Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing

One - A Community in Michigan

Chapter 1 A COMMUNITY IN MICHIGAN One idea leads to another. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a bold step in the development of the American landscape. Entire areas of wilderness, ‹lled with miles upon miles of uncut forest, home to pristine rivers, teeming with wildlife and mysterious indigenous peoples—popularly known as Indians—‹lled this rugged new world. To the north, sharing a border with Canada, were enormous lakes, sources of freshwater that offered late 1700s populations a powerful natural resource. The ordinance divvied up these virgin lands into what were known as “township areas,” some of which amounted to a few acres, others the size of entire states.1 Eleven years later, the Continental Congress set in motion laws that allowed sale of these northwestern lands, ultimately beginning what was known as Manifest Destiny, the God-given right of the United States to control and expand into the continent of North America from the Atlantic to the Paci‹c Oceans. The lands feeding off the Great Lakes in the north were particularly favorable to early pioneers. With their untold resources, these regions were ideal places for development . The territory of Michigan was established in 1805, and with the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 white settlers came in droves. On March 2, 1831, a part of the territory was declared to be Clinton County, named after Dewitt Clinton, the governor of New York.2 It was an exemplary spot to begin life in this world. In 1836, Ira Cushman, a New York resident with roots that stretched back to the May›ower, settled in Clinton County. He built a log cabin, raised corn, potatoes, and wheat, then sent for his father and brothers. Cushman’s descendants would prosper throughout Clinton County well into the next century.3 More pioneers—of English, Irish, Scottish, and German extraction— soon followed. Silas Rose, another New Yorker, came in 1837.4 With his wife and ‹ve children, three teams of oxen, two cows, and a powerful desire to farm the land, Rose carved out a section of woods as his family’s homestead. He named the area Bath in honor of his hometown in New York state, a town that itself was named after the ancient city of Roman baths in central England.5 The ‹rst schoolhouse, a simple one-room affair, was founded in 1840 to accommodate the dozen or so children of the area.6 Clinton County was gradually subdivided into townships; Bath Township was of‹cially founded in the spring of 1843 with its ‹rst election held on April 18.7 Expansion continued. The 1860 census showed 515 people living in the area, the majority of them farmers.8 More one-room schoolhouses emerged to accommodate the children of the growing farming population . The sons of Bath joined the ‹ght for the Union during the Civil War. A Baptist church was founded in 1868, the Methodist congregation in 1869.9 A sawmill and a brick factory followed. They provided the grist for more building. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Bath was a ›ourishing village and the center of a growing township. Businesses lined the small streets, providing everything a farming community could ask for: food, supplies, and a post of‹ce. As the railroad pushed its way across the country to the Pacific coast, the town built a train depot.10 With the depot came something one wouldn’t expect in such a small burg: a hotel. It made an excellent way station for travelers in need of a hot meal and simple room for the night. What Bath Township lacked was a central school system. Small schoolhouses still dotted the region. Students, ranging from kindergarten to high school seniors, learned together under the con‹nes of one roof in one room. As the area grew, the township divided the map into school districts. Fractional schools were built so neighboring school districts could be served by a single facility.11 For the time being , this satis‹ed the needs of the region. The school year was based on 2 BATH MASSACRE the agrarian calendar. Students attended classes from fall (the end of the harvest season) to spring (the beginning of the planting season). Summers were reserved for the growing season, when every hand was needed on the family farm. Children learned farming basics: chores; milking cows; shearing sheep; and planting, nurturing, and harvesting crops...