Events from the year 1915 in Michigan.

Office holders

State office holders

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the stat ...

Woodbridge N. Ferris Woodbridge Nathan Ferris (January 6, 1853March 23, 1928) was an American educator from New York, Illinois and Michigan who served as the 28th governor of Michigan and in the United States Senate as a Democrat. Early life in New York, Michigan a ...

(Democrat) *

Lieutenant Governor of Michigan The lieutenant governor of Michigan is the second-ranking official in U.S. state of Michigan, behind the governor. The current lieutenant governor by default is Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat, who has held the office since January 1, 2019. Proce ...

: Luren D. Dickinson (Republican) * Michigan Attorney General:

Grant Fellows Grant Fellows (April 13, 1865 – July 16, 1929) was an American jurist. Born in Hudson Township, Lenawee County, Michigan, Fellows went to Hudson High School in Hudson, Michigan. Fellows studied law and was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1886 ...

(Republican) * Michigan Secretary of State: Coleman C. Vaughan * Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives:

Charles W. Smith Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

(Republican) * Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court:

Mayors of major cities

* Mayor of Detroit: Oscar Marx (Republican) *

Mayor of Grand Rapids This is a list of mayors of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The current mayor is Rosalynn Bliss, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2016. References {{Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat ...

: George E. Ellis *

Mayor of Saginaw This is a list of mayors of Saginaw, Michigan. City of East Saginaw 1859–1889 The City of East Saginaw was incorporated in 1859 and existed until it was consolidated with the City of Saginaw in 1889 (effective 1890). The City Charter was granted ...

: Ard E. Richardson/Hilem F. Paddock

Federal office holders

* U.S. Senator from Michigan:

Charles E. Townsend Charles Elroy Townsend (August 15, 1856August 3, 1924) was an American lawyer who served as both a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the U.S. state, state of Michigan. He served in the United States Congress from 1903 to 1923. Early lif ...

(Republican) * U.S. Senator from Michigan:

William Alden Smith William Alden Smith (May 12, 1859 – October 11, 1932) was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan. After the 1912 sinking of the ''Titanic'', Smith chaired the Senate hearings into the disaster. The audience ...

(Republican) * House District 1:

Frank Ellsworth Doremus Frank Ellsworth Doremus (August 31, 1865 – September 4, 1947) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Early life Doremus was born in Venango County, Pennsylvania, on August 31, 1865, the son of Sylvester and Sarah Peake Doremus. Th ...

(Democrat) * House District 2:

Samuel Beakes Samuel Willard Beakes (January 11, 1861 – February 9, 1927) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Life and career Beakes was born in Sullivan County, New York to parents Elizabeth Bull and George M. Beakes. He attended Wallkill Ac ...

(Democrat) * House District 3:

John M. C. Smith John M. C. Smith (February 6, 1853 – March 30, 1923) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He served as U.S. Representative from Michigan's 3rd congressional district. Biography Smith was born in 1853 in Belfast on the Ireland, ...

(Republican) * House District 4:

Edward L. Hamilton Edward La Rue Hamilton (December 9, 1857 – November 2, 1923) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Hamilton was born in Niles Township, Michigan, where he attended grade school and graduated from the Niles High School in 1876. He ...

(Republican) * House District 5: Carl E. Mapes (Republican) * House District 6:

Samuel William Smith Samuel William Smith (August 23, 1852 – June 19, 1931), was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He was born in Independence Township and attended the common schools in Clarkston and Detroit. He began teaching school in 1869, serv ...

(Republican)/ Patrick H. Kelley (Republican) *

House District 7 A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

Louis C. Cramton Louis Convers Cramton (December 2, 1875 – June 23, 1966) was a politician and jurist from the U.S. state of Michigan. Cramton was born in Hadley Township, Michigan and attended the common schools of Lapeer County. He graduated from Lapeer ...

(Republican) * House District 8:

Joseph W. Fordney Joseph Warren Fordney (November 5, 1853 – January 8, 1932) was an American Republican politician from Saginaw, Michigan. He represented Saginaw County and the surrounding area of Central Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives for twenty-f ...

(Republican) * House District 9:

James C. McLaughlin James Campbell McLaughlin (January 26, 1858 – November 29, 1932) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. McLaughlin was born in Beardstown, Illinois. His parents, David and Isabella (Campbell) McLaughlin, had come from Edinburgh, Sco ...

(Republican) * House District 10:

Roy O. Woodruff Roy Orchard Woodruff (March 14, 1876 – February 12, 1953) was a politician, soldier, printer, and dentist from the U.S. state of Michigan. Woodruff was born of English and Scottish ancestry to Charles Woodruff and Electa A. (Wallace) Woodruff ...

(Progressive)/

George A. Loud Colonel George Alvin Loud (June 18, 1852 – November 13, 1925) was a politician and businessman from the U.S. state of Michigan. Loud was born in Bainbridge Township, Geauga County, Ohio, and moved with his parents ( Henry M. Loud and Vilitta K ...

(Republican) * House District 11:

Francis O. Lindquist Francis Oscar Lindquist (September 27, 1869 – September 25, 1924) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Lindquist was born in Marinette, Wisconsin on September 27, 1869 to a Norwegian-born mother and a Swedish-born father ...

(Republican)/

Frank D. Scott Frank Douglas Scott (August 25, 1878 – February 12, 1951) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Scott was born of Scottish ancestry in Alpena, Michigan, attended the public schools and graduated from the law department of the Univ ...

(Republican) * House District 12:

William Josiah MacDonald William Josiah MacDonald (November 17, 1873 – March 29, 1946) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. MacDonald was born in Potosi, Wisconsin. He attended the common schools and graduated from the high school at Fairmont, Minnesota ...

(Progressive)/ W. Frank James (Republican)

Population

Sports

Baseball

1915 Detroit Tigers season The 1915 Detroit Tigers won a then club-record 100 games and narrowly lost the American League pennant to the Boston Red Sox, who won 101 games. Though four other Tigers teams have won 100 games (1934, 1961, 1968, and 1984), only the 1934 Tiger ...

– The Tigers compiled a 100-54 record, the second best in club history, but finished in second place in the American League behind the Boston Red Sox. The Tigers' 1915 outfield of Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, and Bobby Veach finished first, second, and third in the American League in both runs batted in and total bases and was selected by baseball historian

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. ...

as the best in major league history. * 1915

Michigan Wolverines baseball The Michigan Wolverines baseball team represents the University of Michigan in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Michigan athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games ...

season - Under head coach

Carl Lundgren Carl Leonard "Lundy" Lundgren (February 16, 1880 – August 21, 1934) was an American baseball and football player and coach. Lundgren played football and baseball for the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and played eight seasons o ...

, the Wolverines compiled a 16–7–3 record. Edmund McQueen was the team captain. George Sisler played first base and pitcher for the team.

American football

* 1915 Detroit Heralds season - Under head coach Bill Marshall, the team compiled a 5–1–1 record. *

1915 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1915 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan as an independent during the 1915 college football season. In its 15th season under head coach was Fielding H. Yost the team co ...

– Under head coach

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

, the Wolverines compiled a 4–3–1 record. * 1915 Michigan Agricultural Aggies football team – * 1915 Western State Hilltoppers football team - *

1915 Michigan State Normal Normalites football team The 1915 Michigan State Normal Normalites football team represented Michigan State Normal College (later renamed Eastern Michigan University) during the 1915 college football season. The team compiled a record of 4–2–1, shut out five of th ...

– * 1910 Detroit Titans football team –

Chronology of events

Births

* January 11 - Lucille Farrier Stickel, wildlife toxicologist whose research on contaminants in wildlife ecosystems and on the pesticide DDT helped form the basis for Rachel Carson's '' Silent Spring'', in

Hillman, Michigan Hillman is a village in the Alpena County, Michigan, Alpena and Montmorency County, Michigan, Montmorency counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 638 in 2019. Nearly all of the village is located within Hillman Township, Michigan ...

* March 14 -

Roy Kellerman Roy Herman Kellerman (March 14, 1915 – March 22, 1984) was a U.S. Secret Service senior agent who was assigned to protect United States President John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas. In his reports, later tes ...

, U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated, in

New Baltimore, Michigan New Baltimore is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 12,117 at the 2020 census. New Baltimore is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is located along the northern shores of Lake St. Clair. History Ne ...

* April 10 - Harry Morgan, actor (Bill Gannon on '' Dragnet'', Colonel Sherman T. Potter in ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The ...

''), in Detroit * April 13 - Bob Devaney, head football coach at Wyoming (1957–1961) and Nebraska (1962–1972), and athletic director at Nebraska (1967–1993), in Saginaw, Michigan * May 19 -

Elman Service Elman Rogers Service (1915–1996) was an American cultural anthropologist. Biography He was born on May 18, 1915 in Tecumseh, Michigan and died on November 14, 1996 in Santa Barbara, California. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1941 from the ...

, cultural anthropologist who researched Latin American Indian ethnology, cultural evolution, and theory and method in ethnology, in

Tecumseh, Michigan Tecumseh is a city in Lenawee County in the U.S. state of Michigan, near the River Raisin. Tecumseh is about southwest of Detroit, south of Ann Arbor, and north of Toledo, Ohio. The main street of downtown is Chicago Boulevard, also designat ...

* June 15 -

Thomas Huckle Weller Thomas Huckle Weller (June 15, 1915 – August 23, 2008) was an American virologist. He, John Franklin Enders and Frederick Chapman Robbins were awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1954 for showing how to cultivate poliomyelitis ...

, virologist who received Nobel Prize in 1954 for showing how to cultivate poliomyelitis viruses in a test tube, in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

Deaths

* November 16 -

Julius C. Burrows Julius Caesar Burrows (January 9, 1837November 16, 1915) was a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan. Early life and education Burrows was born in North East, Pennsylvania and moved then with his parents to Ashtabu ...

, United States Senator from Michigan (1895-1911), at age 78 in Kalamazoo

References

{{Michigan year nav