John L.D. Springsteen, 1919-1934

Aden and Verda Springsteen’s oldest child, John L.D., died at the age of fourteen after a farming accident. I was tempted to title this article Johnny, we hardly knew ye, which is probably fair use of a copyright but I didn’t want to investigate that question. I don’t know if anyone still living remembers John, and I never knew much about him. Dad remembered his brother as Johnny. When I recently found and scanned some pictures of John I thought it might be a good time to leave a remembrance of him here.

A farmer’s son

John L.D. Springsteen was born October 21, 1919 in Clinton County, Michigan, probably at his parents’ home in DeWitt.[1] Grandma (Verda) Olsen told me that she and Aden had moved into a house next to the school in DeWitt a couple of weeks before Johnny was born. That house was owned by Aden’s parents, L.D. and Agnes Springsteen. Verda’s mother Loretta Case came to serve as midwife for John’s birth.

John was probably named after John Case, Verda’s brother and Aden’s close friend. His middle initials were a recognition of his grandfather Loyal Davis Springsteen who was generally called L.D. In turn, John’s brother Donovan “Mick” Springsteen named his first son John L.D., who then passed the name to his son.

In January 1920 the census enumerator recorded Aden and Verda with baby John on Washington Street in DeWitt.[2] Aden was a farm laborer, perhaps working for his father. Aden and Verda had lived with his parents on the Brink farm west of DeWitt until they moved into town next to the school. At some point in time Aden tried his hand at factory work for Oldsmobile and a local cheese factory, but he remained a farmer at heart. He might also have done some butchering work for a neighbor on Washington Street.

Apparently before the year was out Johnny moved with his parents to a farm on Howe Road west of DeWitt owned by Victor Henning. Johnny’s brother Donovan was born there in January 1921, followed by their sister Lorna in September 1922.

Their growing family moved to the Brink farm when L.D. and Agnes moved to a farm owned by the City of Lansing on Elmwood in Delta Township of Eaton County. John gained another brother on the Brink farm in 1924, my father Edwin.

Sometime before June 1927, when their sister Madge was born, Aden and Verda’s family moved to a farm on Willow in Delta Township that was also owned by the City of Lansing. These “city farms,” as they were called by the family, were operated as piggeries for municipal garbage disposal.

The 1930 census found John with his family on a farm in Fairplain Township just south of Sheridan in Montcalm County.[3] Aden and Verda bought this farm about the time John turned ten years old. His Uncle John and Aunt Vida Case lived on a farm across the road, now state highway M-66, in Bushnell Township. John Case had bought both farms and sold one to Aden. This farm was John Springsteen’s home for the rest of his days.

John’s youngest brother Harold was born in November 1929 and his youngest sister Loretta in March 1931. Both were reportedly born in Lansing. Sometime between Loretta’s birth and John’s death the family posed for a portrait in their home. This is the only picture I have seen of the entire family.

John apparently finished the seventh grade in 1934. Here is the cover of his Webster Speller.

On or around July 28, 1934 John was injured on their farm, sustaining a broken leg. I think I remember Dad saying he was caught somehow between a tractor and machinery being hitched to the tractor. He was taken to the hospital in Edmore, where he contracted pneumonia and then empyema. He died in the hospital on August 30.[4]

Remembering John

What might have become of John had he lived a longer life? Would he have been a farmer? He might very likely have gone to war. We can conjecture about those who seem to have gone too soon, but we just don’t see clearly now. Certainly, John’s name lives on.

John was buried in the Sheridan Cemetery, about a half mile from his family home. Hopefully this brief sketch will serve as a memory of his life among us.

Notes

[1]“Death Records, 1921-1947,” database with images, Seeking Michigan, (http://seekingmichigan.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16317coll1/id/637805, accessed 15 August 2018), Certificate of death, John L.D. Springsteen, Michigan Department of Health.

[2]“United States Census, 1920,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZSK-1RQ: accessed 15 July 2018), John D Springsteen in household of Aden Springsteen, De Witt, Clinton, Michigan, United States; citing ED 5, sheet 5A, line 32, family 146, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 761; FHL microfilm 1,820,761.

[3]“United States Census, 1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQ1D-PT8: accessed 15 July 2018), John Springsten in household of Aden L Springsten, Fairplain, Montcalm, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 15, sheet 1A, line 8, family 3, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1013; FHL microfilm 2,340,748.

[4]“Death Records, 1921-1947,” database with images, Seeking Michigan, (http://seekingmichigan.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16317coll1/id/637805, accessed 15 August 2018), Certificate of death, John L.D. Springsteen, Michigan Department of Health.