Bath School disaster - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Bath School disaster is the name given to three bomb

Bomb

A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...

ings in Bath Township, Michigan

Bath Township, Michigan

Bath Charter Township is a charter township of Clinton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 11,598, an increase from 7,541 in 2000...

, on May 18, 1927, which killed 38 elementary school

Elementary school

An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

children, two teachers, four other adults and the bomber himself; at least 58 people were injured. Most of the victims were children in the second to sixth grades (7–14 years of age ) attending the Bath Consolidated School

Bath Consolidated School

Bath Community School was a school in Bath Township, Michigan, USA. It was the subject of the Bath School bombing on May 18, 1927, which killed 45 people and injured 58. Most of the victims were children in the second to sixth grades attending the school. This was the deadliest act of mass murder...

. Their deaths constitute the deadliest act of mass murder

Mass murder

Mass murder is the act of murdering a large number of people , typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time. According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders...

in a school in U.S. history. The perpetrator was school board member Andrew Kehoe

Andrew Kehoe

Andrew Philip Kehoe was an American suicide bomber and murderer who perpetrated the Bath School Disaster on May 18, 1927.- Early life :...

, aged 55, who was ostensibly upset by a property tax

Property tax

A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...

levied to fund the construction of the school building. He blamed the additional tax for financial hardships which led to foreclosure

Foreclosure

Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...

proceedings against his farm. These events apparently provoked Kehoe to plan his attack. He died in a secondary car bomb

Car bomb

A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...

he set off after the crowd gathered.

On the morning of May 18, Kehoe murdered his wife, then set his farm buildings afire. As fire fighters arrived at the farm, an explosion devastated the north wing of the school building, killing many schoolchildren. He used a detonator to ignite dynamite

Dynamite

Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...

and hundreds of pounds of pyrotol

Pyrotol

Pyrotol was an explosive available for a time after World War I. It was reprocessed from military surplus cordite and smokeless powder. Usually used in combination with dynamite, it created an incendiary blast. Since it was very inexpensive, it was often used by farmers to remove tree stumps and...

which he had secretly planted inside the school over the course of many months. As rescuers started gathering at the school, Kehoe drove up, stopped, and detonated a bomb inside his shrapnel

Fragmentation (weaponry)

Fragmentation is the process by which the casing of an artillery shell, bomb, grenade, etc. is shattered by the detonating high explosive filling. The correct technical terminology for these casing pieces is fragments , although shards or splinters can be used for non-preformed fragments...

-filled vehicle, killing himself and the school superintendent

Superintendent (education)

In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....

, and killing and injuring several others. During rescue efforts searchers discovered an additional 500 pounds (230 kg) of unexploded dynamite and pyrotol planted throughout the basement

Basement

__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...

of the school's south wing.

Bath Township

Bath Township is a small community located ten miles (16 km) northeast of Lansing, Michigan

Lansing, Michigan

Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

, and contains the unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

of Bath. In the early 1920s, the area was primarily agricultural

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

. In 1922, Bath voters voted to form a district for the purpose of funding and constructing a consolidated school. There were 236 students enrolled when the school opened, ranging from the first to twelfth grades.

In the early part of the 20th century many small one-room school

One-room school

One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...

s, where different grades shared the same classroom and teacher, were closed. Educators of the era believed that children would receive a better and more complete education

Education reform

Education reform is the process of improving public education. Small improvements in education theoretically have large social returns, in health, wealth and well-being. Historically, reforms have taken different forms because the motivations of reformers have differed.A continuing motivation has...

if students could attend a single school at one location. The grades could be age-divided into classes, and the facilities could be of a higher quality. After years of debate Bath Township created the district, raising property taxes to pay for the project, increasing taxes payable by Andrew Kehoe

Andrew Kehoe

Andrew Philip Kehoe was an American suicide bomber and murderer who perpetrated the Bath School Disaster on May 18, 1927.- Early life :...

, among other landowners.

Andrew Kehoe

Andrew Philip Kehoe

Andrew Kehoe

Andrew Philip Kehoe was an American suicide bomber and murderer who perpetrated the Bath School Disaster on May 18, 1927.- Early life :...

was born in Tecumseh, Michigan

Tecumseh, Michigan

Tecumseh is a small city in Lenawee County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated where M-50 crosses the River Raisin, a few miles east of M-52. Tecumseh is about SW of Detroit, south of Ann Arbor and north of Toledo, OH....

, on February 1, 1872. Kehoe's mother died when he was young, and his father remarried a much younger widowed woman. Reportedly, Kehoe often fought with his stepmother. When he was fourteen, an accident at the oil stove set his stepmother on fire. Andrew threw a bucket of water on her which, because the fire was oil-based, spread the flames more rapidly over her body. She later died from the injuries.
Kehoe married in 1912 and moved in 1919, with his wife Ellen "Nellie" Price, to a farm they bought outside the village of Bath. Kehoe was regarded by his neighbors as an intelligent man who grew impatient with those who disagreed with him. Neighbors also recounted how Kehoe was cruel to his farm animals, having once beaten a horse to death. With a reputation for thriftiness

Frugality

Frugality is the quality of being frugal, sparing, thrifty, prudent or economical in the use of consumable resources such as food, time or money, and avoiding waste, lavishness or extravagance....

, Kehoe was elected treasurer

Treasurer

A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...

of the Bath Consolidated School board in 1924. While on the board, Kehoe fought endlessly for lower taxes. He had blamed the previous property tax levy for his family's poor financial condition, and repeatedly accused superintendent Emory Huyck of financial mismanagement.

Nellie Kehoe had become chronically ill with tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

at the time of the bombing, and her frequent hospital stays may have played a role in putting the family into debt. Kehoe had ceased making mortgage and homeowner's insurance payments and the mortgage lender had begun foreclosure

Foreclosure

proceedings against the farm.

Purchase and planting of explosives

There is no clear indication when Kehoe conceived and planned the steps leading to the ultimate events. A subsequent investigation concluded that, based upon the activity at the school and the purchases of explosives, his plan had probably been under way for at least a year.

In early 1926 the board asked Kehoe to perform maintenance inside the school building. Regarded by most as a talented handyman

Handyman

A handyman is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, maintenance work, both interior and exterior, and are sometimes described as "odd jobs", "fix-up tasks", and include light plumbing jobs such as fixing a leaky toilet...

, he was known to be familiar with electrical equipment. As a board member appointed to conduct repairs, he had free access to the building and his presence was never questioned.

From mid-1926 Kehoe began purchasing over a ton

Ton

The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...

of pyrotol

Pyrotol

, an incendiary explosive introduced in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

; farmers during the era used it for excavation. In November 1926 Kehoe drove to Lansing

Lansing, Michigan

and purchased two boxes of dynamite

Dynamite

at a sporting goods store; dynamite was also commonly used on farms, and Kehoe's purchase of small amounts of explosives at different stores and on different dates did not raise any suspicions. Neighbors reported hearing explosions set off on the farm, as well as recalling conversations where Kehoe explained he was using dynamite for tree stump removal.

The day of the disaster

There were a few warning signs prior to the events. Kehoe passed out employee paychecks

Payroll

In a company, payroll is the sum of all financial records of salaries for an employee, wages, bonuses and deductions. In accounting, payroll refers to the amount paid to employees for services they provided during a certain period of time. Payroll plays a major role in a company for several reasons...

the prior week and told bus driver Warden Keyes, "My boy, you want to take good care of that check as it is probably the last check you will ever get." Teacher Bernice Sterling telephoned Kehoe two days before the blast and asked to use his grove for a class picnic

Picnic

In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...

. Kehoe told her that if she "wanted a picnic she would better have it at once."

Prior to May 18 Kehoe had loaded the back seat of his car with metal debris. He threw in old tools, nails, pieces of rusted farm machinery, digging shovel

Shovel

A shovel is a tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Shovels are extremely common tools that are used extensively in agriculture, construction, and gardening....

s, and anything else capable of producing shrapnel

Fragmentation (weaponry)

during an explosion. After the back seat was filled, Kehoe placed a large cache of dynamite behind the front seat and a loaded rifle on the passenger's seat.

Records at Lansing's St. Lawrence Hospital revealed that Nellie Kehoe had been discharged on May 16. Between her release and the bombing two days later, Kehoe killed Nellie by what was later determined to be blunt force trauma to the head with an unknown heavy object. Her body was found in a wheelbarrow

Wheelbarrow

A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...

located in the rear of the farm's chicken coop

Chicken coop

A chicken coop is a building where female chickens are kept. Inside there are often nest boxes for egg laying and perches on which the birds can sleep, although coops for meat birds seldom have either of these features....

. Piled around the cart were silverware, jewels

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

and a metal cash box. Ashes of several bank notes could be seen through a slit in the cash box. Kehoe had placed and wired homemade pyrotol firebombs

Incendiary device

Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus....

in all buildings of the farm. Farm animals

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

were found tied up in their enclosures, apparently to ensure their deaths in the subsequent fire.

First explosion

At approximately 8:45 a.m. Kehoe detonated the firebombs at his farm. The neighbors noticed the fire, and volunteer fire department

Fire department

A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...

s from all over the area began rushing to the scene.

Second explosion

At 9:45 a.m. an explosion was heard from the school building. Rescuers heading to the scene of the Kehoe fire turned back and headed toward the school. Parents within the rural community also began rushing to the school. 38 people, mostly children, where killed in the school blast.

First-grade teacher Bernice Sterling recounted the explosion to an Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

reporter as being like a terrible earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

. "It seemed as though the floor went up several feet," she said. "After the first shock I thought for a moment I was blind. When it came the air seemed to be full of children and flying desks and books. Children were tossed high in the air; some were catapulted out of the building."

The north wing of the school had collapsed. Parts of the walls had crumbled, and the edge of the roof had fallen to the ground. Monty Ellsworth, a neighbor of the Kehoes, recounted, "There was a pile of children of about five or six under the roof and some of them had arms sticking out, some had legs, and some just their heads sticking out. They were unrecognizable because they were covered with dust, plaster, and blood. There were not enough of us to move the roof." Ellsworth volunteered to drive back to his farm and get from his slaughterhouse

Slaughterhouse

A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...

the heavy rope needed to pull the structure off the children's bodies. On the way back to his farm, Ellsworth reported seeing Kehoe in his car heading in the opposite direction toward the school. "He grinned and waved his hand; when he grinned, I could see both rows of his teeth," said Ellsworth.

The scene at the school building was chaotic. One witness, Robert Gates, recounted how "mother after mother came running into the school yard, and demanded information about her child and, on seeing the lifeless form lying on the lawn, broke into sobs. In no time more than 100 men were at work tearing away the debris of the school, and nearly as many women were frantically pawing over the timber and broken bricks for traces of their children."

Third explosion

About a half hour after the explosion, Kehoe drove up to the school and saw Superintendent Huyck. Kehoe summoned the superintendent over to his vehicle. According to one eyewitness, when Huyck drew close, Kehoe revealed that he was behind the bombing. Saying "I'll take you with me", Kehoe pulled out his rifle and fired into the back seat. Whether by gunshot or otherwise, the dynamite in the vehicle ignited and the resulting explosion killed Kehoe, the superintendent, Postmaster Glenn O. Smith, and Smith's father-in-law, Nelson McFarren, a retired farmer. Cleo Claton, an eight-year-old second grader, had wandered out of the collapsed school building and was killed by the shrapnel from the exploding vehicle. Several others were injured by shrapnel.

After Kehoe's car exploded, Ellsworth recounted that "I saw one mother, Mrs. Eugene Hart, sitting on the bank a short distance from the school with a little dead girl on each side of her and holding a little boy, Percy, who died a short time after they got him to the hospital. This was about the time Kehoe blew his car up in the street, severely wounding Perry, the oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Hart."

O.H. Buck, foreman of the road crew, recalled the scene after the final explosion: "I began to feel as though the world was coming to an end. I guess I was a bit hazy. Anyway, the next thing I remember I was out on the street. One of our men was binding up the wounds of Glenn Smith, the postmaster. His leg had been blown off. I went back to the building and helped with the rescue work until we were ordered to stop while a search was made for dynamite."

Recovery and rescue

Telephone operator

A telephone operator is either* a person who provides assistance to a telephone caller, usually in the placing of operator assisted telephone calls such as calls from a pay phone, collect calls , calls which are billed to a credit card, station-to-station and person-to-person calls, and certain...

s stayed at their stations for hours to summon doctors, undertakers, area hospitals and anyone else who might help. The Lansing Fire Department sent three men and the city's chemical truck.

The local physician, Dr. J.A. Crum and his wife, a nurse, had both served in World War I

World War I

, and had returned to Bath to open a pharmacy

Pharmacy

Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...

. After the explosion the Crums turned their drugstore into a triage

Triage

Triage or ) is the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition. This rations patient treatment efficiently when resources are insufficient for all to be treated immediately. The term comes from the French verb trier, meaning to separate,...

center. The dead were removed to the town hall, used as a morgue. Private citizens were enlisted to use their automobiles as additional ambulance

Ambulance

An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...

s to take survivors and family members to area hospitals. By the afternoon some 13 ambulances were at the township hall to transport the dead to undertakers.

Hundreds of people worked in the wreckage all day in an effort to find and rescue the children pinned underneath. Area contractors had sent all their men to assist, and many ordinary people came to the scene in response to the pleas for help. Eventually, 34 firefighters and the Chief of the Lansing Fire Department arrived on the scene, as did several Michigan State Police officers, who managed traffic to and from the scene. The injured and dying were transported to Sparrow Hospital

Sparrow Health System

Sparrow Health System is a comprehensive, integrated health care organization located in Central Michigan. More than 900 physicians are affiliated with Sparrow Health System....

and St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing. The construction of the latter facility had been financed in large part by Lawrence Price, Nellie Kehoe's uncle and formerly an executive in charge of Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

's Lansing Car Assembly

Lansing Car Assembly

Lansing Car Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Lansing, Michigan. It contained two elements, a 1901 automobile plant in downtown Lansing, and the 1920 Durant Motors factory on Lansing's Far Westside....

.

Michigan Governor Fred Green

Fred Green

-Military service and legal work:Green served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. He was a first lieutenant in the 31st Michigan Volunteer Infantry and later was promoted to battalion adjutant. After the war, he returned to Ypsilanti as the city attorney, as well as attorney for the...

arrived during the afternoon of the disaster and assisted in the relief work, carting bricks away from the scene. The Lawrence Baking Company of Lansing sent a truck filled with pies and sandwiches, which were served to rescuers in the township's community hall.
The bombing had destroyed the north wing of the school. During the search rescuers found an additional 500 pounds (230 kg) of dynamite, which had failed to detonate, in the south wing. The search was halted to allow the Michigan State Police

Michigan State Police

The Michigan State Police is the state police agency for the state of Michigan. The MSP is a full service law enforcement agency with its sworn members having full police powers statewide....

to disarm the devices. The State Police found an alarm clock

Alarm clock

An alarm clock is a clock that is designed to make a loud sound at a specific time. The primary use of these clocks is to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps; they are sometimes used for other reminders as well. To stop the sound, a button or handle on the clock is pressed; but...

timed to go off at 9:45 a.m., the time of the explosion in the north wing. Investigators speculated that the initial explosion may have caused a short circuit in the second set of bombs preventing them from detonating. Then a sweep of the building was made and recovery work recommenced.

Police and fire officials gathered at the Kehoe farm to investigate the fires. It was not until the following day, May 19, that investigators identified Nellie Kehoe's charred body among the ruins of the farm. The body was so disfigured it went unnoticed by hundreds who walked past it the previous day.

All the Kehoe farm buildings were destroyed, and the animals trapped inside the barn were killed. The amount of unused equipment and materials on the farm reportedly could have easily paid off the Kehoes' mortgage. Investigators found a wooden sign wired to the farm's fence with Kehoe's last message, "CRIMINALS ARE MADE, NOT BORN." stenciled on it.

Aftermath

Killed in the disaster
----

Before the school bombing

Nellie Kehoe, age 52, wife of Andrew Kehoe.

Killed in the school bombing

Arnold V. Bauerle, age 8, 3rd grade.

Henry Bergan, age 14, 6th grade.

Herman Bergan age 11, 4th grade.

Emilie M. Bromundt, age 11, 5th grade.

Robert F. Bromundt, age 12, 5th grade.

Floyd E. Burnett, age 12, 6th grade.

Russell J. Chapman, age 8, 4th grade.

F. Robert Cochran, age 8, 3rd grade.

Ralph A. Cushman, age 7, 3rd grade.

Earl E. Ewing, age 11, 6th grade.

Katherine O. Foote, age 10, 6th grade.

Marjorie Fritz, age 9, 4th grade.

Carlyle W. Geisenhaver, age 9, 4th grade.

George P. Hall Jr., age 8, 3rd grade.

Willa M. Hall, age 11, 5th grade.

Lola Hart, age 12, 6th grade.

Percy E. Hart, age 11, 3rd grade.

Vivian O. Hart, age 8, 3rd grade.

Blanche E. Harte, age 30, teacher.

Gailand L. Harte, age 12, 6th grade.

LaVere R. Harte, age 9, 4th grade.

Stanley H. Harte, age 12, 6th grade.

Francis O. Hoeppner, age 13, 6th grade.

Cecilia L. Hunter, age 13, 6th grade.

Doris E. Johns, age 8, 3rd grade.

Thelma I. MacDonald, age 8, 3rd grade.

Clarence W. McFarren, age 13, 6th grade.

J. Emerson Medcoff, age 8, 4th grade.

Emma A. Nickols, age 13, 6th grade.

Richard D. Richardson, age 12, 6th grade.

Elsie M. Robb, age 12, 6th grade.

Pauline M. Shirts, age 10, 5th grade.

Hazel I. Weatherby, age 21, teacher.

Elizabeth J. Witchell, age 10, 5th grade.

Lucile J. Witchell, age 9, 5th grade.

Harold L. Woodman, age 8, 3rd grade.

George O. Zimmerman, age 10, 3rd grade.

Lloyd Zimmerman, age 12, 5th grade.

Killed by explosion of Kehoe's car

Andrew P. Kehoe, age 55, perpetrator.

Emory E. Huyck, age 33, superintendent.

G. Cleo Claton, age 8, 2nd grade.

Nelson McFarren, age 74, retired farmer.

Glenn O. Smith, age 33, postmaster.

Died later of injuries

Beatrice P. Gibbs, age 10, 4th grade.

The American Red Cross

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...

, setting up operations at the Crum drugstore, took the lead in providing aid and comfort to the victims. The Lansing Red Cross headquarters were kept open until 11:30 that night to answer telephone calls, update the list of dead and injured and provide information and planning services for the following day.

The Red Cross also managed donations sent to pay for both the medical expenses of the survivors and the burial

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

costs of the deceased. In a few short weeks, $5,284.15 was raised through donations, including $2,500 from the Clinton County

Clinton County, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 64,753 people, 23,653 households, and 17,976 families residing in the county. The population density was 113 people per square mile . There were 24,630 housing units at an average density of 43 per square mile...

board of supervisors and $2,000 from the Michigan legislature. Unlike the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre

Columbine High School massacre

The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...

of 1999, there was no legislative response, either by the state or federal

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

governments, aimed at preventing a recurrence, although pyrotol was quietly taken off the market.

Over the next few days there were many funerals, with the most, eighteen, held on Saturday, May 22. The disaster was reported on the front pages of national newspapers and remained there until news of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

native Charles Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh

Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...

's completion of first solo transatlantic flight broke on May 23, 1927.

Vehicles from outlying areas and surrounding states descended upon Bath by the thousands. Over 100,000 vehicles passed through on Saturday alone, an enormous amount of traffic for the area. Some Bath citizens regarded this armada as an unwarranted intrusion into their time of grief, but most accepted it as a show of sympathy and support from surrounding communities. The Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...

said that the actions of Kehoe, a Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, were the result of his adherence to the stance of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

against "Protestant or godless schools."

Coroner's inquest

The coroner

Coroner

A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...

arrived at the scene on the day of the disaster and swore in six community leaders to serve as an investigative jury. A coroner's inquest

Inquest

Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...

into the matter was held the following week. The Clinton County Prosecutor

Prosecutor

The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...

conducted the examination, and dozens of Bath citizens and law enforcement personnel testified before the jury. Although there was never any doubt that Kehoe was the perpetrator, the jury was asked to determine if the school board or its employees were guilty of criminal negligence

Criminal negligence

In the criminal law, criminal negligence is one of the three general classes of mens rea element required to constitute a conventional as opposed to strict liability offense. It is defined as an act that is:-Concept:...

Kehoe's neighbor Sidney J. Howell testified that after the fire began Kehoe warned him and three boys to leave the farm, telling them, "Boys, you're my friends. You'd better get out of here and go to the school house." Three telephone linemen working near Bath testified that (after going to the farm and then to the school) Kehoe passed them, and they saw him reach the school right before them. Kehoe's car swerved to the right and stopped in front of the building. In the next instant, according to the linemen, the car blew up, and one of them was struck by shrapnel. This testimony contradicted statements from others that Kehoe paused after stopping and called Superintendent Huyck over before blowing up the vehicle.

After more than a week of testimony, the jury exonerated the school board and its employees. In its verdict the jury concluded that Kehoe "conducted himself sanely

Sanity

Sanity refers to the soundness, rationality and healthiness of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational...

and so concealed his operations that there was no cause to suspect any of his actions; and we further find that the school board, and Frank Smith, janitor

Janitor

A janitor or custodian is a professional who takes care of buildings, such as hospitals and schools. Janitors are responsible primarily for cleaning, and often some maintenance and security...

of the school building, were not negligent in and about their duties, and were not guilty of any negligence in not discovering Kehoe's plan."

The inquest determined that Kehoe murdered Superintendent Emory Huyck on the morning of May 18. It was also the jury's verdict that the school was blown up as part of a plan and that Kehoe alone, without the aid of conspirators

Conspiracy (crime)

In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...

, murdered 43 people in total, including his wife Nellie. Suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

was determined to be the manner of Andrew Kehoe's death, which brought the total to 44 dead at the time of the inquest.

Kehoe's body was eventually claimed by his sister. Without ceremony, he was buried in an unmarked grave in an initially unnamed cemetery. Later it was revealed that Kehoe was buried in the paupers' section of Mt. Rest Cemetery, St. Johns, Clinton County, Michigan

St. Johns, Michigan

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,485 people, 2,994 households, and 1,999 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,909.1 per square mile . There were 3,148 housing units at an average density of 802.9 per square mile...

. Nellie Kehoe was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Lansing by her family under her maiden name of Price.

On August 22, some three months after the bombing, fourth-grader Beatrice Gibbs died following hip surgery. Hers was accounted the forty-fifth and final death directly attributable to the Bath School disaster.

Rebuilding

Governor Fred Green

Fred Green

created the Bath Relief Fund with the money supplied by donors, the state, and local governments. Numerous people from around the country donated to the fund. The school board began a separate fund for the repair of the school building.

School resumed on September 5, 1927 and, for the 1927–28 school year, was held in the community hall, township hall, and two retail buildings. Most of the students returned. The board appointed O. M. Brant of Luther, Michigan

Luther, Michigan

Luther is a village in Lake County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 339. The village is on the boundary between Newkirk Township on the west and Ellsworth Township on the east, with about half of the village in each. It is the site of Hillsdale...

, to succeed Huyck as superintendent. Lansing architect Warren Holmes donated construction plans, and the school board approved the contracts for the new building on September 14. On September 15, Michigan's Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

U.S. Senator James J. Couzens

James J. Couzens

James J. Couzens was a U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan, the Mayor of Detroit, an industrialist, and philanthropist.-Early life and career:...

presented his personal check for $75,000 to the Bath construction fund to build the new school.

In 1928, artist Carlton W. Angell

Carlton W. Angell

Carleton W. Angell was an American sculptor. He was born in Belding, Michigan and died in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is buried in Washtenong Memorial Gardens near the World War I Veterans Memorial, under a plaque designed by noted artist, Stanley Kellogg.-Career:Angell studied sculpture at the...

presented the board with a statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

titled Girl With a Cat. The statue is presently in the Bath School Museum located within the school district's middle school, adjacent to the site of the destroyed building. Angell's inscription states that it is dedicated to the courage and determination of the people of Bath. The sculpture was financed by penny donations from young students from the state of Michigan. It was rumored that the donated pennies were melted down and used to cast

Casting

In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...

the statue.

The board demolished the damaged portion of the school and constructed a new wing with the donated funds. The "James Couzens Agricultural School" was dedicated on August 18, 1928.

Legacy

In 1975 the Couzens building was demolished and a small park dedicated to the victims replaced it. At the center of the park is the cupola

Cupola

In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....

of the building, the only part preserved. At the park entrance, a bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

plaque

Commemorative plaque

A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...

affixed to a white boulder bears the names of the adults and children killed. On November 3, 2008, it was announced that tombstones had been donated for Emilie and Robert Bromundt, the last two bombing victims whose graves were still unmarked. A grant from a foundation will pay for the grave markers.

External links

General information

Links to images and articles about the massacre, from A RootsWeb.com user site.
Bath School Disaster, MichMarkers.com.
On the history of Bath, Clinton County Chamber of Commerce.
Transcript of the Coroner's Inquest into the death of Bath School Superintendent Emory Huyck, via Daggy Space website.

Historical research and commemorative materials

Interview with 97-year-old survivor Willis Cressman, recorded by the StoryCorps Project, broadcast on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

on April 17, 2009.
Transcripts of interviews with survivors and items collected, Michigan State University
Article on the 75th anniversary of the Bath School Disaster, Lansing State Journal.
Bath School victims' funeral and internment details, via Daggy Space website.
The Bath School Memorial Park, via Daggy Space website.
The Bath School disaster from USGenWeb Archives.
Bath School disaster memorial at Find A Grave
Find A Grave
Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
Ashlee, Rose. Text of Michigan Historical Marker, Traveling Through Time, A Guide to Michigan's Historical Markers,(2005) University of Michigan Press, p. 96.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Bath Township

Andrew Kehoe

Purchase and planting of explosives

The day of the disaster

First explosion

Second explosion

Third explosion

Recovery and rescue

Aftermath

Coroner's inquest

Rebuilding

Legacy

See also

External links