| The Highland
Township Historical Society THE DEGARMO FAMILY |
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In many ways A.D. DeGarmo was a model "scientific" or "progressive farmer." In addition to breeding prize-winning cattle, he was among the first to experiment with growing alfalfa in Michigan, owned the first grain binder in the community, and employed a windmill and pipe system to irrigate his fields [Note 1]. Perhaps most interesting, A.D. DeGarmo served for many years as a volunteer weather observer for the Michigan State Weather Service, taking daily readings of high and low temperatures, rainfall, snow depth and other weather phenomena. His observations were thereafter published in various reports by both the state and federal weather bureaus. For example, a summary of Michigan weather in the U.S.Weather Bureau's Monthly Weather Review for November, 1890, notes that "Temperature – The mean was 1.8 above the normal of 15 years; maximum, 70, at Highland Station, 9th; minimum, 11, at Highland Station, North Marshall, and Ypsilanti, 28th; greatest monthly range, 59, at Highland Station…" Seen here is a scan of A.D. DeGarmo's business card.
[1] - See Clara Mae Beach, Our Highland Heritage (1987), p. 110.