The Nankin Township Historical Society

Detroit Free Press , December 21, 1846 If you dig around enough concerning any topic you're bound to find something shocking and in this case, contrary to what you've known hitherto. Signal of Liberty , December 26, 1846 Founded in 1816 The American Colonization Society was formed to send African Slaves back to their native continent, namely a colony established in Liberia. While the article concerning Vermont below shows that the causes seemed genuine insofar as ending slavery the movement became loathed by William Lloyd Garrison, formerly a member of the group, when he became convinced that their ultimate goal was to limit the amount of free slaves in North America. Burlington Sentinel and Democrat , June 18, 1824 Fast forward to 1846 and some prominent members of the Nankin area became mouthpieces for the movement. The meeting in Livonia at the Baptist Meeting House included, notably, Gen. John E. Schwarz, the abolitionist whose home supposedly was a stop on the Underground ...

Detroit Free Press , September 15, 1860 Now this is the kind of story that I like. That of utter nonsense disguised as patriotism. While there are many articles mentioning the actual raising of a so-called Douglas Pole most were very brief snippets. After browsing many mentions of Douglas Poles I got wind of the idea that it was a political matter and it made more sense. Not much but some. As in Lincoln vs. Douglas for President. Still there are hardly any mentions of the actual purpose though I did track down a 1950 article discussing some of Iowa's notable raisings. This would be an interesting topic for a book.   The Des Moines Register , May 17, 1950 Anyhow, a Douglas Pole was raised in Livonia on September 15, 1860 at the store of Horace Heath near the Nankin Post Office. The raising of Lincoln Poles in the area apparently didn't go as smoothly. Or at least the Free Press chose to highlight the failures since they were opposed to the so-called black republicans (anti slav...

Detroit Free Press , December 9, 1852 The translation from reality to the written page for the Free Press was often an adventure of misinformation. While they usually got the story almost correct they seemingly misspelled, misnamed and misapplied every rule of fact-checking to get the paper to press as soon as humanly possible. In essence, publishing the story was more important than the story itself. In the case of the death of Chief Tonquish and his son by the same moniker, Tonquish, there are at least four renditions of the story. This one seems to be semi-faithful to the others in some regards and disparate in others. All seem to include a main participant by the name of Tom Sargent (sometimes Sargeant). In this instance the sect of Pottawatomie led by Chief Tonquish were returning to their home on the Livonia/Nankin border, where Schwarzburg was situated in the better portion of the last 75 years of the 19th century, after a day of trading their wares and gathering supplies. They ...

Since I think Donald Trump is a liberal you probably don't want my views on the New Deal. Or as the poet E. E. Cummings called it the "Nude eel". Which is saying a lot since Cummings was a communist during WWI. In 1931 he traveled to the Soviet Union and witnessed firsthand the horrors of the Soviet State. His contempt for FDR and his socialist policies were shared by many poets and writers of that era and they excoriated the President, oft openly referring to him as a cripple. Livonia Township Democrats were obviously on board with the New Deal since it was their party platform and they likely won in a landslide as the Democrats held large majorities in Congress. The flyer likely dates to the 1930s when the New Deal was implemented.

Finally, another local bookplate. This one courtesy of the free book shelves in the atrium at John King Books downtown. I spent $1.80 inside and found 5 free books with ex-libris bookplates outside, with only two being the same. Cool beans. This one dates to 1965 and is from Madonna College Library (now University) and was donated by Sister Many Theresilla. It was found in the book :The Word Dwells Among Us: A Forward to the Biblical Books by William E. Lynch, C. M. The stamp is an added bonus of the freebie.

Velvet Peanut Butter jars like the one shown here, circa 1948, aren't readily available but I had a chance to buy one a few years back for $20 but was too cheap to do so. Then it was gone. I did manage to snag a smaller sized version a year or two later but the classic 2 pounder is quite rare. I'll get one eventually.

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...

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...