Temperance — In 1973, the town ended its 40-year drought following the repeal of the 18th Amendment’s prohibition of alcohol. Tolly’s Confectionary obtained a license to sell beer and wine, ending a nearly 100-year ban on booze sales in the community. Even though Michigan was the first state to ratify the 21st Amendment, Temperance still didn’t want a single drop.
Since the 1880s, the town remained bone dry. Lewis and Marietta Ansted’s “Temperance Clause,” which prohibited the production and sale of “intoxicating liquors” for incoming landowners, kept the town temperate. Lewis Ansted became the founding postmaster of Bedford Center, the town’s original name. But the U. S. Postal Service wanted something different since there were so many “Centers” around the area. They asked Ansted to submit a more unique name. He picked one that fit his political and religious ideologies.
The Ansteds had a 140-acre farm on the northeast corner of West Temperance Road and Lewis Avenue. As they sold off parcels of land, they included the prohibitionist clause. Incoming residents weren’t allowed to buy Ansted property unless they signed a deed with the clause. Hence, the town of Temperance was a temperate utopia. That is until 1933, when Michigan was the first state to ratify the 21st Amendment.
This little utopia stood alone in Monroe County. Booze smugglers frequented Monroe because it was full of customers. Canadians were only a boat ride away and could sell $60 worth of alcohol for $200 to thirsty Michiganders. Toledo added to the mess. Detroit’s Purple Gang traveled up and down from Toledo, which left Monroe sandwiched in the middle. Northern reaches of Monroe County were bustling with booze, so residents flocked to Newport and Estrel Beach to get “wet.”
But all this was during Prohibition. Once Michigan repealed the 18th Amendment, the battle over intemperance began in Temperance. For a short time, alcohol sales were technically allowed. But in 1935, residents described liquor sales as “an outrage to society,” so they stopped it by popular demand. Then, in 1951, Ross Jacobs and his wife wished to turn their grocery store into a liquor store. They obtained a license for selling beer and hard liquor.
But two local pastors fought back with a petition signed by 185 names from Temperance and Bedford Township (most likely from heads of households). That was a majority of Temperance’s population. But some supporters of the Jacobs said things like, “The preachers would have you believe the good people of the town are boycotting the Jacobs that their trade comes from Ohio. That is balony.” According to wet residents, people loved what the Jacobs family was doing.
But such critics were proved wrong again and again. A headline in the March 25, 1951, issue of the Toledo Blade said, “Good Citizens of Temperance Aflutter as Demon Rum Perils Town’s Fair Name.” Temperance won. They went on to win battles of this nature for over two more decades. Several businesses tried to obtain liquor licenses and failed. The locals wanted to live up to the name.
That is, until 1973. The fervor had waned, and Mrs. Ida Tolly’s Confectionery became the first establishment in town to obtain a license. Today, Temperance has a liquor store and several gas stations that sell liquor. The last place in Michigan to stay dry was Hudsonville, which finally caved in 2007.
Modern Temperance looks like any other small town in Michigan. Plenty of people drink Busch Light, Maker’s Mark, and Two Hearted Ale. The last remnant of the Ansted’s prohibitionism would be found in local Baptist and Charismatic congregations that still uphold a level of abstinence. But their influence is little noticed.
To understand why people like the Ansteds gained such a hold on Temperance, it’s vital to see the American Protestant connection. In a way, the Temperance Movement stems back to the Second Great Awakening when men like Charles Finney advocating for abstinence. From the mid-1800s until Prohibition, the Baptists and Free Methodists led the charge in pouring all alcohol down the drain. Lewis and Marietta Ansted were members of Temperance’s Free Methodist Church. Mrs. Ansted was also a member of the Christian Women’s Temperance Union.
The Baptists and Methodists were successful in holding liquor at bay for nearly 100 years. But in the 1950s and ‘60s, many from Toledo moved into Temperance to enjoy more space, and the newcomers didn’t hold to the same values. The history of when the “Temperance Clause” became obsolete is unclear. According to Mrs. Tolly, “Ansteds had a specific statement about liquor in their deed, but we do not. Anyway, even Ansteds’ deed no longer means anything around here.”
The irony is that the Temperance Movement claimed the Bible “pronounces no blessing upon drinking, but many upon total abstinence.” The leaders of this movement must have broken their spectacles. How did they miss Isaiah 25 saying God’s people will drink aged wine on Mount Zion? Wine is a mocker, according to the Bible, but it also states that wine makes the heart glad. Was not Christ’s first miracle the turning of water into wine?
To understand today’s Temperance, Michiganders must remember Mark Twain’s quote that “to promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing.” Mr. Ansted believed he was doing good for Monroe County. But history agrees with Twain. The mannishness of man cannot be suppressed.
Since the beginning, we have cultivated the ground and made alcohol. Obviously, drunkenness has destroyed families. Yet, the improper use of a thing doesn’t negate its proper and permissible usage. The overcorrection of one wrong led to smuggling, mobs, and lots of bloodshed.
Noah Wing is a contributing writer for Michigan Enjoyer.
