Person Sheet

Name Dorothy Vernon CRAMMOND Birth 22 Sep 1905, Newton, IA Death 10 Jul 1981, Big Rapids, MI Burial Highlandview Cemetery, Big Rapids, MI Occupation Choir Director, Housewife, Reporter, Piano Teacher, High Sch Education B.A. Music And English, Assoc. Arts, Arts And Crafts Asbury (1925?) Religion Congregational Father Charles Chester CRAMMOND (1878-1939) Mother Margaretha Katherine Johanna HEIDECKER (1880-1969)
Spouses:
1 Roy NEWTON Ph.D. Birth 12 Feb 1904, 15 Th Ave. , Cordele, GA Death 27 Jul 1974, Big Rapids, MI Burial Highlandview Cemetery, Big Rapids, MI Occupation College Professor, Author Education BS, 1925, Asbury College; Honorary LLD, 1968, Ferris State Religion Methodist Father Luther Samuel NEWTON (1874-1935) Mother Elizabeth Ellis 'Lizzie' BLACKSHEAR (1880-1978)
Marriage 11 Aug 1927, Lansing, MI
Children: Roy (1933-1933) James Covington (1935-2003) David Lee (1937-2016) Glen Edward (1947-)

Published composer: "Queen of the Roses : Valse Brillante"

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/1121/

In 1925, at age 19 Dorothy graduated from Asbury College with her music degree, the same year that 21-year-old Roy Newton graduated with his B.S. degree. The next year she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree, applied for and was granted a four-year Michigan teaching certificate, and taught one year at Beaverton High School; it is not mentioned below, but she also coached the girls' basketball team.

After that school year ended, she and Roy were married in Lansing (August 11, 1927).

Roy was on the Ferris faculty, and Doroty joined the faculty for several years.

During the Great Depression, enrollment at Ferris dwindled as low as 50 students, and there were few teaching positions at the college. Because of the college's financial situation, some of Roy's pay during that period was scrip (i.e., IOUs from the college), and Dorothy found a job teaching in Toledo, Ohio.

This is a transcript of the letter she wrote requesting a permanent Michigan teaching certificate. In May, she sent letters to request recommendations from Beaverton and Ottawa Hills. On August 4, 1926, the Michigan department of Public Instruction sent her Michigan Teacher's Certificate.

January 16, 1939

Dr. Eugene Elliott

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Lansing, Michigan

Dear Sir:

I wish to apply for a College Life Certificate on the basis of

the following record of training and experience:

EDUCATION:

1) B. Mus. degree, Asbury College (Wilmore, Ky.) 1925

2) A. B. degree, Asbury College, 1926

3) Summers, 1929, 1930, Western Reserve University

EXPERIENCE: |

1) 1 year, Beaverton (Mich.) High School, 1926-1927, Taught

English, Latin, Glee Club & Chorus.

2) 1 year, Ottawa Hills School, Toledo, Ohio, 1930-1931.

Taught French in grades 2-9 inclusive; was supervisor of

Music and Art, grades 1-9 inclusive.

3) Member of faculty of Ferris Institute

January-July 1928 (part time)

1928-1929 (full time)

1929-1930 (full time)

Summers 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1938

Subjects taught at Ferris: French, Music, Art, English.

CERTIFICATE:

On August 3, 1926 I was granted a certificate (which I now

have) which reads as follows:

                    STATE OF MICHIGAN
                        Teacher's
                   College Certificate

Office of the State Board of Education, Lansing, Mich. Aug.3, 1926

This certifies, That Dorothy Crammond is a graduate of
Asbury College for the year 1926, and has completed the
course in pedagogics and observation in such College and, upon
the recommendation of the faculty of said College, is granted
this Four Year Certificate by the authority of the State Board
of Education. This certificate entitles the holder to teach
in any school of the State, provided a copy of the same is filed
or recorded with the legal examining officer or officers of the
county or city in which she proposes to teach. It is further
understood that when the holder of this certificate shall fur-
nish satisfactory proof of having taught successfully three
years,, a Life Certificate shall be issued to the same by the
State Board of Education.

T. E. Johnson                                  F. A. Jeffers
        Secretary                                   President

Will you please send me the necessary blank for making formal application for the Life Certificate.

Shall I have transcripts of credit sent to you for both Asbury College and Western Reserve?

Will it be necessary to send you the original of the certificate copied above?

Sill it be necessary for me to submit written statements from school officials in Beaverton, Mich., Toledo, Ohio, and Ferris Institute telling of my teaching experience?

Sincerely yours,

DCN:N

Dorothy Newton at the United Church^ Organ Console 1960. Behind Dorthy is a door that led to the little room where she’d sit during the sermon and where Glen would sit with John Janacek, the radio engineer, during the service, after giving the opening line to the radio audience and waiting to give the closing line for the broadcast.

“Welcome to the radio broadcast of the Sunday morning worship service of the United Church in Big Rapids, Michigan” began the service.

“This concludes today’s broadcast from the United Church in Big Rapids, Michigan” concluded it.

From Glen: October 2015 "...my 5'2" mother played high school basketball in Iowa nearly a hundred years ago. In that era, women weren't allowed to run the whole length of the court. Mom was a "side center", which meant that her job, on her end of the court, was to guard the opposing team's center, who towered over her at a typical height of 5'10". She had two teammates on her end of the court and three on the other, for a total of six players on the floor from each team at any time. Later, when she taught high school for a few years, she coached a girls' basketball team..."

From Glen: November 2015 "...Dorothy, played the guitar to accompany singing at the revival meetings where Grandma Crammond preached. Sometimes she and her little sister Mickey would play the piano, but there wasn’t always a piano. Grandpa Crammond, who also played piano very well, would lead the singing and sometimes play trombone. He might have also played piano during the revival meetings, although I don’t remember Mom mentioning that. When the three women sang trios, Grandma Crammond sang the melody, Mickey sang the middle harmony, and [Dorothy] sang the lowest part. Even as an adult, Mickey felt most at home musically singing a middle harmony part."

This picture was probably taken on the front steps of Grandma Crammond’s house in Lansing. [Glen] hadn’t been born yet, and Dave and Jim were around 9 and 11. {Dorothy on the left, Grandma Crammond right, Dave center top, and Jim front}

July 1949 Jimmy, Dorothy, Dave in the back and Perry B, Eva, Charles E in the front.

This picture has no identification on the back, but it appears to be an accordion and piano recital by the pupils of Professor Charles Chester CRAMMOND (back row, right). Dorothy is 3rd from left in the front row, Margaret Maureen is next to her, 2nd from the left. It may be Margaretha at the far left in the front row.

Dorothy's graduation photo from Francis Scott Key grade school^ in 1918. Key was built in 1907 and designed by Dwight Perkins when he was the chief architect of the Chicago Public Schools. It was built on the site of the original North School in the suburb of Austin. It was among the nearly 50 schools that were closed by the Chicago Public Schools in 2013.

She is second from the right in the second row. On the back of the picture, she wrote the words to the class cheer:

One a zippa, two a zippa,
  Three a zippa zupp!
We're from the Key,
  And we never give up!
Biff bam buff! Biff bam buff!
  Class of '18! That's enuff!
Nineteen eighteen! Rah! Rah! Ree!
  Hurrah forever for the F. S. Key!!!

Letter: 1933-03-08

From Glen: April 2020. "Lawrence Victor Moore was born September 15, 1933, to Victor and Margaret Crammond Moore and died September 4, 1995, a few days before his 62nd birthday. His mother, Mom’s younger sister, outlived him by seven years, living from November 6, 1909, to October 11, 2002. Larry was her only child.

On March 8, 1933, Mom (Dorothy Vernon Crammond Newton) and Dad’s (Roy Newton) first child, Roy Jr., was stillborn. Their next child was James Covington Newton, born January 20, 1935, so Mom had no children of her own to care for when Larry was born. When Larry was two weeks old, Mom visited Mickey and Vic to help take care of Larry.

The text below is from a carbon copy of a letter Mom wrote, probably in January 1934. The carbon doesn’t say to whom it was sent. A corner of the second page is missing, indicated by “...” below. Where I could guess the missing text, I indicated so with brackets. I’ve also inserted a few explanations within brackets."

"Now that Mickey is out of danger and seemingly is recovering nicely I can write about her illness and not mind it as I would have a few weeks ago.

I spent a month visiting her and Vic in Somerset [Kentucky, about 75 miles south of Lexington] last May [1933] and she felt fine then. That was the time we moved into the house they now occupy. We had a grand time buying furniture and gadgets for the new house.

The baby was born September 15; weighed 9-3/4 – not fat but had a large “frame”. Mickey progressed nicely for the first two weeks; in fact, when Dad [C. C. Crammond], Mother [Margaretha Heidecker Crammond] and I drove down the first of October Mickey even ate with us in the breakfast nook (Vic would carry her out there). I stayed there after the folks left to go to their meeting in Columbus, Ohio [probably a revival meeting, with Mrs. Crammond preaching]. All the time I was there which lengthened into five weeks, I had charge of the baby and to show you what a good job I did (nothing like being your own press agent) I must tell you first that the baby lost three times as much as he should have normally lost after birth. We found out that the nurse had been giving him paregoric [an opium preparation used to treat diarrhea] and catnip tea when he would cry because of constipation; also, she put sugar in his water and did we have a time later getting him out of that habit! Anyway, we consulted a baby specialist, changed his formula, regulated his movements, and soon he started to gain. We kept a daily chart of his activities, weighed him every day, allowed no one to pick him up, and put him to sleep in a back nursery by himself, tried to keep the temperature of his room at 65 or lower. Well, he is a picture of perfect health. When we were down here Christmas, Vic could give him about an hour and a half of exercises a day. The baby would bridge himself on the table, supporting himself on this neck and heels, and then when we’d put him on his stomach, he’d pivot around on it, holding up his head and legs. He went in to see his mother a few minutes every day—more than that seemed to tire her. Almost forgot to tell you that his name is Laurence [Mom’s letter spells his first name “Laurence” but in other references it’s “Lawrence”] Victor Moore—they call him Larry. He’s wearing a pair of rompers I took him Christmas that are size 3. He has more than a dozen dresses (some of which have never been put on) that are useless to him because he has grown so---beside any number of sweater and cap sets.

After the first two weeks, Mickey began getting worse. To make a long story short, puerperal septicemia set in and soon after, pneumonia. We think it was caused by the carelessness of that nurse, not sterilizing the pads on the wound and neglecting to cleanse her hands thoroughly before waiting on Mickey. We dismissed her shortly after Mickey became worse.

We had about eight doctors in all. She was given three blood transfusions, chemical injections, intravenous feedings. Her temperature went as high as 108 and for a long time was 105-6. The zero hour came when a famous diagnostician of Lexington gave her “five or six days to live”. They had tried to give her another blood transfusion but could not inject it because her veins collapsed. A doctor who specializes along the lines of injections cut away her flesh on her arm and lifted the vein right up but even then could not succeed in getting it in. During the second transfusion Mickey was punctured about 50 times, ten of which were in her jugular vein, twice hitting the clavicle. Finally, the chemicals produced a positive response and the infection settled in her left lung. That had to be drained 7 times and at last, collapsed entirely. For about a month li... [life was a] nightmare, the doctors trying everything they... [could think of to] save her; Vic would talk to his brother in Mi... [Miami; Earl is] a doctor; there were a number of places in tow... [town ...] phone for news of Mickey so that they wouldn’t... [... Friends] would bring in food daily; dozens offered their... [help...] one Sunday twenty people were down at the hospi... [hospital...] tested. Both Mickey and Vic are well known ther... [there for their] musical activities and they certainly have lots... [of friends.]

Little by little she seemed to improve, as shown by... [her temperature and] her blood count. She says now that she cannot rememb... [remember anything that] happened for about a month in the hospital. Roy drove down twice during the first five weeks I was there a... [and one] time just after Mickey had been brought home from the hos... [hospital. He] and I drove on down to North and South Carolina to see his... [relatives] there and then came home to Big Rapids.

The folks were there several times but as there was nothing th... [they could] do to help, did not stay more than a week at a time. We wrote ca... [cards] to them every day. I had a negro girl to help me all the time and after I left, Mickey had her own special nurse, then the negro girl to wash, get the meals, do the housework, take care of the baby—and she certainly does a good job of it. Of course, Vic supervises it and a practicing doctor couldn’t be more efficient about it than he is. It has long been his ambition to be a doctor.

Mickey is terribly thin. For a long time, of course, she had nothing but liquids to sustain her. Vic said she weighed about 60 pounds when she was brought home from the hospital.

We were there for a few days Christmas, but the excitement brought her fever up past 102 degrees so we didn’t stay long. They were planning on going to Miami by plane so that Mickey could be in the hospital where Vic’s brother is and benefit by the sunshine but she is not strong enough yet and might not be for a number of weeks.

Just got a letter from Mickey and she can take a few steps by herself now and has reached the stage where her daily enema is unnecessary. That is a great gain, and so we are hoping for the best."

Academy Senior Class Olivet University 1922 Graduating class photo. Dorothy is third from the right, in the front row.

See also:

• https://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=ph Dorothy earned a B.A. Music And English, and an Assoc. Arts, Arts And Crafts from Asbury and lived, along with Mickey, in the dormitory mentioned on page 8 of this publication when her parents were on the revival circuit.

Here’s an excerpt from “A Centennial History of Ferris State College” by Joseph E. Deupree, a book about the history of Ferris Institute, recommended to me by a high school classmate and found online as part of the Ferris web site:
Bridegroom and Senator (ferris.edu)

Mary Ethel McCloud Ferris

Woodbridge N. Ferris met Mary Ethel McCloud in Indianapolis in 1920 at a teachers' institute.

Educated at DePauw University in Indiana and at Northwestern University in Illinois, Miss McCloud was trained for concert work as well as school music. For the 10 years prior to meeting Woodbridge N. Ferris, Mary Ethel McCloud had been a supervisor of music for the state education department of Indiana.

Despite their obvious personality differences, Mr. Ferris began paying court to her almost immediately, and the two were married on Aug. 14, 1921. She was about 35 years his junior. She was also a "grande dame" and he was a "rustic."

In the year that she occupied the president's house as wife of the president of Ferris Institute, Mary Ethel McCloud Ferris entertained frequently, usually with parties that included some sort of musical event which generally put her in the starring role. Sometime guests at the parties were Roy and Dorothy Newton. Mrs. Newton often was asked to play the accompaniment for Mrs. Ferris' vocal solos.