September 2015 - Lost In Michigan

The Beautiful Alcona Dam near Glennie

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Dam .

The Alcona hydro-electric dam on the Au Sable River is capable of producing 8,000 kilowatts. It is currently named after the county where it is located, but was originally named for a nearby road called Bamfield. Work began on Bamfield Dam in 1917, but the project stalled due to unstable sand and World War I. Construction resumed in 1923, and Alcona Hydro began commercial operation in 1924. The drop in elevation is approximately 30 feet, depending on the time of year.

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The Notorious Purple Gang and Their Connections to Mid-Michigan

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Bars and Restaurants, Forgotten Places, small towns .

Whenever I mention the Purple Gang many people ask me who they were because they never heard of them, which surprises me since they were one of the most ruthless and violent gangs in America. In 1916 Michigan adopted the Damon Act, which prohibited liquor effective in 1917, three years before national Prohibition, prompting bootleggers to smuggle booze from Canada to Detroit and the Purple Gang (sometimes referred to as the Sugar House Gang) was the mob that monopolized the flow of alcohol in Detroit. After prohibition was the law of the land about 40% of the illegal liquor came into the U.S. From Canada and the Purples distributed it with Capone being one of their many customers. The Gang was one of the most violent in America and it is rumored that the Purple Gang had a hand in the St Valentines Day Massacre. They were also suspects in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.

The part of the Purple Gangs history that always interested me is their connection to central Michigan.

In Clare, the murder of gangster attorney Isaiah Leebove in 1938 was indirectly due to the Purple Gang. Oil promoter Jack Livingston had a disagreement with Leebove who was a Purple Gang associate. Convinced Leebove was going to have the Purple Gang kill him, Livingston shot and killed Leebove in the tap room at the Doherty Hotel before the Purple Gang could come after him.

A popular hangout for the Purple Gang was The Graceland Ball Room in Lupton. The building was built in the late 1920’s by “One Arm” Mike Gelfand a member of the Purple Gang, no one knows where the money came from to build it but many speculate it was from the Purple Gang. Al Capone was had visited it several times to do business and supposedly the rustic log interior had bullet holes in a few of the logs, sadly it burnt down in the early 1980s.

Not far from the south branch of Au Sauble river in northern Michigan on property once owned by William Durant, the founder of General Motors the “Detroit Partnership” a group of Detroit Mafia families built one of the largest ranches in Michigan history and the members of the Purple Gang were frequent visitors. The various barns surrounding the primary residence resembled modern day airplane hangars. They included an indoor horse riding area, dance parlor, interlinking tunnels and hidden rooms The property spanned acres and included a private runway, hunting area, servant quarters, junkyard, and an Olympic-sized pool. The house itself was involved in gang related activities for years. frequently visited by Jimmy Hoffa and is believed to be by some his “final resting place”. It was even searched upon his disappearance., and it was rumored to be the site of dozens of mafia-style executions. After being seized for tax evasion, the ranch laid dormant for years and eventually demolished. The property is now part of Forest Dunes Golf Club.

The purple gang was also rumored to have used Grousehaven Lodge which was built by auto magnate Harry Jewett which is currently part of the Rifle River Recreation Area. you can read the interesting story of Grousehaven HERE

There were also Ties to the J G Schemm Brewery in Saginaw. After the repeal of Prohibition, a group of investors from Detroit tried to get a license to brew beer at the old brewery. The state would not issue them a license, because of suspected connection to the Purple Gang. you can read about the brewery HERE

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The Strange death of the Sparling men in Tyre

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Haunted Places, Murders .

The tombstone of John Wesley Sparling in the Tyre Cemetery

The village of Tyre near Ubly in the Thumb was named after the Biblical place of Tyre because of its stony terrain, but it was the mysterious death of John Wesley Sparling and his sons that the town is most noted for. One June day, John Wesley quit work midday, clutching his stomach. His oldest son Peter rode his horse at breakneck speeds to fetch Dr. Robert A. MacGregor, who diagnosed a kidney ailment. John Wesley died on July 8, 1909, and was laid to rest in the Tyre Cemetery. The whole community attended the service. A year later Peter staggered from a field where haying was in progress and died 5 days later. Albert, the next oldest Sparling, became ill in church a year after Peter died; he suffered the exact symptoms as Peter and his father and died after a short struggle for life on 03 May 1911. On August 4th 1911 the strange symptoms struck a third Sparling son, Scyrel. Dr. MacGregor called in a colleague, Dr. Conboy, to examine Scyrel. Dr. Conboy suspected poisoning and reported the same to local authorities. Scyrel grew worse and died 14, Aug 1911 leaving only the youngest son, Raymond alive.

The prosecutor ordered the examination of Scyrel’s organs and they were sent to the University of Michigan which they reported finding arsenic. The body of Albert was exhumed and examined with identical findings, death by arsenic poisoning. Dr. MacGregor was arrested and tried for the murders of the four men in a trial which gained national attention. The prosecutor presented a case that John Wesley Sparlings wife Carrie was having an affair with the good doctor, and that he had her take out life insurance policies on her children who were strong and healthy at the time. Dr. MacGregor was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life in prison.

the old abandoned grain elevator in the once booming town of Tyre

After Michigan Governor Ferris received an appeal on MacGregor’s behalf, he had the case re-investigated. The results of the re-investigation were not made public, so it is not known what facts it established. Nevertheless, in 1916, the Governor issued MacGregor a full and unconditional pardon. The Governor took the unusual step of having MacGregor brought to the state capital at Lansing where he handed him the pardon personally. In his statement the Governor said, “I am firmly convinced that Dr. MacGregor is absolutely innocent of the crime for which he was convicted.” The Governor shortly thereafter appointed MacGregor as the official state doctor to the Jackson prison where he had just been an inmate, again without explanation., MacGregor died In 1928.

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