A ‘favorite daughter’ shares ‘Memoirs of Carl Bates’ - Part II

A ‘favorite daughter’ shares ‘Memoirs of Carl Bates’ - Part III

A ‘favorite daughter’ shares ‘Memoirs of Carl Bates’ - Part IV

Note: This is the fourth of a multi-part series on the life and times of a well-known Clinton County native, Carl Bates. He lived in the Elsie area for many years of his life, and is perhaps best remembered for the 20 years he served as Superintendent of the Clinton County Intermediate School District, retiring in 1969.

These ‘Memoirs’ are presented in his own words, written in his latter years – and, as he says at the conclusion, retyped and appreciated by his "favorite and oldest daughter," Dorothy (Bates Bakita)." The copy and photographs are provided courtesy of Dorothy Bakita – who herself served for many years as a teacher at St. Johns Public Schools.

At this stage in life, I had decided to become a farmer for my life’s work and as Smith Hughes Agricultural teachers got bigger salaries, I was going to get so qualified as soon as possible. So, the last term of that year (1930), I was married now, I got a room in East Lansing and started my Smith Hughes work which was going to take a year and a half. My wife was still teaching in Elsie and she would drive over to East Lansing that spring term and stay all night with me, then we would drive my old Star Six over to Kalamazoo every Saturday morning for my class there. Got my B.A.degree upon finishing that class, and had a term of Michigan State worked off, too.

Did not have money enough to continue on for another year at State at that time. One of those spring Saturday morning classes at Kalamazoo we came home via Athens where there was a job opening for a principal to teach science and coach football. I applied for the job, got it, and so it was in Athens in the fall of 1931 that my wife and I sat up housekeeping for the first time.

Some people will remember that the Great Depression was just beginning. I taught there two full years and started the third year. My salary for that year, for the job described above, was to be $780. I was paying $6 per month house rent for a comfortable old home. Well, it got along to that spring vacation time, and I decided that I could never lose less money by not working, so I went before the Athens board, and got a leave of absence for the balance of the year so that I could go back to Michigan State and do some more work on my Smith Hughes certificate. I was granted that leave of absence.

In the last week of March, my wife and I went to Elsie and got my old four wheeled trailer that I had used for spray painting and went out two miles east of East Lansing and shoveled the snow away on a rented lot by the old fair grounds.

I built a 12 x 16 wood floor for a tent that we had brought from Elsie on the four-wheeled trailer along with furniture to furnish same. We had a day bed, wood stove, electricity, linoleum on the floor, and a screen door. I attended the spring term at Michigan State and six weeks summer school, plus a four-week session and a two-week session from this residence; one of the most comfortable and enjoyable periods of my life. That happened to be one of the driest summers on record, which helped our cause. Finished my Smith Hughes certification here.

During the above mentioned time period, I accepted what was called a combination job of superintendent and vocational agriculture teacher at Parma, Michigan, at the same time resigning from my leave of absence from the Athens School system. I remained in Parma for eight years. Guess that I have not mentioned it before, but I had attended Michigan State for the two previous summer schools, plus the one mentioned above.

As a schoolman, discipline was never a problem for me in school. I recollect that Ernie Knight, our old Elsie High School superintendent, used to give the student body a lecture once in a while to the effect that some day there would be a strange man about the school looking it over, visiting classes, etc. What he was there for was to inspect it to see if it was to be put on the accredited list of schools in Michigan so that their graduates could then enter college without an entrance examination. Students were to be on their best behavior.

As a local Superintendent, I never gave any of those speeches, but was a little gratified that as my first year as superintendent we got the letter back that they always wrote and the man said, "In my years of inspecting schools, seldom have I had the privilege of visiting a more orderly school than yours. It is always a pleasure for me to be able to recommend a three-year accreditation period and I am doing that for Parma High School."

Finally, in 1942 with a World War II brewing, I thought it was time to make that move to my long time dream. I now had my name on 200 acres of land near Elsie. I consulted with my wife about the situation and she willingly agreed to the move with the stipulation that she was not going to be one of those farm women out in the fields driving tractor - Don’t recollect that she ever drove one a rod. So, in the spring of 1942, as soon as we got the graduates off the stage, we set sail for the farm with a three-year old Dorothy. I farmed that summer and in the fall a telephone call came that I was wanted as a combination man in Martin, Michigan.

Well, I made a deal with the previous superintendent (Keith Landsburger - I had roomed in Breckenridge with his twin brother) that my farm came first, but I would take the job over the winter until such time in the spring that I could do spring work on the farm. He agreed to finish the year at that time. I worked about seven months over there and then farmed until February 1949. At this time, there was a vacancy in Clinton County for a County Superintendent of Schools. I applied for the position, got it, and worked for a little over 20 years on it. I retired from that job in 1969.

Through the eyes of an old man, and a sign of the times, and what has happened to our economy through that period of time, I find it rather ironic that I paid more in income taxes this last year, than I earned totally in the first six years of my teaching experience -four years of coaching and two years as principal, all in Class C high schools.

Section Three

At this point, I would like to make a few observations about this thing; I am getting tired of doing it. I have always prided myself for having the ability of looking forward, not backward. I have already been there and nothing I can do about it, anyway. This thing violates that concept of life.

Next, I have not detailed much of recent years. Dorothy already knows about those things, such as moving uptown in Elsie when I took last County job and living there for 20 years, my wife’s death in 1958, when Dorothy was a freshman in college. My remaining single until 1967, when I married Glaydis Baker, and that we divorced in 1975, after which I came up here for one year to get myself together, decide on the future, and that I am still here.

Why did I quit farming? Certainly it was not finances or playing a losing game. At the time I quit, I had 200 acres of land paid for, was milking 20 cows, selling annually a considerable amount of wheat and white beans and had a farm pretty well equipped with machinery. A Cessna 140 airplane was sitting in a hanger back of the house, and records will show that in the two-year period previous to my making a change, I sold $14,000 worth of milk in those two years besides the wheat, beans, and a few surplus cattle. When I made the change my beginning salary was $4,250 per year, paid by the state.

Now I think of the answer: in arriving at this long time goal of owning my own farm, I had accumulated 15 years of teaching that were valueless as a retirement factor, and I was now in the position that if I took a school job for five years I would have a pension. When I took that job, come hell or high water, I was going to keep it for five years. I kept it for 20 years.

Further, in my life, up to farming, I had met a lot of fine people out there and I am sure that I missed rubbing elbows with my fellow man. Hope the explanation suffices. I am real sure I could have bought the next 200 acres with a lot less energy than I did the first 200. Real simple, I would have had 400 acres working for me, instead of 200 that I had to take a living from.

I have not said much about my Dorothy; she can write her own memoirs. I do recollect a few things that possibly would be in order. First, she was always a good kid. Next, I recollect that when she was two years old that we took her with us while we visited the Ranny farm where we were going to live. While looking about, we missed the kid. River just across the road, we looked the place over frantically for about a half hour before finding her around the buildings somewhere.

In 1941, Dorothy was two years old and we were living in Parma. My Terraplane Coupe was parked out in front between the sidewalk and the highway, and on one given day I went out to get in the car and leave. As I got into the car someone came up to talk with me from the roadside. I talked with this person from my seat in the car for about 20 minutes. That finally ended, I started the car, and pulled towards the road.

I just started and Lester Allen was driving the same direction by me. When he got right even with me, he frantically waved and hollered. I put full brakes on and he said, "I don’t think you ran over her." I got out and we went around to the right rear wheel, and there was Dorothy lying on the ground beside the car, with one foot locked under the rear wheel at the ankle.

I tried to pick her up, but had to go inside the car and back it up to free her. Six inches farther and that rear wheel would have been sitting squarely on that little two-year-old ankle. I grabbed her and took her across the road to the Doctor, and in due time found a broken leg that she wore a cast on. I have been forever grateful to Lester Allen. Two-year-old Dorothy had wandered out to the car from the house while I was looking the other way, and was so close to the car that she was invisible to me as I started up and drove away.

When Dorothy was something like four-years-old, her mother fed her a teaspoon of Black Leaf poison by mistake (a deadly poison, it was in concentrated form). I grabbed Dorothy and started for the Doctor’s office while Mother stayed behind to call the Doctor. to be prepared for us arriving. Needless to say, she did survive after a stomach pumping ordeal.

I further recall that at one time on the farm when I was extra busy, wife thought she would do me a favor and hire some kids to mow my lawn. Dorothy was out there showing off by running along side the mower and fell down, getting her hand in the mower and damn near cut her thumb off. I dashed her to Ovid to a Doctor. He called Owosso and made arrangements for a Doctor to be ready and he did save the thumb. On the way to Owosso, I think the only thing that was said was that Dorothy asked if the Doctor could sew it back on. Right then I did not know the answer.

One more small one, I remember Dorothy used to like to ride the hay wagon when we were haying (loose hay put on the wagon with a hay loader). Well, one time we were coming up the hard surfaced road with a load of hay and Dorothy was at the rear end of the wagon when a sizeable chunk of hay that she was sitting on slid off the wagon. I think it hurt her pretty good, but no Doctor involved this time.