# 1949 in Michigan

Events from the year 1949 in Michigan.

## Top stories

The Associated Press polled editors of its member newspapers in Michigan and ranked the state's top news stories of 1949 as follows:
* The March 1 "lonely hearts" murders of a widow and her three-year-old granddaughter in Grand Rapids. The killers were Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck. (274 points)
* The shooting UAW leader Victor G. Reuther (224 points)
* A historic contract between the UAW and Ford Motor granting pensions to workers (175 points)
* The speed-up strike against Ford that began in May and lasted 26 days (169 points)
* The July 19 death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice and former Michigan Governor Frank Murphy (129 points)
* Record production by the automobile industry and shutdowns resulting from the steelworkers strike (115)
* The March 31 death of Willard Dow, president of Dow Chemical, and his wife and three others in a plane crash (98)
* Farmer in Waterford shoots 10 people with a shotgun (88)
* The "social reform" program of Governor G. Mennen Williams and political battles to institute it (87)
* The end of Michigan's one-man grand juries (86)

## Office holders
### State office holders

* Governor of Michigan: G. Mennen Williams (Democrat)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: John W. Connolly (Democrat)
* Michigan Attorney General: Stephen John Roth
* Michigan Secretary of State: Frederick M. Alger Jr. (Republican)
* Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives: Victor A. Knox (Republican)
* Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court: Edward M. Sharpe

### Mayors of major cities

* Mayor of Detroit: Eugene Van Antwerp (Democrat)
* Mayor of Grand Rapids: George W. Welsh (Republican)/Stanley J. Davis (Democrat)
* Mayor of Flint: George G. Wills
* Mayor of Dearborn: Orville L. Hubbard
* Mayor of Saginaw: Harold J. Stenglein/Edwin W. Koepke
* Mayor of Lansing: Ralph Crego
* Mayor of Ann Arbor: William E. Brown Jr.

### Federal office holders

* U.S. Senator from Michigan: Homer S. Ferguson (Republican)
* U.S. Senator from Michigan: Arthur Vandenberg (Republican)
* House District 1: George G. Sadowski (Democrat)
* House District 2: Earl C. Michener (Republican)
* House District 3: Paul W. Shafer (Republican)
* House District 4: Clare Hoffman (Republican)
* House District 5: Gerald Ford (Republican)
* House District 6: William W. Blackney (Republican)
* House District 7: Jesse P. Wolcott (Republican)
* House District 8: Fred L. Crawford (Republican)
* House District 9: Albert J. Engel (Republican)
* House District 10: Roy O. Woodruff (Republican)
* House District 11: Charles E. Potter (Republican)
* House District 12: John B. Bennett (Republican)
* House District 13: George D. O'Brien (Democrat)
* House District 14: Louis C. Rabaut (Democrat)
* House District 15: John D. Dingell Sr. (Democrat)
* House District 16: John Lesinski Sr. (Democrat)
* House District 17: George Anthony Dondero (Republican)

## Population

In the 1940 United States census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 5,256,106, ranking as the seventh most populous state in the country. By 1950, Michigan's population had increased by 21.2% to 6,371,766.

### Cities

The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 20,000 based on 1940 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1930 and 1950 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Cities that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.
| 1940 Rank | City | County | 1940 Pop. | 1946 Est. | 1950 Pop. | Change 1940-50 |
| 1 | Detroit | Wayne | 1,623,452 | 1,815,000 | 1,849,568 | 13.9% |
| 2 | Grand Rapids | Kent | 164,292 | | 176,515 | 7.4% |
| 3 | Flint | Genesee | 151,543 | | 163,143 | 7.7% |
| 4 | Saginaw | Saginaw | 82,794 | | 92,918 | 12.2% |
| 5 | Lansing | Ingham | 78,753 | 90,000 | 92,129 | 17.0% |
| 6 | Pontiac | Oakland | 66,626 | | 73,681 | 10.6% |
| 7 | Dearborn | Wayne | 63,589 | | 94,994 | 49.4% |
| 8 | Kalamazoo | Kalamazoo | 54,097 | | 57,704 | 6.7% |
| 9 | Highland Park | Wayne | 50,810 | | 46,393 | −8.7% |
| 10 | Hamtramck | Wayne | 49,839 | 48,938 | 43,555 | −12.6% |
| 11 | Jackson | Jackson | 49,656 | | 51,088 | 2.9% |
| 12 | Bay City | Bay | 47,956 | | 52,523 | 9.5% |
| 13 | Muskegon | Muskegon | 47,697 | | 48,429 | 1.5% |
| 14 | Battle Creek | Calhoun | 43,453 | | 48,666 | 12.0% |
| 15 | Port Huron | St. Clair | 32,759 | | 35,725 | 9.1% |
| 16 | Wyandotte | Wayne | 30,618 | | 36,846 | 20.3% |
| 17 | Ann Arbor | Washtenaw | 29,815 | | 48,251 | 61.8% |
| 18 | Royal Oak | Oakland | 25,087 | | 46,898 | 86.9% |
| 19 | Ferndale | Oakland | 22,523 | | 29,675 | 31.8% |

### Counties

The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 75,000 based on 1940 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1930 and 1950 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases.
| 1940 Rank | County | Largest city | 1930 Pop. | 1940 Pop. | 1950 Pop. | Change 1940-50 |
| 1 | Wayne | Detroit | 1,888,946 | 2,015,623 | 2,435,235 | 20.8% |
| 2 | Oakland | Pontiac | 211,251 | 254,068 | 396,001 | 55.9% |
| 3 | Kent | Grand Rapids | 240,511 | 246,338 | 288,292 | 17.0% |
| 4 | Genesee | Flint | 211,641 | 227,944 | 270,963 | 18.9% |
| 5 | Ingham | Lansing | 116,587 | 130,616 | 172,941 | 32.4% |
| 6 | Saginaw | Saginaw | 120,717 | 130,468 | 153,515 | 17.7% |
| 7 | Macomb | Warren | 77,146 | 107,638 | 184,961 | 71.8% |
| 8 | Kalamazoo | Kalamazoo | 91,368 | 100,085 | 126,707 | 26.6% |
| 9 | Jackson | Jackson | 92,304 | 93,108 | 108,168 | 16.2% |
| 10 | Muskegon | Muskegon | 84,630 | 94,501 | 121,545 | 28.6% |
| 11 | Calhoun | Battle Creek | 87,043 | 94,206 | 120,813 | 28.2% |

## Companies

The following is a list of major companies based in Michigan in 1949.
| Company | 1949 sales (millions) | 1949 net earnings (millions) | Headquarters | Core business |
| General Motors | | | Detroit | Automobiles |
| Ford Motor Company | na | na | | Automobiles |
| Chrysler | | | | Automobiles |
| Studebaker Corp. | | | | Automobiles |
| Briggs Mfg. Co. | | | Detroit | Automobile parts supplier |
| S. S. Kresge | | | | Retail |
| Hudson Motor Car Co. | | | Detroit | Automobiles |
| Detroit Edison | | | | Electric utility |
| Michigan Bell | | | | Telephone utility |
| Kellogg's | | | Battle Creek | Breakfast cereal |
| Parke-Davis | | | Detroit | Pharmaceutical |
| REO Motor Car Co. | | | Lansing | Automobiles |
| Burroughs Adding Machine | | | | Business machines |

## Sports
### Baseball

* 1949 Detroit Tigers season –
* 1949 Michigan Wolverines baseball season - Under head coach Ray Fisher, the Wolverines compiled an 18–9–2 record and tied for the Big Ten Conference championship. Harold Raymond was the team captain.

### American football

* 1949 Detroit Lions season –
* 1949 Michigan Wolverines football team –
* 1949 Michigan State Spartans football team –
* 1949 Detroit Titans football team –

### Basketball

* 1948–49 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team –

### Ice hockey

* 1948–49 Detroit Red Wings season –

### Boat racing

* APBA Gold Cup – Bill Cantrell
* Harmsworth Cup – Stan Dollar
* Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race –

### Golfing

* Motor City Open - Lloyd Mangrum and Cary Middlecoff
* Michigan Open - Al Watrous

### Other
## Births

* January 14 - Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter (The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, The Big Chill), director and producer, in Detroit
* January 15 - Bobby Grich, Major League Baseball second baseman (1970–1986), in Muskegon, Michigan
* August 9 - Ted Simmons, Major League Baseball catcher (1968–1988) and 8× All-Star, in Highland Park, Michigan

## Deaths

* April 11 - Chase Osborn, 27th Governor of Michigan (1911-1913), at age 89 in Poulan, Georgia
* June 16 - William Comstock, 33rd Governor of Michigan (1933-1935), at age 71 in Detroit
* July 19 - Frank Murphy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1940-1949), 35th Governor of Michigan (1937-1939), at age 59 in Detroit