The Bath School Disaster, Bath, Clinton County, Michigan Copyright © 1997 by Robert Lyons Jr. This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ The Bath School Disaster It's a little known fact that on May 18, 1927 at 9:45 am, in the farming community of Bath Michigan, a man named Andrew Kehoe caused what would be America's largest single-event mass murder in history. Bath would hold this title until the time of the Oklahoma City bombing. After blowing up the school, killing his wife, ruining everything he could on his farm and burning it, he took his ford pickup, loaded with dynamite and shrapnel, to the area where the rescue effort was going on, Kehoe called Nelson McFarren, Glenn O. Smith, Postmaster, and E.E. Huyck the school Superintendant over to his pickup and blew it up. Andrew Kehoe was born February 1 1872 on a farm 4 miles south-east of Tecumseh Michigan. He was one of 13 children. His mother died when he was young. When Andrew was 14 years old, his stepmother was lighting the kitchen stove when it sprayed oil on her which ignited. Andrew watched her burn for sometime before throwing water on her, which caused the flames to spread. She later died from her injuries. After graduating high school in Tecumseh, Andrew took an electrical engineering course at Michigan State College (later to become Michigan State University), where he met Nellie Price, whom later would become his wife. He bought a farm in Bath, on Clark rd. west of town, and moved there in the spring of 1919. He and his wife belonged to the social club, and Mr. Kehoe variously served as school board trustee, treasurer, and filled in the remainder of a term as township clerk, although he lost the election to keep the position at the next election. Although Mr. Kehoe was active in the community, it seems that it was more in an effort to lower his taxes, than any concern for the good of the community, or good of the school children. He had done some maintenance work at the school from time to time, and it is speculated that in this way he had the means to get the dynamite into the basement undetected. The following is a chapter from the book BATH SCHOOL DISASTER written by M.J. Ellsworth, a neighbor of Andrew Kehoe's. MADE OWN TROUBLES Kehoe had trouble on the school board and he very seldom voted the same as the other members. In the spring of 1926 he ran for township clerk and was defeated. He tried to get them to cut the valuation down on his farm. He also tried to get the people who held the mortgage on his farm to take it off, telling them he had paid to much for it, but of course, he couldn't get this done. He was going to have his own way at any cost. He planned on destroying everything. He cut the wire fences on his farm and put dynamite in his tractor so that it blew all to pieces when the tool shed was burning. All the stock he had at the time was two horses. They were tied in the barn and their feet were wired together so that rescuing them during the fire would be impossible. About a month before he did this, he gave the best one of these horses to a neighbor, A. McMullen, and delivered it himself. Mr. McMullen kept the horse for a few days, then he got to thinking that it might be Kehoe was going to commit suicide because he hadn't done any work on the farm for nearly a year, so he brought the horse back to Kehoe. Mr. Kehoe carried all the rails and lumber that there were around the buildings into the tool shed. I suppose that was to make sure that everything would be destroyed. He girdled all the small shade trees and sawed the grape vineds off next to the ground and set them back on the stumps so that they would not be noticed. I think that he was very dissapointed when he got down to the schoolhouse and saw that all the dynamite had not exploded. I think if all the dynamite had exploded, it would have killed all the children, teachers, and the superintendent. So much of it being in loose form, it is probable that the ruins would have caught fire. Then, he probably would have driven his machine which was loaded with burrs, bolts, scrap iron, drag teeth, and rifle shells up into the crowd and blown it up, killing and injuring many people. I think he commenced planning this revengeful murder right after he was defeated in the spring election of 1926. Dead Bauerle, Arnold Victor Bergan, Henry Bergan, Herman Burnett, Floyd Edwin Brommund, Robert Bromund, Amelia Chapman, Russell Claton, Cleo Cockran, Robert Cushman, Ralph Albert Ewing, Earl Edwin Foote, Katherine Onalee Fritz, Margory Geisenhaver, Carlyle Walter Gibbs, Beatrice Harte, Blanche Elizabeth, teacher Harte, Stanley Horace Harte, LaVerne Robert Harte, Gailand Lyle Hall, Willa Marie Hall, George Hart Iola Irene Hart, Vivian, Oletta Hart, Percy Eugene Hoppener, Francis Otto Hunter, Cecial Lorn Huyck, Emory E. superintendant Johns, Doris Elaine Kehoe, Nellie Kehoe, Andrew P. McFarren, Nelson McFarren, Clarence Wendell McDonald, Thelma Irene Medcoff, J. Emerson Nickols, Emma Amelia Richardson, Richard Dibble Robb, Elsie Mildred Shirts, Pauline Mae Smith, Glenn O. Weatherby, Miss Hazel Iva, teacher Witchell, Elizabeth Jane Witchell, Lucile June Woodman, Harold LeMoyne Zimmerman, George Orval Zimmerman, Lloyd Injured Babcock, Lloyd Babcock, Vera Babcock, Norris Barnes, Ruth M. Braska, Anna Chapman, Earl Delau, Aurthur Delau, Ida Detluff, Marcia Dolton, Adabelle Echstruth, Iva Echstruth, Raymond Echstruth, Marian England, Josephine Foster, James Frederick, Aletha Fulton, Dorothy Fritz, Mr. F.M. Geisenhaver, Kenneth Gutekunst, Miss Leona, teacher Gubbins, Miss Eva, teacher Hart, Elva Hart, Perry Hobert, Helen E. Hobert, Ralph R. Hollister, Carlton E. Huffman, June Rose Huffman, Donald J. Hunter, Florence Edith Komm, Helen Komm, Florence King, Lester Matson, Miss Nina, teacher McCoy, Pauline Mae McCoy, Willis McKenzie, Harold Mast, Lee Henry Medcoff, Thelma Nickols, Ruth Nickols, Ottelia Perrone, Mrs. J Proctor, Earl Fred Proctor, Ralph Edmund Reasoner, Lee Reed, Lillian M. Riker, Oral Richardson, Virginia Blanche Richardson, Martha Harriete Rounds, Jack Sage, Norman Seeley, Ivan Freemont Stolls, Lester Stebleton, Gail Edmund Stivaviske, Steve Sweet, Ava Thelma Wilson, Ardis Witchell, Kenneth Zavistoski, Cecelia The book never said how much dynamite was used in total, but it did say that 504 pounds of unexploded dynamite was recovered from the basement of the school during the rescue effort. If any of the above names are of interest to you, it might be a good idea to buy the book. Almost the whole second half of the book is dedicated to short biographies of the people that were injured and killed in the disaster. Bath now is a quiet bedroom community. The fact that such an attrocity happened in this little town is not in the least apparent, except for the little memorial in the park in town. I wouldn't be suprised if a large part of the population isn't even aware that it ever happened. After the Oklahoma City bombing occured, the major networks did segments on Bath, and the after effects, in fact even though I knew of the Bath School Disaster, I didn't know that it had been the largest single event mass murder until I saw it on the national news. dz