Information
about the Bath School Disaster
     On a warm Spring morning in May of 1927 the Treasurer of the Bath, Michigan Consolidated School District fire/dynamite bombed his home and farm & collapsed the North half of the school building (having intended to destroy all of it). Within the hour he had committed additional murders in the middle of the village by the suicidal detonation of shrapnel-shrouded explosives that he had packed into his vehicle. Over the following year a total of 46 people would be dead as a result of that day's mayhem & many, many more would be counted among the injured & maimed. After 83 years this incident still ranks as the worst instance of school violence in U.S. history.

the rescue effort under way


Recent News & Events ...
In recent correspondence with Arnie Bernstein we have learned that 2nd grader Ralph Witchell is now living in Nebraska. Ralph's sister Lucile June Witchell and cousin Elizabeth Jane Witchell died in the bombing.

Arnie was in Michigan for several events this Spring:

Friday May 14th at the Bath Bath Middle School Auditorium (sponsored by the Dewitt Library)

Friday May 14th at the Owosso Library

Saturday May 15th at the Carson City Library

He hopes to return to Bath this summer for the Bath Days event.

On Thursday March 11th Robert Allan Osborne died in Williamston at the age of 85. Mr. Osborne had been married to Norma Jean (Fritz) Osborne, the youngest sister of bombing victim Marjorie Fritz. Visitation was on Sunday March 14th from 3pm to 6pm at the Gorsline Runciman Williamston Chapel, 205 E. Middle St., in Williamston with the funeral occurring on Monday March 15th at 10:00am (in the same Chapel)

During discussions with his son Danny it was related that an unknown uncle had died within a year of the bombing as a result of the injuries that he had sustained that day ... the unknown uncle was Richard Fritz, older brother of Danny's mother Norma Jean (Fritz) Osborne and younger brother of bombing victim Marjorie Fritz.

This was the first time in any discussion with Fritz family decendants that Richard's existence had been acknowledged. Based upon that conversation we have started the discussion process with others to have Richard Fritz formally & publically ackowledged as Andrew Kehoe's 46th victim.

Second grade bombing survivor Ruth Adeline (Nickols Hetchler) Stambaugh died Wednesday February 24th, 2010 in Hastings, Michigan. Ruth's sister Emma died in the explosion. She had lived for many years in Sunfield. She was the last of the 12 brothers and sisters in the family. Her funeral was held Monday March 1st in Lansing with interment in Bath's Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

     Listed below are links to pages in this and other websites that deal with the events & aftermath of that day's tragedy.

The Victims
Brief individual biographies, their burial location & available photographs.

Those who survived the event
A list on individuals: survivors, siblings, adult family members, rescuers, townsfolk & others.

Survivors that are Still Alive Today
A list on individuals, survivors or siblings of survivors, that are still living.

The Coroner's Inquest
The transcript of the May 23-25, 1927 Clinton County Coroner's Inquest.   768Kb

1896 Maps of Clinton County & Bath Township
map of Clinton County Clinton
County
map		       map of Bath Township Bath
Township
map

The Bath School Disaster Memorial Park
Images from the park at the site of the former Consolidated School building.

Books About the Bombing
  • "The Bath School Disaster"
    A contemporary account of the bombing and the events leading up to it, written by Bath resident Monty Ellsworth. It is available in four formats:
    • Lynx version (no formatting) 127Kb
    • Text Only (2 frames; formatted; no pictures) 200Kb
    • Full Book (2 frames; formatted; text & pictures as they appear in the book) 2.6Mb
    • Modem Friendly (4 frames; formatted; text & pictures available on demand)


    • Links to related materials & websites

    Individuals

  • Ronald Bauerle — victim family descendant
     website: freepages.history.rootsweb.com/.../disaster.htm
     message board: resources.rootsweb.com/...

  • Arnie Bernstein — author
    A non-fiction account of the Bath School Disaster by author Arnie Bernstein is now available. The title is Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing. Pricing: $18.95 (paper binding); $50.00 (cloth binding).


  • Betty Spencer — author
    In early 2008 Mt. Pleasant author Betty Spencer published her book Life Is Fragile: One Girl's Story of the Bath School Disaster. It is a fictionalized account of what life would have been like for a pre-teen farm girl living outside of the Village of Bath and attending the township's Consolidated School.

    The book may be ordered online at Amazon.com



  • Gene Wilkins — Township historian
     E-mail: bathtwphistory@aol.com





    Library Resources

    Dewitt Public Library, Local History Collection - available books
    ... The Bath School Disaster (1927; Monty Ellsworth)
    ... Mayday: The History of a Village Holocaust (1980; Grant Parker)
     website: www.dewittlibrary.com/LHC/LHC-Clinton.htm
     - area cemetery records
     website: www.dewittlibrary.com/cemetery/Cemetery.htm

    Michigan State University, Special Collections - available books
    ... The Bath School Disaster (1927; Monty Ellsworth)
    ... Mayday: The History of a Village Holocaust (1980; Grant Parker)
    ... My Scrapbook on the Bath School Bombing (2002; Gene Wilkins)
     website: www.lib.msu.edu/coll/main/spec_col/about/index.htm





    Newspapers

    "Ojai Valley News" (S. California newspaper)
    online obituary of George Carpenter





    Other Internet Resources

    Wikipedia: online article

    Story Corps: Interview with Willis Cressman & niece Johanna Cushman-Balzer

    NPR: Morning Edition feature (April 17, 2009)



    Businesses & Organizations

    Sources of books about the bombing

    ... The Bath School Disaster (1927; Monty Ellsworth)
    ... Mayday: The History of a Village Holocaust (1980; Grant Parker)

    • The Bath Township Offices
    • The Bath School Museum

      The cost is $10 for each copy + shipping to your locale

    ...other out-of-print books on the Bath School Disaster



    Local Churches




    Schools & Local Government

    Bath Community Schools
     website: www.bath.k12.mi.us

    Bath Charter Township
     website: www.bathtownship.us



    • The Michigan Electronic Library - Mel This site is a featured link of MeL — the Michigan eLibrary, an ongoing project of the Library of Michigan. & the Michigan Library Consortium. We are referenced in the
    "Librarian Recommended Websites > Best of the Web > History > General History Resources" section
    This website is a personal endeavor. The content herein is solely the responsibility of the site creator.

    Research assistance for this website provided by Gene Wilkins, Ronald Bauerle, James Hixson, David Votta, Arnie Bernstein, the United States Social Security Death Master Index, Monty Ellsworth's Bath School Disaster, Harold Burnett's History of Bath Charter Township, Grant Parker's Mayday and the staffs of: The Michigan State University Library, the Capital Area District Library, the Library of Michigan, the Dewitt Public Library, the Chesaning City Library, the Bath Township Clerk's office, the Meridian Township Clerk's office, the Perry Township Clerk's office, the Carson City Clerk's office, the Clinton County Clerk's office, the City of Lansing Mount Hope Cemetery, Emanuel Lutheran Church - Lansing, the Estes-Leadley Lansing Funeral Chapel, the Gorsline-Runciman Williamston Chapel, Mount Hope Monument Company, the Lansing State Journal & the Bath Schools Historical Museum.

    Most of all we would like to thank all of the families of Bath who over the years have shared their stories and photographs with the many individuals that have gone before us in documenting the events surrounding the bombings in Bath, Michigan on the 18th of May, 1927.

    All color photography found within this website ©Copyright 2001-2010 J.L. Daggy, All rights are reserved.
    Digitized document conversion/formatting also ©Copyright 2001-2010 J.L. Daggy, All rights are reserved.
    Book cover art & designs are ©Copyright 1978, 1980, 2002, 2007, 2008 & 2009 by their respective publishers.
    Questions or Comments may be directed to
    comments@bathschooldisaster.info