The Nankin Township Historical Society

I've thrown off my spendthrift shackles lately and spent more than I should have on this novelty postcard emblazoned with an ELOISE postmark from 1907 but it'll last longer than a 6 pack of pumpkin ale. It's from a girl named Helena to her friend Grace Knoepfler of Milford, Michigan telling her to meet her in Detroit the week after the Milford Fair. Which seems like a pretty vague meet-up time and place but what do I know?

#416 of the Gundella Letters enters the realm of Creepersville. As such, I've crossed out the name and address of the Ann Arbor author. He requested a spell and made a phone call to the good witch hoping to woo Jane Fonda when she came to Detroit sometime in the early 1970s. From all indications she did not respond to his request in writing and hopefully contacted the police because this guy sounded either delusional or heavily medicated. Detroit Free Press , November 20, 1970 Based on the dates of letters 415 and 417 this would date the letter to November 20th or so of 1970 when Fonda spoke at the University of Detroit. The appearance included musical acts the Stooges, Alice Cooper and Damnation. Detroit Free Press , November 28, 1970

Detroit Free Press , November 3, 1890 Halloween in the latter quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century was more of a mischief-making opportunity than a candy-gathering holiday. Boys and young men were prone to various forms of vandalism and pranks. A favorite past time in college towns was painting the facade of homes and businesses, re-working the painted signage, dislocating fence gates from their post and hanging them elsewhere, upsetting horseblocks and the classic hanging of cab bage heads. A practice which I may revitalize this year with the full knowledge that I'd likely be charge with a hate crime of some sort. Eh, stuff it, cabbage heads! In 1890 Ypsilanti had its share of autumnal revelry. Dr. F. K. Rexford had the front signage of his practiced changed to "Waiting and James" (whatever that means!). While Dr. James Houston (or Heaston?) had "New York" painted on his home front. Others suffering paint jobs were the Lad...

Detroit Free Press , November 4, 1903 The bucolic setting of the Eloise Asylum farm did not spare it the brunt tactics of Halloween hijinks. Hersdman M. Andrus found this out the hard way by riding his bicycle into the entrance at dawn only to be throttled by a piece of timber which had been lain across the gateway. As would be expected he suffered severe bruising about his shoulders and noggin.

Detroit Free Press , November 2, 1931 What is a worse fate than being an invalid at old Eloise? Being an invalid at Eloise and losing your family to a car accident on Halloween night. Clarence Gavitt received just that news the day after Halloween in 1931. Having been an invalid at the hospital for the previous two years his life had obviously sustained considerable tragedy. A year previous his then 9-year-old daughter Vera Helen Gavitt had been struck by an automobile at McClellan and Harper Avenues and lost he r right arm.  The fatal Halloween accident occurred at the same intersection when Vera and her mother, Amy Gavitt, stepped in front of a cab. The horror of the tragedy was amplified by the fact that the mask wearing child was likely in the midst of trick-or-treating. Upon receiving news of the accident from his brother Burton, Clarence Gavitt collapsed and was reported to be near death. A friend of Vera, Marie Talley, sustained a broken leg but survived the accident.

  Outside of their Frankenstein barbarism Eloise and Wayne County General Hospital had a reputation for innovative medical procedures and research.   As this press photo somewhat attests to, Sylvester E. Gould of WCGH speaks of artery replacement surgeries which were going on at Wayne State University that he was seemingly part of. Of course, the hospitals always had affiliations to the local colleges and universities so it might have been in conjunction with those programs that he was assisting Wayne. Either way, the photo of Gould and New Jersey Dr. Stuart Stevenson is available on eBay.

I won't belabor the Gundella letter thing too much (but will leave it for my blog on her ) and will leave the subject for the time being after this post. This letter seemingly indicates that Truzzi and Gundella first corresponded in October of 1969 and likely met shortly thereafter. There's nothing groundbreaking in the letter from my standpoint since I've researched Gundella for close to 10 years but a few things of note are as follows. 1. That her sister believed that she was less-than-authentic and was too theatrical, despite not being a witch herself (many relatives were including their mother, grandmother and great grandmother, among others so the sister was aware of how a witch "should" behave.). 2. That she was partial to Italian men! She was not only a ham but also a flirt. Good to know.

They often misspelled her name! Eastern Michigan University was fortunate enough to have renown sociologist Marcello Truzzi on their staff and when he died his papers were donated to the institution. Among those were many letters to Gundella the Witch (Truzzi had brought her to local and national prominence a few years beforehand and the two became good friends), both for her Witch Watch column in the Observer newspapers and personal correspondences asking for spells, that Truzzi was using for a study. Hundreds of letters, in fact. Fortunately for me I have a co-worker who goes to school there and was willing to grab me some photos of a few of the letters. Originally, I had wanted them scanned but seeing the photos that she sent makes me realize that they are better seen as is. Since I'm likely going to EMU today to gather some of the Gundella letters so as not to overburden my "colleague" (as the librarian referred to my co-worker in an e-mail; laughably since I'm...

Situated across the street from the Ford Motor Company Central Office Building, the Rotunda was originally located in Chicago at the site of the World's Fair in 1934. Henry Ford liked the building so much that he had it dismantled and shipped to Dearborn. It became a tourist attraction (the 5th largest in the US ahead of such stalwarts as the Statue of Liberty and Yellowstone Park) and was beloved by metro Detroiters for its annual Christmas shows that began in the 1950s after an extensive remodeling of the building. Coloring books were given away to young visitors and this was the last one distributed before the building was gutted by flames.

The Detroit Times , December 28, 1928 An article like this detailing the robbing of Orlaw Owen's store at 857 Penniman Street in Plymouth in 1928 surely made him the butt-end of a few cruel jokes. But when you get robbed by a ne-er-do-well in overalls and dancing pumps while your wife is forced to hide in the back room a bit of pity is owed to you.

Model A Restorer's Club News (later shortened to Model A News) December 1962 edition, though I did scan it. What I am including is the first 6 pages which takes us to the feature story about the burning down of the Rotunda in Dearborn on November 9th of that same year.

Somebody is selling this reproduction photo of an actual postcard of a Little Caesar's Pizza Treat store in Garden City that looks to be from the 1960s. After being successful with his first few stores, including the first in Garden City in 1959, Mile Illitch began franchising the Little Caesars brand in the early 1960s, expanding to norther Ohio and Indiana in 1963. It was the original store and operated until 2018. Detroit Free Press , October 11, 1963

Detroit Free Press , February 4, 1859 So maybe my idea for this sort of Historical Society isn't so far afield. It seems that our suburban forebears of the county Wayne in 1859 tried to form their own county named Washington. It was to be comprised of the townships of Livonia, Taylor, Dearborn, Nankin, Brownstown, Redford, Plymouth, Canton, Sumpter, Huron and Van Buren. According to the article below the townships included were all part of the Third District in Wayne County elections. They met at the J. L. Robert's Hotel in Wayne in September of 1852. Detroit Free Press , September 7, 1852 Originally, they proposed some parts of east Washtenaw as well but those inhabitants weren't having any of it. The bill easily passed the Senate but stalled somewhere because I could find no further hits.  Within the new by-laws was the provision that all paupers and persons residing in the County House and in jail who were not residence of the new Washington County would be returned t...

Bear with me my excesses because at heart I am an ascetic. Just as some universities and institutions specialize in certain fields that have no pertinent connection to their curriculum at large so will I on a lesser scale of intelligence and breadth. Such is my passion for bookplates. Despite My Poor Relations having an illustrated cover and being from 1905 those are its only saving graces. The words are twaddle and its readership is even lighter in sheer mass. So I cling to the comfort of its bookplate. That being from The Tabard Inn Library which was a commercial for-profit enterprise that apparently lent out books. Ten thousand revolving bookcases were placed in various drug stores, hotels and even public libraries and rented for 5 cents each after an initial lifetime membership of $3 was purchased, though my ex-libris plate says $1.50. Which is apparently a latter day mechanism meant to stave off bankruptcy for the company. It did not succeed. After the demise of the enterprise th...

Vermont Journal , August 30, 1873 Here's an amusing story of an angry bovine that lived in old Nankin town. A Detroit buyer and seller named Andrew Steadman came to Nankin to buy some heavy horses on the cheap. When he stopped at the home of the farmer he sought the man was on a neighboring farm working. Steadman decided to cut across the fields to reach his destination quicker. Despite being warned of a savage cow he ventured forth. Some way into his journey he heard a thundering sound and looked to the sky in search of storm clouds. Soon enough he realized that a mad cow had him in her sights. After successfully dodging the beast for some time he scampered towards a hollow log and crawled inside. Once safely inside the vessel the cow turned its fury on the dead tree, tearing the log ragged and Steadman's nerves to a screaming mass of fear. Eventually the farmers heard his screams and with the aid of them and their dogs he was freed from his dilemma but not without some ach...

If a thing isn't obscure or of a vintage that is difficult to find then I don't really have much interest in researching or previewing it. In this case the book, author and the bookplate qualify.   I originally picked the book up because I thought that the Boscobel was a ship that sank in Detroit and lay just beneath the water and emitted ghostly lights at night but I was wrong. Though there was a boat-of-sorts, possibly even a ship, by that name which sank it wasn't the one th at I recalled. So the name of an obscure little town in Wisconsin which was written about by a priest suffices to please the eye.    So, too, does the bookplate of this Grosse Pointe Farms structure settled within a block of architectural elegance in that city north of Detroit.    The poems don't particularly resonate with me but given my cretinous nature that is a given. Another thing of note, to me, is that this was a former University of Detroit book as well as ex-libris of the Conv...

This 112-year-old real photo post card of Ira F. Johnson's homestead in Romulus is for sale currently for $30. Were it a modest price I'd have already purchased it but I can just lift the picture and pretend that I own it instead. Detroit Free Press, March 7, 1938 I'm envious of Mr. Johnson for two reasons: because of his glorious house and the fact that he owned a newspaper, The Romulus Roman among his other occupations which included notary public and deputy sheriff. All at the age of 74 to boot. Detroit Free Press , June 7, 1940 He was also active in a group called the Three Score and Ten Michiganders . They were native Michiganders who were septuagenarians or older, still lived in state and had no criminal record. Meetings were held on the first Thursday of each month where cards, music and games were played. Their June 7, 1940 meeting was at the Palmer Park Casino. Members included Charles C. Brewe, M. W. Scott, John A. Williams, Edward H. Maske and, of course, John...

During the Civil War noted poet Walt Whitman visited battlefield hospitals to give comfort to the maimed, including his own brother. He wrote about many of them in his poetry and prose and eventually wrote in his official capacity for the U. S. government on behalf of veterans receiving pensions. One such recipient was a Nankin farmer named Reuben Farwell (or "little Mitch" as he referred to him in his book "Specimen Days".). Several references refer to both Plymouth and Nan kin, of which Plymouth was a part of said township, as his home but Nankin is the preferred location.  They met in 1864 while Farwell was suffering from a crippling foot injury at Armory Square Hospital in Washington D. C. After spending several months there Farwell was released back to the 1st Michigan Calvary where he finished out his enlistment. The men exchanged letters for a short time afterwards and then rekindled their correspondence in 1875 when Whitman began recollecting on his past f...