ETCHED IN OLD STONE: Take Down that Street Sign!

Smith-DORT

“A good name is as a thread tyed around the finger,

to make us mindful of the errand we came into the world to do for our master.”

(William Jenkins, Puritan minister, Christ Church, London. 1654)

TITUS DORT, JR., Michigan Statesman

It's difficult to know to what extent any of us might go in our efforts to uphold and honor the good name of a highly respected and beloved ancestor.  In the case of my third great-grandfather, Titus Dort, Jr., evidence suggests that efforts to preserve the family name sometimes meant removing it.  Literally.

The recent discovery of a small, yellowed newspaper clipping safely pressed between the pages of my mother's 92-year old baby book revealed a deeply personal, yet boldly public stand Titus' grandson took on an issue for which we will only know half of the story.

William Ten Eyck Dort was born in 1870 and raised in the Dearborn home of his grandfather Titus. He knew of his grandfather's many accomplishments as one of Michigan's first brick makers and politicians, whose lifetime of meritorious public service to the state and community earned him widespread respect.  (You can read more about Titus Dort, Jr. here.)  My mother, William's great niece, still remembers visiting her "Uncle Billy" on Dragoon Street in Detroit where he lived and worked as an electrician.  And that is where this story begins.

Dort Street originally located at red dot by Ambassador Bridge

Approximately two miles east of Dragoon, just off W. Fort, was a short street located between Eighteenth Street and Twentieth Street, bounded by Fort and Jefferson.  You might rightly assume that it would be called "Nineteenth Street" but was, instead, named Dort Street in honor of William's grandfather, Titus.  William would have passed this street often on his way into the city of Detroit.  And he would have undoubtedly witnessed the changes to that part of the city as the Ambassador Bridge was opened in 1929, spanning the Detroit River to Windsor, Canada -a very busy port of entry through which at least 25 percent of this nation's imported goods from Canada were being transported.  Dort Street, today called St. Anne Street, was less than two-tenths of a mile from that heavily traveled, noisy bridge.  Close proximity to the bridge and its related industry, atmosphere, and increased population would have dramatically changed the neighborhoods located nearby, including Dort Street.  In the following undated news clipping, we can only guess at the contributing factors that lead William to insist on changes that he felt necessary to uphold the "good name" of Dort... by taking down the street signs.  Uncle Billy even paid to have the signs replaced!

TRANSCRIPTION:

“WOULD DROP NAME OF KIN FROM DORT STREET

William T. Dort, of 1020 Dragoon ave., believes that Dort street should be changed to Nineteenth street, even though it was named after his grandfather, he told the Common Council Tuesday.

His grandfather, Titus Mortimer Dort, he said, was a justice of the peace in Detroit and the first to make bricks in Detroit. He also served as a State representative.

‘In view of the historical memory attached to my grandfather’s name, it would appear more fitting to discontinue the name,’ Dort added.

The street is a half block long, between W. Jefferson avenue and W. Fort street. Dort said that he was even willing to pay for changing the names on the street’s two signs. The Council granted his request.”