People – Pure Saginaw

Trippensee Planetarium Company

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in old town, People

I worked at the Trippensee Planetarium Company in the early 90’s shortly after graduating from high school. The company made planetarium models and water sampling equipment which was sold under the Wildco name. Bill and Betty Phillips owned the company which was started by Betty’s Father and Uncle in 1905. You can learn more about the company in my post HERE

I truly enjoyed working there on the corner of Cass and Niagra in Old Town. Betty and Bill were both active in the community and helped established my love for old buildings. I was saddened to hear of Betty’s passing on November 8th. She had a large impact on my life. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends. You can read her obituary HERE

Who is Jesse Johnson?

Posted on May 22, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in People, Schools

I was at the old Buena Vista High School and I saw this rock with a plaque for the Jesse Johnson Memorial Garden. It was dedicated in 1982 and it reads that he lived from 1923 to 1978. I tried to do some research to find out a little bit more about him and all I could find was a scholarship in his honor HERE . I have limited time to research it since I am busy at work during the day. If you know anything about him I would appreciate it if you post something in the comments.

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Wonder Rock

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in People

I have been doing Pure Saginaw since 2011 and I knew there was a rock honoring Stevie Wonder but I never took a pic of it. I was roaming around the southeast side of Saginaw a few weeks ago and came across the rock and took a pic of it. I figure since today is May 13th and Stevland Hardaway Judkins was born in Saginaw on May 13th, 1950 that today would be a good day to post my photo.

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The Two Houses on M-46

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, People

As thousands of cars and trucks zoom down M-46 aka Gratiot Road, I wonder how many people notice the two somewhat ordinary houses between Sandra Court and Larch Street. A green Michigan historical marker stands in front declaring their significance, but it is almost impossible to stop and read it on such a busy road. In case you have never read it the sign reads.

Distinguished poet Theodore Roethke (1908 – 1963) was born in Saginaw and grew up in this house. The house was built around 1911 for his parents, Otto and Helen Roethke. Otto’s brother Carl lived in the adjacent fieldstone house. Together, the brothers managed the William Roethke Floral Company, founded in 1880 by their father, Wilhelm Roethke, a Prussian immigrant. The company’s extensive greenhouses once stood on the land behind these two houses. Theodore worked in the greenhouses with his father and his experiences inspired many of his poems Roethke attended local schools and the University of Michigan, obtaining a masters degree in literature in 1936, and he taught at universities throughout the country.

Theodore Roethke (1908 – 1963) wrote of his poetry: The greenhouse “is my symbol for the whole of life, a womb, a heaven-on-earth.” Roethke drew inspiration from his childhood experiences of working in his family’s Saginaw floral company. Beginning in 1941 with Open House, the distinguished poet and teacher published extensively, receiving a Pulitzer Prize for poetry and two National Book Awards among an array of honors. In 1959 Yale University awarded him the prestigious Bollingen Prize. Roethke taught at Michigan State College, (present-day Michigan State University) and at colleges in Pennsylvania and Vermont, before joining the faculty of the University of Washington at Seattle in 1947. Roethke died in Washington in 1963. His remains are interred in Saginaw’s Oakwood Cemetery.

I recently read that Theodore’s uncle’s house has problems with the roof and foundation and the organization that maintains the two houses is considering demolishing it. Unfortunately, I do not have the money to do the repairs, but I hope money can be found to save the home. You can read more about what is happening with the old house in an article by Review Magazine HERE

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The Spiteful Will of Wellington Burt

Posted on February 28, 2018 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in People, Saginaw History, Stories

In the back of Saginaw’s Forest Lawn Cemetary is a massive stone mausoleum where lumber baron and railroad tycoon Wellington R. Burt is entombed. At the time of his death in 1919, he was the 8th wealthiest person in America and the second richest person in Michigan with Henry Ford holding that title. He is the only one who knew why he had one of America’s strangest last wills. It had a “spite clause” where he stated his money was to be given out 21 years after the death of his last surviving grandchild who was alive at the time of his death. Burt was married twice and had seven children, 3 daughters from the first wife and 1 daughter and 3 younger sons from the second wife. Its believed that a feud within the family is the cause for the strange request in the will. He did leave his family members annual payments of about $1000 each except for his favorite son he left $30,000 a year and his daughter whom he was angry with for getting divorced he left nothing. He also left money for some of his servants who worked for him at his Mansion in downtown Saginaw. Most of his servants received more money than his own family. Burt’s last grandchild, Marion Lansill died in November of 1989. 21 years later his trust valued approximately a 100 million dollars and was split between 12 descendants in 2010.

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Theodore Roethke: America’s Greatest Poet

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan Historical Marker, People

Standing along Gratiot Road, a few block east of Wheeler Street, are the houses of Theodore Roethke’s father and uncle. Between the two houses stands a historical marker that reads:

Theodore Roethke (1908 – 1963) wrote of his poetry: The greenhouse “is my symbol for the whole of life, a womb, a heavon-on-earth.” Roethke drew inspiration from his childhood experiences of working in his family’s Saginaw floral company. Beginning is 1941 with Open House, the distinguished poet and teacher published extensively, receiving a Pulitzer Prise for poetry and two National Book Awards among an array of honors. In 1959 Yale University awarded him the prestigious Bollingen Prize. Roethke taught at Michigan State College, (present-day Michigan State University) and at colleges in Pennsylvania and Vermont, before joining the faculty of the University of Washington at Seattle in 1947. Roethke died in Washington in 1963. His remains are interred in Saginaw’s Oakwood Cemetery.

P.S. my favorite line he wrote is from his poem the Waking: “I learn by going where I have to go”

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The Michigan State Police 100 Years Of Service

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in People

I see and hear their helicopter flying over Saginaw and the Trooper eating dinner at Tony’s before their shift starts. I thought today is a good day to say Thank You since it’s the 100 year anniversary of the Michigan State Police.

The Michigan Department of State Police began as a temporary, wartime emergency force for the purpose of domestic security during World War I. On April 19, 1917, Governor Albert Sleeper created the Michigan State Troops Permanent Force, (also known as the Michigan State Constabulary). With Colonel Roy C. Vandercook as the first commanding officer, this new force consisted of five Troops of mounted, dismounted and motorized units, totaling 300 men. On March 26, 1919, Public Act 26 reorganized the Constabulary as the permanent, peacetime Michigan State Police.

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Major League Baseball Players from Saginaw

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in People, Sports

With Baseball season starting up, I figured I would compile a list of Major League players from Saginaw. I am sure there are a lot of players that played professionally, but I stuck to the guys that played in the Major Leauge.

Working on the list it reminded me of a time when my friend’s car broke down several years ago, when I was still in school, and we needed it towed. The tow truck driver was a big brute of a man, but a nice guy. we piled into the cab of his truck and somehow we got talking about baseball. He told me he grew up with Curt Young and remembered playing ball with him and how he was a great pitcher. He said few guys could ever get a hit off his one of his pitches, but he said he could do it. He said it was pretty cool that Curt went on to the big leagues.

I think that when someone from your hometown goes on to make it big, there is a sense of pride that you knew them and seen their hard work and talent come to fruition. And there is always that time you can tell your kids or grandkids, ” yeah I know him, I went to school whith him and he was a hell of a ball player, we all knew he was gonna be big somday”

But I digress, on with the list.

Archie Yelle

Archie Yelle was born on June 11, 1892, in Saginaw and attended school at Saginaw High. He played professionally for over 20 years as a catcher. It was in 1917 that he joined the Detroit Tigers and played 87 games with the team for two years. He was inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Ed Albosta

He was born on October 27, 1918, in Saginaw and graduated from Arthur Hill in 1938. He signed a contract to play with the Detroit Tigers after a tryout but was declared a free agent when the baseball commissioner found the tigers guilty of hiding contracts of 91 players. In 1941 he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers as a Pitcher. After his first year of pitching for the Dodgers, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he played 17 games for the Pittsburg Pirates in 1946. He was inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

Bob Buhl

He was born on August 12, 1928 and graduated from Saginaw High. Buhl was 24 years old when he was first to sign a major league contract by Milwaukee Braves scout Earle W. Halstead in 1953. He pitched for the braves until 1962. He was part of the World Series Championship team in 1957. In 1962, Buhl was traded to the Cubs after appearing in just one game for the Braves. In 1966 He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies and ended his major league career with them in 1967. He was inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

Al Luplow

He was born on March 13, 1939, in Saginaw. He played football for Michigan State before signing with the Cleveland Indians to play right feild in 1961. In 1965 he went over to the New York Mets and then in 1967 he played his final season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame.

Curt Young

He was born on April 16, 1960, in Saginaw and graduated from Arthur Hill. Young was drafted by the Athletics in the fourth round of the 1981 draft. He joined the big league club in 1983 and played with the A’s through the 1991 season. In 1992 he played for both the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees before rejoining Oakland in 1993. He is currently a pitching coach for the Oakland A’s

I can honestly say I am not a huge baseball fan, and I can not tell you the last time a saw a game so hopefully my list is complete. I am sure you will let me know if something is wrong or missing.

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Little Jake: Famous for being Famous

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in People

Jacob Seligman was born in Germany in 1838. He immigrated to the United States when he was young and became a tailor’s assistant in Pontiac. Because of his 4’11” height and thin build he was known as Little Jake. He opened up a clothing store in Pontiac and with his success, he started branching to other cities in Michigan. After traveling to East Saginaw and seeing how the town was growing with the lumber industry he moved to Saginaw in 1878 and opened up a store.( At the time Saginaw was two cities, East Saginaw the downtown area and Saginaw City which is the old town area)

What set Little Jake’s store apart from other stores is his flamboyant advertising. He would hire a band to march around town and would stop in front of his store. With a crowd of people listening to the band, he would toss gifts from the second story window to the people below. When he came back from New York with a load of new merchandise he would travel around in a loaded wagon tossing gifts to people. He spent a lot of money in advertising in the local newspapers exclaiming how he was the ” King Clothier” of Saginaw and that he had more merchandise and lower prices than anyone of his competitors. Many of his competitors were outraged with his antics and had larger stores so in turn, they spent money advertising in the newspapers to dispute his claims. The newspapers loved the revenue he generated for them, and in return, would write favorable articles about him, even if the did use a few ” alternative facts.”

Little Jake was popular with the lumberjacks and working class people of Saginaw. While other stores catered to the wealthy, he sold at a discount and lower profit margins making his profits in selling large volume. I think his business model was the forerunner to the outlet and big box discount stores of today. Little Jake’s success with the clothing store enabled him to purchase a trolly line which he proudly had “Little Jake” painted on the sides.

Little Jake opened up a bank in the rear of his store, allowing him to cash the checks or bank notes of the lumberjacks. Many lumberjacks would head straight to Little Jake’s in the spring when the season was done. They trusted Seligman and would deposit their hard earned money in his bank. The bank grew large enough that he moved it out of the store to a separate building and was known as Little Jake’s Bank.

Little Jake’s success with the clothing store and bank enabled him to purchase a trolly line which he proudly had “Little Jake” painted on the sides. As you can see he like putting his Little Jake name on everything he owned creating a ” Personal Brand” before anyone knew that was even a thing.

Jacob Seligman purchased the building on the corner of Genesse and Lapeer from Col. Michael Jeffers in 1890. After moving his clothing store to the new location he then erected a clock tower on the triangular shape building. At the time only the wealthy was able to afford a watch and Little Jake installed the clock with his name on it so the working class people of Saginaw would know what time it was. The clock became known as Little Jake’s Time. He also had a statue installed on the top of the tower. He said it was a statue of himself but when it blew down in a storm in the 1940s it was found out it was a statue of a confederate officer from the Civil War. Shortly after the statue fell down the clock tower was removed since it no longer kept time consistently and in 1963 the building was torn down.

Little Jakes Businesses continued to grow. He began obtaining real estate in Detroit and was an investor in the Majestic Building on Woodward in Detroit. At the end of the 1800s, the economy took a turn for the worse and many businesses and investors were struggling including Little Jake. He moved to Colorado and invested in mining and in 1911 he was found dead in his home by a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. His wishes were to be buried in Saginaw and his body was transported to the city he loved and it was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Jacob “Little Jake” Seligman was not as influential as Arthur Hill, Aaron Bliss or C.K. Eddy and did not have a school named after him, or held public office. I think he was not well regarded in Saginaw’s high society because of his working class relationships and his carnival-like advertising, but he was loved by the people he sold his products to. It was his endless self-promotion and hard work that made him such and endearing person. I think he would have fit right in with today’s reality TV and social media.

P.S. If you are wondering Jakes Old City Grill in Old Town is named after him.

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“The Saginaw Kid” George Lavigne

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in People, Saginaw History

George “Kid” Lavigne was born in Bay City in 1869, when he was young, his parents moved to work at a sawmill a few miles north of Zilwaukee in the town of Melbourne( you can read my post about the town HERE). In 1886 he turned pro at the age of 16, and Because of his age, and many of his early fights were in Saginaw, he earned the nickname, “The Saginaw Kid.” While he began boxing early, he went unbeaten in 46 fights and did not suffer his first loss until 1899. While there were quite a few draws on his record, many of those took place when boxing was illegal and were the result of police intervention.

Lavigne’s entry into boxing was at a time when boxing was becoming a more civilized sport. Boxing began putting in regulations that eliminated the free-for-all street-brawling style of fighting that boxing had been. Kicking, biting, elbowing or whatever it took to be the last man standing was no longer acceptable to defeat an opponent. While the new rules were more civil, the sport of boxing remained a test of endurance. Lavigne’s fight with George Siddons on March 1, 1889, in Saginaw went 77 rounds which lasted for over five hours before the referee ruled the fight a draw.
Lavigne had many noteworthy fights, but his bout at New Orleans on December 14, 1894, with local favorite Andy Bowen was probably his most notorious. Bowen was no match for the more skillful Lavigne. The Saginaw Kid pretty much had his way with Bowen, even though Bowen was able to hang on until the 18th round. A smashing right by Lavigne to Bowen’s right jaw sent him head first to the canvas for a final count. Back then, the canvas had no padding to protect Bowen’s head from taking a severe blow from the wood floor underneath. Bowen never regained consciousness and died the following day from his head injury. Everyone was shocked, including Lavigne who was arrested and charged with murder. Later, the murder charges were dropped and Lavigne was released. In February of the following year,Lavigne staged a benefit bout in Saginaw with the proceeds going to Bowen’s widow

Lavigne claimed the American version of the lightweight title by virtue of wins over Andy Bowen, Joe Walcott and a 20-round draw with Young Griffo. A match was set up in London for Lavigne to meet British champion Dick Burge in 1896. Burge was described as a “scientific boxer” while Lavigne was portrayed as an “aggressive, savage fighter.” The action was constant as Burge managed to draw blood from Lavigne’s nose and mouth. But the American never faltered and eventually scored a 17th-round knockout and claimed the world title.

In 1899, Lavigne moved up in weight in a bid to capture the welterweight title and was knocked out by champion “Mysterious” Billy Smith. Later that year, he lost the lightweight crown as well when Erne decisioned him over 20 rounds in a rematch.

He fought on sparingly over the next few years, but his addiction to alcohol and his lack of proper training took its toll. After another knockout at the hands of young Jimmy Britt, Lavigne sailed for France and opened a boxing school in Paris for three years. He returned to the states and opened a saloon in Detroit, “Kid Lavigne’s Triangle Cafe”. He continued to believe he could make a comeback and fought a few exhibitions. He lost his final match in six rounds against “Fighting” Dick Nelson in 1909. Finally closing his saloon in late 1913, by 1914 he found himself working for the Highland Park Plant of Ford Motor Company near his home in Detroit. After his first wife Julia Drujon died in 1922, he remarried two years later to Flora M. Davey. He had no children. He worked at Ford until his death of a heart attack at his home in Detroit on March 9, 1928 and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
He was only 58 years of age, and like many boxers of his era, had a life somewhat shorter than average.

Lavigne was inducted into the Ring Hall of Fame in 1959, the Michigan Boxing Hall of Fame in 1965, the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998, the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

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