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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, February 14, 2025, pg. 7 With the 130th anniversary celebration of the founding of Albion's Leisure Hour Club on Saturday, February, 1, 2025, and its unfortunate closing at the end of that same business day, we are reminded of the long presence this organization has had in Albion. It was said to be the oldest private club still operating in the State of Michigan. To begin with, let's first recognize the final officers of this organization, who held the club together in recent years despite financial stresses and declining membership numbers, up to the last bittersweet day. They are: President, William Zaremba; Vice-president: VACANT; Secretary-Treasurer, Della Zaremba; Trustees: Deanna Burke, Josh Lazarus, and Jim Stuart. The Gentlemen's Leisure Hour Club was incorporated on February 1, 1895 "for the purpose of association and for the promotion of social intercourse among its members and the providing for them the conveniences of a club house," stated one reference. It was founded by prominent businessmen in the Albion community as a non-alcoholic men's club where they could hobnob with their peers, play billiards, play cards, socialize, and smoke cigars. Many were local physicians, bankers, industrialists or merchants. The club was first located above the Austin & Tucker clothing store on the second and third floors of 200 S. Superior St on the corner at W. Center St. Its original officers were: President, William B. Knickerbocker; Vice-president, Robert J. Frost; Secretary, Earle Knight; Treasurer, Henry Montgomery Dearing. The charter members were: Henry M. Dearing, Robert J. Frost, Milford D. Galloway, David A. Garfield, Warren S. Kessler, William B. Knickerbocker, Earl Knight, Frank Palmer, Edward L. Parmeter, Wilbur P. Robertson, Isaac Sibley, Herman R. Stoepel, Vernor J. Tefft, Henry Thomason, Barrett D. Vaughn, and Monfort Weeks. Early dues were $15 per year, which was quite a sum in those days. The Club moved to the newly-erected Mary Sheldon Ismon clubhouse at 300 S. Clinton St. (constructed in 1898 and 1899) on Tuesday, February 22, 1899 when the building was officially opened and dedicated. About 500 persons attended the dedication ceremonies. The Leisure Hour Club remained there for 100 years. There were several internal policy changes during the Club's long tenure there, such as alcoholic beverages being allowed after Prohibition was repealed at the end of 1933, and the expansion of membership to include women beginning in the 1970s. It should be noted that the Ismon building was also home to the ladies' E. L. T. (Latin "Emittee Lucem Tuam" for "Bring Forth Your Light") Club, and the Ladies Library Association which housed a library there until the Carnegie Library opened in 1919. Interestingly, when Henry Ismon (1830-1901), second husband of Mary (Peabody) Sheldon (1832-1905) died in February 1901, the Sheldon-Ismon clubhouse was closed to social entertainment for an entire month. Henry's obituary stated, "All games were discontinued during the early part of the week, the billiard, bowling and card rooms of the Leisure Hour Club being closed, the flag on the clubhouse floated at half mast, and the entrances were appropriately draped." The Club's 99-year lease expired in 1998, and the building reverted back to the City of Albion, needing significant repairs. The City thereby transferred ownership and responsibility of the building to the Downtown Development Authority. A July 14, 1999 article stated, "The [Leisure Hour] Club retained occupancy while the building's ultimate fate was being decided." Unfortunately, the Club was unable to come to an agreement with the DDA to purchase the building. A non-profit organization, the Friends of the Mary Sheldon Ismon House was formed and incorporated on June 30, 1999. On July 13, 1999 the DDA approved to allow the Friends to proceed with restoration of the building. The structure was subsequently restored to its beauty and grandeur after fund raising by the Friends of the Mary Sheldon Ismon House. Events, celebrations and meetings are now held at the Mary Sheldon Ismon House today. The Leisure Hour Club thereby vacated the Ismon building and moved into its final location at 211 Market Place. This was a prominent building that had just formerly been the home to an ice cream establishment called "The Frog Pond." Back in the 1930s however, the building had been used by members of the notorious Purple Gang to store its customized bulletproof glass Graham-Paige robbery sedan. The "Purple Gang Mural" painted on the Club's south wall by artist Payge Rumler in 2022 captures the historical significance of that fact. From our Historical Notebook this week we present an early 1940s postcard photograph of the Leisure Hour Club and E. L. T. Club House on S. Clinton St. How many of our readers remember the Leisure Hour Club in this building? We also present that classic photograph of the capture of the Purple Gang sedan on June 3, 1936. In the background is the building in the Market Place which in recent decades has housed the Leisure Hour Club. Will the Leisure Hour Club now be reorganized into another form of operation/ownership that is viable? Their board met on Sunday, February 2 to explore its options. Stay tuned.  1940s Leisure Hour Club and E. L. T. Club House
All text copyright, 2025 © all rights reserved Frank Passic
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