Official publication of the Ypsilanti Historical Society, featuring articles and reminiscences of the people and places in the Ypsilanti area FALL 2020 In This Issue... Starkweather Chapel — A Work in Progress ...........................1 By James Mann The Wonderful Legacy of the Detroit, HIllsdale & Indiana Railroad ............6 By Janice Anschuetz Murder in the Underwear Factory 10 By James Mann Hollywood Comes to Ypsilanti —Our Decade in Films ....................20 By Janice Anschuetz Someone Tried to Steal My Great-Great Grandmother .............28 By Janet McDougall Buchanan Restored Glory at In 1889 the architects Mason and Rice of Detroit designed the Chapel in the popular Richardsonian Roman- esque style featuring rusticated granite with reddish Lake Superior sandstone for trimming around doors 101 West Michigan .........................30 and windows. By James Mann Dr. George M. Hull .........................32 By James Mann Starkweather Chapel Body Found on Sullivan Farm ........33 A WORK IN PROGRESS By James Mann I Know Something Good BY JAMES MANN About You.......................................34 hen you turn off North River the remains in the By Louis C. Simon (1935) Street into Highland Ceme- parlor. The funer- Wtery just past the gates and al service was directly ahead of you is an impressive held at the home Society Briefs sight. This is the Starkweather Memo- followed by the From the President’s Desk ................2 rial Chapel, a building that appears to procession to the harken back to the middle ages. Inside cemetery. There Society Board Members ..................2 the chapel are wide arches and several the final service was Tiffany stained glass windows, includ- Museum Board Report ...................27 held at the grave- The Starkweather ing two memorial windows featuring side, weather per- Chapel was a gift of GLEANINGS Sponsors ....................34 cherubs. The chapel, built in 1888, mitting. Mary Ann Starkweather. opened for services in 1889. It’s prima- Membership Application ...............35 During the win- ry function was a location for final ser- Advertising Application .................35 vices for the dead in lieu of services at ter months when the frozen ground made digging a grave impossible, the The Ypsilanti Historical Museum is a museum the graveside. of local history which is presented as an 1860 remains would be placed in a receiving home. The Museum and Fletcher-White & From the early years of the city, and vault until spring. There is a doorway Rudisill Archives are organized and operated well into the 20th Century, when a per- by the Ypsilanti Historical Society. We are all in the rear exterior wall of the chapel volunteers and our membership is open to son died the body was laid out in a cof- that opens into a small room which everyone, including non-city residents. fin and set up for display in the formal served as the winter receiving vault. parlor of the family home. Those who Pipe shelves remain that once held the wished to pay their respects to the de- ceased visited the home and viewed Starkweather Chapel continued on page 3 www.ypsihistory.org From the PRESIDENT’S DESK BY BILL NICKELS Ypsilanti HISTORICAL SOCIETY s the COVID pandemic con- members email addresses for Quar- tinues, the closing of both the terly Meetings and we will rely on our museum and the archives con- website, ypsihistory.org, for updated Board of Trustees: A tinues. That does not mean we are information concerning the muse- Jim Curran, Maria Davis, not able to continue our services. Our um and archives. If you Pattie Harrington, Rick Katon, Gerald Jennings, Marcia McCrary, EMU Gradu- think we may not Bill Nickels, Alvin Rudisill, ate Assistant have your current Tom Warner, Bette Warren, continues email address, Daneen Zureich to staff our you can send it to Museum Advisory Board: Archives for us at yhs.muse- Kathleen Campbell, Jim Curran, research re- [email protected]. Virginia Davis-Brown, quests and can We continue to David Mongson, Louise Nagle, be reached at Fofie Pappas, John Stewart, have a need for yhs.archives@ Nancy Taylor, Nancy Wheeler, museum docents Daneen Zureich gmail.com or and volunteers. 734-217-8236. Archives Advisory Board: It is volunteer We all look for- Courtney Beattie, Kim Clarke, docents that en- ward to when Maria Davis, Rick Katon, able YHS to have the museum open the pandemic is behind us and we can Alvin Rudisill, Louise Schmaltz, Tuesday through Sunday. It is volun- Bette Warren resume our normal hours. Our new teers that keep the museum and ar- website ypsihistory.org will have cur- Endowment Fund Advisory Board: chives maintained and open to the rent information on the home page. Don Loppnow, Bill Nickels, community. All volunteers are re- Alvin Rudisill, Bette Warren Claire Conzemius, our EMU Grad- warded with the satisfaction of doing uate Assistant, spent the summer something good for our community. working remotely connected to our If you or somebody you know would computers from her home. She took like that feeling, let us know at yhs. • the opportunity to digitally record [email protected]. Ypsilanti Historical Society the protest marches and signage in Continue to stay safe. 220 North Huron Street the Ypsilanti area that accompanied Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197 the summer’s racial issues. This ef- Museum: 734.482.4990 fort adds to Kim Clarke’s digital re- Archives: 734.217.8236 cord of the visual effect COVID had www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org and is having on our community, we • have recorded an historic year. Last March, we cancelled our spring GLEANINGS Staff Quarterly Meeting because of COVID Editor ...................................... Al Rudisill hoping that we could have future Assistant Editors .....................Peg Porter meetings live. After cancelling the Fofie Pappas Design & Layout .........Pattie Harrington spring Quarterly Meeting, we decid- Advertising Director .. Claire Conzemius ed to offer our fall and future Quar- Finance Director ................Bette Warren terly Meetings remotely using Zoom. Distribution ................ Claire Conzemius Our fall Quarterly Meeting will be on th If you have suggestions for articles Sunday October 18 at 2 PM. City or if you have questions, contact of City of Ypsilanti Preservation Al Rudisill at 734.476.6658 or Planner Scott Slagor will present his [email protected]. “Historic Downtown Ypsilanti” pro- gram. Members will receive addition- Ypsilanti GLEANINGS is published 4 times a year by the Ypsilanti Historical al information by USPS mail. Society, 220 N. Huron Street, Ypsilanti, COVID has changed all of our lives. MI 48197 Communicating electronically has Claire Conzemius, our EMU Graduate Assistant, become more important for all of has digitally recorded the protest marches and us. In this uncertain world, for YHS, signage in the Ypsilanti area that accompanied two things are certain. We will use the summer’s racial issues. 2 Ypsilanti GLEANINGS • FALL 2020 • www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org Starkweather Chapel — A Work in Progress continued from page 1 coffins of the recently deceased. was a mausoleum. The roof leaked which caused damage to much of the The chapel was the gift of Mary Ann plaster and wainscoting. Groundhogs Starkweather as a memorial to her late husband John. She had inherited burrowed under the building and a fortune from her uncle Walter New- bees nested inside. Plaster fell from berry of Chicago and she gave the city the ceiling and the building was in four major gifts, including the Chap- danger of deteriorating beyond re- el, a public drinking fountain, the pair. Soldiers Monument in Highland Cem- Over the years attempts were made etery and her home on North Huron to save the chapel, but these failed to Street as a Ladies Library. She also materialize. Several years ago local gave Starkweather Hall to Eastern architect Denis Schmiedeke began Michigan University. The cemetery an effort to have Highland Cemetery Board of Trustees voted to accept the placed on the National Register of gift from Mary Ann Starkweather on Historic Places. This was part of a May 3, 1889. The architects were Ma- plan to secure grants for restoration son and Rice of Detroit. They chose of the chapel. Denis died before the the then popular Richardsonian Ro- work was completed. After his pass- manesque style featuring rusticated granite with reddish Lake Superior ing, the work continued through the sandstone for trimming around doors services of Robert Christenson, re- and windows. tired National Register Coordinator with the State Historic Preserva- The chapel served its purpose well tion Office. Highland Cemetery was th into the 20 Century and was still placed on the National Register of in use until the middle 1980s. Then Historic Places earlier this year and the building fell into disuse and you includes all the original area laid out began to see the effects of time. The by Colonel James Glen in 1863. chapel stood unused for several years and some who passed by assumed it The renovation of the chapel began The chapel’s doors, hinges and locks were restored through the efforts of Ron Koenig of Building Arts and Conservation of Saline. Ron Koenig and his staff are shown in the picture. 3 www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org • FALL 2020 • Ypsilanti GLEANINGS Starkweather Chapel — A Work in Progress continued from page 3 View of restored inner wall of the chapel. Barry LaRue was aided in the renovation work by Rex Richie, Vice President of the Highland Board. about four years ago under the supervision of Barry LaRue, the secretary of the Highland Cemetery Association. The work began with the replacement of the roof and an up- grade to the electric service. A heating and cooling system The Victorian era pump organ that now resides in the chapel. was added to make the building usable year round and to protect the plaster and wood from excess humidity. Fund- lon. As work progressed, Barry received a message from ing was made possible from a variety of sources.