The Nankin Township Historical Society

Plymouth Mail , November 3, 1899 If Schrader was the ambulatory mode of transport for the sick in the middle 20th century then the horse-driven hearse was the chariot that took one to the Great Beyond. This advert for Lewis & Lewis Funeral Directors of Plymouth almost makes one wish to time travel back for death. Their offices were above A. A. Tafft's Store in Plymouth.

The Plymouth Mail ,  January 12, 1956 I noticed last week that the Schrader Ambulance seemingly took a lot of patients to local hospitals and, since I'm often researching it, Eloise in particular. It made me wonder if they were also the funeral home people and sure enough they were. Which I confirmed through Myrilla Schrader's obituary from 2014. As one of the family owners of the funeral home her job, among other things, was driving the ambulance. In fact, during WWII when her husband Bud was serving overseas her and a sister-in-law took over the entire operation for nearly two years. The Plymouth Mail, October 18, 1946

Since I'm prone to wandering and never finishing a task at hand and I don't wish to clutter another laptop with a multitudinous crush of newspaper articles I'm going to do mass drops of them for certain subjects that I don't plan to do in-depth research on. The small defunct town of Peters, Michigan is one such subject. An Etsy listing for a general store in the town from the 1890s got me intrigued in it and as with most things I fritter on the edge of the thing and then leave it like the ghost town that it is. Not this time! Henry Kaufman, said proprietor of the store, was also the postmaster and probably other jacks of all trades as most industrious men of small towns seemingly were. One thing we know about him is that he sold DeLand's Cap Sheaf soda pop. As for Peters, Michigan, the Michigan State Gazeteer from 1897 states it as such, "A country postoffice in St. Clair county, 25 miles southwest of Port Huron." Some of the other notable personages of ...

I've just discovered the  Northville Cemetery Massacre (never mind what the title says on YouTube" because they changed it like studios did on many low budget flicks; it shows as "NCM" during the movie.). It's B-flick movie about a motor cycle gang that takes over Northville after being wrongly accused of crimes that they didn't commit and features voice-overs by a then unknown Nick Nolte and music from Michael Nesmith of the Monkees. It was filmed primarily in Northville in 1972 but wasn't released until 1975. As I'd hoped there are many recognizable sights in the movie including both the Rural Hill Cemetery and a brief shot of the Cherry Hill Cemetery. The footage of Cherry Hill Cemetery takes place at about 45:45 while Rural Hill is at the center of the climax of the film.

Plymouth Mail , January 7, 1910 William Mott may have been the area's worst wagon driver having been hit by an interurban twice within 6 months while crossing the tracks. In the second incident at Cady's Corners, which killed his horses, he claimed not to hear the approaching train. Which is not uncommon in Eloise lore where many victims voiced the same notion that a train, both freight and interurban, was upon them before they realized as much. Hence, the gates at rail crossings.

Plymouth Mail , February 21, 1919 If you've never heard of a grave bomb you're not alone. I've seen many devices to thwart grave robberies but nothing like this. The picture depicts what the device strapped to James Havershaw's casket at South Lyon Cemetery looked like. He died of diphtheria in 1883 and his father was fearful of grave robbers and purchased the device. Upon his own death in 1919 the son was removed, presumably to place father and son side by side, and the bomb was discovered. it was put on display at H. L. Richardson's store in town.

Plymouth Mail , June 23, 1899 The life of the prominent people of our towns are much the same as ours except that their trevails are given greater attention. If you recall, during the building of Henry Sustedt's [sic] factory at Romulus a tornado knocked it to the pilings. In this case it was spooked horses that knocked him down from his carriage to the iron bridge crossing the Rouge in Wayne causing a broken shoulder, two ribs, thigh and a thumb.

Detroit Free Press , May 24, 1893 I almost gave up on my many Romulus searches based solely upon it not being Nankin specific and had I done so would have missed out on this very important article concerning a place which is meaningful to many of us, William Ganong Cemetery. During a tornado outbreak on May 23, 1893 the farm of Frederick Kugath was hit by a heavy windstorm and he was struck by a board blown from one of the buildings and died from his injuries. Also damaged was the early skeleton of the newly built Henry Sustedt Furniture store Weston Building which was completely destroyed though eventually rebuilt. The barn of S. R. Kingsley was blown from its foundation with windows blown out and fruit and forest trees damaged. Other locations hit with damage were Dexter, which was slammed by a tornado, Howell, Ypsilanti, Jackson, Holly, Fenton, Benton Harbor, Lapeer, Adrian and Rogers City.

Well, at least one envelope from Mead's Mills exists. I haven't seen any with its postmark but one will eventually surface somewhere. I'm not sure if J. T. Whiting sent it or if Ramsdell received the letter in care of him.

Plymouth Mail , May 4, 1888 An abbreviated clipping of the Newburg happenings from May, 1888 shows not only the elk horn findings but the fire hazards known by the LeVan family. Note the difference in the spelling that the road by that name. Anyway, an infant of E. P. LeVan was burned on the hands after playing too close to a bonfire and falling in. Which is clearly the fault of the E. P. Levans! Also, another LeVan named J. A. was injured while fighting fire. The eternal flame was most assuredly part of their misfortune that week.

I bought these three carte de visites on eBay and should probably scans them but phone photos will suffice at this point. This first shot of a young teenage girl was shot by photographer E. B. Lewis whose studio was on the first floor over the Express Office. The next two shots are of two young men who were photographed by Sam B. Revenaugh. The latter card states that the studio was on the Ground Floor Gallery, wherever that might be. I should be embarrassed of myself for not doing even the obligatory cursory glance on the named photographers but I haven't and have zero motivation to do so.

Plymouth Mail , October 12, 1894 Eloise wasn't the only institution taking on the perilously insane. Kate Dusseau,22, of Monroe had been confined to the St. Joseph Retreat in Dearborn but her parents thought her to be cured of her insanity. The Muncie Daily Herald , October 9, 1894 She proved them wrong the next morning when she slit her throat, cutting a 6 inch gash and completely severing her windpipe. She had been ill and apparently became insane due to a love affair that her parents didn't approve of. She was not expected to live though I can find no evidence that she perished. The Times Herald , October 9, 1894

Plymouth Mail , December 30, 1887 While the diphtheria outbreak in Livonia Township in late 1887 was by no means the beginning of the plague in Michigan, or worldwide, it was the apex of a tragic year for the Kingsley family. Brothers Oren, 12, and Wallie Kingsley, 10, both became sick around Christmas and perished before the holiday struck, with funerals for one on Christmas Eve and the other on the holiest Christian day of the year. Before he died Oren requested that all of his toys be given to his younger brother, not expecting him to also die a few days later. The Kingsley family had lost their two young daughters Ivy, 5, and Mamie, 6, in January 1887 as well. Though, both of their stones give an incorrect year of death so this might not be accurate. All the same, 4 young children dead within a year or two is a hardship beyond words. These were far stronger people than we'll ever be.

Plymouth Mail , September 25, 1908 I'm not sure what this means, presumably cereal, but if you don't buy it the children of the corn are coming for you. Get to Gittins Bros., y'all. OR ELSE.

Here's a 1959 postcard of Satellite Lanes in Inkster. It was located at Michigan and Gulley. It had a space age look and apparently a coffee shoppe where the author of this card, Maggie, had breakfast on August 28th before sending this card to her parents Mr/ & Mrs. Harry M. Frost? in Akron, Ohio.

Plymouth Mail , May 18, 1888 I'm a conspiracy theorist on many subjects that others might think bizarre but in this instance I'm almost convinced that there was foul play concerning the Rouge River bridges. The statistical likelihood that two bridges--one near Newburg and the Merriman Bridge--in one area would collapse save for some kind of natural disaster, which is quite possible, is almost zero. Then again, the first article states that all the bridges in the area were in bad shape and I'm sure that the loads were too heavy, but I digress. Although it's highly doubtful that these were some of the bridges that were mentioned in the Schwarzburg articles from the 1830s, I suppose that it's possible. One of the accidents included August Blonk who was crossing the bridge near Newburg when he and his horses toppled over and he sustained a spine injury. The other incident included a Mr. Cole who was hauling a load of sand over the Merriman Bridge when it fell flat to th...

Plymouth Mail , May 17, 1907 Death was in the familial framework of Newburg in the May 17, 1907 edition of the Plymouth Mail . The most prominent one belonging to Emma Smith Knickerbocker who passed way at the age of 55 and was buried in Newburg Cemetery. The Rev. W. G. Stephens eulogized her, reading from John:14:18, "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you." Other names mentioned are Mrs. William King, Mrs. Alan Gier, Mrs. Sarah Royal, Mrs. Walter LeVan, Mrs. James LeVan, Harry Bassett, Mrs. Reuben Barnes and Glenn Smith.

7107 N. Wayne Road, Wayne, Michigan PArkway 2-7740 WE DELIVER Fried Chicken, steaks, chops, sea food, pizza, sandwiches, cold drinks, sundaes, pies and cakes. Hours: 6 A.M. to 3 A.M. Sundays: 1 P.M. to 8 P.M.

Plymouth Mail , June 22, 1888 Even though they spelled James Kuebaugh's name wrong they gave us some of the intimate details of his unfortunate death. He passed from tuberculosis at the home of John Wallace of Wayne at the age of 30. The funeral took place from the Congregational Church.

Plymouth Mail , October 21, 1887 It's a good thing that I randomly searched some cabinet card photographer's names tonight because they led me to this clipping concerning the death of Hiram Sackett as well as the setting of his stone at Ganong Cemetery. Hiram was a brakeman on the railroad and died on the job. That his father Alonzo erected a fine monument is an understatement. This is a bittersweet clipping but one I'd rather have than not.

There'll be some jumping around here because that's what I do. This photo of Earl Trinkhaus by photographer Edwin P. Baker of Plymouth is currently available on eBay for $150. It's a great photo but...a little too rich for my tastes. I could only find incidental mentions of Trinkhaus in the newspapers but am told that he was a carpenter who lived in Northville and is buried at Riverside Cemetery. Baker was a longtime photographer in the village having worked there most of his 60 years in the profession. He died at the residence of his granddaughter Mrs. C. H. Rauch in P lymouth. He was married to Marie Marshall in 1853 and they had two children. All three preceded him in death. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery. The Plymouth Mail , November 19, 1915 As is Ephraim Partridge, who I assume had a much more eventful life than having been the father-in-law of Laura Ruppert Partridge , the schoolteacher who went insane and drowned herself in the lake at Eloise. Mr. Partridge...