July 16, 1941 (Wednesday)

Edna gets house in order for Nash Reunion

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Very warm.

Hank and Orlo started

cutting oats field west

of woods.

Henry went away on Right

of Way.

Did general cleaning all

over the house - getting

"house in order" for Reunion

Company. Two loads coming

from Ill.

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Edna is getting the "house in order" for the 25th Reunion of the Nash family.

Eleanor Louisa Nash married James Chandler Johnson on Independence Day in 1865. James and Eleanor are Henry's parents (Edna's in-laws).

James and Eleanor (Nash) Johnson

Eleanor was born on May 1, 1847 in Troy, Ohio to Alden Nash and Olive Noyes Poole.

Alden Nash was born in 1811 in Ohio. His parents, John Nash and Polly Thayer, were both born in Massachusetts.

In 1840, Alden Nash built the Nash Hotel in Troy, Ohio as a stagecoach stop between Youngstown and Cleveland.

In 1852, Alden sold the hotel and moved his wife and five children (ages 1 -14 years) in a covered wagon to Michigan.

Daguerreotypes of Alden and Olive Nash

Their journey was long and hard. Alden, Olive and their children settled in a log cabin in the woods of Bowne Township. When presented with an opportunity to purchase 160 acres of heavy timbered farmland and four or five acres of cleared land that included a house, Alden traded his wagon, a buggy, and several horses to make the purchase. Alden eventually sold that land and moved to Muskegon where he died unexpectedly of pneumonia in 1871 at the age of 60.

During the Civil War, the hotel Alden Nash built in Ohio was used as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The building, now called the Welshfiled Inn, still stands today. It has been in continuous operation as an inn/hotel or restaurant since being opened by Alden Nash in 1840.

My birthday is just around the corner and the Welshfield Inn is just a three-hour drive away from my home in Milan, Michigan. The Inn currently houses a restaurant with a fabulous-looking menu. My birthday wish for this year is to enjoy dinner at the inn built by great, great, great grandfather Alden Nash. I will be sure to share pictures if it all works out.

The inn that Alden Nash built as it has appeared over the years; including an interior image showcasing the beams that Alden himself must have crafted when building the Nash Hotel in 1840.

July 14, 1941 (Monday)

Edna stays home to finish ironing

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Beautiful Day.

Washed and did all the

ironing this evening.

This is school meeting

night. Edwina came and

wanted me to go with her

to the meeting but thought

I had better finish my

ironing.

Henry away on Right of Way

work.

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With hardly any words at all, Edna's personality and inner thoughts often spring to life off of the page. If you have been reading along, you know that Edna can accomplish a lot in a day, likes to be part of all the goings on in her community, and goes a lot of places with Edwina. For some reason, Edna did not want to go to that school meeting and she knows (and we know) it likely had nothing to do with her needing to finish the ironing.

In case you were wondering what Edna missed at the school meeting, don't worry. I was able to track down the minutes and financials.

July 13, 1941 (Sunday)

Hank went stepping out

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Nice day. Cool + Dry.

I puttered around

all day cleaning

cupboards + etc.

Hank played ball

at Lowell this P.M.

Lowell Hot Points vs.

Greenville. Lowell lost.

Hank went stepping

out to-night.

Kate + Bill here to night

played euchre. Men

won all the games but

one 5 to 1,

Lucille, Jack + Mary here

this P.M. - Lucille brought

me a qt. of red rasp-

berries.

Orlo had day off went

fishing.

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Going to the movies, attending card parties, enjoying a soda at the corner drug store, and dancing were all popular stepping-out activities in the 20s, 30s and 40s ---at least according to an encylcopedia.com entry on "Everyday Life 1929 - 1941."

Handsome Hank

Edna often notes when someone goes to see a movie or plays cards. I think Hank must have looked pretty spiffy when he left the house for her to note that "Hank went stepping out." I don't think he was headed to see a movie or play cards.

I searched the local papers for July of 1941 hoping to find an ad or a mention of some "doings" —a dance or a some sort of shindig — to which Hank may have gone. I didn't have much luck. But I always find a gem or two when looking through the newspaper archives.

First, I stumbled upon an advertisement for the Lowell Hotpoint Co. Edna said Hank played ball on this day for the Lowell Hotpoints.

I am not sure what is going on with the little naked-looking cartoon man in that ad but the New Improved 1941 Hotpoint Electric Refrigerator with 7 food storage zones, including a place for butter and big bottles sounds like a must have appliance.

I also found an ad for The Safety Smoker which clamped to a car's vent window, allowing ashes to fall outside of the car. The Safety Smoker advertisement is not at all relevant to Edna's journal entry for this day, I just found it interesting and amusing.

It was the story about a local farmer spotting a black bear that really captured my attention. Bear sightings in the lower part of lower Michigan aren't common.

Raymond Russell reported to the Lowell Ledger that he saw the 300 lb. bear once while he was in the onion field and again while digging potatoes. The article concluded by telling that Russell was a former big league baseball player. I can only find one Russell on the Detroit Tigers All-time roster and it wasn't a guy named Raymond. I didn't find a Raymond Russell in the Baseball Encyclopedia, either. Maybe he never made it to the Bigs. Or maybe he imagined the black bear and the baseball thing.

[insert eye roll here for my unfounded skepticism]

I am sure he saw the bear and played in the big leagues. I just can't find proof of either, other than this article from the Lowell Ledger.

I shared the article with my mom and dad. Dad, a huge baseball fan, said he has a faint memory of some guy from that area having played big league ball. My mom said she knows where the Lampkin farm was and will show it to me sometime.