Superior Residents Have Narrow Escape

This story was published by The Ypsilanti Daily Press on Saturday, June 22, 1912.




Mr. and Mrs. John Van Buren of Superior Township had a narrow escape from serious injury Friday evening about six o’clock when the horses they were driving became frightened at the D. J & C car (interurban) and ran away.



They were driving on East Congress Street (Michigan Ave.), when they reached the power huse the horses became frightened at a passing car and started at a rapid gait down the street. They had gone but a short distance when the leather on the neck yoke broke allowing the tongue to slip through the yoke and the tugs to become unhooked. The light double buggy to which the two horses were harnessed ran onto their heels adding to the excitement and one of the horses began to kick.



Both Mr. and Mrs. Van Buren were thrown out. Mrs. Van Buren was dragged for a short distance under the buggy and was kicked by one of the horses but escaped in a miraculous manner with only a few severe bruises. Mr. Van Buren received only slight injuries. Both were taken into the home of Dan Dolby and a physician called. The only injury to the buggy was the broken dashboard and Mr. Van Buren so far recovered himself that he drove the horses home. This morning both went to Detroit.

$1,000 damage in Ypsilanti Blaze This story was published by The Ypsilanti Daily Press on Thursday, June 9, 1932. Damage estimated at possibly $1,000 resulted Wednesday afternoon at 5 o’clock when fire destroyed a portion of the residence at 102 E. Michigan Ave., which is owned by Mrs. Genevieve Perrine, S. Huron St. The blaze, which is believed to have resulted from children playing in the house, which is vacant, burned a large portion of the rear of the dwelling and the roof. There were no furnishings in the house. Ypsilanti fire department played two water lines in the blaze to bring it under control and traffic on E. Michigan Ave., was halted temporarily. The loss is covered by insurance.

Old Ainsworth property sold This story was published by the Ypsilanti Record on Thursday, June 8, 1922. Wednesday one of the largest real state deals in the county was consummated by five Ann Arbor men, who call themselves the Ypsi-Ann Land Co. when they purchased the old Ainsworth property on the Washtenaw Avenue road, just west of Ypsilanti. This property consists of 200 acres and the price paid was approximately $100,000. It is said that 50 acres of this property will be sub-divided into lots and sold for resident property. Work will start at once and engineers and landscape architects will be employed to put the property up to the highest standard and make it an ideal place for homes. The men responsible for the deal are Bernard E. Harkins, Roscoe Bonisteel, William N. Benge, J. Carl Malcolm and Charles A. Sink. Te deeds were drawn by Attorneys Bonisteel, of Ann Arbor and Lee N. Brown, of Ypsilanti. The purchase was negotiated by Harkins & Son, of Ann Arbor, through William N. Benge. This is one of the prettiest pieces of property lying anywhere near Ypsilanti and with these men behind it, will become a fine addition for homes.

Fire Destroys Ackerman Barn This story was published by The Ypsilanti Daily Press on Tuesday, June 7, 1932 Fire Monday night destroyed the large barn and two years crops of alfalfa hay on the John Ackerman farm, five miles southwest of Ypsilanti near Stony Creek road. The building which was of substantial construction was about 50 by 30 feet in dimension. An old hen house, which was near it, was also destroyed but neighbors, by forming a bucket brigade, were able to save three other structures. The residence was not endangered. Cause of the blaze is not known as members of the Ackerman family were not at home when the fire started. There was no electric wiring in the barn. The building caught fire at about 8:45 and burned past midnight.

Frank Stowell loses control of auto, is instantly killed This story was published by the Ypsilanti Daily Press on Saturday, May 4, 1912. A fatal accident, shocking in its suddenness, befell Frank E. Stowell, a well known citizen of Ypsilanti, at half past twelve o’clock today. He was returning from the creamery guiding his machine with one hand and carrying a pail of cream with the other, when he lost control of the car. A resident who saw the accident said the car was running at high speed, and that when it struck some sand on Spring Street, it turned turtle and pinned him down helplessly underneath. Men quickly rushed to the spot and drew away the heavy machine. He breathed two or three times, and then expired before a doctor arrived. At the time of the accident Alfred Davis and his brother Osias, who work in the Casler gardens, on Spring Street, were sitting in front of the barn, it being their noon-hour. They chanced to see Mr. Stowell from the time he left the creamery until the moment of the accident. The boys say that Mr. Stowell started from the creamery carrying a pail of cream or milk in his hands and also had with him a crock of butter. With the other hand he attempted to steer his machine, but was so encumbered with his pail that the car almost went off the embankment soon after he had crossed the bridge. The car was going so wild that the boys kept their eyes on it, and presently they saw the car had struck some sand and was turning turtle. They ran to the spot and with others who arrived lifted the car up, which had fallen on Mr. Stowell. The running board had struck him directly across the chest and had crushed it in. He was unconscious, breathed two or three times, and then passed away. Dr. Britton arrived soon after and carried him home in his car. Mr. Stowell’s car was only slightly broken. Mrs. Stowell is utterly prostrated with the shock and grief of her bereavement. Her husband had departed in happy spirits only ten minutes before he was brought home lifeless. Their two daughters, Mrs. Chas. Wilson, of Bowling Green, O., and Mrs. Bert Pierce of Lima, O., have been reached by long distance and are on their way home. Also his two sisters have been wired: Mrs. Dora Goddard of Mt. Upton, N. Y. and Mrs. Pettit of Fredonia, N. Y.

Clayton Deake dwelling burns, $10,000 damage This story was published by the Ypsilanti Daily Press on Tuesday, May 3, 1932. Fire, origin of which is undetermined, resulted in a loss of more than $10.000 this morning when it destroyed the modern farm home and practically all its contents as well as a small barn, belonging to Clayton Deake, former drain commissioner of Washtenaw County. The house is located on Packard Rd., three miles west of Ypsilanti. The blaze was not discovered until it had eaten its way through the southwest corner of the two story frame dwelling and then quickly engulfed the entire house, was uncontrollable. Volunteers succeeded in carrying to safety a few of the furnishings on the first floor, including the piano, but all contents on the second floor and basement burned. Forming a bucket brigade the volunteers were successful in keeping the flames from the two car garage, which was near the house and a chicken coop adjoining the garage, but a small barn 16 by 20 feet, directly in the line of the sparks carried by the wind, burned to the ground. Implements and machinery from the latter building were saved. The blaze was believed to have started at 10 o’clock only a short time after Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Deake had left for a business trip to Detroit. Early this afternoon relatives had been unsuccessful in locating the couple. Twenty years ago a large farm house standing on the same foundation, also burned to the ground and a large walnut tree standing near the structure, which was partly burned at that time, also caught on fire today. The loss is covered by insurance.

Residents urge drayman to get another horse This story was published by the Ypsilanti daily Press on Friday, May 3, 1912. During the last three months Ypsilanti people have been considerably concerned over the condition of one of the horses which Ruel F. Smith drives on his dray. This feeling has changed to indignation in some quarters since persistent appeals to Mr. Smith have fallen utterly to the ground. One of the horse’s forefeet is in such a state that he puts it very gingerly to the ground, steps on it, and drags it along until he takes another step. Mr. Smith has been deaf to complaints and expostulations it was represented to him that his one well horse could, if attached to the single dray, pull as much as at present both horses are able to draw, for the one well horse really does the work of both. Special leniency has been shown Mr. Smith because of the paralytic stroke which he suffered last winter, but he shows no disposition to take advantage of the proposals of help made to him. Humane Officer Springstead has told him of a single dray he can procure at a reasonable price. One of the bankers in the city has gone even further and offered to get the money subscribed to buy a new horse while some business men, who have employed Smith for forty years or so and feel an interest in his welfare, stand ready to subscribe to the purchase price of a good horse. Yet time has drifted on and the people along the street are treated to the continual spectacle of this poor creature hobbling along. In the three months this has gone on , the ribs of the horse have grown continually more apparent. He stumbles along about four steps behind his mate. The nerves of the people seeing him daily are rather on edge over the affair. According to some people who know Mr. Springstead, it seems now that the matter will probably be permitted to stand as it is until the appointment next week of a new humane officer or the reappointment of Springstead. The penalty for cruelty to animals is imprisonment in jail for not exceeding three months or by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or both such fine and imprisonment. It has been proposed that the bondsmen of Smith be looked up. Drayhorse gets a rest The Ypsilanti Daily Press reported the following on Saturday, May 4, 1012. Evidently Ruel Smith, the drayman, has not chosen to wait for official action to be tken in regard to his horse which has been driven on the streets of Ypsilanti this winter in an unfit condition, for it is reported that he has not driven the horse today. Until this winter Mr. Smith’s horses have always looked well cared for and equal to their work, and this recent occurrence has been the more inexplicable because of this fact.