Sunday, June 10, 1923 - Visiting Lydia Cramer Gifford in Juda, Wisconsin

Overcast with rain most of day. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Talked, read, wrote letters etc. Father & I to Baptist church in morning, all to Methodist in afternoon and German Evangelical at night. Children's Day exercises in P.M. and evening. Very inspiring and good. Excellent dinner & pleasant fellowship - Dr. & Lydia, son Harry and daughter Vera, Vera's daughter Alice, Father, Mother, Hanford & I. To bed at 11 P.M. Thankful for rest and inspiration of Sabbath Day and association with relatives. We have been very kindly received and generously treated by all our friends and relatives. People as a whole are very sympathetic, friendly and hospitable.

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"Dr.," Lydia's husband, is Dr. Henry Gifford, a physician. In 1920 they lived at 202 North Main St in Jefferson township, Wisconsin, which seems a part of Juda, Wisconsin. Lydia is a daughter of John Brooks Cramer. In his letter to Mary Leah (written on this day), Stanford explains how Lydia came to seem like a sister to her cousin Stillman. She was born in 1859 and died in 1925. Their daughter Vera was born in 1886, and son Harry Glenn Gifford was born in 1892. Below is a copy of his WWI draft registration. As you can see, Harry worked for the Wisconsin telephone company.

Here is a photo of John Brooks Cramer, Catherine's brother and Stanford's great uncle, who died in 1868 when Lydia was only 9 years old. Unknown when the photo was taken.

Below is a photo Stanford took of Vera Gifford Dinsdale with her husband Arthur and daughter Alice.

Saturday, June 9, 1923

Overcast, mild day but no rain. Arose 7 A.M. Washed, breakfast. H.H., Father and I washed car, greased it, tightened up nuts etc. Dinner. Pressed suit. Took bath, etc. Wrote letter to Russell Norris. Played ball with Alice etc. Dr's son Harry came 60 miles to see us and stay over night. Supper, out for little ride, visited, lunch of ice cream and cake. Talked, wrote in diary. Retired about 11:45 P.M. Thankful. Juda a nice little village of about 400 people. Green county said to be the richest county in the world. Great stock section, great quantities of Swiss & Limburger cheese manufactured. Wisconsin rather rolling and hilly. Very good ground.

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Friday, June 8, 1923

Arose 6 A.M. Wrote letter. Washed etc. Breakfast, shaved. H.H. & I cut (split) some wood. Father, George, H.H. & I to cemetery to see graves of Alden Cramer, his wife and son, also Uncle Brooks Cramer. Took picture of crowd. To Rockford again to Frank Cramer's home. Just outside of city limits to call on his twin brother Fred Cramer. Back to dinner. A fine dinner and pleasant fellowship together. At noon meal - Frank Cramer and wife Mattie, their daughter Irene and her husband Mr. Corey, their son Charlie Cramer, Father, Mother, H.H. & I. A very pleasant time. Left about 4 P.M. for Juda, Wisconsin. Changed tire just outside of Juda. Dr. & Lydia very glad to see us. Their daughter Vera and her daughter Alice also here. Supper, talked and visited. To bed 11:45 P.M. Thank God for health and hospitality of relatives. Beautiful, bright day.

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Thursday, June 7, 1923 - Visiting Cousins in Rockford, Illinois area

Cold, windy day. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast, visited etc. Left Elmhurst at 10:17 A.M. Excellent road. 60 miles first 2 hours with a couple of stops. Dinner at Rockford, Illinois. Rockford a nice city of about 60,000 people. We made a call on Father's cousin, Frank Cramer (one of a pair of twins). Drove about 6 miles to Cherry Valley to another of Father's cousins, George Cramer, brother of Frank, mentioned. He makes hand made brooms. His wife Fannie and her mother Mrs. Lee also there. Went to George's broom shop, put car in garage etc. Supper, talked, wrote in diary, letters etc. Chopped wood for awhile. Cherry Valley a nice little country village of 700 people.

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Looks like they were speeding right along--30 miles per hour! Below is a possible route for them, taken from Google Maps.

One of the letters Stanford wrote this day was to Mary Leah, posted at the page Letters: June 5 & 7, 1923. In it he gives a bit more detail about the relatives, especially the taxi driver who was, as he put it, "just passed out of adolescence," and who risked being rude by going off to see a girlfriend rather than stay with his relatives. Stanford said he took the young man's part, however, knowing how that can be.

Frederick, Franklin and George Cramer are sons of Catherine Cramer's brother, John Brooks Cramer, who died fairly young, aged 37. George had been a broom maker for quite a few years, according to an 1877 history of Winnebago county. See the section below, listing inhabitants:

Wednesday, June 6, 1923 - Traveling through Illinois

Pleasant in morning. Passed through hard shower in afternoon. Arose 5:30 A.M. Packed up, breakfast etc. Left Maggie's and Sturgis at 7:45 A.M. Passed through 3 states, Michigan, Indiana & Illinois. Arrived at Chicago 3 P.M. Drove over a hundred blocks along Washington Boulevard. Traffic very congested. We made a brief visit on Aunt Gertie at her brothers Dr. Jackson on Grace Street. A very pleasant call on her. Out to Elmhurst. Stayed overnight with Father's cousin Jeff Ford, also his daughter Eva Torsell and grandson Adford. Adford took us around to see the town in one of his taxis. Elmhurst a very nice little city of about 10,000 inhabitants, about 15 miles from Chicago. Talked, to bed 11:30 P.M. Thankful for all Temporal blessings.

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Jeff Ford is Jefferson Ford, son of Stephen Ford and Phoebe Cramer, Catherine Cramer's sister. Catherine is, of course, Stillman's mother, making Jefferson Stillman's first cousin. Jefferson died that same year, in October, so this may have been Stillman's last visit to his cousin.

Imagine what it was like in 1923 to see all the cars and the "congested" avenues of Chicago! Here is a photo taken that year on Michigan Avenue. Gives you an idea, I think.

Tuesday, June 5, 1923 - Visiting with the Turnbulls

Another glorious bright day with nice cool breeze stirring. Arose 7 A.M. Shaved, washed etc. Breakfast, talked, wrote in diary. Mrs. Smith from other part of house brought her baby, high school diploma etc in to show us. Over to John Turnbull's for dinner. John & Minnie Turnbull, Charles Turnbull, Hattie Hagadorn, Maggie Turnbull, Father, Mother, Brother & I present. A very pleasant time together. John Turnbull's health very poor. Stayed most of the afternoon. H.H. & I mowed the lawn etc. H.H. got stung by a bee, christened "Puff-Paw" by me. In latter part of afternoon we went thru the Kirsch Company, manufacturers of curtain rods and curtains. We were shown thru by Mr. Rider, vice-president of the company. They have a wonderful new social building, gymnasium, bowling alleys, a wonderful swimming pool etc, open to employees only upon payment of $1.00 annual membership. Very pleasant trip. About 300 employees. It is very interesting to notice a tendency among industrial concerns to make things pleasant and comfortable for their employees. We went to Hattie Hagadorn's (Mother's cousin) for supper. Pleasant visit. Her daughter, Mrs. VanDyke and husband & family in for call during evening. Back to Maggie's, talked, played piano, wrote letter etc, to bed 11 P.M.

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The Kirsch Company is still in business, still making drapery hardware. Below is a photo of the founder and information about its beginnings in Sturgis, Michigan.

And here is a photo of the factory as it looked in 1923.

Taken from Kirsch Company website

In 1920, John and Minnie Turnbull lived at 300 (East) Main St, Sturgis, MI. Below is a photo of the house at that address today. It may or may not be the house that was there in 1923.

Taken from Google Maps

John O. Turnbull was Charles Turnbull's brother. John died in 1928, five years after Stanford noticed he was in "very poor" health. He was 71. According to his death certificate, he died from chronic Bright's disease. At the time of his death, he and his wife, Minnie, lived at 404 George St in Sturgis, right around the corner from the Main Street home.

John and Charles were the sons of William J. Turnbull, who was Eveline Turnbull's brother. And Eveline was Frances Augusta's (Fanny's) mother. And, of course, Fannie was Stanford's mother. So Fanny's Uncle William (who died in 1897) was the father of John and Charles, her cousins. Also mentioned in the diary entry is Hattie Hagadorn, also known as Harriet Turnbull, sister of John and Charles. Harriet was at this time a widow.

One of the letters Stanford wrote was to Mary Leah. You can read that letter, posted to the page titled Letters: June 5 & 7.

Monday, June 4, 1923 - On the Road Again through Battle Creek to Sturgis, MI

Another beautiful day. Bright, mild with a nice cool breeze. Arose 6:30 A.M. Packed up. Breakfast & Worship. We bid Nellie a fond farewell and left Lansing at 8:35 A.M. 70 miles via Charlotte, Olivet & Battle Creek to Mother's cousin Mr. Charles Turnbull. We stopped and went through the W.K. Kellogg Company at Battle Creek. It was very interesting to see how the food is made of which I have consumed bushels. 15,000 bushels of corn are used daily in the manufacture of over a million packages a day. 5 tons of malt, 5 tons of sugar & 2 tons of salt are used daily to give the exclusive Kellogg flavor. Over a million dollars a year is expended annually for advertisement. Work is carried on continuously in 3 shifts of 8 hours each. We were treated with ice cream, given souvenirs and samples of Kellogg products. A cafeteria where food is sold at cost price, a beautiful social room, emergency hospital etc, are at the disposal of the 1200 employees. Cleanliness, care and courtesy were noticeable characteristics. A very pleasant and profitable trip, well worth the time spent. We took dinner and had a pleasant visit with Cousin Charlie Turnbull. His wife died several years ago. A Mrs. Krontz is keeping house for him. Her daughter Irene also there. Maggie Turnbull also came down on train to help with dinner. She rode with us to Sturgis where she lived. Supper with her and stayed overnight. She lives just out side city limits of Sturgis but is going to move. H.H. & I stayed in and wrote. Mother, Father & Maggie went out calling on relations (distant). Talked. Evening worship. To bed 12 P.M. Thankful for health.

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Below is a map of the Clossons' possible route on this day (from Google Maps).

Kellogg's doesn't give tours anymore; that ended in 1986, much to the disappointment of many customers. Below is a photo of the factory as it looked in 1923. It must have been a lengthy tour!

Taken from Prairie Lakes Journey blog

Stanford gave a few statistics about the company as it was then. Those 15,000 bushels were up to 110,000 by 1980, and they were joined by 225,000 pounds of bran, 9,000 bushels of wheat and 12,000 pounds of wheat germ each day (taken from MichMarkers). Doubtless the total is even more now. With all the factories they have around the world, they need more employees: over 35,000 in 2014--up from the 1,200 working in Battle Creek in 1923.