I remember Grandfather as a loving, caring, quiet man. He had a longish face and large ears, a cleft in his chin that I was particularly fond of and a face
lined from years of exotic and sometimes hard experiences. I just thought he was Grandfather…..and I thought he looked perfect. His hands were large, they were working man’s hands, they were gentle and they offered comfort when needed or conveyed praise when due. I did not know Grandfather very long. He died when I was 5. Yet I remember him- his mannerisms, his quietness, his gentleness, his humor and always his love.
Sometimes when we were at Brookwood Grandfather would bring out his Doodlebug. It was a vehicle he had concocted from parts of antique vehicles….Model A here, Model T there, etc. He would crank it up, pop in the family and off we would go bouncing along rambling down roads and and off roads. Often our travels would take us to the Blue Hole, a pond on the property that was edged with blueberry and other wild berry bushes and which was frequented by blue heron and loons. Although I recall wading in the pond my Mother says we didn’t swim there. But of course the point of the exercise was the wonderful, bumpy ride in the Doodlebug!
When at home in Ludington Grandfather spent a lot of his time in his workshop. He turned out lovely pieces of lapidary jewelry, tumbling rocks he had found on his journeys. I have a pretty bracelet (its child sized so I no longer wear it) and a picture agate pin. He enjoyed the quiet and relaxation of tinkering with the stones.
Grandfather was actually quite well known. He won a loving cup at the St Louis World’s Fair in 1904 and served on the agricultural exhibit counsel for the Chicago Century of Progress World’s Fair in 1933. He was vice president of the American Sheep Shearers Union, and Secretary of the International Sheep Shearers Union. His record for shearing sheep set in 1914, 311 Ramboulet ewe fleeces in a 10-hour shearing day, is still considered by many to be a record. He was one of the first to adopt and use the so-called Australian method of shearing which he introduced to every important sheep-raising state through shearing schools and demonstrations. He wrote books on sheep shearing methods and wool handling, and Encyclopedia Britannica produced an instructive film on sheep shearing with Grandfather as the shearer. Grandfather held many patents on shearing machinery. He then went to work for the Chicago Flexible Shaft Co., which later became the Sunbeam Corporation. Grandfather, Grandmother, my dad and Aunt and Uncle spent the next two years as the company’s representative in South Africa, returning to the Chicago offices in 1926. Grandfather was head of the Sheep Shearing Division of Sunbeam Corporation. He traveled extensively for Sunbeam corporation as a consultant to state universities throughout the country, and taught 4-H club members how to shear sheep and handle wool. In 1955, the Michigan legislature named him the state’s Man of the Year in Agriculture. Grandfather’s portrait hung in the animal husbandry building on the campus of Michigan State University, with other leading contributors to the advance of the livestock industry until the building was remodeled.
Grandfather passed away in 1963. I am sorry I did not have more time to spend with him. I loved and cherish the time I did have with him.
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