Welcome to part 4 of the history of 753 Atwood!
This final post of this house series will explore the lives of the fourth and fifth families - Frank & Elizabeth Harvey and Richard & Katherine Lugtigheid.
Recap:
1st family: Henry & Bessie Melis
(1919-1921)
2nd family: Ernest & Jennie Armstrong
(1922-1923;1933-1935)
3rd family: Edward & Cornelia Harvey
(1924-1932)
*As mentioned in previous posts, I am a white woman writing this blog. The following post mentions a very brief history of Blackface and Jim Crow. My intention is to bring to light the origins of these racists gestures as it correlates to the topic that is discussed. I spend time on antiracism education, but due to the nature of white supremacy it is apparent my intent may have a different impact to a Black reader. I welcome all and any feedback as I work on bringing attention to these untold stories of the city.
*Residents of 753 Atwood and the address are in red font throughout the post
1936-1939: HART - Frank (Francis, Ty) & Elizabeth (Hespel) and their son Jack
Frank de Sales Hart aka Francis D Hart aka Ty Hart was born on January 30, 1892 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Thomas and Ellen (Burke). Frank's siblings consisted of six sisters and one brother - he was the second youngest.
Frank's father, Thomas, was born in 1846 in Glasgow, Scotland and immigrated to the United States in 1847 with his parents. His obituary from 1924 below briefly describes his life quite well - and there was even his picture in the paper!
Frank's mother, Ellen Burke, was born in 1850 in Northampton, Massachusetts to Irish immigrants - Michael and Ellen Hopkins. She moved to Grand Rapids when she was only 14 years old - and when she was 19 years old she was working as a domestic servant at the home of wealthy businessman, Edwin Sheldon Pierce - at his mansion downtown Grand Rapids.
Ellen's obituary from 1927, below, best describes her life as well:
Below: 1910 US Census of Frank Hart and his family. When Frank was 18 years old - he lived with his parents and siblings at 336 Jefferson Ave SE. (House was razed to build the St. Mary's Hospital complex). His father was a newspaper agent, and all of his older siblings, even the sisters, were also working either as bookkeepers or stenographers.
By at least 1913, the Hart family had moved into 703 Cherry St SE and that home remained in their family for many more years.
In 1918, Frank was of one of the 2.8 million Americans that fought overseas in WWI. He served in the 57th Service Company - Signal Corps that was in Marseilles, France.
In 1921, while Frank was home for a furlough period, he married Elizabeth Hespel in Grand Rapids at the Justice of the Peace.
Elizabeth "Betty" Hespel was born in 1899 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to John and Allie (Visser). Elizabeth had one sister, who was five years younger.
Elizabeth's mother and father, John and Allie, were both also born in Grand Rapids. Elizabeth's paternal grandfather, Ira, immigrated from Belgium to Grand Rapids and worked as a cigar maker for J. Kuppenheimer; Elizabeth's maternal grandfather, Romke Visser, who immigrated from the Netherlands, owned his own saloon on Wealthy St, also in Grand Rapids.
While Elizabeth was a child in 1907, she actually saved her family's life - the Grand Rapids Press wrote a detailed story about the event:
In May of 1919, Elizabeth, at 20 years old, married a 22 year old real estate appraiser from New York, Clarence Woldford. After just two months of marriage, the couple filed for divorce and the court finalized the decree in 1920.
It was the next year, March of 1921, when Elizabeth and Frank would be married - as mentioned above. That same year in September, their only child was born, Jack Thomas Hart.
The first few years, the Hart family moved around quite a bit and Frank had a variety of jobs.
As you might have noticed from above, Frank (Ty, as he was also called) was a cartoonist. However, it wasn't like a cartoonist you might think of today. It could have been his main source of income for some years, but it was always at least a side gig of his. Frank performed around the amateur vaudeville circuit in Grand Rapids. He performed chalk-talks and cartoon sketches.
Just before the start of vaudeville, minstrel shows were a source of entertainment for white audiences. Their origins and history of their existence are intermingled.
Minstrel is the origin source of a song-and-dance character named, "Jim Crow". The character was created by Thomas D. Rice - a white performer. Thomas D Rice is also known as one of the first men to wear Blackface. When Thomas D Rice would perform his character, "Jim Crow", he wore burnt cork on his face and bright red lipstick to make himself appear Black. "Jim Crow" was a slave who told stories and jokes about how great life was living on a plantation through songs, Thomas D Rice wrote. Because these shows were created, performed, and viewed by whites, the act became nationally famous. Other minstrel performers followed in Thomas D Rice's footsteps in wearing Blackface and performed other racist acts.
The word vaudeville means variety, so when the popularity of minstrel shows started to fade, many minstrel performers switched to the vaudeville circuit where they could comedy, sing, dance, and story-tell. The types of performers and acts were very similar so the transition between the two came with ease.
Unlike minstrel, whose audience were white women and men, vaudeville targeted white men as their prime audience. Because of this, the vaudeville circuit was backed by many wealthy white men who built extravagant theaters nation-wide - including Grand Rapids. Blackface and other racist acts were quite prominent within the vaudeville circuit. For more than 50 years, vaudeville was the most popular form of entertainment nation-wide before "talking movies" became mainstreamed. Blackface and "Jim Crow" knockoffs were still popular acts in "talking movies" and through decades to come.
There is so much more information on minstrel, vaudeville, Blackface, and "Jim Crow". I tried my best to only briefly describe the origins. Below is a list of my sources which are articles I highly recommend reading.
In Grand Rapids, minstrel shows were just as popular and used as not only entertainment at theaters, but many businesses and organizations used them as a fundraising outlet. When I searched the website for the Grand Rapids Historical Society and other common GR historical websites, there was absolutely no mention of minstrel shows. However, when I search minstrel shows in the Grand Rapids Press archives, there are more than 3,500 different articles that mention "minstrel show". The Grand Rapids Library Archives only had 4 photos of vaudeville and minstrel shows (two were of the same photo), and the Grand Rapids Public Museum had only three photographs online. There seems to be a major disconnect between what the historical societies and institutions are choosing to post online to their archives to what the actual history of the city entails.
Below are just a few articles and photos from the Grand Rapids Press archives and the GRPL archives. (The pictures are hyperlinked to GRPL collection)
Below: "How to Chalk Talk"
Below: Collection of GR Press articles when Frank "Ty" Hart was performing his sketches
In 1930, Frank, Elizabeth, and their son Jack, were living with Elizabeth's mother, Allie, at their family home at 539 Hopson St NE. At this time, Frank's occupation was a salesman for commercial office equipment.
*Side story and I apologize if this is confusing - John Hespel, Elizabeth's father, passed away in 1929. Elizabeth's mother, Allie, remarried in 1933 to Harry Vander Veen. If you read Part II about 753 Atwood, the last name of Vander Veen may sound familiar...well Harry Vander Veen is the uncle of Cornelia Harvey (Vander Veen) who lived at 753 Atwood just before the Hart family moved in. Was it just a coincidence or did the Hart family know about 753 Atwood because of Cornelia Harvey?
When Ellie and Harry Vander Veen moved to Palm Beach, Florida in 1935 - the Hespel's family home at 539 Hopson was sold and Frank, Elizabeth, and Jack in 1936 moved into 753 Atwood St.
Frank Hart graduated from Catholic Central High School in 1913 and was very active with the Catholic Central alumni organization. In 1937, Frank was chairman of the alumni group - which was an honor back then.
The Hart family only lived at 753 Atwood for 4 years, but it was during the peak of the Great Depression. During their time at 753 Atwood, Frank continued to work as a salesman for office equipment, and performed his chalk-talk comedy sketches at company sponsored events. He also held executive positions at the WPA office in Grand Rapids.
Other than Frank's son, Jack, being involved in a car accident in 1939, there isn't much more information I could find about their life while they lived at 753 Atwood St.
The next year, 1940, the Hart family moved into 350 Union Ave SE - renting the house for $35/month.
However, just two years after moving out of 753 Atwood, at 49 years old, Frank Hart unexpectedly had a heart attack and passed away while he was on a business trip in Lansing, MI.
Five years later, in August 1946, Frank and Elizabeth's son, Jack, was married to Betsey Blandford. Betsey Blandford was born in 1921 in Grand Rapids to Isaac (I.R.) and Bessie (Nelson).
In 1964, Betsey's paternal uncle (Isaac's Blandford brother), Victor Blandford, donated 17 acres of his land he previously purchased from the Collins' farm to the city of Grand Rapids so a nature center could be built - today it is known as The Blandford Nature Center.
I am unable to find any date of when Elizabeth Hart passed away.
Frank and Elizabeth's son, Jack Hart, passed away in 1993; Jack's wife, Betsey followed in 2000.
While the Hart family only lived at 753 Atwood for four years, financially, it was probably the hardest four years of their life because of the Great Depression. It was a short chapter of a long history of that home. To learn more about the Hart family through documents and newspapers I found, click here.
1st family: Henry & Bessie Melis
(1919-1921)
2nd family: Ernest & Jennie Armstrong
(1922-1923;1933-1935)
3rd family: Edward & Cornelia Harvey
(1924-1932)
4th family: Frank & Elizabeth Hart
(1933-1939)
1940-1987: LUGTIGHEID - Richard & Catherine (Venlet)
Richard Philip Lugtigheid was born on June 12, 1905 in Geesteren, Borculo, Netherlands. His parents were Hillgje Johanna Lugtigheid and Alida Adriana Velthuis Kroeze and Richard was the third youngest out of five other siblings.
Richard's story is different than the other families I've researched for this blog. Richard actually immigrated in 1930 when he was 24 years old - all by himself. His parents and all of his siblings remained in the Netherlands their entire life.
I was lucky enough to find two important immigration documents for Richard - the List/Manifest of Alien Passengers of the ship he took to come to the US and his Petition for Naturalization.
S.S. Statendam; Passengers sailing from Rotterdam, Netherlands; May 9, 1930
Arriving at Port of New York - May 18, 1930
Line #10 on the document
Lugtigheid, Dirk
24 years old
Male, Single
Occupation - Clerk
Read/Write - Yes
Speaks- Dutch
Born - Borculo, Holland
Visa Issued- Rotterdam on Feb 1, 1930
Last Permanent Residence- Delft, Holland
Name of Address of Nearest Relative in home country-
Uithuizermeede, Netherlands, Father, Johannes Lugtigheid
Final Destination-Grand Rapids, MI
Have Ticket to Final Destination? Yes
By Whom Passage was Paid By- Self
Whether in Possession of $50, and if less, how much? More
Whether even been in the USA before? No
Whether going to join a relative or friend, if so, who, and address?
Uncle -Philippus Lugtigheid, 856 Dayton St Grand Rapids, MI
Physical Looks- fair skin, blonde hair, blue eyes
Line #10:
As mentioned on the Manifest, Richard came to Grand Rapids to live with his uncle, Philip Lugtigheid. Philip Lugtigheid was born in 1885 in Delft, Netherlands and immigrated to Grand Rapids in October of 1907 with his other brother, Peter. Click here to view his naturalization papers.
Philip (Richard's paternal uncle) paid for his own ticket on the S S Nieuw Amsterdam and came to Grand Rapids to live with a friend - Goodrich Schepprink. Click here to view the first and second pages of Philip's ship's manifest.
When Richard came to live with Philip, Philip was living at 81 Dayton St SW with his wife, Johanna and four children. Philip with his brother worked as laborers on a celery farm - Ripkamps Brothers in Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo and Muskegon were actually the main source of Michigan celery in the 19th and early 20th century - most of them Dutch owned farms.
In February 1937, seven years after Richard immigrated, he married Catherine Venlet in Grand Rapids.
Catherine Venlet was born October 27, 1915 in Grand Rapids to William and Clara Schuttinga. A little over a year before Catherine was born, in 1914, William and Clara experienced the worst tragedy any parent could endure. They had a daughter, also named Katherine, who at 3 months old passed away, I believe the handwriting on the death certificate says, - ileocolitis. (Crohn's disease).
William Venlet, Catherine's father, was born in 1896 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
He immigrated at 12 years old with his mother and five younger siblings in 1908. William's father (Catherine's grandfather) already immigrated a few years before and the family was coming to meet up with him.
Clara, Catherine's mother, was born in Grand Rapids in 1893 to Dutch immigrants. Her father worked as a painter and later on as a clerk for a dry goods store. Their family house was at 1130 Logan St on the southeast side of the city.
Many details are not easily found online about the Venlet family, but for a short period of time in the late 1910's and early 1920's, William, Clara, and Catherine, lived in Araphoe County, Colorado. Tragically, Clara, Catherine's mother, passed away while in Colorado in 1920. The following year, Catherine's father remarried to New Jersey native Maude Van Wyck in Colorado. The family eventually moved back to Grand Rapids shortly after that marriage.
When Catherine was 21 years old, as mentioned above, she married Richard Lugtigheid, who was 31 years old. Richard was still living with his uncle on Dayton St working as a shipping clerk and Catherine was living with her father and step-mother at 1709 Newark Ave SE.
Catherine's stepmother, Maude, passed away in 1937, and her father remarried for the third time by 1939. Her father moved into his new wife's house while Catherine and Richard rented the house on Newark Ave.
In the spring of 1940, Richard and Catherine bought 753 Atwood St NE where they would remain for the next 47 years!
The same year, Richard was working as a shipping clerk for a meat packing company and Catherine was working too - as a cutter at a knitting mill. Their first child was born in January of 1941, Richard Jr.
Richard worked for many years for the GR Packing Co with positions such as driver and a clerk.
In 1942, Richard is listed as owning his own roofing company according to GR City Directory. Maybe it was a side job he did for extra money? I couldn't find other details about it other than the city directory listing.
Richard and Catherine raised all of their four children (I could be wrong about that number) at 753 Atwood and created a lifetime of memories in that home.
Catherine passed away in 1988. Richard Lugtigheid followed in 1994; After Catherine passed away, her children sold the family home and allowed other families to create memories within those same walls.
Below: Newspaper clippings of the Lugtigheid family. To view more, click here.
Thank you for reading the history of 753 Atwood St NE in Grand Rapids, MI. The history of this house started with a family who worked a dangerous job as a railway mail clerk. Then the house went to a man who operated the Union Station downtown, to a realtor and small business owner, then to a salesman who performed for the amateur vaudeville Grand Rapids circuit, to finally an Dutch immigrant who came to the country as an adult hoping he could make a life for himself with only knowing his uncle in the city. If only these walls could talk and share all the memories that happened at 753 Atwood!
753 Atwood Newspaper Real Estate Ads from 1990, 2007, and 2008.
