Dusty Diary

Sarah Jane Norton Diaries: Sharon Springs, NY

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:17:00 +0000

In the spring of 1864, 24-year-old Sarah Jane Norton, her 28-year-old husband Austin, and the couple's infant son Charlie emigrated from Sharon Springs, New York, to Ypsilanti. Sarah kept a diary over the next 43 years until her death in November of 1906. Her 1864 diary will be serialized here during 2012. To see all entries to date, see the "Sarah Jane Norton" tag at bottom.

At left she is pictured in 1888 at age 49. Introduction to the Norton family.

1/29/1864: Aut work in the woods day

1/30/1864: Albert is coming home soon he is in New York

1/31/1864: Rains and freezes [ah] so splpery one can hardly stand up Charly is begining run alone

2/1/1864 & 2/2/1864: [is Charlie writing "sick" here? on behalf of his mother]

2/3/1864: Mr. Wort had his donation to day. we were going. but we could get no shoes for Charlie to wear I tried to make a pair and spoils them Aut wanted me to go and he would take care of Charlie. but I did not want to

2/4/1864: Spent the evning George Fondes. Tad and Elma were there we had a good visit it is a good place to go a visiting. Charlie was good we did not get home till most twelve

These diaries were written by Sarah Jane Norton and are the property of the Norton Family. They may be used and reproduced for genealogical and historical purposes only. No commercial use is allowed without the express, written permission of Dennis Norton and no charge may be made for, nor income derived from their use.

DIY Utility Bill

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:33:00 +0000

This is a bill from the onetime Ypsilanti Gas Company, a municipal utility supplying coal gas to homes all over town for cooking and lighting. The gas generator plant stood at the northeast corner of Forest and Huron, where the DPW yard is now. The plant operated as a municipal utility from 1914, when the city seized control, to the late 40s, when it switched over to natural gas and external ownership.

Here is a DIY bill in case the meter reader couldn't come in your house--presumably meters were indoors in those days--and a lot of moms were at home to be able to let them in. If not, you could just fill in the numbers yourself and mail it in to be billed, as seen on this undated sample which I would guess is from the late 20s-ish (?). ETA: Reader Paul found a date: 1931.

Tidbits from 1921 Washtenaw Map

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

While nosing around in a box of old maps the other day at the Archives, Dusty D found this gem: a 1921 beauty by the Auto Road Map Co. The map contains many details of vanished communities, railroads, and waterways.

Before ever seeing the copyright date, I noticed that Ford Lake was missing. This tipped me off right away that the map was made pre-1931, which is when Henry Ford dammed the river and began to create Ford Lake.

One now-vanished railroad is the old Huckleberry Line, then called the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. You can see it exiting from the northern part of Ypsi and curving down to Saline, from which it continued west. You can also see the branch of the Detroit United electric interurban following alongside the "Chicago Turnpike," now Michigan Avenue. Remember the recent "cold wave" story? They threw a plow on one car, which was filled with photographers recording this novelty, and tried to forge through to Saline but the line was closed for literally weeks.

A branch of the old Ann Arbor railroad (still in use) is also visible, leading down to Urania. Urania was not a settlement per se but just a station name. It was named by one Thomas Richards who campaigned successfully to bring a railroad to Milan. He named it for his wife Urania Richards.

Another section of the interurban connected Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. Here you can see a westward section of the Detroit United line traveling out to Chelsea...and beyond. How Dusty D would love to go back in time and take a leisurely ride on one of the cars.

Last and most nostalgic IMO are the many little settlements on the map, now vanished. Here you can see Lima Center, Jerusalem, and Rogers' Corners, all west of Ann Arbor. Just south of these is Fredonia, which is still referred to as an existing community on the Freedom Township website. Many others are just vestigial names, like Mooreville, with only old cemeteries remaining to remember the onetime founders and residents of these tiny communities, long gone.

The Ypsilanti Home Association

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:49:00 +0000

What did municipal charity look like before mid-Depression federal welfare programs? Find out (thanks to the Chronicle)!

Past and Present Photos: The Barber Shop on Huron, c. 1913

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:35:00 +0000

Meet the guys at the barber shop thought to once have been at 24 1/2 North Huron. The caption for this YHS Historical Society Photo Archives photo states "The inscription identifies it as Courtez R. Hall's barber shop but it is also possible it is William Hipp's, long at that location. The gentlemen are, from L to R, Watson Laidlaw, Ralph Smith (listed in the the 1912 city directory as a clerk that boarded at 24 E. Congress), Wesley M Dawson (1890-1964) who was a partner in the Martin Dawson company and later Ypsilanti Postmaster, Courtez R. Hall, Samuel Spring, James Tweedie (listed in 1912 city directory as a barber in Hipp's barber shop and boarding at 108 Buffalo, Hipp's residence) and an older man not identified (perhaps Hipp)."

The puzzle is whether the modern photo is indeed a match for the original. What do you think? Obviously many changes have been made to the building facade...but are the bones the same? Is this the onetime barber shop?

A Portable Pest House, Ideally Situated Near the City Water Supply

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:58:00 +0000

There has been some agitation among the city authoriyies during the past week as to what would happen if a tramp who has been confined in the city jail should become ill with smallpox as was recently the case in the Ann Arbor jail. How would he be cared for and where? The city has no detention hospital and no pest house fit to keep a person in. What would become of him and how could he be isolated from the public to precent the spread of the dread disease?

Mayor Towner stated to a Press representative today that he had given notice to the Board of Health that something definite must be done in the near future to provide for such an emergency.

One plan that has been suggested is that a portable pest house should be purchased by the city and placed on the property near the Water Works station. Three portable houses may be purchased of a firm in the northern part of the state at a reasonable figure. One or more rooms could be purchased just as desirable. These houses are strong and warmly built and are put together with staples.

A meeting of the Board of Health and the Council will probably be held very soon to discuss the advisability of such a purchase.

----Ypsilanti Daily Press, January 24, 1911

The Cold Wave of 1912

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:18:00 +0000

Read all about the great cold wave of exactly one century ago this January! Thanks to the Courier and its great new editor T.! (If you don't have a sub, don't forget to pick up your paper copy on Thursday!)

Sarah Jane Norton Diaries: Sharon Springs, NY

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:51:00 +0000

In the spring of 1864, 24-year-old Sarah Jane Norton, her 28-year-old husband Austin, and the couple's infant son Charlie emigrated from Sharon Springs, New York, to Ypsilanti. Sarah kept a diary over the next 43 years until her death in November of 1906. Her 1864 diary will be serialized here during 2012. To see all entries to date, see the "Sarah Jane Norton" tag at bottom.

At left she is pictured in 1888 at age 49. Introduction to the Norton family.

1/22/1864: Ironed at home all day Flora called this evening Aut to work and boards from home. he has boarded from home but a very little since we have been married

1/23/1864: Pleasant. Charlie has been very cross today I do not think he is very well. Received a letter from Ypsilanti to day our folks seem to be well pleased at the idea of our coming out there Mr. Scrum was busied to day

1/24/1864: I was going to Church but it thawed so that I could not go Aut was running down street a back he was home in the evening Marie and Mary J Smith called

1/25/1864: Thawing yet Aut is to work for R Hanson to day I washed. Charlie was very cross he is more trouble than he used to be. full of mischief to, as he can sh[r]iek I went to the stoar and left Charlie with Mrs. Stoffor[d].

1/26/1864: Aut is chopping Lenard Larpunge and boards home. but I do not mind a little more work it is plesanter to have him here at meal time than to eat alone. Mr D Potter has his donation to night. we do not go. he is to much of a Loafer Flora was here this afternoon Mary Moak called this evening

1/27/1864: I was going to Marie's to day and Mother Norton sent for me to come there and visit with Mr and Mrs [Work] the Lutheran minister and wife Edhna and Flora were there I had a good visit

1/28/1864: Went to Marias Aut called for one when he came from his work thawing very fast

These diaries were written by Sarah Jane Norton and are the property of the Norton Family. They may be used and reproduced for genealogical and historical purposes only. No commercial use is allowed without the express, written permission of Dennis Norton and no charge may be made for, nor income derived from their use.

A Man of Mystery at the Normal, 1912

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:14:00 +0000

This time of year 100 years ago, Normalites were treated to a bright spot in the usual semester lecture course: a magician. The lecture course was a public cultural series for students and townspeople, the latter of whom could buy a series subscription. The onetime nearby Tubal Cain Owen family (whose landholdings were eventually absorbed into the expanding campus) had one such subscription, and Tubal's daughter Abba Owen frequently went to hear the latest lecture, in the late 1800s.

Germain certainly holds no bars in his ad for himself but I have been unable to find the tiniest scrap of any documentation of any performances elsewhere, so his precise stature in the world of magic is uncertain. At any rate, here's his ad and a write-up in the January 18, 1912 Normal News.

Past and Present: Spanish-American War Veterans on Michigan Avenue

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:50:00 +0000

In this winter 1900 photo a group of about 25 veterans of the Spanish-American War march westward on Michigan Ave. They have just crossed the "Old Iron Bridge," the onetime structure and name of the Michigan Avenue Bridge. In the background may be seen the Nichols and Panek upholstery store.

The Joys of Being a Normalite

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:22:00 +0000

Here's a cartoon from the 1912 Aurora normal School yearbook that shows the daily life of a student. The 6 panels depict:

1. Student waking up in his austere boarding house room (long before dorms at EMU, students boarded around town in boardinghouses approved by the school or in private homes).

2. Running down Ellis street to class. Ellis was the onetime name of the stretch of Washtenaw between the water tower and Huron.

3. Late to class!

4. Back at the boardinghouse for "boardinghouse hash" for lunch, with landlady scowling in background.

5. Studying on the radiator in a chilly boardinghouse room.

6. Nightmares of the dreaded blue book!

A Century-Old Clawfoot Cartel

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:28:00 +0000

In school you and I learned about the era of trusts and monopolies in the late Gilded Age and early Progressive Era. Standard Oil, the Chicago-St. Louis meat packing giants, U.S. Steel, gigantic railroad companies, American Tobacco, and even a group of linseed oil manufacturers. But in the winter of 1912, a rather unusual cartel had been hauled into court and grilled about its anti-competitive practices. In the papers, as here in the January 16, 1912 Ypsilanti Daily Press, it was referred to as the "bathtub trust."

16 manufacturers of bathroom enamelware, led by the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Co., colluded to arrange to use a set of fixed prices to sell their wares to plumbers. The case went to the U.S. district court in Detroit and eventually to the Supreme Court, which ruled the group's practices illegal under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed in 1890 to eliminate businesses' collusion to restrict market competition among them and control prices. The Act came into heavy use during this era of trusts, but is hardly irrelevant today. In 2003 the band the String Cheese Incident sued Ticketmaster, claiming that the ticketing giant was violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The case was settled out of court for a settlement and a non-disclosure agreement, perhaps sadly. And thus are linked a contemporary Colorado jam band and the clawfoot tub you remember from your grandmother's house.

Sarah Jane Norton Diaries: Sharon Springs, NY

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:19:00 +0000

In the spring of 1864, 24-year-old Sarah Jane Norton, her 28-year-old husband Austin, and the couple's infant son Charlie emigrated from Sharon Springs, New York, to Ypsilanti. Sarah kept a diary over the next 43 years until her death in November of 1906. Her 1864 diary will be serialized here during 2012. To see all entries to date, see the "Sarah Jane Norton" tag at bottom.

At left she is pictured in 1888 at age 49. Introduction to the Norton family.

1/15/1864: we are having good going there is a g[r]eat deal traveling

1/16/1864: I felt little better today Mrs J Mallet was here visiting this afternoon

1/17/1864: Did not go to church up to Floras a little while Aut don't like to taek care of Charlie very well and let me go

1/18/1864: I did not wash to day I was glad I did not get it for about ten oclock Anna Wills came and stayed till four. rained this afternoon Aut went hunting and shot a Rabbit

1/19/1864: Raind hard Aut went hunting did not get any thing but a good soaking Eve Ann Van Wantinberg and Lizzie Lingerd visited here this afternoon. the old saying is that if one has company on mondy they will have all of the week it looks like it now

1/20/1864: Washed. had a large wash Aut helped some. there was a town meeting to day on the hill Aut bought a peck of walnuts they are very nice ones. two dollars a bushel. Flora was here this afternoon. Lib Smith and Anna Wills called this evening

1/21/1864: Aut is choping for Theadore today. I spent the day to Floras and her mothers

These diaries were written by Sarah Jane Norton and are the property of the Norton Family. They may be used and reproduced for genealogical and historical purposes only. No commercial use is allowed without the express, written permission of Dennis Norton and no charge may be made for, nor income derived from their use.

A Century Ago: Bitter Cold

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:03:00 +0000

Though Ypsilanti has enjoyed mild winter temperatures of late, a century ago a cold wave gripped the nation from Louisiana to the upper Midwest.

In Chicago, the homeless population wrapped their feet in rags. Some regions recorded temperatures of 50 below. It would turn out to be the nation's second coldest winter in all of its history, and would one day get its own (somewhat half-baked) Wikipedia page.

Every train coming into Chicago was running from one to ten hours late, according to the story accompanying the headline at left, from the January 13, 1912 Ypsilanti Daily Press.

The cold wave took its toll locally as well, as noted in another front-page story in the same issue of the paper.

The victim was a coal deliveryman who apparently fell from his wagon, hitting his head and presumably becoming unconscious. He was found with "hands and feet badly frozen."

The cold wave took a while to move on, and for a while a century ago, especially among the poor in Ypsilanti, locals were put to severe strain to combat the relentless threat.

Genealogy Seminar March 31, Monroe

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:01:00 +0000

What sounds like a pretty worthwhile genealogy seminar is coming up in late March down at Monroe County Community College (not far--it's the Dundee exit off US-23). The sessions will be taught by a certified genealogist with 30 years experience. Cost is a piddly $23. Dusty D is looking forward to this! If you want me to send you this registration form as a PDF so you can register---you're just champing at the bit, aren't you?! thought so---let me know and I can email it to you.

Sarah Jane Norton Diaries: Sharon Springs, NY

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Sarah Jane Norton Diaries: Sharon Springs, NY

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:57:00 +0000

In the spring of 1864, 24-year-old Sarah Jane Norton, her 28-year-old husband Austin, and the couple's infant son Charlie emigrated from Sharon Springs, New York, to Ypsilanti. Sarah kept a diary over the next 43 years until her death in November of 1906.

Her 1864 diary will be serialized here during 2012. To see all entries to date, see the "Sarah Jane Norton" tag at bottom.

At left she is pictured in 1888 at age 49. Introduction to the Norton family.

In January of 1864, Sarah's first diary begins with her life in Sharon Springs. In just two months she will leave home for Ypsilanti, where her mother already resides. Sarah's diary is reproduced as faithfully as possible, with no changes to spelling, grammar, or the like.

1/1/1864: Quite cold. at home all day. we expected uncle Jo [after] us but he did not come. Mary is maried and they were to have kind of a party. Thon Like called and Aut* went to [Sprongs] and got some oysters. he got home at nine. there is plenty of reding there is a dance on the hill

*Sarah's nickname for her husband Austin

1/2/1864: I received a letter from Ma [in Ypsilanti] New Years eve. they are very anxious to have us come out there to live Aut talks of enlisting they get thirteen hundred dollars bounty. quite and inducement Lib Smith and Anna Wills called to day

1/3/1864: Aut keeps talking about enlisting I dont want him to go. but I tell him if he really wants to go he can

1/4/1864: Washed. Aut went of this morning he did not tell me where he was going [hid] did not come home till night. he was hoping for [Add] Parmby then he went on the hill and did not come back till nine then he said he had enlisted it of no use to discribe any feelings we did no sleep much

1/5/1864: Aut got up early. we had breakfast before daylight I felt as though it might be last meal I would have to get for him he had to go at nine. so soon before he could settle up his business it was a trying time when he kissed [his son] Charly and me as it seemed for the last time I stayed to John Moaks all night

1/6/1864: Kate came to Johs this morning I was agoing to Lad's but I thought I would wait till till tomorrow I would give all of thirteen hundred if I had it to get Aut back agan. this is trouble that I never had before. I was so disappointed I thought he would get a furlough and be home to night but he did not. I went home with kate and stayed all night

1/7/1864: Was going to Lad's and Eve sent for one to go to Albany with she was agoing to see her father we were afrid they would not get home again we went with th[e] mail it was very cold I bundled up Charlie so that he did not take any cold. while we were waiting at the depot, the eastern train came and the sharon boys got off the cars

These diaries were written by Sarah Jane Norton and are the property of the Norton Family. They may be used and reproduced for genealogical and historical purposes only. No commercial use is allowed without the express, written permission of Dennis Norton and no charge may be made for, nor income derived from their use.

Introduction to the Sarah Jane Norton Diaries

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:11:00 +0000

In the spring of 1864, 24-year-old Sarah Jane Norton, her 28-year-old husband Austin, and the couple's infant son Charlie emigrated from Sharon Springs, New York, to Ypsilanti. Sarah kept a diary over the next 43 years until her death in November of 1906. At left she is pictured in 1888 at age 49.

The family's story is detailed in a 2006 Gleanings article by Austin, Dorothy, Cindy, and Dennis Norton. An excerpt from the story gives some background on the Norton family:

Toward the end of the Civil War, Austin and Sarah Jane Knapp Norton and their young son Charles got the “western fever” as it was called then, and migrated westward from Sharon Springs, New York. They arrived in Ypsilanti on March 10, 1864, to the open arms of Sarah's mother who had already moved to Ypsilanti some years before. Sarah's father, Lucius Knapp had passed away sometime prior to 1862, and Sarah's mother, Zada Jones Knapp then married Timothy Showerman a member of another long time Ypsilanti family. Timothy was the widower of Zada's sister Eunice. Also living in Ypsilanti at the time Sarah and Austin came from New York were two of Sarah's aunts, Lucinda Jones Casey, and Mary Jones Elliott. Lucinda was the wife of Sam Casey who had a large farm on Prospect near Clark Road, and Mary was the wife of Parmer Elliott. A third aunt, Eunice Jones had married Timothy Showerman and was living in Ypsilanti at the time of her death in 1862.

As was not too uncommon in those times, Zada, the widow of Lucius Knapp, and Timothy, the widower of Zada's sister Eunice, married in 1862 and were living in Ypsilanti in 1864. It is interesting to note that Nathalie Elliot Edmunds, a well known Ypsilantian, is a direct descendant of Mary Jones Elliot. So at one point in the late 1850s and early 1860s, four of the Jones sisters, Zada, Eunice, Mary and Lucinda were all living in Ypsilanti, having moved there some years before from Amsterdam, New York, just west of Albany.

After moving to Ypsilanti, Austin Norton worked as a stone and brick mason constructing cellars and chimneys. He built the foundations for many buildings which are still in existence. The diaries list the names of many well known Ypsilanti families for whom Austin built foundations and in some instances entire buildings. These include Elliott, Gilmore, Kirk, Cornwell, Dusbiber, Meanwell, Bassett, Lamb, Ellis, Lawrence and more.

Austin and Sarah's son Frank founded the Norton Flower business in 1892. The business would be continued for five generations in the family until the retirement of Austin and Dennis Norton in 1998, when the concern was transferred to the company's management team.

The 1864 diary is one of the oldest in the Archive's diary collection. It offers a rare look at late Civil War-era Ypsilanti. Over the next year Dusty Diary is serializing Sarah Jane Norton's 1864 diary with the permission of its current owner. Read along to learn about the life of this 24-year-old mother making a life for her family in an unfamiliar Michigan town over a thousand miles from her childhood home.

Hunting for Bail

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:25:00 +0000

"George Crum, from Ypsilanti, who had defrauded the Ann Arbor grocers out of provision to feed the hungry fair-goers, was allowed to hunt for bail. In order to make a systematic search he and his family left Ypsilanti last Friday, and they are now probably grubbing for a pot of gold about the roots of the twining woodbine.--[Ypsilanti] Commercial.

--October 15, 1879 Ann Arbor Register

Tidbits from the October 12, 1878 Ypsilanti Commercial

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:54:00 +0000

The Indians of Wyoming are killing settlers and stealing stock. The troops are in hot pursuit.

From now until January 1st it is lawful to shoot wild turkeys and partridges. $60 fine for snaring and trapping.

The Indians are busy in Texas, and Sunday three boys and a girl were killed near Junction City on Guadaloupe River, and reports from the vicinity show that the Indians are stealing stock and murdering settlers.

Warren Maguire, of Vermontville, went into a well on the morning of October 1 and was overcome by the foul air. Although the well was but 18 or 20 feet deep, his body has not yet been recovered at latest advices.

Sunday forenoon a gravel train on the Toledo and Ann Arbor Railroad, when one mile south of Milan, ran over a steer. The train was thrown from the track and seven cars twisted and mashed to pieces. The brakeman, Adams, of Deerfield, Mich., was killed, and a number were badly injured. The coroner's inquest acquitted the railroad company of all blame.

A convict at the Jackson State Prison, named Jeremiah Donovan, committed suicide Tuesday afternoon, October 1, by seating himself on the belt of the large fly-wheel in the eastern end of the trip-hammer shop, and being srawn under the wheel, when he was instantly crushed. he was sent from Detroit in February, 1876, and was a desperate and incorrigible character.

The report of the State Salt Inspector for September shows that 228,029 barrels of salt were manufactured and inspected last month, the largest amount ever inspected in one month and 36,649 more than were inspected in September last year. The total amount inspected this season to October 1 was 1,462,568 barrels, against 1,260,123 barrels last year, being an increase of 202,445 barrels.

THE C. CORNWELL--On Wednesday afternoon last, a message was received by our engine company that the M. C. R. R. wood at Wayne was on fire. In seventeen minutes from the time the message was received the engine was on the cars ready for a start. The special train left here at 5:12 and reached Wayne at 5:30. Getting at work as quickly as possible, the engine did not cease working until 1 A.M. The firemen succeeded in cutting the pile in two so that out of a pile of between 2,000 and 3,000 cords, only 700 were burned. The firemen returned about 2:15 A.M.

Tidbits from the October 9, 1894 Ann Arbor Argus

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:51:00 +0000

The Ann Arbor Argus costs its readers less than one cents a copy.

The time for stump speeches has arrived. We saw a load of stumps going through the town yesterday. --Political paragraph in Manchester Enterprise.

Charles Ryan, of Ypsilanti, has entered the homeopathic college at Cleveland. What is the matter with U. of M. homeopathy--aren't the pills small enough?

Dr. K. Greiner, of Dexter, has packed up his pill case, and will attack the inhabitants of Lisbon, Kent County. He leaves many friends and few headstones.

Sneak thieves are now in possession of a winter supply of vegetables and canned fruit, "cooned" from the cellar of A. C. Fingerle, of Ypsilanti. Fingerle would like to get his fingers on them.

A steam laundry is to be opened in Chelsea. Just in time for the "dirty linen" of the campaign.

Some of the forest of the Normal campus has been cut down and "logged off," the big willow and several elms being among the victims. The campus is [not?] injured by the change, but it is doubtful if the co-eds like it.

At a "Pumpkin Pie" social to be held by the Ladies' Aid Society of the Free church of Superior, Oct. 12, an etched quilt will be the reward to the person guessing the nearest at the number of seeds in a specified pumpkin. Every "pumpkin seed" who wishes may guess and get a supper for 20 cents and be ashamed of himself that all this costs him so little.

Postmaster Kishpaugh, of Clinton, has washed the fly specks of the Harrison era off the glass of the letter boxes and made many substantial improvements in the building. The man who dares fore a charge of tobacco juice on the elegant new floor will be squirted in the eye with pepper sauce.

Lewis Feldkamp, of Manchester, was thrown from his conveyance last week, and received a fracture of the clavicle. We could just as well have said that Lew. Feldcamp was flipped out of his wagon and busted his collar bone; but "conveyance" is more recherche than "wagon," "clavicle" sounds more scientific than "collar bone," "fracture" more euphonious than "busted"; and to say "Lew" for Lewis would be treating a man pretty roughly, smashed up as he was.

A young man from Lyndon, with a stomach like an anaconda, went over to Chelsea last week and sucked a dozen eggs as rapidly as he could break the shells. This form of idiocy is less harmful than that other style of pointing an empty revolver at a friend and blowing his brains out, while the point that the fellow is a fool is just as well brought out. It is the better style.

Tidbits from the October 5, 1878 Ypsilanti Commercial

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:48:00 +0000

Jas. Haddon, of Dowagiac, is the heaviest bee-keeper in Michigan, owning over 400 swarms.

Thomas Mason, an employe in T. Nestin's lumber camp, at Sugar Creek, drank a pint of salt and water for biliousness and died very suddenly.

Benj. Collins has been arrested, near Vermontville, for sowing foul seed, chess, cockle, dock, etc., in the night, on the wheat field of his stepson.

Annie Cook, of Memphis, who turned her elegant demi-monde establishment into a yellow fever hospital and devoted herself to the nursing of the patients, has fallen a victim to the fatal scourge.

The only daughter of a widow, Mrs. Seneca Hicks, of Kalamazoo, became a mother before she became a wife, and the body of the babe was found in the cellar, murdered. Mrs. Hicks has been arrested [and] charged with the murder. She refuses to make any statement in regard to the matter as yet.

Some time ago one Herman Sims was suspected of burning a barn at or near Bay City. Since that he disappeared and on Saturday his body was found hanging by the neck to a tree near Kawkawlin, where it had evidently hung for many days. It is not clear whether it is a case of suicide or lynching.

Sitting Bull has sent emissaries to inquire upon what terms his people will be permitted to return to the United States territory. Gen. Sheridan has telegraphed that we are not especially anxious about the Indians who went North to come back, but if ithey do come back it must be on terms of unconditional surrender.

IN HASTE---The steeple painter departed without saying good-bye to Mr. A. P. Bucklin, with whom he boarded, or Mr. Frank Smith, from whom he obtained his paints; and so those gentlemen, accompanied by a sheriff, went to Detroit to pay their adieus to the decorator of our city spires. They returned without finding him. Total loss, $50.

Considerable excitement was created at Cincinnati by the discovery of an aged lady who had died in the hospital, and was supposed to have been buried in the potter's field, had not been buried there. Friends desiring to remove the remains to Spring Grove found the empty coffin only, which had contained no body, the latter having been removed before burial.

Among those who have entered the Dental Department of the University is Mrs. Alma Fuellgraf, of Elmshorn, Prussia. She came to this country a few weeks since and had intended to go to Philadelphia and continue her studies. She however met some Americans on the boat, and was so pleased with the information she received from them as to Michigan University that she decided to come here. One of the matriculants in the Medical Department is Myatt Kyan, of Rangoon, Burmah. --Ann Arbor Register

Tidbits from the September 28, 1878 Ypsilanti Commercial

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:43:00 +0000

The Ypsilanti City Band won the second prize at the contest in Jackson, Thursday.

Amor Lazier, who recently escaped from detective Baker, of Lansing, at Jackson, is in Windsor.

The Victor canning works of Benton Harbor are now putting up 20,000 cans of tomatoes every 24 hours.

The Bay City Tribune says, we understand, that the potatoes are rotting quite badly. All who have Early Rose undug will do well to dig them as soon as possible.

Fred. Sutton, of Whiteford Center, Monroe County, has been compelled to have one leg amputated, owing to erysipelas in his ankle and knee, which, it is claimed, was badly managed by an incompetent physician.

A settlement has been effected between Daniel Hiscock and the Toledo & Ann Arbor railroad company, the company paying him a consideration of $1,000 for the right to go through his land. The company also pay[s] the expenses of his suit against it.

The many Ypsilanti members of the 20th Michigan Infantry will be glad of their approaching Thirteenth Annual Reunion, which is to take place at Lansing, Oct. 9. The oration will be delivered by Col. C. B. Grant. The Michigan Central will carry members of the regiment for two cents per mile each way.

Statistics show that Washington is one of the most rapidly growing cities in the United States. According to the census of 1870 the population of the District of Columbia was 131,7000, the population of Washington being 109,199. The census of the District as just completed by the assessors shows the aggregate population of the District to be 160,947, and the population of Washington city to be 131,947. This is a gain of 22,748 in eight years. At this rate of increase the population of Washington in 1880 will be in the neighborhood of 165,000.

A large tame bear formerly shown in the saloon of Chris Eisele, of Adrian, is kept by one Upton upon the premises of a brother-in-law named Mahzman. At the place named Edna went out with a playmate and commenced to tease the brute. It became savage, seized and threw her down and began chewing her thigh. Upton and ayoung girl named Ethel Hodges living in the house ran out. Upton tried to drive the bear off, but instead of relinquishing his hold, the bear ran into his kennel with the little one. The girl picked up a large stone, rushed into the kennel and succeeded in extricating the child from the animal's jaws. Huge pieces of the child's thigh had already sloughed off. An amputation will be attempted but the surgeon gives little hope of saving her life.

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:37:00 +0000

"Rev. R. K. Wharton, tired of the distinction of being the only pastor in Ypsilanti who did not ride a bicycle, is rapidly becoming master of the wheel." --September 23, 1897 Ypsilantian

Tidbits from the September 21, 1878 Ypsilanti Commercial

noreply@blogger.com (Dusty D) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:58:00 +0000

It is said to be a fact that the majority of insane persons in the Washtenaw Asylum are farmer's wives.

Before the war prints sold in this city for ten cents a yard. Now they are selling for six. The dollar of the laboring man is becoming every day more valuable.

Even the convicts at the State prison are contributing to the funds for the relief of yellow fever sufferers. Chaplain Hickox has sent $10, and is gathering some more.

James Callahan returned from a ten months' sojourn in State Prison to Elba, Gratiot County, to find his wife married to another man. He was sent for stealing $50, and it now transpires that his wife stole the money and he went rather than expose her.

Four men in Clam Lake Township, Wexford County, have been served with a summons by the sheriff to show cause why they do not comply with the school law and send their children to school. The complaint was made by the director of the school district.

Another atrocious case of body-snatching occurred at Willoughby, near Cleveland, Ohio. The body of Edwin French, a prominent citizen of Cleveland, was exhumed. The body was found in the tank underneath the floor of the Cleveland Homeopathic College, and the Dean and a dozen others have been arrested.

Officer Baker, of Lansing, who lost the prisoner (George Stafford) he had taken charge of at Adrian, went to bed with the gent handcuffed to him, but awoke at 5 o'clock in the morning to find the bird had flown, he having "shook the bracelets" by some unaccountable method and left them in the bed behind him. He had about three-quarters of an hour the start of the officer, and no clue has been obtained of him yet.

THE INDIAN WEED---John J. Bagley & Co. have celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of their entrance into business by sending to the press of the State large boxes of the "May-Flower" chewing tobacco and the "Old Hickory" smoking tobacco. The persons who have been engaged to chew the tobacco for this office report that they never had easier work, and the reports of the smokers are none the less satisfactory. We return many thanks for the gift.

THE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL---Notice has been given that the Hospital connected with the medical department of the University, is now open for the reception of patients. A resident physician and competent nurses are in attendance; and daily visits will be made by the faculty, whose services are absolutely free of charge. Patients are charged $5.00 per week for board during their stay at the hospital. Full information may be obtained by addressing Dr. Maclean, Resident Physician, Ann Arbor.