The Yondotega Club

Detroit Times , August 27, 1933 This appears to be one of those "around the town" sort of features in daily newspapers of yore which gave a snippet of information likely hoping to engage the reader enough to write in. It worked on me as I sit here typing away. The first pertinent mention is: "The high brick walls that surround the exclusive Yondotega Club are a part of the old James Van Dyke residence - one of the first brick houses in Detroit." Van Dyke was a lawyer, fireman and briefly the mayor of Detroit. He died rather young but the family continued to live in the home at 308? East Jefferson, which would seemingly put it right next door to the former Daniel King home and future Yondotega Club but I could be wrong. The articles suggests that bricks from the Van Dyke house were used in building the wall at the Yondotega Club - presumably in 1901 - but that seems like a laborious task to separate the bricks and reuse them. Or would they just take sections? I hav...

Detroit News , June 19, 1930 When I first read this snippet I thought for sure that Murray W. Sales's boat was called "Sea Balls" but a website which tracks such things confirms that it was "Sea Sails." Murray being one of the Yondotega Club alumnus.

Detroit Times , September 20, 1923 Elwood Croul was a young businessman, nephew of police commissioner Frank H. Croul and fellow club man of both his uncle and the doctor who performed the appendectomy, Doctor Charles G. Jennings, which ultimately killed him. His wife and he had already suffered the loss of two young children in the span of six months: Frank, 5, in December of 1920 and Elwood, Jr. in June of 1921. Croul was President of Riverside Cartage and Storage, which his father had founded in 1883 and Elwood had lead since 1909. The family is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.

Detroit News , August 12, 1932 It would probably be prudent to do more pointed searches on certain subjects once identified but I prefer to wander in my searches while compiling information.  Returning to the five bandits who broke into the Yondotega Club and held Adolph Noe prisoner while they ransacked the place, we find an updated list of goods stolen and one of the masterminds behind the plot.  Henry Pace (aka Phiz Dickson) was captured and released on unrelated charges but before being let go the officers noticed that he had priors for hi-jacking and brought in Mr. Noe to see if he could identify the suspect in a lineup. He did and Pace was charged and plead Not Guilty. The booty was close to $1,300 ($32,000 today) but mostly in specially monogrammed cigarettes and cigars. Considering that a pack of cigarettes cost around 10 cents and cigars were about 20 cents that's quite the stash.

Detroit News , May 14, 1922 This 1922 article about meeting Arthur Conan Doyle in New York by a Detroit woman named D. K. E. likely files under gossip more so than current events but we'll take her word for it. Simply put, she wanted a meeting with the noted Spiritualist, novelist and creator of Sherlock Holmes and made it happen. In the brief moments she had with him he mentioned a friend in Detroit named Dr. Newman and his happy visit to the Yondotega Club. The when and why are to be determined but the seed is now there for exploration.

Detroit News , January 16, 1932 Here's is an updated article on the death of longtime Yondotega Club steward Scott Lewis . Like Reuben Davis he spent several decades serving the elite and was widely represented with their attendance at his funeral. It seems that Lewis's love of hunting despite the earlier mentioned pratfalls of previous trips did him in. He caught pneumonia and never recovered, taking a trip to California at the expense of his employers to regain his health wherein he died en route.

Detroit News , May 23, 1932 There's nothing quite like a gang of rogues pulling off a heist at the playhouse of the ultra elite and coming away with very little. As if the clubhouse was the secret off shore bank of millionaires. Nonetheless, the thugs broke in around 3 AM and held watchman Adolf Noe hostage for 3 hours before other workers began showing up for their shifts and scared them off. They made off with a safe with two bank books in it. For clerical purposes I'll add that John Smith is named as a steward in the article, as is Miss Rhea Beaumont mentioned as a worker.

Detroit Free Press , November 27, 1959 This article written by a female columnist for the Detroit Free Press concentrates on the typical stereotypical "woman's touch" in housekeeping among slovenly men. She, being the so-called first woman inside the clubhouse. Though, I have come across an article where a woman went to the wrong building and sat inside the Yondotega Club for for an hour or so before being asked to leave.

Detroit Times , October 14, 1927 This is a threefold post about Prohibition, privilege and a political race. John C. Lodge, running for the umpteenth time as mayor, beat out incumbent John W. Smith in the 1927 primary, to which the latter believed it was his support for ending Prohibition that caused him to lose. Detroit Times , October 23, 1927 His famous quote ensnared the good old boys at 518 East Jefferson into the fray: "My own belief is that the prohibition law is an unjust statute and the thought that it is wrong for the man in the factory to have a glass of beer in a saloon and right for the gentleman in the Yondotega Club to have their daily highballs is repugnant to my sense of justice." Detroit News , October 13, 1927 Which then elicited calls by the dry enforcement agency for the mayor to act against the Yondotega Club. Days later, Chairman Cameron Currie, welcomed inquiry, investigation and a trip down to the clubhouse for a look see. Seeing as Lodge was a member...

Detroit News , May 18, 1904 I'm not going to pretend that I know Detroit politics from the turn of the 20th century so I'll just post this political cartoon about James Murfin and Russell Alger, Jr. and an article on reform from the same page which seems to be related.

Detroit News , April 27, 1905 Another day at the Yondotega Club and another robbery. This time by a black guy posing as Russell Alger, Jr's chauffeur. After notifying the guard that somebody was tinkering with Alger's car, a man dressed in a chauffeur's uniform secured his coat so he wouldn't get a chill. Alger returned from securing his property and a few hours later concluded his activities for the night. When he went to grab his coat he was informed of the earlier matter to which he replied, "Chauffeur! I haven't any tonight." Thus, it became a police matter.

Detroit News , August 19, 1901 I'm not exactly sure what the inside joke was concerning ice at the Yondotega Club but this is the second snarky mention by the News in relation to ice at the clubhouse . In this instance it was in reference to an addition to the back of the club where supposed onlookers commented on the ice box and a new member being brought in. Are they suggesting in an off-hand way that they were whacking members so as to allow a new member in? Either way, a kitchen addition was supposedly being added on.

Muskegon Chronicle , April 4, 1929 Walter S. Russel and Cameron B. Waterman of the Yondotega Club were robbed in April of 1929 by two bandits who hid in their cars. Russel coughed up $50 and a watch and was held while his partner milked Waterman of his car which the two used as a means of getaway.

Detroit Times , January 14, 1932 Every story concerning dogs was a foreboding one for longtime Yondotega Club steward Scott Lewis and his entanglement with the oldest cur known to humanity, Cerberus, was no different. Mr. Lewis died while en route to California, presumably on a vacation trip. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery with many of his fellow masters and servants from the establishment.

Judge , March 17, 1928 This satirical article on Detroit from the March 17, 1928 edition of Judge magazine which references two Yondotega Club members Truman Newberry and Cameron Currie. Newberry had been a Republican U.S. Senator but after defeating Henry Ford for the seat in 1918, he immediately faced expulsion for election finance violations for which he was later cleared. Ford, with his vast wealth, was persistent and a slew of investigations followed before Newberry eventually resigned in 1922. The reference here to him being mistaken for the Book Cadillac Building is probably a fat joke though Newberry seemed a tad portly but nothing out of the ordinary for an elderly gentleman of his time. The supposed President of the Yondotega Club bit at the end of the story must be an inside joke about Cameron Currie, then Chairman of the club. I won't vocalize the story in case some lost soul wanders in here, reads this and learns the punchline before the joke as I have done.

Evening News , April 1, 1904 This is a story that's perfectly fated for Yondotega Club lore. A real estate broker worth $50,000 (now roughly $2 million) named Daniel King was a heavy hitter when he came to Detroit in 1888, buying and selling some of the most valuable land in the city.  The crash of 1893 was blamed for destroying his fortune, for which he was never able to re-establish himself, became an invalid and died nearly penniless. Though his home at 302 East Jefferson, where the Yondotega Club would eventually take up residence for the next 60 some years, was already available in the Spring of 1891 so his financial woes must have began much earlier.

Detroit News , May 4, 1905 I am clearly the Edgar A. Guest of Yondotega Club history research bringing to the people the tabloid talk of the newspapers. Allen Edwards, presumably a club member himself, was all the talk of high society meetings due to a story he told of being struck by four falling ducks one evening about midnight while waiting for an interurban. The ducks had hit a light post and died at his feet. The next night they fed a dinner party at his home.

Detroit News , May 11, 1909 Two things have always held true: rich people form clubs and thieves go to where the goods are. In the case of the Yondotega Club, it was ripe for the picking. In this case it was the police-commissioner-elect Frank H. Croul who had his Oldsmobile roundabout swiped from in front of the old clubhouse during an official talk to the members, of which he was one (d. 1931). License plate #5424. Maroon with a top cover. It was later found at Chene and Mack Avenue. Detroit Times , May 11, 1909

Detroit Free Press , January 4, 1909 Scott Lewis was the perfect foil for the very respectable Reuben Davis as assistant steward of the Yondotega Club. His history with dogs is already documented with the 1926 case of his police dog attacking a boy and severely injuring him. In this instance Lewis injured a dog with a rifle blast. Luckily, it wasn't deadly as he only grazed the foot of the pup that he thought was a bear while hunting with friends who had set the canine upon him as a lark. How much of the story is true is left for time to tell but it sounds like a hunting story to me. Judging from the lingo used by the Free Press in quoting Lewis it depicts him as a hillbilly. I would almost have ventured to guess that he was a black man except that papers from that time generally noted if the person was a "negro" as they did with fellow steward Reuben Davis in his obituary.

Detroit News , May 5, 1923 Riches-to-rags stories are great fodder in comparison to hearing about yachts and tea parties and corporations owned. Florence Olcott Avery, an heiress to her Yondotega Club member father's timber fortune, forsook her inheritance to marry the family's French gardener Francis Barrigrand. At first hint of the blossoming romance, her mother whisked her off on a whirlwind tour of the states, enticing her with finery and antique books and disposed of the rose man. But the two reunited at first chance and sped off to New York and were married causing the family to publicly disown them. Which was fairly melodramatic considering that she was 42-years-old, living at home and had vowed not to marry a long line of potential suitors. After the nuptials she lived in River Rouge, renting a flat in a lady's home while her beau worked at the steel mill. To be closer to his job they moved to Pontiac before he eventually lost employment and they went underground. ...

Detroit Free Press , December 29, 1911 This is an interesting story on two fronts: 1) that the Yondotega members held a black servant named Reuben Davis in such high regard that they joined in on his funeral procession draped in floral offerings from the first families of the club 2) he was employed with the club for 30 years. The second part being the more enticing because it lends one to believe that the club was opened in 1881 instead of 1891. Or it could just be a typo. I've seen information suggesting that it went back a decade before the official opening but have seen no such official documentation.

Detroit News , July 7, 1902 Rufus Gillett Lathrop was one of those multi-industry men who excelled in several fields and made his way onto the Yondotega Club roster in good standing. This newspaper article recounts his elaborate stag party plotted out by his friends before being married in 1902 at the age of 30. 15 of his pals decided on renting out the Yolande, a specially designed entertainment car of the DUR. a double-truck, 53-passenger trolley, built in 1901 and which replaced the first Yolande car in 1902. I'm not sure which is pictured above but one would assume that the party embarked on the newest and shiniest of the two models. They traveled to Orchard Lake for a baseball game playing cards and drinking cold beer. Afterwards, Yondotega steward Reuben Davis reheated a pre-prepared meal which waiters served to the party. using the club's finest china. Unironically, Rufus would later become Secretary of the Detroit Department of Street Railways . He would also go on to b...

Detroit News , November 2, 1916 The World War I recession brought rising food prices that affected even the elites. Down at the Yondotega Club a "very substantial advance" in food cost was admitted while at the Fellowcraft Club, its 50 cent lunch being offered to members was costing the staff 72 cents to prepare.

Detroit News , August 20, 1904 The kitchen help was at it again getting in trouble with the law. This time a woman name Petrone Tupate - and something tells me that this is a wrong spelling - and her sweetheart Frank Shupis were caught embezzling silver cutlery from the Yondotega Club. In all 100 pieces of silver were recovered with charges pending. I'll leave this as a cliffhanger because I haven't pursued the story beyond finding this article.  

Detroit News , February 12, 1905 ( enlarge ) The Yondotega Club gets short shrift in this article on the lesser clubs of Detroit at the turn of the 20th century. The Valhalla Club is of particular interest because of its so-called "Spook House." The home was unrentable for some years and inhabitants had been knocked about. Bones were supposedly found there and a man named Flannigan held "lone smokers" - whatever in the hell that is - and flitted from room to room in ghostly attire. Perhaps he was getting his steps in! Anyway, it was supposedly haunted. I shall look into it!

New York Herald , April 12, 1902 Captain Cornelius Gardener was not unlike some politicos today who raise the ire of anybody arguing with them. As a Socialist officer in the United States military at the turn of the 20th century he was certainly an outlier and his politics did not sit well down at the Yondotega Club where he frequently lunched while stationed at Fort Wayne. His Populist and Socialist views did not mix well with ruling class Democrats and Republicans of the club and they let it be known that he was no longer welcomed. He acquiesced to their wishes and dined elsewhere.  He wasn't done making his mark in Detroit just yet. As an aide to Mayor Pingree he trained a host of urban farmers to grow potatoes on vacant land after the Panic of 1893 that helped to feed the poor and those in need during the economic downtime. There doesn't seem to be any extensive information on Gardener beyond the aforementioned and his briefing of military wrongdoing in the Philippines whe...

The Unionville Crescent , March 25, 1927 I've come across a few stories about Yondotega Club employees who ran afoul of the law and this is the second involving a chef. He being Scott Lewis and the trespass belonging to his police dog who bit the son of David Lynch (no, not that one!) severely enough for him to win a $250 judgment. Since the incident occurred on a public highway the fine was doubled per an 1850 law.

This Lee John Cowley print of the entrance of the Yondotega Club from the Detroit Historical Society is estimated to be from the 1940s so that would make it the original clubhouse at 518 East Jefferson in Detroit.

I was hoping for a larger copy of the clubhouse but this is the only one I have come across so far. Though, I'm sure somebody has a better copy. I've included a colorized version as well.

The Automobile , March 19, 1904 In March of 1904 Russell A. Alger, Jr., one of the founders of the Packard Motor Car Company, on a bet from a fellow Yondotega Club member drove across the frozen surface of Lake St. Clair, purportedly becoming the first person to do so. Tell that to the bootleggers.

Select Organizations in the United States by William Van Rensselaer Miller, 1896 This is another cursory glance at the Yondotega Club from the pen of Thomas S. Jerome who was an original member. It sets the entrance fee at $100 and annual dues at $40. Which seem like nominal fees in modern terms but was roughly $3,700 at the inception of the club in 1891 when the average salary of workers was $412 per year. The annual fee would have been roughly $1,464.

This article is from a spread in House & Garden from 1904, two years after the erection of the wall at the Yondotega Club . The above view was turned lengthwise in the publication. In the transfer of the pdf to jpg the above schematic was removed so I am guessing that there is either some copyright restriction on it or there is a rule against reproducing them. Either way, I have pieced the two together here and have removed the margins of all the other pages.  And the colorization of the above photos: