Tales of Southwest Michigan's Past

In this episode I explore the history of the Binder Family in Battle Creek.  Today in Battle Creek there is the Binder Park Zoo and the Binder Park Golf course, but many people probably do not know the history of this family in Battle Creek.   For more information on Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

In this episode I interview Donna Rickman, Jill McCombs and Bobbie Mathis on the subject of women's history in Calhoun County.  Donna, Jill and Bobbie are all performing in an upcoming program at the Battle Creek Regional History Museum on Saturday, March 25th at 2:00 PM called ' Phenomenal Woman '. Tickets for the performance can be purchased online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/517666673...

In 1875 in downtown Battle Creek, Michigan a murder happened in the middle of the day in October in a saloon at the corner of Jefferson and Main Street.  The man killed was described as a giant of a man, and his killer had fled down the street.  The trial that followed would reveal the story of a card game that erupted into a bar fight, which turned into a stabbing and a murder.  Th...

Between 1867 to 1930 Kalamazoo was one of three cities in the U.S. that manufactured windmills for farms.  Windmills are structures that converted wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, and they were in the early days made of wood, and in later years made of metal.  They were essential tools on farms for grinding grain in gristmills, and later became replac...

In this episode I welcome back Amberrose Hammond to Tales of Southwest Michigan's Past to talk about her book Wicked Ottawa County .  She tells us stories of murder, intrigue and jealous lovers who make up her collection of morbid tales of the county just West of Grand Rapids.  She also discusses her upcoming projects and plans for 2023.   For more information Amberrose Hammond, vis...

In this episode I explore the history of Branch County newspapers that existed between 1837 to the 1880's.  The Michigan Star was the first one published in 1837 in the Village of Branch, and through the years there was the Coldwater Observer, The Branch County Democrat, the Coldwater Sentinel, The Branch County Republican, The Branch County Gazzette, The Democratic Union, The Southern Michig...

In 1897, the announcement of gold in Alaska sparked a group of entreprenuers from Kalamazoo to unite and make plans to seek their fortuned in the Yukon Territory.  They became popularly known as the 'Kalamazoo Hustlers' although their official name was the Kalamazoo Mining and Prospecting Company .  This is the story of their adventure in Alaska. To read the article from the Kalamazoo Li...

My guest in this episode is Rhiannon Cizon from the Berrien County Historical Association.   She has been investigating the history of a murder of a Benton Harbor man that happened in 1904 named Mintor Northup.  The investigation crossed state lines into Northern Indiana, and also involved a very well respected law enforcement officer at the time.  The intrique includes threatening...

The Battle Creek Sanitarium was a very large medical facility for many decades, and at one point it was the largest in the United States.  It also had one of the largest nursing training programs of its time, training nurses from all over the U.S. and internationally.  In 1908, there was an article written on the Nursing Program and it offers a unique insight into the lives of the women...

In this episode I read an article published in the Sunday Journal - Record on February 23, 1908.  It is called: Lunch Hour at the Postum Cereal Plant, and it offers a unique insight into the social customs of the time, and also the new innovation of a lunch room at the Postum Cereal Factory which was considered to be a new idea for that period in history. For more information on Michael Delaw...

On the evening of November 21st, 1883, just a short distance from Jackson, Michigan in Summit Township, Jacob Crouch, William Henry White, his son-in-law, Eunice White his daughter and a guest Moses Polley were all murdered in their beds by some unknown parties.  The case became known as the Crouch Murders in all the newspaper.  Some say the crimes were driven by greedy relatives who wan...

The Black Hand was a precursor to the mafia in the United States, and they primarily targeted the Italian immigrant population.  Although they committed violent crimes, such as murder, bombings and kidnapping; these actions were all just moves in a larger game, which was intended to keep the Italian communities living in fear of retribution.  They extorted money from hardworking laborers...

In this episode I explore numerous stories of 'petrified bodies' carried in Michigan Newspapers from 1837 to 1895.  The stories are mostly relayed from other parts of the country, and carried in these papers.  However, the subject of body petrification after burial was a popular topic of the period, and so I explore the myths and facts about this. For more information on Michael Delaware...

Author Blaine Pardoe joins me on Tales of Southwest Michigan's Past to talk about his book: Secret Witness: The Untold Story of the 1967 Bombing in Marshall, Michigan.  This a tragic story, filled with fascinating details that one would not expect.  It was a shocking event in the history of Marshall, and although the killer was identified, he managed to use errors in the legal system to...

Join me as I explore a collection of historical biographical accounts from various Counties around Southwest Michigan, and read the history of the early pioneer experiences with wolves.  Some stories are just haunting, and other encounters were near deadly.  It is a insightful look at the early pioner settlement period in Michigan.

In this episode I explore the history of the village of Berrien Springs, in Berrien County, Michigan.  It has a fascinating history, with one of its founders being associated with one of the landmark US Supreme Court Cases in history, as being named after Andrew Jackson's Attorney General.  It is also the home of the Pickle Festival, the Lemon Creek Winery, an NFL player as well as the f...

Join me for a look at the history and culture of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (NHBP) as I interview Kevin Harris from the tribes culture office.  The NHBP is a Federally Recognized tribe which resides on the Pine Creek Indian Reservation in Fulton, Michigan.  They also have land in the Athens area.  Mr. Harris explains some of the early migration of the tribe around...

Join me as I explore the story of the Golden Harvest from the 1860's to the 1870's in Michigan, and one season where many of the wheat farmers within a 10 mile radius of Battle Creek made enough from one crop to pay of their land.  This story explores the history of the wheat production in the early years, and also the crops that replaced them up to modern day. For more information on Michael...

John Palmer, an immigrant from England, fiddled around at country dances in Union City and Burlington, and devised a solution to save the dancers trouble.  He observed that people were having trouble after dances finding their garments, and Palmer came up with a solution that was ultimately adopted by some railroad employees from Marshall, and the baggage check system was born.  It is a...

Jim Jackson , the author of the book ' Veterans of Oak Hill Cemetery' and the editor of the book 'Beyond These Gates: Oak Hill Cemetery' joins me for a talk on some of the history and stories of Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek Michigan.  The cemetery was founded in 1844, and is the final resting place of W.K. Kellogg , John Harvey Kellogg , Sojourner Truth , James & Ellen White , C.W. P...

In this episode I explore the history of the lost village of Harmonia, Michigan which was originally founded as a Spiritualist Utopia in early days of the Spiritualism movement in the country in 1855.  The Bedford Harmonial Institute was established in 1852 on by Hiram Cornell, on the land owned by his parents Reynolds and Dorcas Cornell.  A village was eventually platted in 1855, and th...

At the close of a harvest day in the summer of 1832, on Toland's Prairie, Kalamazoo County, Michigan a farmer named Hiram Moore strolled over to a neighbor, John Haskell and had a conversation that would ultimately change the agricultural world.  Haskell, tired after a hard day's labor in gleaning wheat, remarked to Moore "Why cannot some machine, drawn by horses, be made to cut the grain and...

This is the first episode of Season 2 of Tales of Southwest Michigan's Past.  It is also airing on New Year's Day, so I thought it would be adventurous to take a look at the top dozen guest interviews of 2022.  It was very hard to choose these episodes, as I had so many great guests in season one.  In fact I did 39 interviews, with roughly 30 guests on a variety of history topics. &...

Join me as I explore stories and traditions from old newspaper articles around Michigan from the 1800's.  This is the final episode of season one, and I also give a review of some of the statistics from Spotify at the end of this. To find out more about Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

Dave Eddy (AKA 'The Morning Mayor' with the WBCK Morning Radio Show) joins me on this Christmas Day episode where we explore historic Santa letters from the 1800's and early 1900's.  We also explore the history of two famous writers who wrote famous Santa letters to their children, Mark Twain and J.R.R. Tolkien .  Dave will not only read the Mark Twain letter, but also the most famous ed...