Romance of Michigan's Past

Allegan Forest, Michigan: The Priscilla Press, 1991. First Edition . Trade Paperback. Fine. 5 1/2" x 8 1/2. Morris, Judy Miller - Cover. 267 Pages Indexed. A six-line inscription on the front endpaper signed by the author. No other marks or stamps to this otherwise as new book. Illustrated with photographs throughout. Here is a cast of colorful characters who never made it into the traditional history books. They all have two things in common their destinies became intertwined with that of the Wolverine State - and their exploits make mighty interesting reading. Most marched to the sound of a different drummer - some were saints, others rogues - all were eccentrics. Some talked to ghosts, others walked around naked as the day they were born. Some lived in communes - in the 1840s - others rode the wilderness trails on horseback, preaching the gospel at the top of their lungs - while still others rode the rails to hobo jungles. Here are you some true stories about factory belles and ladies of the night, private eyes and literary con men, mediums and mesmerists, mystic medics and early crusaders against the tobacco abomination. You will experience adventures aplenty, including train wrecks, Arctic exploration, stagecoach rides, seances, nudist colony raids and an 1875 balloon ascension. Contents in 15 Chapters: Did Donaldson Jettison the Journalists? Bitters Balms and Bunkum Michigan's Humbugs of Health, Travelers in Time Early Tourists Describe Michigan, Michigan's Literary Rogues They Stole Swindled Gulled and Bamboozeled and Then Wrote Books About It, Communists on the Kalamazoo, Allan Pinkerton and the Mystery of the Tell Tale Boot Prints, Michigan Crusaders Battle the Tobacco Abomination, Edward Israel Michigan's Arctic Martyr, Mediums Mesmerists and Mystic Medics Spiritualism in Battle Creek, lf Only the Walls Could Talk The Story of White Pigeon's Land Office, Factory Belles of Kalamazoo, Bares in the Woods, The Great Tomato Scare Cancer Cure Charlatans in Michigan, Preachers on Horseback, and Call Girls Con Men and Crazy Ladies. Plus About the Author.