Epic Adventures...and Pancakes
As happens sometimes, we were looking in the collection for items related to one Mershon and found a lovely collection of typed recipes saved by a different Mershon. In this case, the recipe belonged to William B. Mershon, Jr.
The pancake recipe we selected, Mershon noted, was from his father’s private train car chef, Albert W. Marden. Marden seems to have done well for himself. His first notation in city directories labels him a cook, while he later moves closer to downtown and is listed as “chef.”
Mershon’s records of these recipes are replete with typos, addenda, and missing ingredients. For example, we needed to beat eggs that are not in the ingredient list. We decided to go with 2 eggs.
The Recipe: Marden Pan Cakes
W. Marden was chef for my father and his friends on the private car and at other places.
3 C sour milk (buttermilk)
1 ½ tsp baking soda
3 TBS sugar
3 cups sifted flour.
A pinch of salt
6 tsp baking powder.
Beat eggs, add milk to soda. Mix well and add three cups sifted flour, pinch of salt and sugar. Beat well and let stand fifteen minutes then add 6 tsp baking powder and whip well.
CTK Notes: This recipe produced restaurant-style pancakes. They were very good.
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The Adventures
In Saginaw’s history, William B. Mershon, Jr. is often overshadowed by his lumber baron father. However, Mershon Jr. had adventures and successes in his own right, and he was well-respected during his life.
Saginaw’s press loved to note his exploits, and by the end of his life, he was affectionately dubbed Colonel, although that isn’t fully accurate.
He did have a distinguished military career. He was one of the first men in Saginaw to volunteer for World War I, entering the Army as a private in April 1917. After basic training, he was sent to France in September 1917, already a second lieutenant.
Following the war, he returned home but remained in the Army Reserves, where he became a captain. By 1940, he had been promoted to major, and when World War II arrived, he entered federal service and was ordered to duty at Fort Riley in Kansas, where he was stationed at the cavalry school. In June 1942, Mershon was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
While his years of service are impressive, he also had a variety of work and service in Saginaw as well. He was president of the Atlas Oil Company in 1926. He was named a director of the Bank of Saginaw in 1932. He also served as the chairman for the Salvation Army, chaired the Army-Navy Club, and served as commissioner of the Humane Society, among other efforts.
He followed in his father’s footsteps in both a love of hunting and a concern for environmental conservation. He led the local Boy Scouts in partnership with Kiwanis to plant hundreds of white pine saplings for many years. He also spoke about conservation and reforestation to the Research Club in 1926.
In 1924, Mershon became a sought-after speaker as Saginawians clamored to hear of his tales of big game hunting in British East Africa (Kenya). The papers detailed the ten-week trip from letters sent home, and then multiple clubs featured Mershon’s presentations. Decades later, the Saginaw news still mentioned his Africa trip, demonstrating how it gripped the region’s imagination.
After a trip to view horses in California, William Mershon, Jr. married Irene (Rene) Temby of Alameda, California on April 13, 1925. Their wedding took place in Honolulu. Rene Mershon would later be a sought-after speaker on the topic of Hawaii.
In the 1930s, the Mershons started spending less time in Saginaw. They bought a winter home in Sea Island, Georgia, but it seems to have become a most-of-the-year home until Mershon was sent for duty at Fort Riley, Kansas. The Mershons relocated to Kansas for the duration of the war. Despite his absence, the papers kept a commentary on his comings and goings, including a full feature in 1937 about Saginawians that winter elsewhere.
In the 1940s, the Mershons began to keep a summer home in Poughkeepsie, New York, along with their winter home in Sea Island, GA. The papers note that they visited for weddings and events, but they no longer reside at the family estate on N. Michigan. When in town, William and Rene took a suite at the Bancroft Hotel.
Irene passed away in 1960, and William soon remarried. His new bride was also from Saginaw - June Snow Wallace. The pair spent only a year in Poughkeepsie before permanently relocating back to Saginaw.
William Mershon, Jr. died in July 1969. The following November, on Veterans Day, June made tribute to her late husband by honoring a tradition he had begun in the 1940s. Wherever he was in the world, Mershon always telegrammed the Saginaw Club to share a champagne toast on his tab. June paid for the toast in 1969, saying her husband would have wanted to continue the toast.
