Person Sheet

Margaretha (name Americanized to "Margaret") was a popular evangelistic preacher about a hundred years ago. This advertisement was found inside a copy of “I Will Extol Thee” by C. Harold Lowden (Psalm 95), published in 1906.

The ad isn’t dated, but it’s likely that it was after Dorothy and Mickey were old enough to contribute to the services, since the ad mentions “and Family”. Our best guess is around 1917-1920, when Dorothy would have been between 12 and 16 years old and Mickey 8 to 12. During the services in which they all participated, C. C. Crammond would play the piano, guitar, and trombone and sing, and Margaretha would preach and sing. This was at a time when female preachers were rare. Dorothy (second alto, the low part) and Mickey (first alto, the middle part) would join their mother (singing the melody) in three-part harmony. To the end of her life, Mickey felt most at home singing that middle voice. In addition, Dorothy would accompany some songs on guitar, and she and Mickey would both play piano. When Mickey played piano for her church in Miami, the primary accompaniment was on the organ, played by someone else. Mickey would join in on the hymns and embellish the piano accompaniment, the same way she and Dorothy did as children.

Since the ad doesn’t mention a specific date, location, or pastor, this ad was probably one that the Crammonds furnished for use by the churches that hired them. They were Nazarenes at one point, then switched to Methodist when they decided that the Nazarenes were becoming too worldy. However, the revival meetings they held were probably non-denominational, or in the case of helping the local pastor, the spiritual message and songs needed to be suitable for most Protestant denominations.

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}