May 31, 1945 (Thursday)

45 GRADUATES, PAUL K BEING ONE OF THEM

Planted a few flower seeds

before the rain.

Raining again to-day.

Winds from the east.

Did usual routine

of work around the

house also did the

ironing.

Henry and I and Lucille

attended Commencement

Exercises at Caledonia

High School to-night.

45 graduates, Paul K

being one of them. A

very nice program. Graduates

wore caps and gowns.

Very good speaker, subject "You have got to have it to get it." Mr. and Mrs. Boughner attended too.

---

Paul K Johnson senior photo (1945)

Paul K Johnson, the graduate, is Henry and Edna's grandson. He is my uncle. Brother to my father.

On June 1, 1945, the day he graduated from high school, Paul was just 16.

On June 28, 1945 a couple of weeks after graduating, Paul would celebrate his 17th birthday. Edna notes in her journal for that day that Paul rode with Hank on Hank's motorcycle to Grand Rapids.

Celebrating his graduation was probably bittersweet for Paul and his family. A few months earlier, in November of 1944, Paul's mom had taken off. It would be more than 40 years before Paul and my father would see their mother again.

Read the post about their mom leaving here : https://www.ednasjournal.com/post/march-11-1945-sunday

Paul in his letter sweater (baseball glove behind his back) with his brother Dick.

Edna's displeasure in her daughter-in-laws decision to run off and desert her children occasionally creeps into her journal entires. On this day, Edna's notes that "Mr. and Mrs. Boughner attended" the graduation. The Boughners are Paul's other grandparents—the parents of Rosy, who skipped out with another man and left her children behind.

I wonder if the formality Edna uses in referring to them as "Mr." and "Mrs." is out of respect—proper etiquette of the times—or perhaps a silent nod of disapproval for their daughter's decision to abandon her family.

Either way, Edna enjoyed the commencement address and seemed quite pleased and proud to see her grandson in his cap and gown.

On June 28, 1946, a little more than a year after his his high school graduation, Paul would celebrate his 18th birthday by registering for the draft. Not long after, Paul would serve in the United States Army, spending about two years in Japan during the Occupation.

Paul K Johnson (left) in his Army uniform

March 15, 1945 (Thursday)

HANK PREPPING TO PLOW OATS. HENRY TOURS COUNTY ROADS & BRIDGES.

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Continued mild sunny

weather, temperatures

around 65° unusual

for March weather.

Hank is disking

the corn stubbles

preparatory to plowing

oats.

Henry and members of

Road Comm + Roads and

Bridges Comm toured

the County in the

interest of better roads

and bridges.

Washed the living room walls

to-day.

Henry and I spent evening at Alden's.

---

Henry A. Johnson, Sr. (Edna's husband) was a leader of people and of progress.

He attended a one-room school at Bowne Center for his primary education and graduated from Lowell High School before earning his teaching certificate at Valparaiso University.

Henry taught school throughout Kent County for several years while also working on the family farm. At the age of 23, he was elected clerk of Bowne Township, serving in that position for 8 years until being elected township treasurer.

Henry was 25 when he married Edna in 1902.

In 1923, according to the Michigan Roads and Pavements publication of February 23 of that year, Henry was newly elected to serve as a Kent County Road Commissioner.

It seems Henry came to the position following a prolonged controversy at the road commission in which the "road department of Kent County was given a thorough investigation, which resulted in complete exoneration of the commission of charges of irregularities detrimental to the interests of the county."

Often referred to as "the farmer from Alto," Henry would hold the position of Kent County Road Commissioner for 32 years, longer than any other member. He officially retired on December 31, 1955.

During his service, Henry earned the moniker of "Father of the [Kent] County Park system" for the instrumental role in played in setting aside land for parks in Kent County.

Johnson Park in Walker, Michigan is named in his honor.

Henry and his fellow commissioners helped to develop and modernize the roadways and governance of road and highway systems in Kent County. A brief history of roadways in Michigan featured on MichiganCountyRoads.org provides some perspective.

"In the early 1900s, Michigan roads were planned, built and maintained at the township level of government. Residents recognized the inefficiency and lack of coordinated planning that occurred by handling roads at the township level.

The quality of the road surface, choice of routes, road widths and other road features varied widely, which did not make for good transportation for farm wagons or the new horseless carriage. Ever wondered why a “country road” made a small jog? It’s a little remnant of Michigan history.

County road commissions were created expressly to ensure a county-wide seamless system of roads and bridges under local control. This system has worked well over the years, with county road agencies consulting with townships as well as cities and villages, and making the most efficient use of resources.

What was once a disparate patchwork of farm-to-market routes jogging through the Michigan countryside has been developed into a modern road system connecting Michigan cities and villages. From seasonal byways to multi-late urban freeways, today’s county roads enable the efficient movement of people, goods and services across Michigan." MichiganCountyRoads.org

I found limited access online to two relevant publications featuring news and information about Michigan roadways in the early to mid 1900s; Michigan Highway and Byways and Michigan Roads and Pavements. I am doing a bit of digging around to see if I can find a library in Michigan that may have actual copies in their archives. I would love to read through them and learn more. I did find a few articles online that referenced Henry A. Johnson and thought I would share one of them here.

On this day in March of 1945, when Edna writes, "Henry and members of Roads and Bridges Commission toured the County in the interest of better roads and bridges," Henry had just been elected to serve as the president of the County Roads Association (CRA) of Michigan.

There is a brief article in the March 22, 1945 edition of the Lowell Ledger referencing the event which took place during the annual meeting of the County Roads Association at the Olds Hotel in Lansing.

The Hotel Olds opened in 1926. In 1960, it was purchased by the Jack Tar hotel Chain and renamed the Jack Tar Lansing. In 1970, it was renamed the Olds Plaza. Today, it is known as the George W. Romney Building and houses the Office of the Governor and other state offices.

Henry Alden Johnson, Sr. passed away on April 7, 1965 at the age of 88. He was a seeker of knowledge and a teacher. He was, as you will read in his obituary, an author and poet (more on that in another post). He was a husband and a father and a grandfather. He was an advocate and public servant. He was the farmer from Alto who became the Father of the Kent County Parks System.

If you find yourself driving down a county road or visiting a park in Kent County in the state of Michigan, give Henry and his fellow commissioners a nod of thanks.

March 14, 1945 (Wednesday)

WASHED WINDOWS. ANOTHER BURIAL. HANK TO GRAND RAPIDS.

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Very mild again to-day

unusual for this time of

year.

I washed windows

up stairs both inside

and out. A nice

warm breezy day.

Another burial

at cemetery this P.M.

Wilder McDiarmid

of Grand Ledge buried

this P.M. This weeks

4 burial in cemetery in

side of a week.

Hank went to Grand

Rapids to-night to show

I guess.

---

Hugh Wilder McDiramid was born in Bowne Center on October 13, 1865 to Angus and Exene McDiramid. Angus was the son of Duncan McDiramid who was born in Scotland and came with his family to the United States via Montreal in 1818.

Duncan resided in New York State before coming to Michigan and settling in Bowne Center, sometime after 1840. The 1840 census shows him as a resident of New York state but by 1844, when Angus was born, the McDiramid family were living in Bowne Center.

On February 1, 1848, Duncan McDiramid secured a deed from the General Land Office of the United States, authorized by President Polk confirming that he had paid in full for a plot of land in section 15 of township 5 (Bowne).

He secured a second deed on March 10, 1852, for an additional plot of land in that same section of Bowne Township. This time, it was authorized by President Millard Fillmore.

By 1870, ownership of section 15 in Bowne Township had transferred from Duncan to his son, Anges. By 1870, the Johnsons had settled in section 16 of Bowne Township. An illustrated atlas of Kent County published around 1874 featured engravings of both farms.

The engraving of the Johnson farm shows the original farmhouse. Henry and Edna lived a home on that plot of land that was built later than this engraving. The original farmhouse no longer exists but the home where Henry and Edna resided still stands.

In the map of Bowne Township (below right), I highlighted Section 15 / McDiramid in green, Section 16 / Johnson in blue. The section highlighted in orange is the farm where Edna grew up. The section in yellow is the Bowne Township cemetery.

On this day in 1945, Hugh Wilder McDiramid, son of Angus and grandson of Duncan, was being buried. Hugh was living in Grand Ledge at the time of his death on March 11, 1945, from a coronary thrombosis on March 11. His wife, Alice would live another thirty-two years, passing away in 1977.

Wilder and Alice are buried in the family plot in the cemetery at Bowne Center along with Duncan and Angus and several other McDiramid family members.

Wilder's brother, Lester passed away in 1939. He is not buried in the family plot at Bowne Center. I found an obituary for Lester in a 1939 publication of the Lansing State Journal.

Lester received his early education in the one room schoolhouse in Bowne Center. He went on to earn a degree from the University of Michigan, graduating with the class of 1900. He later became a teacher in Owosso, principal in Albion, and superintendent in Marshall. According to his obituary he also did "educational work for the Army in France" during World War I.

I am always so pleased to meet the people Edna introduces to me as I make my way through her journals.

Oh...also, Edna does not seem very pleased that Hank went to town without telling her what he is up to.

I got a little laugh from the "I guess" she tagged onto the end of her sentence about Hank going to Grand Rapids to a show.