Bath School disaster

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Recent History

Bombing aftermath
Bombing aftermath





Bath Township

Location of Bath, Michigan
Location of Bath, Michigan

See related articles: Bath Township, Michigan, Bath, Michigan

Bath Township is a small community located ten miles northeast of Lansing, Michigan, and contains the unincorporated village of Bath. In the early 1920s, the area was primarily agricultural. In 1922, Bath voters voted to form a district for the purpose of funding and constructing a consolidated school. There were 236 students enrolled when the school opened, ranging from the first to twelfth grades.

The early part of the 20th century saw the disappearance of many small one-room schools, where different grades shared the same classroom and teacher. Educators of the era believed that children would receive a better and more complete education if students could attend a single school at one location. The grades could be age-divided into classes, and the facilities could be of a higher quality. After years of debate, when Bath Township created the district, it raised property taxes to pay for the project. As a result, new taxes were imposed on landowners, including Andrew Kehoe.

Andrew Kehoe

Andrew Kehoe was born in Tecumseh, Michigan, on February 1, 1872, in a family of thirteen children. Kehoe's mother died when he was young, and his father remarried. Reportedly, Kehoe often fought with his stepmother. When Kehoe was fourteen, the family's stove exploded as she was attempting to light it. The oil fueling the stove soaked her, and the flames set her on fire. Andrew watched his stepmother burn for a few minutes before dumping a bucket of water on her. She later died from the injuries. The stove malfunction was left unresolved, and Kehoe was not charged.

Andrew Kehoe
Andrew Kehoe

Kehoe attended Tecumseh High School and Michigan State College (later Michigan State University), where he met his wife, Ellen "Nellie" Price, daughter of a wealthy Lansing family. Married in 1912, they moved around until 1919, when the couple bought a 185- acre (75- hectare) farm outside the village of Bath from Nellie's aunt for $12,000, paying $6,000 in cash and taking out a $6,000 mortgage. Kehoe was regarded by his neighbors as an intelligent man who grew impatient with those who disagreed with him. Neighbors recalled that Kehoe was always neat, dressed meticulously, and was known to change his shirt at midday or whenever it became even slightly dirty. Neighbors also recounted how Kehoe was cruel to his farm animals, having once beaten a horse to death.

Kehoe's neighbors were not impressed by the level of his farming ability. As neighbour M.J. "Monty" Ellsworth wrote, "He never farmed it as other farmers do and he tried to do everything with his tractor. He was in the height of his glory when fixing machinery or tinkering. He was always trying new methods in his work, for instance, hitching two mowers behind his tractor. This method at different times did not work and he would just leave the hay standing. He also put four sections of drag and two rollers at once behind his tractor. He spent so much time tinkering that he didn't prosper."

With a reputation for thriftiness, Kehoe was elected treasurer of the Bath Consolidated School board in 1924. While on the board, Kehoe fought endlessly for lower taxes. He blamed the previous property tax levy for his family's poor financial condition, and repeatedly accused superintendent Emory Huyck of financial mismanagement. While on the school board, Kehoe was appointed the Bath Township Clerk in 1925, but was unsuccessful at retaining this position in the election later that year. During this time, Nellie Kehoe was chronically ill with tuberculosis, and her frequent hospital stays may have played a role in putting the family into debt. At the time of the bombing, Kehoe had ceased making mortgage and homeowner's insurance payments, and the mortgage lender had begun foreclosure proceedings against the farm.

Purchase and planting of explosives

There is no clear indication as to when Kehoe conceived and planned the steps leading to the ultimate events. A subsequent investigation concluded that, based upon the activity at the school and the purchases of explosives, his plan had likely been underway for at least a year.

In the winter of 1926, the board asked Kehoe to perform maintenance inside the school building. Regarded by most as a talented handyman, he was known to be familiar with electrical equipment. As a board member appointed to conduct repairs, he had free access to the building and his presence was never questioned.

Beginning in the summer of 1926, Kehoe purchased over a ton of pyrotol, an incendiary introduced in World War I. Farmers during the era used the substance for excavation. In November 1926, Kehoe drove to Lansing and purchased two boxes of dynamite at a sporting goods store. Dynamite was also commonly used on farms, and Kehoe's purchase of small amounts of dynamite and pyrotol at different stores and on different dates did not raise any suspicions. Neighbors reported hearing explosions set off on the farm, as well as recalling conversations where Kehoe explained he was using dynamite for tree stump removal.

The day of the disaster

Chronology of deaths in the disaster
died after the boming text-align:left; font-size:x-big;" 1. Nellie Kehoe, age 52, wife of Andrew Kehoe.
Killed in the monkey chesse bombing
2. Arnold V. Bauerle, age 8, third grade student.
3. Henry Bergan, age 14, sixth grade student.
4. Herman Bergan age 11, fourth grade student.
5. Emilie M. Bromundt, age 11, fifth grade student.
6. Robert F. Bromundt, age 12, fifth grade student.
7. Floyd E. Burnett, age 12, sixth grade student.
8. Russell J. Chapman, age 8, fourth grade student.
9. F. Robert Cochran, age 8, third grade student.
10. Ralph A. Cushman, age 7, third grade student.
11. Earl E. Ewing, age 11, sixth grade student.
12. Katherine O. Foote, age 10, sixth grade student.
13. Margory Fritz, age 9, fourth grade student.
14. Carlyle W. Geisenhaver, age 9, fourth grade student.
15. George P. Hall Jr., age 8, third grade student.
16. Willa M. Hall, age 11, fifth grade student.
17. Iola I. Hart, age 12, sixth grade student.
18. Percy E. Hart, age 11, third grade student.
19. Vivian O. Hart, age 8, third grade student.
20. Blanche E. Harte, age 30, fifth grade teacher.
21. Gailand L. Harte, age 12, sixth grade student.
22. LaVere R. Harte, age 9, fourth grade student.
23. Stanley H. Harte, age 12, sixth grade student.
24. Francis O. Hoeppner, age 13, sixth grade student.
25. Cecial L. Hunter, age 13, sixth grade student.
26. Doris E. Johns, age 8, third grade student.
27. Thelma I. MacDonald, age 8, third grade student.
28. Clarence W. McFarren, age 13, sixth grade student.
29. J. Emerson Medcoff, age 8, fourth grade student.
30. Emma A. Nickols, age 13, sixth grade student.
31. Richard D. Richardson, age 12, sixth grade student.
32. Elsie M. Robb, age 12, sixth grade student.
33. Pauline M. Shirts, age 10, fifth grade student.
34. Hazel I. Weatherby, age 21, teacher.
35. Elizabeth J. Witchell, age 10, fifth grade student.
36. Lucile J. Witchell, age 9, fifth grade student.
37. Harold L. Woodman, age 8, third grade student.
38. George O. Zimmerman, age 10, third grade student.
39. Lloyd Zimmerman, age 12, fifth grade student.
Killed by explosion of Kehoe's car
40. G. Cleo Claton, age 8, second grade student.
41. Emory E. Huyck, age 33, superintendent.
42. Andrew P. Kehoe, age 55, Bath School Board/perpetrator.
43. Nelson McFarren, age 74, retired farmer.
44. Glenn O. Smith, age 33, Postmaster.
Died later due to injuries from bombing
45. Beatrice P. Gibbs, age 10, fourth grade student.



Records at Lansing's St. Lawrence Hospital reflected that Nellie Kehoe had been discharged on May 16. Between her release and the bombing two days later, Kehoe killed Nellie by what was later determined to be blunt force trauma to the head with some unknown heavy object. Her body was found in a wheelbarrow located in the rear of the farm's chicken coop. Piled around the cart were silverware, jewels and a metal cash box. Ashes of several bank notes could be seen through a slit in the cash box. Kehoe had completely wired the farm, and inside every building he inserted homemade pyrotol firebombs. Farm animals were found tied up in their enclosures, apparently to ensure their deaths in the subsequent fire.

At approximately 8:45 a.m., Kehoe detonated the firebombs. The neighbors noticed the fire, and volunteer fire departments from all over the area began rushing to the scene. At 9:45 a.m. an explosion was heard from the school building. Rescuers heading to the scene of the Kehoe fire turned back and headed toward the school. Parents within the rural community also began rushing to the school.

First-grade teacher Bernice Sterling recounted the explosion to an Associated Press reporter as being like a terrible earthquake. "It seemed as though the floor went up several feet", she said. "After the first shock I thought for a moment I was blind. When it came the air seemed to be full of children and flying desks and books. Children were tossed high in the air; some were catapulted out of the building."


On the way back to his farm, Ellsworth reported seeing Kehoe in his car heading in the opposite direction toward the school. "He grinned and waved his hand; when he grinned, I could see both rows of his teeth," said Ellsworth.

The scene at the school building was chaotic. One witness, Robert Gates, recounted how "mother after mother came running into the school yard, and demanded information about her child and, on seeing the lifeless form lying on the lawn, broke into sobs. In no time more than 100 men were at work tearing away the debris of the school, and nearly as many women were frantically pawing over the timber and broken bricks for traces of their children."









In the south wing, the State Police found unexploded materials along with an alarm clock timed to go off at 9:45 a.m., the same time as the explosion went off in the north wing. The reason why these explosives failed to detonate could never be conclusively determined. Investigators speculated that the initial explosion may have caused a short circuit in the second set of bombs.

Police and fire officials also gathered at the Kehoe farm to investigate the fires. It was not until the following day, May 19, that investigators identified Nellie Kehoe's charred body among the ruins of the farm. The body was so disfigured it went unnoticed by hundreds who walked past it the previous day.

All the Kehoe farm buildings were destroyed, and the animals trapped inside the barn had perished. Ironically, the amount of unused equipment and materials on the farm could have easily paid off the Kehoes' mortgage. Investigators found a wooden sign wired to the farm's fence with Kehoe's last message, "CRIMINALS ARE MADE, NOT BORN," written on it.


Cupola from school building, now at memorial park
Cupola from school building, now at memorial park

The American Red Cross, setting up operations at the Crum drugstore, took the lead in providing aid and comfort to the victims. The Lansing Red Cross headquarters were kept open until 11:30 that night to answer telephone calls, update the list of dead and injured and provide information and planning services for the following day.

The Red Cross also managed donations sent to pay for both the medical expenses of the survivors and the burial costs of the deceased. In a few short weeks, $5,284.15 was raised through donations, including $2,500 from the Clinton County board of supervisors and $2,000 from the Michigan legislature. Unlike the Columbine High School massacre, there was no legislative response, either by the state or federal governments, aimed at preventing a recurrence, although pyrotol was quietly taken off the market.

Over the next few days there were multiple funerals, with the most, eighteen, held on Saturday, May 22. The disaster had made the front pages of national newspapers until news of Charles Lindbergh's completion of the first solo transatlantic flight broke on May 23, 1927.

Vehicles from outlying areas and surrounding states descended upon Bath by the thousands. Over 100,000 vehicles passed through on Saturday alone, an enormous amount of traffic for the area. Some Bath citizens regarded this armada as an unwarranted intrusion into their time of grief, but most accepted it as a show of sympathy and support from surrounding communities. The Ku Klux Klan interjected that the Roman Catholic Kehoe's actions were the result of his adherence to the stance of the Roman Catholic Church against "Protestant or godless schools".

Coroner's inquest

The plaque at entrance to the memorial park
The plaque at entrance to the memorial park

The coroner arrived at the scene on the day of disaster and swore in six community leaders to serve as an investigative jury. A coroner's inquest into the matter was held the following week. Dozens of Bath citizens and law enforcement personnel testified before the jury, and the Clinton County Prosecutor conducted the examination. Although there was never any doubt that Kehoe was the perpetrator, the jury was asked to determine if the school board or its employees were guilty of criminal negligence.

Kehoe's neighbour Sidney J. Howell testified that after the fire began, Kehoe warned him and three boys to leave the farm, telling them, "Boys, you're my friends. You'd better get out of here and go to the school house." Three telephone linemen working near Bath testified that after first going to the farm and then to the school, Kehoe passed them en route, and they saw him reach the school right before them. Kehoe's car swerved to the right and stopped in front of the building. In the next instant, according to the linemen, the car blew up, and one of them was struck by shrapnel. This testimony contradicted statements from others that Kehoe paused after stopping and called Superintendent Huyck over before blowing up the vehicle.




On August 22, some three months after the bombing, fourth-grader Beatrice Gibbs died following hip surgery. She was counted as the 45th and final death directly attributable to the Bath School disaster.


Governor Fred Green created the Bath Relief Fund with the money supplied by donors and the state and local governments. Numerous people from around the country donated to the fund. The school board began a separate fund for the repair of the school building.

Flag atop the school on May 18, 1927, now at School Museum

School resumed on September 5, 1927, and, for the 1927–28 school year, was held in the community hall, township hall, and two retail buildings. Most of the students returned. The board appointed O. M. Brant of Luther, Michigan, to succeed Huyck as superintendent. Lansing architect Warren Holmes donated construction plans, and the school board approved the contracts for the new building on September 14. On September 15, Michigan's United States Senator James Couzens presented his personal check for $75,000 to the Bath construction fund to build the new school.

In 1928, artist Carlton W. Angell presented the board with a statue titled "Girl With a Kitten." The statue is presently in the Bath School Museum located within the school district's middle school, adjacent to the site of the destroyed building. Angell's inscription states that it is dedicated to the courage and determination of the people of Bath. The sculpture was financed by penny donations from young students from the state of Michigan. It was rumored that the donated pennies were melted down to make the cast of the statue.


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