The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Past Tense
Crooked Tree stood guard
By Martha Churchill, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: February 15, 2007
Plenty of people have pictures taken of their kids, their friends, their parents and even their dogs. On March 3, 1938, Leland Schultz was in the mood for having a picture taken of his Mobil gas station on US-23, in the heart of Milan, at the corner of Dexter and County streets.
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It was the perfect time and place to have a gas station. Leland's son, Duane Schultz, who owns and operates a Chrysler dealership across the street from that gas station, remembers Milan had 16 gas stations and seven car dealerships.
This was all possible because a heavy stream of cars flowed through the center of Milan on US-23, turning off Dexter onto County Street, then turning south onto Wabash toward Toledo.
Today's photo shows the Mobil station, with a sign at the top saying "Moreland." That probably referred to the fuel supplier in Dundee named Moreland. Piles of packed snow and ice are visible in this picture, melting in the cool March air.
Notice the barn on the right on the west side of Dexter Street. The famous Crooked Tree was preparing to leaf out for another glorious summer.
Duane Schultz was a few days away from his 11th birthday when this picture was taken, but he remembers exactly what kind of car was parked by the gas station. It was a 1937 Oldsmobile four-door purchased from Johnnie Bruckner's dealership. The dealership was located across the street from the Mobil station.
The gas station seen in this picture was the first of several built on that spot. First, a house had to be moved out of the way. The house ended up west of town on County Street and became home to late historian Warren Hale and his wife, Dee. With the house safely out of the way, gas station owners were free to build various structures in front of Milan's famous Crooked Tree.
Leland Schultz came from a farming family in southern Milan Township. His father, Albert Schultz, was born in 1882 in "East Milan," as they referred to Azalia at that time. In 1902, Albert was married to Jessie Osborne, a young lady from Cone, and the two settled in that farming community for a few years.
Albert and Jessie had one child, Leland, who was born in 1904. When the boy was 4 years old, apparently Albert decided to quit farming and head for the big city. He worked at the Ideal Furnace Co. and supported his family that way until 1923, when he was 41 years old, and he died of a lung infection.
Leland was left to find his own way, and he got a job working for Norman and Ada Eighme (pronounced "Amy") at the bakery downtown. He caught the eye of Maurine Farmer, a granddaughter of Charles Blackmer. Milan history buffs will recognize that name, as Blackmer established a grocery store in the center of the downtown, then set up an undertaking business at 112 E. Main St.
In 1925, Leland was married to Maurine in her family home, the red brick house her grandfather Blackmer had built at 122 E. Main St. The house is located partly in Monroe County and partly in Washtenaw, but it was a great convenience for Maurine's grandfather, Blackmer. He could get out of bed, walk a few feet next door, and be at the funeral parlor, ready to do business.
It was 1933 when Leland first opened his Mobil gas station on County Street. In 1939, he moved his family into a brick home at 310 Lafayette St. Maurine was employed at the Milan State Bank, working her way up to vice president, and their son, Duane, was finishing high school and joining the Navy.
In the 1940s, Leland took over a second gas station, a Gulf station on Wabash Street, where the fire department is located today. In 1945, he signed on with Chrysler for a dealership at that same location.
Duane said the business climate in Milan changed drastically in the 1950s when US-23 bypassed the city. The steady parade of cars needing gas, and drivers needing new cars, slowed down.
Leland Schultz retired in 1971, leaving the business to his son, Duane, and his wife, Isabelle Bruckner. Even without US-23 going through town, Duane and his wife bought that Oldsmobile dealership from John Bruckner in 1978, moving the Chrysler dealership to the new location.
That sale must have been a happy occasion for everyone because Bruckner was retiring, and leaving the place in good hands, with his daughter and son-in-law.
The Crooked Tree always stood guard over the various gas stations on that corner –– until 1960, that is. In that year, the towering maple finally gave in to the effects of old age, and was unceremoniously turned into mulch by the Milan Department of Public Works.
Someday soon I hope to see new crooked trees growing in and around Milan, living proof that as the times change, we can bend without breaking.
Martha Churchill is a member of the Milan Area Historical Society. She can be reached at 439-4055 or Martha@marthachurchill.com.
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