In the late 1800s, United States wheat consumption stood at 225 pounds per capita. Difficulties related to production in many areas of the country and high transportation costs advantaged alternatives such as corn. Wheat bread was consumed primarily by the well-off. [1]
Levi Haynes was a former dry goods merchant of the period here in Saline who ultimately made opportunity out of this challenge. This started with his idea of selecting the best seeds from harvest, planting only those for the following year — resulting in greater yields. Leading to his invention of the Bluestem variety then ultimately made him and his wife Caroline wealthy. [2]
Additionally, the two had five children during their marriage. Their son Frank was born here in Saline, in 1853. Significant in his own right, he trained under “Saline’s Photographer,” Lucretia Gillett. [3,4]
Today, examples of his work can be found in the Smithsonian Institution. [5]
… Haynes spent most of his career documenting in pictures the development of the western territories. Commissioned in 1876 to make views along the route of the Northern Pacific Railroad, he traveled through the West until 1905, working in a railroad car equipped as both gallery and darkroom. Besides photographing spectacular views of natural scenery, Haynes produced an extensive record of the modification of the landscape by railroad and industry.
On an 1881 trip to the newly created Yellowstone Park, via the new line of his railroad company employer, Haynes decided to pursue a commercial concession as park photographer. In 1884 he opened a studio and photography gallery in Yellowstone, selling to tourists prints of the park’s natural wonders, such as the Lone Star Geyser Cone. For more than thirty years Haynes served as the official photographer of Yellowstone National Park.
His work included stereoviews, the earliest of which date to circa 1882. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that stereocards featuring his work could at one time or another found their way into the Rentschler home for family education and entertainment. [6,7]
This is just the beginning of what Levi Hasbrouck Haynes would have to tell you if he were here.
But thanks to programming by Rotary Club of Saline with sponsorship from Robison-Bahnmiller Funeral Home, further Levi family stories will be told again live in Oak Wood Cemetery, along with that of Webster Ruckman and more than a dozen others. These will all be part of the third annual “Enactment Tours,” to be held Sunday, September 30 from 2:00pm to 6:00pm. Online registration for walking groups is available online now; early booking is recommended. [8,9,10]
This is a unique opportunity for Oak Wood Cemetery visitors to interact with living history in the City of Saline.
References
- “Wheat’s Role in the US Diet” United States Department of Agriculure.
- Farmer’s Bulletin No 1301: The Common White Wheats J Allen Clark, John H Martin, and CE Leighty (December 1922) US Department of Agriculture.
- “Frank Jay Haynes papers, 1876-1962” Orbis Cascade Alliance: Archives West.
- “Saline’s Photographer” Grace Shackman (Winter 2006) Community Observer.
- “F Jay Haynes” Smithsonian American Art Museum.
- “Frank Jay Haynes” The Yellowstone Stereoview Page.
- “A Century Before Emagine Showed ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout,’ Rentschler Farmhouse Had 3D Entertainment” Dell Deaton (August 9, 2018) Saline Journal.
- Robison-Bahnmiller Funeral Home (home page).
- “You Should Get to Know former Saline Resident Webster Ruckman at Some Point in Your Memorial Day Schedule” Dell Deaton (May 28, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “Saline Rotary’s Oakwood Cemetery Enactment Tours” The Rotary Club of Saline Michigan.
