Hello fellow MI Houghton & MI Keweenaw listers: My second cousin twice removed, Phyllis Jolly Scidmore, sent me the essay below written by my first cousin twice removed, Jim Jolly. My ancestors (who were Cornish) have roots in both areas. It should be of great relevance and interest to both lists. If you're on both lists, my apologies for you receiving it twice! Note: Where Jim mentions ancestors solely by a kinship term (i.e., grandmother), I have added the name in brackets [ ]. Let me know what you think. Enjoy! --Christopher Sundita Washington State COPPER COUNTRY MEMORIES AND THE GIPPER BY JAMES A. JOLLY, 1985 Michigan is composed of two peninsulas separated by the Straits of Mackinac. The lower peninsula is shaped like a mitten and is located between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. While petitioning for statehood, the territorial government requested that the national government award Michigan the Toledo area which was even then a part of Ohio. Congress rejected Michigan's claim but compensated her by granting to Michigan, not Wisconsin, the wilderness between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The northernmost part of this Upper Peninsula is the Keweenaw Peninsula, known as the "Copper Country". The shape of Lake Superior has been compared to a wolf's head, with Isle Royale the eye and Keeweenaw Peninsula its mouth. Since 1840, over 13 billion pounds of copper have been mined in the Keweenaw area. There are over 2,200 miles of underground tunneling and about 510 mine shafts, the deepest being over 9,000 feet. During the great era of the copper bonanza, from the mid-nineteenth century into the 1920's, the Keweenaw region bustled with a diverse population. Many of the inhabitants, or their ancestors, came from County Cornwall, England. Unlike Cornwall, warmed by the Gulf Stream, the Upper Peninsula has heavy snowfalls. The Cornish miners were known as "Cousin Jacks" and the women as "Cousin Jennies." Because of my Cousin Jack heritage, I grew up enjoying saffron bread and saffron cake and pasties. The pasty (rhymes with nasty) is a tasty meat pie, consisting of beef cubes, chipped potatoes, and some onions and rutabagas, enclosed in a flaky crust. The copper miners ate hearty pasty meals at home and at work. Back in the "Old Country", the Cornishmen said "The Devil is afraid to come into Cornwall for fear of being baked in a pasty." My grandmother [ Caroline � Carrie � COCKING ] grew up in Central, an important site of Keweenaw mining operations until the mine's closing in 1898. Central is a virtual ghost town. But descendants of the Cornish miners, and others, annually gather, usually the last Sunday morning in July, to worship at the Central Mine Methodist Church. The small wooden church, built in 1868, can seat about 200 people; and therefore two services are necessary. In 1985 we attended the seventy-ninth Homecoming. The church is maintained for this purpose; and, like Brigadoon, Central returns to its relative slumber after its one day of life. A must at a Cornish religious service is the lusty singing of "All Hail the Power of Jesus" ("Diadem".) As the miners rode to and from their labor a mile deep in the earth they sang hymns. My father [ Leroy Thomas JOLLY ] (1898-1980) as a boy listened to the men singing while ascending the shaft. They could be heard faintly and increasingly louder as they neared the surface. "What did you hear, Dad?" I asked. He replied, "Diadem". My grandmother [ Carrie ] was determined that none of her boys were to be miners. My grandfather [ William JOLLY ] was a "blaster", which was a particularly dangerous job; and grandmother's father [ Thomas COCKING ] had been killed in Central Mine when she was but an infant, and her grandfather, Philip Roberts, had also perished there. The latter died in a disaster noted by Cornishnmen on both sides of the Atlantic. The accident inspired amateur poets. On the night of April 29, 1872, nine miners, including Philip Roberts (my great-great grandfather) were descending the shaft in a "skip car" when the rope cable snapped. A poem printed in Cornwall begins "Sad news from across the ocean we hear, Sad news from Central Mine..." It mentions "Philip Roberts who's left a family dear...." And concludes with "For when the last trump sounds thru the skies, Each one shall appear again, And may they and us with joy arise, The savior to meet. Amen." The victims of the disaster are buried near each other in the now neglected cemetery at Eagle Harbor. I knew Philip Roberts' son, George. "Uncle George (1871-1964) was a highly and warmly esteemed person with an exuberant laugh. Beginning in 1913, he served on the Hancock School Board for forty one years. He was on the Executive Committee for the Central Mine Homecoming for forty-one years, the last of the committee members to have worked at Central Mine. My father, complying with his mother's desire, worked with machinery above ground and did not go down below--with one exception. When he was fifteen years old, he and a buddy jumped into a man car taking National Guardsmen down a mine shaft during the strike of 1914-14. After his retirement as an accountant in Detroit, during his final years, he reflected on his Keweenaw youth and often mentioned the great strike which lasted nine months, and the Italian Hall disaster. The Western Federation of Miners demanded the eight-hour work day, a minimum daily wage of three dollars, and the assurance that the two-man drill should no longer be replaced by the new one-man drill. the one-man drill reduced the number of workers needed. The W. F. M. could produce a limited strike fund. A minority of miners was enthusiastic about the strike. The mines closed, there were clashed between strikers and mine guards, and 2,700 National Guardsmen tried to maintain peace. A Citizens' Alliance was formed to promote law and order. The union suspected that the Alliance was favorable to management. On Christmas Eve 1913, the Women's Auxiliary of the Western Federation sponsored a party for the children of the W.F.M. members Italian Hall, on Seventh Street in Calumet, was the place for the anticipated merriment. The second-story hall was filled to capacity. Just as the program was about to begin, at 4:30 p.m., a man yelled "Fire!" There was panic and a stampede toward the stairway. Of the persons who piled up on the stairs, seventy-three died in a few minutes, one the next day, all from suffocation or internal injuries. There had been no fire. Bitterness and hostility, along with impoverishment, were intensified. Dad was among the over 25,000 mourners watching as the small white coffins were escorted over the snow to mass graves. Sympathetic citizens collected $25,000 for financial assistance to the victims' families, but the W.F.M. leaders ordered the distressed families not to accept the aid. After the union's spokesman accused the Alliance of guilt in the tragedy, he was beaten by a mob, shot in the back, and placed on a train to Chicago. He survived. Eventually, the miners received a reduction of work hours and an increase in wages, but the union was not recognized and the one-man drill swas not discarded. Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) was to write the protest ballad, "Copper County 1913 Massacre". The song has ten stanzas; and, despite some inaccuracies, is a forceful work. Italian Hall was torn down in October, 1984, because of safety hazard conditions. A park and arch have been proposed for the site. The man who shouted "Fire!" from the bottom of the stairs was never identified. My father grew up in Osceola, and the legendary George Gipper (1895-1920) lived in nearby Laurium. Gipp earlier attended the area high school at Calumet from which dad graduated in 1917. The old high school is still used as such, and there is a monument to "the Gipper" in Laurium. Apparently, Gipp was accepted at Notre Dame without benefit of a high school diploma. In high school Gipp excelled in basketball and especially baseball; but at Notre Dame Coach Knute Rockne induced Gip to try football. Gipp, the star halfback, somewhat overshadowed the opening of Rockne's career as head coach at Notre Dame. Gipp made gridiron history with his mercurial running, accurate spot passing, and drop kicking. Rockne was to say, "Gipp was the greatest natural athlete I have ever seen . Football will never again see his equal--as a player or as a person. It seemed to me that anything Gipp made up his mind to do he cold do, and do better than anyone else. If you could get Gipp's interest aroused, there was no telling what heights he would reach. But getting his interest aroused was the trick. You couldn't get him to exert himself anymore than he had to." George Gipp was 6'1" and 185 lbs. He was pleasant and modest, something of a loner, and seldom showed emotion. Because he was older and famous, most Notre Dame players regarded him with awe. To help pay for his education, Gipp waited on tables and made extra money with the cue stick and at the poker table. Though not an exceptional student, he envisioned being a lawyer. He enjoyed the game of football but detested practice. After practice for the 1920 game with Northwestern, Gipp had a sore throat and a fever. On the day of the game, Rockne reluctantly allowed Gipp to suit up but intended not to use him. However, when fans clamored for Gipp, Rockne relented and sent him in for some token plays during the final period of that winning game. Whether this worsened the streptococcus infection has been debated. Within three weeks, while students prayed for him at South Bend, George Gipp died of pneumonia at 10 a.m., December 14, 1920. Gipp was brought home and lay in state at the Calumet Armory where the funeral service was held. Bells tolled and businesses closed. He was interred in Lake View Cemetery, Section 29 Lot 70, which happens to be a few feet from great grandmother's [ Maria ROBERTS] grave. The Gipp family stone is 3'4" high; behind it are four small individual stones. George Gipp's gravestone is only 17" high and 16-3/8" wide. Perhaps Gipp's greatest moment came posthumously,. In 1928, the Irish seemed sure of defeat in the game with Army. Before the players left for the field, not at half time as commonly believed, Rockne went into the locker room and dramatically said, "Boys, I never thought I'd have to tell this story, but the time has come." Rockne spoke so vividly the players imagined Gipp was there before them on the rubbing table. Rockne claimed that the Gipper dying words were "I�ve got to go, Rock. It's alright. I'm not afraid. Sometime, Rock, when the team's up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go in there with all they've got and win one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock, but I'll know about it and I'll be happy. The players were sobbing. Rockne concluded, "All right boys, let's go get them! This is that game!" The revitalized team, plus the spirit of Gipp, beat Army 12 to 6. Twenty years after Gipp's death, Ronald Reagan was given the role of "the Gipper" in the 1940 movie "Knute Rockne - All American". Reagan had been doing B ;pictures. By his own admission, it was his portrayal of Gipp that gained him notice and respect; he said that after that "people were calling me mister". During his political campaigns, Reagan banners and supporters have urged victory for the "Gipper", and he has had numerous political touchdowns.. On May 17, 1981, President Reagan and Pat O'Brien (the movie's Rockne) received honorary doctorates at Notre Dame. The university's president, Theodore Hesburgh, observed that at long last the Gipper had returned to get his degree. The July trip to the Copper Country was very meaningful for me, and I appreciated again sharing in my father's memories and our family heritage. We enjoyed the miles of beautiful shoreline; and brought back momentos (such as thimbleberry jam) and a desire to again visit the Keweenaw Peninsula. My interest in Gipp is heightened because of my dad's interest and because President Reagan portrayed the Gipper and is nicknamed after him. When I returned to the Lower Peninsula, Mother [ Mary BOWMAN ] located in the attic folders filled with old newspaper clippings. She said, "Your father probably knew you'd be interested in this." One of the folders was labeled "Central Mine and Church, and another, "George Gipp and Knute Rockne". __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com