The Grandfather I Never Knew - Part 1
My Grandparents, Eddie and Myrtle Yager, 1951
I never knew my grandfather on my father’s side. He passed away 11 months before I was born. He went by “Eddie” based on his middle name, Edwin. “Edwin” also happens to be my middle name. I knew my mother’s father, but Eddie was always mysterious to me. I don’t remember my father, or anyone for that matter, talking about him unless it was a more formal conversation about family history. I don’t ever remember my grandmother talking about him at all. I’ve been trying to learn more recently. I never had any crazy fantasies or evidence that he was some secret agent, or a criminal with a past no one wanted to speak of or anything like that, I just don’t remember him ever coming up in conversation. At some point in my young life I just sort of wrote the topic as being unknowable and moved on.
He also never knew me.
Early Life
Eddie was born in 1905. His parents were young by today’s standards when they had their first child, but actually seemed a bit older for those days. Eddie was their second child. Alice, his mother, was 25 and William, his father was 24 when Eddie was born. William went by Willie when he was young, and on some records it appears that name may have continued into his adult life. Willie worked as a printer most of his life. First in Canada, and then in Detroit. Detroit would have been much different than we think of it today. Strangely, the city is about the same size today as the early 1900’s due to the economic problems the city has been having since the 1980’s. The auto industry had not taken off at the time of the Yager’s immigration. It was still in its infancy. Henry Ford’s famous Model-T and the production line that produced it would not come about for another couple years. Car companies, including Ford, were starting there, but were not producing much yet.
As I write this, the world is dealing with Russia attacking its neighbor, Ukraine, and committing war crimes day after day to take the land Vladimir Putin sees as belonging to Russia. In April of 1905 the Empire of Russia was in a war with the Empire of Japan over influence and land in Asia and access to the ports and warmer water of the ocean. It seems not much has changed.
The young Yager family lived in Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada until a year of so before Eddie was born. His older sister, Ruth, was born in Canada in 1903. I don’t know what made them move or what specific reasons they had. We also don’t know the actual date or year that they made the move. Specific records are hard to come by if they even existed at the time. We do know that they did so either while Ruth was very young, and possibly while Alice was pregnant with Eddie. If she was pregnant at the time of the move Alice would have been an energic toddler.
By the time Eddie was a toddler they were living at 610 Lincoln Ave, in Detroit. I imagine with the tragedies coming their way, there would have been some tough times and bad memories for the entire family in this house. More about that later.
We also don’t know the route they took to get to Detroit. They could have taking a very long route around Lake Erie which I doubt they took. That route doesn’t make much sense due to its length. It’s more probable that they used ferries to cross the Detroit River or the St. Clair River to the north to get into Michigan and the U.S. Trains were still using ferries at that point with the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel still under construction. Construction began in 1906 and did not open for passenger and freight service until October 16th, 1910.
Alice, Eddie, Ruth, and Willie Yager
The Green Highlight Shows Lincoln Ave in 1915
Comparing historic street maps to today’s we can see where the house was. Street names change but it seems Lincoln Ave remained constant. On today’s maps Lincoln Street runs right along Trumbull, and is even part of Trumbull now. The house numbers have changed so it can be hard to know the exact house location. In 1912, Navin Field (later to be Tiger’s Stadium) opened and they would have been just a few blocks from that location, at 2121 Trumball Avenue. There is no way a construction project that big was not a part of their daily lives.
It was in my blood from the start that I’d be a lifelong Tigers fan. My other grandfather (Grandpa Hartmann) was a big baseball fan and of course a Tigers fan. He lived in the area surrounding Detroit much of his life as well. As he got older I know he would sit and watch games to pass the time. I also know my Grandma Yager - Eddie’s wife - constantly listened to Tiger’s games much later after his death on her side table radio. I like to assume that Alice and Willie’s young family were, or became, Tiger’s fans living this close.
Eddie would have been 7 years old when the first game at Navin field was played. His younger brother Fred would have been almost 5 years old. The first game was schedule to be played on Thursday April 18, 1912. Sadly, this was just 5 months after his older sister Ruth passed away. To make it worse, 4 months later his younger brother George, who was only one and a half years old, also passed away. I’m sure their household desperately needed some distraction, happiness and celebration. Maybe the festivities and celebrations opening day brought to their neighborhood helped.
There was a huge parade scheduled before the game that I’m sure any 7 year old would die to see. On opening day and for a few days after there were large amounts of rain so it all had to postponed. The postponed parade took place on Saturday April 20th along with the rescheduled first game. They played the Cleveland Naps in that first game. There were 3 future Hall of Famers on the field, and a forth should probably have been as well, if he was not part of the worst baseball scandal in history. Look at this line up:
1912 Tigers
The starting lineups were, for Cleveland:
Jack Graney, LF2
Ivy Olson, SS3
Joe Jackson, CF4
Nap Lajoie, 2B5
Buddy Ryan, RF6
Eddie Hohnhorst, 1B7
Terry Turner, 3B8
Ted Easterly, C9
Vean Gregg, P
And for Detroit:
Ossie Vitt, LF2
Baldy Louden, 3B3
Ty Cobb, CF4
Sam Crawford, RF5
Jim Delahanty, 2B6
Del Gainer, 1B7
Donie Bush, SS8
Oscar Stanage, C9
George Mullin, P
I have no way of knowing if it happened, but I sure like to picture my young grandfather either in the ballpark or looking in through the fence, or simply listening to the crowd cheer. To see those players opening day would have been mind blowing. Official attendance was 24,382 but estimates put it closer to 26,000. In the 11th inning the pitcher, George Mullin, came up with 2 outs and Donie Bush on third. Mullin came through hitting a single to left field, scoring Bush and giving Detroit the win.
I’m told Eddie and all his brothers and all their families remained baseball and Tiger’s fan throughout their lives. This event must have had at least something to do with that.
I took my wife and first son to the final week of Tiger stadium before it was closed and the team moved to the new ballpark. I love the idea of myself, my son, and the grandfather I never knew opening and closing “The Corner.”
Navin Field - Later to be Tiger Stadium. Opened in 1912
Navin Field would have been only a few blocks from their house on Lincoln.
Birth of the Middle Class
It makes historical sense that William and Alice and their young family would have immigrated to Detroit. It was a city that from the 1880’s on was rich with people looking for jobs and hopes of achieving the American Dream. By 1910 it was the 9th largest city in the country with close to half a million residents (456,766 officially). That population would almost double in the next 10 years. For comparison, it is only slightly larger today (in 2021) with 632,464 residents. In 1910, the automotive industry was just getting started, and I wonder if the people then saw the importance it would have on the future. Even if they did not see the significance of the changes Detroit would create for the entire world, there were many new and well-paying jobs to be had. These included metal crafts, railcar production, stove works, paints, iron works along with all sorts of other metal crafts, and many other growing industries and jobs. Cultural locations and events were growing in the city as well. During this time the city saw the opening of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Masonic Temple, the Fox Theater and many new movie houses.
The majority of the population growth when the Yager’s moved would have been Eastern European farmers. Alice and William both being raised by German immigrant parents would have found it easy to fit in. While both Alice and Willie worked as laborers or as printers in Canada, it appears they were also farmers. Twelve percent of the population of Detroit would have been non-English speaking. By 1910, 33% of the population was foreign-born and 74% of “foreign stock”.
The first Chevrolet factory opened in 1911. Henry Ford was building his company in the area and updating the way his cars were made. These changes would change the economics of the surrounding area for decades to come. There were other car companies as well, like Old's, beginning their growth and jumping into the new industry.
In January of 1914, in the bitter Detroit cold, Henry Ford offered workers a new type of work and made it a huge deal to come to work for him. It would be repetitive work on a factory floor - an entirely new idea. People lined up to apply for jobs that would pay $5 a day, for 8 hours or work on the factory floor. That may not sound like much, it is almost $150 dollars in todays money. It was double the average factory wage. In addition to the higher pay, 8 hours was much shorter then some of these men had been working in the past. It was one of the biggest factors that started the middle class developing in our country.
The Yager family moved here a time when many, many others were also looking to the city to fulfil their dreams, find a job, and to raise their own family. Just imagine the growth of the city, all the changes, new people, and both the excitement and struggles of the time. And they did this with 2 small children - they would eventually have 6 more children.
Eddie, and almost off of his brothers would be involved in the car business for the next 50-60 years. Those who were not directly involved with cars still had the automotive industry to thank for their opportunities, jobs, and income levels. On both sides of my family, there is the car industry in my blood and deeply ingrained in our history.
Ruth’s Death
My father, Ed Yager, told me that the passing of Eddie’s older sister Ruth effected Eddie his entire life. He never got fully over the sadness and loss of his sisters death. I’m sure it did not help to also have his young toddler brother George passed away just a few months later. Ruth was 2 years older then Eddie. She would have been eight years old when she became ill and never recovered. She and Eddie were best friends and at that age I assume they were inseparable. With two siblings passing away within months of each other, the heartbroken Eddie was left with only his 3 year old brother Fred as a sibling at the time. The Loneliness must have almost overwhelmed the young child.
Ruth died of diphtheria. I’ve seen notes and family history stories that mention scarlet fever, but the death certificate says diphtheria. The confusion is understandable since they can be hard to distinguish without a test. In the early 1900’s record keeping also seemed to be a bit more lose with some records and death certificates. There was a rather large breakout of scarlet fever just a few years after Ruth’s passing so it would be easy for the family stories and verbal history to merge with those memories - much like we do today and probably will with “covid” in our future. In 1911 Bela Schick developed a test to find those susceptible to the diphtheria so they could be inoculated. That test was not widely available to the public until 1913, too late for Ruth. Anti-toxins or serums were available as early as the late 1800’s but they did not always work well, and they were easily corrupted and many times dangerous to humans. It wasn’t until 1914 that William H. Park had a breakthrough allowing for the creation of longer lasting and safer vaccines. Diphtheria has be eradicated in the U.S. at this point. Very few cases are seen today and the vaccine is required in most situations.
Herman Kiefer Hospital - site used to treat infectious diseases and the primary health care facility for Detroit. Shown here in 1911.
Herman Kiefer Hospital was working out of tents and early buildings in 1911. The facility was owned by The City of Detroit and was established to treat the rampant infectious diseases such as diphtheria, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, mumps and others in Detroit. By 1932 the hospital had 1,200 beds. It was only a few miles from the home of the Yagers. I do not know specifically if they went there, the records are incomplete at this point. I do know this hospital was the primary health care facility for the city of Detroit for close to 75 years. So I have to assume they may have. In the 1950’s it became the main treatment center in Detroit for Polio.
Ruth was buried in Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit. The first of her family to be buried there, but much of the family would follow in later years and join her in Woodmere.
Treatment wards in the early Herman Kiefer Hospital. Possibly one like the young Ruth Yager would have been treated in.
Herman Kiefer Hospital 1928
The family’s mourning did not end in 1912 with young George’s death coming so soon after Ruth’s. Willie would also need to travel back to Ontario, Canada for his father’s passing in February 1913.
Part 2 coming soon.
My grandmother (Myrtle) and grandfather (Eddie) are to the far left of the picture. His brothers and their wives are to the right. Honestly, my favorite part of this Thanksgiving picture is the bottle of Heinz ketchup in front of Fred! I love ketchup. Is this where I got that from?
