![]() ![]() On May 5, 1927, Kehoe attended his last board meeting, seemingly amicable toward all the board’s business, smiling with approval throughout. It’s thought, by at least one resident, this is when his plan to exact vengeance on the community was set in motion. #Extinguish flames in the village lost to time freeAround this same time, he tried to convince the township to cut the valuation on his farm and even tried to convince the mortgage holder he had paid too much, but no one would agree.ĭuring the school summer vacation in 1926, Kehoe volunteered to do some electrical and repair work on the school, giving him free access to the entire building. He ran for the position in the 1926 election but was defeated due to his reputation on the school board. In 1925 Kehoe was appointed township clerk to fill the vacancy left by the death of the previous clerk. It took some convincing from the others that Huyck was required to be there.Īndrew and Nellie Kehoe’s house before the disaster, circa 1927. Huyck, who at one time Kehoe told he would have to leave the board meetings, as he had no business to sit with them. He had a special disgust at the School Superintendent, Mr. Being insistent of getting his way, he often clashed with other board members and would make a motion to adjourn if they disagreed with him. That’s when he found his way onto the school board in July of 1924 and was appointed treasurer. In 1923, Kehoe was enraged over a raise in taxes for the consolidated school, which resulted in a $10,000 tax bill on his remaining 80 acres of land and buildings. Other troublesome behavior included shooting his neighbors’ dog because it was a “damn nuisance”, although the dog had never come onto Kehoe’s property. He didn’t farm like his neighbors, always trying new methods and tinkering so much with his tractor that he wasn’t very prosperous. Some added that he was “severe” with his stock, especially horses. At first he was social, doing favors and volunteer work for his neighbors, but many described him as always wanting his way and having nothing to do with others who didn’t agree. In 1919 the couple moved to the farm outside of Bath, with 185 acres. When the priest asked why he no longer came to church or made an effort to pay the assessment, Kehoe ordered him off his property. He removed he and his wife from a Roman Catholic Church after a new one was built and he was assessed $400. Early on, there were examples of Kehoe’s ‘disgust’ at having to pay for something through taxes or assessments. In 1912 he married Nellie Price, whom he had met while in college. ![]() Some neighbors at the time believed he had caused the explosion. Kehoe had tried to extinguish flames on her with a bucket of water, which only spread the flames more rapidly over her body. In September of 1911, his Stepmother was killed in an oil stove explosion. Louis, Missouri, but after a few years returned to his father’s farm. Studying electrical engineering at Michigan State College in East Lansing, Kehoe set off on his new career in St. Kehoe was born on a farm in Michigan near Tecumseh in 1872. Ellsworth, The Bath School Disaster (1928)ĭescribed as the “ world’s worst demon“, Andrew P. Photograph of Andrew Kehoe, the perpetrator of the Bath School disaster, circa 1920, reprinted in M.J. Resident’s school taxes started at $12.26 per thousand valuation, but had gone up to $19.80 per thousand by 1926. The district purchased five acres for an athletic field in 1923, bought and paid for two lighting plants, and paid interest on eight thousand dollars on the principal, leaving the township bonded for $35,000 on the school. The endeavor was expensive in terms of a small community. When the Bath Consolidated School opened in that November, there were 236 students. Up till that time, there were many one-room schools with students in various grades sharing the same teacher, but in 1922, the Township voted to create a consolidated school district, building a new school funded by an increase in property taxes. History.Ībout 10 miles northeast of Lansing, Bath Township, which contains the unincorporated village of Bath, was your typical Michigan agriculture community in the early 1920s. Also known as the Bath School Massacre, as of today, it remains the deadliest attack on a school in U.S. In 1927, America was shocked and horrified over the deaths and injuries of dozens of children and adults in the Bath School disaster. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |