Saturday, December 22, 2007

Typical Saginaw Valley House 2007

 




This is my home today. The 1908 building is the right hand side of the structure shown in the 1908 picture. This home is about 2600 sq. feet due to the walkout basement on the left hand side of the picture. It is five minutes from the same Millington that was an hour away in 1908. Of course, it has television, added in 1953, radio added in the 1930's, indoor plumbing, 1952, hot water heat, added 1952, running water, added 1937, electricity, added in 1937, an electric stove in the kitchen, added in 1951, a computer, added in 1998, and a wireless network, added in 2005. And other changes too numerous to mention.



Posted by Picasa

Rural Housing in the Saginaw Valley in 1908

<

Saginaw Valley Housing

This is the house my Great Grandfather bought in 1910. It had just been built in this picture which I think was taken about 1908 when the house was built. This home was bigger than average for houses in the area at the time. It was about 800 square feet. Notice that the idea of mowing a lawn had not caught on yet..It would not for almost 40 more years. Wood ruled the day still. There was wood heat for cooking and home heating. Bathroom facilities were outside and would be for forty more years. Light was kerosene and would be for thirty more years. The closest town was Millington which was an hour away by buggy. Life was changing quickly. I live in an expanded version of this house today.




Posted by Picasa

Thursday, December 13, 2007

FlintHistory.com -

Factories in the Mechanical Age

 

FlintHistory.com -


This is how so many in the Saginaw Valley made a living in the mid twentyth century. This video is from 1936 but the core of the method was the same when I entered an assembly plant in 1973. With each year, there was fewer people working and more automation. By the end of my time (2001) at least half of these people would be gone from their stations and the work done by machinery.

Flint's Great Sit-Down Strike and the Union Movement in the Saginaw Valley

 

Flint History-

This video represents the union movement in the Saginaw Valley. It also tells the story of women in the labor movement. Comments of the women who took part tell much about the lives of factory workers in the 1930's .

Friday, December 07, 2007

View in 2007 from the top of the Pere Marquette Tower







This is a 360 degree view from the top of the Pere Marquette station on Fourth and Madison in Bay City, Michigan

Pere Marquette Depot Roof - Bay City

This is history being made.   In a few years, historians will spend time reviewing this file to see just what strange methods were used way back when.  

 

This building and its architectural details are a perfect symbol for the new purpose of downtown Bay City.

Pere Marquette Depot Roof - Bay City

Directory of FREE Online Books and FREE e-books

 

Directory of FREE Online Books and FREE e-books

 

This source contains thousands of books..Many can be downloaded in a PDF format.  This is the source of the book listing Great Lakes Captains. 

Canals from Lake Erie to the sea

clip_image001

http://ia310131.us.archive.org/2/items/dirctoryofnames00unknuoft/dirctoryofnames00unknuoft.pdf

Screen clipping taken: 12/7/2007, 8:38 AM

Bay City Ship Captains in 1914

 

NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF MEMBERS, SHIP
MASTERS ASSOCIATION

Pennant Lodge Name Address City
1241 2 Canartney, M. 715 Franklin Ave., Bay City, Mich.
252 3 Chron, Thos. 223 Adams, Bay City, Mich.
641 2 Harper, Geo. 1509 Marquette Ave., W. Bay City, Mich.
1081 7 Johnson, Alex. 1009 9th St., Bay City, Mich.
2284 2 Myers, Geo. F. 1910 2nd St., Bay City, Mich.
560 2 Thrap, W. H. 305 N. Henry St., Sta. A., West Bay City, Mich
2349 1 Williams, John E. 423 Jefferson Ave., Bay City, Mich.
         
         

Canals Between Lake Erie and the Sea

This map is from the Ship Masters Book 1914

Free Books > Tags > History

Bay City  Ship Captains and their Vessels

Free Books > Tags > History

A directory of names, pennant numbers, and addresses of all numbers of the Ship Masters' Association of the Great Lakes. Also a list of vessels of the Great Lakes, American and Canadian, with names and addresses of owners. O37131043609817ther information of a miscellaneous nature of interest in shipping circles on the Great Lakes

 

The link above is for further study of the captains and ships that sailed the lakes.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Full Text Free Book (Part 2/7)

 

James G. Birney, the anti-slavery
nominee for the presidency of the United States, joined us in New York,
and was a fellow-passenger on the Montreal for England. He and my
husband were delegates to the World's Anti-slavery Convention, and both
interested themselves in my anti-slavery education. They gave me books
to read, and, as we paced the deck day by day, the question was the
chief theme of our conversation.
Mr. Birney was a polished gentleman of the old school, and was
excessively proper and punctilious in manner and conversation. I soon
perceived that he thought I needed considerable toning down before
reaching England. I was quick to see and understand that his criticisms
of others in a general way and the drift of his discourses on manners
and conversation had a nearer application than he intended I should
discover, though he hoped I would profit by them. I was always grateful
to anyone who took an interest in my improvement, so I laughingly told
him, one day, that he need not make his criticisms any longer in that
roundabout way, but might take me squarely in hand and polish me up as
speedily as possible. Sitting in the saloon at night after a game of
chess, in which, perchance, I had been the victor, I felt complacent
and would sometimes say:
"Well, what have I said or done to-day open to criticism?"
So, in the most gracious manner, he replied on one occasion:
"You went to the masthead in a chair, which I think very unladylike. I
heard you call your husband 'Henry' in the presence of strangers, which
is not permissible in polite society. You should always say 'Mr.
Stanton.' You have taken three moves back in this game."
"Bless me!" I replied, "what a catalogue in one day! I fear my Mentor
will despair of my ultimate perfection."
"I should have more hope," he replied, "if you seemed to feel my rebukes
more deeply, but you evidently think them of too little consequence to
be much disturbed by them."
As he found even more fault with my husband, we condoled with each other
and decided that our friend was rather hypercritical and that we were as
nearly perfect as mortals need be for the wear and tear of ordinary
life. Being both endowed with a good degree of self-esteem, neither the
praise nor the blame of mankind was overpowering to either of us. As the
voyage lasted eighteen days--for we were on a sailing vessel--we had
time to make some improvement, or, at least, to consider all friendly
suggestions.

Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Full Text Free Book (Part 2/7)

 

I was quite happy to find this link again.  I came to speak of this relationship often but wasn't quite sure where it came from.  This link gives a more definite source.