winter 2005 lost ypsilanti speaks - in this issue the ......the annual membership meeting of the...

Lost Ypsilanti Speaks -The Starkweather Fountain

Official publication of the Ypsilanti Historical Society, featuring historical articles and reminiscesof the people and places in the Ypsilanti area.

In This Issue...

Lost Ypsilanti –The Starkweather Fountain ______ 1There has been a great deal of speculation regard-ing the disappearance of this fountain which wasdonated to the City in 1889.

Lucy Osband – the Forgotten Lady 3Lucy Osband and her husband William “..influ-enced the life of this part of the country for half acentury.”

Preston Thomas Tucker _________ 7Preston Tucker lived the “American Dream” andspent many years in Ypsilanti.

First Baptist Church of Ypsilanti __ 8The First Baptist Church of Ypsilanti dates backto 1828.

Phyllis Diller’s Time in Ypsilanti _ 11Several Ypsilanti residents remember Phyllis Dillerwhen she lived in Ypsilanti before she achievedstardom.

The Campbells –Jewels and Insurance ___________ 13Bill Nickels reports on the history of Betty andJim Campbell in Ypsilanti and their many contri-butions to the community.

Shorts:Antique Mini-Lamps on Display inMuseum ____________________ 15This collection of unique mini-lamps will be ondisplay through the Christmas holidays.

Genealogical Society Meeting ____ 17The meetings of the Genealogical Society ofWashtenaw County are free and open to the public.

Society Briefs:From the President’s Desk ________ 2Museum & Archive Hours ______ 12Archives Advisory Board Report __ 17Museum Advisory Board Report _ 17News from the Fletcher-WhiteArchives _____________________ 18Upcoming YHS MembershipMeetings ____________________ 18Membership Application _______ 20

WINTER 2005

Mary Ann Newberry was born into theprominent Newberry family of Detroit.Her father, Elihu Newberry, was a mer-chant and farmer. Her brother John was afamous member of Congress, and heruncle Walter L. Newberry was a Chicagomerchant, banker and land speculator.

She married John Starkweather in 1839,and the couple later moved to a farm nearYpsilanti. John Starkweather did well in thelocal real estate market, and the two movedinto the Italianate house at 303 North Hu-ron in 1875. It was there that JohnStarkweather died in 1883. The followingyear, Mrs. Starkweather inherited a smallfortune from her uncle. Because she had nochildren she used her inheritance to makecontributions to local charities andchurches. Over the remaining years shegave the Ypsilanti community major giftsincluding the following: the Hebe fountainon South Huron Street, the StarkweatherMemorial Chapel at Highland Cemetery,Starkweather Hall on the campus of East-ern Michigan University, and in 1890 shegave her North Huron Street home to theLadies Library Association.

It was in 1889, when the Ypsilanti watermains were installed that Mrs.Starkweather gave a very unique fountainto the City of Ypsilanti. It was made ofbronze and sat on a granite foundationwith a height of 12 ¼ feet above the curb.On the North and South sides of thefountain were drinking bowls for horses,on the East and West faces were bowls forpeople, and at the bottom on the four cor-ners were bowls for dogs. At the top of thefountain was the figure of Hebe, the God-

dess of Youth and Cup Bearer to the Gods.The fountain was the work of the J.L.Mott Iron Works of New York. The origi-nal cost of the fountain was $750.

In April of 1932 the fountain was dis-mantled because of some problems and bythat time there were more modern meansavailable for getting a drink. The City ofYpsilanti had planned to place the statuein the park behind the Ladies Library.However, it was placed in storage for

The Starkweather fountain in the late1890s when it stood in front of the Yp-silanti Savings Bank (now City Hall) onSouth Huron Street.

continued on page 16

2Ypsilanti Gleanings • Winter 2005

From the President’s DeskBy Alvin E. Rudisill

Board of Trustees:Virginia Davis-BrownWard FreemanKathryn HowardGerald JenningsKaren NickelsJohn PappasAlvin RudisillDiane SchickBob Southgate

Museum Advisory Board:Virginia Davis-BrownKathleen CampbellJoan CarpenterGrace CornishMidge FahndrichKathryn HowardDorothy HumphreyJack LivisayKaren NickelsJoy ShulkeBob Southgate

Archives Advisory Board:Margaret BestMorrell BooneMaria DavisGerald JenningsJohn PappasMarcia PhillipsHank PrebysJane SchmiedekeLisa Walters

Endowment FundAdvisory Board:Peter FletcherWard FreemanMike JamesPaul KuwikDan MaloneyJack MinzeyKaren NickelsSteve PierceJohn SalcauMartha SpencerAlvin Rudisill

YpsilantiHistorical Society220 North Huron StreetYpsilanti, Michigan 48197Telephone: 734-482-4990www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org

The Annual Membership Meeting of theYpsilanti Historical Society will be heldon Sunday, December 4, 2005 at 1:30pm. We will be voting on new Board ofTrustee members who have been identi-fied by our Nominating Committee(Steve Pierce – Chair, Marcia Phillips,and Karen Nickels). The meeting will beshort so bring your friends and enjoyrefreshments and the Christmas decora-tions in the Museum.

Thanks to Bill Nickels who is in the pro-cess of repairing the front porch on theMuseum. Bill is replacing several of thebalusters and the entire porch railing hasbeen sanded and repainted. The hedge infront of the porch has been trimmed soour refurbished porch can be seen fromthe sidewalk and street.

This issue of the Gleanings contains oursecond article on the history of churchesin Ypsilanti. Thanks to David Thayer wehave included the history of the FirstBaptist Church. The Spring 2006 issueof the Gleanings will include an articleon the history of St. John the BaptistCatholic Church. We would like to in-clude the history of other Ypsilantichurches in the 2006 Summer, Fall andWinter issues of the Gleanings so if youare the historian of your church pleasecontact me about a possible article.

We have two new displays in the Mu-seum. The display on antique mini-lamps

is featured in an article in this issue of theGleanings. Another new display is onmilitary uniforms used in World War II.We appreciate very much all the efforts byVirginia Davis-Brown, Chair of the Mu-seum Advisory Board, and the many vol-unteers who work with her to develop andset up the Museum displays.

We are trying to cover part of the costsof publishing the Ypsilanti Gleaningswith the sale of advertising, sponsorshipsand business memberships. A new cat-egory of support is “sponsor.” Sponsor-ship of a single issue of the Gleanings is$20.00. Sponsor names are listed on theback page of the Gleanings along withadvertisers and YHS business members.If you like the “new look” and would liketo support our efforts please considerbeing a sponsor for a future issue.

We are looking for authors interested inpublishing in the Gleanings. We haveseveral topics that need to be researchedor we will consider other articles of inter-est to potential authors. Please contactme if you are interested in publishing inthe Gleanings.

Bill and Karen Nickels have again volun-teered to host the annual YHS Yard Sale.The event is scheduled for June 3, 2006.Donated items can be dropped off at theMuseum. If you need to have items pickedup please call me at 734-484-3023. ■

3www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org • Winter2005

While doing research for this article I wasimpressed and amazed with how muchinfluence certain individuals can have on acommunity. Just as amazing is howquickly we can forget about these individu-als and their contributions with the passingof time. William and Lucy Osband weretwo people who had a significant impacton the Ypsilanti community during the late1800’s. One written account, found in theYpsilanti Historical Society Archives, re-ferred to the Osbands as “…two citizenswho influenced the life of this part of thecountry for half a century.”

Lucy Osband –the Forgotten LadyBy Dr. Erik J. Pedersen

and the “Ypsi Dixits” gave her an opportu-nity to express her insight and knowledgeon a variety of topics. (Ypsilanti Archives)To reflect on all of the accomplishmentsand contributions this couple gave to theCity of Ypsilanti would require more spacethan could be provided in this article.Since my initial interest in doing this re-search was centered on Lucy Osband, thisarticle will focus on her career as a profes-sor at the Michigan State Normal Schooland the influence she had in starting thePhysical Education Department.

IntroductionWilber Bowen, Lloyd Olds, FannyCheever Burton, Ruth Boughner, andAugusta Harris are names from the pastthat are frequently mentioned when re-ferring to the history of the PhysicalEducation Department at Eastern Michi-gan University. All of these persons wereimportant and all deserve recognition.However, one name that frequently ap-pears in archival records has received vir-tually no recognition. This personarrived on the Michigan State NormalCollege Campus in the 1880’s and pro-moted “Physical Culture” before anyoneelse. Without her influence, WilberBowen would very likely have remainedin the Normal College Math Depart-ment, the Physical Education facilitycompleted in 1894 would never havebeen built, and the Physical Culture De-partment established in 1894 wouldnever have been realized.

Why haven’t the contributions of such aninfluential and dynamic individual beenrecognized? Why has the name of LucyAldrich Osband all but remained anony-mous whenever the history of PhysicalEducation at the Michigan State NormalSchool been discussed? The purpose ofthis article is to recognize this “ForgottenLady” and highlight her role in the estab-lishment of one of the nation’s first Physi-cal Education preparation programs.

Lucy Aldrich was born in a log farm-house in Arcadia, New York. She camefrom a strong Quaker and Puritan familybackground. Very early in her child-hood, Lucy began suffering from poorhealth. Throughout her life she wasweak and frail. Several times during herteaching career, she needed to take longleaves of absence to recover from thestress related to her teaching responsibili-ties. Because of ill-health, Lucy was notalways able to attend school. Conse-quently, her parents, who were bothteachers, supervised most of her educa-tion at home. They insisted on goodstudy habits and expected Lucy to reciteevery lesson perfectly. Lucy later attrib-uted her conviction for thorough andaccurate work to her parents.

Despite poor health and a home educa-tion, Lucy Aldrich became an outstand-ing teacher and scholar. During herteaching career, she taught courses in cal-culus, analytical geometry, literature,modern language, botany, physiology,and “Swedish Drill.” Her college studiesand professional background were pri-marily in the natural sciences. Botanywas her major area of interest. She even-tually became head of the Natural Sci-ence Department at Michigan StateNormal College. It is unusual and re-markable that someone with such serioushealth problems and extensive academicbackground would support and promotephysical activity.

At the age of sixteen, Lucy Aldrich en-tered the Newark Union School. She

Lucy Osband.

William and Lucy Osband were involvedin many community activities. William,in particular, was a member of severalcivic organizations and was often electedto leadership positions in those groups.Lucy was an early member of the LadiesLiterary Club and twice served as theorganization’s president. However, theprimary reason this couple had such aninfluence on the Ypsilanti communitywas the fact that William was the editorand proprietor of The Ypsilantian, thelocal paper. Archival resources referredto The Ypsilantian as a paper of “highliterary quality and that the articles re-flected a wide range of interests” (Yp-silanti Archives). Another sourceindicated that it was “outspoken andfearless.” The Ypsilantian was consideredas lively reading, and people of the com-munity regarded it as their own.

Lucy Osband wrote most of the editorials.She also wrote a column called “YpsiDixits.” Lucy had a keen sense of humor continued on page 4

“Her primary motivationcame from the conviction thatphysical exercise was impor-tant to the health and welfareof the students she cared somuch about.”


Lucy Osband –the Forgotten Ladycontinued from page 3

was the only girl in a class of thirteen.Because Lucy was a girl, there was noguarantee that employment would beavailable upon graduation. However, thequality of her academic efforts was recog-nized and at the age of nineteen she wasable to obtain a teaching position atPhelps High School in New York.Within a year she was appointedPreceptress of Walworth Academy. MissAldrich remained in this position for twoyears. Soon the efforts of teaching onceagain affected her health. She needed abetter climate to ease her lung problems.In a letter to Fredrich B. McKay, a mem-ber of the Eastern Michigan College Fac-ulty, Lucy Osband’s daughter indicatedthat her mother suffered from “incipientT.B.” at that time in her life. (M.Osband 1944).

Lucy Aldrich became principal of theSylavan Villa Seminary, a young ladiesschool in Standardsville, Virginia. Judg-ing from several historical accounts, it wasduring this period of her life that LucyAldrich was introduced to outdoor activi-ties and the benefits of physical exercise.One account indicated that “…Here shelearned the lessons taught by the foothillsof the Blue Ridge, and often joined par-

ties of excursionists to the natural placesof the state. Altogether it was an out-of-door life for the mind as well as the body.”(Aurora, 1894, p26).

After two years in Virginia, Lucy Aldrichreturned to New York and enteredGenesee College in Lima, New York.Genesee was only the second college in thecountry which did not discriminateagainst women in its admission require-ments. Lucy did so well in her studies thatshe earned the distinction of being classvaledictorian. In the same graduating classwas William M. Osband whom Lucy mar-ried two months after graduation.

The Move to MichiganAfter graduation and their marriage,William and Lucy Osband taught at theGouverneuer Wesleyan Seminary in NewYork. In 1864 and 1865, they both ac-cepted positions at Albert University inBelleville, Ontario, Canada. They ar-rived in Michigan when William becamethe principal of Northville UnionSchool. After three years, they purchaseda home in Ypsilanti. The birth of theironly child, Marna and homemaking du-ties kept Lucy temporarily out of theclassroom. However, when William ac-cepted a position at Olivet College, Lucywas coerced into teaching Greek.Within one year, Albion College offeredboth William and Lucy department headpositions. He took over the Natural Sci-

ence Department and she became headof the Modern Language Department.Lucy also served as the universityPreceptress. After six years at Albion,William and Lucy returned to theirhome in Ypsilanti.

Lucy Osband’s interest in the natural sci-ences increased when she taught in Vir-ginia. Her travels in the south and eastfamiliarized her with the plants fromthose regions. Marine Life also fasci-nated her. With these interests andbackground, she became an instructor inthe Natural Science Department atMichigan State Normal College in 1883.When a chairmanship in that depart-ment was established in 1884, she washired to fill it. The accomplishments ofLucy Osband in the Natural Sciences aretoo numerous to describe in this article.Attention will focus instead on an areafor which she also accomplished a greatdeal and received very little recognition -Physical Education.

Lucy’s Interest in PhysicalCultureImmediately upon arriving at the Nor-mal School, Lucy Osband started teach-ing classes in “Swedish Work.” Theseclasses were taught in addition to her re-sponsibilities in the Natural Science De-partment. She received no extra pay forteaching “Swedish Work,” only the satis-faction of knowing that exercise was con-tributing to the health and welfare of thestudents. Lucy would take her physiol-ogy classes into the University Chapel,stand students in the aisles, and leadthem in “Swedish Routine Movements”with dumbbells and Indian Clubs. (M.Osband 1944). Eventually she was givena basement room in the Old Main build-ing, where her program included militarymarching, wands, pulley weights, and“Swedish Apparatus.” The former cam-pus gymnasium had burned down in1873 so there wasn’t an appropriate placeto hold Physical Culture classes. LucyOsband would eventually change that.

The two photographs shown were prob-ably taken from the new Physiology andHygiene Course developed by LucyOsband in 1886-1887. The new courseWomen’s Physiology Class in the Old Main Building – 1880s.


included “practical work” in the applica-tion of the physiological laws of gymnas-tics. These sessions were held on aweekly basis in the basement of the OldMain Building.

Lucy Osband persuaded many others tojoin her physical culture classes. NormalSchool instructors from other disciplineswere “fair game.” Two of her recruits,Wilber Bowen and Carolyn Crawford,made significant contributions to thefield of Physical Education. WilberBowen was an instructor in the NormalCollege Math Department. Lucy con-vinced him that physical education was agrowing discipline and that he shouldconsider pursuing a career in that area.He agreed! While teaching math, hestudied physiology at the University ofMichigan. He also began teachingphysical culture classes at the NormalSchool in 1888. Bowen eventually be-came the first Physical Culture Depart-ment Chairman. Bowen wrote elevenbooks and published many research ar-ticles. He was recognized as a leader inthe field for over forty years and is re-ferred to as the “Father of Physical Edu-cation in the State of Michigan.”

Lucy Osband’s daughter Marna, recalls“…at the Normal School, besides buildingup the Natural Science Department, hermother established out of her physiologyclasses, the Department of Physical Educa-tion.” (M. Osband 1944). Lloyd Olds, inan article titled “A Brief History of theHealth, Physical Education, Recreation,and Athletic Department” noted that LucyOsband “arranged for additional classes on

the theory and practice of Physical Cul-ture.” (Olds N-D). This course was firstoffered at the Normal School in 1888 andwas one of the first teacher training coursesin Physical Culture at any college or uni-versity in the country.

The New GymnasiumOne achievement for which LucyOsband received some recognition wasthe construction of a new physical edu-cation facility which was completed in1894. “How a Wily Woman Got a Gymfor E.M.U.” is how Ralph Chapman de-scribed Lucy Osband’s approach for ob-taining funds to build a new physicaleducation facility. (Chapman 1977).Lucy’s approach provides an interestingand insightful story.

The Normal College had been without a“Physical Culture” facility since the firstgymnasium was destroyed by fire in1873. Due to the lack of a Physical Edu-cation facility, Wilber Bowen left theNormal College in 1891 to teach at theUniversity of Nebraska. Lucy Osbandconvinced Professor Sill, Normal SchoolPrincipal, that a new gymnasium wasnecessary. However, convincing the StateBoard of Education was another matter.The State Board, in the early 1890’s, didnot think favorably about “Physical Cul-ture.” The timing and approach for re-questing funds had to be just right!

The opportunity for a formal appeal pre-sented itself during a visit to the NormalCollege by the State Board of Education.

continued on page 6

1894 – Gymnasium.


Professor Sill appointed two professors tospeak on behalf of the building. “Mrs.Osband knew enough about legislatorsto know that speeches would have noeffect. So she prepared a dozen excep-tionally skilled girls to put on a sample ofwhat the actual class work was.” (M.Osband 1994). However, Professor Sillrefused to allow the girls to perform. Hedid not like anything unusual and felttoo much confusion would result inclearing the stage. Another NormalSchool professor trained some boys toclear the stage in just two minutes. Prin-cipal Sill still refused. “Then for one ofthe few times in her life, Mrs. Osbandresorted to a ‘woman’s weapon,’ shecried. Sill relented.” (M. Osband 1944).

As was expected, the speeches proved to beineffective. Members of the state legisla-ture told how they got exercise by cuttingwood. “The affair fell flat until a dozenpretty girls, graded as to height, came onstage. At their superb military marching,the legislators pricked up their ears andshowed interest. The Indian club drill hadthem stirred and the dumbbell drill madethem enthusiastic. “Later Principal Silland the State Board president came toMrs. Osband and “told her that her girlshad almost surely won the building.” (M.Osband 1944). They were right - $20,000

was appropriated by the state legislature,and the citizens of Ypsilanti donated abuilding site on West Cross Street. Thenew gymnasium was dedicated on May 18,1894. It served the university for 71 yearsuntil the Joseph E. Warner Gymnasiumwas completed in 1965.

Once funds for the building had beenobtained, plans for the building neededto be developed. Lucy Osband contactedDr. Dudley Sargent at Harvard Univer-sity and Dr. Luther Gulick at SpringfieldCollege. They provided many ideas forthe building. Gulick even sent detailedplans of the building he designed forSpringfield College. Lucy Osband indi-cated that many of Gulick’s suggestions“…were used in the planning of ourbuilding.” (M. Osband 1944).

It was still to be decided who would headthe new Department of Physical Culture.Lucy Osband recommended to ProfessorSill that Wilber Bowen be appointed tolead the new department. She also rec-ommended that Carolyn Crawford, whostudied under Luther Gulick, be his assis-tant and direct the Women’s Program.Bowen was recruited back from Ne-braska. However, Fanny Cheever Burtonwas hired to head the Women’s Program.

ConclusionsFrom every account and description LucyOsband was an outstanding teacher. Con-sequently, it would be appropriate in clos-ing to share with you a portion of Lucy

Osband’s philosophy on preparing teach-ers. This passage is taken from a presen-tation she made at a Michigan StateTeachers Conference on December 27,1877. The title of her address was “TheRelation of our Teachers to the Moral andReligious Culture of the Future.” Theessence of this message is just as appropri-ate today as it was over 100 years ago.

“History is a record of struggle, but themoral sense of mankind discriminatesbetween those who strive for their ownsalvation and those who labor for the wel-fare of others. From the outset then, weshall consider the teachers words not somuch with reference to the present as tothe future; not as an end, but as a meansto the end. The need of the times is notfor qualified instructors only; we wantmen and women of honest purpose, ofstrong moral fiber, and unyielding prin-ciples, of cultured brain and ardent soul.”

Lucy Osband was Chairman of the Physi-cal Science Department from 1884 untilher retirement in 1895. This was her pri-mary responsibility and she made manysignificant contributions to that depart-ment and the field of botany. However,she also taught classes in “Swedish Work,”trained and recruited teachers in “PhysicalCulture,” developed professional courses,obtained funds for a new gymnasium,and helped recruit faculty to head a newdepartment. She did it all without extrapay, released time or recognition. Herprimary motivation came from the con-viction that physical exercise was impor-tant to the health and welfare of thestudents she cared so much about. Shewas truly an amazing woman!

Despite having physical problems mostof her life, Lucy Osband lived to be 76years old. She was a strong advocate ofphysical exercise and the benefits sheobtained from being physically activeprobably added years and quality to herlife. Selected passages from her memo-rial reflect her struggles with poor healthand the impressions she made in spite ofthose problems:• “Hampered by frail health, she was a

wonderful example of the triumph of

1894 – Inside Gymnasium.




The history of Ypsilanti, Michigan ischocked full of interesting characters.From inventor, Elijah “the Real” McCoy,to the co-founder of S and H GreenStamps concept, we’ve fostered inventivesorts that have impacted the course ofAmerican and even world history. Toss inIggy Pop, the “godfather” of what becameknown as punk rock and I think you cantell that Ypsilantians have been as diversein our contributions as we are in ourmany varied life styles.

One man who lived many years in ourfair city took the concept of the AmericanDream seriously. Had it not been for Fed-eral government harassment and the sub-sequent negative media coverage thatensued, he may have altered the course ofAutomotive history. This man wasPreston Thomas Tucker.

Tucker was born in 1903 in Capac,Michigan and was fascinated by cars fromthe age of 7, when he saw his first auto-mobile. During the years prior to hismove to 110 North Park Street in Yp-silanti, Preston worked as an office boyfor Cadillac, a car salesman, ran a brew-ery, and was a Lincoln Park police officer.In his biography, The Indomitable TinGoose, written by Charles Pearson in1960, Tucker’s mother, Lucille Holmes,recalled her son’s interest in joining thepolice force was fueled by the HarleyDavidson motor cycles and fleet of fastpolice cars as much as it was by an inter-est in law enforcement.

Despite this motherly observation,Preston performed his crime stoppingduties well, and there are documentedcases of his heroics during the ProhibitionEra when Lincoln Park was a haven ofmob booze runners from Canada.Tuckerwas head over heels crazy about speedand had a love of the Indianapolis 500.He formed a friendship and, in 1935, abusiness partnership with Harry Miller,who for many years was the leading auto-motive engine designer in the world and

who’s engines powered cars that wonmany of the 500s.

Meanwhile, Preston’s mom, Mrs.Holmes had moved to Ypsilanti and setup a company called Ypsilanti Machinewhich had a facility that backed up tothe house on North Park Street. Theplant faced North Grove Street and in1959 became the birthplace of MarshPlating, one of our cities leading employ-

rets and contracted Ypsilanti Machine toproduce them. Shortly thereafter, the Fed-eral government, in what may have fore-shadowed future government problems,confiscated Tucker’s patents and royaltyrights.

Shortly thereafter, Tucker uprooted andmoved his family and crew to New Or-leans to form a company with shipbuilder, Andrew Higgins. The plan was toproduce machine gun turrets and enginesfor the PT Boats that Higgins was build-ing for the military, but power strugglesand similar personalities between Prestonand Mr Higgins caused some fallings outand that venture lasted only a year.Preston Tucker, his family and many ofhis staff returned to Ypsilanti.

Cars were Preston’s love and even duringthe turret and New Orleans years he hadit in his mind to combine his vision, hiscolleague’s skills and his ability to sell“ice boxes to Eskimos” to launch an au-tomobile company that would offer anautomobile faster, safer and with morecurb appeal than America had ever seen.World War II was finally over and thecombination of a robust economy, troopscoming back along with the public clam-oring for something different in the fam-ily sedan, made the timing perfect.

The concept for the Tucker Torpedo wasbeing born, right in our own backyard. Afew years back, long time Ypsilanti resi-dent Nick Stamos shared a memory ofwhen, as a kid, he and Johnny Tucker,the youngest of Preston and Vera’s 5 chil-dren, were sneaking a peak at some fu-turistic renderings of a car right out of aBuck Rogers movie. A number of render-ings were done and even some scalemodels while Tucker tried to find inves-tors at the local Masonic Lodge, which isthe building currently housing The Riv-erside Arts Center. Some meetings werealso held at the Detroit Athletic Clubbut things weren’t quite gelling yet.

A magazine article appeared in PICmagazine in late 1945 with drawings andtalk about Tucker’s Torpedo On Wheelsand the public clamored for more. Thewheels were in motion but Detroit wasn’tthe area to compete with the Big 3 itseemed.

PrestonThomas TuckerBy Mark Boone


ers and current owner of the Tuckerhouse. There were also several barn stylebuildings behind the Tucker home andthey were used as design and test an-nexes for Ypsilanti Machine.

A 1941 city directory lists PrestonTucker as sales manager for YpsilantiMachine. Ypsilanti Machine performedcontract work for the US Military and asWW II raged Tucker and his teamworked to developed an armored CombatCar with a top speed in excess of 100mph and a patented revolutionary designfor a machine gun turret. The US mili-tary saw no advantage to the speed of thecar but was very impressed with the tur-

Tucker’s Combat Car. The US Militaryfailed to see the advantage of 117 mph butthey liked the Machine Gun Turret.

June 19, 1947. Preston Tucker with hisdream machine.


The building in which a congregationworships is not the church. Our forefa-thers were speaking more correctly whenthey spoke of the building as the “meet-ing house.” This left the word, church,to mean the people, the membership,the congregation.

In 1825 Moses Clark, a “Hardshell Bap-tist,” is reported to have preached thefirst sermon in Ypsilanti. Before therewas any formal organization, occasionalservices were conducted by three pio-neers of the Baptist Sect, Boothe, Powell,and Loomis. M.E.D. Trowbridge in herbook, “History of the Baptists in Michi-gan,” constituted the First BaptistChurch of Ypsilanti in 1828. She says,“A church was organized between Yp-silanti and Ann Arbor in 1828.”

In 1836, the first formal organization ofa Baptist Church was effected under theleadership of Elder J.S. Twiss of Ann Ar-bor along with sixteen members. Theymet in a brick schoolhouse located be-hind Woodruff School - now known asthe New Beginnings Academy on EastMichigan Avenue at Park Street. By1839 the membership was 75. Theypurchased a brick church at 110 NorthRiver Street from the Methodists. TheMethodists had used the building untilthe floor collapsed during a revival. Thebuilding was repaired and used until1847 when the Baptists moved to thechapel in the Seminary Building on thesite where the Ypsilanti High School waslater located on the northwest corner ofCross and Washington Streets. Thebuilding on River Street was later occu-pied by the Charles A. Delano Plumbingand Heating Company and by the auto-mobile license bureau.

In 1846 a new church was erected onthe southwest corner of Cross and Wash-

First BaptistChurchof YpsilantiBy David B. Thayer

ington Streets. The moving of the churchfrom its humble beginning on RiverStreet to the completion of the newbuilding on Washington Street showed areal dedication to the service of Christ.There was only a fifty-six year period oftime during which they built twochurches. The new church was of woodstructure and dedicated June 17, 1847.During this year the ladies formed a Be-nevolent Society with the minister’s wifeas the first President. On December 23,1849, the new church was destroyed byfire. Rebuilding began soon and the dedi-cation of the second structure was onSeptember 4, 1850. In 1855, the ladies’organization became known as the Bap-tist Aid Society.

In 1881, the building was removed and afoundation was laid for a new church ofbrick. The cornerstone was laid July 24,1882, and the new edifice was dedicatedon January 30, 1884 at a cost of$30,000. This Gothic structure had

stained glass windows and a ninety-sixfoot spire. The congregation met in thisnew house of worship under the leader-ship of nine ministers. In 1895 a YoungPeople’s Society was organized with 102members. The men of the church orga-nized a Brotherhood in 1907.

The Reverend William Shaw came to theFirst Baptist Church in January, 1925, asa young, ambitious and dedicated minis-ter. The building located on the comer ofWashington and Cross Street served as thehouse of worship for the Baptists until themorning of Friday, February 19, 1937,when the church burned beyond any pos-sible use. The church was across the streetfrom the city fire department. The fire isbelieved to have started in the basementand burned for a considerable time beforea passerby stopped at the fire departmentto make them aware of the fire.

A congregational meeting was held on theevening of February 20, 1937, at the par-

1836 – This small brick school house wasthe meeting place of the first Baptist con-gregation formed in Ypsilanti.

1938 – First Baptist church built in 1938 with an educational wing added in 1955.

1847 – The chapel in the Seminary Build-ing, the predecessor of the Ypsilanti HighSchool, was used by the Baptists before theybuild their first church.


sonage located at 207 N. WashingtonStreet. The first problem discussed waswhere the church should meet until abuilding could be provided. Real Chris-tian concern was shown in the city for theBaptists. Many places for meetings wereoffered, such as the Masonic Temple,Cleary College, Moore Funeral Home,and nearly every church in the city. It wasdecided to accept the offer of the Presby-terians, and a program was planned sothat the two churches could carry ontheir programs by alternating services. Itwas decided not to rebuild on the samesite. The property was sold and the GeerFuneral Home was built there, nowknown as the Janowiak Funeral Home.

Plans for rebuilding started immediatelyand on Labor Day, 1937, membersloaded and hauled 83,000 salvaged bricksfrom the old church to the new locationat 1110 West Cross Street. Every conceiv-able idea was used to raise money for fi-nancing the building. They had tag-daysales, bake sales, dinners, old newspapercollections and many other schemes forraising money. Less than one third of thevalue of the burned church was coveredby insurance, but with that money, the

land at 1110 West Cross Street was pur-chased for the site of the new and nowcurrent First Baptist Church of Ypsilanti.The site was chosen after studying maps ofchurch membership, as well as looking atthe direction in which the city of Ypsilantiwas growing. The Normal Park neighbor-hood was developing, and this residentialarea with wide-open green spaces providedan open atmosphere that the previous lo-cation did not.

The new church was dedicated October13, 1938. The mortgage was burned No-vember 22, 1940. Historical remindersfrom the previous church are locatedthroughout the 1938 structure. Salvagedbricks literally formed the walls of thenew structure, while other items salvagedare more decorative in nature. Pews inthe balcony were preserved from theburned Gothic structure. The 1882 cor-nerstone is embedded in a stairwell wall.A soot-covered beam is now used as afireplace mantle in the basement. Amarble top buffet was recovered, as wasthe hymnal and attendance registry. Thepicture of Christ at the front of the sanc-tuary was also an item that was not de-stroyed by the 1937 fire, and has becomea focal point of the church as well.

The interior appearance of the currentchurch, adorned yet simple, followed amovement in the non-liturgical churches

of the early 10th century. The belief wasthat a church should be significant untoitself and not resemble other structures,symbolizing the significance religionshould play in life. In order to preventexhibitionism on the part of the choir orworship leaders, the seats for the choirand clergy located in the chancel are di-vided by a central aisle, with the choir intwo sections facing each other and notthe congregation. This allows the congre-gation to direct their worship and praiseto the altar, located in the center of theaisle, and not to the people conductingthe service. Also significant is the unob-structed central aisle that leads to thealtar. The lack of an obstructing bar sym-bolizes the Christian way to God - unob-structed and open to all.

In the mid-1950s, an educational unitaddition to the west of the original struc-ture was added. This three story wingcost $100,000. An office and preschoolwing was added in 1970 to complete thepresent structure.

During the forty years that Rev. WilliamShaw served as pastor, 1925 - 1965, hewas instrumental in starting the WillowRun Community Baptist Church, nowknown as the Immanuel Baptist Churchat 1565 East Forest Avenue in the Wil-low Run area. He also helped to start the

First Baptist church with a classroom and office complex added in 1970.

1884 – The First Baptist church builton the corner of Cross and Washingtonwas used until 1937 when it was de-stroyed by fire.



Grove Road Baptist Church. This churchlater merged with the First BaptistChurch and the property sold to achurch of another denomination. Finan-cial help and moral support were givento struggling new churches inRawsonville, Saline, and Chilson Hills inAnn Arbor, along with the MetropolitanBaptist Church here in Ypsilanti. Thechurch has also had an outreach programfor many years with college students atMichigan State Normal College nowknown as Eastern Michigan University.

It is noted that during 74 years, 1925-1999, only three ministers served as pas-tors. Following the forty year pastorate ofRev. Shaw were: Rev. William Binghamserved as pastor from 1965 to 1980, andhelped to establish the Meals on Wheelsprogram, with the office located at the

First Baptist Church of Ypsilanticontinued from front page 9

rear of the current church building; Rev.Vivan Martindale served as pastor from1981 to 1999; and Rev. Randy Johnsonstarted his pastorate in 2001 and contin-ues as the current pastor.

For almost thirty years, the church haspresented the Living Nativity for threeevenings at Christmas time. The churchcontinues its service of ministry with theInterfaith Hospitality Network, missiontrips, Christmas baskets, social concernfund and monthly offerings to supportlocal organizations. ■

Bibliography:“Baptist Church Organized in Ypsilanti Century

Ago,” Ypsilanti Daily Press, June 2, 1936,Ypsilanti, MI

“Anniversary Celebration – 125th Anniversary,First Baptist Church – 1928-1953, November15-18, 1953”, Ypsilanti, MI

“A Part of Our Heritage,” The Press, April 25,1966, Ypsilanti, MI

“First Baptist Church of Ypsilanti, (undated –about 1978), Miss Nina A. Wilson

1850 – First Baptist church (left), located on the corner of Cross and Washington Streets,was built in 1850 and used until 1981.


Phyllis Ada Driver was born on July 17,1917, the daughter of an insurance man, inLima, Ohio and is widely credited as thefirst woman to successfully pursue a career instand-up comedy, even though she went onto reach new plateaus as an actress, authorand concert pianist, as well as pursuing awide range of humanitarian interests. Start-ing out on a track to become a concert pia-nist, Phyllis Driver attended Chicago’sSherwood Music Conservatory. Her goofysense of humor at Northwestern Universityand her 1939 elopement with first husbandSherwood Diller (“Fang”) put a temporaryend to her musical career. Some say she gother start in Ypsilanti; some say otherwise.

A few Ypsilanti folks remember this outra-geous comedian from long before sheachieved stardom. During WW II Diller’shusband was hired to work at the WillowRun Bomber Plant and they rented anupstairs apartment from Thorvald Marshat 215 1/2 Oakwood in Ypsilanti. Hereare some first-person testimonials.• “Cleaning your house while your kids

are still growing is like shoveling the

Phyllis Diller’sTime inYpsilantiBy Tom Dodd

walk before it stops snowing,” Dillerhas noted, and apparently that ethicwas evident even then. Thor Marsh’sson Bob remembers how Diller’sstacks of garbage bags on the outsidestairway would collect from the bot-tom step to the top step before theirtenants would put them out for theweekly pick-up. “Housework can’t killyou, but why take a chance?” she hassaid in her comedy acts.

• “We saw her years later at Baker’s Key-board Lounge in Detroit,” recalls BobMarsh. “When I re-introduced myselffrom our ringside table, she went onto weave her whole act that nightaround her experiences in Ypsilanti.She told how I was the neighborhoodbully who always chased her son, Pe-ter, around the block. Not only wasthat a fiction, but she elaborated hi-lariously on having a crush on EdDykman, the grocer at the HandyStore on Sheridan Street.”

• There are undocumented tales stillcirculating about Diller’s performingat the local Laundromat, but no realrecord exists of her material in such avenue. Barbara Weiss and VirginiaAbdo recall that Diller sang in thechoir at the Presbyterian Church, “butthat was before our time,” Weiss says.

After her days in Ypsilanti, Diller workedfor the advertising department of a Cali-fornia department store, followed by a jobwriting for an Oakland radio station. Her

ability to make people laugh at commu-nity functions prompted her (with herhusband’s encouragement) to get startedon a career in comedy. Her philosophyapparently worked: “Whatever you maylook like,” Diller has said, “marry a manyour own age! As your beauty fades, sowill his eyesight.” That marriage did notlast, but the humor did.

Phyllis Diller went on to study acting andscrutinized the techniques of her favoritemale comedians, finally making her night-club debut in 1955 at San Francisco’sPurple Onion in a precursor to today’scomedy workshops. Biographer HalErikson notes that eighty-nine additionalweeks at the Purple Onion enabled Dillerto hone her skills to perfection; her firstcomedy record album appeared in 1959,with numerous TV and stage appearancesquickly following suit. Diller developedan outrageous comedy persona, completewith grotesque wigs, garish costumes andher trademark cackling laugh. Thoughalways a favorite with live audiences,Diller was never quite able to sustain herappeal on film, says Erickson. Her 1966TV series “The Pruitts of Southampton”was unsuccessful, as was her only starringfeatures film, ”Did You Hear the Oneabout the Traveling Saleslady?” (1968).She fared somewhat better as a supportingactress in several Bob Hope comedy filmsin the late 1960s (Hope was a longtimeDiller fan).

Phyllis Diller at the 2004 Beverly Hillsspecial screening of MGM’s De-Lovely.Photo: Lester Cohen, WireImage.com.

The Dillers rented the upstairs apartment at 215 Oakwood continued on page 12


In the last two decades, Phyllis Diller hasperiodically altered her public personal-ity, “improving” her plain but distinctivefacial features with plastic surgery, con-centrating more time on piano concertsand less on stand-up comedy and confin-ing her TV appearances to Home Shop-ping programs and “psychic hotline”infotainment half-hours. Perhaps PhyllisDiller’s “funny hausfrau” throne has beenusurped by younger talents, but onemust not forget that Diller was the onewho stuck her neck out first, blazing thetrail for the many Roseannes and BrettButlers who followed. [Hal Erickson]. “Iknow all that Mother, but what have youdone (for me) lately?”

Phyllis Diller’s Time inYpsilanticontinued from front page 11

Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in 1962. Left to right: Margaret Marsh, Robert Marsh,Phyllis Diller, Mildred Fletcher, Thorvald Marsh.

The Handy Store on Sheridan Street, nowreplaced by a house.

tarian endeavors, including: the “Min-utemen Award” from the U.S. TreasuryDepartment; “Distinguished Service Ci-tation” from the Ladies Auxiliary ofVFW; “Humanitarian Award” from theAMC Cancer Research Center and the“USO Liberty Bell Award”. Phyllis Dilleris an Ambassador for CHILDHELPUSA (Living Legacy Award, 1989). Shewas recently honored by the AmericanAcademy of Cosmetic Surgery for havingthe courage to publicly bring plastic sur-gery “out of the closet.” Diller continuesto give and grow and the Women’s Inter-

national Center recognized her in 1990with their Living Legacy Award.

Diller remembered Ypsilanti after all thatsuccess in show business. “She made acontribution to the Save Pease Audito-rium campaign a few years ago,” recallsBarbara Weiss. With all that success sinceYpsilanti, Diller may still adhere to heroriginal sentiment: “I want my childrento have all the things I couldn’t afford.Then I want to move in with them.” Butthey probably won’t be moving back toOakwood Street in Ypsilanti. ■

Ypsilanti Historical SocietyMuseum & Archive HoursThe Museum, located at 220 North Huron Street, is owned by the City ofYpsilanti and is operated and maintained by volunteer workers in the pub-lic interest of the Ypsilanti Historical Society. The Museum and Archivesare open to the public at no charge.

Museum Hours: Archives Hours:Thursday ___ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Monday ___ 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

Saturday ____ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Wednesday 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

Sunday _____ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Sunday ___ 12:00 noon – 3:00 pm

Note: The Museum is closed during the month of January

Since her Ypsilanti days, Phyllis Dillerhas appeared as a piano soloist with 100symphony orchestras across the country,including performances in Dallas, Den-ver, Annapolis, Houston, Baltimore,Rochester, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Cin-cinnati. Diller has launched several newfacets of her kaleidoscopic career: herown chili, PHYLLIS DILLER’ ORIGI-NAL RECIPE; A line of LA VIE beautyproducts and PHYLLIS DILLER CRE-ATIONS, jewelry. She did all this afterrearing five children. “We spend the firsttwelve months of our children’s livesteaching them to walk and talk,” Dillerhas said, “and the next twelve tellingthem to sit down and shut up.”

Phyllis Diller has been acknowledgedand honored by many organizations forher patriotic, philanthropic and humani-


The Campbells -Jewels and Insurance!By Bill Nickels

C.C. Jenks Jewelry Store on North Huron Street.


Betty Campbell was born in the originalBeyer Hospital which sat just north ofthe present Bortz building on SouthProspect. Her friend Peter Fletcher wasborn at Beyer at the same time andBetty jokes with Peter that they shared acrib together. Betty’s business lifestarted at the age of 141/2 atMcClellan’s Dollar Store on NorthWashington while she was a student atYpsilanti High School. She worked forWilliam Hilbert who now lives in AnnArbor and loves to stop and talk withemployees from earlier days. When shewas 17, her typing teacher got her a jobwith Earl Freeman who ran a real estateand insurance agency in the small Tudorcottage across the street from the AceHardware store at 120 Pearl Street.While she was employed, Earl took inhis son-in-law Herbert Bunting as apartner in 1950. In 1955, the businessmoved to 103 W. Michigan (two doorswest of Huron Street on the south sideof the street) and merged with RossBower Insurance. When Ross’ son Rob-ert joined the business, it becameknown as Bower Freeman Bunting &Bower Insurance.

Jim Campbell was born in Cross Villageand his family moved to Harbor Springswhen he was very young. When WorldWar II broke out in 1941, he joined thenavy. He served four years on the USSSaint Louis in the Pacific. His ship wastorpedoed once and he saw action at theBattle of Leyte Gulf, Guadalcanal, andOkinawa. After he was discharged asPharmacist Mate First Class, Jim re-turned to Harbor Springs and took ad-vantage of a Veteran Administrationprogram sponsored by Western Michi-gan University at Pine Lake. He gradu-ated from Western Michigan’swatchmaker school and is a licensed ho-rologist (watchmaker). Jim met Yp-silanti jewelers Abe Green and Cyrus C.Jenks at Pine Lake’s placement center.

His cousins invited Jim to Ann Arborand C. C. Jenks offered Jim a job at hisNorth Huron shop in 1947. They be-came partners in 1948. The JewelryShop moved from North Huron to 103West Michigan and later moved to 107West Michigan in 1955. This last movewas to a fish market that required ex-

traordinary effort to make the storefront smell like a jewelry shop. In 1960,Cyrus C. Jenks became ill and “walkedin one day and he handed me the keys.I earned half of the business whileworking for him and I did not know it,”Jim recalled.

When Betty and the insurance agencymoved to 103 W. Michigan and Jimwith the C. C. Jenks & Campbell Jewel-ers moved to 107 W. Michigan, the stagewas set! Business was good at the insur-ance agency requiring lots of ink refills.Betty purchased the refills from Jimmaking round trips from 103 to 107.These trips led to their marriage on Au-

gust 4, 1974. In 1978, Jim bought 107West Michigan and he remodeled itcompletely to include a second floorhome for he and Betty. Jim was the firstbusiness proprietor to live downtownnear his business.

The sale of a special order $15,000 dia-mond ring was Jim’s largest transactionwhile in the jewelry business. He said “Idid a lot of watch repair, now we throwour battery watches away when theydon’t work. There were five jewelry storesin downtown Ypsi, and we all survived.”One day during lunch, two men enteredthe back door of Jim’s jewelry store. One

went to the diamond case and the secondtied Jim’s hands. His employees were or-dered to stand against the wall while theycleared the display cases. The robberswere never apprehended. His front win-dows were broken five times during“snatch and run” robberies. Diamonds,watches, and women’s jewelry were Jim’sbiggest volume items.

The most unusual insurance policy writ-ten by Betty was a liability policy fortransporting an antique locomotive fromVan Buren Township to Manchester,Michigan. The most unusual claim shepaid was for raccoons wrecking the inte-


Right: Campbell’s Jewelry operated indowntown Ypsilanti for 42 years and closedin 1988.

Below: 103 and 107 West Michigan Av-enue in 1942.

The Campbells -Jewels and Insurance!continued from page 13

rior of a house. The claim was paid be-cause raccoons belong to the bear familyand not the squirrel family. Damagedone by squirrels is not covered by mosthome owner policies. Freeman Buntinginsurance had about 2500 clients, mostof them local. Betty enjoyed writing poli-cies for many kinds of businesses as wellas personal accounts. Because of the con-tacts her agency made, Betty said “Free-man & Bunting was known as thesecond Chamber of Commerce.”

When the present Key Bank Buildingopened in 1975, Herb Bunting wanted asuite address, so the insurance agencysigned a ten year tease. The rent in-creased dramatically when the eleventhyear started and Herb decided it wastime to sell the agency. Betty expressedan interest in buying the agency andHerb agreed as long as Carol Warner,another agency employee, would be herpartner. Carol and Betty ran the agencytogether until Carol was tragically killedin a car accident at the corner of Hewittand Ellsworth Roads in 1988. Bettybought Carol’s interest and she becamesole owner of Freeman Bunting Insur-ance Agency. Herb Bunting once soldpolicies provided by 17 different compa-nies. Betty wanted to have just one pro-vider of insurance policies and convincedHerb to reduce the number of providersto 5. As owner of the business, she re-duced the number to one, the WestfieldInsurance Company.

Jim acknowledges the Ypsilanti Jayceesfor teaching him how to meet the public,run meetings, and operate a business. Hejoined the Jaycees when he was 26 andstayed “until they kicked me out due tomy age,” says Jim. In 1982, he was co-founder of the Central Business Com-munity, a committee of the YpsilantiArea Chamber of Commerce. Jim servedas its treasurer and Betty served as editorof its monthly newsletter. Jim was ap-pointed by the Ypsilanti City Council tothe Downtown Development Authority

when it was first formed and served for20 years. City Council also appointedJim to the Ypsilanti Police and Fire Pen-sion Board which led to another 17 yearsof service. From the beginning, both Jimand Betty were Ypsilanti Heritage Festi-val main stays. They spent their entireweekend working as cashiers in the gam-bling tent when it was sponsored by theCentral Business Community. A 1986Certificate of Appreciation acknowl-edged their efforts.

After operating Campbell’s Jewelers indowntown Ypsilanti for 42 years, Jimdecided to retire and made it official onSeptember 30, 1988. Now sole owner ofFreeman Bunting Insurance Agency,Betty took the opportunity to move theagency from the Key Bank Building toJim’s store front at 107 West Michigan.Jim teases Betty by saying she kicked himout of his business locations twice, thefirst time when he was at 103 WestMichigan and the last when she “forced”him to retire by taking over 107 WestMichigan. While remodeling the jewelrystore to make it ready for Betty, Jim fellfrom a ladder as he cleaned an arch thatwas covered with more than 100 years of

paint and mortar. The fall broke his neckand he was cut by a power saw he wasusing at the time. Stitches, a neck brace,and time led to a complete recovery.

Betty and Jim with Betty’s sister MaryLou Linke and Maggie Sell continuedFreeman Bunting Inc. at 107 WestMichigan until Betty and Jim (Jim for asecond time) decided to retire together in2005. The agency was sold to Cam InnesThayer of Innes Insurance agency in AnnArbor. The Freeman Bunting name willcontinue with Mary Lou as office man-ager and both Mary Lou and Maggie aslicensed agents. Kris Reuter, new to theagency, is attending classes to become alicensed agent.

In addition to the Heritage Festival,Betty and Jim have volunteered for theFestival of Lights, Gilbert ResidenceBoard, the Ypsilanti Historical Society,sponsored Meals on Wheels, YpsilantiCommunity Choir, and the YpsilantiCommunity Band. Ypsilanti City Coun-cil appointed her to the Ypsilanti Boardof Ethics when it was first formed. Theirvolunteer time also extends to the Firstcontinued on page 16


Antique Mini-Lamps onDisplay at MuseumBy Joy Anne Shulke

Antique mini-lamps will be on dis-play at the Museum through theChristmas holidays. Irene Jamesonhas loaned approximately 60 lamps tobe displayed from her original collec-tion of about 300 lamps. Mrs.Jameson and her deceased husband,Paul, accumulated the lamps over 40years. He was a Michigan Bell repair-man who was originally interested inglass items, especially paper weights.These interests lead to mini-lamps.After his retirement, he became anexpert in the repair of spinningwheels. The assemblage is unique inMichigan because there aren’t manymini-lamp collectors in this state.Usually, the Jameson’s had to travel toOhio, Pennsylvania or New York to find the lamps.

Glass was not manufactured on a large scale in Michigan. That is because manu-facturers needed natural gas as a heat source to make glass. Each glass companyspecialized in their own glass pattern and colors. The most desirable are made ofcolored milk glass. Most lamps found today are about 75 years old, althoughthere are some that are over 100 years old. They come in different colors, heightsof chimneys, different shaped burners and bases. Finding a complete lamp is diffi-cult. Approximately 20% did not have their bases and 40% are missing theirshades. And they may have the brass collar missing.

Mrs. Jameson shared a little of her knowledge about the lamps. Mini-lamps wereused somewhat like we use night lights today. They also were called “sparking”lamps since, when the lamp went out, the gentleman was expected to go home.In the 1930s and ‘40s they were sold as “perfume lamps” because scented oil couldbe in the base so that, as the lamp burned, the room took on a lovely aroma. Aswe talked, she pointed to one of the museum’s mini-lamps on a shelf in thekitchen. She said it probably was sold in a dime store and is missing its shade.

The Jameson’s collected “everything”. She became interested in the mini-lamps be-cause they were pretty. She uses them as decoration in her home, at dinner parties,and when the electricity goes out. She mentioned an orange one, which alone to heris ugly. But in the fall it fits in perfectly with the decorations on her mantle.

The Jameson’s collected other items beside the lamps. She has begun down-sizingthe various collections. She has passed on her favorite mini-lamps to her childrenand grandchildren. The museum is proud and lucky that she is willing to sharethem with us and the public. Please avail yourself of this opportunity to enjoythese lovely little lamps from the past. ■

Some of the antique mini-lamps ondisplay in the Museum.


intellect and spirit over physical condi-tions.”

• “The range of her knowledge wasmarvelous, and her memory wasequally so. She never seemed to any-one to be old, she was so alive to allprogress in every line of endeavor andher spirit was so young.”

One of the purest, loveliest of souls refinedby years of worry and pain and in life asource of inspiration and helpful living tothousands of men and women in all partsof the world.”(The Ypsilantian, p.9)

The Department of Health, PhysicalEducation, Recreation and Dance atEastern Michigan University celebratedits 100-year anniversary in 1994. Muchof what was celebrated would never havebeen realized without the efforts of a“Forgotten Lady,” - a lady whose effortsno longer remain anonymous. ■

Bibliography:Chapman, R., How A Willy Women Got A

Gym for EMU, Ypsilanti, Michigan, Infor-mation Services, 1977

IsBell, E.R., A History of Eastern MichiganUniversity 1849-1965. Ypsilanti, EasternMichigan University Press, 1971.

Johnson, J., A History of the Professional Train-ing Curriculum in Physical Education for Menat Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti,Michigan, Masters Thesis, Eastern MichiganUniversity (University Archives) 1952.

Kent, C., Wilber Who? MAHPERD Journal,Fall 1982.

Michigan State Normal College Yearbook(1895-96), Ann Arbor, Michigan, The Cou-rier Printing House, 1896.

Olds, L., A Brief History of the Health, PhysicalEducation, Recreation and Athletics Depart-ment, Unpublished paper, m.d. Ypsilanti, East-ern Michigan University (University Archives)

Osband, M., The Beginning of Physical Train-ing in the Michigan State Normal College,Letter to Fredrich McKay, September 14,1944. Ypsilanti, Eastern Michigan University(University Archives)

Norton, A., Luch A. Osband, M.A., Ypsilanti,Michigan, AURORA 1894, pp. 25-29.

Putnam, D., History of the Normal College1849-1890, Ypsilanti, Michigan, The ScharfTag, and Box Co., 1899.

The Normal News, Mrs. Lucy A. Osband, Bio-graphical Dates, (V.12: No. 17, May 12, 1893,Ypsilanti, Michigan, pp. 266- 267) EasternMichigan University (University Archives)

Ypsilanti Historical Society Archives, MarnaOsband File, Ypsilanti, Michigan.


several years and then in 1935 the toppart of the fountain, the figure ofHebe, was mo ved to Tourist Park,now Water Works Park, on CatherineStreet. There she graced the entranceto the park. After that the fountaindisappeared completely.

Over the years there has been a greatdeal of speculation and rumor aboutwhat eventually happened to thefountain. At one time suspicion fellon the city park commissioner, who itwas rumored had sold the fountainand other City owned items for per-sonal gain. This accusation was neverproven. Another rumor that circu-lated was that City workers dumpedthe fountain into the Huron River.The most likely scenario is that thefountain was scrapped during WorldWar II as a part of the war effort. ■

*The information in this article is basedpartly on an article written by JamesMann in a series called “Footnotes inHistory.”

Lost Ypsilanti Speaks -The Starkweather Fountaincontinued from front page

The top part of the Starkweather foun-tain, the figure of Hebe, in the late 1930safter it had been moved to the entrance toTourist Park on Catherine Street.

Baptist Church on West Cross. Whenthe Ypsilanti Police Department offeredits first Citizens’ Police Academy, bothJim and Betty attended and graduatedwith perfect attendance.

Betty earned the Athena Award, pre-sented by the Women’s Council of theYpsilanti Area Chamber of Commerce,in 1997. This award is presented all overthe country and recognizes an Individualwho has contributed most to women’sbusiness success in a community. BothJim and Betty say they do what they doto make Ypsilanti a better place.

Traveling is their favorite retirement pas-time. They have cruised with Princess,Norwegian, and Holland America cruiselines. Betty and Jim were on thePittsfield Senior Center trip to LakeGeorge this fall when the tragic boat ac-cident occurred. They were on the sec-ond bus that took the second identicalship that sailed without an incident.Betty said, “Except for the reporters, thepeople at Lake George were wonderfuland did all they could for the travelers.”

Jim and Betty continue to live upstairs at107 W. Michigan surrounded by Jim’smother’s trunk full of memories anddad’s roll top desk that Jim has used con-tinuously since he started in the jewelrybusiness. They look forward to an Alas-kan cruise and their continued involve-ment in Ypsilanti. ■

The Campbells -Jewels and Insurance!continued from page 14


Report fromthe MuseumAdvisory BoardBy Virginia Davis-Brown

What an exciting fall this has been at the Museum. We were thrilled whenwe had over 400 visitors see our “Lost Ypsilanti Speaks” exhibit. We havedecided that it will continue next year with new sites as well as the oldones. We hope that it brought back some memories and you were able tobetter understand the history of Ypsilanti. This year we were able to have the “Quilt Exhibit” again and what awonderful exhibit it was with 127 quilts displayed throughout the mu-seum. It seemed that every one was different and had it’s own story totell. We want to thank all who were kind enough to lend us their pre-cious quilts. Our special thanks to Sandy Knight for demonstrating thetechnique of quilt making. There are two new exhibits now on display at the museum, one is a collec-tion of 54 miniature lamps that were loaned to us from Irene Jameson’scollection. They are all different and beautiful. The other is honoringpeople who served in World War II with a display of uniforms and itemsof that period. You must come in and see them. It is a busy time as we have decorated the Museum for the holidays. TheChristmas tree is up and all the decorations are in place waiting for theOpen House on December 4, from12:00 noon to 4:00 pm and the NewYears Eve celebration starting at 6:30 until 10:00 pm. If you have notspent part of New Years Eve with us before, we invite you to come to ourhouse to enjoy the music, refreshments and visiting with old friends andmaybe meet some new ones on the last night of the year. It has been a wonderful year for all of us and we thank you all for yoursupport, but there is one thing that you can do for us this next year. Weare always in need of docents, so if you have a couple of hours a monththat you could spare please let us know. You can always call me at 484-0080 or let anyone at the Museum know and we will be in contact withyou to receive training. ■

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ALL OF US AT THE

YPSILANTI HISTORICAL MUSEUM!

Report fromthe ArchivesAdvisoryBoardBy Maria Davis

The newly formed YHS Archives Ad-visory Archives Board has been work-ing for the past several months todevelop more efficient daily opera-tions. The Board has had on-goingdiscussions regarding the organiza-tional structure of the Archives andhow to best utilize the resources itencompasses. Our first objective wasto develop a new loan policy. Thispolicy was revised, presented to theBoard of Trustees, and approved atthe November meeting. The ArchivesBoard is excited about the implemen-tation of the new loan policy and willcontinue to work hard to benefit theYHS Archives into the year ahead.

Genealogical Society Meeting!The Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County will meet on Sunday, December4, 2005 at 1:30 pm at the Education Center Auditorium, St. Joseph Mercy Hos-pital Campus, 5305 Elliott Drive, Ypsilanti, Michigan. The meeting is free andopen to the public. Visitors are welcome.


UpcomingMembershipMeetings!By John Pappas

Sunday, Dec 4, 2005 – 1:30 pm: OurAnnual Membership Meeting will beheld at 1:30 pm on December 4th toelect new members to the Board ofTrustees. Refreshments will be servedand the Museum will be decorated forChristmas. It will be a short meeting sobring some friends and enjoy our beau-tiful Museum house.

Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 – 2:00 pm: Youare invited to our annual Valentine Teaand special program featuring our ownYpsilanti Historical Society archivist,Mr. Gerry Pety. Gerry will update uson recent activities and acquisitions,explain changes in loan policies andprocedures and share with us some in-teresting additions to our archival col-lection. Those wishing to tour the YHSArchives will be able to do so followingthe program and refreshments.

Sunday, May 21, 2006 – 2:00 pm: Joinus for our Spring membership meetingand our featured program, “How to Cap-ture and Save Your Family’s Stories forAll Time.” Our presenter will beStephanie Kadel Taras, a professionalbiographer with extensive experience inwriting the life stories of everyday peoplein Michigan. She will share real life sto-ries and practical tips which will enter-tain and engage the audience. Dr. KadelTaras will also provide a variety of re-sources and do-it-yourself strategies. Re-freshments will be served following theprogram and there will be time to visitwith our speaker. ■

More information will be forthcoming onthese programs. Please mark these dateson your calendar. See you there!

News from the Fletcher-White ArchivesBy Gerry Pety

The tomato plants are all gone, the summer sun has gone into hibernation and the onset of acold winter is afoot in Ypsilanti. While this wonderful weather lasted we had visitors from Or-egon, California, Colorado, New Mexico and even Toledo, Ohio! What a fantastic group ofvisitors we had this summer and fall! One thing you have to understand is that even thoughthey come from all parts of these great United States and Canada they have their family rootsplanted deep in the Ypsilanti soil. And the most compelling reason for most of our visitors isgenealogy and the exploration into that soil. Somewhere and sometime in their life they cameacross a reference to this quizzical little town called Ypsilanti. What a strange name this placewas given. This invariably results in a general search into a place called Ypsilanti City wheretheir family came from. Soon then the question arises, what did they do there, where did theylive, and why were they there to begin with? Hopefully most found answers they sought, as wesaw and spoke with a lot of happy people who came to find these answers here in the archives.Maybe, you have lived all of your life right here in Ypsi but just never understood whygrandma Minnie and grandpa Benjamin came here to live in 1902. This is your chance tobreak in those new shoes of yours and scamper down to the archives and find out.

Wow! We have been inundated by the students of Eastern Michigan University or Michi-gan State Normal to some of you older folks. They are budding historians, in most cases,here to learn how to find tidbits of the history of the area and to practice the methodologyof historical writing and research. I try to be extra nice to these young people as somedaythey will be writing about all of us in this time and place. When the students are in thearchives, I believe, I learn as much as they do about our Ypsilanti history and the heritagewe share. Welcome to you all!

Along with his graduate students from Eastern, Dr. Ligibel has donated a lot of articles andthe like from about 40 years ago for our files on a variety of subjects. Likewise, Mrs.Smeaton-Burgess has contributed a book on Dixboro, Michigan and a history notebookabout Michigan State Normal College. We did not have either of these items in the ar-chives until now. Thank You!

Thank you to Carol Mull who contributed a pre-press copy of her forthcoming bookabout the Underground Railroad in Washtenaw County. Over the summer Carol has doneextensive research here at the archives and elsewhere in the county. The book is very welldocumented, researched and many familiar Ypsilanti names are to be found within itspages. It is available here for research purposes and for copying and is a great historical readfor those interested in this subject. Come in and take a long look at this book.

Finally, if you have any interesting stories about ghosts, spirits or the paranormal involvingYpsilanti please send us your information for our new file here at the archives. People arealways interested in these articles and, who knows, maybe the ghost of aunt Bertha may bethe talk of Ypsi again! ■


Bolstered by the public interest and moremagazine articles Preston and his grow-ing entourage of automobile folks settheir sights on a Dodge Plant in Chi-cago, where B-29 engines were producedduring WW II. Many plants were in thehands of the War Assets Administrationand they needed to be re-purposed forpeace time usage. Obtaining this plantwas no small task as there were otherswho wanted it and then as now, politicsand business often overlapped and spe-cial interests sometimes got in the way.

With the plant finally secured, Tuckerteamed with those he thought could helphim sell stock while the actual work ofproducing a car to sell was yet to begin.A number of experts, both legit and afew “not so” legit weave in and out ofthis era of Tucker’s history. But, with theplant in his possession, the public behindhis dream of producing “The Car of To-morrow, Today” and a brisk stock saletotaling about $17,000,000 dollarsPreston was ready to produce an Auto-mobile.

On June 19th, 1947 over 3000 stock-holders, potential dealers, politicians andmedia attended the debut of the Tucker48' sedan. (The name Torpedo had sincebeen discarded for reasons of image) Theband played, the curtain raised and hisdaughter, Mary Lee Tucker christenedthe car with a bottle of champagne as theonlookers cheered. I remember talking toMary Lee a few years ago about the expe-rience and she had been away at collegeand flew in for the event. The first timeshe actually saw her dad’s dream waswhen the curtain opened and she wasspeechless. I’ve since seen some vintagefilm footage of this event and you can seethe wonder in the then 20 year old,Mary Lee’s eyes when the curtain raises.Orders were pouring in, dealerships werebeing planned and the Tucker ’48 wassoon to be available. The public’ interestwas high and although far from beingout of the woods, things were lookinggood for Ypsilanti’s, Preston Tucker.

Then, the Security and Exchange Com-mission started an investigation, word

was leaked to the national press that allwas not right at Tucker Corporation andthe government came in, seizedall the companies records and essentiallyran them out of business. The bad presshurt and the enemies in government andindustry that Preston had made went outof their way to make it worse. Friends,prospective dealers and impartial expertsrallied but the damage was done.

When the trial came about in 1949 theprosecution had such a weak case thatTucker’s lawyer, Bill Kirby chose to offerno defense and in less than a half hourthe jury found Preston and his associatesnot guilty. The damage, however, wasdone and the 51 Tucker sedans were allthat were ever built.

Preston Tucker died of pneumonia inYpsilanti in 1956 while negotiating tobuild a car in Brazil that was to be calledthe Carioca. The dream was over.

Much has been written and even a majormotion picture was made regarding thisunique personality and his role in thehistory of America. Many folks in Yp-silanti knew Preston and his kids. I’vehad the pleasure of meeting a number ofthe family and folks who worked for himand these are 2 facts I’d like to point out.• There was never a Tucker automobile

built in Ypsilanti. Plans, drawings,transmission elements and enginework, but no actual car was built here.

• Despite the ballyhoo and mixed opin-ions, Preston Tucker was focused onhis mission and had every intention ofbuilding the car he dreamed of. Theremay have been mistakes in judgment,choices of business associates and en-gineering errors at times but this wasnot a “take the money and not de-liver” scam.

The same forces that made Tucker,turned on him and brought him downand we can only wonder why.

A great book to read is The IndomitableTin Goose by Charles Pearson and it isavailable at the Ypsilanti Public Library.Another is Design and Destiny by PhilEagan who worked on the Design Teamat the plant.

As I said earlier, I’ve met Tucker familymembers and former employees and ifany of the readers are interested, I’d beglad to share some of their observationsin a future article.

The surviving Tuckers are prized by col-lectors and are currently selling for closeto $400,000 dollars.

Tucker has been inducted into the Auto-motive Hall of Fame in Dearborn as rec-ognition of his earnest and innovativeeffort.

There is a club of Tucker owners and fanswith close to 400 members around theworld. The Tucker Automobile Club ofAmerica hosts conventions, has scholar-ships programs and helps all those inter-ested learn more about the topic. Formore info check out their web site. http://www.tuckerclub.org/index.php

At the Gilmore Automotive Museum inHickory Corners, Michigan you can find,the Tucker Historical Collection and Mu-seum which is a wealth of documents andartifacts related to this slice of history. Formore info check out their web site.http://www.tuckerclub.org/html/hcl.php

Not too shabby for a dreamer who daredto step off a side street of Ypsilanti andtried to challenge the status quo. No, nottoo shabby at all, I’d say. ■

Tucker Articlecontinued from page 7

This is an early “Torpedo” rendering fromaround 1945. Very futuristic. By the time theTucker 48 was designed, a number of changeshad been made, but when the original articleappeared in PIC Magazine, this is the con-cept that fired up American car lovers.


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