Memoirs of Glenn Henry Logan

At the end of the year 2020, my sister and brother were sent the personal history that our grandpa wrote shortly after our grandma’s death in 1972. My sister told my brother it was almost unreadable, but with my brother scanning and enlarging and playing with the contrast, my sister managed to transcribe it.

My sister left his language, missing or misspelled words, and doubled words as close as she could to provide the full flavor of his writing.

I included the pictures from my research on our family.

PERSONAL HISTORY YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW

When I was born my brothers and sister were going to throw me down the outside toilet because I was not a girl.

At the age of 5 years I got up to the table (as the water was carried in a bucket) to get a drink of water from the bucket and thought I was drowned as I pulled the whole thing over on myself. 

At 9 or 10 I was playing a drum for the children of the grade school to march out by.

My family moved to Detroit in 1912. I sold newspapers on the corner of Myrtle Troumble and Grand River Avenues. 

At 17 we lived in Highland Park, Mich. My mother died during that year. She had fallen during the winter and bumped her head. She was in a coma when I left for the school. When I got a call to come home I knew there was something terrible wrong. I rushed home by running the mile and a half. The ambulance was on its way to take her to the hospital but she died before they arrived. That was in March.

In the summer of 1917 I went to work making reamers at the National Twist Drill and Tool Co. in Detroit working with my brother Orville who was the foreman of the department.

At the age of 18 I quit school to enlist in the army. Feb 1918 I passed the test and was sent Columbus O. I was rejected because of my teeth being bad. I went back to Detroit, got my teeth fixed up then returned to the recruiting office and passed again. I was put in charge of the gang of boys going to Columbus O. again. In June 25 I was accepted then went to Fort Monroe Va. While at Columbus getting the shots I went over and leaned on the window. The next thing I knew someone had me by the heels holding me up trying to get me out of my faint.

In Fort Monroe we were trained on the disappearing guns and working on the railroad cars as we were to be operating guns mounted on railroad cars. In Sept. the 25^th we were sent Hoboken N.Y. for boarding transport for overseas. We were on sealed orders I understand so we sailed south picking up the rest of the other ships in the convoy which was 9 more plus two cruisers. On the way over we had an average of 30 men die with the flu per day. In the whole trip 600 had died being buried at sea. I was put on a detail to attend the sick. We were wearing masks and was sprayed every little while with something to prevent us from getting the flu. Over 1000 men had died in the whole convoy. On arriving at St. Nazaire France I was on the detail to carry the remainder of dead off ship. On the way over the convoy zig zagged to avoid the subs. Traveling near the Azore Islands then up to St. Nazaire France. 

It took 2 weeks to weeks to make the voyage. We had several scares but turned out to be floating wreckage. There were nothing but high clifts in the harbor which made the transporting cargo a much harder job. 

While at camp the boys played football. We tore so many clothes the Colonel stopped our playing. On our last day at camp I was put on guard at 4:00 p.m. but at midnight we were taken off to board the train to be taken to the regular Arty (Army?) railroad camp. At Camp Hausemont which was a near Mailly we were put in quarantine as one boy in my got the measles and one in the car of Battery E car. It was on a hill with two building side by side. We had games and boxing in our quarters. One night two of non-coms. went out on the town and brought back two bottles. In their admiring the booze they had brought back one of them was rolling them too and fro on the bed when one bottle exploded cutting him across the nose. The other man keep running around repeaping he bleeding like a stuck pig’. In this camp I was put on the machine gun which we used for anti-aircraft. My other job was carring shells to the guns. I was trained to take the gun apart blind folded so in the dark we could take do the same. Our trips to the front were moving up and back half mile at each shot so the enemy couldn’t find the range.

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I played a drum in the drum and bugle by ear. After the armistice was signed I was carrying wood for the kitchen as I was on K.P. Some of the boys went to Mailly to celebrate but I didn’t have any money and drinking didn’t interest me anyway. In December 1^st or 2^nd we left for Brest where we had to sleep in barracks without windowsglass and only corrugated iron sheets. To get a ship unloaded so we could go home they asked for volunteers to help unload the ships. Norm. Mable and I were among the group. While unloading the boxes they were accidently kicked open on purpose so there were Hershey bars, dried fruit and etc. Norm. put some of the dried fruit in his pant legs as we had putties on our so that kept them from dropping out. I got the Hershey bars. Norm. ate the dried fruit it absorbed the water, swelling his stomach.

On Dec 13^th we boarded the ship from Brest to come home which was a wonderful sound to us. Woodrow Wilson landed that day to begin negotiations for the League of Nations. We landed in N.Y. Dec 23^rd and was sent to Fort Totton where our clothes were put through the cootie treatment in steam boilers. When the clothes came out they were all wrinkled. Some of the boys used knives to cut holes in their suits so they could get other. I was afraid to take a chance for home was just ahead and I wasn’t taking any chances of being court marshalled. But the boys got by without any trouble. We had a big Christmas dinner (near a million dollar) but I had a cold and couldn’t eat much and besides our stomach had shrunk from the small meals we had overseas.

On Jan. 3^rd 1919 I was discharged from Camp Custer. I went back to Detroit an got my job back at the National Twist Drill but I wasn’t satisfied so I put my application in the Ford Motor. I was put on a lathe turning starter covers but again I was not pleased so I went so often to see a man who had charge of the Tool And Die depts. I think he got so tired of seeing me he put me in the tool and die room. I was there 6 to 8 months when the depression came along so like so many others was on the loafing list. I paid my room and board for a month in advance to be sure of eating. At the end of the month I left for Penn. My Uncle Sam Wilson was [engineer?] of the Protestant Home for the Friendless where I stayed. Another cousin (by marriage) (a patternmaker) and I went around trying to sell magazines but no sale. We then bought gas mantles 2 for 25 cts. and sold them for 25 cts. We averaged 2 to 3 dollars a day. In Pgh. they nearly all used gas at that time.

At the end of 1919 I went to visit my cousin Bess Stitt in Indiana Pa. and I met the girl of my dreams. WE done a lot of corresponding and I saw her every other week. One week end we arranged to visit my brother Bill in Appollo and her Aunt in Leechburg We were walking home in the rain under an umbrella when I proposed to her. To my surprise she accepted me.

I was working at the home of the Protestant Home for Incurable such as Arthritis, stookes and etc. I was making 30:00 dollars per month Hilda was teaching school making $100 per month. You can see love is much stronger than money. We got married and managed getting along well as her parents had a two family house and let us go to house-keeping next door to them. I filed an application with the A and P stores and was given a store in Indiana Pa. It was rough trying to make those stores pay off so I went to work as ass’t shipping clerk at McCreary Tire and Rubber Co. I got transferred to building tires. It took me 30 days to make $5.20 a day. The first day I made @1.29. The changed the way of making and asked for suggestion of names. I turned in several names. Success was the name they chose and I was given $5.00 as my prize.

Elva was born in 1922. Hilda had a good laugh when we took Elva out in the baby carriage as I would look in at nearly every little while. Arthur was born in Nov. 1924. We were so happy to have a girl and a boy. Shortly after we moved to Leechburg where I worked vulcanizing tires while the owner took a vacation. I then went to work at Leechburg Steel on shearing fender steel for auto makers in Detroit. In that work I made from $1:50 to $14:00 per day.

My brother Orville in Detroit fell from a scaffle injuring his leg bone. I went three times to visit him but on the third trip I wasnt going to take as our money was low but Hilda the wise of the two of us insisted I go to the funeral. She said I would always regret it if I didn’t. (according to his death certificate, Orville’s doctor first saw him for this in April of 1926 and last saw him alive on 14 June 1926.)

In 1926 when I took this trip to the funeral not having money to go back I took a lathe operator job at Wilson Foundry in Pontiac. The hour wage was 80 cents an hour. The work was interesting and lasted until the depression in 1929.

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In 1926 I got a chance to buy a house in July and My father paid for the moving of our furniture out from Penna. in Aug. Hilda came in Oct. during a cold spell and snow piled so high along the side walks you could hardly see over. She was very well pleased I had the furnature all arranged so well.

In 1929 the depression came just when I had put an addition on the house where we were making around $165 a month but all the roomers left for their various homes. The first six months we managed to struggle along. But in the following June I got a job in Detroit on experimental, on a six sleve valve motor. This lasted one year. During the next six months we, Hilda and I went to the woods with a crosscut saw getting all the wood we could to keep warm. The help from the Welfare and the garden we had provided us with our living to a certain extent but there were times when with the great planning of the wonderful cook, Hilda, make it possible to survive.

In 1930 baby Earl was born. At the same time Elva had Scarlet Fever so I had three of them in the hospital at the same time. I drove the 25 miles to Detroit which made 50 miles then would go to visit them. After Hilda was able to travel I took a stool in the car and Hilda wanted to know what it was for. I told wait and see. After visiving baby Earl I drove to the Contagious Hospital, carried the stool up the outside stairs, then carr- Hilda up to the window where Elva’s room was. In Sept. Earl died. When the job finished in Detroit, and after the six months off I got into the General Motors Truck plant at 44 cts. per hour.

In Aug 1935 Glenn Jr. was born. Hilda and looked around to find a baby to fill the empty spot she had in her heart but didn’t find one to some up her expectations. The doctor had said ‘ with carring such a large baby of 10 lbs. it had left her in disorder with Earl, and suggested another child would probably correct it, which resulted as he said.

In Sept. of that year Hilda, Glenn Jr. (just a month or so old) and I went to Ypsilanta to drum corp (on a bus)competition. The ladies and men were so afraid their day was going to be spoilt but Glenn was so quiet and pleasant they all wanted to hold him and take care of him. In the same month we were going to another competition in our car and had an accident just out of Pontiac, we had Elva with a few cracked ribs, Art. with a gash on his head, Hilda was banged up tat I had to help her out of bed so she could get started in the mornings, a cousin had a fracted hip and Art. had a fracted hip also. The men came to talk to Hilda about me going to Cleveland to competition. It was a lot to expect as Hilda would have all the work taking care of the patients who were on Bradford frames. The men persuaded Hilda and she consented very reluctantly. The corp. went by boat across to Cleveland and returned the same way. In 1936 the drum corp. went to Milwaukee for competition. In 1938 we went to cal. In 1937 was a trip to N.Y. Hilda was able to on that trip as with the money I received for the trip I pooled with Art. Swartz and his wife enabling Hilda and Glenn Jr. to go along.. We four had a good time on the trip. We stayed in the Greystone Hotel in N. Y.

While in the Polo Grounds Hilda met an old friend she knew in Leechburg. Glenn had a good time eating hot dogs and receiving from different ones for all the friends liked him. On the elevated train he blurted out when the train stoped “When do we eat?” Every one on the coach laughed for he could be heard as it was very quiet. We got home safe and sound. The drum corp won champship fo seven years then broke up.

In one of the years I worked at G.M.C. I won two chicken dinners, a movie camera, a book of chances which was a raffled off at the picknic one summer. By taking a chance on a punch boar Hilda’s name won a radio. One Thanksgiving I took a chance on a turkey punch board and won it, the shop gave me another and we bought one so we had plenty that year.

Every summer G.M.C took two weeks off for vacations. I th 1937 lay off I went to the Bub Wheel in Detroit. They gave me a lathe job making the die for moulding the nose of the shells for the Gov’t. After two weeks G.M.C started again. I held on to the place there and also went to the G.M.C as usual. Working the two places I would leave one hour early from G.M.C. so as to get to Bud Wheel on time. The next day I worked all day at G.M.C. getting one hour late at Bud Wheel. By alternating this way for two weeks I was able to earn enough money to take the whole family to Boston to the Legion Convention. During these two weeks don’ forget Hilda played a big part in helping me as she would go along to drive me home at mid-night so I could sleep on the back enabling to report for work the next morning at G.M.C.

In 1940 when G.M.C closed for the vacation I went to Packard. They gave me a job in experiment on the Rolls Royce engine which was to be sent to England.

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The U.S. had decided to help fight the war by making parts for the allies. 

When it went on production I was made Ass’t Foreman over 40 men on mashing connecting rods for the engines. From the time we machined them from the foundry to the time we got them machined they were ready to be polished. Each set had to weigh the same. 

In 1942 I got tired of being between men and management and asked to be transferred to the tool room. When I got transferred I was put on setting up the crank rods for the grinding and drilling. During the time the machines were marking O. K. we had time to go behind the machines and rest as long as a watchman didn’t see us. 

Hilda suggested in 1944 that I get work closer home which I did. I went to a shop on the eight mile road building fixtures for holding parts while being machined. My leader told us I should be a leader and told me to see the Supt. That next Friday I did. He said he had one night leader job on nights. I told him I didn’t want nights and that if I did not get on days I would quit. He said you can quit now. I said “O.K. The next Friday I went for my pay and he told me that place was still open on nights I said ‘No thank you.’

I took Hilda with me when going to look for a job every time it was possible. We went to the Stainless Ware of America and I met Mr. Lewis owner. He offered me a foreman job on nights. He tried to talk Hilda into persuading to take it bus she couldn’t be talked into it either. I was given a lathe to work on. Turning crank covers for the 40 ton tanks was a very good job as there could be only two made per day.

It wasn’t long before I had a call from the man who was my leader at the previous place wanting me as a leader on gun sights as the same firm had made him Supt. Of the new plant. It would be at least 15 cents more an hour. I told I would try.

The next day Lewis came by as usual. He said ‘How are they going old timer?’ I replied ‘Not so good.’ He ‘asked me what was the matter?’ I told him I wanted a release to take this other job and I couldn’t get released because of being frozen to the job. He said ‘you stick with me and I’ll give me a 10 cent raise.’ I couldn’t make the drive to Detroit fo a 5 c raise.

Elva and three or four other girls worked there and rode to and from the factory with me. Some of the girls stayed at our house. 

My stay ended when I went to the hospital for an operation for appendicitis. Through Hilda’s father Charles Kunkle, I took over a parking lot beside the [Consumers Power Co] in 1946 and run it until 1954.

When Art. got out of service in about 1951 I let it over to him to run and I took a job operating a gas station on Telegraph Road. I would open the gas station at 8:00 A.M. an at 3:00 P.M. glenn came from school to operate it until 10:00 P. M.  as I went to work in a shop on Keego Harbor Road turning out axels for air planes. I also went to work at a little place from there for four hours making Christmas ornaments by dies and punches. I carried on both jobs for several weeks. Art. had a gas station out from Pontiac too.

I don’t know why I went to Lake Orion after I got rid of the parking lot in 1954 but in Areo Tool Iran a milling machine, lathe and all other machines for building the fixtures which would hold the body and fenders in place on the Plymouth that was going on the market at Chrysler Motors. while they were being welded in place. Charles and Roy Kunkle Jr. came to work there before I left for Fla. In 1956.

Art. went to Fla. Some months before Hilda and I decided to go. We had Bill and Sharon living with us. In Jan. 56 we started out with snow and ice on the road but we finally got below the snow line. Hilda drove the new Chevie. and a rented trailer because she thought it would be more safer but she had a flat tire. She was following me and had a flat tire. I was away down the road when I looked back there was no sign of Hilda and Sharon. Bill and I were in the Plymouth with the trailer I had make for the trip turned around and went back. The jack for a car wasn’t strong enough to raise the trailer so I had to drive to a gas station for help. When it we started on out trip again. Hilda had fallen at one of the places we stopped to eat, so she was driving with a head ache nearly all the way. 

Art. had made a contact with an owner of a house for us which we bought. The work was hard to find in Defuniak Springs. Art. and I went to Jacksonville stopping at all towns along the way to get work. Three or four days in Jax. We both got work but it wasn’t as permanent as we had thought for it was nip and tuck for two years. So in 1959 Elva said ‘come out to Cal. And you can get work. I flew out in March and in a few days I had a place in the Navy Exchange in San Diego, as a gas attendant. 

In six months Hilda flew out, her plane caught on fire just outside St. Louis. It returned to the city. She called me from there. I asked ‘Are you afraid? She said ‘No she wasn’t.

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Art. came to Cal. In 1963 and had a desire to get a ranch so made a trip to Wash. In Nov 22, the day Pres. Kennedy was killed.

Not to get ahead of the story I had tell this which happened previous. 

One morning Hilda woke up with one ball out on her cheek in Sept. of 1960. We went to nine doctors before we found one who would tackle the operation. The doctor put her in La Holla Hospital. About two weeks she was out, her eye sight was just as good as before but in two weeks her eye became red and she had to have have almost the same operation but this time they put a patch over the hole where the [sinus sack] had broken through the cavity over the eye. 

I bought a 1958 Chev. while she was in the hospital and she was pleased. It stayed with me until 1972 when Ray got a new car trading the Chev in on his giving us his 1965

In 1963 Dec. I had an operation on a rupture.

In Mar. of 1964 Art. and I came to Wash. We stayed in an old house on the ranch as the people didn’t get out because they said the snow was too deep but got out about a month later. We had one scare one Sunday after we returned from church. Both the horse and the calf were Missing from the pasture. We went looking for them but they were no where to be found. We went up to a place above the house where we found a post pulled out and it looked like truck tracks so we thought someone had hauled them away. We called the Sherriff Dept. and they asked to check with the neighbors which we did. A few hours later Art. took the car to check around for them. When he drove up to the lookout on the hill he found the horse (Rani) eating grass there. He tied her to a tree then drove back picked up the saddle and bridle and I drove him back there. Then we were told by a farmer above Pleasant Valley that he had a strange calf in his herd which we found to be ours. We went over to get it and found it to be hard get. They were put in separate fields from them on as the calf spooked the horse. 

In Sept. Hilda, Elva, Sharon and Cathy came to the ranch from Cal. Hilda remarked ‘I wish we could have a horse when we get up there.’ Boy but she was surprised when she found we had already.

We all enjoyed the ranch but the altitude was to high for Elva so she got a house in Kettle Falls.

The payments on the ranch were so high so when Pete Beck offered Art. work on his I talked Art. into taking it for it gave us a house to live in as well. This was in 1965. Beck didn’t keep him busy so Art. wen to other places work was available but would work for Beck when possible. 

In the fall at Christmas time Glenn Jr. wanted Mother and I to come to Jax. For the next few months. We left on Wed. mid-night on the Great Northern R. R. going through twelve different states. Mother and I enjoyed every minute of the trip. We stayed three months.

At the end of 1966 Mother went Spokane for a very serious operation on an artery which was ballooned ready to break. After being in the Hospital three weeks we brought her home to Elva’s where she was take care of for three months. During that time she had a slight stroke. We called Dr. Herman who said to bring in to his office the next morning which we did. He put her in Mt. Carmel and she had a light heart attack that after noon just 15 minutes after Elva and I left. The Dr. thinned her blood as a blood clot had damaged one of the valves in her heart.  The Dr. said it was one in a 1000 to get over such an operation at her age.

Art. and Gayle were married in May or June of 67. Mother and I moved to Colville as we had always said we would never stay to interfere in any of our childrens happiness so we have always wanted to help them as well. 

We made arrangement to buy the house in Kettle Falls we have lived in for the last five years.

During those years Elva and Ray moved to Oak Harbor and Art. and Gayle went to Fla.

Our 50^th Wedding Anniversary on the 19^th of Feb. was a very happy occasion. So many people were at the Senior Center to celebrate with us. They gave us so many gifts and cards and well wishes. Hilda looked at the pictures and cards quite often and talked of so often.

In July 1972 we went over to Oak Harbor for we had promised Ray we would come over. They had given us the 65 Chev. And mother and I were anxious to try the car out besides. 

We promised to return later so in Oct. we were going back but Mother was due back for a blood test again but she didn’t want to have the test as he would not…..[runs off the page]

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Her desire was to visit Elva one more time do we went over the new road #20. We stopped several times as she got tired sitting. She was one who never complained except her back got tired so I would rub her back every and sometimes during the day.

Oct. 16^th or 17^th we returned home from the coast and on Fri. I took her to Dr. Herman who gave her some tests and x-rays. He called me into the office to tell me that I should take in to Holy Family the following afternoon. I called Elva and she came on Sat. Monday being Vet. Day there were no tests but Tues, Wed. and Thur. the results didn’t look favorable. The Dr. asked if she wanted to know the truth. We assured him she wanted to know. It was a blow to all of us but Hilda the strong woman she was neve shed a tear. Fri. we brought her. The Dr. said it could be a few weeks or 10 years she could live.

After we got her we managed to get a hospital bed to make more comfortable. Elva stayed with us to attend to her as she knew more of how to give the right care. Marie and the children came from Mich. For they loved her too. 

On the 11^th day she was loosing the strength in her legs. We were afraid she might all over if we helped. She knew her time was short for she asked me several times what I was going to do, I hated to think of loosing her and being alone. But all I could say was I don’t know. 

The morning of the 13^th day she passed blood and Elva called the Dr. about it about the pain. Her pain was worse and she just a pill a half hour or so before but couldn’t get them only at two hour intervals. The Dr. said to come in, he would give a prescription of something stronger. She passed more blood and bled at the mouth and lost consciousness. Peggy was here helping Elva and they finished cleaning up her bed for she had passed on to her savior. If any one gets to heaven she will for there was never a woman as so understanding and so wise. 

Hilda joined church when 10 years old.

Sorry I didn’t know of her early life but it must have been a pleasant and enjoyable one. 

These things wasn’t accomplished by ourselves but by the help of the Savor of whom we trusted for Hilda and I started out by extoling [?] Him from the Him from the beginning in our married life.

God was the strength and provider of our life for we had trying times but Hilda and I talked things over in times and talked over with God. O that more people would take Him the Master and Ruler of this wonderful Universe.

Hilda’ Mother said or asked me to take good care of Hilda. I tried to take as good as I knew how. I have a vacant spot now that could never be filled by an-else. To take care of someone tentively for 5[0] years is hard to forget.  

My earnest prayer was to live long enough to take care of and my prayers were answered.

Behind every man there is a woman. It was my Mother, Hilda who helped mold my life and I wouldn’t be the man I am today so I owe my all to them and to God so merciful

His memoirs filled in blanks for me that records never could, such as how Art ended up in California and why Glenn was in Pontiac without Hilda and his children.

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