Frontier, MI

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                                    FRONTIER MICHIGAN

My hometown and the place where I was born went to school and grew into Manhood. It is fitting then that my autobiography should indicate when and how Frontier got its name. The following will be a history of that and of

Woodbridge Township, Frontier, Michigan.

 

In 1834 the first settler’s took up residence in what is now Woodbridge township most all of the descendants of the first settlers are now gone.

 

Woodbridge was set off from Fayette Township in 1840, its original territory embraced within its boundaries the present Townships of Woodbridge, Cambria and the west half of Amboy, Amboy Township was home to my dads birthplace in the log cabin built by my Grandfather, John Smith and his wife Harriet Smith in era of the late 1850’s, my dad was born in 1873 he had a Brother and Sister that was born there also. 

 

Now, how did my hometown get its name?? Apparently, the men who formed the skirmish lines for the Ohio-Michigan war felt this was a true Frontier of wilderness. One of the officers, marching into towering trees, came upon a fairly clear area of ground and thought he was on the line cleared by surveyors. He placed three signs at intervals to say Frontier. When the Commanding officer did not see one of his companies of men, He sent a runner to look for them. He found them five miles north of where they were supposed to be. They were dispatched forthwith to the line. The Signs and the name “Frontier” stuck.

This date as of this writing is Aug. 29, 2005 and Frontier is still there with all the history surrounding it still to be written.  I’ll get to it as soon as I get the notion, it will be the Schools and Churches that I attended when I was growing up. Also, I will mention some of the storms that I recall created a

Lot of damage to the town and surrounding areas.

The Tornados have struck the settlement, twenty years apart. In 1928 some farm damage was done west of the town. The roofs were taken from at least two barns and many trees were taken down. In 1948 a tornado struck again west of town. The Ed Westfall barns were badly damaged. Etta Crampon’s garage in town was flattened. The two-story mercantile building, that stood where the barber shop  is now was toppled against the Young’s building to the east of it. The chimney was taken off the Baughman house. Many windows all over town were broken out. The barns on the United Brethren Parsonage lot was leveled.

The third tornado , in 1968 , was the one that wrought major destruction

It swept across some of Amboy, Woodbridge and Cambria Townships doing $500,000 in damages. The funnel at this time was quite wide with a swath of nearly a block . It caused $50,000 damage to the properties in Frontier. However, only one person was injured causing him to have several stitches, his name was Carl Deisler.

The schools of Frontier and the surrounding community, were built and put into operation in the early 1840’s some of the area school names were Brodock, Brahman, East and West Maple Grove, Tamarack and Fuller.

My wife Ardis attended the Maple Grove school when she started school.  I attended the Fuller school when I was in the fourth grade, which was about a half mile from where I lived, on a small farm a half mile north of Frontier. This is where I grew up from the 1920’s until 1941, the year that I

was married. Our neighbors to the south were Guy Snider, Nealy Alpaugh Grimes and Art England and to the North, Charlie Sturdefant Clide Pierce and Elvan Bell.

The Fuller School building has since been torn down however, the big beautiful maple trees that surrounded the school are still there, and was on a portion of the Pierce farm.

In 1844 a board of inspection met and organized the district schools, the first Frontier school was a building at the corner of clark and Montgomery roads  on land formerly owned by George Blount who gave it for a school.  In 1873 a larger Frontier school was necessary. A site was chosen on Brad Street because it was far enough away from t he road so that the fast-moving horses could not hurt the children.

 

A two-story, three room building was erected at a cost of $ 3500. The grades were primary, intermediate and high. The completion and dedication of this ten grade school were held in the summer of 1895. The first graduating class (1895) held its ceremonies in an orchard just in back of

The Methodist church across the road from the school. The first class graduated six students. The next few classes were larger. The graduation exercises took two nights. Each student graduating was required to give a speech before receiving his diploma. At this time the superintendent received $540 a season and the teachers received $360 a season.

In 1912 the Ransom school district joined Frontier for the high school education by sending their students to Frontier to complete their schooling.

In 1913-1914 there was no graduating class as the school changed from a ten-grade to a twelve-grade school. My wife’s mother was the first to graduate from the 12 grade school in 1914 as was my oldest sister Grace.

In 1914 Professor Reed the Superintendent, applied for and received accreditation for the school. Under the direction of Edith Clark, the beautiful maple trees surrounding the school were planted on Arbor Day 1918. The 1968 tornado took several of them down.

In 1926 a mass meeting was held for a discussion by the people of a proposed bonding of the school district for $17,000 so that the high school building could meet the state requirements for accreditation and standards.

The election, held on May 9, 1926 carried 2 to 1. The bonding included a two-story addition 40 by 45 feet for a new high school. The old high school became a grade school. The new building was to include a heating plant. The committee to oversee the building was W.J. Westfall and R. I. Kinney.

Horse and wagon brought the school bell from Angola, Indiana by Fredric Chester. Pete Fosbender was one of the first janitors. He rang the bell from the second story each day. It wasn’t till some years later that GUY SNYDER, as janitor, fixed the bell so it could be rung from the main floor.

Guy Snyder, was our neighbor first house and farm to the south of our farm for many years, in fact his daughter taught at Fuller school where I went for several years.

There are several Cemeteries in Woodbridge Township including Frontier Cemeteries. Most of my relatives are buried in the Frontier Cemetery, my parents, my oldest sister Grace and most of her family, my sister Ethyl and her husband, my Grandmother and Grandfather on my mother’s

Side.

Getting back to the school information, in 1928 the Frontier school was placed on the University of Michigan accredited list,. This same year the first alumni meeting were held.

Commencement and baccalaureate exercises were held in both of the Frontier churches, with one church serving one year and the other church the next year. When the school cafeteria was begun in 1942, Wynola Lott was head cook. Wynola Morgan her maiden name graduated from Frontier high school and then married Bob Lott, Bob was a exceptional picture on our Frontier high school base ball team, in fact he tried out for the major league teams but didn’t quite make it.

Mrs. Hazel Drumm, a teacher in the Frontier School, Started a Mother’s Club in 1945. It is still active in the school system. In 1945 the last graduating class exercises were held in the Frontier school. A little note from yours truly------- That was the year world war II ended and I came home in October of that year, in the two years that I was overseas I missed a lot of the history that I’m writing now which is as interesting to me as I hope it will be to the people that have an opportunity and are fortunate enough to read this in the years to come.

For the record, my wife Ardis (Dickey maiden name) graduated from Frontier High School in 1938 and went on  to take a post graduate course in Quincy high school Graduating from there in 1939.

Myself, I went to Frontier high school to the tenth grade then had to wait until after discharge from the service to complete my education comprising several years in touch and go formations, with locations in Battle Creek, Detroit, Traverse City and Marshall. 

I would say that it ended when I was promoted to a desk job in the company where I worked in May 1^st 1952.

In the fore years that I had schooling under the GI bill of rights my company records indicate my Refrigeration Engineer’s assurance status indicates the equivalent of two years college in courses of that nature.

So much for the last of Frontier school’s and our education.