Week 44 - Rural - Isham/Sheridan

Edythe Mae Isham was born Aug 11, 1905, in Middleton, Gratiot County, Michigan. She was second born of six children of Archie and Florence (Vickery) Isham. The six children were Pauline, Edythe, Kendall, Maynard, Corrine and Gerald.

Edythe, along with her older sister Pauline was a teacher in rural one-room schools beginning in the 1920's in the Gratiot County, Michigan area.

Edythe had done her schooling at the Michigan State Normal School located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Now Eastern University, she received her diploma to teach in 1924.

Graduation Announcement Michigan State Normal School

She taught in a number of small, one-room schools. Hoxie school was located on the east side of Begole Road in the Elm Hall/Sumner township area. There she lived with the family of a student (one time with the Perry's and another with the Hnetynkas) and would walk to school each morning.  The district had a school board made up of four members and at the end of each month, she would have to walk to each member's home to have them sign her 'timecard' in order to be paid. 

In the winter there was ice in the water bucket at school, a pot belly stove to be stoked for warmth and she not only taught all grades but often had older boys who were twice her size. Edythe was very small and stood less than 5 foot tall. She was a good sport and once or twice had a frog or a cricket in her chair or a desk drawer.

After teaching at Hoxie, she also taught at Johnson school, Dobson school in North Shade township, Bridgeville in Washington/Fulton township and also in Perrinton school.

Hoxie School

Hoxie School - celebrating Thanksgiving

Otto School - Edythe Isham (back row with X)

Her fiancé Glen Carson had asked his friend Mike Sheridan to come along on the drive to take Edythe back to Lansing to catch the train to Ypsilanti. Edythe broke the engagement and on November 30, 1928, she and Mike went to Bowling Green, Ohio and were secretly married. Since she had already signed a contract to teach that school year, they lived apart until the school year ended. Back then in rural areas, many felt that teachers should not be married and should leave the jobs open for single women.

During her few years off from teaching Edythe and Mike had a daughter Pauline born May 19, 1935. Mike worked at the Borden's Condensery in Perrinton. As school districts became more open to married women working, Edythe began teaching again.

In 1946/1947 school year she taught in Perrinton, Michigan at Fulton School. Here is her class picture (33 students!) that year. If you look closely on the left side of the picture, you will find her.

Perrinton School 1946/1947 school year

Between 1947 and 1950 the small family moved to Keego Harbor, Wayne County, Michigan where Edythe taught in the public school system there and Mike worked for General Motors. After a total of 38 years of teaching, Edythe retired to Bonita Springs, Florida where she and Mike enjoyed their final years.

Uncle Mike was my mom's oldest sibling (my mom was the youngest) and she had told me many times that Aunt Edythe was always a part of her family - as she and Mike had married when mom was only four years old. 

Barbie

Mike & Edythe 1928

Week 43 - Urban - Lorraine Sheridan

In 1942, a 19-year-old woman left her small rural hometown of less than 400 people and boarded a train bound for Detroit, one of the busiest urban centers in America. The city was alive around the clock, its streets glowing with factory lights and the constant hum of war production.

Her name was Lorraine Sheridan, and she was the youngest of six children of John and Pauline (Prince) Sheridan. And my mom.  A recent graduate of Fulton schools in Perrinton, Michigan she decided to head to the big city.

She found work at the Lyon Manufacturing Company located at 151 South Waterman St along the waterfront. It had turned from making farm equipment to producing 40 mm cartridge cases. It was her first time in a big city — and her first time working the midnight shift. Inside the vast plant, the air smelled of oil and hot metal, and the noise of machines filled every corner.

Mom worked six days a week in a relief position and would take over for other workers that were going on breaks. She needed to know many of the jobs that were being done.

She learned to measure, grind, and smooth the steel casings that would be sent overseas to the battlefront. The work was hard and the hours long, but there was pride in knowing they were helping their fellow Americans.

She lived in a boarding house near the plant, sharing a small room with her friend Lucille Ayers. Lucille’s brother Lewis was the plant manager, and mom went there to work because she had a job lined up and a place to live. She made $76.00 a week. That is equivalent to $1,500.00 in today’s worth. She worked there about a year and a half. Occasionally she would experience the night life in Detroit along with other girls she met at work. There was never enough time off to go home although she did make the trek a few times over those 15 months.

Lorraine (left), Lucille Ayers, other three unknown

Detroit in 1942 was a city transformed — a once-industrial hub turned into a mighty war machine. For her, this urban life was a world away from quiet fields and country roads. Yet in the steady rhythm of the machines, she found both purpose and independence — and became one of the many women whose hands helped win the war. A true Rosie the Riveter.

As the men began to return from the war, she left Detroit and made her way to Midland, Michigan. There she worked at Dow Chemical in the rolling mills making loops for Dictaphones. In late 1945 she met my dad William (Bill) Porter and they married March 30th, 1946.

And as they say.... that's a story for another day.

Barbie

Week 42 - Fire - Conner/Graham

Isaac Graham was around 19 years old when he immigrated from Canada into Marion township, Michigan to join his older brother John in 1862. The two brothers had purchased land using funds that their father had supplied. Land was becoming too expensive in Canada, so he had sent them to Michigan to settle. Isaac's twin brother Charles had come with them, but after a bad winter and getting sickly from working in the woods, he decided to go back to Canada.

Isaac purchased 80 acres in what became the town of Deckerville in Sanilac County, located in the thumb of Michigan. He cleared some acres, planted an orchard and built a small wood frame home. In 1871 Isaac returned home to Taylor's Corner in Victoria county, Ontario, Canada and there he married Charlotte Harmon on July 17th. 

During the year of 1871, there was a severe drought that ran from the Dakotas, across Minnesota and into Wisconsin and also included the state of Michigan. Following lightning strikes in the Dakotas, fires began burning and decimated towns, woods, and killing not only people, but the livelihoods of many. Cinders from those fires fell around the mid-west and eventually burned the town of Peshtigo in Wisconsin to the ground. Over 800 lives were lost. The fire in Peshtigo was usurped by the great Chicago fire that happened at the same time. 

Upon the westerly winds, cinders continued over Lake Michigan and landed in the Traverse City area and burned hundreds of acres in that area. There were also fires that hit in Holland and Ludington along the lake shore. From there, lone cinders continued into the Thumb of Michigan and today the fires there are known as The Port Huron Fire that burned all the way to Lake Huron. Total, over 2.25 million acres were burned, and 1,200 lives were lost.

The newlyweds settled into their home in Michigan just in time for the fire of 1871 to hit. Luckily, the house was saved although their orchards and most of the fields were lost.  Over the next ten years, they expanded their fields, added livestock and turned their original house into the kitchen of the large brick house that they built.  

In 1881, fires once again hit in their area. Drought, hurricane-force winds, heat, and the ecological damage from logging combined to fuel the flames. Over a million acres burned in less than a day and 282 lives were lost. Following the Great Thumb Fire, people realized that they needed to organize firefighting and fire safety plans. The newly formed American Red Cross organized its first official disaster relief response for this horrific event.

Again, Isaac and Charlotte survived the fire and although they suffered some loss, their home was saved.  Today the house still stands and is owned by Arthur Caswell's descendants. Arthur was a cousin of Isaac's.

Isaac Graham brick home       Deckerville, Michigan      Charlotte Graham - left

NOTE: Isaac's parents were Andrew and Delilah (Conner) Graham. Delilah and my husband Dan's 3x great grandmother Diantha Graham became double related.  Diantha became Delilah's niece, and Diantha became Delilah's cousin. All because a Conner married a Graham and a Graham married a Conner.

Barbie

Week 41 - Water - Daly/Wilcox

When Allison Wilcox started a well-drilling business in 1948, he never dreamed that three of his sons would become involved in the business.  Allison and his wife Margaret had seven children: James, Richard, Charles, Lyle, Ralph, Freddy and daughter Lucille.  Richard, my husband's uncle showed a marked interest is helping his dad in the family business.

When Richard was a child, he was helping his dad with an injured horse, and his dad told him 'Go get me some rope Doc' and it stuck. From then on, he was always called Doc Wilcox. Many knew him for a lifetime and never knew his real name.

When my husband Dan was in his early teens, he would spend his summers working with his Uncle Doc while staying with his grandmother (Margaret (Smith) Daly at Barnes Lake in Columbiaville, Michigan. Doc was married to Patricia Daly, and they had three children. Doc and his brothers Charlie and Jim each had their own individual well drilling businesses.

Doc would pay him $14.00 a day. And if they only worked a half-day, it was $7.00. Now Doc could spin a yarn a mile long - learned from his father Allison. Many days were spent buying parts, picking up more pipe and stopping to visit with buddies, ...so no actual work at the jobsite. So, lots of those days were half-pay. But you couldn't put a price on the knowledge learned.

Doc had the knack. You know, the knack of taking a sturdy forked oak branch and finding the best spot to drill a well. This is known as 'water witching'. Dan witnessed that phenomenon many times. Even tried it himself, but it never worked for him. Doc told him he held the stick too tight. Those were the days of finding the spot, positioning the large, lumbering well-truck in the correct spot and then the real work of drilling a well would begin. The loud banging of the cable tool bit - a heavy bit (like a chisel) would be repeatedly lifted and dropped on the ground by a cable, breaking rock and soil. About every 20 feet, they would have to drop a pipe and attach it to the previous one. Doc upgraded to a rotary drilling rig which had a rotating drill bit attached to a string of drill pipe that ground its way down.  Drilling mud, which was a mix of water and clay was circulated to cool the bit and prevent the hole from collapsing. Most water wells used 2-inch pipe, but sometimes they used up to 4-inch pipe.

And if a stubborn rock shelf wouldn't take the bit, all the pipes would be removed, and a stick of dynamite was hung on a wire down the hole and that wire was touched to a live battery. Bang! Then the pounding and drilling began again. A typical well was anywhere from 50 to 300 feet deep.

Eventually, water poured out, a screen was placed to stop sand and gravel from mixing with the water and the new well was capped. Another job done. 

Wilcox Well Drilling - Richard 'Doc' Wilcox

Time to move the equipment - the rig and the water truck - on to the next spot. And Dan was able to drive the water truck. Even long before he acquired his driver's license. He was a tall, gangly young man, had been taught how to drive a manual transmission and no one questioned his age. Once when moving to a new site, Doc was pulled over by the local law enforcement for a loud muffler on the well machine. Dan was driving the water truck and just kept on going. A few miles down the road, he pulled onto another road and waited. Doc found him and they moved the vehicles and then took the rest of the day off. Stories needed to be told.

Water Truck

The Wilcox brothers also raced circle track, and Charlie went on to do big time tractor pulls. But those are stories for another time. Those summers and the stories that have passed down over the years are memories that future generations will also hear about.  Through his time spent with Doc, Charlie and Jim my husband learned skills that he has never forgotten. Hands on skills that can't be taught from a book.

Barbie