias, 1923

Ypsi's Knights of Pythias was one of many fraternal groups in town. Others included the Masons, the Oddfellows, the Maccabees, the Phoenix Lodge, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Elks, the Catholic group the Knights of Columbus, and so on. Many Ypsilanti men were members of more than one group.

In Ypsi the Masons, the Oddfellows, and the Knights of Pythias among others had their own dedicated lodge meeting hall. You know where the Masonic one was; the K of P's was on the third floor of the old bank building at the southeast corner of Michigan Ave. and Huron (now City Hall). They met twice a month and shared the space with the Oddfellows.

The K of P was nationally founded in 1864. Wikipedia: "It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been inspired by a play by the Irish poet John Banim about the legend of Damon and Pythias. This legend illustrates the ideals of loyalty, honor and friendship that are central to the order."

Pythias, according to Greek legend, was a guy sentenced to death who asked to return home one last time. Dionysius [EDITED TO ADD: A king of Syracuse, not the god] granted his wish provided that he be chaperoned by Damon--and that if Pythias fled, Damon would be executed in his place. The day for Pythias to return came and went, and Dionysius was about to kill Damon when Pythias showed up at the last minute, saying that his ship had been delayed. Dionysius was so impressed by Pythias's loyalty that he pardoned both men and hired them.

Which may explain the vaguely Greek-ish dress of the group pictured here...but perhaps not the weird wildman pictured in back left. I'd like to know the story behind that. Click for full image.

The Milkman in Willow Run, 1947

These two notes suggest that Willow Run had at least one milkman servicing the complex. Note how polite the yellow note is! You can't quite see it on the note, but it has four creases indicating it was at some point folded in half and then half again, perhaps to insert in the top of a milk bottle?

Mr. Milkman-- Jan. 25, 1947

Please leave our quart of sweet milk--and one quart of chocolate milk.
We're leaving a few extra pennies behind the bottles--in case chocolate milk is more than 20 cents a quart.
In the bottle here is 19 cents qt. sweet milk 20 cents qt. chocolate [total] 39 cents
Thanks a lot!

Click for larger image.

Postcards from the Archive

The onetime Administration Building and College Hall.

Construction of Willow Run Bomber Plant, Spring 1941

A photographer perched on the catwalk on top of a nearby train overlooks the groundbreaking of the bomber plant. Click twice for full size image.

News Tidbits from the April 11, 1895 Ypsilantian

"A kinetoscope, one of Edison's latest inventions, was on exhibition last Friday at the Hawkins house. It is a wonderful machine and reproduces motion. This one reproduced a four round prize fight."

"The musical program to be given at the Young Women's Christian Association Friday evening promises to be very fine."

"An employee of the Singer Sewing Machine Co. with an unpronounceable name has turned up missing after having sold a couple of machines and failing to turn over the proceeds, $75 [$1950 today]."

"Another calla is reported which measures forty-two and one-fourth inches from the ground to the tip of the spathe. The plant has had a little dilute ammonia water occasionally throughout the winter, but no other fertilizer."

"FOR SALE. I have a quantity of early White Evart Potatoes which I will sell for seed. Residence 1 mile east of the southwest corner of the township of Salem." WM. H. HARRISON."

"The correct thing in calling cards and note paper at the Bazarette."

"The Cleary College base ball team has ordered new suits."

The Little Girls of Woodruff School, Ypsilanti; c. 1930?

Past and Present: Michigan Avenue Bridge

64th Anniversary of Death of Henry Ford

On this day in 1947, readers of the Ypsi papers learned that the 84-year-old "elder statesman of the automobile industry" had died at his home in Dearborn. His influence changed the demographics, economy, and even the very geography of Ypsi in ways that have lasted to this day. DD thinks of Ford Lake as a passing titan's footprint that filled up with water in his wake.

Now himself a historical figure, Ford is often misquoted, and misquoted without context, concerning his alleged quote "History is bunk." He did not say this as quoted, and a more thoughtful analysis of what Ford meant may be found in a 1999 Globe and Mail column by Robert Fulford:

"A few years ago, in an essay called 'Doing History,' [historian Eugen] Weber analyzed Henry Ford’s famous remark, 'History is bunk.' Since Ford was a bigot and a tyrant, that's usually quoted as an example of ignorance. But Weber used it to demonstrate that we can understand nothing except through context. Ford actually said 'History is more or less bunk,' which is slightly different, and he said it in 1916, in the middle of the First World War.

"Ford thought that devotion to the past prevents us from grappling with the present and may encourage us to make war out of historical grievance. In 1914 all the European leaders knew history, Ford said, yet they blundered into the worst war ever.

"On another occasion Ford recalled looking in American history books 'to learn how our forefathers harrowed the land'; he discovered that historians barely mentioned harrows, the iron-toothed rakes essential to modern farming. Harrows, Ford argued, meant more in history than guns and speeches. When history 'excludes harrows, and all the rest of daily life,' then history is bunk.

"Maybe Ford felt strongly about harrows because he manufactured them, Weber says; even so, he was right when he argued that history should tell how ordinary people lived. And Ford won. The rise of social history began in the 1920s with the Annales movement in France, and has spread ever since. As Weber says, 'The sort of history that Ford wanted is pretty much the history that we do today'."

STONY CREEK: The social at Mr. Armstrong's was a success, and those wishing less noise during the supper hour had it, as Mum was the word. But for all that, some forfeits were paid, for strange to say, "some people will talk." --Item in April 7, 1895 Ypsilantian newspaper.

101st Anniversary of the Death of Daniel Ogden

Today is the 101st anniversary of the death of Ypsilanti teen Daniel Ogden.

17-year-old Daniel spent Thursday, April 7, 1910 attending classes at Cleary Business College (at left) on Michigan Avenue. Spring was coming; the day had been around 45 degrees and fair. Daniel finished work for the day; it was time to go home.

His parents, 44-year-old Harry and 46-year-old Theda or Lillian Ogden maintained a small farm just east of Ypsilanti near the Wiard family farms, now the site of the Willow Run plant. Daniel had four younger siblings. Vera was 16, Elmer, 15; Loyd, 14; and Dewey, 12. The three youngest boys were attending grade school.

Daniel apparently didn't feel like walking the few miles home. On the eastern edge of downtown, he heard a train beginning to pull out of Depot Town to his left. He had an idea. He waited until the train approached as it slowly gathered speed, timed it, and grabbed on.

It was exhilarating to be riding. The train shook as it racketed over the rails. Trees and buildings slid past. He'd be home early. The Wiard station was coming up; it was time to jump off.

Daniel never saw, on the adjacent track, the other train.

Daniel's death certificate notes that he was "Accidentally killed by the Michigan Central Rail Road." He was buried in Highland Cemetery* four days later. The death certificate and the April 8, 1910 Ypsilanti Daily Press story about his death are reproduced below (click either twice for full image).

R.I.P. Daniel Major Ogden.

*EDIT: Kind reader Crystal K asks if he was instead buried in one "Highland" in Oakland County. It turns out his mom and dad are buried in a place called "Highland" in Oakland County. His death certificate seems to read "Highland Station." I don't know where that is, but it may be I was wrong to say he is buried in Highland Cemetery in Ypsi. Checking and will correct if needed--thanks to Crystal for pointing out a possible big mistake! Yikes!

"New" Labels for City Council Members

I personally think that local media should resume--after a brief 100-year hiatus--calling our City Council members "City Dads." It's punchy and makes a good headline.

Don't know what to do about Ward 1 representative Lois Richardson though. "City Dads and Mom"?

And what does that make honorable Mayor Schreiber? "City Gramps"? .....Actually I really like that.

Postcards from the Archive

Vignettes Along the Road to Saline, Sunday, April 3, 2011

News Tidbits from the April 4, 1895 Ypsilantian

"The well known temperance lecturer, Francis Murphy, and his son William J. Murphy will begin a series of gospel temperance services in our city April 14. The Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Congregational churches unite in these meetings. The first meeting will be held in the Methodist church on Sunday evening April 14. These men are known throughout the country as working distinctively along Gospel lines. Spread the news to all the men in the city and let all attend these meetings."

"Miss May Ebling left Monday for Cleveland, where she will receive medical treatment from Dr. Wood, formerly of Ann Arbor." This may have been the physician Neal Wood, a onetime doctor of obstretics and gynecology in the homeopathic college at the University of Michigan.

"Ypsilanti again defeated Ann Arbor at chess last Thursday evening. They won three out of four."

"Next Tuesday evening Queen City Hive, No. 64 L. O. T. M. [Ladies of the Maccabees, an auxiliary to the fraternal group], will celebrate its fourth anniversary. A fine program has been prepared and supper will be served. Admission 25 cents."

"The W. C. T. U. [Women's Christian Temperance Union] will hold a county convention in this city on April 11 and 12. A large attendance is desired."

"The ladies of St. Luke's Parish Aid Society hold a sale of home-made provisions of bread, pie, cake, etc., every Saturday afternoon, in the Parish House, from 2:30 to 5. The usual 15 cent supper at the Episcopal church house Saturday, from 5:30 to 8 p.m."

"The Council held a meeting last evening. Henry Denike asked for damages to the amount of $300 for injuries sustained by his wife in a fall on the side walk on River street; J. L. Harlow asked for $75 for caring for the diptheria patient; these were referred to committees and other business of no special importance transacted."

"Miss Jessie Pease Scrimger has composed a piece of instrumental music entitled "The Butterflies." It is very highly spoken of and will appear in the next issue of the Song Journal."

Cross Street Bridge, 1859

A rare early photo showing Cross Street Bridge when it was, apparently, made of wood. The large white building on the left is labeled on the 1864 plat map as "Grist Mill," the first of a long line of mills under various ownerships at the spot through the years.

Past & Present: Cross Street

Postcards from the Archive

A view of the Michigan State Normal College campus.

1907 Aurora Editorial Staff

A portrait of the students who created the 1907 EMU "Aurora" yearbook. (Click for larger image).