We are, once again, visiting the Hart High School Class of 1910 photograph. This time we will be learning about the seven young ladies sitting in the front row, dating the photo tremendously with their shirtwaists and voluminous Gibson Girl hair. When looking at old photographs of teenagers, I often hear folks remark how “old” everyone looks, as if they’re barreling towards middle age rather than their high school graduation.
I can understand the impulsive reaction, but I must say that, nine times out of ten, the historic teens really do look like teens, just with vintage hairstyles and clothes. While looking at the assorted 19- to 20-year-olds in the photo, particularly the girls, I tried to imagine them with proper 2016 accouterments - dip-dyed hair, skinny jeans, those unfortunate blocky eyebrows that were all the rage - and I could imagine them being in my graduating class.
Despite the fact that these young ladies lived over a century ago, many led lives not unlike girls now. They went to college, some got married and others didn’t, and several had careers. Sadly, many obituaries simply relegate them to wife, mother, and homemaker.
Starting at the left, we have Gertrude Reynolds. She was 18 at the time of her high school graduation and originally from Reed City, Michigan. Following her graduation, she went on to study at Western Michigan University and spent her twenties teaching. She married her husband, Harold Hutchinson, in November of 1920, exactly one month before her 29th birthday, before returning to Hart. Throughout her life, she was a part of several various organizations, including the Hart Congregational Church, American Legion Auxiliary, and the Order of the Eastern Star (a Masonic-esque fraternity that allowed participants from both sexes). She died in 1964, at age 72.
Bessie Waterman was born in 1891 in Mears. Her obituary tells little of her life before moving to Flint, Michigan, and the clipping from the Oceana County Historical and Genealogical Society does not list a date of death. What’s more, the clipping has her married name misspelled as “Reigle” instead of “Riegle.” She was previously married to Roy Tenny Smith, with whom she had one son, Donald Wayne, born in 1917. In 1928, she married Flint native John L. Riegle, a businessman and county school commissioner, who adopted Donald. Donald Wayne Riegle (formerly Smith) went on to serve as the mayor of Flint from 1952-54. His son, Donald Wayne Riegle Jr., went on to serve as a member of the US House of Representatives from 1967-76 and then as a US senator from 1976-95. At the time of Bessie’s death, she was working as a secretary for Flint’s Women’s Hospital Auxiliary, and her obituary says her son, Donald, was still at home. So I would assume Bessie passed away in the early 1930s. I cannot seem to find her date of death online, so I suppose I have to do the rational thing and hope that former U.S. Senator Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. reads the local news from his grandmother’s hometown and will, thus, call the Echo offices to let me know his family history.
The third young lady in the front row is Pearl Hunter. Pearl was born in 1890 in Mears and was the daughter of Joseph Arthur Hunter, a lighthouse keeper of Little Sable Point Lighthouse from Pearl’s birth to 1922. Her obituary does not mention an alma mater, but she was certainly educated, as she spent 27 years in Washington, D.C., as a secretary for the U.S. Coast Guard - a branch befitting the daughter of a lighthouse keeper. In 1946, she retired and returned to Mears, where she served as a charter member of the Oceana County Historical Society until her death in 1976, at age 86. She never married nor had children. She contributed a wealth of knowledge about Little Sable Point to the Historical Society, including her father’s journals from his tenure as lighthouse keeper.
Sadly, I can find no information on Pearl Stern, the next girl in the line. I even tried to look up alternative spellings, such as Sterns, Stem, and Stim. No dice. The only thing about her that seems apparent is that she was friends with Lorena Leonard, with whom she’s holding hands in the photograph. Likewise, I cannot track down any information about Hazel Andrews apart from a confirmation of her status as a former Hart High School student.
Lorena Leonard, second-to-last, was born in 1891 in Hart and married her husband, Ivan Purdy, in 1919. She was, like Gertrude, a teacher before becoming a Muskegon County School Supervisor, from which she retired in 1958. She was also a member of the Community United Methodist Church, Greater Muskegon Woman’s Club and Retired Teachers Association. She had two children, Jean Ann and Leonard. Lorena passed away at age 81 in January of 1973.
The final Class of 1910 girl is Janet Richardson. The only information I can find from the OCH&GS sources is her mother’s 1919 obituary, which lists Janet as living in Los Angeles, California. Regrettably, Janet Richardson isn’t a remarkably unique name, especially not in a major metropolis like L.A. As for her mother, Louisa Richardson, she was an early pioneer of the Crystal Township and Walkerville area and had eight children, including Janet.
The Hart High School Class of 1910 produced scholars, teachers, doctors, business owners, and - in one case - politically successful progeny. Sadly, we are still missing information on several students and cannot paint as clear a portrait as I’d like, but that doesn’t negate the excitement of tracking down historical students from over a century ago, watching as their stories unfold through some good, old-fashioned detective work.
