Ben Schmidt

Ben was born into the large, blue collar, working family of Willam and Susan Schmidt. His parents had 11 children during their marriage and the family was supported by his father working as a lather in the housing trades, applying the wooden cleats to the walls upon which the finish plaster would be applied. The whole family was called upon for support and Ben dropped out of school after only the 6th grade to enter the work force. He and many of his brothers apprenticed under their father as lathers. For a brief period around 1900, he was employed as a "brush maker", but soon returned to his father's craft, except for a brief period during WWI when he worked as a welder at the Packard Motors plant in Detroit.

In 1...