The people were clapping and whistling as Orville finished his last speech of the Dearborn mayoral campaign in 1937. He had a serious look on his face reflecting the life of one who had seen some hard times. The lines of his face were indicative of a certain quiet and serious nature. He had delivered an emotionally moving speech about the importance of government and people along with the roll each had in relationship to each other. He was moved deeply himself as he continued to stand straight with his head erect in form with the rest of his frame. He was wearing a single breasted dark blue suit from Sears, Roebuck and Company. He folded his speech into a small envelope slipping it into his pocket. He smiled broadly and sternly raised his right forearm waving to the small gathering of working men who had come to hear him speak before returning to their jobs at the Rouge plant. He was thirty-three years old and an ambitious lawyer born and raised in the rural community of Union City, Michigan. The small town had a history dating back to the middle of the nineteenth century when it was first settled by new families arriving from New York and Ohio. Union City was populated by second and third generation Americans as well as European immigrants.
The clean country was a decent place to raise a family in the era that was early Americana. Hubbard's dad had died when he was a teenager leaving a widow and four children. His mother received a small veteran's pension. After his dad's death he didn't want to hang around the small rural city nor assume the responsibilities of helping his family. He concluded what with a lot of aunts and uncles, two brothers and a sister his family could manage without him and they did! He chose to move to Detroit and seek employment there. He poured cement for the side walks leading to what was then Michigan Central Railroad Station off of Michigan Avenue in Detroit and he took a seasonal job at Dodge Brothers Auto Plant. Years later he and his new wife would settle in one of the several outlying communities that ringed Detroit. Fordson was a small sized community of about 15,000 residents in the 1920's and was adjacent to Detroit. It was cheaper to live
in Fordson than the big city. The small city had promise too because of Ford's presence.
He thought that it would be great to raise a family in a cleaner city than Detroit with its smokestacks, crime, clutter and congestion. Fordson was more like Union City as well. He was conducting his third campaign for public office. In 1932 he ran for Congress on the Republican ticket. He didn't even get nominated. His young wife and his two sons and daughter were at home, while he learned the street wise truth about local politics. He thought at the time that politics was to become a ladder to help him climb out of an economically poor life. As a newly practicing attorney with his lawyer's shingle swinging from the front porch and his law office in the den of the house neighbors sought free legal advice from him. He couldn't refuse to help the neediest but he wasn't making enough money to support his growing family. He moved his office to Detroit. His wife supported him morally and her family helped. Her dad was a medical doctor and pretty well set. Orville was currently running for mayor of Dearborn.
His campaigning for elected positions eluded him. He was elected a precinct delegate in his district as a Republican, a position he held for 45 years. He started to walk towards a close supporter, Harold White with his hand out stretched to him. Harold was an average sized, medium built blue eyed Dutchman who was working at the Rouge. He reached out his hand to Orville saying,
“You did better today than you have in a long time.” Hubbard replied,
“Thanks! That gives me a real boost.”
Orville looked in the direction of the audience whose numbers were thinning out as the men were returning to their jobs or were headed home. He recognized his wife. She had left the children with a neighbor for a while in order to hear her husband speak. He displayed a grin looking at her. She caught his attention while he was walking towards a small group.
He displayed a grin looking at her. She caught his attention while he was walking towards a small group. He waved to her and she returned a wave with a slight smile. Soon they were together. Orville said,
“I will be here a couple more hours because I have to speak before another group.”
