Early 1950s Car Accident

Grand River Avenue, also known at the time as US-16, was the main thoroughfare between Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Detroit. In the early 1950s -- 1952 to be exact -- I-96 was probably only becoming a glint in someone's imagination since it would be another ten years before that highway would be christened. A small bit of trivia, when I-96 did open, US-16 ceased to exist -- both with signs and on maps. US-16 then became known only as Grand River Avenue.

But, back to why the title is what it is. While looking at reels and reels of microfilm, I would freely click my camera at the screen and later load all of these pictures into my laptop. That is when I would take the time to read the articles more thoroughly to see if there was information to be incorporated into The Fowlerville Chronicles.

The following article was published in The Fowlerville Review -- I didn't use it in the book but it certainly needed to be told once again. Here goes . . .

Duck in the Car; Accident on the Road~~Five persons were injured in a three-car collision late Sunday afternoon when a man tried to capture a pet duck, loose in his car, according to the Ingham County sheriff’s report.

The report showed that cars driven by John E. Morgan of Lansing, William Campbell of Detroit, and Dudley F. Scott of Howell, collided on US-16 about a half-mile east of Webberville.

Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, their two children, John E., 3, and David, 1, and Mary P. Simpson, 8, of Pontiac, were taken to the Edward W. Sparrow hospital, where all but John Morgan, Jr., were treated and released. John’s condition was given as “fairly good” Monday.

According to the officer’s report, Morgan tried to capture the duck and lost control of his car, which went over into another lane on the highway, colliding with the other two vehicles.

So there you have it . . . the moral of the story . . . if you travel with a pet duck, keep it caged!