Thank you Sue Ann

In the late 1870s, Pontiac moved out of the doldrums into which it had drifted. The opening of two institutions in and near the city ended its inertia.

After that summer encampment, the drillmaster, Captain Joseph Sumner Rogers ( 1844-1901) , tried to sell the idea of establishing a military school. Having no funds of his own, he finally managed to borrow a few thousand dollars from Governor John Judson Bagley and other prominent Detroiters. In 1877, Captain Joseph Sumna Rogers bought the Orchard Lake hotel and incorporated the Michigan Military Academy on September fourth. Rogers' school was closely modelled after West Point, especially in its gray and white uniforms. All cadets were trained in basic infantry and artillery tactics and its post-graduate course offered a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering. The President of the United States appointed a regular army officer as Professor of Military Science and Tactics, and the War Department furnished all military equipment except the uniforms.

Once the federal government recognized the school, the Michigan legislature quickly followed suit. Although it never appropriated any funds toward the Academy's operation, it granted Rogers a colonelcy in the state militia, ordered annual inspections of the school, and accepted its graduates as militia lieutenants.

Eventually the school attained national distinction. In 1887, Rogers' cadets took first prize in the National Drill Competition at Washington, D.C. Two years later the Academy won recognition at New York's Washington Centennial:

In all the parade there were four bodies that Struggled for applause as the most automatic, rigid, and perfect marching bodies. These were the West Point Cadets, the Seven Regiment of the City, the boys of the Michigan Military Academy, near Detroit, and the Twenty-third Regiment of Brooklyn. ¹

The following official commendation shows that the Army was as impressed with the school as were the civilians:

The Academy still maintains its place as the leading military institution of the country, outside of West Point, and in all its details it is the most complete and thorough school of the kind I have ever inspected. The state may well be proud of Orchard Lake Military Academy, and the young men it graduates....²

The Universities of Michigan and Cornell waived entrance exams for Academy alumni, and the University of Chicago offered them special scholarships.

Since 438 had graduated by 1904, and perhaps 75-100 more in the remaining three years, only one out of four of an estimated 2,500 entrants received diplomas or degrees.³ The number of students expelled cannot be determined, but many youths probably found the isolation and rigorous training too spartan and left. Two dropouts later became famous: John Christian Lodge (1862-1950), who attended the MMA for only half a year in 1880, became a formidable and popular member of Detroit's Common Council and that city's mayor from 1928 to 1929; ⁴ and Edgar Rice Burroughs ( 1875-1950), author of the farmous Tarzen novels, was slated to graduate in '95 and attended that year but his name does not appear in the alumni listings of the Academy's subsequent catalogs.

For those who did persevere, the Academy apparently prepared them well. Most went into business, a few into the Army. Probably the most famous graduate was Sewell Lee Avery' (1874-1960), Class of '92, who became board chairman and president of Montgomery Ward's 1931-1956, and attracted nation-wide publicity for his defiance of the War Labor Board during the Second World War.

Already beset with financial problems, the Academy faced a different crisis on 10 December 1900, when a student riot broke out which developed into a full scale revolt the following day, ostensibly because of food shortages and mistreatment. Delegates presented ultimatums to the ailing Rogers at his bedside, demanding his and his quartermasters resignations. When Rogers presented the boys' grievances to the faculty, they sided with the students, making the Colonel suspect that the teachers might have fomented the rebellion. He dismissed two ringleaders, and the rest of the faculty resigned. The board of trustees sided with the founder, believing faculty complicity because of their earlier unsuccessful demand for pay raises.

The Academy was saved, but not its founder. For over a year he had been seriously ill, and the rebellion worsened his condition. He died on 14 September 1901.

General Harris Ansel Wheeler ( 1850-1931) , then with the Illinois National Guard, came over to salvage the Academy. He was Rogers' brother-in-law, hailed from the same hometown in Maine, and had served as the School's first quartermaster. He had become a successful inventor and manufacturer of Wlleeler [Railroad] Coach Seats in Chicago and had attained his rank as a brigade commander in the Illinois National Guard and an aid-de-camp to the Governor. Wheeler spent much of his own money trying to bail the Academy out of its $100,000 indebtedness but had to resign in 1906 to forestall his own bankruptcy.

Ironically, Rogers' widow had rejected an offer of $250,000 for the property after the founders death; eight years later she was forced to sell out for one-third that amount. On 30 December 1908, the school closed down, and on 1 June 1909, the courts approved its sale to Detroit's Saints Cyrillius and Methodius Seminary.

When the Michigan Military Academy first opened, it had given languishing Pontiac a slight but much needed psychological boost. Since the school's supplies had to be purchased in town or shipped through it, the Academy probaly helped the city's commerce as well. But an institution which opened in 1878 a few blocks from downtown did much more to revive Pontiac. That institution being the County Asylum. Which today is known as the Clinton Valley Center. However CVC was closed a few years ago and this past year they tore down all the old building.

Foot notes

1 Harper's Weekly, 11 May 1889

2 Colonel E. M. Heyl, Inspector General, Division of Missouri, "Annual report to the Inspector General at Washingtion", 1892, as quoted from the Academy's Circular to Parents, (no date), p. 16

3 It was at the 1870 commencement that General William Tecumseh Sherman made his "War is hell" femark. Eyewitness, Dr. Charles O. Brown, said that, "the reason the press missed the famous statement, and later denied that it had been made, was that the reporters rushed away as soon as Sherman started reading his long, technical speech. But before he sat down, the General suddenly said, 'Cadets of the graduating class"-- The students arose and saluted--and then he changed it to 'Boys,' making this statement: 'I've been where you are now and I know just how you feel. It's entirely natural that there should beat in the breas of every one of you a hope and a desire that some day you can use the skill you have acquired here. Suppress it! You don't know the horrible aspect of war. I've been through two wars and I know. I've seen cities and homes in ashes. I've seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is hell!' The reporters had missed the biggest story of the day. Brown, seated alongside Sherman, wrote down the speech verbatim" The Enquirer and News (Battle Creek) 18 November 1933

4 The academys catalogs do not substantiate the claim which Lodge made of his having graduated in his autobiography, I Remember Detroit (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1949), 29.

All of the following photos were taken at the West Bloomfield Township hall, on Oct. 3, 2000. These pieces of Grandpas momentos are on permanent display there.



Dorlyn in front of display case, at the Township hall. You will notice the on the middle shelf, there is a book. In it are all of grandpa's notes for things he did and used to take care of the animals that he took care of while he was a veternary. It is all hand written by grandpa. Hopefully some day the Museum will make copies for us.




The following discription was taken from the following web site and decribes the 3rd medal from the left: www.spanam.simplenet.com

This medal was issued to members of the "United Spanish War Veterans." Anyone who served in the armed forces during the Spanish American War or during the Philippine American War was eligible for membership (this organization and the U.S. government both treated both of these separate wars as the same conflict). Of course, over 325,000 served in the Spanish American War, with the U.S. forces in the Philippine-American War peaked at over 70,000 men. As a result, the medal is not tremendously rare. To our knowledge, the serial numbers are not traceable on these medals. The medal is approximately 4" long and 1 1/2" wide. At the top, it is the American eagle within a laurel wreath and the shield of victory. The ribbon has 13 stripes and 13 stars. At the bottom of the ribbon is a cavalry saber, an infantry rifle, and a naval anchor all crossed, representing the various branches of the military. Dangling at the bottom of the medal is the Spanish American War cross, with the four arms reading "Porto Rico," "Cuba," "Philippines," with "USA" at the bottom. "Porto Rico" was the current spelling of Puerto Rico at the turn of the century. The dates on the cross read 1898-1902 with the words "Spanish War Veteran." The Spanish American War began and ended in 1898. The Philippine American War began in 1899 and continued into 1902, though some actions still occurred as late as 1906. The reverse side of the cross has the word "United" with "North", "South" "East" and "West" in the arms of the cross.

I e-mailed the above web site asking for information about the medals in the picture and was told that:

"The medal on the viewers left is for the Aux. to the United Spanish War Veterans...probably belonged to his wife. The next piece with the eagle and enamelled strap is a WWII period Navy sweetheart pin, very doubtful it was his. The Artillery cap badges from the 25th & 29th Regiments are from the immediate post Span Am period and he easily could have transfered to the Artillery. Can't make out the small winged item in the upper corner."
Patrick McSherry, Editor, Spanish American War Centennial Website

This is grandpa standing outside the barracks at Fort Riley KA.



Grandpa's hat showing that he was in Troop B of the 4th regiment.



Grandpa's gloves and brown leather pouch used to store his gloves. The inside of the pouch is lined with baby blue and trimmed in white satin. And his initials are embroidered at the top.



This picture didn't come out to good. It was the end of a roll of film and I should have taken the picture over again. Anyway, this is grandpa's strongbox used to store his personal items in. Such as his jack knife, razor, and spare bullets. His wallet has his name on it, and if I remember right a picture of the Michigan Military Academy.



Notice that on this amo belt there are 2 more medals. They are for different troops and regiments then the one grandpa was in. The gold braids are what he would have worn at his shoulders. (this is also a photo of two pictures that I put together with my scanner)



F.C. WILKINS Veternary Surgeon, Michigan Military Academy, Orchard Lake, .



PONTIAC BEGINS RECRUITING TROOP OF CAVALRY FOR U.S. "Pontiac, Mich., March 29-- In addition to the company to form part of the Roosevelt division in case of war, Pontiac is organizing a cavalry troop. There are 25 men now on the rolls and they are holding weekly dismount drills. Sergeant John Harris, recently mustered out of the federal cavalry, is drilling the men, with the assistance of Sergeants Wilkins and Allen of the Michigan National Guard." I'm not sure what paper this came from or the year of that paper. We know that grandpa was at Fort Riley, but he must have been in the National Guard when he worked at the Academy.



I'm not sure if grandpa is in this picture or not. Does anyone else have an idea which one he could be?



This picture was taken at the Michigan Military Acadmey.

The Wilkins Cemetery.

The Bachelor Cemetery.

The Rice & James Cemetery.