Friday, June 1, 1923 - London, Ontario to Lansing, Michigan

Most beautiful and bright. Very warm. Arose at 6:30 A.M. Started off at eight. Very pretty ride from London to Sarnia. Along this stretch windmills very noticeable. One at every house and some in open fields. Many brick kilns in this part. Most of houses made of brick. Many herds of sleek fat beeves in pastures along road. Several fields of dandelions, just solid yellow mass, very rather noticeable and very pretty. Crossed St. Clair river from Canada to U.S. (From Sarnia to Port Huron) on ferry. Passed through Custom Office with no investigation or trouble. I guess we must have looked honest. About 140 miles across Michigan to Lansing via Lapeer, Flint and St. John's. Upon entering Flint we were stopped by a man who tested our brakes, horn etc. Everything was OK. They were having safety week. The very next time I tried to blow the horn, it failed to give forth a sound. Quite interesting and lucky. We had it fixed at a garage. H.H. & I took a shower at the Y. Father got a shave & Mother parked in the library near by. We arrived at sister Nellie's, 913 W. Lenawee St. Lansing, Michigan at 7 P.M. Central Standard Daylight Saving Time. A very happy partial reunion. Talked. Out for a little ride. Nellie drove. Talked and visited. Mother, Father, H.H. & I stayed with Shields at 913 W. Lenawee. Hanford & I walked down with Nellie to where she stayed over night. Stopped for ice cream. Talked. Retired at 12 P.M. Thankful for sister Nellie.

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Below is an approximation of the route the Clossons may have taken (now I-69, most of the way). What would now take a little over four hours (according to Google maps) took them approximately 11.5. But considering they stopped to get their horn fixed, perhaps 10.5 hours--they are still going at 25 mph, it seems.

London, ON to Lansing, MI

I'm suspicious of this gratuitous "safety week" stop. Did the man who "checked" their car out do something to make the horn stop working? Could he have been in cahoots with the garage where they got it fixed? Hmmm . . .

During the trip, Stanford wrote a letter to Mary Leah, presumably mailing it somewhere along the way. It is posted in the Letters pages, Letters: June 1 & 2, 1923.

Below is a recent photo of the house where Nellie was staying in Lansing and where the family stayed during their visit.

913 West Lenawee St, Lansing, MI

Thursday, May 31, 1923 - to Hyde Park, Canada, through Niagara Falls

Another glorious day. Beautiful sunrise. Arose 6 A.M. Broke camp and packed. After Father & Mother. Started out 7 A.M. Rode 27 miles before breakfast thru fertile, rolling country. Very pretty. Just 100 miles took us to Niagara Falls. We spent about 1.5 hours there. Hanford & I went to foot of the falls. Wonderful view and sight. Very pretty ride thru Canada Via St. Catherines, Hamilton, Brantford, Woodstock & London. Slight accident at Brantford. Man on bicycle turned in front of us without warning. H.H. turned off and avoided what might have been a serious collision. No damage done. He admitted it was his fault and we both went on our ways. Great fruit belt in Canada from Niagara Falls to Hamilton. Large well kept orchards and vineyards. All of us camped at Hyde Park, near London, Canada, on school house grounds. We slept in tent. Mother & Father in car. Wrote. To bed 10:30 P.M. Everything going nicely. Thankful for protection.

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Their second day of travel was eventful--a bicycle-auto collision, no less! Below is a map of their possible route, including their 1.5 hour stop at Niagara Falls. You can see that Google clocks it at 239 miles, taking 6 hours and 49 minutes. It took them from 7 AM to about 10 PM, I'm guessing, so about 15 hours (minus the 1.5 hrs, about 12.5 hours). They're making good time!

Stanford's mention of camping on "school house grounds" is interesting, as the Hyde Park School had  apparently been associated with the Methodist church in the past. Below is an excerpt from the history of the village of Hyde Park, taken from the Hyde Park Business Association website (which also has a photo of the little town, taken in 1915).

In 1839, John Barclay donated land at the southwest corner for the erection of Hyde Park School. The same lot would later see two more schools. In 1854, the fourth S.S. 17 was a frame building set on the west side of Hyde Park Road, midway between Gainsborough Road and the United Church. In 1867, another school, this one a brick building, was built for $1,500. 

Churches also sprung up to serve the spiritual needs of the growing Hyde Park Corner community. Methodist preachers had been conducting occasional services in the schoolhouse as early as 1845, and the services continued to be held for the next 30 years. In May, 1870, Edward Attrill donated a site for a church to the east of the intersection on the north side of the road.

This night, and many other nights along the way, Stillman and Fannie slept in their car. Ann Closson writes:

We often wondered how S.T. and Fannie could sleep in the car. An article in the Michigan History Magazine cleared this up for us. It stated that the Jewett slept two persons in comfort as long as neither one stretched out more than 6' 1.5 inches. This was done by making a bed with the front seat cushions folding back into the rear seat cushions.

You can read Stanford's letter to Mary Leah this day at the Letters page. It is the third letter attached.