Grandmother's Brothers - In the Middle, Harry

Harry Russell Doty was born August 2, 1891 at the Monroe County, Michigan homestead.  When his father died in 1910, he was about nineteen years old.  All of a sudden, he was thrown, with brother Guy, into more responsiblity for the home farm.

Harry is in the back row, left side.

He filed his World War I draft registration when he was 25, on the same day as his brother, Guy.  On June 5, 1917, he reported that he worked at the Monroe Gas, Light and Fuel Company at 20 Washington Street, Monroe.  He described himself as of medium height and build, with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.  When asked if he was disabled in any way, he answered no, but he was recovering from a series of internal operations.


Several years later, on October 30, 1919, Harry married Martha Yoas in the First Presbyterian Church at the Monroe manse.  When the census taker came around a few months later in January 1920, the couple resided at 308 West Elm Street in Monroe.  Harry had a job as a pipe fitter at the Bender Board Mill.  Both were 29 years old.

By 1930, the couple had moved to 118 West Noble Street in Monroe and owned a home worth about $8500.  Daughters Kathleen, 7, and Bonnie 2 8/12 were now a part of the family and with the family lived two roomers, Marcella Poupard, 18, an instructor at the telephone company, and Jasper Mathias, 28, a telephone lineman.  Harry worked as a salesman of electrical appliances.

Later, Harry entered into law enforcement, serving as a deputy.  In 1938, he ran for Monroe County sheriff and won.  He served for two years and was defeated in the next election.  Just as his brother was, Harry was very active in his community and church, and also like his brother, Guy, Harry died of heart disease at an early age.  He was just 50 when he died on April 2, 1942.

This obituary appeared in the Monroe Evening News on the day of his death:
"HARRY R. DOTY, EX-SHERIFF, DIES
Veteran Law Enforcement Officer Succumbs to Heart Ailment
Former Sheriff Harry R. Doty died in Mercy Hospital at 1:15 this morning of a heart condition which developed after a stroke of paralysis suffered on January 11.  Since March 25, when his condition grew serious, Mr. Doty had been in the hospital.


Fifty years old and known in every part of Monroe County, Mr. Doty was a member of a pioneer Raisinville family which has long figured prominently in township and county affairs.  A brother, Guy Doty, is supervisor of Raisinville township.  The parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. George W. Doty, lived on the farm on the North Custer road near Grape settled by the father, a native of New York state.
Harry R. Doty devoted much of his life to law enforcement.  Three times under former Sheriffs Fred Cronenwett, Joseph Kinsey and Frank Gessner, he served as a deputy.  During state prohibition days, he was an inspector for the Michigan pure food commission at the time when there was extensive bootlegging between Michigan which was dry, and Ohio, which was wet.  Prior to his election as sheriff, Mr. Doty was an inspector for the Michigan public service commission.  At the time he was taken ill, he was engaged as chief of police of the Monroe Auto Equipment Company, organizing a plant police system for this expanding war plant.

For times Mr. Doty and the present sheriff, Joseph J. Bairley, contested for the office in political campaigns that always took the spotlight away from all other contests on the county ticket.  Mr. Doty, a lifelong Republican, and Mr. Bairley, an equally ardent Democrat, were energetic and effective campaigners.  Mr. Doty always made a practice of visiting almost every farm home in the county in his campaigns, and probably was known personally to as many people in the county as any other man.

Mr. Doty won the election in 1938, when Republicans defeated Democrats for most of the county offices, and served two years as sheriff.  In the election of 1940, with Mr. Bairley again his opponent, he lost by 202 votes in the largest turnout of voters in the county's history.

During his term as sheriff, Mr. Doty followed a vigorous policy of strict enforcement of the law.  It was his enforcement of the state gambling law which was widely attributged as the cause of his subsequent defeat.  He insisted on the abolition of all gambling in the county, including slot machines, bingo games and other types of games which had long been taken for granted.  Sheriff Doty played no favorites and made no exceptions in his rule.
Jail regulations were tightened up during his regime and he made an effort to provide more and better equipment for the sheriff's department, which brought him into frequent conflict with the board of supervisors.

Mr. Doty was born August 2, 1891, on the Doty homestead.  He attended the Grape school and Monroe high school.  After leaving school, he worked several years on the family farm and later secured employment a the Consolidated Paper Company.  He also worked for a time for the Monroe Gas Light and Fuel Company.  Then came his activities as state inspector and as deputy under three Republican sheriffs.

On October 30, 1919, Mr. Doty married Miss Martha Yoas of Monroe, the ceremony being performed in the manse by the Rev. Frank P. Knowles of the First Presbyterian Church.  Mr. Doty was a member of the church.  He was also a member of Monroe Lodge No. 27, F & A & M, and of the Eastern Star.

For many years Mr. Doty took an active part in the affairs of the Republican party.  He was a faithful attendant at the county conventions and campaign meetings and frequently served as a delegate to the state conventions.

Survivors, besides the widow, include two daughters, Kathleen, 19, a patient in a Jackson sanitarium, and Bonnie, 14; the brother, Guy, of Raisinville; and a sister, Mrs. Fred (Dorothy) Ordway of Malinta, Ohio.  On October 24, another brother, Dr. George L. Doty died in San Francisco, California.  Mr. Doty was a noted educator, traveler, writer and research worker."
(Funeral details omitted; burial in Roselawn Cemetery.)

Harry's wife, Martha, lived until the age of 94.