This is the first episode of Season 2 of Tales of Southwest Michigan's Past.  It is also airing on New Year's Day, so I thought it would be adventurous to take a look at the top dozen guest interviews of 2022.  It was very hard to choose these episodes, as I had so many great guests in season one.  In fact I did 39 interviews, with roughly 30 guests on a variety of history topics.  This selection represents a mix of the ones that the fans listened to most, and my own personal favorites.

To find out more about Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

To listen to the interviews mentioned in this episode, click on the links below:

A History of the War of 1812 with Dennis Skupinski

The SS Battle Creek Victory & The Seagoing Cowboys with Peggy Reiff Miller

What in Sam Hill? The Story of Sam Hill with Guest Michael Cox

The History of the Battle Creek Brass Band Interview

Stories of Albion Michigan with Guest Dave Eddy

Finding History with Outhouse Diggers: An Interview with Dan Hill

The Legacy of Del Shannon: An Interview with Brian Young

Mysterious Michigan: Legends, Ghostly Tales & The Macabre - An Interview with Author Amberrose Hammond

An Interview with the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County

An Interview with Author Arnie Bernstein on the Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing

An Interview with Bobbie Mathis from the Union City Society for Historic Preservation 

An Interview with James Popenhagen on Music Legend Del Shannon

Have a prosperous New Year!

Join me as I explore stories and traditions from old newspaper articles around Michigan from the 1800's.  This is the final episode of season one, and I also give a review of some of the statistics from Spotify at the end of this.

To find out more about Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

Dave Eddy (AKA 'The Morning Mayor' with the WBCK Morning Radio Show) joins me on this Christmas Day episode where we explore historic Santa letters from the 1800's and early 1900's.  We also explore the history of two famous writers who wrote famous Santa letters to their children, Mark Twain and J.R.R. Tolkien.  Dave will not only read the Mark Twain letter, but also the most famous editorial in history, that was written 125 years ago 'Yes, Virginia.  There is a Santa Claus'.  

We also talk about some other Christmas stories, as well as a new project Dave is working on for 2023 to restore the historic Chapel at Oak Hill Cemetery.

For more information on the J.R.R. Tolkien book 'The Father Christmas Letters' click here: https://amzn.to/3YHy9Y2

Click here to support the Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel Restoration Fund

For more information on Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

In November of 1913, a great winter storm like no other recorded before hit the Great Lakes region.  It would later become known as the White Hurricane, when cyclone-force winds pushed ships right off the lakes onto shorelines, against rocks and sank twelve across four of the five Great Lakes.  Lake Huron bore the brunt of the damages and loss, but ships were sank also on Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and Lake Erie.  It is believed 250 sailors and their crews lost their lives in that storm among the twelve ships that sank, as well as the others that were damaged or destroyed. 

This episode explores the story of that epic storm.

For more information on Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

In this expisode I explore some of the impact of the famous Christmas story by Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' and it defining influence in the Victorian Era, as well as a look at Southwest Michigan.  I also include a full replay of a 1949 Radio Drama that aired on December 25th of that year of 'A Christmas Carol' featuring Lionel Barrymore.

For more information on Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

The Augusta Beacon was a small local newspaper in the village of Augusta, Michigan that was published between 1902 - 1952.  In the course of doing research for stories, I often read through many old newspapers.  I came across the Augusta Beacon, and in scanning through a few of their early editions I found several stories that were brief, but also quite unusual and even somewhat amusing.  So I decided to create a special episode in reading through a mix of random unusual stories from the fifty years that this paper was published, focusing mostly on the early years of its publication.  

For more information on Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

Mark Lovett from the Allegan County Historical Society is my guest as we talk about some stories from the early days of Allegan County, as well as take a tour of the Jailhouse Museum and the John Pahl Historical Village.  Listen in to hear some amazing stories of the early days of Allegan.

For more information on the Allegan County Historical Society, visit: http://alleganoldjail.com/

You can also email them at: [email protected]

Or call: 269-673-8292 to schedule a visit.

For more information on Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

In this episode, I explore the history of the Page Brothers Buggy Company that existed in Marshall, Michigan from 1869 - 1917.  The Founder of the Company William L. Page, brought into the enterprise his brothers Lucius Franklin Page and Egbert E. Page as the company grew.  Lucius would remain a major stock holder, and serve as a director until the company sold in 1917.  Egbert was 10 years younger than Lucius, and would serve as the Secretary and Treasurer for 30+ years.  The company would eventually see its demise with the rise in popularity of the automobile, but in its time, the company manufactured over 5000 buggys a year and shipped them all over the U.S and in Europe, and they were highly respected for their quality craftsmanship.

To see the video mentioned in this episode on Marvin Ferguson: https://youtu.be/kSpK2xF4cgU

To find out more abour Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

This is a story of the two brothers who founded the village of Marshall in 1831.  Sidney Ketchum was the first of the pioneers in Calhoun County to file a claim in 1830, and he returned to his home state of New York and convinced his brother George Ketchum to join him in the wilderness.  Together with their families and others they build the foundation of the village of Marshall, with a unique vision for their community.  It is a fascinating story of endurance.

For more information on Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com

Rod Kroes, the President of the Bernard Historical Museum in Delton Michigan is my guest on this episode as we explore not only the history of the museum, and many other stories of Delton Michigan, and around Barry County.  Hear the stories of Chief Noonday, Delbert Monroe, Reverend Slater and many others.

For more information on the Bernard Historical Museum, visit: https://www.bernardmuseum.org

For information on Michael Delaware, visit: https://www.michaeldelaware.com