The Bath School Disaster: A Chronicle of Tragedy and Its Aftermath

The Bath School disaster was a series of violent attacks perpetrated by Andrew Kehoe upon the Bath Consolidated School in Bath Township, Michigan, on May 18, 1927. This devastating event remains one of the deadliest school attacks in United States history.

The Events of May 18, 1927

On that fateful morning, Andrew Kehoe, the school treasurer of Bath Township, detonated explosives he had previously planted underneath the school building, killing 38 people. As rescue efforts began, Kehoe drove to the school in a truck he filled with shrapnel and explosives and detonated it, killing himself and four other people.

The north wing of the school had collapsed, leaving the edge of the roof on the ground. Ellsworth recalled that "there was a pile of children of about five or six under the roof". He volunteered to drive back to his farm and get a rope heavy enough to pull the school roof off the children's bodies. Returning to his farm, he saw Kehoe driving in the opposite direction, heading toward the school. "He grinned and waved his hand," Ellsworth said.

Kehoe drove up to the school about half an hour after the first explosion. He saw Superintendent Emory Huyck and summoned him over to his truck. Charles Rawson testified at the coroner's inquest that he saw the two men grapple over some type of long gun before Kehoe detonated the explosives stored in his truck, immediately killing himself, Huyck, retired farmer Nelson McFarren, and Cleo Clayton, an 8-year-old second-grader. The truck explosion spread debris over a large area and caused extensive damage to cars parked a half-block away, with their roofs catching on fire from the burning gasoline. It injured several others and mortally wounded postmaster Glenn O. Smith, who lost a leg and died before making it to the hospital.

The Perpetrator: Andrew Kehoe

Andrew Philip Kehoe was born in Tecumseh, Michigan on February 1, 1872 into a family of 13 children and attended the local high school. After graduating, he studied electrical engineering at Michigan State College in East Lansing and moved to St. Louis for a time. Kehoe married Ellen "Nellie" Price in 1912 at the age of 40. Seven years later, they moved to a farm outside Bath Township.

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Kehoe was Bath's school board treasurer. He was angered by increased taxes and being defeated in the April 5, 1926 election for Bath township clerk. It was thought by locals that he had planned revenge following his defeat. Kehoe had a reputation as a difficult man, both on the school board and in his personal life. In addition, he was notified in June 1926 that his mortgage was soon to be foreclosed. Following the disaster, the sheriff who had served the foreclosure notice reported that Kehoe had muttered, "If it hadn't been for that $300 school tax I might have paid off this mortgage".

Kehoe had a reputation for frugality. He was elected in 1924 as a trustee on the school board for three years and treasurer for one year. He argued strongly for lower taxes, and later superintendent of the board M. W. Keyes said that he "fought the expenditure of money for the most necessary equipment". Kehoe was considered difficult, often voting against the rest of the board, wanting his own way and arguing with the township's financial authorities. He protested that he paid too much in taxes and tried to have the valuation of his property reduced to lower his tax burden.

In 1922, the Bath Township school tax was $12.26 for every $1,000 valuation of a property, with the valuation on Kehoe's farm being $10,000. In 1923, the school board raised the tax to $18.80 per $1,000 valuation and in 1926 the taxes increased to $19.80. This meant that Kehoe's tax liability increased from $122.60 in 1922 to $198.00 in 1926.

This public rejection by the community angered him. This defeat may have triggered Kehoe's desire for murderous revenge, using the bombings to destroy the Bath Consolidated School and kill the community's children and many of its members.

Planning and Preparation

There is no clear indication of when Kehoe had the idea of massacring the schoolchildren and townspeople, but Ellsworth, who was a neighbor, thought that he conceived his plan after being defeated in the 1926 clerk election. The consensus of the townspeople was that he had worked on his plan at least since the previous August. Bath School Board member M. W. Keyes stated, "I have no doubt that he made his plans last Fall [1926] to blow up the school … He was an experienced electrician and the board employed him in November to make some repairs on the school lighting system." Kehoe had free access to the school building during the summer vacation of 1926.

From mid-1926, he began buying more than a ton of pyrotol, an incendiary explosive used by farmers in that era for excavation and burning debris. In November 1926 he drove to Lansing and bought two boxes of dynamite at a sporting goods store. Dynamite was also commonly used on farms, so his purchase of small amounts of explosives at different stores and on different dates did not raise any suspicions. Prior to the day of the disaster, Kehoe had loaded the back seat of his truck with metal debris capable of producing shrapnel during an explosion. He also bought a new set of tires for his truck to avoid breaking down when transporting the explosives. He made many trips to Lansing for more explosives, as well as to the school, the township, and his house.

It was discovered later that Kehoe had cut all of his wire fences as part of his preparations to destroy his farm, girdling young shade trees to kill them and cutting his grapevine plants before returning them to their stumps to hide the damage.

Nellie Kehoe's Death

Nellie was discharged from Lansing's St. Lawrence Hospital on May 16, and was murdered by her husband some time between her release and the bombings two days later. Kehoe put her body in a wheelbarrow at the rear of the farm's chicken coop, where it was found in a heavily charred condition after the farm explosions and fire. Piled around the cart were silverware and a metal cash box. State troopers had searched for Nellie Kehoe throughout Michigan, thinking that she was at a tuberculosis sanatorium, but her charred remains were found the day after the disaster, among the ruins of the farm.

The Rescue and Recovery Efforts

Eyewitnesses and survivors were interviewed afterwards by newspaper reporters. "… the air seemed to be full of children and flying desks and books. Mother after mother came running into the school yard, and demanded information about her child and, on seeing the lifeless form lying on the lawn, sobbed and swooned … In no time more than 100 men at work tearing away the debris of the school, and nearly as many women were frantically pawing over the timber and broken bricks for traces of their children. I saw one mother, Mrs. Eugene Hart, sitting on the bank a short distance from the school with a little dead girl on each side of her and holding a little boy, Percy, who died a short time after they got him to the hospital. This was about the time Kehoe blew his car up in the street, severely wounding Perry, the oldest child of Mr. Hart."

O. H. Bush recalled that one of his crew bound up "the wounds of Glenn Smith, the postmaster. Telephone operators stayed at their stations for hours to summon doctors, undertakers, area hospital workers, and anyone else who might help. The Lansing Fire Department sent several firefighters and its chief. Local physician J. A. Crum and his wife, a nurse, who had both served in World War I, turned their Bath Township drugstore into a triage center. Hundreds of people worked in the wreckage all day and into the night in an effort to find and rescue any children pinned underneath. Area contractors sent all their men to assist, and many other people came to the scene in response to pleas for help. Eventually, thirty-four firefighters and the chief of the Lansing Fire Department arrived, as did several Michigan State Police officers who managed traffic to and from the scene. Michigan governor Fred W. Green arrived during the afternoon of the disaster and assisted in the relief work, carting bricks away from the scene. The injured and dying were transported to Sparrow Hospital and St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing.

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During the search for survivors and victims, rescuers found an additional 500 pounds (230 kg) of dynamite which had failed to detonate in the south wing of the school. Investigators speculated that the initial explosion may have caused a short circuit in the second set of bombs, preventing them from detonating. Police and fire officials gathered at the Kehoe farm to investigate the fires there. All the Kehoe farm buildings were destroyed. Kehoe's two horses had burned to death, trapped inside the barn.

Community Response and Aftermath

The American Red Cross set up an operations center at the Crum drugstore and took the lead in providing aid and comfort to the victims. The Lansing Red Cross headquarters stayed open until 11:30 that night to answer telephone calls, update the list of dead and injured, and provide information and planning services for the following day. The local community responded generously, as reported at the time by the Associated Press: "a sympathetic public assured the rehabilitation of the stricken community. Aid was tendered freely in the hope that the grief of those who lost loved ones might be even slightly mitigated." The Red Cross managed donations sent to pay for medical expenses of the survivors and the burial costs of the deceased.

The disaster received nationwide coverage in the days following, sharing headlines with Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic crossing and eliciting a national outpouring of grief. People from across the world expressed sympathy to the families and the community of Bath Township, including letters from some Italian schoolchildren. One 5th grade class wrote: "Even if we are small, we understand all the sorrow and misfortune that has struck our dear brothers".

Vehicles from outlying areas and surrounding states descended upon Bath Township by the thousands. Over 100,000 vehicles passed through on Saturday alone, an enormous amount of traffic for the area.

The Inquest and Exoneration of the School Board

The coroner arrived at the scene on the day of the disaster and swore in six community leaders that afternoon to serve as a jury investigating the death of Superintendent Huyck. Informal testimony had been taken on May 19 and the formal coroner's inquest started on May 23. The Clinton County prosecutor conducted the examination, and more than 50 people testified before the jury.

During his testimony, David Hart stated that Kehoe had told him that he had "killed a horse" and The New York Times reported people as saying that Kehoe had "an ungovernable temper" and "seemed to have a mania for killing things". Kehoe's neighbor Sidney J. Howell testified that after the fire began at the Kehoe farm, Kehoe warned him and three men to leave there, saying, "Boys, you are my friends, you better get out of here, you better go down to the school." Three telephone linemen working near Bath Township testified that Kehoe passed them in his truck on the road toward the school, and they saw him arrive there. His truck swerved and stopped in front of the building.

Although there was never any doubt that Kehoe was the perpetrator, the jury was asked to determine if the school board or its employees were guilty of criminal negligence. After more than a week of testimony, the jury exonerated the school board and its employees of any criminal negligence.

Rebuilding and Remembrance

School resumed on September 5, 1927, and, for the 1927â1928 school year, was held in the community hall, township hall, and two retail buildings. Most of the surviving students returned. The board appointed O. M. Brant of Luther, Michigan, to succeed Huyck as superintendent. Lansing architect Warren Holmes donated construction plans, and the school board approved the contracts for a new building on September 14. The board demolished the damaged portion of the school and constructed a new wing with the donated funds.

Bath County Schools Today

Bath County Schools is a school district in Kentucky (Bath County). Bath County Schools operates five schools. As of the 2023-2024 school year, Bath County Schools had 132.75 full-time classroom teachers.

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