Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.
Applewood Estate June 6th, 1924
The thirty four acre Applewood
estate was built by Charles Stewart Mott in 1916. It was created to be a
self-sustaining farm for his wife and children. The grounds contained several
gardens and an orchard.
Charles Stewart Mott married
Ethel Harding in New York in 1900. The Mott family moved to Flint in 1907 after
his father died. He was the owner of his uncle’s motor company and moved it to
Flint after receiving an invitation from Billy Durant. The company did well,
and eventually merged with Buick Motors. The merger created the foundation for General
Motors.
Mott’s wife Ethel became an
active social worker in Flint. She was a member of the board of directors of
the Young Women’s Christian association and the Child Welfare association. She
was also active in a movement to get Hurley hospital to provide a maternity
ward and children’s hospital. Ethel Mott played a key role in providing better
health and living conditions for the women and children of Flint.
On the morning of June 6th, while
the family was downstairs having breakfast, Ethel fell from her second story
bedroom window. The gardener heard the awful sound of the body hitting the
ground and quickly went to see what happened.
He found Mrs. Mott lying on the
pavement in pain. He rushed into the house to get help. The family physician
was called and Ethel was brought into the house. The physician noted that she
broke her elbow, wrist and hip and gave her something for the pain until they
could schedule surgery. Shortly after the physician left, Ethel Mott died from
internal injuries.
The fall was considered to be an
accident but there were rumors that she jumped. Some whispered that she was
pushed.
Charles Stewart Mott’s love life
seemed to be plagued for nearly a decade. A few years later in 1927, he met and
married his second wife, Mitties Butterfield. In early 1928 Mitties died from
complications of tonsillitis.
Then in the spring of 1929 Mott
met and married Dee Furey. The relationship did not last long and by the end of
the same year Dee filed for divorce. Giving up on love and diving into the
challenges that arrived in the auto industry during the depression, he devoted his
time to his work.
In 1932 on one of his frequent
trips out west Mott met his distant cousin Ruth. The two fell in love, and were
married in 1934. He finally found his happily ever after.
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