A: I
was born in the city of Detroit and only lived there two and a half years
before my family moved to Northville.
Q: Okay,
and then you have been out here pretty much continuously since then?
A: Yes,
I was away for two years shortly after my mother died and then returned with my
father. He set up his third business, a
meat market, on Center Street here in Northville.
Q: Mr.
Moase, you indicated that you moved out here with your family when you were two
and a half years old, and how many different houses have you lived in out here
in Northville?
A: Let’s
see, when we were first married we lived in a furnished apartment right off of
Main Street behind the Presbyterian Church.
Then secondly, we moved to a home on Ann Arbor Road just outside of
Plymouth for about a year and then back to Northville and rented property on
Wing Street, opposite Wing Court. From
there we bought our first house on Fairbrook and lived there for six
years. In 1950, we moved into our
present residence here on Randolph Street and have lived here then since 1950.
Q: Now
you said your father had a meat market in three different locations. Where were they located?
A: Yes,
in 1920 when my father first located here in the city of Northville, of course
it was a village at that time, he moved into what was called the old catamow
(?) building on Center Street, which is currently where the bike shop is
now. After that, he moved to the old
opera house, and there was two retail stores located in that opera house. I think at the time there was a CF Smith
store on the corner, and then my father had a butcher shop next door to
that. He left the city in about 1926
that is when my mother died, and returned and set up his third business in
another store close to the present bicycle shop there. I think it was just south on the same side of
the street where the bicycle shop is located now and so he retained that
business until about 1934 or 1935.
Q: Living
in Northville then you went through Northville schools?
A: Yes,
that is true. I completed my schooling
there. I graduated in the Class of
1936. We already had our fiftieth class
reunion not too long ago.
Q: Do
you recall how large your graduating class was in ’36?
A: In
1936, it seems like there was about 130 some students that graduated.
Q: How
many did you have at your most recent reunion?
A: As
I recall, there was about thirty-five at the reunion.
Q: What
a difference in the size of the graduating class of 1989 from Northville High
School.
A: Yes,
over the years, of course, my three daughters graduated from Northville, and
each year it seemed like the class grew in size that graduated.
Q: Okay. Obviously when you were in high school you
were not in the new building. You were
in one of the older buildings. Did you
ever go to school in the building that burned?
A: Yes. I was in grade school at that time, and that was
behind what is currently known as the old high school now, and that building
burned and then later, of course, I did attend the old high school building
that is what we call it now, on Main Street.
That is where I graduated.
Q: Okay. That is now used as an administration
building.
A: That’s
correct.
Q: What
did you think of your education as part of the Northville Public School system?
A: Well,
when I graduated, it seemed like I was not spending as much time as I should on
my current studies. I was working for my
father at the time, and it seemed like it did probably take away from some of
my academic needs. But, no I feel like I
had a very adequate education there and later on I was glad that I at least put
forth partial effort.
Q: Okay,
now, you worked for your dad in the meat market?
A: It
became a necessity because during the depression years, we had to struggle a
little bit to keep the business going.
Q: I
am assuming you learned to cut meat?
A: Oh
yes, and I had a very good person to learn from. My father had a rather good business head,
and he had many years training because he had worked in the city of Detroit
prior to our coming out here as a butcher and also owned a market in the city
of Detroit. I got some early training
which worked out great because during the depression years I was able to work
when I was in high school at a part time job in the local markets here, and I
made out real well compared to some of the men who struggled without employment
for many years.
Q: After
graduation from high school, what then?
A: Well, I then continued to work in the food business and I worked for Kroger, a local food chain here in Northville, which was a service market at that time.
Q: Okay
now, explain what you mean by the term “service market”.
A: The
service market was set up to be for the customers to be served individually by
clerks, and you did not go and help yourself.
You piled stuff on the counter, and they would total it up for you and
bag it there in lieu of what you see now in the supermarkets where you do your
own selection, and you don’t have the aid or the assistance of a clerk probably
to answer some of your questions. Where
was that Kroger market located? The
Kroger market originally was next to the bank.
I was only there a short time after I started to work in the market
before they moved to where the old Black Hardware was. They just recently moved out of there – it is
now a camera shop.
Q: Right,
okay, and then at one time that was a Kroger market?
A: Yes.
Q: I
recall as a young boy going into some of these service markets, wooden floors
probably what we would consider to be kind of fashioned, but the important
thing is that you were taken care of and I am sure that it was a very personal
relationship between those that worked in the market and their customers. I mean you knew them by their first
names. Would you agree with that
assessment?
A: Oh
yes. In fact, that was one of the pluses
that I found in working in the service markets was that you did get to know a
lot of people in the community, and they looked to you to help them to make the
proper selection of meats and even helped them decide how to cook the meats
because that was even more important.
So, those were the days with sawdust on the floor, you know, and you
came into the markets, even in the early markets, they didn’t have
refrigeration as we know it today. They
had to haul the ice up into the old compartments above the icebox and into the
counters they had crushed ice there, and so that is a little bit different than
what we know today.
Q: I
interviewed Chuck Ely two or three weeks ago, I am sure you know Chuck. Where would Kroger purchase their ice? Would by chance they purchase it from the Ely
Ice and Fuel Company?
A: Well
actually, Kroger did have refrigeration at the time I worked there. Then my dad had his market (Moase Market) on
Center Street. I do remember Ely Ice and
Fuel pulling up in front of the market carrying a big-looked like 200 pound
slabs of ice up a ladder into the top of the icebox. So that was quite a thing. A lot of change took place after that.
Q: And
that’s what they had to use to keep the meats cool. Okay, that’s interesting. Well, okay, so then you stayed in the meat
business; you worked there as a student, and worked for your father. Then after you left high school you went to
work for Kroger, and how long did you stay with Kroger?
A: I
was with Kroger, including the training, I went to the training school they had
when I first became a manager, and in all it was ten years that I worked for
Kroger on a full-time basis.
Q: Was
all of this right here in Northville?
A: No,
this was throughout the southeastern Lower Michigan area, because I got some of
my early training in some of the other markets.
Q: But
you continued to live right here in Northville?
A: Oh
yes, yeah.
Q: Alright
now, after ten years with Kroger, you indicated that you left to go to work for
the Ford Motor Company and ended up in Ford Motor Finance. Can you tell us something about that? How you happened to leave Kroger?
A: Well,
first at the time that I decided to leave Kroger, there was nobody around to
hire to do the work at the store, and so I was putting in a lot of hours. I even employed by wife a while because we
just couldn’t get any help, and there was just too many hours involved, and I
just decided I had to make a change.
Q: Okay,
now when you said at the time, you are referring to the Second World War?
A: The
Second World War, we are talking about 1942, in particular.
Q: Okay,
so the fellows were off in the service having been drafted or enlisted, women
worked in war plants, and you just couldn’t get the help?
A: That’s
right and of course what did attract me is that the Ford Motor Company was
doing war work at the time and that is where they needed people. That is why I decided to move into finance
there. My background sort of lent itself
to the financial end of the business.
Q: Okay,
so then you went to work for Ford and remained at Ford for 28 years. I asked you prior to turning the tape on
whether you had any connection with the old Ford valve plant here in town, and
you said no. What different plants did
you work at during your period at Ford?
A: Well,
in the early years that I worked for Ford, it was kind of a transition
period. I first went to work for Ford in
the old administration building, where old Henry had his office, and shortly
after that there was quite a change that took part at Ford Motor Company, and
they started to decentralize the operations, and, of course I was part of that
decentralization and managed to move to different locations. They had a plant in the old Lincoln plant on
Warren Avenue. I was there a while. Also, I was relocated out at the Wixom plant
for a short time. After that I moved
around from the Rouge Plant to other offices that I finally retired from. That was the engineering offices behind the
Dearborn Inn in Dearborn.
Q: Okay,
now you stayed at Ford for 28 years and qualified to retire from Ford and
retired from Ford in what year?
A: On
September 1, 1970 I left Ford Motor, and I did so after strongly considering
setting up a tax business of my own. I
got some additional tax training in the late 60’s and then, of course, decided
to set up my own office in my home here at 436 Randolph.
Q: How
old were you when you retired from Ford?
A: I was 53 years old at the time.
Q: So
in effect, you took an early retirement.
A: That’s
correct.
Q: But
you had enough time so that you qualified for a pension. Okay, and then you indicated here on your
biography that you had been self-employed or were self-employed for thirteen
years in the tax business.
A: That’s
correct.
Q: Now,
one thing we talked about, and it kind of brings it to mind since you had been
in the tax business is where a good number of your clients Northville residents?
A: Well
yes I would say so maybe half of the clients were Northville residents. The remaining clients were in the area
though, and of course I really relied on one big client that I had that I spent
many hours working for them personally.
That is what encouraged me to stay in the tax business was the fact that
I had obtained this one particular customer, which had a large business office.
Q: Okay,
it wasn’t here in Northville?
A: No,
the business wasn’t in Northville. It
was in Dearborn.
Q: You
mentioned some of your neighbors here through the years, some rather prominent
people in Northville. Who else lived on
Randolph Street over the years that you can recall?
A: One
person that comes to mind quickly is the former chief of police here Joe Denton,
and Joe lived right across kitty-corner to my present home up here on the
hill. Joe and his wife knew my father
and mother real well. When they first
came to town, they became acquainted and so that went back quite a ways. Also, across the street from us was a former
local banker here, Charles Strauss, who decided after many years in the banking
business to move to Stanton, Michigan, and is still there. Chuck also was the mayor up there at Stanton
for a while, but he is in full retirement now also. The only other person I can think of off-hand
was Robert Reed, who I think has already been interviewed, and he just lived
down the street from us a little ways.
Most all of the other people who lived here when we acquired this
property in 1950 have moved to other areas.
Q: I
can’t remember what graduating class Bob Reed was from. You didn’t happen to be in the same class did
you?
A: No. He is about 75 I think.
Q: This
other fellow, he graduated in an earlier class and he did work for Ford? He was an artist.
A: Yes,
that’s right.
Q: Ah
now, going back to when you were in school.
Were you involved in activities or sports while you were in school?
A: Well,
the only activity I took part in, I did sing in the choir. I also played some basketball, which my
height helped me there, but I never did acquire a lot of talent in that area.
Q: Okay. You indicated you were 6 feet 1 and you were
the tallest on the team?
A: That’s
right. That’s what got me on the team
more than anything else.
Q: Okay. What about local activities, as you were
growing up in Northville?
A: Well,
in the early days, of course, I did play on the local legion baseball team and
was active in the Methodist Church, the old church on Dunlap, when our children – our three girls, were
growing up, and I was active in that church in the youth movement there.
Q: Let’s
talk about that church. Was that church
there at the time you moved to Northville?
Was that the original Methodist Church?
A: Oh
yes, yes.
Q: So
it was there. It’s undergone quite a
transition over the years. Had that
church been enlarged or was that the original building as you recall?
A: Well,
the original building there has an addition put on that – the church hall or
whatever you want to call it, a fellowship hall, was added to the old
church. When I first came here, when I
was in my early days, I remember Reverend Richards as being the pastor of that
church and I remember talking recently with Bill Richards, his son. I actually joined the church the same time
Bill did, and we had some fond memories that we recalled and we sat down and
talked together not too long ago. But
the old church I had a lot of great and pleasant memories of that church.
Q: Okay,
now the church currently, while it has had a transition, I recall a number of
years ago coming out to the church which at that time was a restaurant called
the Drawbridge, and I had never been there before and hadn’t been there since. I thought it kind of unusual that a church
would be sold and converted into a restaurant and then, of course, the reason
this was done was that they built a new Methodist Church which is off of Eight
Mile west of town. What brought about,
to your knowledge, the decision to close and sell the church and rebuilding
west of town?
A: Well
there appeared to be two reasons for that.
An increase in church membership; the church became crowded and they
would have to make the decision to either build a new church or spend money and
refurbish the old church, and I think the majority of the membership decided
that they would go the route of building a new church rather than spend the
money on the old church.
Q: Was
there a problem? Did they have adequate
parking?
A: Well
at the time they had adequate parking here.
Some of it was street parking, some of it was behind the church, but
that was another reason I guess, maybe that they decided to move was because
parking they could see down the road would be a problem.
Q: You
mentioned the name of Richards earlier.
I interviewed the minister’s daughter, and one of the things of concern
to her was the time they decided to tear the parsonage down. I said why they tore the parsonage down; well
they did it to put parking in here. One
of the old traditions that I know of with that Methodist Church is the tower
and the clock, which was quite a landmark and you indicated to me earlier that
you really didn’t agree with the decision to relocate the church, although you
can understand why they did. But there
was a lot of tradition in that Methodist Church there.
A: Yeah,
why I had a lot of fond memories there and, of course, maybe I was a little bit
sentimental about moving the church.
Maybe when it came right down to the dollars and cents analysis, maybe
they did the right thing.
Q: I
do know that at one time there was a furniture company called Globe Furniture
here in town, and they manufactured church pews. Do you recall the location of that? I know it burned down.
A: Yes. That was down on the curve going out of town,
and I just barely remember the old building at one time. It seems like in that same general area
Stinson had an airplane manufacturing company.
Q: Stinson
Aircraft, right.
A: They
were located there too. I think going
back further they had a company that manufactured furnaces in that same general
area.
Q: Okay,
a foundry?
A: Yes,
a foundry.
Q: Okay,
in fact, I heard from some sources that they also made church bells.
A: That’s
correct.
Q: So,
I wonder whether any of the furniture or the pews in the Methodist church may
have come from Globe Furniture.
A: That
is entirely possible.
Q: Okay,
let’s see. What about hobbies? As you were growing up in Northville, of
course, it was depression time, your mother had died, you worked to help your
father out, to make ends meet. Did you
have any time for hobbies?
A: Well,
I first said as I mentioned earlier, that I played a little baseball for an
American Legion team and managed to squeeze a few hours out to play basketball,
other than that bowling. I bowled for a
number of years. Sports have been, of
course you might consider it a hobby, but now in my later years it is not the
active part of the sports.
Q: You
follow the sports?
A: Right. Other than that, we currently use our travel
trailer extensively and have traveled throughout the 48 continental United States. We do some other traveling periodically,
short trips like to England, France and Central Europe. We have been to Spain. We have been to California a few times, down
to New Mexico a few times. One
experience we did have was when I worked for Ford I lived in Mexico for a
year. In this we gained a lot of
knowledge about Mexican people, a few others really realize, I guess.
Q: What
part of Mexico were you in?
A: We
lived in Mexico City for 11 months, nearly twelve months and it was a one-year
assignment for me from Ford.
Q: That
would be a nice experience.
A: Getting
back to trailering. We are currently
secretary treasurer of the Michigan Unit of the Avion Travel Club. This is a little bit more than a hobby right
now. It is all part of the organization
and someone has to do it. We do enjoy
the fellowship in the club, and it is an international and they have rendezvous
in different parts of the country. We,
of course, have two local state rallies here that we go to. We will attend one next month in fact.
Q: Are
there other residents of Northville that are members of the club?
A: Not
currently that I know of. There are
others around us here. I know there is one in Plymouth, two or three in
Farmington Hills, and there is probably oh about sixty families in Southeastern
Michigan area.
Q: Okay
now, you mentioned you had a brother. Do
you have other brothers or sisters?
A: No. I just have a brother Alan who is not
residing in this area now. He is located
in Greenbush in the summer months and in New Seana Beach, Florida in the winter
months.
Q: Greenbush
up in Northern Michigan?
A: Right.
Q: He
is a younger brother?
A: Yes. He is five years my junior.
Q: Okay,
and three girls (daughters); Sandra, Christine and Patricia. What about their whereabouts?
A: Well,
each one has families, 27 grandchildren total and Sandra my oldest daughter
lives in Westland, and Christine live in Plymouth and Pat just recently
relocated to Livonia. So they all live
close by and we can see a lot of our family for birthdays, anniversaries and
holidays.
Q: You
also mentioned a very special date coming up shortly here?
A: Oh
yes, my wife says, “Ah no, that is nothing, we have had 49 years and we have
celebrated our marriage together”, but yes that will be 50 years on September 1st.
Q: Very
good, that’s great. We’re sitting here
in what I guess you would call a family room and addition to the house, looking
out a picture window here, and you got quite a picturesque piece of property
here. How large is the property you own?
A: Well
actually it is not too wide, but it is quite deep and the end of the property
line is pretty much in the center of the little stream that comes down through
the back of the property. So we are
sitting up kind of high here and can see a little hip bridge located across the
stream behind us and we’ve been able to retain some big trees. We have a big old elm tree sitting right here
next to us and we have hung onto that one over the years and I see another big walnut
out to the one side, east side of the house.
Yes we enjoy the solitude back here.
It is quite a difference from the much traveled street in front of us.
Q: Randolph,
I’m assuming was not always that way but it seems to be kind of a short cut to
get over to 8 Mile now.
A: Yes,
it is used by many people now – to get into town and to get to the post office,
of course.
Q: Okay,
are there other things that come to mind that might be appropriate to mention
while we are talking? We talked about
your moving to Northvi8lle, going to school in Northville, you stayed in
Northville, and you worked here in Northville for a period of time. Well let’s just spend a moment. You said that one of your hobbies is you are
into genealogy and indicated that your background; with the name Moase an
English name and your wife’s maiden name Beauchamp a French name.
A: Yes,
that’s correct. In fact, we are both
into this rather strongly at this time, although we just don’t seem to have the
time to put into it. That is a hobby
that requires a lot of time, a lot of research and a lot of travel
actually. We went to New York State not
too long ago and spent some time in the libraries and the archives in New York
because my wife’s folks were located there at one time. But we’ve traveled to England and to France
using genealogy as an excuse, although we had other reasons. It is a fun hobby and there is more and more
people getting into it today. People are
curious, more curious of where their ancestors came from and as you get into it
you find some very interesting facts. We
enjoy it very much and now that research and references are becoming much more
extensive on the part of other relatives where you can call on them to help
fill out your family tree. So the local
library now has acquired a section which they are trying to build to aid the
people in research of their own genealogy.
Q: To
a certain degree maybe these oral histories can tie into that a little bit
because we are talking to, or I have talked to a 92 year-old woman who lives
right up here in Allen Terrace just above you and I talk to a lot of people
about their recollections about Northville, about their families, about growing
up in Northville and it is important to know a little bit about your roots and
it is interesting too. You have seen a
lot of changes occur here in Northville now through the years and you have
stayed here in Northville. How do you
feel about Northville today as opposed to what Northville was like when you
were growing up?
A: Well
it is true there has been a tremendous change in the city, although within the
city limits it hasn’t changed that much.
If you ride down the streets of Dunlap and many of the streets here in
town you see the big old trees and they are still shading the streets and it
really hasn’t changed. You see the old
Victorian homes that have been kept up very well and I think that the people
that live in Northville ought to be real proud of their city. We are at an age where a lot of people our
age think about Florida and they want to relocate, but we have no idea of doing
that. Even though we have a fairly large
home here, we are going to plan on staying around here and living here through
the twelve months for the most part.
Q: You figure Northville is a good place to live and you are going to stay here?
A: Very
definitely.
Q: That’s
great. Anything else that you care to
mention or recall?
A: Well,
there’s many things if I really stopped to think about I could add, but I guess
at the moment I just can’t add anything that you probably would want to put on
this tape.
Q: Well,
I think you closing statement here that Northville is a good place to live is a
good way to say thank you very much and enjoyed the interview.
A: Thank
you.
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